Expats

[jimmyscoular]

Re: Expats

t

[jimmyscoular]

Re: Expats

There's a place called Brynmawr outside Philadelphia. It's very posh. They call it Bryn-mar.

High-end housing subdivision near me, also called Bryn Mawr. I have often wondered if anyone understands its meaning, or even that the words are Welsh.

[Wash DC Blue]

Re: Expats

High-end housing subdivision near me, also called Bryn Mawr. I have often wondered if anyone understands its meaning, or even that the words are Welsh.

There are lots of signposts saying “Twp” around Pennsylvania...thought that it meant stupid drivers rather than township 😀

[Wash DC Blue]

Re: Expats

Married a brilliant and beautiful American of Polish/Swedish ancestry who, after 39 years of marriage, is a wonderful mother to our three children. We live in Nebraska, which has bitterly cold winters. I like to go back every now and then to get faggots and peas in the market, or fish and chips on Caroline Street, but no, I will never move back. There's a reason why people risk life and limb to get here and why hundreds of thousands are rushing the southern border. It's a great place. I'm a lucky guy.

Good for you Mate!!
Nebraska’s Winters would be beyond my capacity no matter how much I dug the Corn Huskers.

Winters here in Northern VA are brutal to me.
If we don’t get back to Wales, a Snow Bird lifestyle it is!

[Des Parrot]

Re: Expats

Not sure if I qualify as a full blown expat but I’ve spent many years of my life outside of the UK. Work driven for me, mainly on secondment to transfer or start up businesses. Currently on a 3 year stint in Poland but previously I’ve done the same in Japan, Ireland, California, Canada, Holland & India. I love the change & challenges.

[Wash DC Blue]

Re: Expats

Not sure if I qualify as a full blown expat but I’ve spent many years of my life outside of the UK. Work driven for me, mainly on secondment to transfer or start up businesses. Currently on a 3 year stint in Poland but previously I’ve done the same in Japan, Ireland, California, Canada, Holland & India. I love the change & challenges.

I think that you are a good, solid brand ambassador for Wales and Cardiff City.

Keep keeping on!

[Rock_Flock_of_Five]

Re: Expats

I was working in London at the time. My contract ended and I just decided to be a bit cavalier and get a one-way ticket to Hong Kong (I already sold my property in Cardiff).
I met a mainland Chinese girl, we got married, had a son and fifteen years later I'm still here in China.

I don't think I could ever afford to go back home, I certainly wouldn't get any meaningful employment at my age in the UK.

I went back to Cardiff for my mother's funeral just over 2 years ago. It was the first time I had been home in more than 10 years. I rediscovered what a fantastic city Cardiff is. I used to take things for granted when I was living there. The friendly and helpful nature of the people, particularly in customer service, was very notable.

[splott parker]

Re: Expats

Doesn’t ‘ex pat’ seem a lot more nicer than ‘immigrant’

[delmbox]

Re: Expats

Doesn’t ‘ex pat’ seem a lot more nicer than ‘immigrant’

Came here to say exactly the same thing

[WJ99mobile]

Re: Expats

Wish I moved to Aus but the mrs is too tied to her family.

Sacrifices you make eh!

[Jimmy the Jock]

Re: Expats

I moved to a place called Cardiff in my mid twenties .Lovely City.
Weather much nicer than my native Bonnie Scotland .
Great opportunities there well , run my own successful business, have integrated fairly well with the natives despite some of them having a gripe about some hand ball incident that happened years and years ago....
Standard of local football is shocking though. You need a neck brace to watch hoof ball.
I would recommend Cardiff to anyone .

[Divine Wright]

Re: Expats

How come...... I liked the Basque Country whenever I had visited.

It's near France, The Pyrenees, The coast.

The way people socialise and their attitude to food is healthier than it is in Wales imo.

No fighting.

No beefcakes.

At the same time, there are elements that remind me a bit more of Wales in terms of the landscape and the people.

There are things I don't like about here and miss about wales....

There is a culture of accumulating and safeguarding money at the expense of others. Many people send their kids to private schools so as to avoid "the scum" of this world. Many people think it perfectly normal to pay a foreigner peanuts to clean up THEIR mess at home and iron their clothes so they can project and image of immaculate order.

.....which is basically what I miss about home..... I find people in Wales a little more carefree and down-to-earth on the whole.

I miss speaking welsh. I miss Lansbury Park :) and lying on the felt-lined garage roof in summer..... but that's probably getting overly nostalgic. I miss countryside. ....family and friends obvs.

[blue matt]

Re: Expats

I experienced the expat lifestyle in Sydney but from the Lebanese expat community for just over 6 months, it always entertained me that people would move to another country and band together and not really let outsiders in, it was there i saw Racism from both sides, the girl i was dating was subject to it from whites which used to push me to the edge and often beyond with a number of " squaring up to the person " and even a few incidents on punches thrown ( much to her dismay as i couldnt leave it ), it was funny, she would always say " leave it, its just how things are, we all have different and have different opinions and it will never change ", then when i would go to her family / community things i would suffer the same, the older generation would make remarks ( some i couldnt understand, but i know were racist from the GF outburst back at them ) some in English that i could, She had a very strange view of it, directed at her she would just brush it off without a care in the world, directed at me, it would cause the anger in her would bubble over, i never understood that

about 10 years ago, i was going to purchase a house in the South of France, had it all lined up, spoke to the mayor who had to ok the purchase, the estate agent put me in touch with a group of local expats in the area, what a bunch of clowns, they were honestly attempting to recreate " back home " but in the sun, they were mental, they were the reason we didnt buy in the end, I didnt want to be part of that

[splott parker]

Re: Expats

I experienced the expat lifestyle in Sydney but from the Lebanese expat community for just over 6 months, it always entertained me that people would move to another country and band together and not really let outsiders in, it was there i saw Racism from both sides, the girl i was dating was subject to it from whites which used to push me to the edge and often beyond with a number of " squaring up to the person " and even a few incidents on punches thrown ( much to her dismay as i couldnt leave it ), it was funny, she would always say " leave it, its just how things are, we all have different and have different opinions and it will never change ", then when i would go to her family / community things i would suffer the same, the older generation would make remarks ( some i couldnt understand, but i know were racist from the GF outburst back at them ) some in English that i could, She had a very strange view of it, directed at her she would just brush it off without a care in the world, directed at me, it would cause the anger in her would bubble over, i never understood that

about 10 years ago, i was going to purchase a house in the South of France, had it all lined up, spoke to the mayor who had to ok the purchase, the estate agent put me in touch with a group of local expats in the area, what a bunch of clowns, they were honestly attempting to recreate " back home " but in the sun, they were mental, they were the reason we didnt buy in the end, I didnt want to be part of that

When you see those programmes like Bargain Brits In The Sun it amuses me to see the British immigrants seeking out the best Sunday dinner, Bars that have bingo etc and that caravan park just outside Benidorm full of British immigrants

[NYCBlue]

Re: Expats

High-end housing subdivision near me, also called Bryn Mawr. I have often wondered if anyone understands its meaning, or even that the words are Welsh.

I've tried telling a few people. They don't care. You think they'd be interested to know what it means at least.