Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
Feb 24th 2009, 1:08 pm
#31
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Location: La Spezia, to begin with...
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Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
Good to hear from you! Not so good it isn't turning out how you hoped. But at least you have the qualification and, by the sound of it, a bigger wardrobe!
Keep in touch and let us know how things turn out. I have always heard the same about tour guiding - a friend here in Florence is one and she had to get her licence. I think she had to know about 3 or 4 languages which to me is the main hurdle as it is something I would love to do too. Always fancied it in London so it is sad to hear you aren't having any joy. Maybe you should do Ghost tours or something?!
Keep in touch and let us know how things turn out. I have always heard the same about tour guiding - a friend here in Florence is one and she had to get her licence. I think she had to know about 3 or 4 languages which to me is the main hurdle as it is something I would love to do too. Always fancied it in London so it is sad to hear you aren't having any joy. Maybe you should do Ghost tours or something?!
For the Rome thing, I have so much mixed advice. a friend who is an officer for the Guardia di Finanzia told me that as long as I have European professional qualifications, I'm legally entitled to work as a tour guide, but i don't think that is the case in Rome.. he also said that the police just do crackdowns a couple of times a year to scare people and after a couple of weeks they leave them alone..Anyway, i shouldn't worry because i should have everything in place to get all the required documents. Unless they change the rules again!
Feb 24th 2009, 2:14 pm
#32
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Location: Province of Vicenza
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Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
Glad you popped in again to give us an update - sorry about the job situation but hopefully you'll be back here soon where you can tell all the tourists that if they try to get too close to the Vatican Swiss guards they'll get shouted at.
ALT !!!!
ALT !!!!
Feb 25th 2009, 4:52 am
#33
Just Joined
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 26
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
Thanks for the replies. I think it depends what stage of your life you're at as to how acceptable of the situation you are. By this I mean, I am pre-children, and I just don't know about having kids here. Due to the employment situation and linited work / part time work available here and pay levels, it means I would have to work over 40 hrs a week even with a tiny baby. I don't want someone else to bring up my kids but there would be little choice.
Plus the streets are so dirty and there's a lack of civilisation towards others which I find unbareable.
Plus the streets are so dirty and there's a lack of civilisation towards others which I find unbareable.
Feb 26th 2009, 1:34 pm
#34
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Location: Was Marinella, Sicily now Liverpool, UK
Posts: 222
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
WE moved back to the UK from Sivily in November. I cried when we had to move back, I loved the village where we lived and even though we were as poor as church mice and having major troubles I still believed we had a better life in Sicily.
Three months later and we all agree its the best decision we have made. DH is in a good job which he enjoys and more importantly gets paid properly for. The kids are thriving in school, they actually enjoy school and I am very impressed with the way the school is run.
MY DS has mild cerebral palsy and the treatment and help he is getting here is fantastic. DD had an op the other day to remove a fistola from her nose and again we were blown away by the level of care (was Alder Hey though).
Saying that though we did live in the back end of nowhere in a small village run by idiots, whereas now we are in a city.
We are looking forward to going back to Sicily for holidays and enjoying the beautiful village without the stress of living there.
Three months later and we all agree its the best decision we have made. DH is in a good job which he enjoys and more importantly gets paid properly for. The kids are thriving in school, they actually enjoy school and I am very impressed with the way the school is run.
MY DS has mild cerebral palsy and the treatment and help he is getting here is fantastic. DD had an op the other day to remove a fistola from her nose and again we were blown away by the level of care (was Alder Hey though).
Saying that though we did live in the back end of nowhere in a small village run by idiots, whereas now we are in a city.
We are looking forward to going back to Sicily for holidays and enjoying the beautiful village without the stress of living there.
Feb 26th 2009, 1:51 pm
#35
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Joined: Jul 2008
Location: valdagno
Posts: 54
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
I moved back to England from Italy in August, and I have regretted it slightly. But not too much as I know I will be back soon enough!
I moved back mainly to get some professional qualifications I was a tour guide in Rome and it was a nightmare trying to find information about how to work 'legally' - I could rant on for ages about this but i'll spare you! Anyway, tourguiding was a brilliant job for me and paid so much better than teaching English, which is what i'd originally arrived in Italy to do.
So, I thought, a couple of years doing this course, which is a recognised qualification that i HOPE I can get converted for the Rome licence, and I thought that I could earn good money in London and save a little for when I came back.
I was so wrong! Despite having qualifications and work experience coming out of my ears, I have been unemployed since the day I returned. Life is so expensive here (although clothes are definitely much cheaper, more choice, better quality!) and it has been such a struggle. My ex collegues are still working in Rome - nobody has been deported or arrested for not having the correct permits to work as a guide.. I wonder sometimes if I just panicked too much. But on the whole, as I know I will be back permanently next year (if all goes to plan) so I don't miss it as much as I probably would have otherwise. I do know for sure that I do not want to bring children up in England, or for them to go to school in England.
I moved back mainly to get some professional qualifications I was a tour guide in Rome and it was a nightmare trying to find information about how to work 'legally' - I could rant on for ages about this but i'll spare you! Anyway, tourguiding was a brilliant job for me and paid so much better than teaching English, which is what i'd originally arrived in Italy to do.
