The first time I wanted to move to Europe was when I was in elementary school and obsessed with the Spice Girls. Then came Harry Potter, which fueled my dream of living in the UK even more. Why couldn’t I have a cool British accent? I felt severely geographically disadvantaged.
Ironically, I ended up traveling almost everywhere except Europe, until three years ago, when I decided to take a German class for fun in university. I would of never imagined that a few years down the road, I would end up liking the country so much that I’m actually moving there!
And so, with about two and a half months until my big move, here’s 5 reasons why I can’t wait to move to Europe! (In actuality, I probably have 345647 reasons, but due to the word limit, I’ll keep it to 5).
1. The style
One thing that’s always bothered me about Toronto is the lack of style in the city. This is a place where grown men walk around in oversized hoodies, and women (both old and overweight) believe that there’s nothing wrong with wearing yoga pants which visibility showcase their panty lines. I remember someone telling me that French people actually find it disgraceful to walk about in public wearing sweats, which I believe should be a written rule. And while traveling has made me a lot less critical about fashion than my art school days where I studied fashion design, I still believe that style is a way of expressing our individualism. Europe has always been a fashion mecca, and the last time I was there, I was not disappointed!
2. The food
While I’m not sure how excited I am about eating sausages and sauerkraut, I am a huge fan of pizza, and can’t wait to try some authentic Italian pizza that everyone always raves about. This is what I’m most excited about for Italy of course – not the Coliseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or cute Italian guys who wear too much Armani, but Italian pizza with lots of cheese (and also gelato!).
3. The ease of adventure
Living in Canada, traveling from one major city to another can take hours on a plane. I always feel jealous of my friends in Europe who can take a train in any direction, and end up in another country in a few hours! Weekend trip to Paris? No problem. Feel like eating Italian food? Screw the corner deli, let’s go to Rome for dinner. I will no doubt be taking advantage of this, and especially with the flexibility of my new job there, I will definitely travel as much as possible every weekend!
4. The people
I love the people in Europe. A lot of my coolest friends are from Europe, and they never shy away from embarking on an adventure. Plus, there’s so many cultures in one small continent, that nothing ever stays the same. One of my favourite movies of all time is L’Auberge Espagnole, and always love it when I experience what I call a “L’auberge Espagnole” moment. I have tons of friends in Europe who I’m excited to see and hang out with again.
5. The culture
Coming from a country whose history can be summarized in about three sentences, I’ve always been so fascinated by European culture and history. I took world history throughout high school and university, and I love visiting ancient monuments and castles. Having gone to art school, I’m also a huge fan of the Impressionist and Surrealist movements. Visiting Montmartre and the Musee d’Orsay was a dream. Up next: Catalan architecture, the van Gogh musuem in Amsterdam, and Dali’s hometown in Catalonia!
Italian pizza doesn’t have a lot of cheese. It’s nothing like western pizza…. it’s more “thrown together” rather than “built” like in the west.
Just FYI. But have fun!
Thanks for the heads up! That’s a bit disappointing to hear since my favourite pizza is probably the deep dish pizza they have in Chicago (mmm!), but at least I won’t come home chubby from eating too much cheese, haha!
Ohmigod pizzzzaaa. I think Italian pizza is THE best thing about Europe. Haha.
I grew up in Waterloo, Ontario which is a university town. So I hear you on the yoga pants thing. I swear the “in” thing at my school was to toss your hair up in a messy bun, wear lululemon pants, a Bench sweatshirt, a tna bag and uggs (which just blew my mind – I mean why are you spending so much money to look like you just rolled out of bed?!). Every day. Probably every other person walking down the street was wearing this. The other half were all young guys in baggy sweatpants.
That being said, I did find it aggravating living in Europe that I couldn’t at least do that sometimes. Haha.
I know exactly what you mean! I went to Western, hahaha! I LOVED Western, but the yoga pants, UGGS, and TNA bags are too much!
I lived in Italy for two years, the pizza (& food in general) is up there as one of my favourite things about that country.
Also, I loved the food in Germany too. It always reminded me of good homestyle cooking.
2 years of authentic Italian food?? Everything else must dim in comparison! 🙂
So where will you be based at, do you know??
Yes, in Mannheim! 🙂
I’m half Italian and I go back 3 times a year, and oh god pizza is the best and no other place in the world can compare. But yeah, @anothercanuck is right. Italian pizza doesn’t really have much cheese like American pizza. It’s go a very light and crisp base and everything is just thrown on. But you could definitely order a pizza “ai quattro formaggi” which is a pizza with 4 different types of cheese (gorgonzola, mozarella, and usually either fontina, asiago or groviera) which is probably the cheesiest out there! 🙂 Anyway enjoy europe! I’ve seen pretty much all of Italy and been to many other places around Europe too and I am sure that you’ll love it. All your 5 points mentioned above is truly what makes it so great! 😀
Mmm 4 types of cheese? 🙂 I’ll definitley have to try it, thanks! The 4 cheese pizza at California Pizza Kitchen has always been my fav :p