2
submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by ComradeMiao@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

America

  • Good pay
  • Bigger Houses
  • Free internet
  • Not an ethnostate
  • Nice/open people
  • Nice Nature
  • Public Respect (somewhat)
  • While the chances are low, shootings and police/ICE violence is not 0%
  • Universities, really good if not best (as an academic)

China

  • Clean, Major cities are clean but more polluted and trashed than other two
  • Ethnostate, forever an outsider
  • Increasingly difficult internet.
  • Nice/open people
  • Safe Society
  • Universities, pretty mid to bad at best unless its top

Japan

  • Cleanest
  • Ethnostate, forever an outsider, but not being stared at or random photos like in China
  • Free internet
  • Nice Nature
  • Public Trust
  • Public Respect
  • Safe Society
  • Universities, pretty mid to bad at best unless its top three

I feel forever trapped between these three countries with family, languages, culture, and religion. Very lost on which to pursue for my career. A recent trip to China has made me very much feel not China. I cannot stand the staring, photo taking making me feel like I'm a zoo animal, even more so for my child. But it is nice and pay can be decent. I also really like Chinese people and culture.

America has a lot of good, but I'm so sick of having to be stressed about its politics and the culture of violence. I do love the nature, individual freedom, and academic (tho the recent not being able to comment on Israel has been insane).

Japan is great on the surface but subtle racism, bad pay, and trump-copy cat prime minister is concerning. Committing to China or especially Japan over the US is fucking my family financially if we want to visit family in the other two countries.

Side note, I love being fluid between three cultures but not having a stable home in one place is somewhat exhausting.

Another random thought is America is actually so comfortable compared to China or Japan when it comes to being yourself.

Edit: why is everyone being pedantic or getting upset over one word rather than just answer lmao

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] HubertManne@piefed.social 2 points 5 days ago

This might have been easier in the past but honestly as bad as the us is Im not sure anywhere in the world is safe from where the world seems to be going. Im not sure what pay you will be pulling down but I know I have never felt comfortable enough financially to visit anywhere abroad as a us person. Large part is having to be ready to handle being unemployed every so often and the other is healthcare costs.

[-] ComradeMiao@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago

I agree with you. Also financially it’s getting worse in all three countries. US is certainly doing the best financially. I was shocked by how hard covid continues to hit China. Buildings being built in Chengdu in 2019 are just left empty downtown now. Japan has worsening yen and rising costs.

For the healthcare side, insurance in Japan has been around 30$ per month and every medical cost for children is free. In the US I was paying 6-700$ a month and still paying 20-35% per visit.

[-] HubertManne@piefed.social 1 points 4 days ago

and judging from your costs you were essentially not using it. I have a wife with many medical issues and healthcare costs are one third of our monthly budget. Just something to think about. What country would you want to be in if everything in your life goes south.

[-] ComradeMiao@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Idk what this means. It cost 30$ in Japan 6-700$ in USA. How much I use it doesn’t change the monthly bill. Co-pay plus percentage in the US in standard. Really unsure what you mean.

In Japan it does charge 30% for adults so I bet some horrible sickness would be expensive.

Good question. I’ll think on that

this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2026
2 points (53.3% liked)

Asklemmy

53840 readers
361 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS