File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
sup /trv/, here's the deal:

I have to decide on a location for my semester abroad. I narrowed it down to these 4 choices (in no particular order):

Canada
USA
Japan
Australia

Why? I'm a Eurofag, so I want to get out of Europe. No to Africa and South America, Middle East,
Yes to English speaking countries and the best country Asia has to offer, Japan.

Now I need to find Pros and Cons for either of these 4 countries. I took Japanese for 2 years, which will make me pass JLPT3, maybe even 2. That's nothing compared to my English, but probably enough to get around.
Canada, USA and Australia are all about the same to me.

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>> Achmedinejead
Canada's cold. Don't go there. Canadians can be pricks sometimes 2 IMHO.
Australia is nice, but no mountains. Great weather. Kinda far.
Japan is nice. I lived there 4 3yrs. If you can pass 3JPLT then you should get around fine. If you pass 2JPLT then you'll have a blast.

USA depends on where you go. Stick to the coasts East Coast stay north of Philadelphia. West Coast anywhere is cool. Those places and Colorado and you'll do great in the USA too.
>> Anonymous
USA, I'd suppose, from the viewpoint of a fellow Eurofag. Rent a car, go on an epic road trip a la Leningrad Cowboys go America. Wake up in a shack in rural Mexico, and forget where you originally came from.
>> Anonymous
truth about your choises.
Canada: Cold, people are ok
Australia: i dunno
Japan: racist moderfuckers, specially okinawa.
kanto is ok but they are still racist towards "outsiders" and tend be more fucked up if you dint speak jap. and there are some yakusa thatll fuck your shit up.
usa: it depends were you go.
>> Anonymous
>>81548
Every Canadian I've met has been extremely arrogant and annoying, I guess I've been unlucky.

>>81527
Australian here, if you do come to Australia make sure you head for one of the capitals. Personally I'd vote for Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. I've never been to Adelaide, but I hear it is awful compared to Sydney/Melbourne.

The weather here during Summer is great, it can get pretty depressing around Winter (In the northern states it's not too bad all year around).

As for racism/nonacceptance of foreigners (A lot of people seem to worry about this.) it is pretty much non-existent as long as you're not a tool. Like everywhere there will always be the racist idiots, but 99.9% of the time you should be fine.
>> Anonymous
Canada, especially if you go to Montreal.
>> Anonymous
Canada is pretty much USA, with smaller population and different flag. So I suggest going US
>> Anonymous
Go for teh US
>> Anonymous
Meh most of those countries are gonna be mostly like Europe. Go to Japan if you want to have a more unique experience.
>> Anonymous
Canada, West: Nice weather, shitty, arrogant people East: Nice people, shitty, cold weather. Although if getting away from the UK is your goal, you might want to give Nova Scotia a pass, it's a piece of Scotland that broke off when Pangaea broke up and it looks exactly like Scotland, only more cold and rainy.
USA: Depends where you go, really. Jingoism central of the western world
Australia: Just like Europe only hot and full of horrifying, deadly poisonous creatures.
Japan: Full of stuffy racists who are too polite to tell you how much they hate you so they just smile and bow while treating you like shit. Jingoism central of the eastern world.
>> Anonymous
>>81653
PS, when I say "nice weather", I'm talking by Canadian standards, I.E. the amount of rain mixed in with the snow to turn it in to horrible filthy slush/the amount of black ice to break your neck
>> Anonymous
Anglosphere = testicles

Go to Japan instead.
>> Anonymous
No, don't listen to these people. As the Leningradfag, I was speaking the solemn truth. The USA is the greatest place on the planet, if you see it the right way. And never forget, the right way is YOUR WAY. It's sort of Cthulhu-ish in the way that you can become an amnesiac Mexican thanks to your explorationary effors, but still, you will enjoy the ride. There is more to see than your imagination will allow, there are more people to meet than is safe, there are more points of attraction than modern morality will accept. It's all behind the grime and sludge of Americana. It's still there.
>> Anonymous
>>81659
Familiarity is the only reason you see behind the cliches
Things like that can happen anywhere.
>> Anonymous
No matter what you hear, the place youre most likely to be accepted is the US. Some places are only fun if youre super cool or have a lot of money(NY and LA). The US is xboxHUEG and there is a place for everybody. Do your research and youll do fine.
>> Anonymous
>>81661
Leningradfag here. My friend, you have spoken a great truth about not only travelling, but existance as a human being. What you said is what we all seek for - that little slot in any society available we fit into. We just see different slots, and there are different societeis everywhere. This is the good heart of globalization. The bad one we see day to day.
>> Anonymous
I have never been to aus, but i live in the us and have spent a decent amount of time hanging out/slacking in japan and canada.

