Emigration - Impressions and differences of your new/old land?

[Jacksgranda]

[Raidernation]

Been in Illinois for 9 years now currently in Wisconsin.
Don’t feel like a yank (insert Ken gif) neither do I feel more Scottish.
All my family is nearby here so here is home

[expatowner]

Spent 12 years in London then 13 years in Hong Kong and have now live in New Zealand for 7 years.

Both London and Hong Kong were all about the money. 

It seemed like every abusive drunk in London (80's / 90's) was Scottish and I really had a problem with associating as Scottish.  

Hong Kong was a blast as a single guy.  Great work ethics and boy can they party hard.  Never had so much fun.  

Here in New Zealand its all about quality of life.  Almost everybody is  friendly.  Its got nearly the same population as Scotland and does OK for itself on the world stage.  I feel at home here so much so I've started to go to the rugby (although I still cant figure the rules).  

 

[Cerberus]

Bloody emmigants leaving and giving up jobs.

[weirdcal]

Been in Ireland since 2016, the south part.
Speak same language (unless from Kerry/west cork and that is what I can only assume drunk Doric sounds to others)
Mostly same TV shows, drive on same side of road (unless rural roads where it's not uncommon to meet someone coming round a blind corner in the middle in case someone is walking...)
Slight differences is the euro and Kms but you get used to it.
Currently live in the arse end of the arse end of nowhere and the local hamlet type place has a pub and that's it. Run by a Norwich supporting Englishman no less

[John Lambies Doos]

Been in Ireland since 2016, the south part.
Speak same language (unless from Kerry/west cork and that is what I can only assume drunk Doric sounds to others)
Mostly same TV shows, drive on same side of road (unless rural roads where it's not uncommon to meet someone coming round a blind corner in the middle in case someone is walking...)
Slight differences is the euro and Kms but you get used to it.
Currently live in the arse end of the arse end of nowhere and the local hamlet type place has a pub and that's it. Run by a Norwich supporting Englishman no less

Where you staying in Ireland m8

[weirdcal]

Where you staying in Ireland m8

Down county cork, place near clonakilty.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

*makes note, never go to South Wales*

[Newbornbairn]

9 minutes ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

*makes note, never go to South Wales*

or Kilmarnock

[Melanius Mullarkey]

30 minutes ago, NewBornBairn said:

or Kilmarnock

Trust me, I’ve been there and I wont* be going back.

*will

[Jeek]

Left Fife for Bristol 11 years ago. Still love Bristol as a city, as young guy it was fantastic. The area near where I live is quite near the independent (hipster) district, and there's usually something interesting going on. Also given the "interesting" trading history of the port of Bristol, means there's a lot of 2nd / 3rd generation African and Caribbean populations, as a result there's some really good food available.

The Irony that they take the piss out of my accent though when they talk like farmers will never cease to amaze me. 

It's also close enough to do things in other cities in a day, Cardiff, London, Brum. with weekending in Cornwall / Dorset / S.W. Wales easy to do.

One thing I'm glad to have left behind is the old firm nonsense that seems to work its way into everything back home.


*totally agree with the south Wales comments, you get a lot of them on flights out of Bristol bris as Cardiff airport is a bit crap, the valley mutants are almost always a complete nause 

[weirdcal]

That's not that guy who definitely murdered a French lassie 25 years ago but nobody can pin it on him is it?

Na, he does tours with his book. Apparently get really angry of someone mentions the murder case. Think he is in skibbereen or glandore now as it was schull (shkull) it happened.
Lad that does the pub is mid 30s

[Ross.]

Been in Switzerland around 7 and a half years. By and large I don't think day to day life is that different, I still have to get up every day, go to work, get my wages and pay my bills. Sense of humour here is similar to Scotland in that a lot of it is quite dark and sarcastic, but the general outlook is far more positive. If someone decides they want to do something a bit different, instead of being slagged mercilessly by their pals they will be encouraged to go and do what they want to do. There is less snobbery here than at home, and much less invested in any kind of class system to define who you are and what you should be doing with your life. The people can be a bit harder to here to get to know, but if you do make the effort I have found them to be far less shallow than back home. Quality of life and work/life balance is much better here, cost of living relative to your wage is much cheaper, and generally there are far more opportunities available to do just about anything.

Downsides are that healthcare is expensive. Even with decent insurance coverage you will end up well out of pocket as you have to cover the excess before it kicks in, and that is usually not too cheap. I spent the bones of 3 grand on emergency dental treatment earlier this year and had to foot it all as my excess is 5k. The older lot here can be pretty racist and dismissive of foreigners, moreso than back home, and they tend to discourage extremism in any subject, particularly drinking, which has been problematic for me at times as I tend to be a huge binge drinker...

