House Hunters International - General Discussion

[izabella]

Wales wife is in for a lifetime of catering to her husband's oh-so-particular wants because he will never shut up about his wants.  I expect she'll be regretting their choice of apartments during her 3 mile bike ride to work in the snow and ice come winter and the cold rain the rest of the time, while he's all cozy at home looking out at the view and watching his cold weather vegetables grow.

 

Wales did look beautiful though, so I'm glad they did an episode there. 

[sugarbaker design]

Wales did look beautiful though, so I'm glad they did an episode there.

 

 

Just added Snowdonia to my must-get-to list.

[Ohwell]

Regarding the Wales couple:  I can't believe he's OK with his wife riding three miles each way on a bicycle.  I mean, Wales looks like a beautiful country, but crime is everywhere.  I wouldn't want someone I cared about riding alone like that.  And yes, not to mention the snow and ice and rain.

[DownTheShore]

Didn't the real estate agent mention helpfully that it was downhill on the way to work?  My first thought was, "that means that it's all uphill on the way home".

 

I couldn't believe that she was going to have to bike-ride that distance all the time.  What a piece-of-work he was, not putting her circumstances before his, and what a doormat she was for going along with it.

 

------

 

One of the things that I find annoying about the HHI episodes is that these people are so particular and specific about what they want in their home - and most of the time IT'S A ONLY FREAKIN' RENTAL PROPERTY!  They're not buying it and they're not going to live there for the rest of their lives!  If they've got a standard one year lease, THEY CAN MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE IF THEY'RE NOT HAPPY!  Aaarrrghh!  Drives me crazy.

Edited October 2, 2014 by DownTheShore

[sugarbaker design]

Regarding the Wales couple:  I can't believe he's OK with his wife riding three miles each way on a bicycle.

 

 

I couldn't believe that she was going to have to bike-ride that distance all the time.

 

 

Hasn't it already been established that most of the "storylines" are fictitious producer-driven drama?  I couldn't care less if she was walking over hot coals uphill for three miles while hubby was tending to his cucumbers.  I loved seeing the Welsh countryside and Snowdonia National Park.

[DownTheShore]

Well, yes, I doubt if any of us truly care, but it's fun to get involved with the silliness of the artificial drama as if it were real.  It's on par with watching the soap operas. :-D  (We really do need some smilies on this forum)

 

It was nice to see Wales for a change.  I am so sick of all the Australia episodes, and before that, the Belize ones.  That one that they had set in Paraguay was, I think, the first time that I've seen any videos of that country.

[BearCat49]

Wow. Sometimes the editing on this show really works for me. Watching last night's show in Wales and when the whiner husband complained about not having enough light in the master and how it "really dictates my mood," they caught a shot (or edited one it--don't care) of his wife giving him a total side-eye. Her expression was exactly what I was thinking.

 

Thing I don't get is why people are willing to provide the material to be edited this way. Of course, in special snowflake husband in Wales' case, I think he is just a total pill.

 

If all of us subjected ourselves to 5 10-hr shooting days for some reality TV program, would the producers be able to find us doing at least a few side eyes at our partners?  Or catch us doing something stupid?  Unfortunately, the answer's probably yes, IMHO.

[BearCat49]

Didn't the real estate agent mention helpfully that it was downhill on the way to work?  My first thought was, "that means that it's all uphill on the way home".

 

I couldn't believe that she was going to have to bike-ride that distance all the time.  What a piece-of-work he was, not putting her circumstances before his, and what a doormat she was for going along with it.

 

------

 

One of the things that I find annoying about the HHI episodes is that these people are so particular and specific about what they want in their home - and most of the time IT'S A ONLY FREAKIN' RENTAL PROPERTY!  They're not buying it and they're not going to live there for the rest of their lives!  If they've got a standard one year lease, THEY CAN MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE IF THEY'RE NOT HAPPY!  Aaarrrghh!  Drives me crazy.

 

Agree, DownTheShore, they can get out of their one year lease but sadly, they can't be on HHI (or HH) unless they complain and nitpick about a rental unit!

 

Love seeing Wales.  Yes, given that it's freakin' cold 11.5 mos of the year or so, I have a feeling she's using a scooter or carpooling with a colleague or something.  Or, the new car will arrive after HHI wraps filming!

[mojito]

 

...and most of the time IT'S A ONLY FREAKIN' RENTAL PROPERTY!

I just saw an HHI of the Chicago couple moving to Sao Paulo (I believe). She stated she would have to change the furniture in a rental. They also had a discussion about the closed-off kitchen because they would be separated from their guests. This from two people who knew no one in Brazil and didn't speak Portuguese. They wisely chose the smaller place and "entertained" their new friends outdoors. What a concept!

 

About the guy who talked about the light improving his mood. I instantly related, as I suffer from SAD. I hate gray skies so much that my least favorite episodes are the ones that are in the UK, where the sun shines for around 2 hours a year (yeah, yeah, I'm exaggerating). I feel the gloom just watching it on TV. It's even hard for me to appreciate the scenery, because it looks so depressing!

[biakbiak]

I just saw an HHI of the Chicago couple moving to Sao Paulo (I believe). She stated she would have to change the furniture in a rental. They also had a discussion about the closed-off kitchen because they would be separated from their guests. This from two people who knew no one in Brazil and didn't speak Portuguese. They wisely chose the smaller place and "entertained" their new friends outdoors. What a concept!

 

Those comments struck me as pretty benign reasons for the two decoys. The dated furniture was a similarly well placed/good amenities apartment slightly larger the the place they chose but the $500 cheaper and the 'closed of kitchen' was the much larger and not much more than the place they went; i.e. neither of these were on the market when they were looking and so they came up with fairly innocuous reasons to not choose them.

Also, Sao Paulo has a ton of ex-pats living there (my parents lived there for a year and I imagine it was pretty easy for them to find a group of friends through his work and a lot of organizations that support the spouses of people who moved there for their spouses work.

Edited October 4, 2014 by biakbiak

[DownTheShore]

I was watching the one tonight set in the Canary Islands, and while I liked the couple, I would imagine that the real estate agent would be pulling his hair out over the fact that they didn't have a set budget and that they couldn't tell him what they wanted, only what they didn't like.

 

It was followed by a repeat of that Lisa Anselmo one (mother died, she moved to Paris, Adrian found her a very small apt).  I was looking online and found this blog by her re her current situation: http://myparttimeparislife.com/2014/09/09/fear-and-loathing-in-paris/

[laredhead]

DownTheShore, the phrase "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind after reading Lisa's blog post.  Being on vacation somewhere and actually living there are two totally different things as she says.  Thank you for finding out her status for those of us who have been curious.

[mojito]

 

I was watching the one tonight set in the Canary Islands, and while I liked the couple, I would imagine that the real estate agent would be pulling his hair out over the fact that they didn't have a set budget and that they couldn't tell him what they wanted, only what they didn't like.

Still, they didn't come off as difficult and they weren't overly critical. It seemed as though being their agent would've been easy because they had el dinero. They weren't trying to get everything for a $200K budget, and he was in for a decent commission. I liked the easy dynamic of the couple's relationship. "I think this is what we should do." "Well, okay, then." (As you stated before, we're just going with the flow of what we're shown, not dissecting the show's editing.)

 

From watching these shows, I have soft spot for British house hunters (particularly the women), speaking in general terms. They see something "okay" and use words like "lovely". They aren't as demanding as Americans tend to be and they can look at a ruin (as in a piece of building that's 300 years old) and see the possibility. I like their lack of demand for what's new, shiny, and oversized, their tolerance for what others (including me in some cases) see as not even attractive enough to be called ordinary. I'd like to be among Europeans as they watch HH/HHI featuring North Americans and listen to their comments.

