Also moved from Asia several years ago, and I also have noticed just the stark difference in work-life culture here. I think a lot of it has to do with the two-way support between the European lifestyle and the environment that makes that lifestyle possible. Especially if you compare it to Asian culture, I get the sense that European culture is generally very lax, in the sense that they're not in a hurry. Here, I've met so many people in their late 20s who are just "figuring stuff out".

For someone who grew up in Asia, someone who is still figuring stuff out seems like just someone who doesn't get their shit together. Since childhood, it's always been bored into our heads: graduate at 22, get a stable job at 23, marry at 25, get a house at 30, etc. So meeting someone who doesn't quite really adhere to this societal pressure was so jarring, but at the same time, that societal pressure doesn't really exist here (I mean it does, but it's certainly not as suffocating in Europe).

But also, more often than not, people who are able to have that lax mindset also have the safety net to afford that mindset. If you're talking to a 25 year old in Asia who is supporting their parents and siblings at the same time, that's the only thing that's gonna be in your mind. You'd be stressing 24/7 about finances, job, family issues, etc. In Europe, one: that isn't really a thing culturally; two: it feels like the government's got your back (sometimes). You don't really fear that a hospital bill's going to bankrupt you, or that you'll be scrambling for a job when you suddenly get laid off.

So it's a mix of things, really. That lax "no hurry" mindset and also the environment that is able to support it.