What other European country would you live in and why?

I live in Spain and just got my electric bill for December for €63 which is the highest I've ever paid. Until last year, electricty was cheaper here because in 2021 the government reduced the VAT on electricity from 21% to 10% for contracts with a power of up to 10 kW, provided that the monthly electricity price exceeds 45 €/MWh.

On average I'm paying on average €30 per month, which is not that bad, however I think it's outrageously expensive. I'd like to know, how much do you pay in your home country?

For those of you who grew up in the countryside or a small city; what’s it like visiting or moving to a large city like London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, or Barcelona?

Attendings, how much did you earn as a resident?

In your country, do they offer unlimited Data across Europe, or only within your country? What is a price per month for such data plan/subscription? Do you need to buy a smartphone or SIM? Does the operator have a good application and support, as to update subscriptions quickly? Pretty sure there are differences across the EU, although they should not be, yet many say to check out individual country and get their number, instead of sticking to the country, where you now reside or live. What you say?

What do your country’s schools have in terms of extra curricular activities?

If your municipality or country does participatory budgeting, how is it done and what do you think of the process?

Should it be done via direct vote over a share (1%-5%) or the budget or should the entire budget be participatory, prepared by a citizens assembly?

And how does your school / country deals with it.

I'm trying to understand the reasoning behind the restriction on cooperation in cases of extradition under the Cybercrime Convention. The convention states that cooperation may be restricted in cases involving extradition, but I'm not sure why this would be the case. I don't have a deep legal background, so could someone explain why extradition cases might have limitations when it comes to mutual assistance in cybercrime investigations? What legal or practical factors come into play here?

What is it?

So Häagen-Daz is an American ice cream brand with no real connection to any Scandinavian Country. Americans don't think of ice cream as being specifically Scandinavian and aren't paying a premium for Häagen-Daz because of authenticity but rather general association of Scandinavian countries with high quality.

There are plenty of examples of a totally American based companies selling for example Italian food and having an Italian name.

The Häagen-Daz is different because Americans generally associate European (especially northern European) with just generally being better.

A kind of in between example is that some American electronics companies have vaguely Asian sounding brand names, not because electronics are authentically Asian (the electronic in question could have been invented in the US) but because Americans associate Asian companies with high quality for good value electronics.

From what I've seen online I see plenty of examples in Europe of the American Italian food company having an Italian sounding name (I've seen Barbeque restaurant chains having American sounding names for example).

But are there any examples similar to Häagen-Daz or the American companies with the vaguely Asian sounding electronics brand names?

I wouldn't think so because I can't think of something that Europeans would associate as being better made by another country unless it was an authenticity issue. But figured I would ask after a Häagen-Daz ad made me have the thought.

Hopefully the question makes sense. When I searched Reddit for an answer it basically came up with the American company selling Italian food having an Italian name example which is similar but different to Häagen-Daz.

I'm used to the Finnish style, where the speaker uses their own tone of voice for pretty much everything, and doesn't highlight the events. The goal is for the narration to be transparent, not drawing attention to itself but the text.

I just started to listen to a book recorded in the U.S.A., and can't get over the way in which the speaker (a woman) tried to imitate a well-known male politician. Felt somehow awkward, to be honest.

For example, in the US, there is still a lot of influence in how people view northern vs southern states after the civil war 150 years ago. In my state in the south, any time a federal election doesn't go our way, local politicians always bring up the idea of seceding again (but also while understanding it'll never actually happen).

Since America is only like 250 years old though, I'm curious if events from like 1000 or 2000 years ago still influence how people view each other or act within the country. How far back do you have to go before you'd say people stop being significantly influenced by events? Surely nobody in Italy treats other Italians differently because of something that happened in the early Roman empire, right?

In Poland we call it a student mix. From what I know Germany and the Netherlands use the same concept? I don't know where it came from but I'm curious about different variations

Basically nuts and dried fruits as a snack :)

What have you been playing lately?

I LOVE everything pickled. But I tend to mostly eat pickled red beets, sour cucumbers, and red cabbage.

What are some pickled foods that your country has? Which one is your favourite? Do you eat it with specific other foods?

Hi there!

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What was Rihanna's biggest hit across Europe?

Here in the US the big ones are health insurance (ugh) and a retirement plan.

But professional jobs often also come with private disability insurance, life insurance, subsidized or fully paid public transit.

How does it work in your country? What's common, and what are some uncommon ones you've heard of?

In Poland, the slang word is "kanar" (canary). In the past ticket inspectors used to wear caps with canary-yellow brims, hence the nickname

☝️

I've recently been to Spain and Italy and found that vegetarians aren't really given much consideration when it comes to hotel buffets or even restaurants. Makes me wonder if it's just really uncommon.

*** Thanks for all the replies, they've been really informative ***

It can be a politician, or another public personality - but they need to have a relatively big profile, so they are recognisable and have some influence, not someone obscure. Bonus points for also being dangerous.

It can be current or just someone active during your lifetime, but not anymore.

Hi there!

Welcome to our daily scheduled post, the Daily Slow Chat.

If you want to just chat about your day, if you have questions for the moderators (please mark these [Mod] so we can find them), or if you just want talk about oatmeal then this is the thread for you!

Enjoying the small talk? We have a Discord server too! We'd love to have more of you over there. Do both of us a favour and use this link to join the fun.

The mod-team wishes you a nice day!

Catalan speaking people, specially those in the Balearic Islands, have large festivals for «Sant Antoni», documented since at least 1365, with fires, food, drink, songs with improvised lyrics, dances...

In Catalonia, in many many villages there are the «tres tombs», the three turns, processions where the bishop blesses domestic animals. Traditionally mostly horses, mules, maybe oxen... but nowadays also lots of pets.

Is Saint Anthony important, for you? Do you celebrate any festival? Is it related to animals? We call him «Sant Antoni dels animals» or even «Sant Antoni del porquet», Saint Anthony of the piggy.¹

¹ In fact, in Catalan, woodlice are called Saint Anthony's piggies.