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Thread: Expats

  1. #26

    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 .

  2. #27

    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.

  3. #28

    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

  4. #29

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by blue matt View Post
    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

  5. #30

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by jimmyscoular View Post
    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.

  6. #31

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by splott parker View Post
    Doesn’t ‘ex pat’ seem a lot more nicer than ‘immigrant’
    Reserved for (usually English speaking) whites only. I prefer to be called an immigrant.

  7. #32

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by splott parker View Post
    Doesn’t ‘ex pat’ seem a lot more nicer than ‘immigrant’
    Well, we're "expats" to our fellow Brits but immigrants to everyone else. I have often described myself as an immigrant to Americans because that is what I am. To tell someone of, say, Ukrainian heritage, that I'm an "ex pat" would be silly.

  8. #33

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by NYCBlue View Post
    I've tried telling a few people. They don't care. You think they'd be interested to know what it means at least.
    Sometimes we're too close to things. If there were a housing subdivision named Crvc Hlavc, and some Czech immigrant wanted to tell me all about it I don't know that my interest would be overflowing. Welsh references are so rare, though, they do catch my eye. There is a Cardiff-by-the-Sea in California — probably no more interesting a fact than Nebraska has a Prague.

  9. #34

    Re: Expats

    How come you're expats?
    > I met a lovely Irish woman in a bar in London, fell in love, changed my life - she wanted to go home so we went, 25y ago. TBH I think of 'expat' as applying to people (usually white professionals) who live abroad but intend to return home. I'm not one - I'm an emigrant (from GB) / an immigrant (to Ireland).


    I've always wanted to move somewhere warmer and being from Brynmawr the choices are endless.
    > Well Dublin ain't warmer or drier than south Wales!

    Do you miss Wales?
    > Only in a nostalgic sense. I like coming back, but these days it feels like visiting not coming home. I've lived away from Wales since I was 18 (France -> England -> Kenya -> England -> Ireland) and all I have left is CCFC, a few people & memories. And I started following the City when I was in London.

    Do you think you'll ever move back?
    >It's possible but unlikely. I'm an Irish citizen now, most of my friends are here and Ireland is my home.

  10. #35

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by splott parker View Post
    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
    There is an Englishwoman in my town who emigrated to the United States as a war bride eons ago. She still says things like "love" and "car boot" and "rubbish bin," all with a completely intact Kent accent. Sometimes I think they hold onto these things as sort of trademarks. When in Rome, is my attitude.

    In her defense, she is absolutely lovely.

  11. #36

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five View Post
    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.
    Cardiff is a great place. As always, you have to be absent for a long time to appreciate it properly. I suppose when you trudge in and out of it a dozen times a year, Cardiff Market loses its charm, but I love visiting that place with its wonderful food stalls and that iconic fishmonger where I have many happy memories of my dad buying me bags of cockles. Even the council estates, so dreary and taken for granted when I was growing up, take on a fresh aspect after years away. Their narrow, winding streets are actually quite charming, if inconvenient, and being as they were built before cars became common possessions, everything is within walking distance.

  12. #37

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy the Jock View Post
    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 .

  13. #38

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by Wash DC Blue View Post
    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!
    Yeah, we're thinking about Texas, although in one of those life twists my daughter and her husband just bought a summer home in Puerto Rico and now the missus is talking about retirement on the Caribbean. I don't know that I could live happily in a non-English speaking country, though. I need my radio, an addiction that took hold long ago with Radio Luxembourg and Jimmy Clitheroe.

  14. #39

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by Des Parrot View Post
    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.
    Nomad, perhaps?

  15. #40
    First Team light up the darkness's Avatar
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    Re: Expats

    I went to Vietnam originally to head up a business school. I never saw myself and still don’t think of myself as an ex pat. I view the ex pats community as a bunch of folk who are boozers and can’t leave ‘home’ behind them and so band together forming cliques which are not easy to associate with.

    Besides which a lot of the ex pats are Australian and a pain in the arse especially when they’ve had a beer.

    We live in Phu My Hung district in Ho Chi Minh City which is mainly Vietnamese and have a place in the country near Ba Ria Vung Tau where I am ‘the foreigner’. If you pitch up there and ask in the market for the foreigner they’ll likely send you to our place.it’s kind of nice but like living in a goldfish bowl sometimes.


