Cyprus-Forum.com

[mad-dog]

Fed up with Cyprus? Go home and get famous
By Alexia Saoulli

ARE YOU a Briton living abroad who has started thinking there might just be no place like home?
Perhaps you miss your parents, or your children are unhappy in Cyprus and have never gotten over leaving behind their friends?

Do you miss the little things like 24-hour supermarkets, British humour and the cold weather?
Do you feel the move abroad has divided your family? Are you happy in Cyprus, but your spouse isn’t? Are some of your children settled but some others aren’t?

If these and more are some of the dilemmas you’ve been struggling with then you might be just what Primetime ITV in the UK is looking for: British families who have lived abroad for at least a year but are considering returning home permanently.

Wanting to feature Cyprus as one of its three locations in a new documentary series about British expats thinking about moving back to the UK, the channel is keen to hear from families who have lived on the island but have never or hardly ever returned home since the move here. The other two locations are America and Australia.

The programme will offer families the opportunity to explore the reality of going home as they are transported back to the UK on a fact-finding visit, giving them the chance to make an informed decision about whether to stay in Cyprus or return to their roots.

“With 100,000 Brits returning to the UK each year, the programme aims to investigate the dilemma that many face – the pull of family at home or perhaps missing some aspects of the culture, versus all the fantastic things about living abroad like the weather, more relaxed pace of life, beautiful beaches etc,” Associate Producer Amy Robbins told the Sunday Mail.

Wanting to examine this phenomenon the programme will allow Britons to assess if they have lost touch with what kind of place Britain really is to live in today. Is it as good as they remember? Do the opportunities they’re looking for exist there anymore? Are they better off staying abroad? How easy is it to give up the relaxed way of life and weekends at the beach?

Robbins said: “It will give people a really good look at British culture and if it’s something they want to come back to. People who have lived abroad for a year or two often lose contact with the culture and look back at life in Britain through rose-tinted glasses. Once they come back they realise they’ve made a mistake. This programme is an opportunity to spare them from a potentially very expensive mistake.”

ITV plans to start filming as soon as it finds the right family, with a view to getting them back to the UK for Christmas or January.

“Ideally we’re looking for a family that has children of school age. By relocating those children, they will have opinions about the move as well. We would take the whole family back to the UK and help them to test-drive life in Britain today, so they can decide whether it really is as they remember, and whether they really do want to go back,” she said.

“They would get to see old friends and family, look at the housing market and what they can afford, schools for their children and how big the classroom sizes are, the job market and what sort of employment opportunities are available to them, as well as what kind of salary they’d be earning,” Robbins said.

The associate producer said the programme wanted to examine the dilemma British families faced abroad.

“Statistics show that a lot of Britons are moving home. We want to look at the reasons for that. Others move home and after two years miss the country they left and want to go back. When you move abroad you effectively divide your heart between two places and when you have a family and children there are a lot of considerations to be made before moving again.”

Robbins said although the programme would give participants a feel of how Britain has changed since they’ve been away, it was also a kind of celebration of Britain.

“Britain is cold and it is grey, but it also has some very positive elements that people do love. And at the end of the day there is no place like home.”

She added: “However they might take one look at the lack of space, cold wet weather, struggling health service and overpriced property market and decide they are living the dream abroad and would never actually come back. That they can’t give up the relaxed way of life, the safe environment and outdoors for their children to grow up in. Or they may be reunited with friends and family, take a sip of real ale, tuck into a jaffa cake, take in the green countryside and decide they really have missed home and the best thing they could do is go back.”

n Anyone interested in taking part in the documentary should contact Ami Jackson:
Fever Media
United House,
Unit 4.16, North Road,
London N7 9DP.
Tel: +44 (0)207 619 6653,
Fax: +44 (0) 207 619 6667,
email: [email protected]
www.fevermedia.co.uk

[devil]

1. I don't like the way you lot are constantly plugging the negatives by exploiting the moans of a minority of expats. Most expats here are here for life and you cannot make a balanced documentary with just one side of a picture.

2. I, for one, have lived here (this time) for 8 years and I wouldn't dream of moving back to the UK, not if you paid me a small fortune (perhaps a million or so!). In fact, I have stepped foot in the UK only once this century and that was for a business deal. I doubt whether I'll ever even visit the UK again.

3, Cyprus may not be perfect, but I first lived here in the 1950s - I love the country, the people and the climate. I consider I have integrated reasonably well and my wife and I are happy to be here, even with its warts and all. If anyone is dissatisfied enough to move back to the UK, it must be because they have been unable to integrate. Maybe language was a problem and that kind of person probably was unable to out-shout a Cypriot trying to make himself understood. Or maybe the beer with his fish, mushy peas and soggy English-style chips (with everything!) was too cold for his taste. Integration means trying the local cuisine and customs. It's not haute gastronomie, any more than the English steak and kidney pudding, but a kleftiko or tavvas is something else, if prepared in a country taverna, away from the tourist areas.

As Edith Piaf used to sing, Je ne regrette rien.

[Radio]

This topic has already been opened in an earlier thread, started on 29th. November.

[andri_cy]

I think mad-dog opened the thread just to inform us about the program that's being made. Stop jumping on his case. I didnt see him naming any names or pointing any fingers. I am sure that there are people who ARE thinking of going back home and this info might be useful to them.

[G.Man]

As Edith Piaf used to sing, Je ne regrette rien.

Or Non, Je ne regret rien

No, I have no regrets...

[mad-dog]

I think mad-dog opened the thread just to inform us about the program that's being made. Stop jumping on his case. I didnt see him naming any names or pointing any fingers. I am sure that there are people who ARE thinking of going back home and this info might be useful to them.

well said andri thats why i posted it
i could not care if people want to stay or go i just thought maybe someone from here would like to give it a try .


i live in the uk and would love to live in cyprus just for some piece and quiet but its a big step and not for everybody .

[Kartal_Aetos]

can someone do a documentary about the hundreds of thousands of cypriots in britain who are sick of living in britain and would like to go home?

heres our version:

Do you miss the little things like low crime, cypriot humour, pleasant neighbourhoods, low traffic, friendly people, high living standards, the good weather etc etc etc (the list is endless)?

lol

Sign me up for the first episode

[mad-dog]

can someone do a documentary about the hundreds of thousands of cypriots in britain who are sick of living in britain and would like to go home?

heres our version:

Do you miss the little things like low crime, cypriot humour, pleasant neighbourhoods, low traffic, friendly people, high living standards, the good weather etc etc etc (the list is endless)?

lol

Sign me up for the first episode

if you dont like the uk well go home then nobody is stopping you .
why did you come to the uk then ( money money or money )

[rulla]

AND how much is ami Jackson PAYING for a story?

[Cyprus Vending]

Mad-Dog

We had 2 years of living in France from Oct 04 --- We hated it there --- If you want a story email us:- [email protected]

I did think of moving back to the UK --- Jo nearly killed me!!!