So, I thought, a couple of years doing this course, which is a recognised qualification that i HOPE I can get converted for the Rome licence, and I thought that I could earn good money in London and save a little for when I came back.
I was so wrong! Despite having qualifications and work experience coming out of my ears, I have been unemployed since the day I returned. Life is so expensive here (although clothes are definitely much cheaper, more choice, better quality!) and it has been such a struggle. My ex collegues are still working in Rome - nobody has been deported or arrested for not having the correct permits to work as a guide.. I wonder sometimes if I just panicked too much. But on the whole, as I know I will be back permanently next year (if all goes to plan) so I don't miss it as much as I probably would have otherwise. I do know for sure that I do not want to bring children up in England, or for them to go to school in England.
Feb 26th 2009, 3:03 pm
#36
The Original Red Head!
Joined: May 2007
Location: Firenze, Italia
Posts: 4,981
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
Apr 4th 2009, 6:30 am
#37
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Posts: 999
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
anyone thinking of moving to the uk dont unless maybe you are going to live out in the sticks, London is like a horrible nightmare, would you like to get on a train and be the only english person?, where I live which was a nice area is like a hell hole, asians are moving here to get away from the romanians, ring up the council and press 8 for english, kids like animals from the local school and its supposed to one of the good ones, rates almost £50 a week just to get rubbish taken away, plus dont go out after dark!, and this is not one of the worst places, I am heading to Italy to retire, cant be worse than this
Apr 4th 2009, 10:18 am
#38
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Location: Province of Vicenza
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Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
anyone thinking of moving to the uk dont unless maybe you are going to live out in the sticks, London is like a horrible nightmare, would you like to get on a train and be the only english person?, where I live which was a nice area is like a hell hole, asians are moving here to get away from the romanians, ring up the council and press 8 for english, kids like animals from the local school and its supposed to one of the good ones, rates almost £50 a week just to get rubbish taken away, plus dont go out after dark!, and this is not one of the worst places, I am heading to Italy to retire, cant be worse than this
Apr 4th 2009, 1:19 pm
#39
Pull my finger
Joined: Feb 2007
Location: Vicenza
Posts: 4,064
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
anyone thinking of moving to the uk dont unless maybe you are going to live out in the sticks, London is like a horrible nightmare, would you like to get on a train and be the only english person?, where I live which was a nice area is like a hell hole, asians are moving here to get away from the romanians, ring up the council and press 8 for english, kids like animals from the local school and its supposed to one of the good ones, rates almost £50 a week just to get rubbish taken away, plus dont go out after dark!, and this is not one of the worst places, I am heading to Italy to retire, cant be worse than this
Apr 5th 2009, 9:49 am
#40
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 999
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
I manage to read all the newspapers, my opinions are first hand, I walk the streets , england is much cheaper than italy, rana pasta is cheaper in asda in romford than you can get it in italy for example, to me italian shops are incredibly expensive, but you are not scared to go shopping! Italy is still very Italian, its almost criminal to be english in England , last october or maybe november I was in Rimini and it was Italy day or something, brass bands flags, would not happen here be too racist, Italian jobs for Italians, sounds about right to me, phone your bank in england and get through to a third world call centre, both countries have faults, I find african prostutes lined up in vicenza pretty nasty ,use pavement for toilets, but its ok to walk around late at night, I meet lots of expats from places like spain they cant believe how bad london is, Italy all in is better for sure unless you need a job
Apr 5th 2009, 12:19 pm
#41
Pull my finger
Joined: Feb 2007
Location: Vicenza
Posts: 4,064
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
For you an English person is caucasian I bet with grandparents who fought for their country in the war?
I'm sure if you ask an expat from Spain you'll get a negative opinion of London 8 times out of 10. They've got their villa in the sun, Sky TV, English newspapers printed in Spain daily, plenty of expats as neighbours and local cafes serving up a fry-up! Haha!
I'm sure if you ask an expat from Spain you'll get a negative opinion of London 8 times out of 10. They've got their villa in the sun, Sky TV, English newspapers printed in Spain daily, plenty of expats as neighbours and local cafes serving up a fry-up! Haha!
Apr 5th 2009, 12:44 pm
#42
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Thread Starter
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Location: Was Naples, now Surrey.
Posts: 528
Apr 5th 2009, 8:27 pm
#43
The Original Red Head!
Joined: May 2007
Location: Firenze, Italia
Posts: 4,981
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
Unfortunately the things bricwood is saying are, on the whole, echoed by both my son and OH in varying degrees. Not enough to make my son hate the UK but enough to make my OH. And duffer you are spot on with the Spain expats. OH has UK sky in Spain, expats at the tennis club and every caf does bangers and mash with yer Watneys!!
Apr 6th 2009, 9:34 am
#44
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Joined: Nov 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 284
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
Bricwood, banging on about those bloody foreigners. Kind of ironic he wants to go and live in Italy then....:curse:
Apr 6th 2009, 9:36 am
#45
Pull my finger
Joined: Feb 2007
Location: Vicenza
Posts: 4,064
Re: Regret going back to the UK from Italy?
Yeah - Bloody foreigners everywhere here!
