In what is commonly called “pay-to-stay” or “private jail,” a constellation of small city jails — at least 26 of them in Los Angeles and Orange counties — open their doors to defendants who can afford the option.
I speak precisely one language, with maybe a passing interest in a few others. My wife doesn’t even have that. Her job requires her to be able to communicate effectively. So that limits us to English speaking countries, Canada, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. Of those, New Zealand and Ireland are tempting, though our careers aren’t in high demand in either location.
Emigrating to a country we’d buy be interested in would be expensive and time consuming, and we have neither the time nor the money to accomplish that. Not to mention our families and friends are all here. We both have decent careers here.
Nah, you’d be fine in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavian countries too. Poland, Portugal. Everyone speaks English, loads of jobs where just English is fine. There are maaaaany expats who only speak English. There’s no need to speak the local language at all. It’s nice if you learn, but I have friends who live here for 7 years and only speak English and their own language (French, Swedish, German, Spanish, Portuguese). They say it’s too hard to learn Dutch because everyone automatically switches to English when they hear you’re not Dutch, so it’s hard to practice. There are many Asian countries too where just English is fine as well. An American friend of mine is living out his pension on the Philippines with his wife. Doesn’t speak a word which isn’t English. My ex is from Mauritania, she’s slowly learning German now that she’s been living in Berlin for over 10 years, but it’s hard not to pick up some German when you live there for so long. But most conversations are still in English.
So you’ve got loads of options! Most of them with better healthcare and no one owning guns. Many countries have special programs to help expats to settle. Help with taxes, finding a job and a house, etc. US citizens are very welcome in most countries in Europe, some even have special treats. Like in the Netherlands, there’s a tax cut for expats with specialized jobs (like in tech).
Just avoid France and Southern Italy. In Northern Italy everyone speaks English, in the south they don’t. And in France most people don’t speak it or are to proud to speak it (unless in big cities but even there it’s not too great). But in most countries rural parts have a lower quality and quantity of English speakers (not in the Netherlands though, here a non-English speaker is a rarity, mostly boomers).
I went to American public School.
I speak precisely one language, with maybe a passing interest in a few others. My wife doesn’t even have that. Her job requires her to be able to communicate effectively. So that limits us to English speaking countries, Canada, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. Of those, New Zealand and Ireland are tempting, though our careers aren’t in high demand in either location.
Emigrating to a country we’d buy be interested in would be expensive and time consuming, and we have neither the time nor the money to accomplish that. Not to mention our families and friends are all here. We both have decent careers here.
Nah, you’d be fine in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavian countries too. Poland, Portugal. Everyone speaks English, loads of jobs where just English is fine. There are maaaaany expats who only speak English. There’s no need to speak the local language at all. It’s nice if you learn, but I have friends who live here for 7 years and only speak English and their own language (French, Swedish, German, Spanish, Portuguese). They say it’s too hard to learn Dutch because everyone automatically switches to English when they hear you’re not Dutch, so it’s hard to practice. There are many Asian countries too where just English is fine as well. An American friend of mine is living out his pension on the Philippines with his wife. Doesn’t speak a word which isn’t English. My ex is from Mauritania, she’s slowly learning German now that she’s been living in Berlin for over 10 years, but it’s hard not to pick up some German when you live there for so long. But most conversations are still in English.
So you’ve got loads of options! Most of them with better healthcare and no one owning guns. Many countries have special programs to help expats to settle. Help with taxes, finding a job and a house, etc. US citizens are very welcome in most countries in Europe, some even have special treats. Like in the Netherlands, there’s a tax cut for expats with specialized jobs (like in tech).
Just avoid France and Southern Italy. In Northern Italy everyone speaks English, in the south they don’t. And in France most people don’t speak it or are to proud to speak it (unless in big cities but even there it’s not too great). But in most countries rural parts have a lower quality and quantity of English speakers (not in the Netherlands though, here a non-English speaker is a rarity, mostly boomers).