How Much, if at All, Would I Fit into Your Country/State?

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Even safer than Chicago

Yes. Toronto has a larger population than Chicago (we're the 4th largest city in North America, which includes Mexico), with a violent crime rate is significantly lower than Chicago's, per 100,000 people.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yes. Toronto has a larger population than Chicago (we're the 4th largest city in North America, which includes Mexico), with a violent crime rate is significantly lower than Chicago's, per 100,000 people.

But it has more Canuckistanians per 100,000 people
than any city in either USA or Mexistan. Ew.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Yes. Toronto has a larger population than Chicago (we're the 4th largest city in North America, which includes Mexico), with a violent crime rate is significantly lower than Chicago's, per 100,000 people.

That was a bit tongue in cheek since Chicago either is or is close to being the large city murder capitol of the US. They had 617 murders last year. Probably a few more (85 I believe) than they had in Toronto. Hey, look on the bright side. They did not have ten times as many.

 

[VoidCat]

Hmmm....

Well I can go to McDonald's dressed as a cat and get compliments. So there's that...

It's a very small town tho you wont be able to do much here.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

But it has more Canuckistanians per 100,000 people
than any city in either USA or Mexistan. Ew.

Actually, nearly 60% of Torontonians aren't from here, or elsewhere in Canada, at all. (Frankly, sometimes I think I'm the only person in the city who was actually born here. My partner and my best friends certainly were not!)

Toronto also has established ethnic neighbourhoods such as the multiple Chinatowns, Corso Italia, Little Italy, Little India, Greektown, Koreatown, Little Tokyo, Little Jamaica, Little Portugal, Little Malta, Roncesvalles (Polish), and Bloor West Village (Ukrainian), which celebrate the city's multiculturalism.

 

[Revoltingest]

Actually, nearly 60% of Torontonians aren't from here, or elsewhere in Canada, at all. (Frankly, sometimes I think I'm the only person in the city who was actually born here. My partner and my best friends certainly were not!)

Toronto also has established ethnic neighbourhoods such as the multiple Chinatowns, Corso Italia, Little Italy, Little India, Greektown, Koreatown, Little Tokyo, Little Jamaica, Little Portugal, Little Malta, Roncesvalles (Polish), and Bloor West Village (Ukrainian), which celebrate the city's multiculturalism.

Ferriners squared.

 

[Stevicus]

Toronto, Ontario, has been called by the United Nations the most multi-cultural, multi-racial city on earth. And frankly, that's part of the reason that I still love being here (though, of course, I was also born here). Here, we actually celebrate our diversity -- both with support of our civic, provincial and national governments, and with the enthusiastic participation of ordinary folks of every kind, shape, appetite and extraction. There really is no end of street festivals celebrating religions, or ethnicities, or just FOOD, FOOD, FOOD! (You can tell the food is my favourite celebration.) We have beautiful churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, mandirs and whatever else you want -- old and new, traditional and modern, rich and poor. I've visited most of them (a lot during our annual "Doors Open" event in which we visit places we normally wouldn't go to learn more about them).

Though we're not perfect (close!), there really is very little overt racism, we have been rated by the Economist as the 6th safest major city in the world, and the safest in North America.

Back when I was a kid, my family lived a number of years in upstate NY, and I recall visiting Toronto a few times. Nice city, nice province. My dad would take us camping there a lot.

However, I do have to confess that your city became the butt of jokes among various friends of mine at school, who were New York Yankees fans when the Toronto Blue Jays started out as an AL expansion team. They said some pretty nasty things about Toronto. I didn't really like the Maple Leafs either. They reminded me of the Charlestown Chiefs in the movie Slap Shot.

The city may be safe, but the hockey pucks are not.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Back when I was a kid, my family lived a number of years in upstate NY, and I recall visiting Toronto a few times. Nice city, nice province. My dad would take us camping there a lot.

However, I do have to confess that your city became the butt of jokes among various friends of mine at school, who were New York Yankees fans when the Toronto Blue Jays started out as an AL expansion team. They said some pretty nasty things about Toronto. I didn't really like the Maple Leafs either. They reminded me of the Charlestown Chiefs in the movie Slap Shot.

