If you had to live in one country OUTSIDE the Western World...

[coach_]

Originally Posted by MikeJohnson

That is a simple one for me I would pick Japan hands down. It's a very modern country, and basically you will never be boared. You also have dibs on all of the new technology it's really an awesome country.

And all the tentacle rape cartoons you could ever dream of.

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

Originally Posted by ctspartan

South Africa.

Botswana a second choice.

Japan third choice.

South Africa is considered Western by that map, so it looks like you'd be headed to Botswana. Yay for sub-Saharan Africa!

[Pablo Fanque]

Japan.

Isn't Japan really part of the "western" world? Think about how much their culture has infused western stuff: clothes, music, business practices, even effing baseball.

[msu95]

China - to witness the changes, before they are "westernized".

[BoySpartan]

Sweden

Where all are treated as equals and all get healthcare.

Go Obama!!!

Go State!!!

[SpartanGA]

singapore, japan, turkey

[Pablo Fanque]

Originally Posted by BoySpartan

Sweden

Where all are treated as equals and all get healthcare.

Go Obama!!!

Go State!!!

Great shtick!

[sprtnbrn]

Originally Posted by Pablo Fanque

Japan.

Isn't Japan really part of the "western" world? Think about how much their culture has infused western stuff: clothes, music, business practices, even effing baseball.

Trust me, they're not Western.

[sprtnbrn]

Originally Posted by GoStateNate

To all the people saying Japan, you may not realize it, but Japan is still hyper-nationalistic and racist. Gaijin "outside people" are generally looked down upon, native Japanese will even refer to Japanese not raised in Japan as gaijin, and gaijin is gernerally thought of as an insulting term to call an outsider. Japan is a nice place to visit, but I definitely wouldn't want to live there. Kanji, the main writing system is also a pain in the ass. The Japanese language is easier to pick up as a speaker than most realize, but expect years and years (and years) of training to be able to fluently read Kanji.

QFT. The fact that the police somehow couldn't find Tatsuya Ichihashi when he was apparently living in Ikebukuro for a full year after his crime was disgusting. If a gaijin had done that to a Japanese person, they would've been tracked down in one week at most. My vote would be for Thailand.

[ctspartan]

Originally Posted by The Dread Pirate Roberts

South Africa is considered Western by that map, so it looks like you'd be headed to Botswana. Yay for sub-Saharan Africa!

sub-Saharan Africa is VERY underrated as a place to live. All about marketing. African people are great, but their leaders are the suckiest in the world, with few exceptions. Zimbabwe was a paradise until Mugabe ruined it.

[spartanMF]

uhh, Shanghai is by far the best, most cosmopolitan, city in China. And the financial capital.

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

Originally Posted by ctspartan

sub-Saharan Africa is VERY underrated as a place to live. All about marketing. African people are great, but their leaders are the suckiest in the world, with few exceptions. Zimbabwe was a paradise until Mugabe ruined it.

I know - I listed Tanzania as my choice. I would love Zimbabwe or Rwanda, too, but both are still in turmoil (one's rebuilding, and Mugabe has Zimbabwe all shot to hell). Sub-Saharan Africa is beautiful and comfortable, and the people are as friendly as can be. I love it there; can't wait to go back.

[Floyd Robertson]

East Germany

On second thought, make it Nepal. I'm sure they're nice people.

[GreenMeany]

I'm surprised so many people have picked South Korea. Not that I know that much about that place other than what I read in the papers, but I've always had a somewhat negative impression of that place. What's the story with South Korea?

[ctspartan]

Originally Posted by spartanMF

uhh, Shanghai is by far the best, most cosmopolitan, city in China. And the financial capital.

Are you serious? How much do you know about China?
Full disclosure: I've never been, but I know the guy who does one of the best, if not the best, tours of China. I also have hosted a LOT of visitors from China. Shanghai isn't even on their lists of places to visit unless you're doing business. And at least 10-15 of my visitors and colleagues who are natives of Shanghai were in agreement.

Supposedly, it's a dirty, polluted city with bad air quality, little culture and depressing architecture. Great for making a buck or spending a buck, but at least a dozen cities in China have more to offer. Right off the bat, you lose credibility if you say Shanghai is better than Beijing.

But perhaps you know better than my Chinese friends.

[ctspartan]

Originally Posted by The Dread Pirate Roberts

I know - I listed Tanzania as my choice. I would love Zimbabwe or Rwanda, too, but both are still in turmoil (one's rebuilding, and Mugabe has Zimbabwe all shot to hell). Sub-Saharan Africa is beautiful and comfortable, and the people are as friendly as can be. I love it there; can't wait to go back.

Tanzania is a gorgeous country, and you can live in luxury there on $5-10K annually. Great choice. I've heard that now Uganda has its act together, it's coming back as a destination.

And yeah, what I like about sub-Saharan Africa (and also Japan) is the friendly people and the great sense of humor that you don't find in Europe. You can walk into any bar in S-S Africa and have a party going in ten minutes.

The problem with Japan is that it's about 20 times more expensive than Africa to live in, and the people don't accept gaijin actually living there as Japanese. In Africa, you can live and hang out with the people (although like everywhere you do find a few nasty racists) as long as you're not a parasite.

The only problem with Southern and Eastern Africa is the food is much better in West Africa. Frankly speaking, the women in West Africa know how to cook.

[Topopo]

India, Tanzania, Rwanda, or Singapore. Really I could get used to living anywhere. I know this sounds corny but the earth is a really cool place and almost every country has a large number of redeeming qualities... Except Canada.

[Blade Runner]

Japan. Even with their ethnocentrism, I am a fan of Japanese culture, and a lot of people consider Japan to be Western now. I hear it's also very clean.

[greenwhiteforever]

Italy. It is beautiful in many ways; it has a very intelligent population; the food is excellent; the wines are very good; the people are friendly and helpful; it is surrounded by water which can be enjoyed by looking, swimming, and boating; the people are very passionate about a number of things; it has innumerable historic points of interest; and it is the home of gelato (it doesn't get any better than that). I say all this as a person who has visited there only once and who is not Italian-American.

[greenwhiteforever]

Oops! I just now looked at the map for the first time. Sorry about that.

[ctspartan]

Originally Posted by Blade Runner

Japan. I hear it's also very clean.

The most interesting part of Tokyo to visit is the slums. The Japanese try to pretend they don't exist because they're ashamed to have poor people, but I think they should be proud. Tokyo has the frickin CLEANEST, crime-free slums in the world. It should be the model for how to live poor to the rest of the world. Except for the 4 x 12-foot homes, I could even live there. Amazing.

[Denver Spartanhead]

Japan, Turkey and Russia

[Lost in Cyberspace]

Brunei.

[enfinity]

Originally Posted by GreenMeany

I'm surprised so many people have picked South Korea. Not that I know that much about that place other than what I read in the papers, but I've always had a somewhat negative impression of that place. What's the story with South Korea?

negative impression? i don't know what you're talking about.
I'm a Korean-American and i'm obviously biased but the place is amazing. It is very very modern, right up there with Tokyo. The food is excellent, and cheap, the people are incredibly polite, etc. Technologically advanced, beautiful scenery, tons of other americans living there as well.

What you might have heard about is that they don't like American soldiers there as much. But that's not racism as much as American soldiers getting drunk and trashing bars, restaurants, etc. So the soldiers have given themselves a bad reputation and now some businesses don't like to serve them.

[Lost in Cyberspace]

Originally Posted by enfinity