the high ping (100+) is perfectly playable for me and a bunch of others, tf2 is great like that <3
It's actually easier to play on the USA server than on the amsterdam servers for me.
Though my ping is higher over there, I've got a way better choke, and that's what ultimately defines your connection quality.
One example would be the scout double jump. I simply can not jump from the roof of the bridge to the battlements in 2fort. I'm mid-air and I press jump a second time and it doesn't work when I'm playing on the amsterdam servers. Doing the same on servers with better choke works like a charm. A similar problem is the rocket jump. I can get much higher with the lower choke.
PS: to see your choke enter 'net_graph 3' into the console.