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The movie Sicko changed me

By Big Sexxxy Joe (Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 06:10:36 PM EST) (all tags)

I just saw the movie Michael Moore's movie, Sicko.

Before I saw it, I wanted to change America. Now I just want to move to France.

I pay $400 a month in student loans. That'll be true for 20 years even if I leave America. But hey, at least I could get the free health care.

Anyone know anything about moving to France? I'm web developer, and I don't speak French.

Right now I'm going to a physical therapist for two injuries. I have a partially dislocated shoulder and I neck injury which causes my left hand to have a buzzing sensation. After $600 come out of my personal medical fund, I'll have to pay $600 before the insurance kicks in. I don't really have the money and I don't see the point in paying some guy $100 a week to tell me to keep doing my rotator cuff exercises.

In France people live longer, and the way I see it your health is the most important thing right? Also I'm sick of working 40-45 hours a week with a mandatory hour lunch break. Besides French women are hot.

So France seems pretty awesome, but is it hard to move there considering that I don't speak French? Any other European countries easier to move to?

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The movie Sicko changed me | 25 comments (25 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

Honest advice by TurboThy (4.00 / 1) #1 Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 06:26:43 PM EST

... as I can't tell if you're trolling or not.

Don't. The french are horribly uptight about other Europeans, not to mention Americans. (Still love Paris, though, in a freaky masochistic way).

If English is your only language, most people in Britain, Ireland, Finland, Scandinavia and the Netherlands have reasonably proficiency in English - especially in IT. Generally the problem is that you will be needing a visa and a work permit, and I don't know how hard they are to get.

If I had to choose, I'd go for northern Italy. Lower wages than northern Europe, not so many people speaking English, and I don't know their healthcare situation very well. But Italian is pretty easy to learn, the people are generally hospitable and friendly, and you quickly learn to appreciate their way of life with all its warts and frustrations.
__
You can't fix anything, you can't change anything, so just tell them that everything is A. The Fuck OK. —Rogerborg

Trolling? by Big Sexxxy Joe (2.00 / 0) #6 Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 10:00:41 PM EST

If you always worry about trolling then the trolls have already won.

I don't know if I'll really move to France. Maybe Ireland.

I'm like Jesus, only better.
[ Parent ]

WARNING by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #8 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 02:33:46 AM EST

Ireland's healthcare sucks.

[ Parent ]

Have you been to a U.S. hospital? by theboz (2.00 / 0) #18 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 10:00:46 AM EST

If you walk into an emergency room, you're going to be waiting hours and hours (I think the longest wait I've experienced was 8 hours, the least was probably 4) just to see the triage nurse, then a few more hours to get to a point where you can get to see a real doctor. Obviously, if you arrive by ambulance you get a higher priority, but if someone carries you in because you can't afford to pay an ambulance, you're screwed.

Oh, and don't even try to find a family practice doctor that can see you. If you're lucky enough to find a doctor that is seeing new patients (most are not) you'll have to wait a pretty standard two months before you can be seen. If you are sick and need help right away, you either go to the emergency room and wait many hours or you go to one of the clinics for poor people that are usually run by inexperienced doctors straight out of medical school, who mostly tell you to just suck it up.

Then there is insurance, which is probably one of the worst things ever. If you've so much as farted, you can't get private insurance without being rich. If you work for a company, they still charge way too much, and often don't cover random things. For example, once my wife went to a doctor who told her, "go downstairs to the lab and get this blood work done." The insurance company (Pacificare) refused to cover the blood work because the lab was not in their network. Nevermind that this was at a hospital and it's not like we had time to call up Pacificare and see if the lab was in their network or ok to use or not.

So, I'm not certain that there is any first world nation with worse healthcare than the U.S. According to the World Health Organization, Ireland is ranked as 19th while the U.S. is 37th. I'm sure we gave Costa Rica a run for it's money.
- - - - -
That's what I always say about you, boz, you have a good memory for random facts about pussy. -- joh3n
[ Parent ]

In Ontario they complain about wait times by Phil the Canuck (4.00 / 1) #19 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 10:19:38 AM EST

You will see a triage nurse within fifteen minutes of arriving at the ER. I've never waited in an ER more than three hours before seeing a doctor, at the lowest end of the triage priority.

You're extremely lucky if you can find a family doctor, but anyone can walk into a general clinic and see a doctor who works a family practice (more often than a newbie doc). Whatever doctor you see, they decide what level of care you need.

If something is not covered, you're always told upfront.

No by Merekat (4.00 / 1) #20 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 10:20:54 AM EST

However, looking at your paragraphs...

Check. People are known to wait 8 hours and more. My brother was left for 4 hours on a trolley with bits of his leg sticking out after a motorbike accident, having been brought in by ambulance.
Weeks more than months. How inconsiderate of me to time my chest infection for when there are no appointments. 6 hours in casualty, not being able to breathe properly. 5 hours waiting for a 'scheduled' appointment at an asthma clinic only to not be seen coz they had run out of time. Payment, on the day always, 50 euro a go. Even with social insurance and private.
Insurance. You need it. It isn't expensive but it isn't useful except that it is so much worse without it. Existing things don't get covered for up to 5 years. Without insurance, expect to wait months or even years for minor surgery or consultants appointment (husband was told an 18 month wait for a neuro consult). With, to get seen fast, expect to pay out in advance and claim back later.