The city may be safe, but the hockey pucks are not.

Yes, I suppose if hockey is your primary concern, Toronto is not going to be the place to be. The Leafs last won the Stanley Cup i 1967 (that was Canada's centennial), and I suppose a 57 year drought would be a bit of a wait. However, since I'm as interested in hockey as I am in the output of dingo's kidneys, it's not a real issue for me.

 

[Stevicus]

Yes, I suppose if hockey is your primary concern, Toronto is not going to be the place to be. The Leafs last won the Stanley Cup i 1967 (that was Canada's centennial), and I suppose a 57 year drought would be a bit of a wait. However, since I'm as interested in hockey as I am in the output of dingo's kidneys, it's not a real issue for me.

I don't follow professional sports as much as I used to. I guess it was kind of fun as a kid, but I've also lost interest in it as I've gotten older.

 

[Nakosis]

There are RFers from various countries and states, so I'm curious what the answers to this question will be.

I realize that such things can only ever be guessed to a limited extent from online interactions, but based on my posts, conversations, things I have shared, etc., here, how much, if at all, do you think I would fit into your country or state if I moved there tomorrow? Would you see me having difficulty integrating, for example, or would I do so quickly? Or something else?

(I included "state" in the question to account for the vast differences between some states in the US.)

It all depends on your willingness to integrate.
The same as it would be if I were to immigrate to your country.

Your country has a language, a culture. My success would depend on my willingness to adopt this things from your country.
If I were to immigrate to another country it would be with 100% intent to adopt the language and culture of that country.

Ideally you would like the culture. If you don't, then you ought be looking for a place who's culture you did want to adopt.

How would you fit it?
You can answer that. Examine the culture and decide if it is something you want to adopt.

 

[JustGeorge]

It all depends on your willingness to integrate.
The same as it would be if I were to immigrate to your country.

Your country has a language, a culture. My success would depend on my willingness to adopt this things from your country.
If I were to immigrate to another country it would be with 100% intent to adopt the language and culture of that country.

Ideally you would like the culture. If you don't, then you ought be looking for a place who's culture you did want to adopt.

How would you fit it?
You can answer that. Examine the culture and decide if it is something you want to adopt.

Nobody in the US would be able to understand @Debater Slayer . His English is too good!

 

[Nakosis]

Nobody in the US would be able to understand @Debater Slayer . His English is too good!

Exactly, he'd have to dumb it down if he wanted to fit in.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Germany isn't the worst place to live though it might not be for you. Jobs in the IT sector are demanding but good paying. The culture in most big cities are multi-cultural and food options from markets over street food to high end restaurants will accommodate your preferences. Public transport is fairly good in and around cities but I recommend getting a drivers licence where you are now. It will cost you about 20 times as much if you have to get it here. Life in general is much more expensive which offsets the good payment a bit. Most people are open to foreigners but we've got some very nasty elements, especially in the Eastern part. You can get around with English and Arabic for a while but you need to learn German if you want to fit in.

If you are seriously looking into coming to Germany, visit the "Goethe Institut" (Goethe-Institut Ägypten | Kairo), they have German courses and can help with immigration and finding work.

Yes, Germany is a hotspot for many Arab immigrants in my field (software). I know a lot of people who have immigrated or temporarily moved to it, and while I wouldn't rule out moving there (even if temporarily), you're right that it might not be for me, based on what I've read and what people who have been there have told me. The main barrier could be the introversion and highly systematic way of life compared to where I currently live and my own personality.

I looked into learning German several years ago, but I never followed up on the initial consideration after getting absorbed in other things. I'd love to know three or four languages, and if I decided to pursue that, German would be one of the most useful ones to learn in my field.

 

[Debater Slayer]

What would you guess might be the main obstacles to integration?

That would depend on where I moved to. For example, in a highly introverted culture, the introversion would most likely make me feel at least a bit smothered and lonely compared to where I currently am. Depending on how individualistic or collectivistic a culture was, an excess of either could also make me feel a degree of alienation—which is the case where I currently live, where I find that the overall culture, while having many qualities I cherish, is also too conformist, collectivist, and rigidly traditionalist for me to fit in comfortably.

