Gone for 2 years, back for a month...the findings!
 

Some of you may remember a post 6 or 8 weeks ago whereby I informed the SN community that after over 2 years living in Spain, I was coming back to the UK for a month and was wondering what differences, if any, I would notice. I'm now safely back in Spain so thought I'd report the changes, as I'd seen them....

Firstly, the Polish. WTF did they come from? Ok, Poland I guess, but I don't think I'd even ever met a Pole before I left in 2005, certainly not communities of them! There are even Polish cars parked up and down suburban side streets. I went into Wetherspoons in Penge, SE London, and not only was there a large group of Poles at the bar but they were speaking Polish to a Polish bar worker as well. Nothing against the Poles personally, but wonder why they all headed for the UK when Romanians and Bulgarians were a lot less noticeable (and there are loads of Romanians here on the Costa's but not many Poles).

Next, i made a joke about the wheely bins but feck me, how true was I. Different bins for different waste and even then you get a sole collection per week. Spain is still a developing country in many ways but rubbish is collected every day, there are no wheelie bins and it's up to the people to decide whether to recycle or not (lot's of recycling areas). Where we stayed there was a bin or box for plastic bottles, one for green waste, one for normal and ones for glass and paper as well!

Traffic. It's got worse. For no apparent reason, roads just grind to a halt or roadworks necessitate coning off miles of road for just a small works area. This is so very English as the only congestion I saw in my 3000 mile round trip (we drove) via France was in the UK. Speed traps were a bugger too, though to be fair, France is getting more like the UK and Spain won't be far behind...

Prices. Interesting one this. Some things are a lot more expensive, but others are actually cheaper now than the continent. Cost of living seems to be actually cheaper (to me) than when we left, or maybe Spain and others have risen?

Driving habits...UK scores highly here (seriously). The Spanish and Portuguese always take the piss as to how polite the British are, but it's true, and it's nice. People let you out of side turnings, always say thanks when you do the same for them, are generally respectful of one another's vehicles and flash if there is a speed trap ahead. I missed this a lot.

Morale. It's bad in the UK (or were people pissed off to see me?) but then it was winter. Gordon Brown seems to be pissing more people off than other world leaders do with their people but then there is soooo much more influence from the British press. Everywhere we went people were saying how they want to leave, how they hate x, y and z etc. It could be a mixture of things but this struck me as quite sad.

All in all, the place looked busier, few more foreigners and a bit more buerachcy but otherwise fairly similar to when we left. Would we come back? Yes. England, despite all it's faults is still a good, relatively safe place to live and many things are taken for granted. It was nice to be back, but one thing I really didn't miss was the weather...have had 70 degrees and sunshine here since we've been back ;)


R

Spain??? Two words for ya:

Las Ketchup ;) :D

In case you'd forgoten about this monstrosity

YouTube - Ketchup song original and full

;)

The 'inspiration' for that isn't too bad though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z7t-Ox3XvU

Steve

To paraphrase a US president: "You must have smoked something, and you must have inhaled!!" ;) :D

Having lived in this country all my life I have recently been thinking its time to get out .I dont like the way the country is going and I dont like the prospect of my children (boy 8 ,girl 11) spending their next years in the current enviroment .
I have recently been talking with friends of mine about buying a holiday home in France,but the more I think about things ,the more I want to maybe move there .A couple we both know have recently moved there,after early retirement and they love it.They have been going for years and have a family member already there,so it was a no brainer for them .They worked out they would need just 12k a year to lead a modest lifestyle out there.(no kids etc ,just themselves.)They sold up over here ,bought house over there and banked the rest of their money.The houses still look very good value over in France.Climate is much better where they are ,March to November,sunny most days ,relaxed way of life.Less council tax etc,less money spent on heating ,etc ,etc .
I dont think I am in a dream world,but I will test the water ,with the holiday home and take it from there I think .

Good Luck in Spain Russ .:thumb:

Russ, thanks for sharing that. It's hard to be objective when you live here and take certain everyday things for granted. :thumb:

Well, just to let you know, while walking my dog a few days ago in Portugal I met a Frenchman walking his. We got talking and he said his daughter lives here and he's here considering whether or not to move here for retirement, due to the "social instability" in France - each year there seems to be a number of riots involving those of Moroccan/Algerian descent, cars and shops torched etc etc. Do you know where he lives? Perpignan. That's like someone complaining about social unrest in Bournemouth FFS.

