Cyprus-Forum.com

[mr_n1]

Are there any British Born Cypriots living in Cyprus that can share some advice on fitting in with the Cyrpus way of Life?

I have been livin in UK now for 25 yrs, my parents are Cypriot and want to move back. I on the other hand am not so shure. I dont read/write Greek, and my spoken skills dont seem to get my views across that well.

Can you please share some light on the following...
1. Did you find Cyprus to be as portrayed by your family/friends?
2. How did you fit in with the Greek Cypriots socially?
3. How different is the way of life to UK?
4. How did u fit in with work colleagues?
5. How did u find fitin in if your Greek aint up to scratch?
6. Did Cyprus turn out to be what was expected?

and most importantly,
7. How long has it taken you to integrate socially with family/friends/colleauges? and how difficult is it integrate in to a society that your not used to?

Sorry if this sounds like an interigation, please share some light.
cheers

[andri_cy]

We lived in the UK for a while before moving home. I didnt even speak Greek. People tend to want to teach you the language and if you are open to it you will learn to speak Greek well very soon. Also you have to keep in mind that a lot of people there do speak english. Cyprus is the best place to raise kids at, but I am not sure about getting a decent paying job unless you know people and I am sure if you have to pay rent it will be rough. It took me about a year but at the end everyone seemed to consider me an insider. For me, Cyprus turned out to be better than expected.

[mr_n1]

Andri,
Thanks for your honest reply, i think life can be hard enough without having to fit in all over again, thats whats goin through my mind at the mo. Did anyone else feel like that?

What difficulties did u find within changin cultures?

Did u find that there is a large British(US) Born Cypiot Community in Cypurs? or am i the only idiot thinkin about goin through this at the moment

[anastasiaC]

andri - I thought u were in the USA now

will your questionaire apply to me too?
an Australian cypriot?

I personally dont think its an ideal place to bring up kids, although safe its a tad too small heehee

[sneezing7]

andri - I thought u were in the USA now

will your questionaire apply to me too?
an Australian cypriot?

I personally dont think its an ideal place to bring up kids, although safe its a tad too small heehee

Stay in Australia. If it wasn't for my job I would move back in a second.

Agreed with your opinion that it is not an ideal place to bring up kids. Kids here are spoilt little sh!ts, who dont have a grasp of the real world.

[dms007]

andri - I thought u were in the USA now

me too, even i thought she was in the USA.

[avyixy]

STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!!

and warn your parents that Cyprus is not what they think it is.

I am a BBC and lived the first 19 years of my life in England. Then my dad got the bright idea that he wanted to return to his home country. He thought that we (me and my two sisters) would be able to get work easily cause we knew good English. I worked for Barclays and he was sure I would find work in a bank in Cyprus.

The reality of it was quite different. I have been here now for 19 years, and have a family of my own. But there is not a day that goes by when I don't regret coming here.

I didn't manage to get a job in the banks, even though I passed their exams, because I did not have the meson required (even though no one in Cyprus will admit that this exists).

My older sister works on and off in Ayia Napa in the souvenir shops, for shit pay and the younger one is back in Manchester doing a PHD in biochemistry and has no desire to return even though she came here when she was 8 years old and grew up in Cyprus.

I have currently been working at the same office for 10 years and have been in the same position from the start. There is nowhere I can get promoted to and as for the pay, it has steadily increased but with alot of hard work. The employers in here are not that willing to give pay rises and expect you to be on hand 24 hours a day.

As for raising a family, well I have three kids aged 14,12 and 2. It is safer in Cyprus to bring up kids but things are slowly changing for the worst.

Being accepted is not a problem socially although their way of life is a bit of a shock to the system when you come from the UK. However it took years for me to be accepted when it came to looking for a job because the employers were not sure I would stay here and wouldn't risk giving me a job.

Basically life in Cyprus is completely different from the UK and I suggest you do not make the move. Or, you could come for a trial period and go back if you don't like it. We couldn't do that cause my parents sold everything in the UK to make a fresh start here. They also regret coming by the way!


Sorry if this is not what you or your parents want to here but thats the way it is for me. Some people are quite happy with what they have found here and everyone has a right to their opinion, I am only telling you how I have found it.

[blondophile]

STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!!

and warn your parents that Cyprus is not what they think it is.

I am a BBC and lived the first 19 years of my life in England. Then my dad got the bright idea that he wanted to return to his home country. He thought that we (me and my two sisters) would be able to get work easily cause we knew good English. I worked for Barclays and he was sure I would find work in a bank in Cyprus.

The reality of it was quite different. I have been here now for 19 years, and have a family of my own. But there is not a day that goes by when I don't regret coming here.

I didn't manage to get a job in the banks, even though I passed their exams, because I did not have the meson required (even though no one in Cyprus will admit that this exists).

My older sister works on and off in Ayia Napa in the souvenir shops, for shit pay and the younger one is back in Manchester doing a PHD in biochemistry and has no desire to return even though she came here when she was 8 years old and grew up in Cyprus.

I have currently been working at the same office for 10 years and have been in the same position from the start. There is nowhere I can get promoted to and as for the pay, it has steadily increased but with alot of hard work. The employers in here are not that willing to give pay rises and expect you to be on hand 24 hours a day.

As for raising a family, well I have three kids aged 14,12 and 2. It is safer in Cyprus to bring up kids but things are slowly changing for the worst.

Being accepted is not a problem socially although their way of life is a bit of a shock to the system when you come from the UK. However it took years for me to be accepted when it came to looking for a job because the employers were not sure I would stay here and wouldn't risk giving me a job.

Basically life in Cyprus is completely different from the UK and I suggest you do not make the move. Or, you could come for a trial period and go back if you don't like it. We couldn't do that cause my parents sold everything in the UK to make a fresh start here. They also regret coming by the way!


Sorry if this is not what you or your parents want to here but thats the way it is for me. Some people are quite happy with what they have found here and everyone has a right to their opinion, I am only telling you how I have found it.

Its so funny its the same story and the same speach than 3 family I know, my fiance their parents did the same and her brother with his family they all regret, she want me to come as well I just resign to my job in Paris i finish friday. And i will go their, its funny she tell me everything is crap in cyprus but she dont want come in Paris, this is because she need her family and also the french language

I love cyprus but with the time and with all the things everybody tell me that look like the hell ... This island is too affected by the cyprus problem.

[Sotos]

BBC?? No, I am a CyBC :p

[RichardB]

My son with his Cypriot mum and British father must be a CyBBC then !!