17 Comments
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Janine Mathó's avatar

Love it. I’m an American living in France (via the UK first). Looking forward to getting to know your work!

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Gregory Garretson's avatar

Great to have you aboard, Janine! I have lived a bit in France, but never in the UK, sadly—and now probably never well. Something I have mixed feelings about.

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Janine Mathó's avatar

Best time to live in London was pre-Covid and pre-Brexit…you’re in a great place now. 🇵🇹

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Gregory Garretson's avatar

I do think I am. I actually lived in Portugal long before it was cool, but then left. Now I've come back, and it feels like home.

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Dan Keane's avatar

I'm in. Doing much the same from NZ, minus the turtle. Good luck!

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Gregory Garretson's avatar

Welcome, Dan! It's good to have you here. NZ is the place I've always dreamt of visiting but never have. Not yet.

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Michelle Lester's avatar

Ah, I’m just up the coast from you and that scene you describe of the September warmth, and people just relaxing, is one we’ve just left in our local park. (But then the mad traffic jams after a local marathon and a 7-car prang on a bridge!)

Looking forward to following you here. Your experiences and interests resonate 😊

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Gregory Garretson's avatar

Wonderful, Michelle! Bem-vinda a bordo!

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Lisa Bolin 🌸's avatar

I look forward to your perspectives,

Signed,

The Australian who migrated to Finland x

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Gregory Garretson's avatar

Ooh, I love drastic combinations of cultures. Australia and Finland is a bit like Sweden and Portugal. Makes for a lot of good culture shock. 😁

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Lisa Bolin 🌸's avatar

Yes. More similar than you might think but also some glaring differences. I have the added strangeness of living in a Swedish-speaking self-governing province of Finland. So not-Finnish-not-Swedish but their own special flavour!

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Gregory Garretson's avatar

You must mean Åland. Very cool! Imagine if you had moved from Tasmania to Åland! That would be the ultimate move.

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Lisa Bolin 🌸's avatar

Yep. And there is a woman here who did just that. (I'm from Adelaide)

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Elizabeth's avatar

I have many feelings about the Swiss, but filing our taxes here is a breeze. Bless the Swiss organization gene for making civic life unmatched in ease and user friendliness. I will surely miss it when I go elsewhere.

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Gregory Garretson's avatar

I absolutely understand, Elizabeth. When I moved from the US to Sweden, I could not believe the difference in how easy it is to file your taxes. I wonder if the Swedes even beat the Swiss: they do your taxes for you, and you can just confirm and submit by clicking a button in an app on your phone. I have literally done my taxes in Sweden in two minutes!

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Alex Sandifer's avatar

Very exciting indeed! Looking forward to reading your observations and insights. Having spent the past four-and-a-half years living in a different part of the Elsewhere, I'll be interested to see how my experience compares with yours.

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Gregory Garretson's avatar

Thank you, Alex! I definitely welcome input from people who have had experiences that are different from mine, or from a different part of the world. There is really an infinite supply of Elsewhere out there.

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