    Married a beautiful woman in 2014 and we have a very handsome young boy.

    We bought a new house in Radyr using zoom and my sister to act as our intermediary and we’re moving to Cardiff as soon as we can get the paperwork sorted out.

    The Spouse visa is a triumph of bureaucracy. She even has to have current medical certification which confirms she doesn’t have TB and we have to produce a file of photographic and other documents which prove we’ve been together since 2010

    The education and healthcare systems are dreadful and you can’t get anything done unless you pay tea money. Even the women in the bank when you take out cash or make a money transfer want you give them a ‘nice tip’.

    The police are equally as corrupt I had to get a stamped copy of my residence permit. It took 4 visits to the local People’s Committee. As soon as the cash appeared so did the stamped copy. Whenever I get pulled up by the ‘yellow dogs’ vang chai I have a 200,000 vid note folded with my licence and that’s twice what the locals will be asked for.

    It’s the way things are. Can confirm It’s really different to living in Canton….mostly

    But. If I could have a conversation with myself when I was 20 I’d tell myself to get an English language teaching certificate and fk off around the world staying as long as I wanted and using the qualification to fund myself.

    As someone said It’s a big world out there and I recommend everyone should get out and see some of it.

    You might just like it.
    Last edited by light up the darkness; 24-07-21 at 14:51. Reason: Premature confirmation

  16. #41

    Re: Expats

    Isn't is great to know all these stories? Myself....I live in the Dordogne (where the pool is appreciated this time of year)......)...married forty years until my wife died very suddenly in 2011.
    I nearly married a girl in China from Chongqing (for info Rock_Flock_of_Five)...but did not work out. No children from first marriage but I then met and married a Thai girl from Udon Thani , and we now have two wonderful little boys 8 and 2....who are healthy and happy...what more can one wish in life.....
    Do I miss Wales???? Well, I worked in Treorchy for a while in the old Midland Bank.... lovely place ....and being born in Cymmer, Porth, and being extensively travelled, I miss the mountains...Aberdare market.....fish and chips from Cardiff Fish Bar in Aberaman (THE BEST!! -I lived in Aberdare for a while.....) ....I will never return though. The only other place I would live is New England in USA.

  17. #42

    Re: Expats

    Moved to Sweden 1989 with my Swedish wife, now divorced and i've upgraded to a filipina beauty.
    When i retire i hope to retire there.
    I'm currently applying to become a swedish citizen.

  18. #43

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by light up the darkness View Post
    I went to Vietnam originally to head up a business school. I never saw myself and still don’t think of myself as an ex pat. I view the ex pats community as a bunch of folk who are boozers and can’t leave ‘home’ behind them and so band together forming cliques which are not easy to associate with.

    Besides which a lot of the ex pats are Australian and a pain in the arse especially when they’ve had a beer.

    We live in Phu My Hung district in Ho Chi Minh City which is mainly Vietnamese and have a place in the country near Ba Ria Vung Tau where I am ‘the foreigner’. If you pitch up there and ask in the market for the foreigner they’ll likely send you to our place.it’s kind of nice but like living in a goldfish bowl sometimes.


    Married a beautiful woman in 2014 and we have a very handsome young boy.

    We bought a new house in Radyr using zoom and my sister to act as our intermediary and we’re moving to Cardiff as soon as we can get the paperwork sorted out.

    The Spouse visa is a triumph of bureaucracy. She even has to have current medical certification which confirms she doesn’t have TB and we have to produce a file of photographic and other documents which prove we’ve been together since 2010

    The education and healthcare systems are dreadful and you can’t get anything done unless you pay tea money. Even the women in the bank when you take out cash or make a money transfer want you give them a ‘nice tip’.

    The police are equally as corrupt I had to get a stamped copy of my residence permit. It took 4 visits to the local People’s Committee. As soon as the cash appeared so did the stamped copy. Whenever I get pulled up by the ‘yellow dogs’ vang chai I have a 200,000 vid note folded with my licence and that’s twice what the locals will be asked for.

