Quote Originally Posted by josephkirkpatrick View Post
This info has been great...

one of the things that is making me want to leave is the "bigger and better" attitude so prevalent here in the US. I had SUVs, Hummers, and Pickup trucks. I hate the fact that a "hemi" that gets about 12 miles to the gallon is a major selling point. I hate that, for whatever reason, men here feel the need to assert the size of their genitals by buying big houses, big trucks, and big guns. I hate NASCAR and the insane amount of fuel and resources burned for the entertainment of the budwiser-swilling masses in the infield. I don't understand this culture. Period.
I have followed this thread with a little bit of amusement.

Several have started off telling you that you will always be a stranger. Others tell you that everything will work out. Well, after spending 33 years in the Marine Corps, and moving around so much that I no longer have an accent that comes from anywhere, have photos, memories and friends from all over the world - I would like to tell you that the stranger lives inside your head.

You can make friends where-ever you go. You can adopt local customs. You can learn new languages! But always remember that if you are leaving because you are dissatisfied with the politics, economy, neighbors, etc, that it is a small world, and the "politics, economy, neighbors, etc," are everywhere.

Don't take your problems with you.

Being dissatisfied is not a very good reason to move.

If you can not make yourself happy where you are now, what makes you think that you can make yourself happy in a new place?

Learn to change the things you can and accept the things that you can't.

Before you move and leave your country of birth, do an extended visit to your new location - minimum of six months!