[Bastet]

Although it was even more obvious than usual which house was theirs, the follow-up was done too quickly to show us what the place is going to look like, and I'd have preferred looking at the scenery on the northern side of the island instead, the HHs were so likable I enjoyed the Canary Islands episode in spite of itself. 

 

I loved her reaction when he got out of the car (back home) without his jacket.  If they can be married that long, go through multiple renovation projects together, and still enjoy each other's company, they're doing something right.  They clearly have money coming out of their asses, yet didn't give off the entitled air seen in so many twentysomethings with a paltry budget on the domestic version of the program.

[DownTheShore]

I was just surprised that there wasn't anything offered to them that was more in line with the price they were comfortable with (which became obvious was about a million) that gave them the space and the views that they turned out to want.  I wonder if it was just because they wanted to stay in the more touristy area of the island?

[mojito]

I got the impression that they just wanted to get what they liked; they would've purchased the $200K property if it had struck their fantasy. It seemed to me that the agent didn't really know what their price range was so he just tried to find decent properties. Then they realized that they'd have to spend the big bucks afterall, which they had. Lucky them.

[DownTheShore]

I watched a repeat of the one set in Buenos Aires where the woman (Mary) was looking for a place for herself, her husband (Jaime) and their small son named Drake.  He wanted to be in the Palermo area which is apparently hopping, while she wanted a quieter place where she could teach yoga.  She's the one who had been a globe-trotting businesswoman who developed heart disease and had to have multiple heart surgeries so she changed her lifestyle.  She seems to be a very nice woman and appears pretty but there's something about her face that always catches my attention.  I'm wondering if she botoxed something, because there just seems to be something a little too Barbie-like about her face.  Anyone else notice that?

 

http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/it-takes-two-to-tango-in-buenos-aires-argentina/index.html

[mojito]

YES, DownTheShore, I just watched the episode and thought the same thing: Barbie-like face. Her smile almost seemed fixed. She left me wondering a lot of things, none of which I expected the show to explain, of course.

 

She also seemed to  be a 45 running at 33 (now there's a blast from the past). I wonder if she were an over-the-top Type A and has slowed down and quieted to the point where she's hardly recognizable to anyone who knew her. I also wonder if she was aged by the anxiety and surgeries (did she say 7?) so that she needed to get pulled. Also, could she have stroked, too? Her facial expression seemed a little fixed.

 

Whatever, she seemed to be very nice (didn't want to spend her husband's money....you go girl). I wonder if she was able to give birth to her son? I'm glad that she's getting so much out of yoga. And hope she lives many mellow years in Buenos Aires.

 

She got me wondering. When you've had heart disease and all those surgeries, what kind of things you chuck out of your life. Do you bother to watch the news anymore because you just don't want to deal with bad news? Do you scratch out all the toxic people on your Contacts List? Do you listen to Yanni wearing noise-canceling headphones? At first, I thought I'd want to build a house on Walden Pond or get one of those treehouse jungle homes in Central America, but then it occurred to me that I would want to be within 10 miles of a hospital, forget all that rustic crap.

[DownTheShore]

Glad I wasn't the only one who was struck by her rather fixed expression.

 

Seems to me that you do what she did - relocate to a place where you're far away from your usual stressors, and narrow your focus to what is really important to you, namely your health and in most cases, your family.

 

That's one of the things that I always wonder about with the shows are about older couples who are moving to some less-than-first-world country for their retirement years - what kind of medical care are they going to get?  They all seem to be in relatively good health, and probably for the run-of-the-mill health problems that people get as they age, those other countries might provide less expensive health care.  But what happens when you need the state-of-the-art care and you're living off the grid (virtually) somewhere in Central or South America?  (I'm not talking about the big cities, of course, but those little villages that have a single dirt road as their main street.)

[mojito]

I've wondered about that with a couple moving to Roatan. Even people with good health can face medical emergencies. Imagine taking a boat to get to the mainland. And what if there's a storm? I wonderhow easy it is to get health care in some of of these foreign countries? I mean, they get the health care, but is it government-sponsored? Is there a waiting period? Do you still have to get insurance?

