Azarel

Like I said, the unskilled Romanians often earn a lot more in the west of Europe, as do the crooks, beggers and 'professional ladies'. A construction site labourer here gets about 10-15 Euro a day maybe, whereas in the UK he's getting 50-60 Euro. Plus he lives on site, shares all the costs with a group of compatriots, and has no time for getting wasted or bunking off early. A lot of them go to the west, work for a year or two, save up the money, come back here and splash out on a fancy car or buy a house or something. You should see some of the houses the 'people of nomadic origin' (that's the PC term, right?) build with their ill-gotten gains when they get back home. Absolute palaces!

When I first came here in the pre-EU days, you couldn't walk down the street without being hassled by beggers, pickpockets, or pimps. It was very Dickensian. Since 2007 it's been a lot cleaner and safer here.

Ray51

Quite opposite to here !
They are now here ( Belgium ) , in incredible ever-increasing numbers , begging , stealing , burgling homes , hooking , selling drugs and illegal liquor , messing up the place , what not else .
Honestly , they are an insult to a civilised society , anywhere .

Azarel

So now perhaps you see the attraction of countries like Romania - less scum on the streets, lower crime, and your money goes further

Of course, there are plenty of negatives too, it's not all palinca and honey. But for adaptable people, it's isn't such a bad place to be. I don't think I could go back to live in the UK now, for many of the reasons the OP mentioned. As long as I can occasionally get my hands on a jar of Marmite and a packet of Lapsang Souchong, I'm a happy camper!

Ray51

Best of Luck !

Suspended

I'm sure Pepa has long since left this thread but in aid of others seeking the other side of the bridge, where the grass looks to be greener. Emigrating is a huge decision to make and it's all about your own particular circumstances. You MUST do your research and this has to be done from your own perspective i.e. what do you want out of life?

If family, friends and a support system is what you need around you, then emigrating is not for you. I'm sure you realise that, if you're not fluent in the native language, it is very difficult to build a close friendship (for all involved). Why should the natives be sympethetic to your plight? I don't expect the Germans to listen to my atrocious German and still want to be best buddies with me !

Culturally, Germany might suit you but be aware that you might not suit the Germans. In the words of Angela Merkel "Multi-Kulti ist absolut gescheitert!". In English: "Multiculturalism has utterly failed".

Domino

thats because they have all transfered to the Uk doing exactly the same trade over there, living in makeshift tents in bushes on roundabouts and at the bottom of peoples gardens, sometimes going up in the world and living in the shed. Some Lithuanians have just blown themselves up making illegal and medically dangerous vodka. The swans and wildlife locally are taking a bashing.
Can we send them back to you (but not the Lithuanians)

tsveti

i strongly disagree
turks are absolutely hated, indeed, and there is a fair reason for this
but it is not true that foreigners are tolerated, doesn't matter where they are coming from.

and just for the record, what you, brits call "eastern europeans" does not have the same meaning anywhere else.
cos Poland is in central europe, and you mistake the influx of thousands of polish people in ur country with anybody else coming from an eastern european country!!
Have you looked at the map - Greece is in south-eastern europe too, why dont u refer to it as an eastern-european country then??

and in germany the main "influx" of "eastern-european" immigrants is from Russia and the former russian republics + Poland, which is easy to explain with the fact that after the WWII, there were many germans who stayed there and now their families are coming back to germany.

and the germans dislike them all simply cos they are "non-germans".
and no, there is no tolerance at all. english are liked? you must be joking.
probably with the time u found some friends here, somehow, but they are
way not that much liking you as you think. talk to one of our nurses - she is english /speaks perfect german/, she will tell you how easy and nice it is to be english when the rest of your co-workers are germans

and finally - no, it is not the foreigners taking ur jobs!
it is u, being too used to having "slaves" to do the dirty jobs and too lazy, inflexible and underqualified + not competitive enough to get the good jobs!
the english empire doesnt exist anymore, and you are therefore not "entitled" to get the job just cos of being english + there are many clever and hard working people and good universities in other countries in the world!
just an example - i work full time /60 - sometimes 80 h per week/ and am doing my 2nd degree in the UK - i have so far passed all my exams with grade 2 and this is going to be my final year. and i already have MSc in Medicine.
can YOU do this?? i don't think so. it must be because of the eastern-europeans living in ur country
get off ur lazy asses and go to school and then blame it to somebody else

Domino

well can we take that you are a German and don't like the English ?
funny how our country is good enough to give you an education !
although only at Grade 2 so that is probably our fault as well !

ho hum
chips off shoulder for tea tonite

Ray51

Not so sure about this one , chaps ;
education is all very nice , I have a degree too ( was good fun to get it ) , doesn't help me that much nowadays ;
does not mean you get a decent job anymore , in many a EU country ;
unless you benefit from nepotism and good connections ;
if you get a job , still : it needs to pay enough , never mind the hours worked , to pay the high costs of housing , transport and the rest ;
many come from disfunctional or broke families , or live with " partners " , so they can't rely on the kinds of costs-sharing that the Asians or Africans have in place ;
not everyone can be expected to be great at their job ( if they could get any ) or to be a cunning , winning enterpreneur .
What we are witnessing is a complete failure of so-called liberal capitalism to look after anyone , except the global billionnaires and the ( state-protected ) bankers .
Alternatively : it's the public service , government , politics and suchlike one should " work" in ; as per George Orwell , they come first to the troph and change the rules , as it suits them best .

