Oh gosh, I really love the UK and London, one of my absolutely favourite places to visit.
But then I also totally believe that there is nothing that is more fun in life than living in foreign countries.
Have a look at Scandinavia, also up there in my most favourite list, eg Finland, the worlds most competitive country:
"WASHINGTON POST
Finland just might be the world�s most interesting country that Americans know least about. It has the best school system in the world, some of the most liberated women (the president is female), more cell phones per capita than anyone else, one of the world�s best high-tech companies (Nokia), remarkable information technology of many kinds, great music from rock and jazz to classical. The Finns are proud of their generous welfare state, which provides, among much else, free health care and free education at every level.
Finland is quite big, the size of Kansas and Iowa combined, but sparsely populated -- 5.2 million souls, or about 10 percent smaller than metropolitan Washington, D.C. For three weeks, Lucian Perkins and I will be traveling around the country to try to figure it out. Lucian takes pictures and occasionally writes about what he sees; I will concentrate on words. We will try to figure out how the Finns have been so successful in so many different ways and why Finland appears to be one of the most modern and most adaptable societies anywhere. We'll also see if we can find some chinks in their armor, on the old but reliable theory that nothing is perfect.
Finland has largely reinvented itself over the last generation. Its educational system, economy, technology and sense of itself have all been transformed. This is change on a scale rarely seen in the world; only China, perhaps, has undergone a similar transformation in such a short period of time.
Superb schools symbolize the modern transformation of Finland, a poor and agrarian nation half a century ago, and today one of the world's most prosperous, modern and adaptable countries.
Finland finishes first in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) exams that test 15-year-olds in all of the world's industrial democracies. Finland also finishes at or near the top in many global comparisons of economic competitiveness: Internet usage, environmental practices and more. Finland, where the modern cell phone was largely invented, has more cell phones per capita than any other nation -- nearly 85 per 100 citizens.��
The Finnish Report Card
Finland has largely remade itself over the last 35 years, revamping its education system, transforming its medical care structure and creating a new high-tech sector that, thanks to cell phone manufacturer Nokia, has become an international player.
Today Finland is regularly cited as among the world's best in a variety of indexes and comparisons.
For example:
· The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, ranks Finland's the most competitive economy in the world.
· Yale and Columbia universities rank the nations of the world in a "sustainability index" that measures a country's ability to "protect the natural environment over the next several decades." Finland is first in the rankings.
· Statistics kept by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show that Finland invests more of its gross domestic product in research and development than any country but Sweden.
· Finnish 15-year-olds score first in the industrial world on comparative tests of their academic abilities.
· According to a global survey by Transparency International, Finland is perceived as the least corrupt country in the world. (The United States is tied for 17th.)
· Finns read newspapers and take books out of libraries at rates as high or higher than all other countries.
· Finland trains more musicians, per capita, than any other country.
-- Robert G. Kaiser"
LINK: Washington Post - Finland Diary
Not only is the quality of living up there pretty as high as it gets on this planet, but Helsinki and Stockholm are also two of the most incredible party towns on this planet !
I spent part of my studies in Helsinki, living up there several years, which included lots of regular trips to Stockholm on those great ferries they have there.
Go visit.
I promise you won't regret it !