All in all I think I prefer life here. If I'd moved at 21 instead of 30 I'd likely have been home inside 6 months and bored shitless, but being a bit older I am getting much more from the lifestyle they encourage than I would have if I'd remained in Scotland. I miss the family and friends, but just about every other aspect of life here I find far far better. I am due to have my first kid in April and if given the choice between having him grow up here or back home, there is no question at all that I would have him growing up here. That's not a slight on Scotland or the upbringing I had, I wouldn't change that at all, but there are simply far more opportunities here and a healthier lifestyle and outlook.

P.S. I am choking to get home for a 3 day session.  Bevvying here just isn't as good.

[carpetmonster]

Bevvying is definitely a cultural thing. Miami isn't a drinking town at all, and I remember a mate having to go on a diet that meant he couldn't drink for 9 weeks and I didn't see why that would be a big issue, wouldn't have been for me. Chicago has more breweries than anywhere else in the country (165 at last count) and I'm now a fat c**t. 

[Torpar]

Didn't we have this exact thread not long ago? 

I moved to Canada 5 years ago, initially on a 12 month open/working holiday work permit, I then managed to get a 24 month open work permit, met my now wife and became a permanent resident last year. I plan to apply for citizenship eventually. The similarities with Scotland are obviously the language, Canadian English seems to be a mix of UK English, they kept the U in colour etc, with some US English terms thrown in, sidewalk, faucet etc. A huge difference from Scotland, especially in Toronto, is the diversity, 51.5% of the population is composed of visible minorities. And the size of the population, Greater Toronto is approaching 6 million and it does feel overcrowded at times, as soon as we can afford it, we plan to move out of the city. 

In terms of things I miss, family a side there isn't much I miss, I can get Irn Bru (old recipe) in my local supermarket. I miss the football a little, as Carpetmonster said, 'soccer' is a little bit too sanitized here, though Toronto seems to have more lively fans than most teams in the MLS, most likely because of all the non-Canadians that go to games. There are a few things that annoy me about Canada, despite being seen by the rest of the world as a friendly, tolerate nation, there are plenty of selfish rude morons here, admittedly more so in Toronto than small town Canada where people seem to live up to the stereotype a lot more. There is also a lot of institutional racism in Canada, mostly towards First Nations people, see the Colten Boushie case, Residential schools, the sixties scoop etc.

In terms of healthcare, in Ontario it's almost identical to the NHS, hospital visits and treatment are free, though I believe you are charged for an ambulance ride, you are also charged for prescriptions but a lot of employers have benefit schemes that cover most of the cost. Dental treatment is all private, I recently had the pleasure of paying $900 to have two wisdom teeth taken out, luckily my work benefits covered it. The way alcohol is sold in this province is a bit of joke, though it's improving. Until very recently the only place you could buy alcohol was from a government owned store (The LCBO, Wine Rack or The Beer Store) most of which open at noon and close at 5 on Sundays but they are slowly allowing supermarkets to sell beer, wine and cider. 

I now feel that Canada is home and can not imagine living in Scotland again, as mentioned earlier I plan to apply for citizenship when I become eligible and hold dual nationality. I usually like to see Canada national teams doing well, though it's hard to support a team with Arfield and Aird involved. I have mixed feelings towards the ice hockey national teams, part of me wants the country I live in to win but a lot of times the arrogance of media is bordering on English football levels and I find it entertaining when the Canadian U20s crash out in the quarter finals to Finland etc and the postmortem that follows. 

[101]

2 minutes ago, Torpar said:

. There are a few things that annoy me about Canada, despite being seen by the rest of the world as a friendly, tolerate nation, there are plenty of selfish rude morons here, admittedly more so in Toronto than small town Canada where people seem to live up to the stereotype a lot more. There is also a lot of institutional racism in Canada, mostly towards First Nations people, see the Colten Boushie case, Residential schools, the sixties scoop etc

I always wondered if Canada being next to America made the people seem more friendly and clever by comparison to their neighbours, rather than it being a fact?

[Vartex]

Fake blondes

[Venti]

Wouldn't call it emigrating, but we moved to Kingston, NY when I was young. Stranger Things pretty much nailed 1980s America.

[Torpar]

10 minutes ago, Adam101 said:

I always wondered if Canada being next to America made the people seem more friendly and clever by comparison to their neighbours, rather than it being a fact?

This may well be the case, I think Canadians in general are a lot friendlier than the Yanks and even in Toronto there seems to almost be a pressure to be polite in certain situations, people almost always give up their seats on public transport to someone that needs it and will help someone with their bags or buggy down/up stairs.  Some people's attitude towards immigration is puzzling, they don't like immigrants but most of them are only first and second generation Canadian themselves. There is now a #wexit movement in Alberta and to a lesser extent Saskatchewan calling for them to separate from Canada after Justin Trudeau was re-elected  

[Venti]

Doff my cap to any P&Bers that emigrate & learn the language.

Had a layover in UAE & Bangkok on my way to Hong Kong & learned about 2 phrases. Ni hao, & xie xie.