Wow, thank you so much for your comments and insight, as someone who lives in one of those countries. I'll definitely show your mail to my boyfriend too. I'm really glad I talked to you about it, because there's a lot that I've never even heard of before. I guess it's something to accept that there is no paradise anywhere - and to remember that the US does give us a lot of good things too. Despite everything we complain about, there's still opportunities here; it's why my family came over here from across the sea when I was very little. And I am certainly grateful for that at the least.

Regarding education and everything, there seem to be huge cultural differences, and some of the pros/cons should be examined in those lens... I guess the most important thing is to do research and make sure you go somewhere where you like the culture, and I mean things like how kids are treated in school, societal expectations and pressures. You mentioned kids having their whole lives charted out at age 11 - that sounds so extreme to me, and makes me appreciate that in America you can still have a 2nd chance when life throws you a curveball...

In the end, me and my bf just want what will be best for us and especially our future kids. So we are definitely going to think about what you said and do more research. It might be that staying in the US is better just cuz we know how to survive here, we grew up here, we understand the culture and how things work, even if there's parts we really dislike. In a new place, we might not be able to help our kids at all because we're dealing with culture shock ourselves.

If you want to come to the US for your kids... you could do it. My parents did for me, and it turned out okay :) I think immigration will only get harder though, with Trump doing his thing. And I guess you have a lot of the same considerations about going to a new place. Speaking english natively will help sooo much though if you do decide to come over... sadly in part because of racism/xenophobia, people will judge you for having an accent, and it's better if you're white but it's horrible :<

This is all really depressing... Do you wanna pick a happier subject? Politics ... sucks. :(

Yeah, liking the culture is super tricky! And yeah, I can never get over that idea here in Switzerland. If their grades aren't good enough by the end of elementary, that's pretty much it. Middle school is divided between the students who might go to High School, and the students who won't, and that's pretty much it. :/

And if you DO decide to move to Europe, I'd definitely suggest you come BEFORE you plan to have any kids, or while they're still little, so if you DO decide to go back to the States, you always have the opportunity to head back before they've done a significant amount of school in a non-English language. Until they start school, it's still really easy to make them move! I mean, older kids will get use to a language change, too, but it will be a challenge.

I know we COULD go back to the States, but it wouldn't work really well with our jobs. Translating, sure, I could do anywhere. But teaching English in the States... It's a lot harder to get a job, because there aren't as many jobs, and loads of them are super part-time. And Daniel would have to go back through and get all new certifications. And, the cost of living is higher in Switzerland, but so is the wage. If we have to plan on taking children overseas to visit their grandparents, using a Swiss wage to buy tickets to America is way easier than using an American wage to buy tickets to Switzerland! So I'd imagine we'll stay, unless we reach a point where we really feel our kids are too seriously disadvantaged by our staying. So I dunno, we'll see...

The language wouldn't be much of an issue for us, though. I'm American, and Daniel is half-British, half-Swiss, so his English is really lovely... Like a softer, more exotic version of the British accent. He would be pretty easily accepted. I also think, though, that I take culture shock a lot more easily than he would. I see it, I notice it, and I deal with it, so I'm not really as "shocked" as a lot of other people I know.

But yes, happier subjects!!

There are lots of things I love about Switzerland, too! The scenery is beautiful, and I love all of the old buildings... There is a chunk of the original city wall about three minutes away from where I work, and it was built in the 1200's! And I love driving in Switzerland. Switzerland hasn't had as many wars as lots of other countries, because of their neutral policy, so they have a lot more castles than a lot of the other countries in Europe... When we drive, instead of playing more traditional I Spy, we play I spy a castle! I try to spot as many of them as I can. Love it!

Don't mean to bug you (hehe) but I fear my response to you got lost somewhere o:

Yes I did see the beautiful mountains! We stayed for a night then we just continued our journey :)

my glasses started falling off. My son told me he got these small plastic pieces you add to the end of the part that goes over the ear and bend it to fit around th ear and it never falls off anymore.

Ooh, I like the sound of those. A strap would work, but the small plastic pieces sounds better cuz they're less noticeable. Could you ask him what they are called so I can look it up?

Oops yeah the chat moves fast, don't worry about bugging me lol :)

I've never played mystery dungeon, but that sounds ADORABLE. I would totally go with that idea! Maybe you could give it a cute overlay where it has a chef hat and apron... and crumbs all over its mouth :D

Also, we only have one lamp that's bright enough, and it's in the bedroom. Though I could just move it out here when I need it.. and move it back when we need it in there... We should buy another lamp X)

Yeah I'm thinking of going with something like thatl although I do really like the original subeta pet too D= Sweetheart pets are so adorable aren't they?

I can create the art myself, but coding and graphics are another level for me :3

I do recommend getting another lamp, if you can! It would seem that it would help your eyes quite a bit ^^

Hello! How are you today? I haven't really chatted with anyone here for a while :/

Yes, I love sweetheart pets! I have one too... a sweetheart legeica named Haylee ^^

The only thing with sweetheart pets is that their hair doesn't really make sense to me lol. It's soo cute, but... what are those swirls? Is it really hair, or is it made out of cotton candy? :o

If you want help with coding and graphics, I can do both... so if you do want to make Swirlix a cute profile, and you have any art you want ready, let me know ❤️

Aww haylee is a darling!! She looks so in love if you ask me.

Hmm I took a closer look and it does seem like whipped cream? Definitely not like hair and cotton candy would be fluffier?