Chicagoland has a robust and heterogenous Muslim population, the sixth best graduate math program, excellent cuisine, outstanding theater, and a reasonably high tolerance for people with poor musical tastes. You could go far, perhaps all the way to Indiana.

I was worried until I read about the tolerance for the musical tastes. Thanks for the reassurance!

 

[Debater Slayer]

Toronto, Ontario, has been called by the United Nations the most multi-cultural, multi-racial city on earth. And frankly, that's part of the reason that I still love being here (though, of course, I was also born here). Here, we actually celebrate our diversity -- both with support of our civic, provincial and national governments, and with the enthusiastic participation of ordinary folks of every kind, shape, appetite and extraction. There really is no end of street festivals celebrating religions, or ethnicities, or just FOOD, FOOD, FOOD! (You can tell the food is my favourite celebration.) We have beautiful churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, mandirs and whatever else you want -- old and new, traditional and modern, rich and poor. I've visited most of them (a lot during our annual "Doors Open" event in which we visit places we normally wouldn't go to learn more about them).

Though we're not perfect (close!), there really is very little overt racism, we have been rated by the Economist as the 6th safest major city in the world, and the safest in North America.

Toronto sounds lovely, for sure.

How would you describe the work culture there and in Canada in general?

 

[Debater Slayer]

It all depends on your willingness to integrate.
The same as it would be if I were to immigrate to your country.

Your country has a language, a culture. My success would depend on my willingness to adopt this things from your country.
If I were to immigrate to another country it would be with 100% intent to adopt the language and culture of that country.

Ideally you would like the culture. If you don't, then you ought be looking for a place who's culture you did want to adopt.

How would you fit it?
You can answer that. Examine the culture and decide if it is something you want to adopt.

I agree on all counts, although I would also add that I think most people can, and should be expected to, retain certain aspects of their culture even after immigration. I don't necessarily see integration as mutually exclusive with keeping one's culture and language; in fact, in a lot of cases, I see the most successful form of integration as respecting the law and people in another country without entirely forgoing one's original cultural identity.

I partially meant my question to take into account views that some members here have seen me post. I wouldn't expect any answers based only on less personal online interactions to be exhaustive or definitive, of course.

Ironically, the main reason I've wanted to emigrate for many years in the first place is too much estrangement, primarily due to a huge mismatch between many of my personal values and the prevalent ones in my society (a mismatch I could probably live with if it didn't lead to major practical issues). So I'm already "integrating" in the sense of getting along well with most people despite facing some issues.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yes, Germany is a hotspot for many Arab immigrants in my field (software). I know a lot of people who have immigrated or temporarily moved to it, and while I wouldn't rule out moving there (even if temporarily), you're right that it might not be for me, based on what I've read and what people who have been there have told me. The main barrier could be the introversion and highly systematic way of life compared to where I currently live and my own personality.

I looked into learning German several years ago, but I never followed up on the initial consideration after getting absorbed in other things. I'd love to know three or four languages, and if I decided to pursue that, German would be one of the most useful ones to learn in my field.

If you want to learn more languages, Europe is
a better choice than USA or Cauckistan.
(Quebec has French, but it's anachronistic.)
If you like rules & order, Germany has that.
USA & Canuckistan are more "anything goes".

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Toronto sounds lovely, for sure.

How would you describe the work culture there and in Canada in general?

Well, there are lots of jobs in Toronto, but the can sometimes be a little hard to find, especially if you're new to the city. It's mostly due to the that competition for jobs is tough. The key industries in Toronto include finance, media and entertainment, tech, tourism, and real estate. There are many other jobs in other sectors, these are just the ones that Toronto is known for.

Canadian resumes do not always follow the same format as what employers in other countries prefer. Age, marital status, and religion don't need to go on a resume; the only personal information should be your name and contact information. Canadian employers believe that people should be considered for a job based on their skills and experience. Too many personal details might be seen as irrelevant to the job. When I was in the position of an IT VP, I always insisted that my managers got resumes with even the name removed, so that while reading the resume, they couldn't even know what gender the applicant was. I wanted the short-list based on qualifications alone.