thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Hi, wonder if anyone can help. We have been out on holidays to cyprus for many many years, and love the country and the people. We are thinking of moving out to Cyprus (near Pafos), and have got one son who is 9. I am worried regarding schooling ? What are the schools like ? Will be settlle in ok ?
What about brits working out in Cyprus. My husband is a builder and I can do any office or bar work ....

Getting a bit worried but also very excieted. Coming out in October for a week to look at property and speak to some english there and get a feel for what its like to live in this beautiful county.

your feedback will be of great help.

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Start with the first page of threads on this forum? Cyprus has gotten quite a bit of input recently and all your issues have been touched upon.

Rent, don't buy immediately.

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

thanks, Coming out for a week in October. Was thinking ahead of renting our house here in the UK, and renting in Cyprus. Would like my son to have his education in Cyprus, so would be looking at staying for a minimum of 4 - 5 years if not longer.....

We have some friends in paphos, so will come out and speak to them and see what the work is like at the moment. My husband is a general builder, and so I was wondering how work would be for him ?
I can work either in hotel reception or bar work. Dont really mind what I do... Our main concern at the moment is that our 9 year old will settle into school and friends ok.
Any help or advise or suggestions anyone can give me would be a huge help, as I am having many sleepless nites about our possible move....
Thanks, Leeann.:)

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

My family moved to Spain when I was 8 years old for a few years, with a break also going to school in Canada. It was a great experience for my younger sister and I and we adapted to two completely different school systems/countries very easily. I was the one who translated in the shops for my mum.. and I had no Spanish lessons before we moved.
The kid will be great. :)

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

i know lots of brits in north who send kids to school in the south ...sorry dont know name ...sure some body on here must have kiddies at school to help though .....
we moved to another country from uk 4 years ago and my kiddies go to a british private school and have never looked back they fitted in from day one and love it xxxwe have a holiday place in the north (3 hours away)and my kiddies have lots of ex pat school friends there some ar at american uni school but most are taken over the boarder to school as much better xxgood luck xx:thumbsup:

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Thanks for your replies re; school. Has put my mind at rest a little.
Will come and talk to some english families when we come out to Mandria in October.
thanks again for your comments.
leeann x

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

I can't talk specifically about cyprus, but I can talk about 9 year olds - I have two of them!

Kids adapt remarkably quickly. I've done two moves, once when my twins were 4 and again when they were 6. In both cases, within a year, they were translating for us!

Snip read rule 9

Your son will be fine :)

Aly

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Hey Staggsy,

Are you thinking of Greek or Private Schools?

I sent my daughter to Greek nursery when we arrived, and although she picked up on a lot of greek, we didn't feel it was right to send her to Greek Primary.

We made the decision to send her to private school, firstly because it would be better educationally, and secondly because if we ever left she could slot back into a UK school with no problems.

As it turns out, we are going back, so the right decision was made. From speaking with her new school in NI, it seems that she will have no problems with fitting back in again, in fact she'll be at the higher end of the class academically.

The private schools aren't very expensive, so worth considering. You meet lots of people in similar circumstances as well.

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Hi Leeann

Sorry for butting into your discussion.
My wife and I have just moved into our house in Anarita, which we bought off plan 2 years ago, after renting in Chloraka for 3 months.
We are loving life in Cyprus (with all its ups and downs) and have both managed to find work.
I'd be interested to know how you got on with your trip and what your general feelings are and if I can help at all with any info regarding moving over.

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

I'm curious - do you speak greek? What do you guys do for a living? I'm currently investigating my next move but am nervous about moving to a country where I need the language.

Thanks!
Aly

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Hi Aly
hope you dont mind me adding to your thread but may be of some help.
My husband and I moved to Cyprus over 5 years ago.



Whilst it is an advantage if you can speak even a small amount of greek you find most ex pats here never feel the need to as English is so widely spoken on the island. Both my husband and I have over the years taken Greek lessons (this we felt was a must as we own a business often dealing with Cypriots)You will manage very well without it although the locals really do appreciate it when you at least try even if its the odd Kalemera (good morning)
If you would like any more info. on life here please feel free to ask.

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Thanks so much and no, of course I don't mind!

Out of interest, what kind of jobs do expats who don't speak the language tend to go for? What is the cost of living like out there and how easy is it to find work?

I'm currently in Germany and working for a German company. When I moved here, I could count to 3, say goodbye and also bless you and that was it! Over the last three years, I've learnt a lot more!

Thanks again

Aly

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Aly
Cyprus was until recent years mainly a retirement place for ex pats , however once we joined the Eu in 2004 it became much easier for younger families to live and work here.
The jobs on offer however are still fairly menial such as bar work, labouring and shop work. There is work available in the tourist industry however this is mainly seasonal and low paid with long hours.

1000/ 1200 euros a month is now considered a good wage here and thats for around a 40 hour week.

I can honestly say that the only way to make a decent living here is to do something on a self employed basis.However finding something that has not already been done is not easy.The island is swamped with ex pats trying to run villa cleaning, garden maintenence and holiday rental firms.
If you have a trade such as electrician, plumber then work on a self employed basis is a good option.


The cost of living has increased greatly this year with the introduction of the euro on Jan 08.
Food prices have risen as has petrol and electricity.
However you can live reasonably cheaply if you buy local products and stay away from uk imported brands.
Our local community charge for the year is 160 euros pa. compared to 1.800 sterling in the Uk over five years ago.
We live in a very nice 3 bedroom villa with ppol in a very good coastal area.
We run two large cars both 2.8 engines and pay 550 euros pa road tax for each vehicle, this figure is based on engine size here.
Road tax starts from around 35 euros pa for a 1 litre engine car.