age is something to consider.
if you are under 21, choose japan or maybe aus ( don't know the drinking age there) i'm saying this not because drinking is important, but if you want to enjoy your social life then you will want to go out and hang with the locals. if you come to the us, then go to chicago, ny, or maybe san fran. that's if you want excitement/culture.

japan is a blast. the young people there love americans, and even though there are some white people there, you won't see them very often. go to either tokyo or osaka. i prefer osaka. japan loves to party and you will not have any trouble finding kids to hang out with and they will befriend you and take you to cool places and will not let you pay for things.

the u.s. can be friendly too, it's just harder to find the nice folks.

choose wisely. have fun!!
>> Anonymous
OP, for the US where you should go really depends on your income, handle on English, age, and what country you're from. Age too. List some of those and some Americans can give you some more specific advice.
>> Anonymous
>>81662
i think accpetance would be just as likely in Canada or Australia, and they are both also xbox huge, something you would know if you had looked at a map recently.

>>81550
you must be unlucky, every canadian ive met so far has been awesome, friendly and funny
>> Anonymous
Damn OP, you come from Europe and you're dead set on travelling to cultureless English colonies? yes there's some interesting pockets in all of them but they all pretty much offer the same things. the only deciding factor, should be climate and nature. go to japan, though as far as asia goes i wouldn't even bother about there, but i guess since it's gotta be safe clean and comfortable that leaves most of the world out. enjoy your shitty shit.
>> Anonymous
Im in southern ontario, its not cold, its not snowing its not raining. LULZ CANADA IS FROZEN HURR DURR it's not that bad except in January/February. If you can't handle the cold then too and for you because winter is the best season.
>> Anonymous
Ausfag here.
Firstly addressing>>81673, the legal age to drink/smoke/buy porn in Australia is 18. In Japan it's 20.

If you go to Australia, people will love you because of your accent and you will be swimming in pussy. Alcohol is pretty expensive but the scenery is great and depending on where you are, the nightlife is fucking cool. But if you're the scenery type, you will never be short of anything to look at. You have Sydney Harbour, one of the most famous views in the world. Head a few hours south and you have snowfields. Head a more more hours west and you have desert. Head north and you have forest. Sydney is great. Melbourne is better. Brisbane is.....good too, I guess. But I was quite bored there.

If you go to Japan, people will love you because you look different and you will be swimming in pussy. Alcohol is disturbingly cheap and the scenery, depending on where you are, ranges from BUILDINGSBUILDINGSBUILDINGS to forest to mountains to sand dunes. Once you get past all the excitement of being in a city with a population of 13 million, really the only thing to do in Tokyo is enjoy being in a city that never, ever shuts down. I think Osaka has a better nightlife, but that's just me.

My ultimate recommendation? Go to Japan. But don't be a typical weeaboo faggot and spend your time divided evenly between Tokyo and Osaka. Get the fuck out of there, go to Hokkaido, Tottori or Okinawa. Go to real Japan. It's fucking awesome.
>> Anonymous
USA, more specifically, California, more specifically, San Francisco. The north-east part of the peninsula (downtown) has some seriously awesome things.

Such as:
-Giridelhi (sp?) Square
-Pier 39
-Rather large China Town that is the original home of fortune cookies and chop suey
-Market Street
-Fully operating historic cable car system that actually takes you places (unlike some historic railroads that only take you in a small purpose-less loop or whatever)
-Fully restored historic streetcar system

Out of the city there is also a lot to do and see, such as Silicone Valley, home of Google, Yahoo, and Mozilla, to name a few.

Also, for colleges if you are planning on studying here, there are numerous world class colleges such as Stanford and UC Berkley.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>cultureless English colonies?
Nigga you best be joking.
>> Anonymous
>>81799
Omg Tottori yes. I spent a year there on student exchange and it was an incredible experience. OP, rural Japan is magnificent, and if you do decide to go to Japan, sure visit the city a couple of times, but it soon gets boring as all fuck. In the country you can actually build meaningful relationships with people that will welcome you back year after year.
>> Anonymous
hey OP, how long do you plan on going for? a couple weeks, months, years?
>> Anonymous
Why won't you kill yourself?
>> Anonymous
>>81802
>Giridelhi (sp?) Square
>Pier 39
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

>Get the fuck out of there [Tokyo & Osaka], go to Hokkaido, Tottori or Okinawa. Go to real Japan. It's fucking awesome.
>real Japan
Hokkaido, Tottori Prefecture, and Okinawa have a combined population of 8 million out of 127 million people total, or 6%. The Tokyo and Osakan metropolitan areas hold a combined 42% of the Japanese population. Yeah, "Real Japan" alright.

