Considerations for moving overseas

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The Slitherin' Snake said:
You said you didn't understand the attraction of London - I told you why people move there and now you want people to learn new languages just to live somewhere
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No, what I'm saying is that if anyone is serious about packing up their lives and moving overseas, why would you limit yourself to London... just because "they speak English" Sure a lot of people move there for work and that's fair enough. But if you're just wanting a change and settle for the UK based on nothing more than the language they speak then you probably need to think about what it is you're doing exactly. If you don't have a decent job to go to in London, expect to struggle for a long, long time financially.
 
Chief said:
Yeah: but for me, no. English is grouse.


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Did you know that for over half of the countries in the EU it's compulsory to learn two foreign languages as a teenager? One thing about Australian's is that they're so isolated from everything that learning a second language takes a back seat, whereas in Europe there are millions who are multilingual and it's hard not to admire that. I walked into a clothes store in Prague and the shop assistant starting speaking to me in Czech. I must've had a strange look on my face because within 5 seconds he cottoned on and switched straight into English mode and helped me with what I needed. I felt guilty quite a lot in Europe at knowing only English, and the tiniest bit of German, when kids as young as 13 in Germany, France, Poland, Finland etc speak three langauges.
 

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Those good old non English speaking European countries with high unemployment. Great choice

Find a job first before you move, and move where the job takes you.
 
James_Blues said:
Applied for a job the other day in the UK and it's got me thinking about what things I'd need to consider if I had to move. Bearing in mind that this would be my first job out of uni and that I haven't lived out of home what things would I need to think about?

Things I've already thought about have been getting a SIM card, health insurance, bank account, International drivers license, and some of the more obvious things such as an apartment etc. Is there anything else I haven't thought of?

What are other people's experience's of moving overseas for work?
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If you have a job lined up already then do it. Younger the better - it will give you a different perspective and the opportunity to travel and meet new people. If it all goes **** up you can just pack up and come back to Australia.
 
Drakescoffeecake said:
Cannot for the life of me understand why so many Australian's pack up and move to dreary, damp, cold, expensive London. What am I missing? I've been there twice and don't get it.
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Can I ask if you lived in London for any length of time or just visited?
 
Drakescoffeecake said:
Visited a few times for varying from 1 night to 3 weeks.
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As someone who lived in London for nearly 5 years, its not a place you can immediately fall in love with but once you settle in, you have so many options on your door step that it really is a fantastic place to live.

Whether it is live theatre, world class sports, abundance of festivals, ability to travel to different countries at a relatively cheap cost, shopping is better and more often than not cheaper and so on and so on.

It's also different than what most of us who have grown up in Australia are use to. The accommodation is usually smaller, the weather is totally different but not too extreme that it is hard to handle.
 

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blueboy25 said:
As someone who lived in London for nearly 5 years, its not a place you can immediately fall in love with but once you settle in, you have so many options on your door step that it really is a fantastic place to live.

Whether it is live theatre, world class sports, abundance of festivals, ability to travel to different countries at a relatively cheap cost, shopping is better and more often than not cheaper and so on and so on.

It's also different than what most of us who have grown up in Australia are use to. The accommodation is usually smaller, the weather is totally different but not too extreme that it is hard to handle.
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Oh I'm not doubting that there are lots of wonderful things at your doorstep, and the ability to travel short distances to different countries is great and all (but you can do that in any EU city), but there are a plethora of other options rather than limiting yourself to living in the most expensive city in the world. It's constantly cold, wet, damp or a combination of all three. It depresses the hell out of me whenever I'm there. I've taken the tube during peak hours and everyone looks miserable (and it's a bloody sweatbox every.single.time!) I see the attraction to spending time there for sure, but calling it home would be a nightmare. I read somewhere that you can actually live in a 4 star hotel in most European cities for less money than renting out a shitty London apartment the size of my bedroom...
 
I hope you would make a right decision and will be success! That's a big decision !
 
Drakescoffeecake said:
Oh I'm not doubting that there are lots of wonderful things at your doorstep, and the ability to travel short distances to different countries is great and all (but you can do that in any EU city), but there are a plethora of other options rather than limiting yourself to living in the most expensive city in the world. It's constantly cold, wet, damp or a combination of all three. It depresses the hell out of me whenever I'm there. I've taken the tube during peak hours and everyone looks miserable (and it's a bloody sweatbox every.single.time!) I see the attraction to spending time there for sure, but calling it home would be a nightmare. I read somewhere that you can actually live in a 4 star hotel in most European cities for less money than renting out a shitty London apartment the size of my bedroom...
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This is blatantly untrue - in fact I'd say London/British weather is HUGELY underrated. It is nowhere near as bad as most whinging Aussies make out. You also get the benefit of actually experiencing four different seasons in a year.
 
SizeMatters said:
Yeah I could have an option to work there if I accept this job. What's it like? safe? Better off staying in Australia?
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Its a big country. I assume you are talking about Santiago. There are some decent parts there and some nice spots on the beach about an hour or so out of town. However, it is a South American country so lower living standards and higher levels of poverty.

If you have any Spanish language skills you'll be fine, you can get around pretty easy knowing only the most basic words and most of the younger generation speak English in many cases.

It depends what you want to get out of it, so its hard to advise one way or another.
 
SizeMatters said:
Not to hijack OPs thread but has anyone lived or even visited South America before? Specifically Chile?
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Chile is great.empanadas are awesome!!!
Valparaiso is a great town,Torres Del Paine is good for hiking

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Anywhere in Europe that is slightly lower SES would be great to live... I would love to work in Portugal, everything is so cheap
 
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