LIVING IN LONDON

Whoey
Junior Member



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 10
Location: Pamplona, Spain

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2003 3:26 pm

 

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Well... maybe I should have looked for this website sooner!

I'm a Canadian living in London (Surrey Quays), I've been in the UK a little over 2 1/2 years... I came over originally for two reasons... one, my girlfriend was living/working here (she's spanish) and two, her employer offered my a job when I came over to visit her at Christmas.

I managed to get the work visa thing sorted very quickly and easily (much to my shock) and promply moved over at the end of February 2001. Well things changed a lot, and by July 2002, we got married (after a lovely long weekend in Paris) shortly after that I got my 5 year stamp for residency since my wife is from an EU nation.

Due to recent problems at work, and the "un-friendly" environment you all seem to have experienced here in the UK we have decided to move to Spain where my wife's family lives.

So... I guess I'll start posting in the Canadian's in Europe forum from now on...
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Julsb
New Member



Joined: 30 Jun 2003
Posts: 6
Location: London, UK

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 2:23 am

 

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Looks like this board is starting to get more active - brilliant.

I'm truly sorry to hear that Whoey and Brandywine are having such a hard time of it. I did at first as well, but am now settled in. As for the famous British reserve - trust me, you get used to it! When I visit Canada now, I'm always taken slightly aback at how outrageously friendly complete strangers are.

I'm in London and am happy to meet up with newbies to the city. I'm 30, live in the North West of the city and work in Canary Wharf, have a job in Interactive Media, am due to marry my English boyfriend next October and can talk about good food, drink, arts and music for AGES.

Welcome newbies, and greetings to all my fellow settled ex-pats - hope you're enjoying the holiday season!

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Whoey
Junior Member



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 10
Location: Pamplona, Spain

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 5:28 am

 

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Don't get me wrong, I've had a great time, met many nice people (most of them from other countries as well... Austrailian, New Zealand, South Africa, etc etc and a few brits, scots etc as well)

We've just decided Spain has a better lifestyle for what we want, something like half of all britains want to move abroad, and 80% of those want to move to Spain... at least we have family to move to.

My regrets are not finding "The Maple Leaf" pub in Covent Garden sooner... might have made for quite a few more pleasant "hockey" Sunday nights...

All in all, I'd expect no less from a city the size of London.
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Blue and White Army
Senior Member


Back to Vancouver in March!

Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Posts: 110
Location: West Sussex, UK

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 5:44 am

 

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I wouldn't judge the friendliness of English by London standards... go up north and see what it's light before you give up on them.

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Julsb
New Member



Joined: 30 Jun 2003
Posts: 6
Location: London, UK

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 5:59 am

 

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...and also remember that there's actually a good reason why people aren't as friendly in big cities. Most humans can only recognise/process up to 200 individuals. This is why people in small towns are particularly friendly - it's not that they're nicer people, but they're able to process newcomers.

London is a city of 8 million. Which means that most of us are lucky if we can process everyone who works in the same company, let alone random passers-by on the Tube.

I have to confess - I wanted to live in a megacity, and I love it in London. A bit of standoffishness is no deterrent to me.

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Whoey
Junior Member



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 10
Location: Pamplona, Spain

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 6:02 am

 

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I know... but we live in London... so those are the people we have to live with, and we know many northerners who are very nice people... everyone in London seems to be very self absorbed and up tight all the time, they attack before you have a chance to sway them that you're not out to get them... it's like a bad day plague... everyone passes it on first, and finds out later they're actually the cause of it all...

anyways, just because we're leaving now, doesn't mean we won't ever come back, at least to visit
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Julsb
New Member



Joined: 30 Jun 2003
Posts: 6
Location: London, UK

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 6:10 am

 

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Poor Whoey - it sounds like you're having a horrible time. Good luck in Spain!

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Whoey
Junior Member



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 10
Location: Pamplona, Spain

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 9:46 am

 

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Thanks, it's nothing I can't get over...

We'll have a great time in Spain I'm sure...
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