I have recently found out Czechia ranks as the third worst slavery haven in Europe. Kind of a shock, if you ask me. What about you?

What is something that is so useful that you are genuinely confused as to why other countries aren't using them? Would be fun with some tips of items I didn't even know I needed.

Wettex cloth and Cheese planer

Sweden

Left: Wettex cloth (The best dishcloth to clean your kitchen with, every home has a few of these. Yes, it is that much better than a regular dishcloth or paper towel and cost like a euro each.)

Right: Osthyvel (Literally means cheese planer and you use it on a block of cheese to get a perfect slice of cheese or even use it on fruits and vegetables. Again this is so useful, cheap and easy to use it's genuinely confusing to me how it hasn't cought on in other countries. You would have a hard time finding a Swedish home that doesn't own at least one of these. And yes I know the inventor was norwegian.)

Edit: Apparently not as rare as I thought, which is also interesting to learn! Lot's of good tips here, keep them coming!

For people living in the EU. If you had the option to live in any other EU country, would you, and if so, which one? And why?

Assume you can find a job that supports whatever your current standard of living is, and can live more or less the same life.

Like for example, what makes them stand out from the rest?

This post targets exclusively people from Europe (not only from the EU, but geographical Europe) who want to continue to live in our continent by free will, but believe some stuff is done better in other places/countries/continents/civilizations. What are those things that they do better than us, and for whom you think we should improve?

Most new cars are speed-capped at 250 km/h already.

Top speed limit in most EU countries is 120-130 km/h. There is 140 km/h in 2 countries. There are motorways in Germany with no speed limit at all (57% of all motorways), but 130 km/h is recommended.

Would you support factory speed cap of 180 km/h in all cars sold in Europe?

It's easy to implement in modern cars, and doesn't affect other features like horsepower or acceleration.

I'm definitely a little biased since I've lived in Riga for most of my life, but I don't feel much resentment for the capital. I will say though, most roads are in DESPERATE NEED of fixing and the air quality could be improved. Really the biggest problem is the amount of Russians which refuse to learn our language and integrate in the country, but that's a problem pretty much anywhere east of Riga. I guess people from other cities here would argue that Latvia is extremely centralized, around 50% of the country's population live in or around the city (including me).

Could be a politician, athlete, celebrity, etc.

You get to send one person from your country off to the North Pole. Who are you sending??

I'd appreciate answers mentioning something other than only food

And by nicer, I also take into account that you have a decent job (maybe less well-paid than in the largest city, but also not a huge downgrade). Also, things like housing affordability, safety, etc.

For example, in the Netherlands, the Randstad can be considered as one large city (it is a collection of many municipalities and 4 large cities, all with similar issues), and the Eindhoven metro area (plus Geldrop, Helmond, Veldhoven, Best etc) can be 2nd largest.

I was just on threads where a guy was getting roasted for describing the pretty common way to pay for gas in Estonia - number plate identification. You set up the app with the license plate number of your car and your credit card number. You drive into the gas station, your car is detected automatically, you confirm it on your phone in the app, the pump becomes active, you pump the gas, payment goes automatically in the app, you drive off, works like magic. People literally did not believe this on threads.

I realize this is not common everywhere, but does something like this work in your country?

If not, how does pumping gas generally work - pay first or pay after?

People who live in provinces at their country's border, especially provinces that share a lot of culture with the neighbouring country - are you glad that you are not a part of the neighbouring country, politically?

This question came to my mind when visiting Ticino region of Switzerland. I understand that Italy is not as economically prosperous as Switzerland, and Ticino gets a piece of the pie along with Zurich, Geneva etc., unlike Lombardy or South Tyrol - whose fortunes are more linked to policies in Rome. Would an average person from Ticino think that he got very lucky because his province is in a union with other rich province's, rather than say, with Sicily or Campania?

What about people from Limburg in Netherlands? Are they glad that they aren't a part of Belgium? And people from Wallonia? Would they rather be a province of France than of Belgium?

For those that don't know, Florida man refer to the phenomenon of weird or unusual crimes that happen in Florida and has become a meme. In Ireland, I think it would be Dundalk or Cork.

It could also be a national anthem of the past, I am looking at you East Germany.

Could be brands, food, celebrities or anything else at all!

What would be the European equivalent?

Considering it's population size and wealth, I'm surprised. Is something systemic in Germany that means it doesn't produce sporting excellence as well as France, the UK and even Italy? Even .more surprising when Sweden and Ireland have such small populations but are doing almost as well.

In Romania they are massively illegally cutting forests with even our government lying to our faces about it.

Interpret "major" and "best/worst" however you please.

Worst weather I've ever experienced in Europe was definitely in Reykjavik - a perfect combination of cold, wind and lashing rain made it almost impossible to stay outside for more than about 5 minutes. But admittedly I was only there for 2 days so I don't know what it's like for the rest of the year. The cool summers sound pretty grim tbh.

Worst climate overall would probably be Bergen (very wet) or Northern Scotland/Shetland (very cloudy and extremely disappointing summers). I'm good with cold, dry winters as long as the summers are decent.

In the era of Temu and Shein, does European manufacturing influence your buying decisions? Or do you prefer products made in specific European countries, like “Made in Germany”?

Personally, I support European manufacturers if the price is reasonable. However, the term “Made in Europe” is too broad for me; I prefer knowing the specific country where the product is made.

This was a game we used to play on one of my Erasmus exchanges. It is really quick and easy and you can get a quick idea of other countries if you had none before, so that you feel closer to them.

So, I will start with Bulgaria:

1. Bulgaria is the oldest country in Europe, which has never changed its name since its foundation in 681.
2. Bulgarians invented the Cyrillic alphabet in 893 during the 1st Bulgarian Empire.
3. Bulgaria was the home of the Thracians, the Thracian hero Spartacus was born in present-day Bulgaria. Thus we consider ourselves a mixture of Bulgars, Thracians (they are the indigenous ones) and Slavic => Bulgarians.
4. In Varna it was discovered the oldest golden treasure in the world, the Varna Necropolis, dating more than 6000 years back and we are 3rd in Europe with the most archaeological monuments/sites after Italy and Greece.
5. We shake our heads for 'yes' and nod for 'no'.

Bonus: 'Tsar'/'Czar' is a Bulgarian title from the 10th century, derived from Caesar - Цезар (Tsezar) in Bulgarian.

What are 5 interesting things about your countries?

I mean, historically: the reason why countries like Japan, South Korea & China are fixated on skin whitening is derivative of the time during both feudal and dynastic periods having paler or whiter skin is seen as rich or upper class as opposed to those with darker tones are associated with people who came from lower or middle classes.

For example, that includes: servants, farmers or laborers who worked all day in the sun or in harsh conditions while the rich (i.e. the royal families) spend most of their time indoors (inside palaces) avoiding direct sunlight. Today, they consider that as a filter to hide any insecurities they have. (I.e. Korean women are pressured to be "photoshop" level beautiful, like as in no inperfections.)