Other - paint peeling off walls, MRSA rife, malpractice rife in some known hospitals (you wanna keep those female reproductive organs?), bed shortages etc. etc.

Maybe it isn't as bad as the US but it is certainly sufficiently bad that I wouldn't move to Ireland in search of an image of eurosocialist better healthcare. They seem hell bent on combining the worst aspects of private and socialist healthcare.

[ Parent ]

: There's a reason for that by theboz (2.00 / 0) #24 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 12:23:23 PM EST

Irish people are fuckups. Americans are fuckups too, but we've managed to insert extreme greed over human decency into the mix, so our healthcare system is worse.
- - - - -
That's what I always say about you, boz, you have a good memory for random facts about pussy. -- joh3n
[ Parent ]

I don't always worry by TurboThy (2.00 / 0) #11 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 07:13:17 AM EST

But when people say they are considering moving to France, the alarms go off.
__
You can't fix anything, you can't change anything, so just tell them that everything is A. The Fuck OK. —Rogerborg
[ Parent ]

Wrong by theboz (4.00 / 1) #16 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 09:47:27 AM EST

The french are horribly uptight about other Europeans, not to mention Americans.

That's why he should become a Jerry Lewis impersonator. He will be universally loved.
- - - - -
That's what I always say about you, boz, you have a good memory for random facts about pussy. -- joh3n
[ Parent ]

Emigration is difficult by BadDoggie (4.00 / 1) #2 Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 06:28:10 PM EST

My sister's been fighting to stay in France for a couple years now and she both speaks the language fluently and isn't bad looking. It's a lot harder these days to emigrate to the EU than it was a decade ago. Your best bet is to come over to EUia, dazzle a French babe and get her to marry you. Find a rich one who can pay off your student loans.

woof.

OMG WE'RE FUCKED! -- duxup ?

Try Soviet Canuckistan. by vorheesleatherface (4.00 / 1) #3 Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 07:09:53 PM EST

Also, if you think there may be any chance that your doctor would write you up as permanently disabled, you can apply to get your student loans wiped out. Only being a complete gimp, or a dead gimp will get you out of those loans. Good luck.

"Stabbing someone in the head with a pitchfork is rarely beneficial to the relationship." - MereKat

: that kind of physio may or may not be covered by clover kicker (4.00 / 1) #7 Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 10:09:11 PM EST

It varies province by province, some research may be required.
Oh, and best to research what style of sweater and toque makes you look your best.

[ Parent ]

Start learning French by motty (4.00 / 1) #4 Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 07:21:48 PM EST

If you think you might be serious about France, speaking French is the only way to find out for sure.

I amd itn ecaptiaghle of drinking sthis d dar - Dr T

consolidate your loans by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 2) #5 Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 08:49:01 PM EST

if you haven't yet.

we got clock's down from $1,000/mo at 6% to $245/mo at <3% interest.

French people hate people who don't speak French. by codemonkey uk (4.00 / 1) #9 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 04:46:02 AM EST

True story.

--- Thad ---
developer of ... ?

Yes by Phil the Canuck (2.00 / 0) #21 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 10:22:23 AM EST

They also hate non-french people who speak French.

[ Parent ]

: and other french people by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #22 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 10:30:10 AM EST

Ref. Parisiens vs. everyone else.

[ Parent ]

Spain by gpig (2.00 / 0) #10 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 06:44:06 AM EST

is worth a try, if you can tolerate the heat. The language is easier to learn than French, and they don't hate English speakers (at least not as much as the French sometimes seem to).

That's where I'm going to move when Britain finally goes to the .... ah, never mind.
---
(, ,') -- eep
"This option is deprecated, as it is conceptually flawed." -- man psql

Britain? by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #13 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 09:12:56 AM EST

I thought it was splitting up before then.

[ Parent ]

Quite right by gpig (2.00 / 0) #14 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 09:20:48 AM EST

Erratum:

That's where I'm going to move when The Free Republic Of Salmond finally goes to the .... ah, never mind.
---
(, ,') -- eep
"This option is deprecated, as it is conceptually flawed." -- man psql
[ Parent ]

: Hmmm, by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #15 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 09:42:36 AM EST

to move back to Edinburgh or not, that is the question.

[ Parent ]

Whereever you end up going, by komet (4.00 / 1) #12 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 07:22:12 AM EST

don't be a fuckwad: learn the local language.

You only need to start to learn once you're there, though. First, you need a job.

--
<ni> komet: You are functionally illiterate as regards trashy erotica.

Joe, man! by Gedvondur (2.00 / 0) #17 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 09:50:59 AM EST

I thought YOU DIED!!

Gedvondur
"Well, one of the two girls I'm friendly with out here is a Christian and she wouldn't do the things I want to do." --Sapphire

: I'm still around by Big Sexxxy Joe (4.00 / 1) #25 Tue Aug 14, 2007 at 10:22:03 PM EST

I'm on kuro5hin more than I'm here, as I am very immature.

I'm like Jesus, only better.
[ Parent ]

Without speaking french... by bob6 (2.00 / 0) #23 Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 11:40:53 AM EST

You'd have to be the best fucking web developer in the world. Seriously if you come here, just do it the next 24 months: 1) IT's hiring right now and 2) healthcare is decent but it's not going to improve.

However you really should learn to use the tongue with a local mother... Ooops! I meant to say you ought to locally use a mother with your tongue. Or something like that.

Cheers.

The movie Sicko changed me | 25 comments (25 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback