It's not the first time the thought comes to mind, and there's many reasons for it - As most of you know, I'm Portuguese, and despite the great culture, people and history we live in a shithole economy with over 40% youth unemployment according to some statistics - Minimum wage is stupidly low for the cost of living (even if the cost of living is low as well) and I basically need to work 8 hours a day 6 days a week to be able to barely survive, not to mention our successive governments have been successfully increasing prices and goods that were once considered first need are now luxury products. I'm trying to take a degree in Law, but even so most degrees are basically useless because there's too many people finishing them and most will be underemployed which is bad as well, not to mention the fact some employers don't hire bachelors/people with degrees for jobs that are lower paid (like working in a supermarket)
Oh, and most employment contracts for young people like me are temporary, meaning I need to submit myself to a shitty schedule and work for some time without knowing when I will be fired but knowing I will be and I'll be back to the same shitty hellhole.
I have some relatives and friends who work abroad as immigrants and sometimes come back home on vacation, most on France, a few on the UK and Switzerland - Those seem to be the most common destinations for Portuguese people who want to immigrant, and it works well for them - In France, many immigrants do jobs like cleaning people's houses that pay quite decently - My girlfriend's biological parents are uneducated and cant' do a lot of things, in France her mom works as a maid and her stepdad as a construction worker, they earn far better than here and have better living conditions, they even got a nice BMW truck.
I'm not a fool, and I know immigration is not a ticket to paradise or anything, but right now I'm just looking for something to change the pace and that pays off decently, just enough to live and enjoy the casual beer. The place I would most likely go is the UK because I have a friend in London and they speak English, which is a huge advantage because, without meaning offence, I've always hated learning French at school and never quite got into it - My dad lived in France for 5 years and while he integrated later he had bad experiences in the beginning because French people sometimes see Portuguese immigrants as rednecks and discriminate against them.
Brits, how is life in Britain right now, and in London if someone can fill me in? Do Brits treat Portuguese immigrants well? How much quality does a lower paying job allow people to have?
Oh, and most employment contracts for young people like me are temporary, meaning I need to submit myself to a shitty schedule and work for some time without knowing when I will be fired but knowing I will be and I'll be back to the same shitty hellhole.
I have some relatives and friends who work abroad as immigrants and sometimes come back home on vacation, most on France, a few on the UK and Switzerland - Those seem to be the most common destinations for Portuguese people who want to immigrant, and it works well for them - In France, many immigrants do jobs like cleaning people's houses that pay quite decently - My girlfriend's biological parents are uneducated and cant' do a lot of things, in France her mom works as a maid and her stepdad as a construction worker, they earn far better than here and have better living conditions, they even got a nice BMW truck.
I'm not a fool, and I know immigration is not a ticket to paradise or anything, but right now I'm just looking for something to change the pace and that pays off decently, just enough to live and enjoy the casual beer. The place I would most likely go is the UK because I have a friend in London and they speak English, which is a huge advantage because, without meaning offence, I've always hated learning French at school and never quite got into it - My dad lived in France for 5 years and while he integrated later he had bad experiences in the beginning because French people sometimes see Portuguese immigrants as rednecks and discriminate against them.
Brits, how is life in Britain right now, and in London if someone can fill me in? Do Brits treat Portuguese immigrants well? How much quality does a lower paying job allow people to have?
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