 

I saw the couple in Guam. They brought their aging dog with them. She gave up a teaching job, he's in the military. No kids. When told one place didn't have outdoor space for the dog, he stated that they'd have to take the dog on walks. She said, Yeah, but that's a major inconvenience."

 

She wanted a three bedroom so her friends and family could visit. From Maryland. To Guam.

 

I don' t understand loving your dog so much that you say "the three of us" but then don't want to take it for walks.

Edited October 7, 2014 by mojito

[outtahere]

I believe they were newlyweds and she hasn't learned the art of compromise.  She was a bit spoiled and wanted to get her way.  She wanted a three bedroom and was using the excuse of a yard for the dog as a way to get it.  I don't think she cared as much for the dog as he did.

 

There won't be many people visiting from the states because of the cost and a 25 hour flight from the east coast.

[ChelseaNH]

Walden Pond is actually very close to hospitals -- it's adjacent to Route 2 -- but it's a park now.  The adjacent land is nicely wooded, but you're going to pay for the picturesque, especially that close to Boston.

[wisteria]

The NPR podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour (featuring Linda Holmes of former TWoP fame) just posted a short piece on HHI. They've got the formula down pat.

ETA:

 

When told one place didn't have outdoor space for the dog, he stated that they'd have to take the dog on walks. She said, Yeah, but that's a major inconvenience."

I just saw the scene in question. To be fair, they were looking at an apartment on an upper floor, and older dogs usually have to pee and poop quite often. Yeah, it would be a major inconvenience to take a dog up and down an elevator to a small patch of lawn every couple of hours, so I can understand her complaints. That said, you chose to bring your dog all the way to Guam, so suck it up and deal. (And I would NOT have the patience to walk a dog in those or any other conditions, which is why I have a cat.)

Edited October 7, 2014 by wisteria

[mojito]

 

To be fair, they were looking at an apartment on an upper floor, and older dogs usually have to pee and poop quite often.

Nope. Not gonna be fair.  ;) 

 

The dog mattered more. Yes, they needed to suck it up.

[biakbiak]

The dog mattered more. Yes, they needed to suck it up.

 

Well not really because they weren't going to take the place so it was a reason to object. She never said she wasn't going to take him on walks, the place they choose didn't have a yard, it was just not in a high rise and right on the beach and in a much nicer location for talking him for walks and not having to take him up and down the elevator every time, just a flight of stairs. 

[Mondrianyone]

Hello, everyone.  I'm a late-to-the-party refugee from TWoP.  I'm happy to see a lot of names I recognize along with a bunch that are new to me.

 

Speaking of names I recognize, I wonder if anyone else spotted a semi-famous name/face on an episode from last week.  It was the one with the recent archaeology grad moving to the Marshall Islands.  One of his friends back in Arizona, before he left home, looked really familiar to me.  Then I realized it was Leszek Pawlowicz (I had to look up the spelling!), a former Jeopardy! champ who was just shown again on the Battle of the Decades.  It was so weird to see someone so totally out of the expected context!  Anybody else see him, or am I starting to hallucinate Jeopardy! contestants?

 

Look forward to snarking with you all again.

[truther]

Howdy!

 

We've currently got HHI on in the background and it's a single guy moving to Helsingborg, Sweden.  He wants to experience Europe and travel all around and be a sophisticated cosmopolitan guy but he 1) has a fake quasi English accent and 2) refuses to take buses or ride a bicycle and 3) is one of the most annoying, high-maintenance people I've ever seen on this show.  It would have been much better if they'd simply run snarky comments about him from his nurse, I mean friend. 

[DownTheShore]

I just saw that.  My face was hurting in sympathy with his for all that smiling he was doing.

 

And what was his problem with having that claw foot bathtub?  They do have dohickeys nowadays that allow you to turn faucets into shower connections...