hales

Blimey TSVETI, get off your high horse before your Halo chokes you. I know they say you must eat a Ton of Salt before you are friends with a German. But then they are friends for life. I ran the Citiy's Anglo-German-Club for 11 years and built the membership up from 20 to 100 purely because I was British.

woodworm

no, she is not German as she describes here, http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...46#post9406346

but from her other posts I gather that she really hates Germany

the troubadour

I gathered that she was projecting her own dislike of Germany by her comments.
Having a fairly long association with Germany I have found little if any resentment against Brits and other Anglos in Germany.
This may not be the case for Bulgarians and other East Europeans though as I have heard some negatives mentioned.
But then she didn't think much of the English either.....

Ray51

I was in Germany , all the long Autobahn way from Aachen or even Duesseldorf to the Austrian border , or via Saarbruecken , so many times , in the last 20 years+ ;
because we usually quite like and enjoy it ( except for the Stau on the Autobahn , every now and then ...and maybe some bland food , when unlucky ) , we normally tend to stay longer than neccessary ;
never-ever have I experienced any bad behaviour to me , or to my wife , both of us being British . And they are extremely dog-friendly ( contrary to southern-Europeans ) . Not to start about fabulous medical arrangements...
On occassions , I was lucky to have checked into some odd ( unreserved ) hotels/motels after midnight and there was still something nice to eat and drink , whereas the accommodation always was spotless and one could not have had any reasonable complaints .
If anything , I should think that most locals went to extra trouble and effort to help and accommodate and guide us ( Brit-foreigners ) , even when that was not neccessary ( since I read , write and speak Deutsch , sort-of ) .
No , complaining about Germany too much , does not agree well with me .

ninaDGBCA

I think it very much depends on where you live in a country.

I was born around Munic(countryside,traditional families etc.a lot of bitching about the neighbours ), then moved to the Stuttgard area (hated it,false, lots of talking behind everyones back,tight), moved to Hamburg (high crime rate, dirty and unless you live in the countryside or have loads of money not really nice to raise a family, but great for going out, meeting people), then moved to Manchester,UK as my hubby is from there.
I like the town, music scene and found really nice and honest friends(probably the most honest, genuine and helpfull people I ever met) but I agree there were loads of scumbags out there more interested in the booze than in their children. Living on benefits and being pround that others, hardworking people pay their bills.
Then hubby got a great job offer and we went to Canada. We love it here and really don't want to move back BUT nowhere is perfect. If you talk about shallow than you should come over to North America. It is really hard here to define whether people mean what they say or are just friendly because they think that's polite. To be honest I don't care anymore. I got some lovely friends that are honest and if the others want to be fake friendly instead of telling me to f*** off then why not.
If I'd ever move back to Germany, which I really don't want then it would defo be between Munic and Heidelberg. Richer, more traditional areas. Less crime than in the North and East, less unemployment. But still then you get the stiff, conservative granny that shouted at my 2 year old, who was crying because she fell, to shut up because it was quiet lunchtime . You see what I want to say, there is no perfect. Try to find out what is important for you and then you have to create your own happiness. Maybe Germany would suit you better but be carefull whereabouts you move to.

My resume after all the moves.....yes it's broken Britain but if you meet the right Brits you'll find they are one of the most helpfull, warm and funny people I ever met. And even in Canada, most of my friends are Brits and they all help each other out are interested in their kids education etc. Don't look at the scummy ones that go partying in way too tight and short dresses. Find some decent ones and you'll see they are not all like it and to be honest you find a lot of scum in Germany too.

Good Luck

ninaDGBCA

and in germany the main "influx" of "eastern-european" immigrants is from Russia and the former russian republics + Poland, which is easy to explain with the fact that after the WWII, there were many germans who stayed there and now their families are coming back to germany.

and the germans dislike them all simply cos they are "non-germans".


The Germans don't dislike the Eastern Europeans because they are foreign(and in Germany we call the Greek southern and the Polish/Russian/Bulgarian Eastern Europeans, too) . We dislike that i.e. Russians came over to Germany claiming to "be" German, because their great grandmother was, speaking not a single word of German and claiming benefits. That's what we dislike and I know what I am talking about as my dad works as a teacher in the integration programm in schools and I worked for years around Stuttgard where the are loads of "Russian-Germans" settled.

But there are loads of hard working foreigners, who unfortunatelly get a bad reputation because of some abusing the system.

turks are absolutely hated, indeed, and there is a fair reason

So you are saying it's ok to dislike the Turkish, I reccon because they don't integrate properly but it is not ok to dislike a Russian coming for the benefits.

Brits are generally liked in Germany, especially up North (Hamburg, Kiel etc). You will always find people in every country that just like themselves tho.

doing my 2nd degree in the UK - i have so far passed all my exams with grade 2 and this is going to be my final year. and i already have MSc in Medicine.
can YOU do this?? i don't think so.

I think it is fine to critizise a country but not to slag it off and if you hate the Brits and find them lazy (tho I know loads of people that have a honours first, so yes they can do it ) then why live there ?????????