Cyprus-Forum.com

[cannedmoose]

Canned Moose - thanks for your support....bit confused as regards sending my children to school though, especially as they are now all adults and I am a grandfather .....anyway, we are in the lucky situation of being 50 and 48 respectively, with me on a half-decent pension, so working is not an issue. I am sh*t scared of trying to learn greek as I have always been utterly useless at any language (even english can be problematic ), but I am prepared to try and learn some words/phrases as that is only right and proper....after all we always moan about immigrants to England who can't speak english. Phrases relating pots and black kettles spring to mind chris

Sorry Judge Chris, got you confused with another potential refugee from Blairite Britain Support for your trek remains though

As for Greek, I'm in the process of learning it. It looks VERY scary at first, but once you get the hang of the alpha, vita, gamma nonsense, it all begins to click into place. Just make sure you learn the swearwords very quickly, extremely useful in everyday driving situations

[Spartan King]

Ex-pat....I assure you I did not get my back up by what you said....if it came across as that I apologise, it was not my intention .

Yes we have thought about it long and hard, but just in the last few days things have crystallised in that we have had an offer on our house at last so we are now staring reality in its face.....and then I start reading all sorts of stuff about how bad Cyprus is on this forum and on msn, and I am sure you will appreciate it made us nervous, so I posted seeking reassurance....and in the main I got it. It seems like for every 10 positive messages I read (I subscribe to other forums and am including them in that figure) I get one negative one come along. The positive ones simply confirm what I thought was the case, but the negative ones undermine my beliefs so naturally they seem out of all proportion.

I am just trying to convince myself we are doing the right thing, like most people do when they make a major decision.........but when someone tells you its a dumb idea, despite everyone else saying otherwise, it would be an idiot who ignored the person saying something detrimental. Much better to re-assess and re-evaluate in light of the views expressed to see where it takes us, in my opinion.

Canned Moose - thanks for your support....bit confused as regards sending my children to school though, especially as they are now all adults and I am a grandfather .....anyway, we are in the lucky situation of being 50 and 48 respectively, with me on a half-decent pension, so working is not an issue. I am sh*t scared of trying to learn greek as I have always been utterly useless at any language (even english can be problematic ), but I am prepared to try and learn some words/phrases as that is only right and proper....after all we always moan about immigrants to England who can't speak english. Phrases relating pots and black kettles spring to mind

chris

My honest unbiased opinion is that you can do fine in Cyprus without learning any Greek. A few short phrases will however make you popular.

Forums tend to over emphasise the negative in my honest opinion, the same thing happened when I wanted to buy a new car, I checked the BMW forums, and all I ever saw were posts about all the problems that new owners were facing, poor service, expensive this or that...
It nealry made me change my mind, until I actually bought the car, then I loved every minute of it.

If you are retired, I would say, hurry up and move to Cyprus, better climate, most mod-cons of home, short trip to the UK, many ex pats and a familiarity with the UK. Yet there is so much more that you can do in Cyprus which you cannot really do in the UK.

You have nothing to lose, believe me.

[ex_pat]

Chris

Didn't know you are retired and on a comfortable pension. In that case, what you waiting for? Get yourself over here as you will love it.

I know this seems 2-faced according to my prior comments, but I believe Cyprus is perfect for retirement, I am currently trying to convince my parents to sell up and retire here because when you don't have to worry about earning a living, life here is perfect.....and you won't grow bored without friends as there are loads of old people from the UK here, the place is full of them!

Good luck in your move

[Judge Mental]

ex-pat - hope you aren't implying I am old yer young whipper-snapper

[annecollings]

I'm not quite sure where my reply fits in now as I have had a few blips with my internet connection (we live in the fields with no land line and have been told it will cost us about CYP 5,000 to have line put in !!!!! Another story). Anyway I'm posting it anyway...

metecyp : What good constructive comments you make.

Judge Mental: Yes, rent for 6 months, get a feel for the whole island, decide where you want to lay your roots. Its a big thing you are doing and not something that can be done easily or quickly. Do you want to be in or out of town.

I will try to help on any questions re dogs/animals. I used to run a horse trekking centre here (accomodation provided and CYP 275 a month!!!) and now am running my own business as a dog groomer. I've had experiences of the animal shelters... When I first came here to live (although I already had a sister living here and had been here on hols many times) I worked in an office and still have friends who are secretaries and they still only earn about CYP 500 a month (compared to legal sec job in London 10 yrs ago at Sterling 2000 a month)! It really is not comparable to the UK and you musn't expect it to be. The cost of living I believe is still lower, especially locally where I live in village shops eating a lot of local produce which is 100 times better than in the UK. Things have gone up considerably, but still do not compare with UK. I believe house prices will drop again in a couple of years. I have a german friend who is married to a Cypriot and is "fully qualified" in his line of work. He nearly gave up in trying to find work because of the wages but he persisted and eventually got something at a reasonable wage (although I'm not sure what he gets!)

