JLFS

The thing is never to say never.

As it has been pointed out we dont know what the future holds, a friend of ours was planning to live inSpain, but has had to shelve all plans due to a death in the faimily, this is just an example of how things can change from one day to the next.

I have been a expat and now i supposes I am an Ex expat, ie in my homeland once again.

I did not leave the UK because I hated it, we left for a change, a chance to live a different life.

If I was told tomorrow that I had to return to the UK, I would do so gladly, but I would miss my lfe in Spain, in the same way that I miss my old life in the UK.

Also about intergration, nobody has to intergrate 100 per cent in any country, there is nothing wrong with seeking out the things you enjoyed from home.

I love the fact that there is a bit of this and a bit of that, a lot of Brits often deride the English breakfast and fish and chip lovers, but what is wrong with that.

I dont ofter hear Brits complaining about Indian, Italian, chinese restaurants in Spain, but there does seem to be a bit of snobbery about "Brit bars and food places".


TBH in my point of view a Sunday roast (British style) is unbeatable when you fancy one.

As for what nationality I feel, that is a bit tricky, but I would never change my nationality, I was born in a certain place to certain parents, and as far as I am concerned that is a fact that cannot be changed and that is my nationality.

So in my opinion why not stick with the one you are born with because that is who you are.

Of course the line does get blurred when a child is born to "foreign" parents.

My wife does not feel Spanish at all, and I am sure that there will be children of some of the posters on BE who will feel the same way, if they have been born in Spain.

rachelk

I apologise for my awful spellling of bureaucracy. Too late to edit.

HBG

Nationality is an accident of birth, over which you have no control. Subject to which nationality you may later wish to change to, you can. Sometimes it only requires a sum of money, or a marriage.

In our current global village, young people with ability and ambition travel and live all over the place, an increasing trend, and to them home becomes a place where you hang your hat, or plug in your Blackberry.

Even if you’re a British expat happily settled in Spain for many years, it could all change overnight and for many reasons.

We’ve just said goodbye to a close friend who came back over for a visit after leaving Spain a few years ago, after a lifetime of living here, and she didn’t even know how to say goodbye in English.

steviedeluxe

Fantastic post !

Dick Dasterdly

Agreed.

manamama

I am in Class A.

We're here for a few years and plan to make the most of those years.

We'll definitely have great memories, tons of pictures and hopefully some life-long friendships to take with us.

I see it as a short chapter of our lives...the next chapter will be in the UK for a while. Maybe when it's time to retire..we'll be back!

manamama

I like it too..O wise one !

lynnxa

agreed

so many leave the country in the summer to go to the UK - they have been here years & yet their parents speak not a word of Spanish

they only speak Spanish at school - never mix with other Spanish kids, watch Spanish tele & so on - mine do & find they have less in common with the English kids at school - they don't watch Eastenders & Home & Away so can't talk to them about them

they prefer Hormiguero & other Spanish programmes

I know teenage kids who have been here since the age of 3 who still struggle in Spanish - even though they go to Spanish school - & some who have been told to take extra Spanish lessons during the summer hols

manamama

This is baffling...

I know of lots of people in the UK who have foreign parents (and speak not much English) and yet now they are grown up just as British as me, gone to uni's and have good jobs..

I'd be very worried if this was my child...fits in no-where now I suppose.

JLFS

I agree with the above posts, but unforutantely, a lot of British have a dream to come to Spain, they come for the relaxed way of life, because they want out of the rat race and full time work so, they decide that the beach, good social life with other expats, nice views etc are all important.

As it has been said before they only mix with other Brits, dont learn Spanish etc.

They forget that for young adults (as their children will be one day) there are lots of limits on them in the way of future pprospects for employment etc.

Also a lot are still in holiday mode (even after living here for years) and do not seem to see the bigger picture.

Most Brits are living in Spain because they have been through the getting on in a career and doing thier stint in the rat race, that is how they financed their house buying or savings that became so important to them for the move to Spain in the first place.

It seems a lot of British children are condemmed to a life of "little jobs" catering to other Brits.

When we went to the UK, the future was rosier than in Spain, it still is, but the big advantage that the immigrants had in those days over the British immigrants to Spain, was hunger.

Hunger to work harder, to save money, to advance our position in life, because most had been through hard times in Spain and immigration for many was the only solution.

some Spanish and Italians in the UK had the idea to save as much as possible and return home in the future with enough money to life a good life.

The oppostite seems true to a great number of immigrants to Spain, lots have sold the family home and are living on savings, winding down so to speak.

People do not come to Spain with that attitude, it is to enjoy the terraces and the sunsets, views over the olive groves etc, but they forget that in some cases they have sold the "family silver" to enjoy a premature extended holiday and maybe condemed their children to a "lesser future" than they could have had in the UK.

If they have no intention of giving their children a proper education, ie learning the language fluently, watching Spanish TV, helping with homework becoming involved in parents evenings as they would do in the UK, than maybe they should have stayed in UK untill their children had flown the nest.

lynnxa

totally baffles me, too

except I also know parents who seem not to care - so don't make the kids get the extra lessons, work hard at school etc

& join in the laughter when they hear their child discussing who can fail the most asignaturas this term - the more the better!!

I've said before - I suspect these are the kids who would fail no matter where they were

HBG

My parents moved me to a foreign country when I was 11-years old, not for economic reasons but because it suited their lifestyle. I adjusted the way children do, but I suffered for many years because of it.

In later years I put my own childrens needs first and stayed put until they had flown the nest, despite many temptations to better my own personal life.

I might be a voice in the wilderness on an expat forum, but that’s how it was.

JLFS

Nice post HGB,

I have just heard of a family we know in the UK, they were not what you call friends, but they are heading back to England ASAP,

they have 2 boys 12 and 16, and they cannot survive any longer.

The younger boy has never been to school in the UK only in Spain, and as his parents were not the "bookish"type, I dread to think what his writing skills are like in English.

According to people who know them better, the parents do not speak any Spanish and the children only speak in one tense.

They have lived for all this time, looking after apartments for holiday lets, cleaning, airport runs, etc.

I dont suppose they paid SS.

I feel for the kids, they will be way below the standard of the children in the UK school, and I suppose the older boy will drop out all together.

It seems such a high price for the children to be paying for their parents "capricho" to live in the sun for a few years.

In a just world at least the children should have a second language under their belt, but in this instance that is not the case.

How very, very, sad.

cricketman

Yes sad, but as lynxxa said, they sound like the kind of families that live in the poor uneducated areas of the UK, maybe a run down coucil estate or a concrete 60s tower block, so they probably havent missed out on much.

Well, maybe a bit of robbery and small time drug pushing

Seriously, the role of parents is probably THE most critical thing in education.

lynnxa

parents not caring about education isn't limited to council estates

but yes, I agree that the role of parents in education is key