Pack Your Bags and Move to Iceland
 

I've got a vague feeling that we had one of tese polls a couple of years ago or something (and that I might've even started it). Anyway, did a search and came up with bugger all so...

According to the latest UN Rankings the following countries come top when it comes to general standard of living (which the calculate in relation to factors such as life expectancy, adult literacy, school enrollment, educational attainment, and adjusted real income). Any road, here's their top ten:

Iceland
Norway
Australia
Canada
Ireland
Sweden
Switzerland
Japan
Netherlands
France

Personally, I don't care how good the schools are or if I'm expected to live till I'm 137, I'm not in any hurry to move to any of these countries.

skin cancer and alcohol poisoning ensures that nobody living in australia lives too long.

so you don't have to worry about that.

i could see myself living in sydney... it would be pretty nice i think.

i do want to live in japan someday.... maybe some part of france.

'no' to the other places... canada is ok to visit.

I'll take Florence any day. I'm too small and wiry for Iceland or any other Nordic countries.

Allegro 3/4/09
Duct tape on ears. Plastic bag over head, under baseball cap. (Picture of a baseball).
Sleazy foreign guy; should be wearing a scarf.
Polisci undergrads with macbooks. earbuds. "liberal discoursee."
Being called "miss" -or- "ms." by construction workers.
Pretentious.
"Migrant farm workers."
Mustache march in full effect.
Degrees are worthless.
Life is worthless but hilarious.
Degrees are not hilarious.
Chrome bags and Cosby sweaters.
Needs more songs about boats in here.
"Soccer is a kick in the grass."
HARD DRUGS.
LIBERAL DISCOURSE. BUZZWORDS. PRETENTIOUS. LOOK AT ME. COFFEE.
-RIDES A FIXIE, GUARANTEED

I do want to go and live in France
oh wait...

I'd like to live in Japan. Also somewhere in Europe, possibly Germany. But I'd like to learn the language before moving somewhere.

I'd rather stay in Australia but if I had to I'd probably go to Canada or Alaska.

canada.

my country seems to be ranked a little higher than it should be.

If I had to choose another country Iceland would be okay. mmm auroras. Not sure I could deal with the absolute freezing temperatures though.

those pics make me cream my panties. so sad. :( The ice would make me cramp up and get so angry irl.

Maybe I could have some kind of super insulated glass roofed hot house...

sydney is vile, expensive, and dirty.. in the bad way.. Breathless and SAX are the only real reason I'm bothering to go in a month or so. Not sure that I'll leave enmore the entire week.

Yeah, I got a thing for Iceland. The night sky is amazing (as shown above).

Every year when we have the Melbourne International Film Festival - I always check out any Icelandic films.

But last year I saw some murder mystery film (I think it was called "Jar City") and in one of the scenes the peckish protagonist cop goes into a drive-thru and orders sheep brains which he then proceeds to eat.

Huh?

is iceland's ranking at the top of the chart not affected by their recent bankruptcy?

So I guess you aussies are too far north to get the aurora australis?

Don't move too soon--we are at a solar low--very little aurora going on anywhere right about now. Sorry, can't find the explanatory link right now.

Yes. the list is from last year, just before the crash. I'm not sure how much that affects Iceland's, or any other nation's, standing.

For the sake of contrast, the 2007 Forbes list of the most dangerous countries (based on instances of crime and civil unrest, overall security risks, specific terrorism risks and travel risks) consists of the following:

Somalia
Iraq
Afghanistan
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ivory Coast
Pakistan
Burundi
Sri Lanka
Haiti
Chad

Maybe not the best idea to ask a Somali local if you can have a photo taken with him:

I would like to live in Haiti because goat sacrifice isn't as looked down upon as it is in other places (like Iceland).

I think I could make a good living for myself selling fruit juice and zombie powder on the streets.

after everything is settled, I plan to change my first name to Papa.

ah, you silly silly man...

i'd go to iceland in the summer only, but they are broke as fuck and they won't keep their old standard of living. norway: lots of good looking women, summer is said to be nice, sounds boring as fuck though. i'd move to canada, provided it's a decent town like toronto or vancouver. sweden: summer only and for a quick visit-- good herring. switzerland: only to the frech-speaking parts, but sounds dull as fuck. japan: holy fuck YES. the "nether" lands.. maybe... gotta try amsterdam first. france: HELL THE FUCK YES. i'd move to france in a split second. fucking awesome country, beautiful women, awesome food, lots of bookstores, 2 hour lunches, and a population that loves and appreciates the arts (sure there are illiterate oafs everywhere but there are more here than there). if i had the means i'd move there today.

for me, my length of stay would depend upon how easy it would be to hook-up with the swedish MTV VJ that was on No Reservations.

I could suffer a lot of cold winters making sweet reindeer love.

I've been to Sweden. Very clean, very expensive, and all the men look and dress like Rutgar Hauer in The Hitcher.

its expensive, i'll give you that... i wouldn't live right in the city, as it is kind of vile/dirty... i could live near Bondi in some beach shack though

what if we are more of a Rutgar Hauer in Blade Runner kind of guy?

do you think the chicks will still dig me if I don't know my inception date?

Without a doubt. Although the cycling shorts may not be such a grand idea during winter.

you make it sound as if I'd leave the bedroom.

hello, my name is floatingslowly and I'm a swede addict.

swedish chicks are pretty nice.

Isn't the Iceland government bankrupt?

yes. they've been selling pieces of the country on ebay.

I'd move to Melbourne in a hot minute. Iceland sounds like mucho fun, but I don't know if I'd enjoy the experience of paying absurd amounts of money for booze.

Funnily enough I'm learning Icelandic at the moment. It's really fucking hard.

My wifes family is from Norway and one thing I can say is I don't understand what they mean by high standard of living. Everything is so expensive and they are socialist so their taxes are extremely high. So what ends up happening is most people can't afford to own a house so they rent a flat and people really don't own all that much stuff. Not that that is wrong really... but most people don't own a car, they use public transit or walk. Like walking a hour each way to work is perfectly acceptable. And yes much healthier for sure. Their food is great but the funny thing is everyone over there agrees the food is great--but try paying for it... it is so freakin rediculously expensive they end up eating just enough. So yes nobody is fat. I guess it's all how you look at it. Oh and not many drink--who can afford alcohol. Only very rarely do they drink.

so your idea of a good life is to be an overweight glutton who gets no exercise and commutes an hour to work from his subprime rate macmansion, gets back home so miserable to watch tv and get drunk? how is that life great?

by the way, the u.s. is #29 in infant mortality in the world. that's a fucking shame for the "most powerful country in the world".

now, i'm not saying i'd live in norway-- seems like a dull fucking place though, ha ha ha.

I could never live in Iceland. Japan, China, or Philippines, yes, totally, but not Iceland.

fuck iceland

because bondi is a really peaceful and quiet place, and so affordable.. and there are NEVER packs of drunken forgein tourists singing their own national anthem while being pulled from the water over and over again because they dont understand the concept of a rip?!


cannot think of anything worse. If you want a nice beach and shack-life, try nambucca or kempsey or something.

Canada..
I imagine it has the advantages of the USA without the drawbacks.
Isn't that place wonderful?

mm yeh I could do Canada. One of my friends lived/worked there for about three years and set it was the best time of her life. She DID work in a candy store and drink a lot of booze though.

yeh but at least you'll be able to listen to bjork and really get it

what advantages of the USA?

and what drawbacks specifically?

it is nice in the summer up there. the winter sucks

i don't want a shack in the middle of nowhere... i did live in Byron for a year...that was as close to nowhere as I can get.

i can sacrifice peace and quiet for titties