    It’s the way things are. Can confirm It’s really different to living in Canton….mostly

    But. If I could have a conversation with myself when I was 20 I’d tell myself to get an English language teaching certificate and fk off around the world staying as long as I wanted and using the qualification to fund myself.

    As someone said It’s a big world out there and I recommend everyone should get out and see some of it.

    You might just like it.
    Hell of a story. Vietnam of all places. I actually don't hang around any Brits at all here in Nebraska. In all the years I've lived here I've met fewer than half a dozen. A British food shop opened recently here in Omaha, so I've come across a few there, but, being British, we naturally don't talk to one another. Just get your Lyle's Golden Syrup and your jar of Marmite and get out of there.

  19. #44

    Re: Expats

    Isn't is great to know all these stories? Myself....I live in the Dordogne (where the pool is appreciated this time of year)......)...married forty years until my wife died very suddenly in 2011.
    I nearly married a girl in China from Chongqing (for info Rock_Flock_of_Five)...but did not work out. No children from first marriage but I then met and married a Thai girl from Udon Thani , and we now have two wonderful little boys 8 and 2....who are healthy and happy...what more can one wish in life.....
    Do I miss Wales???? Well, I worked in Treorchy for a while in the old Midland Bank.... lovely place ....and being born in Cymmer, Porth, and being extensively travelled, I miss the mountains...Aberdare market.....fish and chips from Cardiff Fish Bar in Aberaman (THE BEST!! -I lived in Aberdare for a while.....) ....I will never return though. The only other place I would live is New England in USA.

  20. #45

    Re: Expats

    Couple of questions.

    How come you're expats?

    I was a problem child. Year above Bale/Warburton/Thomas/Kear in Whitchurch. I dropped out after Year 12. I was more interested in my friend's grandad's war stories than I was school. Used to drop by his house to listen to him instead of going to class. Then after dropping out I worked full time at the Plumb Center at City Road making next to nothing. I know absolutely nothing about plumbing. My dad's company asked him to move to Shanghai for a 3-5 year project. Parents asked me if I wanted to go with them and go back to school and redo Year 12 and after visiting Shanghai I said hell yes. Went to Uni in Malaysia and now settled in Singapore with a Singaporean-chinese wife and kids.

    I've always wanted to move somewhere warmer and being from Brynmawr the choices are endless.
    Do you miss Wales?

    Certain things. But if I missed it enough I would move home. Although I say that but truth be told we're over reliant on my wife's job here in Singapore.

    I miss Sunday roast. I miss going to watch City both home and away. Cardiff Devils too. And rugby. I miss my auntie Karen and all my cousins. I miss a proper cup of tea. I miss grass. I miss seasons. I miss pubs. I miss having a back garden. I miss having a connection to the people I'm around.

    I went to Japan for the rugby world cup and whenever I met someone and told them I'm Welsh they got excited. Whenever I told them but I live in Singapore they lost their excitement.

    Do you think you'll ever move back?

    I would love to but only if we had enough money to do it differently. I wouldn't want to live in Gabalfa or Whitchurch again. Sorry if that sounds stuck up but been there, done that. I would love to give Pontcanna a try. With those massive fields and hipster cafes. Walking to town. Yes please.

    Anyway I'm drunk.

  21. #46

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by Carl Dale's Mole View Post
    Couple of questions.

    How come you're expats?

    I was a problem child. Year above Bale/Warburton/Thomas/Kear in Whitchurch. I dropped out after Year 12. I was more interested in my friend's grandad's war stories than I was school. Used to drop by his house to listen to him instead of going to class. Then after dropping out I worked full time at the Plumb Center at City Road making next to nothing. I know absolutely nothing about plumbing. My dad's company asked him to move to Shanghai for a 3-5 year project. Parents asked me if I wanted to go with them and go back to school and redo Year 12 and after visiting Shanghai I said hell yes. Went to Uni in Malaysia and now settled in Singapore with a Singaporean-chinese wife and kids.

    I've always wanted to move somewhere warmer and being from Brynmawr the choices are endless.
    Do you miss Wales?

    Certain things. But if I missed it enough I would move home. Although I say that but truth be told we're over reliant on my wife's job here in Singapore.

