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As someone who lives part-time in Europe (and they can be mostly lumped together because of shared culture and the EU, but I spend significant time in 3 EU coun

As someone who lives part-time in Europe (and they can be mostly lumped together because of shared culture and the EU, but I spend significant time in 3 EU countries in addition to living 6 months of the year in a single one) but raised in Canada... - Europeans have access to better quality food. Good vegetables are the rule as opposed to the exception, commodity meat is better quality and high quality dairy is cheap. - Europeans walk, a lot. As most towns existed before cars, they're all built for walking. Mixed use neighbourhoods are the rule rather than the exception. Europeans are also far more social and that often means doing physical activities with your friends (I play football and futsal with a group of guys from the village, ages 25-60). - Europeans do drink a lot, but it's in moderation, if that makes sense. Less binge drinking all at once, more drinks during meals and spread throughout the week. We all know the liver processes alcohol at a specific rate so this is less damaging to health. - Universal healthcare. Even the EU countries with mixed public/private systems make it universally available. Insurance rates far more reasonable, less strings attached. Unlike in Canada, we have a paediatrician in Europe. We can see a doctor same day without resorting to the ER. Appointments can be made typically next-day, although I've heard of waits that are several days in the city. Versus Canada where we can't even get a family doctor at all and need to go to the ER for anything. - Stress. 5 weeks vacation. Employee-friendly laws. Active, social lifestyle. Everyday necessities are far more affordable. Rent isn't 60% of the average take-home income (unlike Canada).

throaway2501 2y ago
what EU country has the best food? (i’m from canada but every time i’ve been in the EU i’ve noticed the EU food is much better)
- dismalaf 2y ago
  IMO, Italy, France, Spain. In that order. We have a home in Czech Republic (my partner's country of origin) and I'm also partial to the food there (I'm also east European but a generation back), but it's probably not quite as objectively good as the first 3, still better than Canada though.
rsynnott 2y ago
> Europeans do drink a lot, but it's in moderation, if that makes sense. Less binge drinking all at once, more drinks during meals and spread throughout the week. We all know the liver processes alcohol at a specific rate so this is less damaging to health. I'm sceptical that this is a big factor. Ireland and the UK have a big binge drinking problem, but Ireland's in the top end of European countries for life expectancy; the UK's a bit lower down the list, but still just about at the EU average. Though, you also have to be careful with small differences, because the data is often imperfect. One darkly funny thing to come out of the covid pandemic was that there were significantly more very elderly people in Ireland than it was generally believed; this showed when the covid vaccination rate for the over-85 age cohort went over 100% (I think it hit 109% by the end). It turned out that the central statistics office's population estimates had simply been wrong; they had been running off an assumed death rate since the last census which turned out to be overly pessimistic.

throaway2501 2y ago

what EU country has the best food? (i’m from canada but every time i’ve been in the EU i’ve noticed the EU food is much better)

dismalaf 2y ago
IMO, Italy, France, Spain. In that order. We have a home in Czech Republic (my partner's country of origin) and I'm also partial to the food there (I'm also east European but a generation back), but it's probably not quite as objectively good as the first 3, still better than Canada though.

rsynnott 2y ago

> Europeans do drink a lot, but it's in moderation, if that makes sense. Less binge drinking all at once, more drinks during meals and spread throughout the week. We all know the liver processes alcohol at a specific rate so this is less damaging to health. I'm sceptical that this is a big factor. Ireland and the UK have a big binge drinking problem, but Ireland's in the top end of European countries for life expectancy; the UK's a bit lower down the list, but still just about at the EU average. Though, you also have to be careful with small differences, because the data is often imperfect. One darkly funny thing to come out of the covid pandemic was that there were significantly more very elderly people in Ireland than it was generally believed; this showed when the covid vaccination rate for the over-85 age cohort went over 100% (I think it hit 109% by the end). It turned out that the central statistics office's population estimates had simply been wrong; they had been running off an assumed death rate since the last census which turned out to be overly pessimistic.