In the USA you will make much more. I’m not sure about now but about fifteen years ago a friend said he made $25,000 as an intern. I would think you’d make over $200,000 as an oncologist here. There is some exam you have to pass in order to practice here.

I’m Australian and I live in the USA now and having spent limited time in Europe so far (2 months France/Italy/Germany/Greece/Czech/Netherlands) the differences I notice are:

- Smoking in general seemed much more common in Europe than it is in both AU and USA.

- Food is so much better in EU than USA – breads, cheeses, pastries. Europeans know how to eat well. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to bread in the states which has a sweetness to it.

- In Europe restaurants are enjoyed, meals take 2-3 hours, eating is for socializing. People don’t get huffy if they aren’t waited on within 30 seconds of being seated. I cannot get used to eating out in America where many people eat really fast and are out the door in 30-40 minutes.

- People eat dinner much earlier in America compared to Europe.

- Difficulty in finding world news in America (yes there is always the internet…)

- Shopping is better (and cheaper?) in the USA

- The chocolate in America is inedible. I stick to Lindt.

- People seem to enjoy the good things in life more in Europe. Food, wine, family…there never seems to be enough time in America. Work days are longer, people sit in traffic longer.

It took me about 30 minutes to read through the posts in this thread and I’ll probably keep myself updated – and let me just say…wow! There are a few things I’ve picked up on while reading through some of the threads here on eurotrip. Namely that there are four types of people who post on threads like this and I really dig reading posts from any of the following:
1. The people who love their life in Europe and down Americans
2. The people who love their life in America and down Europeans
3. The people who hate their life in Europe and compare it to America
4. The people who hate their life in America and compare it to Europe

The grass is always greener folks.
Now I’ve never been to Europe, so I am going to lay off the comparisons between the two; but I do have an opinion about my life in my Northern New Jersey City.

My city and the small boroughs surrounding it are overcrowded. It takes me 45 minutes to drive 3 miles from my part time job to my home – and this is taking the most effective route at 5PM. I know that there are places less crowded than here my sister lives in a small town just north of Denver, Colorado and its blissfully quiet out there. My main complaint here is that the traffic from New York City radiates for miles outside the city limits. You cannot reasonably expect to travel between two points without traffic between the hours of 3 PM and 7PM.

I’m a college student; I’m finishing my undergraduate degree in History Education – with a real concentration on United States history in the last 100 years. When I began college in 2004, I was a Music Education major – and I was being helped by my parents but since my major change I’ve been financially on my own. This means that I owe probably about $50,000 in student loans that have been deferred until after graduation, and this is a low number. Regardless of how it stacks up to other students, can you imagine being in debt quite possibly for the rest of your life (as others will be)? I’m going to be a teacher which in the USA means you’ll probably make $45,000 a year before taxes and you need to be able to live somewhere- don’t forget.

My next concern is health care. Do I want what Canada and Europe have? I have no idea really. I’m not some political activist attempting to make a point. I’m a 23 year old college student who works part time and has zero health insurance. What happens if I get hurt or sick? We have Medicare, which is essentially government assistance for those without healthcare. Earlier this semester I found myself extremely ill for three straight weeks and my boyfriend and I decided to get it looked at. All of the sources we tapped told us to just go to the Emergency Room at our local Hospital. So reluctantly we did – and I’ll be paying for the eight hour long visit that told me I (a) wasn’t pregnant (b) was functioning properly (organs) and © realized that IVs are extremely uncomfortable.

Are we smarter than Europeans? I think anyone who wants to find a stupid American, won’t have an issue finding one, on the flipside, I think anyone who wants to find a stupid European won’t have an issue finding one. I mean no disrespect to either but you can’t always assume that “you’re the greatest country in the world” because perspectives are always going to differ. I read a post from someone who was claiming something along the lines of: Europeans are stupid because they don’t “talk good” mainly because they can’t even speak English. Ok I’ll start at the beginning of that statement, if you’re going to cast aspersions like that you should use better grammar “Europeans do not speak well” and the reasoning for it should never be the language they speak. Americans often times can speak one language, English. Where does that get us when we go overseas? We become those people that I’m sure the above mentioned person would consider to be annoying because they are overseas and don’t speak the native language. I personally, speak Chinese and English – but wish that I knew Spanish because living where I live there is a very concentrated Spanish-speaking population. From what I understand, most Europeans can speak more than two languages English is not a universal requirement.

That’s my take on the situation for now – I’m not one of those people who hate living in America, its all I’ve ever known but I am allowed to criticize the place/situation/life that I live.

Me too. I’ll be finishing Computer Science in December 2009. Lots of student loans. Work study helps some but it would be nice to have had some scholarships. My school won’t help since I already have one degree.

Me too. No insurance and had a kidney stone last September. The emergency room was about $1500 for less than an hour. It was suggested that I go to Social Services at the hospital to see if they would help. No luck. They referred me to the billing department. I explained that I was a student who was working part-time and had no insurance. Would the hospital be able to discount my bill? She said no. *Here’s the trick. * While talking I found some common ground and after she turned me down I kept on talking about our common issues. After a few minutes she said, ‘Well let me send you a form and we’ll see what we can do.” I filled out the form and got some sort of discounted care. My emergency room visit was changed to $300 and all visits will be $300. If I have to be admitted then I’ll have a $1500 fixed fee.

You have to dig a bit on this. If I had my papers I’d get you a copy. Good luck. All things medical are negotiable through hospitals.

What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual
What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual
What do you call someone who speaks one language? American

I’d like to learn spanish so I go to an area, like the one you mentioned, and try to learn it. The store is “El Guadelupe” and some of them don’t speak english. The best way to learn a language is to go to that country. This is the next best thing.

Actually when Europeans deal with someone that doesn’t speak the language they speak, they try to find someone who speaks english. It is widely taught and most younger people have a grasp of english.
In Vienna, the french girl couldn’t speak german so she was trying to find someone who spoke english.

My take on Europe vs. America

Make note that i live in southern california

Europeans – are generally more healthy (yes I know abouth the smoking thing) – lead a more active lifestyle – have a more sense of community – less materialistic – more knowledgable of the world around them
I found that european girls are much more approachable, they don’t have a sense of entitlement that is common with american girls. European girls are more traditional especially in southern europe.

Americans – eat more then is needed – girls are more slutty

Still like this one. Should it be a sticky?

Big difference is that Euroweenies don’t breed. Their birthrate is low, and they’re being quickly replaced. Euroweenies would rather ride scooters, eat french cheese, and smoke than have babies. Proven fact.