Curiously when I talk to the Portuguese it's not long before they tell me how their country is going down the toilet due to the massive influx of first generation Africans from the ex colonies which are rather war-torn at present like Angola and Mozambique. The newspapers seem to report a fair bit about policemen getting killed in shootouts, and the roads have per capita the most deaths in western Europe.

Still, I bet your lawn is greener than mine :)

It may be greener ,but thats down to the moss !!!! Bloody Raining all the time.
I see everywhere is on the down,due to migrants of one kind or another .Maybe its still time for me to become a migrant though .Nice little place ,fairly rural,and cheap as chips.
Here I come .

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, seems your overall thoughts are that the country isnt a bad place to be, we all get fed up with the run of the mill things we encounter everyday and start to take them for granted and the new changes like the influx of foriegners annoy us (well some of us anyway) and just forget about everything we do like about the nation.

BTW Russ, you didn't comment on car parking facilities :)

:hjtwofing ;)

That about sums it up. Brendon was spot on with his comments about grass being greener and all that. Spain is great and I'd advise anyone in a position to easily be able to move abroad, at least for a while, and experience all it has to offer, to do so. You'd become a richer (in mind) person and may look at things differently. But at the end of the day, the UK, even with it's problems, isn't a bad place and things that are taken for granted in the UK can be issues in Spain and elsewhere. I really wondered how I'd feel coming back and looking through the window so to speak, and it was odd at times.

The other thing I forgot to mention which many an expat will agree with is shopping. In the UK you can everything. Walk into Sainsbury's and you have 20 types of milk you can buy. After a while of living overseas, you yearn for 'choice'. My Mrs was in her element walking around Waitrose last week!! Cheap night out anyway ;)

There are differences though, I think you'll find that every country in the world will have similar people, complaining about what is happening to their country and that they don't like the way it is going. It's natural to a degree and probably also generational.

However you very rarely here about people wanting to emigrate from the US, Canada, Australia and NZ - apart from the younger generation doing their traveling or earning a few pounds.

to many idiots in this country, dont know just how sweet we have it IMHO

That's why the UK and US is full of Ozzies and Kiwi's whinging on about how it is not as good as home - but they still don't want to go back in a hurry!

Yeah because we all speak to North Americans, Ozzies and NZ'ers everydays dont we, just like the typical foriegner (other than those in GB) speaks to us everyday.

Im not denying there isnt anywhere better in the world but come on, lets be honest, we all have a decent standard of living providing youre willing to put the effort in.

Agreed.

Hi Russ
Hope you are well
I used to know you when you had Eunosverse.
I ended up in Southern Germany. And it is a Siht load better than Britain in so many respects. My heart in some respects is and all ways be in England, I come back very regularly and the Uk does have some great aspects to it.
Some of your findings echo what I have noticed in my few years away.

No where is perfect. But the standard of living where I am is leagues ahead of what you can get in the UK. Spent a week or so in Barcelona recently - really liked the place
Good luck in Spain
Steve

Know what you mean about the shopping. It is a touch more limited to say the least. The choice in the UK is fantastic - however would I be up early in the morning stuck in traffic working the hardest hours in Europe to buy a massively overpriced house in a dirty crime ridden environment with the dirtest hospitals in ...nah. I would rather have less choice in the supermarket :D

(But health care is free - never take that for granted as that is one of the really good things about Britain - it might not be all that - but it is FREE for evryone that is something special)

Never paid National Insurance then I take it? :wonder:

Hiya Steve! Typical, was umming and arghhing about belling you when I was in Brighton the other week!

Pleased you got yourself to Germany. Something else I've learnt in my 2.5 year journey of self discovery...I actually like the Germans and the French. As Kiwi says, the world is generally the same - you get good and bad guys everywhere and I've made some good friends in the German communities here. I guess it boils down to who puts the effort in and who doesn't.

Good luck yourself mate - hope it all works out!

Yep - you get the good and bad everywhere
If you are ever in South Germany or Brighton area Russ PM me.
Have you got an MX5 down there in Spain?