From the Land of Beyond Beyond: Life After America

[veracity]

This excerpt is posted with permission from the author and from the editor of http://tvnewsLIES.org

The article is a follow-up to Bob Alexander's Why We Left the United States- and describes some major differences between life in America and his new life in Canada:

The myriad differences between The United States and Canada, most small, some huge, culminate in an odd sort of “culture shock” that resonates throughout the day. And with each noted difference … a mini-Twilight Zone episode....

...Our health care costs have gone from eleven hundred dollars a month to eighteen hundred dollars … per year.

When our son was born my wife’s maternity leave was 12 weeks without pay. But at least she had a job to go back to. My wife’s Canadian cousin recently had a baby. Her maternity leave is for 52 weeks at 75% of her salary. And her employer “tops off” her compensation so she receives 100% of her salary during her maternity leave.

There’s employment up here instead of unemployment down there. The Canadian unemployment figure this summer was 7.2%. In the U.S. the figure reported is 9.1%. But … if you use the same methods the rest of the industrialized nations use to determine real unemployment numbers, for the U.S. you get 16 to 22%. Chocolate rations are up using U.S. methodology.

Around 11:00 o’clock last Tuesday night our parrot had a medical emergency. We had to take him to a 24 hour veterinary emergency room. While we were driving to the vet I noticed something I had never witnessed in any American urban setting. People casually strolling down the streets. A woman jogging by. People clustered outside coffee shops smoking cigarettes deep in conversations. People out and about at 11:30 at night as if they weren’t concerned about … crime. Because obviously they weren’t. And this city isn’t free from violent crime. In 2008, 18 people were murdered in Vancouver. But during that same year there were 381 murders in Los Angeles and 523 in New York.

There’s no death penalty here. The last execution in Canada was almost 50 years ago on December 11, 1962.

More...
http://tvnewslies.org/tvnl/index.php/editorial/guest-commentary/20921-from-the-land-beyond-beyond-life-after-america.html

[Speck Tater]

1. México is also a good alternative.

http://www.liveabroad.com/articles/mexico.html

And universal health care is available for expats at a very affordable annual rate.

I'm leaning toward either Mérida: http://www.merida.gob.mx/municipio/index.htm
or Guadalajara (the Silicon Valley of México) which looks mighty nice too: http://vive.guadalajara.gob.mx/

And I'm finding that Spanish is not that difficult to learn, even for an old retired fart like me. And even if you don't want to learn Spanish, there are large English-speaking expat communities in many Mexican cities. Both Guadalajara and Mérida have English language public libraries too.

on edit: I once heard that knowing another language gives you different way to see the world. I'm really finding that's true as I get more and more of my news from Spanish speaking sources. The world really does look different viewed through a different linguistic lens. It's very liberating.

[LZelig]

2. Hola Amigo...

Merida is too f'ing hot, and Guadalajara is an okay place to visit from time to time, but if you're serious about making the move, drive south of Guadalajara 40 minutes to the lakeside communities. Your life just took a turn for the better. Read up, then rent a place for a month or two to find out what I say is true, then enjoy your retirement! Adios.

[Speck Tater]

4. Ah, yes. The Lake Chapala-Ajijic area.

There are even many YouTube tours of the area available. When I mentioned Guadalajara I was also thinking about Chapala. Downtown life is not for me. :)

[Katashi_itto]

3. Soon as I have my masters I am gone. Would Like Japan.