 

I didn't catch the explanation of why he chose Sweden as his new home,  And, I was wondering about that pseudo-accent too.

[DownTheShore]

I didn't notice the Jeopardy guy, but then I don't always watch it so other than Ken Jennings, I probably wouldn't recognize any of the champs.

 

Welcome. =)

[BradandJanet]

Howdy!

 

We've currently got HHI on in the background and it's a single guy moving to Helsingborg, Sweden.  He wants to experience Europe and travel all around and be a sophisticated cosmopolitan guy but he 1) has a fake quasi English accent and 2) refuses to take buses or ride a bicycle and 3) is one of the most annoying, high-maintenance people I've ever seen on this show.  It would have been much better if they'd simply run snarky comments about him from his nurse, I mean friend. 

 

Did he take the walk up with the big closet for all his clothes? Such an annoying man. I took joy in thinking about him trudging up flights of stairs. Also, what was that comment about how he would never be able to return to D.C. to teach there? Sounds like something went wrong. Well, expensive Sweden is now his new "hub" for all the traveling he's going to do. 

[Pallida]

Hello, everyone.  I'm a late-to-the-party refugee from TWoP.  I'm happy to see a lot of names I recognize along with a bunch that are new to me.

 

Speaking of names I recognize, I wonder if anyone else spotted a semi-famous name/face on an episode from last week.  It was the one with the recent archaeology grad moving to the Marshall Islands.  One of his friends back in Arizona, before he left home, looked really familiar to me.  Then I realized it was Leszek Pawlowicz (I had to look up the spelling!), a former Jeopardy! champ who was just shown again on the Battle of the Decades.  It was so weird to see someone so totally out of the expected context!  Anybody else see him, or am I starting to hallucinate Jeopardy! contestants?

 

Look forward to snarking with you all again.

 

I went to school with the guy from that Marshall Islands episode, and yes, that is the former Jeopardy champion.  

 

(I'm so happy someone finally mentioned the episode.  I didn't want to just squeal out I KNOW THAT GUY!)

[abbyzenn]

yes that guy moving to Sweden was quite the annoying diva.  Can't quite imagine him in the classroom.  I do think it was the walk up apartment.  It was the one with the claw foot tub.  It was odd that he focused on lack of shower because when I use to travel in Europe it seemed to me it was more common to have tubs with with shower thing rather than built in showers.  I guess the thing about not teaching in DC again was that he was leaving in the middle of the year? Not sure though.

 

I'm glad to see someone else mention about being so picky on a rental.  Especially if you're just moving to a new location, you may find you want a different place in that city after you are there awhile.  I mean really can't you live with any color in a bathroom for a year?  I can see big things like location and size and cleanliness or elevators

 

About a week or two ago I watch one where a single woman was moving to Wurzburg.  One apartment had orangish (looked more yellowish to me) walls which she really complained about and wouldn't take that apartment.  I had to laugh when I saw the reveal and she had painted one wall in her bedroom bright bright blue and had a purple bedspread and purple furniture in the living room.

[copshop]

Sweden: what a vapid little twit, but the agent--hubba hubba! And clever, too:

"What am I going to do with that?"

Bath(e) in it.

"What am I going to do with that?"

"Cook on it."

There were so many annoying things, but nothing irks me more than a young, healthy person complaining about stairs.

[JasmineFlower]

I did like the Swedish real estate agent, wouldn't mind seeing him again for sure.

 

The guy was hard to take. Seriously high maintenance with a very high opinion of himself. And talk about dramatic. Him being like "I could never return to work here, ever again!" Yeah, WTFever. I mean seriously, does the DC area all of a sudden have only one school or school district to speak of? He didn't appear to be a college professor but rather a elementary or secondary school teacher. If (when?) he decides he wants to return to DC, he will and he'll try for like Montgomery County schools or something instead of wherever he was before. Give me a break, stop being so dramatic.