    I miss Sunday roast. I miss going to watch City both home and away. Cardiff Devils too. And rugby. I miss my auntie Karen and all my cousins. I miss a proper cup of tea. I miss grass. I miss seasons. I miss pubs. I miss having a back garden. I miss having a connection to the people I'm around.

    I went to Japan for the rugby world cup and whenever I met someone and told them I'm Welsh they got excited. Whenever I told them but I live in Singapore they lost their excitement.

    Do you think you'll ever move back?

    I would love to but only if we had enough money to do it differently. I wouldn't want to live in Gabalfa or Whitchurch again. Sorry if that sounds stuck up but been there, done that. I would love to give Pontcanna a try. With those massive fields and hipster cafes. Walking to town. Yes please.

    Anyway I'm drunk.
    Lovely post, I enjoyed reading that. Good luck to you in the future

  22. #47

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by jimmyscoular View Post
    There is an Englishwoman in my town who emigrated to the United States as a war bride eons ago. She still says things like "love" and "car boot" and "rubbish bin," all with a completely intact Kent accent. Sometimes I think they hold onto these things as sort of trademarks. When in Rome, is my attitude.

    In her defense, she is absolutely lovely.
    I met an English girl last week at work and she said "torch" in a conversation with an American. I asked her how long she'd been here and she said ten years. I told her I was surprised she said torch and then I asked her how she pronounced "schedule". I use American words and spellings all the time when talking with Americans. I can't be arsed with all the questions about my accent. Some people seem to like to use it to draw attention to themselves though.

  23. #48
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    Re: Expats

    A wee complaint to start off.

    I detest the term "ex-pat". It has a colonial connotation to it and Britain has naff all to be proud of as far as its colonial past goes.

    I also, personally, have never been a patriot. I don't see the point of a monarchy, I find the (predominantly) English class system abhorrent and stifling, the electoral/political system in the U.K. is anachronistic and biased, and, I hate the hubris of the English.

    So one of my main reasons for calling the U.S.A. home is casting all this "British" crap aside.

    I'm proud to be a Welsh American.

    I can't wait for Wales to wake up, shake off the shackles of English imperialism and create a republic free from the interference of the Billy Britt brigade.

  24. #49

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by NYCBlue View Post
    I met an English girl last week at work and she said "torch" in a conversation with an American. I asked her how long she'd been here and she said ten years. I told her I was surprised she said torch and then I asked her how she pronounced "schedule". I use American words and spellings all the time when talking with Americans. I can't be arsed with all the questions about my accent. Some people seem to like to use it to draw attention to themselves though.
    I don't at all mind people asking about my accent. They're just being curious. Sometimes, though, if there's time, I ask them to guess. That's always amusing. England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, around the world they go. Wales really is the invisible country. Fair play, though, a barber once asked me about it while I was sitting in his chair. Plenty of time, so I made him guess. He took a step back, comb and scissors frozen in the air, pondered a moment and then said, "You're from that place Tom Jones is from."

    I don't do the "British thing" either (It's a flashlight). I've been here so long I forget there's anything distinctive about my speech until someone asks about it. Time was, in written communications on British boards like this one, I would try to conform to British spelling instead of the American spellings I have used every day for decades. It's exhausting. So it is what it is, I am what I am. Please forgive the "z's" and the double apostrophes.

  25. #50

    Re: Expats

    Quote Originally Posted by jimmyscoular View Post
    I don't at all mind people asking about my accent. They're just being curious. Sometimes, though, if there's time, I ask them to guess. That's always amusing. England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, around the world they go. Wales really is the invisible country. Fair play, though, a barber once asked me about it while I was sitting in his chair. Plenty of time, so I made him guess. He took a step back, comb and scissors frozen in the air, pondered a moment and then said, "You're from that place Tom Jones is from."

    I don't do the "British thing" either (It's a flashlight). I've been here so long I forget there's anything distinctive about my speech until someone asks about it. Time was, in written communications on British boards like this one, I would try to conform to British spelling instead of the American spellings I have used every day for decades. It's exhausting. So it is what it is, I am what I am. Please forgive the "z's" and the double apostrophes.
    That's how I feel. Why put a u in the word color? Everyone knows what color means.

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