u/CardOk7729

I recently posted on this sub asking which career path would be best for moving abroad as I’m about to be applying to colleges(in the usa), and now im back asking which is the better country to live in between France and Japan. After I graduate I plan on moving to a new country. Since I’ll be outside of the country as a freshly 21/22 year old I’ll need a support system and since my parents were in the military and were frequently stationed abroad they have very close friends in both countries who were basically my uncles and aunts growing up. Which is why those are my two options, along with the fact that I genuinely am very interested in both of the countries cultures.

I’ll need to decide soon even though I’m not planning on leaving for a few years because I’m fluent in neither French nor Japanese so I’ll be starting from scratch(well not completely from scratch with Japanese since I roughly know kanji, hiragana, and katakana from a phase in middle school).

I’ll be in my early twenties and will hopefully have a degree in environmental engineering so im wondering which country will have better opportunities in those industries. Im fairly extroverted so ive never struggled with socializing in unfamiliar places though I’m sure it’ll be different in a whole new country. But on that note I am a biracial woman but honestly as bad as it sounds I can deal with racism. As long as it’s not an actual hate crime I have thick skin growing up in a small southern town where getting called the hard r or having neighbors with confederate flags wasn’t uncommon.

Another very important thing for me is that while I absolutely love rain i also love sunshine and greenery. I want to escape the blazing heat of the south while living somewhere very sunny and with a lot of nature to enjoy. I would also love living in a place with very little violence or crime.

I’m currently picking majors as im heading off to college soon and I’m trapped between environmental engineering and biology for eventual an eventual pa degree.

Overall salary and career wise I really want to be a physicians assistant but I don’t know if it fits around the life I want. Ive always been sure on leaving the USA. I don’t really have any vehement hatred for it here but I know this isnt where im going to grow old and raise a family in. I plan on moving to either Japan or France and should have it narrowed down to one before going to college.

I know engineering is the more transferable of the two careers but is there really no way to put a pa degree go use in these countries?

I know the most common answer is obviously going to be an atmospheric science/meteorology degree but only one school in my state offers it(I’m applying) and I can’t afford public out of state tuition so I’m mainly looking at private/liberal arts schools.

I want to be an atmospheric scientist, or maybe an oceanographer but most of the schools I’m looking at don’t offer those degrees so I’m wondering if they’re any other degrees that can lead me directly into being an atmospheric scientist or oceanographer.

Whenever someone asks for move inquiries on this subreddit most the recommendations consist of cities. That’s totally valid given all the benefits of living in a city but I’m curious as to where the people who love a slower life live?

Specifically where you live thats filled with nature and isnt completely devoid of job opportunities whether it’s from neighboring cities or towns.

Let me preface this by stating I know New England is a bit vague since that encompasses a few different states but I like the general vibe and standard of living that these states have in common.

After finishing college for my PA i dont plan on returning to my home state of Oklahoma and want to settle down in either a New England state or Washington specifically . Since childhood I knew I wanted to leave Oklahoma. The red politics and the asphalt hell aspect of this state made me miserable, though I’m unsure where to move to and dont want to stay in the state im going to college in.

One thing that’s important to me is nature. In Oklahoma theres a decent amount of nature but my issue regarding that is the poor seasons. The summers are smoldering hot and then the winters are dry and miserable. I feel trapped here by the poor infrastructure and being land locked on all sides, I’d prefer not to drive eight hours for the ocean.

Ive visited blue and New England states and to say I was amazed by the incredible infrastructure would be an understatement. To learn it wasn’t common for all states to have f rated schools making up the majority of the schools in the area or to not see 50% of the houses in the area be dilapidated (for context the average household income in my town is 31,000) was life changing.

For me i don’t mind longer winters but I don’t want to completely give up summers. I can deal with cold winter months, especially since I get actual snow but the more summer the better. I still need a a decent amount of sun.

Im a mixed black woman so it’ll be a sad to leave the prominent black culture down here in the south but I don’t mind being around white/asian communities since I have a pretty diverse friend group and am also half white. Especially if that means no longer being called the hard r on the regular or seeing confederate flags everywhere. So when it comes to the state I’ll live in i dont need a prominent black population but I also don’t want to be around a lot of aggressively racist or bigoted people like down here in the south/midwest.

One thing I am scared of is the lack of socialization that I’ve heard is commonplace in these states. Im a very social person and quite easily make friends since I’m not scared to approach or talk to people. But I don’t want to move somewhere where it’s basically impossible to make friends or date. Id prefer to live in the more social state. Though I am excited to experience not having to deal with the faux southern “hospitality” and instead more genuine interactions.

Then theres housing prices. I don’t plan on buying a house anytime soon but I definitely do once I’m nearing my thirties and want to have kids. I don’t want to live in a shoe box and am ok living outside a metropolitan area/ in the country side since I want to be close to nature and live in a more affordable area.

If anyone has or does live in both or one of these states I’d appreciate advice on the matter. I understand not all of my requirements will be met and I’m ok giving up on one of my preferences for another. For example I’m ok living in a place with less nature for more sun. Or somewhere with more suburbs than countryside for better housing prices.

Ive noticed upstate new York is pretty neglected in the media compared to nyc or even most New England states. I’ve been really interested in moving there after college but I’m not sure as to where.

I love the nature and having all four seasons. I couldn’t live in the south due to constant heat nor could I live somewhere like Washington where it’s constantly foggy and never sunny.

From what I’ve seen so far the architecture from right up my alley and so is the nature which is a nonnegotiable for me. It’s what often keeps me from moving to places like new York or Chicago.

After college I’ll be graduating with my bsn so anywhere with decent job opportunities and cheap enough housing to where I’ll be able to afford a decent size house to one day have kids would be great.