 

I got the complaint about the clawfoot tub, it's the only bathroom and there's no shower, so that didn't bother me. About the only thing that didn't. Him complaining about the storage made it seem like he'd done zero research on European and Swedish spaces. Then the exaggerated stair complaints (and still took that place). I definitely thought he was putting on a show for the cameras, but I assume he thought it was cute and entertaining but he vastly overrated his talents.

 

He basically lost me when he turned his nose up at buses. He doesn't have enough money to be so high and mighty. I knew it was going to be a long episode at that point, but watched to see an area of Sweden I hadn't seen before.

[biakbiak]

.

Edited October 8, 2014 by biakbiak

[DownTheShore]

Seeing some new areas of the world is sometimes the only thing that makes watching some of those episodes palatable.

Isn't it amusing how the ones who want to be fit and attractive and want to live in the center of a city's action all recoil in horror at the thought of all that free exercise climbing those flights of stairs will give them? LOL

[izabella]

Every time the news features some story about the French and how much wine they drink and cheese and fat they eat without being as fat as Americans, I always think of those walk-ups that we see in the Paris episodes.  How to eat what you want without going to the gym?  Live in a fifth floor walk-up!

Edited October 8, 2014 by izabella

[biakbiak]

I guess I am a pessimist because whenever I see the fourth/fifth floor walk ups, I always imagine myself trying to walk up them sick with the flu or if I break my leg (my friend was basically confined to her fourth story walk up for a month and half when she broke her leg and her doctor didn't want her walking up and down them).

[truther]

Speaking from personal experience, there are obviously problems with 4th/5th-storey walkups (eg broken legs, crabby movers), but the benefits vastly outweigh the negatives.  You get used to it real fast and the free exercise is amazing.  It really is good for you, and that's something that you get everyday versus the slight possibility of something like being housebound with a severe fracture.  To me, not living in a walkup for fear of maybe breaking your leg is like choosing where in a jet plane to sit in the event it crashes.  Just don't worry about it.

 

You also often get really good views and, in our case, great rooftop space.

 

Plus, a little-known plus is that these places are amazingly safe.  Nobody walks up 4 flights of stairs to see if a door is open so they can get in and steal a TV.  I'm fairly confident that I could have removed the lock from my front door entirely and nothing ever would have happened. 

[scrb]

If you live in these big European cities, you're already doing a lot of walking, unless you can afford a car with a driver.  Otherwise, the parking becomes onerous to deal with.

 

So you walk a couple of miles and bring home groceries and you have to walk up 4-5 flights of stairs?  It would get old real fast.

 

Many buildings, if there's any kind of room, will have elevators retrofitted, even these tiny ones which can hold maybe 2 or 3 people right up against each other.

[biakbiak]

Many buildings, if there's any kind of room, will have elevators retrofitted, even these tiny ones which can hold maybe 2 or 3 people right up against each other.

 

Yeah my parents apartment in Prague did that and have been to several of those in Paris and Italy. Often they are so tiny people still use the stairs. It's just nice to have the option, if your tired are have a ton of shit.

[JoJo NY]

I'm going through my DVR shows.  Wow -- the engineer looking for an apartment in Werzburg (sp?) Germany.  What a little snot, terrible actress or both.  What the hell does she have against the color orange?  It's a freakin' rental, not your forever home, wench.

 

If possible, her friend was even worse.  In one of the bathrooms, she said -- in response to the engineer complaining about a "smell" -- that is was the smell of "desperation and hairspray" -- as if in reference to the realtor.  I would've drop-kicked both the "ugly Americans" down the stairs if I were the realtor.  She, on the other hand, was not only stunning (ex-model?) but charming and polite to the jerks she had to work with.  

 

Yes, I know this show is fakety fake in all aspects, but sometimes it's maddening to watch.  No, I can't stop won't stop watching the international ones :-)

[DownTheShore]

I think that if I had to live in one of those fourth floor walk-ups, I would make sure that I had an honest-to-God American-style large refrigerator-freezer, and not one of those little dorm fridges in my kitchen.  That way i would load it up and not have to lug groceries every single day up those stairs. =)

[Bastet]

Except daily groceries are easy to carry, while the fruits of a stock-up trip made every couple of weeks (or whatever) would be a pain to lug up the stairs.

