Arriving

One of the most exciting times is the first week at a new place. It is both full of excitement and stress. Everything is new, you have to learn the dynamics of the new place, where to find certain places, like post office, library, shops, etc. It takes a lot of time, not to mention the moving and packing part. For me there is always the stress whether the moving guy will be there in time, will have enough space in his van, and if he will help at all with loading. We had cases before when the moving guy turned up with the child seats in the car still, no extra storage space and still he charged us double price because we had to go to rounds. One guy never turned up, just texted us an hour before moving...  This time we were "lucky", the guy simply came two hours earlier without notice... Otherwise he was fine.

One of the most hated jobs for me is unpacking. Boxes everywhere, vacuum bags all over and a great mass in general. This time I invested in good quality plastic boxes, so everything looks better and whatever |I don't need I can keep in them and it looks a bit more organised and definitely neater. We are also lucky because we moved to a big house, which we only share with a couple (the owners) and their son who is leaving to uni in September. Plenty of space and first time ever abroad I have the luxury of two rooms. As soon as I sorted out my stuff, it will be such a nice feeling. It already is... Simple things like having your own bathroom and toilet. Neat and clean. No need to wait for them when you really need to go. Living in shared houses is really hard for years and years. As a couple, even more challenging.

So here we are, finally living by the sea, my dream has come true. Still not fully private rent, but we are quite separated, so I can survive sharing the kitchen and the washing machine :)

And the bonus: dogs :) I could not keep a dog myself, but these people have three in the house so I have plenty of love to spread around :)

It is a strange feeling to live at a place which is a holiday location, I constantly feel like wow. I love the sea :)

This is it for now. I have got the frustrating duty to go and spread more CVs... That is the other really stressful pat of moving. Finding a new job. Again, my other half was luckier... We'll see what the next two weeks bring for me.

Have a nice day everyone.

Job Search

I do apologise, I could not write for a while as I am in the middle of changing life and living place and all in all, everything. Not easy...The stress, the logistics, arranging every single move you make. In our case, going for viewings, job interviews, as we are moving from one county to another and we decided that for the first time, we want to do it planned and at least one of us wants to start at a new job straight away. My other half is a chef, it was easier for him, so all sorted. As I am planning to make a big step and change from catering to teaching, it is longer, but the clearance process is nearly finished and I do hope to find something soon enough.

I often think back to my last fifteen years and all the moving I have done.From Hungary to London, from London to Hungary, from Hungary to Canada,from  Canada to Hungary,from London to Hungary, from Hungary to Manchester, from Manchester to London,from London to Surrey and now from Surrey to West Sussex. Surely I have got the routine. I know how to pack, I know how to arrange moving, I have a list in my head what to change straight away after moving (address with bank, ebay, amazon, HM revenue, etc.) This makes it easier. Thanks to London I have learnt to be aware with landlords, deposits and things like that. Still it is getting harder and harder every time mentally, and job search is harder when one wants to make a big change.

In general, both for NHS jobs and teaching jobs, it takes around 1,5 hours to complete an application form for a position. You cannot send a CV. Every single place requires its own forms, checks and so on. It is nearly a full time job to look for a job. One cannot really do it while working in catering. So I  am taking the risk and leave a gap between employments. If I am lucky I started in time with the agency and I will be positioned somewhere soon after we arrive. But for this I had to start nearly two month in advance....
if you live in your own home country, everything is easier, job seeking as well. or maybe I was lucky. I never had to go through that many checks, applying for hours for one single position. maybe Eastern Europe is designed differently. Maybe I was just lucky to start at a very young age at a language school which based my reputation and I was well-known afterwards. I do not know. But it is a great pressure for me psychologically. We'll see how it turns out.

This post might not be the most consistent one. I am in a rush and I have too many things in my mind. I just did nit want the blog to die like my previous one. i will be more regular when I am settled again.

Be back soon. :)

Housing abroad

I have been really busy in the last few days, mainly because my workplace is understaffed, and partly as we are moving again soon. Yes, again... We have been living here in the UK for four years now, and we have moved four times already, this will be the fifth. This is something we would never do in our home country. Not in Eastern Europe. This moving when we have enough or a better opportunity is a western thing, typical of America, Canada and The UK, and in more and more Western European countries.

In Eastern Europe people want to have their own houses. We would rather take long term mortgages than to rent a property, even if it does not make sense. This is how our parents did it, and our grandparents, and their parents, and their parents. If you do not have your own property, you are looked at in a strange way, kind of how comes you never managed to reach that point to buy a house. It is changing now since we had the economical crisis, but still the tendency is to buy your own house.

Not in western countries. People rather rent properties, less hassle and you can relocate yourself easier if there is a good opportunity. To be hones, I just started to like this way of life, however it is still nice to think of the fact that we have got a flat in Hungary as a base, so there is a 'home'. With rented property I can never have the feeling or 'home', I do not buy expensive furniture, I do not decorate it exactly the way I like it as it is not mine. The landlord have to approve everything, and if I have to move it is more trouble to move lots of stuff than having only what we really need.

The problem with Canada or UK housing is that it is so expensive. If you earn minimal wage, you can probably only afforrd to live in a shared accommodation for a long time and it is really hard psychologically, and  quite often physically as well. Why?
First of all, you have to live with strangers. They can become friends or mates, but they will always be strangers. You do not tolerate them as you tolerate your family or partner. We have different lifestyles, different habits, and there will always be conflicts. An example is today for me, I am shattered as our flatmates had a party all night loudly. This is the first time it happened so I did not make a big deal, and we are leaving soon anyway, but it does affect my day today.
We used to live with close friends who became nearly enemies because the way they lived was not compatible with the way we wanted to live and it ended up badly. You know a person for real when you have lived with that person... Big truth...
There will be times when you need clean clothes but the washing machine is always used by someone else. Annoying. People using your stuff and not cleaning them, sometimes others eating your food without permission. When you are in your early twenties, you can survive for quite a while like this, but for us closer to forty it is extremely hard. Also, when you are single it is different, you socialise with flatmates more, and you do not need that much private sphere. As a couple you need privacy, intimacy, which are really hard to create in a shared place.

Sometimes cultural differences are challenging as well. I used to live with Pakistani people. They were lovely, friendly but so loud. Not because they wanted to be loud, but because that is the way they live, speak loudly, always high on emotions. Same with Italian and Greek people as I experienced. With my own nation I never really had good experience with shared places, so we tend to say never with Hungarians, which is sad but our nation tends to behave strangely when out of their home country. I do not get into details now, if anybody is curious, you can always ask.

Renting a flat or house is a big step and requires hell a lot of money. As most of us send money home and quite the majority of Eastern Europeans work in blue collar jobs, being able to afford a flat is challenging. We could do it in Manchester as it was quite cheap, but in London we had to give up after less than a year as we were technically just earning to the ridiculously expensive studio we were renting. Now we are moving to a transition place, a mid aged couple is renting two rooms and a separate bathroom and toilet in their house as their kids all moved out and they are alone, so we will only have to share the kitchen and the garden with them and their dogs. So not an own flat but not a busy shared house. Also because they are not young and they do not work in shifts, we will have a peaceful as I expect. I cannot wait to have some privacy again. And we'll see what happens after if we manage to settle and I find a teaching or NHS job.

I would be interested in others' opinion and experience in housing abroad. Feel free to comment, it is an interesting topic.
Have a nice day everyone.