Good Luck and don't give up on Cyprus, we have a lovely life here, can go to local tavernas for about CYP 10 per person and have a good meal and a good drink. We have a lovely house on 2 acres in the middle of the trees with mature fruit, nut and olive trees and a swimming pool. My partner is retired and I only work part time and we manage just fine. We are close to the highway and butchers, bakers, shops, chemist, DIY, petrol station - Need I go on? You just have to find the right place for you.

[Judge Mental]

Thanks for this info anne - we are keen on the sort of house arrangement you have i.e. out in the countryside with some land, swimming pool, facilities close by etc.

Have just heard that we have definitely sold our house so we hope to be moving by the end of June

[andytandreou]

Hey Judge, I might have come a bit late in this discussion but as a Cypriot who's lived in Cyp for ever, I think I can give my two cents

1. We have a large dog (German Shepherd) which we adore, but reading some posts suggest he will be the target of poisonings etc.

Poisonings of animals do happen unfortunatley but they are VERY RARE, I have never witnessed any dog/cat/animal being poisoned EVER! Cyprus has animal shelters, charities, dog shows, cat shows and protection services.

2. If we see any animal cruelty we will have to keep our mouths shut because if we say anything someone will attack us sooner or later

Seriously now... Cyprus has a "Green Party" with seats in parliament... Nobody will EVER attack you.

3. Greek Cypriots (and presumably Turkish Cypriots) can't wait to see the back of all foreign troops, and hate those that are based on the island (I am British by the way)

I can't wait to see the back of all foreign troops either, including Greek, British, and Turkish soldiers. Having said that, British soldiers can be seen wondering in uniform everywhere, espesially hotspots like Agia Napa, they are never bothered.

4. Cypriots hate all foreigners who go to live in Cyprus

oh my... 20% of our GDP is from "Foreigners"... If we hated them we would have to be the dumbest people on earth...

5. The Banking System is archaic

I honestly think it's better than the UK's banking system, unless you prefer a room of bullet-proof glass, constantly rotating managers who DON'T know you and low interest rates!!!! Also internet, telephone, wap and ATM banking are all available. Currently Laiki offers 3% interest on a current account online (e-checking), which ironically is better than a UK savings account.

6. The availability of Broadband is almost non-existent, and use of the Internet is a joke as no-one uses it (I know for a fact that if I email anyone in Cyprus it won't get an answer)

BB or ADSL is spreading like a virus in Cyprus, I've had it for 3 years!!! All my friends have ADSL broadband and prices start at around £30 for a 1mb connection. The availability is restricted to Cities and that is what makes some people angry, in the three years since i've had it, it's been expanded to include vast areas around the main cities and it's still growing.

7. The cost of vehicles is ludicrously expensive

It used to be, new cars where taxed on weight... Now they are taxed by engine size (cc), a new car with a 1.3 liter engine would cost about the same as anywhere else. The ratio of used/new car sales before the tax change was 70/30 (which means used car sales where double that of new cars), the ratio now is about 48/52!

8. If I have serious medical problem I would be better off going off-island for treatment

It saddens me to hear that but i assure you that you have nothing to worry about. Off island treatment is required when you need a heart transplant (knock on wood )... My mother has been through breast cancer, she needed chemo, drugs and support, she received all three FOR FREE, she is now much better. My advice on this one is to get Insurance, I am insured with Cyprialife and when i got a hernia i was operated privatley by surgeons who used high-tech tube cameras and did the internal work without external scars or stiches, I had a private room with Sat TV and i was back-up within 2 days. Even if i wasn't insured i would still have done it privately, it only costs £1500 cyp. I would never go to a public hospital and have to endure a night with a 98 year old moaning man next to me and deal with the attitude of the nurses...

[Judge Mental]

Thanks for this Andy - I have to say my mind has been considerably eased with all the positive responses - we have now sold our house (subject to contract ) so we are planning our move for roughly the end of June!! Look out Cyprus...here we come (barring house sale foul-ups)

chris

[TVSET]

My honest unbiased opinion is that you can do fine in Cyprus without learning any Greek.

Very true. It is my tenth year here and all my Greek is just a few words that you can get out of me only by holding a gun to my head. Luckily that didn't happen yet.

Most of the people in the cities speak English just fine. Many also do so in the villages. Speaking Greek would be nice, but if is not a necessety by any means. Otherwise I'd be the first one to learn it.

Forums tend to over emphasise the negative in my honest opinion, the same thing happened when I wanted to buy a new car, I checked the BMW forums, and all I ever saw were posts about all the problems that new owners were facing, poor service, expensive this or that...

Yup. It's like the news on TV - they show only the bad stuff like bombings, disasters, and things like that. I don't bother to watch those anymore. Forums aren't that bad yet, but they are getting there.