I have three sweetheart pets! Julliet, Swirlix and Cinna bunny. If I had space I'd totally get more haha.

Aw yay that would be awesome!! If you want I can draw a couple of your pets sometimes too n.n I love drawing.

Just looked at all of your pets and they're awesome for sure! :3

I'm getting better~ Still kinda loopy, but not as bad.

- I would love to visit Europe one day! I'm wondering how big is Geneva? Switzerland looks beautiful, but I don't want to run into my ex. :x

- Mini rant Yeah, healthcare is inhumanely expensive here. I've had to have gallbladder surgery and it cost $25K, which was knocked down to $2,500 due to parents' insurance. Add that with several ER visits, a wisdom tooth surgery, and several ambulance bills, and medical bills became too much. I had to go into bankruptcy because one credit card company was suing me. I had to use the money that was going to be used to move out of a bad home on a lawyer and bankruptcy. -_-

My fiance is on Obamacare, so I have no idea what's going to happen. The majority of minimum wage jobs don't offer insurance unless you're full time, which is almost never. rant over

Anyway, your profile and pets' profiles look amazing! Did you have a different username before, because I thought I've seen some of your pets before? I was going to see if you were interested in working on Frappe, but I think I need to do my pets' profiles myself. Like, I already have something very basic, but I wanted to make something better.

- I remember thinking why the team kept Swirlix as the cook if they always ate the food? XD

Yeah me too XD Maybe because they had ampharos as their leader

- That would make sense... XD

can't you go to wherever you bought the frames and ask them to adjust it for you? They did it for free for me~

These are computer glasses, not prescription glasses, so I did not get them from a store, unfortunately. Otherwise that would be a good idea. I think an eyeglass place would probably do an adjustment even if I didn't purchase them there, but then I'd have to find one in the area :< Thank you for the suggestion though!

Buying a strap of some sort is the easiest solution for me personally, as well, due to some anxiety issues I have with leaving the apartment by myself... I tend to prefer doing everything online /shrugs

Thank you for the compliments! I had a few usernames before actually... One that I used the longest was Dew. It was nice but wasn't quite perfect... then I discovered Bug and that was perfect, I don't think I will ever change it again (or at least not for a very, very long time!)

Haha, Geneva is quite big... But also, if you don't want to run into him, there is the whole rest of the country. :O If you stick to the German side instead of the French side, you should be pretty safe. :O

Yeah, our Shopko and Walmart both had eye doctors in my hometown, and they'd both adjust glasses for free. If they need more than adjusting, little repairs were still not usually too expensive. But those back of the ear things sound really handy...

I found a couple of possibilities online...

https://www.amazon.com/GMS-Optical-Comfortable-Silicone-Anti-slip/dp/B00DUWLI0Q https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BUU9522?psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/GMS-Optical%C2%AE-Quality-Fitting-Silicone/dp/B00MOPICLI/ref=sr_1_8_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1488919565&sr=1-8&keywords=Ear+Lock+Hook+Kit https://www.amazon.com/Wedgees-Eyeglass-Retainers-Eyewear-Holders/dp/B00I9IFG86/ref=pd_sim_200_8?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00I9IFG86&pd_rd_r=9TP5TM38ZMK7BXJWBPNP&pd_rd_w=jVfa6&pd_rd_wg=IvMzf&psc=1&refRID=9TP5TM38ZMK7BXJWBPNP

So I dunno, some of those might work? Watch out, though, the second one comments that they're not always one size fits all, so you have to make sure they'll work with your glasses... Seems like there are loads of them out there, though.

There is also some kind of wax you apply to the nose pads that is supposed to help, too... Apparently a bunch of people buy it to go along with those ear thingies... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O0CK2UM?ref_=ams_ad_dp_ovrl

me neither, everything is dash in dash out for me lately.

- Dew! That's who I was thinking of.

I'm debating on changing my username, but I'm not sure how I feel about it since it's a real world name. I'm attached to Cherri, but somedays, it feels too girly. Maybe I'm thinking too deeply into it?

- That's good to know! Hmmm... then if I ever have the funds to go to Switzerland, I'll stick to the German side. Or I don't know. Maybe I won't care in a few years if I run into the idiot. XD

I don't think you're thinking too deeply into it. There's nothing wrong with wanting a change c:

My advice would be to make sure you change it to something you like more. So like, instead of changing it to get rid of Cherri, change it because you found something even better. (If that makes sense...) So definitely have something in mind that you like a lot first. Also, I totally understand about not wanting a too gendered name sometimes. And I think it's worth it to change it to something less "girly" if it'll make you more comfortable, like, gender-wise.

One of the reasons I picked Bug is because it's so versatile. It can be cutesy and even girly if I'm feeling it... but it can also be more boyish. It can be more "cool" than "cute" too, and it can also be nerdy if that's what I wanna go for. And to top it off, it's programming-related too, so it was just the perfect word for me :)

- I know the name I would want the most, and other names I love, are taken, so I was thinking of a variation. I adore the variation, so I know I would be okay with changing to it, but I feel weird because it's a real world name.

I think I would be happier overall with something more gender neutral. Some days, I might kick myself. But others, I would be much happier.

Bug is a wonderful name, because of how versatile it is! It sounds so fitting for you. c:

Aw, I'm very sorry ;-; I've been through it last year hugs I bet he made you happy and you made him happy too 💛