>the city...gets boring as all fuck.
>rural Japan is magnificent
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
>> OP here Anonymous
Thanks for your input so far. It seems like I've decided on the four right places, as everyone's listing mostly the pros of those and hardly any cons. I'll answer some of your questions:

I'm 24 years old
I'm from Austria
I'm not really concerned about racism, as there are racist fucks everywhere, you just have to avoid them or confront them directly, I'm a master of (playing) a racist myself
I don't really like the cold, although I can handle it (lol you austrians are skiing 24/7 anyway amirite?)
My English is pretty decent. Of course, my pronunciation might sound funny and I'll make some grammatical mistakes here and there, but my vocabulary should be alright and I can always say what I want to say.
I really want to get out of Europe, because I've seen everything that's worth seeing here, from Spain to Greece, including England, France, Germany, Benelux, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, even San Marino, Monaco and Liechtenstein. Maybe I forgot something.
I intend to stay for a whole semester, that's 4-5 months in most countries I think. I'm not particularly rich, but I will be able to afford a living everywhere with a scholarship from my university and I'll probably live on campus or something cheap.
Also, I'm studying informatics and that makes Silicon valley quite interesting for me. Also the MIT (lol good luck getting in) and Japan's tech department (Sony etc).
>> Anonymous
>>81896
Austriafag=GTFO of America. Seriously it'd be for your own good because of the racism in your case would be people mistaking your Austrian accent for a german one..

Then oh boy get ready to be called 'fag' and 'nazi' up and down the street. Americans are about the most ignorant people in the world, and I'm not above this either being American and all. Then again we're becoming the new Mexicans of the world, so I guess it's fitting.
>> Anonymous
Go to Hawaii. It's expensive, but well worth it. I went around XMas of '05. The weather was in the upper 90's (Fahrenheit) the entire time I was there. The water was beautiful, and was absolutely great to snorkel/scuba dive. If you don't have that much cash, I suggest New York City. The greatest city in the world.
>> Anonymous
>>81952

Bullshit. What you're doing is stereotyping.
>> Anonymous
>>81896
oh hi op, fellow 24 year old austrianfag here, go to japan it's cool, I'm here currently and plan to do my diploma here.

>>81954
happend to me pretty often though when chatting with americans for it just to be stereotypical.
>> Anonymous
If you're not from Sweden, Norway or Finland you will find out that alcohol is pretty expensive elsewhere.

Japan has the cheapest tobacco btw.

But I wouldn't advise going to Japan if you can't speak Japanese. Understand and speak. Enough to actually do something useful with it. I've been there and learned it the hard way. Sure it was possible, but sometimes quite annoying, cause no one will be able to talk to you in english.
>> Anonymous
>>81955

I think you'd get some Nazi jokes all over the English speaking world, UK in particular. I don't think anyone is going to really hate you though, but if you can't take a little ball busting you might do better some place else.
>> Anonymous
>>81959
you miss the differencce, in the UK it's jokes.
in the US it's not, at least it never came around as a joke to me.
>> Anonymous
>>81527

JLPT3 is NO WHERE NEAR enough to even "get around" in Japan. NO WHERE. You will be lost and clueless and stuck forever if you somehow ended up in Japan alone. Just so you know.

Canada and the US are boring. Australia and Japan are your best choices out of those, Japan would probably be better if you're looking for a unique and different place to visit, but Australia is definitely a good alternative.

But if you plan to go to Japan and hope to communicate with just 2 years of practice, you best start cramming with the language study.
>> Anonymous
>>81960


You need to lighten up, mate. Seriously.
>> Anonymous
>>81966
I might do that, I even considered visiting the US, now that bush is gone.
>> Anonymous
>>81962

Have you even been to Japan? level 3 is more then enough to "get by".