I would strongly advise renting to start and for a nice 3 bedroom villa with pool you would typically pay around 850/1200 euros per month depending on area.

The property prices here have gone through the roof in the past 2/3 years with developers charging inflated prices and the resale market following the trend.
The market like the Uk is now on the down turn but renting for the first year or so is a must.

As we do not have children here Iam not really able to comment on schools, what I can say is I do have friends with children here and most opt. for the private schooling as most seem to find difficulty in setteling in the local Cypriot schools.

Life here can for some be difficult, mainly for those who come unprepared , do little homework and expect to live the holiday lifestyle.
For others life here is fantastic , but as in all things you will only get out as much as you are prepared to put in.
We have a good life here but it has not been without its testing times. Having said that not once have we ever considered returning to the Uk.

I hope this has been of help and if you want anything further covered iam more than happy to help answer if i can.

Sasha

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Aly,

Work all depends on where you are and how far you will travel to work.

I live in between Larnaca and Ayia Napa. I travel to Nicosia everyday to work. The traffic is really bad and the driving standards are worse, but, there is a lot more on offer. Currently I work for an American computer software company. The pay is much better working for a foreign company than a Cypriot one.

My husband works for a French Construction company. He did work for a Cypriot company for a year, but he found that discrimination and racism was rife throughout the company (he was passed by for promotion several times, even though he had much more experience, qualifications and higher standards of work than others, plus he actually worked a full 40 hours, unlike his cypriot colleagues who think its ok to roll in at 10am and have a 2 hour lunch). Again, he is paid better and has gained a lot of respect from his new colleagues.

I would imagine that places like Paphos will have a lot more jobs in the tourist industry, which, isn't the most secure industry at the moment. Tourism is going down and with the economic situation, I reckon there will be a lot less visitors next year.

Sasha has summed everything else up rather nicely. One thing I would like to bring up again from her post. Rent, rent rent! Don't buy until your absolutely sure that Cyprus is for you. And make sure you do your research, don't rely on your lawyer doing it.

We bought our house with the profits of selling our house at home. Little did we know that its been built illegally, with no permissions (Lawyer didn't do his job properly), now we can't sell it, well, we could, but who would want it! Until we sort it all out, we will have to rent in N.I., which is a shame. With house prices going down, we could get a bargin, but with out the money from our house here, we have no chance.:thumbdown:

Re: thinking of moving to Cyprus ???
 

Hi Aly

Wow!, what a lot of good sense posted by both Sasha6 and honestH.

To answer your questions, my wife and I did a 30 week adult education course in Greek (just one night a week). This certainly doesn't make us anywhere near fluent, but as Sasha6 has said the odd word of Greek or short conversation seems to go a long way in Cyprus.

My wife is a hairdresser and was fortunate to find herself in the position of having a job offer at a local salon within the first week of our move to Cyprus and also through a friend of someone we met in a bar, she got to find out that the lady who ran the hairdressers at one of the big hotels in Paphos, was reluctantly having to give it up to return to the UK to look after elderly parents.

Anyway after giving it some consideration she decided on the self employed route with the hotel and has so far been very busy, worked long hours, but has found it to be very rewarding.

We are now coming into a quieter time so she may get the odd day off!

As for myself, I was originally comuting between Cyprus and UK in a sales managers position. For lots of different reasons it didn't work out and although we parted on good terms it left me in a new country, with no job, very little in the way of recognised qualifications and only my track record in sales and mangement in the UK to go on.

After a couple of worrying weeks of trying to get to know as many people as possible who might be able to point me in the right direction regarding work, someone I'd met when we first arrived in Cyprus rang me out of the blue and said they new of someone who might be worth talking to, as she'd heard I was currently out of work.

I now work in the property market, on a self employed basis and although everyone (including my wife!) told me it was the wrong time to do it, I'm lucky enough to work alongside a guy who knows all the angles, is sincere and genuine (very rare in the Cyprus property market) and the few clients that are out there seem to be coming to us (hopefully a trend that will continue).

Having very recently been through a sometimes fairly painfull property purchase (although having read a few of the posts on this site, I think we've managed to get away pretty lightly)over the last two years, I've had first hand experience of the worries and feelings of doubt people have about re-locating to Cyprus.

The first thing about Cyprus I have found is that there are as many possitives about this country and its people as there are negatives and bad news always travels faster than good.

On the plus side are obviously the weather (today is the 6th November and it is hot and sunny in Paphos,lots of people on the beaches sunbathing etc.)

The food which may have gone up in price recently, but both eating out and everyday shoping are still cheaper than in the Uk, with great local specialities.

The lack of traffic on the roads.

The cost of running a car.

The feeling of safety, particularly for children

The outside life i.e. not sitting round the telly every night, because its too cold to go out.

The Cypriot people and culture, although this possitive doesn't extend to all.

I've met and befriended several cypriots and I think that their culture and ways are fasinating.

Many are warm and frienly however, I've found that any form of Cypriot beaurocracy is to be avoided at all costs, pay someone to do it if you can (life's too short).

The driving is truly shocking (leave big gaps between you and the guy in front for unexpected manouvres, dip your brakes a couple of times to get rid of tailgaters and remember that if you think there's no way he's going to pull out in front of me now,inevitably he will!!!)

The male Cypriots attitude towards women in general can somtimes be a bit chauvanistic.

Most are on the make! and as there is no feeling of empathy between the Cypriots themselves, don't expect them to make any exceptions for anyone else.

Sorry to rattle on Aly, didn't realise I'd so much to say!.

I'd be interested to know how you've found life in Germany, i.e. cultural differences, cost of living etc.

Hope this is usefull stuff

Cheers

Paul