I'm out of here.

[KatyMan]

56. This is very true

We lived in the UK 2 different times for a total of about 6 years and Ireland for 2, 2000-01. It's a beautiful place and the people are the nicest you'll ever meet.
But--
You don't realize how much you don't know about a foreign country even one that speaks your language. How do you rent a place? How to get a driving license? What are taxes like or insurance? Where do you buy furniture? When we were in Ireland, there were no big stores like Rooms to Go or anything, you had to find the tiny furniture stores in town (unless you're in Dublin). And delivery takes for ever. We always referred to it as "Irish time". Make an appointment on Tuesday for them to come fill your propane for heating and they say they'll be there Thursday. They mean next Thursday. We bought some furniture and they told us it would be 7 weeks for delivery. The order was placed on a Friday. So, on the Wednesday seven weeks later I called them and they said "well, it hasn't quite been 7 weeks yet has it?"

The weather: Wet. 1000 shades of green? No, 1000 shades of gray. Slate gray skies from Sept to probably April or May. In fall and winter, sun comes up around 9 or so in the morning and it's dark by 4pm. On the plus side, in the summer the sun doesn't set until about 10 and doesn't get dark until 11. It rains a lot, but they call it a 'soft' rain, very misty. And cold.

Driving: Learn to drive a stick. You have to have a car unless you live in a place like Dublin or Cork where they have buses. The roads can be narrow--two way roads that are barely big enough for one car. Plus you're on the other side of the road on two lane streets. That's not hard to get used to though--always make sure when turning your passenger side is toward the curb. But, you'll likely still have to learn to drive, as the bus and train systems aren't quite what they are in the rest of Europe. May have improved some, but we looked into moving back a year or two ago and things seemed mostly the same.

If you have pets, there are restrictions on bringing them over. It may be different now, but back then they had to quarantine in the US for 6 months before they could be shipped over. And airlines only fly pets at certain times of year ao timing is important.

Money: if you're working, prepare for a salary shock. They don't pay near the same amount there as here. Mrs KM is retiring soon and we were thinking of going back to Ireland. I would still be working. For my position, the salary was less than half. Not giving my numbers, just as an example, if one makes say $50k, here, over there the same job would probably pay 20k in euros. And everything is way more expensive.


I'm not trying to dissuade you at all, just want to reiterate what DFW was saying--it's really really different over there. It's not easy to move countries, but it's an awesome experience, and to tell you the truth Mrs KatyMan and I would move back there tomorrow and never look back!

On another note, I though you had to be in country to get your citizenship nowadays? In 98 I did mine by mail, but I thought it changed. It was hard to chase down all the docs but this was before everything was online.

Good luck, all the best, and if you can be easygoing about the changes to lifestyle and all, you'll absolutely love it!