Cyprus-Forum.com

[erolz]

Also, would be interested to hear about why you made the move to Cyprus and how you have found it.

To be honest the prime motivation for me was 'finacial / freedom' based.

In the UK I was involved in 'lobbying' activites (based around internet access). Whilst I found this perosnally rewarding (vs mere 'commerical' jobs I had done in the past) it did not pay me anything. For quite a while I tried to juggle flexible part time work with these lobbying activites but the reality was I was slipping into more and more debt doing so. The choice was either to abandon my lobbying work and get a 'real' job (which I had had plenty of in the past - some very financialy rewarding but essentialy unfulfilling) or become seriously bankrupt. I was / am very fortunate to have inherited property in the UK - but whilst living in London the income from this did not even cover my own rent. I also had a house in Cyprus sitting empty. So I actually decided to move to Cyprus in order to be 'free' to continue my lobbying activites in the UK. The rental income from the UK property is just enough for me to be able to 'tick over' without having to 'earn' extra and thus I am free to spend my time on want I want to do rather than what I have to do just to live. Bit wierd (and very fortunate) but that's my story.

I was quite concerned at how I would find Cyprus, having been a 'London Boy' for most of my life. However I actually really like living here. Certainly there are frustrations but over all I love it. For me the benefits far out weigh the disadvantages. Then again I travell back to the UK pretty regularly for my 'work' so I still keep in touch with my freinds and family there which helps I think. If I had come to Cyprus and not returned regularly to the UK like I do then I am not sure if I would find it so great. As it is I consider myself extremely fortunate and in many ways have the best of both worlds.

[Alex L]

Moose - you want to be careful I'm not trigger happy by that point...

[Alex L]

Cheers erolz, sounds like it's been a pretty positive move for you. I think I would feel the same for myself, I'm more concerned about how my wife and son would find it. My wife was dead keen until she read about the national hobby of poisoning dogs.

One advantage is having friends and contacts in Cyprus means that we wouldn't be on the outside so much, and there still seems to be quite a strong tradition of looking out for people in your extended family

[erolz]

Cheers erolz, sounds like it's been a pretty positive move for you. I think I would feel the same for myself, I'm more concerned about how my wife and son would find it. My wife was dead keen until she read about the national hobby of poisoning dogs.

My long term partner is even more 'into' living in Cyprus than I am (she is a NZer). She now spends most of her time 'working' (unpaid) for Kyrenia Animal Rescue here - helping animals in distress. In London we had no pets (not possible in flat living). We now have 9 cats and one dog as 'permanent' members of the household (all strays) and any number of kittens, puppies, cats and dogs 'passing through'

One advantage is having friends and contacts in Cyprus means that we wouldn't be on the outside so much, and there still seems to be quite a strong tradition of looking out for people in your extended family

Yes that is true. Again I consider myself extremely fortunate to straddle both 'expat' and 'local' worlds. I have family here and am also very much joined to the 'expat' world as well -as much as I wish to be (I seems to have a growing rep amongst expats as a good place to take their broken and virused up computers). I can be a Cypriot when I want and an 'expat' when I want (which can be useful when stopped for driving without a seatbelt )

[Alex L]

.. or speeding. My dad was done twice on the same day last week between Limassol and Larnaca and managed to get off the second fine by pleading road-related confusion caused by his long-term refugee status. Pathetic, but no cop wants to sit and listen to that crap. I have never seen so many radar guns in the space of a couple of days, I guess there's no crime on Cyprus then!

[andytandreou]

I guess there's no crime on Cyprus then!

When it comes to road crime they are very strict... However, the goverment does think it's ok for the entire population to park on pavements with all the accompanying risks to padestrians. Also... yellow lines mean nothing in Cyprus they only indicate where the road ends and where the pavement begins.

[sk]

hi alex!i just wanted to let u know about the army that is not as bad as it sounds.most probably u will only go in the morning ,sign a paper or have a coffee and then go home.....at least this is what everybody who was at a similar situation like u was doing when i was in the army (10 years ago)..i dont think that it has changed since then....as for jobs in cyprus,well many people working in the cypriot goverment are britsh!i know because last summer in the hospital i was working in nicosia we had them as patients!!!!of course they couldnt speak a word of greek but that was not a problem!and something else,as far as i know tuition fee for private english speaking schools is around 2500 cyprus pounds per year.english private schools follow more or less the british system and many of the teachers are english actually!what u will find different from england is that almost everything on the island is slow paced and always late!!!!

[Alex L]

SK, thanks for your comment. The pace of life is a definite positive about Cyprus, particularly as it just seems to be getting faster all the time over here.

The miltary service doesn't sound so bad, as you describe it. I could definitely handle that kind of regime!

It would be interesting to speak to someone in Cy government to give me a better idea of what the prospects are like.

I'd be grateful if anyone could pass on any contacts.

[sk]

i dont really remember their names but i do remember that most of them were working as legal advisors for the goverment,some of them were working in the health sector also.....cypriot legal system is based on british law so lawyers and attorneys from england are very welcomed to work in cyprus especially now with the european union( uk,malta,cyprus and ireland on one site with british law and the rest of europe at the other site with napolean law)!!!!maybe if you post your exact qualifications we can tell u more specifically where to look for jobs!!!

[Svetlana]

I could be wrong but I do not think it is that easy for a foreigner to become a lawyer here; I know of only one and they are in Protaras.
Nor do I think that it is easy to get a job with the Civil Service here, the jobs are highly sought after because of the benefits (wages and healthcare) the same goes for the banks.

Having worked for the UK Government for many years, I can tell you the office hours here are much better for CS workers, they finish by 1pm every day except Thursday, as I recall and July/August there is no afternoon working; obviously it is too hot in their a/c offices

Svetlana