What is it like to live abroad?
We’ve all wondered that a bit, haven’t we?
I have lived in the UK for just over five years. I arrived before Brexit. Now working in the UK is still possible, but the minimum requirements have changed a lot, and you will find an explanation in this article. So, any of you interested in coming to the Island can find useful information here.
I arrived in the UK with my new Italian passport in 2018. I found a job after two weeks and since then, going from one event to the next, I have been trying to survive and get by.
I was 34/35 in 2018, and I already felt out of place. In Italy I travelled a lot, I worked in Milan, near Rome and in Le Marche. I went through disastrous love affairs (which left scars and a road full of volcanic ash), I was a musician, a chef, a street artist and a writer (a writer I still am fortunately).
In short, suddenly arriving in the UK was, shall we say… destabilising.
I struggled to learn the language. I often had no time to find the words and formulate a sentence, often falling in chaotic contexts, situations where dialogue required speed and promptness.
And one day, after a few months, it happened: English resurfaced.
After school, I never had the opportunity to develop English and Spanish, so, along the way, the memory of the two foreign languages was lost.
Knowing English is a must if you want to land on the Island. It is one of the requirements for being allowed to stay, which is what they call a Skilled Worker Visa.
The UK Government has even set a salary for obtaining the said Visa, which is £38,700, with variations that I will not go into here. Just go to the Government website for more details.
Also, you need to get the job before you go to the UK. So, you can go to the Island for interviews, but then you have to come back home.
In short, so many cavils that it is good to investigate carefully. However, whoever hires you will be responsible for conceding in your favour and, therefore, helping you with the various procedures.
Otherwise, you can still come to the UK for up to six months, and without a Visa.
I consider myself lucky. Obviously.
I got here on the last lap of the merry-go-round. And I must say that, at least as far as I am concerned, many things are changing. It’s not possible to describe it in detail, it’s something you observe, something you breathe in the air. It is as if the flow has stopped, stagnant water, a river that becomes a lake.
I manage a small business, which I run along with my business partner. I know other owners like me, we confront each other from time to time. We all notice the same things: there is a kind of sluggishness around, and with sluggishness comes a lack of education, and disinterest. Small businesses suffer, they have to cut hours, reduce percentages, and work with a tiny team.
In the past, after revolutions, wars or famines, changes swept away whole industries overnight.
Have you ever thought of the gigantic oil industry that was made from sperm whales and used to illuminate houses?
With the advent of Tesla and Edison, and therefore electricity etc., that sector disappeared within a few months. And I assure you that it was huge, if I had to make a comparison with today I might venture to mention Google and Amazon put together, more so, as if the whole empire of car companies or oil companies suddenly collapsed.
We simply don’t remember because our lives are short compared to the wide access to history, but for some who, like me, were born in the eighties, went through the nineties and are already facing the new millennium as adults, we have some things to say.
Some of my friends think I hate Italy. They believe that those who leave do so out of some sort of disappointment or pissed-off-ness.
That’s partly true, but nobody hates Italy. You love Italy to the end, there is nothing more beautiful than our Country.
The UK has given me access to opportunities, opportunities that I have taken in a very short time, things that I did not find in Italy.
I am here for these opportunities.
Honestly, I suffered a lot and worked even harder than I should have. The weather is not great, the food let’s forget about it, the houses are not as nice as in Italy, and much more.
However, I found friends I could count on, who helped me with my work and the writing of my first novel in English. I would not have achieved these goals where I was before.
Here are three things you can do before you decide to move to live abroad.
Do you know the language?
If the answer is NO, don’t be lazy, learn it.
Do you know the rules for entering?
If the answer is NO, then learn them too. Learning what you need to know is easy, just log on to the government website or ask travel agencies.
If the answer is NO… oh God, you must be good at something, right? I could cook, so I made a career in that area. Not that I couldn’t do anything else, but cooking was the easiest environment to get into, especially in a country like England. And here we come back to point two, know the rules, and get as much information as you can about the place you want to land. For every place in the world, you can find your community, be it Spanish or Indian, and once you find it connect with it. Information is essential. I had a friend here, and for me, he was my introduction to the Anglo-Saxon world.
Make friends, that’s extra advice.
I still have connections with Italy, and I am not talking about family. I am talking about connections in the field of literature, where I continue to publish and in the meantime, at a very slow pace, I am preparing to launch my next novel in English.
I have set the goal for 2025.
This time it is not just up to me.
If you have any questions about living abroad or are looking for pieces of advice, please do not hesitate to contact me or leave a comment.