What are you smoking? newfag
>> Anonymous
>>81954
Welcome to /trv/
>> Anonymous
>>81975
well, if by "get by" you mean talking like a four-year-old and pointing at anything on the menu more complicated than "ramen" then sure
>> Anonymous
>>81863

Nice wiki skills there, faggot.
Tokyo and Osaka both have huge populations, but everyone that lives there either:
-Wants to be white
-Wants to be black
-Thinks they are white
-Thinks they are black

The massive westernisation of Japan has hit the big cities most, and if you want to experience actual Japanese culture, you sure as fuck are not going to see a drop of it in Tokyo or Osaka. The only thing you'll see are glorified spectacles they put on for all the tourists. Plus, aside from a fuckload of huge buildings and lights, there is not a huge amount to see.

So go to Japan you dumb cunt and stop using wikipedia and a calculator to argue on the internet
>> Anonymous
>>81989
>if you want to experience actual Japanese culture, you sure as fuck are not going to see a drop of it in Tokyo or Osaka. The only thing you'll see are glorified spectacles they put on for all the tourists.

WRONG. just take a turn right into that small alley and leave the big streets and tourist spots.
>> Anonymous
>>81989
>experience actual Japanese culture
Most Japanese live in large cities. The culture there is therefore the prevalent culture of the country. It may not be TRADITIONAL, but it is "actual Japanese culture".

>So go to Japan you dumb cunt and stop using wikipedia and a calculator to argue on the internet
You're right. Using actual facts and data is for faggots. I should use shitty anecdotes and ridiculous claims like a true internet badass.
>> Anonymous
>>81989
>actual Japanese culture
about 30 million people live and work in the greater Tokyo area. That's a quarter of the country's population. Whatever westernized culture they have, that's their culture. That's Japanese culture.

Oh, you don't like it? Want to pretend it's 1920 again? Want to go live in a village and shit in a hole in the ground? Boo fucking hoo.
>> Anonymous
Modern Japanese culture is still Japanese culture.
Frankly, I was more impressed by Kyoto station than Kyoto's temples and shrines.
>> Anonymous
>>82013
Kyoto Station is pretty badass.
>> Anonymous
>>82020
you can't visit that right now though, the christmas lights... my eyes D:
>> Anonymous
>>81799
>Hokkaido, Tottori or Okinawa. Go to real Japan.

I think people from Hokkaido and Okinawa would like to have words with you. Both were essentially forced to join Japan against their will. Real Japan my ass.

>>82073
pics?

>>82002
While I wholeheartedly agree with the point you're making, I remember reading somewhere that Japan has a comparatively large rural population. Anyway, there are awesome things in the countryside, in small cities and in the big cities.
>> Anonymous
I've lived in Southwestern Ontario and the Tohoku region of Japan. Canada is colder in the winters, but the climates are pretty similar overall: humid and hot in summer, and cold in the winter.

BUT. Japan feels so, so, so much colder in the winter since they don't have proper insulation or central heating south of Hokkaido. It's bitter cold inside and out. If you can't stand the cold, pick Canada or stay in Southern Japan!
>> Anonymous
>real Japan
this is Sarah Palin-grade dumb
>> Anonymous
>>82075
>pics?

sorry, I'm an architecturefag, I deliberately refused to take any pictures of it in it's current state, but I'm sure you can find some on the interwebs
>> Anonymous
>>82091
>If you can't stand the cold, pick Canada

wat
>> OP here again Anonymous
Thanks for your opinions again. I think Japan wins, with the US being a close second.
>> Anonymous
Australia-fag here, I'd probably recommend NZ over Aus.
>> Anonymous
If you like BBW goto USA
If you're a weabo goto Japan
If you like nice people and beaches goto Australia
If you like nice people and snow goto Canada
>> Anonymous
>>82553
....BBWs?
>> Anonymous
>>82558
Big boned women ie fat people?
>> Anonymous
>>82562
isn't that Big Breasted Women?
>> Anonymous
>>82553
>weabo
lol
>> Anonymous
>>82594

I thought it was big beautiful women
>> Anonymous
i studied a year abroad in canada... mexicunt here... great choice. I went to the french speaking part though; but i have been in the english speaking cities too for the whole summes studying english (ottawa and toronto) and it is great over there.. The winter can be hard but you're a Eurofag, so depending on which country you're from; you can handle it.
Americans can be really morons; and australia might be interesting; but the accent is quite different. The most neutral english accent is canadian english imo; so go for canada.
Japan would be pretty cool too; it'd be a close second
>> Anonymous
>>82624
>>82594
>>82562
Huh. Never heard any of those before.