[copshop]

Croatia! My favorite place, but HHI episodes there have typically been lackluster. I liked this one because the American's attitude was so refreshingly honest but positive: "I look different." I hope the community is embracing them!

This was one of those typical cases where you want real info. I assume the wife being Croatian ensures both can work legally, but I know unemployment is high there. The rental apartment will give them some income, but I assume they sold some property in the San Francisco area and made bank.

Every episode should begin with a brief overview of the basic rules for residency and property ownership in the country being featured. It would not take any more time than the constant recaps. I would find it interesting, do any other HHI fans think so?

[sugarbaker design]

Every episode should begin with a brief overview of the basic rules for residency and property ownership in the country being featured. It would not take any more time than the constant recaps. I would find it interesting, do any other HHI fans think so?

 

 

Not me, respectfully.  That's not why I watch HHI.  I like to see apartments and houses in cities and towns in which I've never been, historical architecture, city squares and new buildings.  I don't like to see dumb or narrow-minded ugly Americans or hear about their boring lives.  Once in a blue moon we're treated with HHers who aren't complete and utter assholes, who are grateful for the opportunity they are given, treat their search for a living space with enthusiasm, and aren't slaves to the latest trends.  Those are the episodes I live for.  Throw in an excellent realtor like Adrian Leeds or the recent Swedish realtor and you've got me for life!

[DownTheShore]

I'd like to hear about the residency/work rules of the different countries; not in depth, but at least how they apply to the homeowners in question, because the assumption the show gives is that you can move to any country in the world and work there without any problems or paperwork.

[Pickles]

The Kansas City couple moving to South Africa episode that is airing right now. She is saying their baby is due in six weeks and where will they live, etc. She has a blog and they have lived there since May 2013.

[Peanutbuttercup]

With respect to the Croatia couple, I kind of got the impression by the end that they weren't actually moving there? They said they were fixing up the house they bought to use as a vacation rental, and they had stopped talking about getting jobs. And the language they used shifted from talking about moving there to "it's important to me to own a house in Croatia so I feel more connected to it" -- if you live there and actually are Croatian, why do you need to own a house to feel more "connected" to it?

With respect to the demanding guy moving to Sweden -- one thing I will give him credit on is the accent. He is English, just had been living in the U.S. for 10 years. That's why he had a weird in-between accent that sounded fake. I do think that if I were the Swedish real estate agent and someone said to me, "this tiny Swedish fridge is 1/3 the size of a typical American fridge" I would have trouble holding back something like, "maybe that's why the typical Swedish person is 1/3 as fat as the typical American."

[wisteria]

The guy was hard to take. Seriously high maintenance with a very high opinion of himself. And talk about dramatic. Him being like "I could never return to work here, ever again!" Yeah, WTFever. I mean seriously, does the DC area all of a sudden have only one school or school district to speak of? He didn't appear to be a college professor but rather a elementary or secondary school teacher. If (when?) he decides he wants to return to DC, he will and he'll try for like Montgomery County schools or something instead of wherever he was before. Give me a break, stop being so dramatic.

 

Just watched the episode. From the way he explained his D.C. situation, I'm betting that he taught in a fancy private school; leaving mid-year would probably get him blackballed from other private schools in the area. The whole thing seemed rather fishy to me too. I'm a public school teacher, and the job market has tightened so much over the past ten years that you don't give up a position -- especially mid-year -- unless you have a damn good reason (or have been asked to leave.) Also, I love how he had to name-drop that his friend was from their college days at Oxford.

 

As for the couple moving to Pretoria... sigh. Just your typical spoiled Americans expecting open-concept, air conditioning, and convenience in another part of the world. At least the woman owned up to her pickiness.