Cyprus-Forum.com

[ex_pat]

I don't think talking about it would do any good, but thanks for the offer.

I used to be a huge fan of all things Cypriot, so much so that I moved here after what I thought was careful consideration and several visits.

Would just be my luck that things changed and Cypriots no longer welcome non-Cypriots to the island (unless there is a buck to be made).

I am not alone, I know a lot of UK ex-pats here and they all say the same. Cyprus is not what it used to be.

As far as referring to it as the dark ages goes - I stand by that statement. Cypriots have closed minds and don't welcome change, in my honest opinion, this is no longer a good place to live. Used to be great, but not any more.

Shame really.

[brother]

Tell me more, what is changing? Are you being treated badly? are you being harrased? etc. i am not trying to be nosey but to learn what has changed so much it is alienating the ex-pat community to the point that they are no longer fans of cyprus.

[ex_pat]

Sure, I'll give you a couple of examples.

I live in Larnaca, went for a drink with my friends at Times Bar - the bar was fairly quiet but the guys behind the bar wouldn't make eye contact with me, they knew I was there waiting to be served but it was as though they didn't want to serve me. When they did, they humped me for the cost of a round. I know this for a fact because I'd been in the same bar before with a Cypriot friend who ordered the same drinks and the total came to over £3 less. Wasn't a weekend or special night, so that's not the reason.

Took my girlfriend to hospital with serious stomach pains, the Cypriot nurses were so rude to her. This was to the point where it was unbelievable! Seriously - their bedside manner was terrible, yet I could hear them talking away quite nicely with Cypriot patients. They made my girlfriend so feel so unwelcome that she wanted to leave without any treatment, that's how bad it was.

All my UK friends have had problems with Cypriots either ignoring them or pushing past them in queues. My girlfriend even got in a fight with a Cypriot girl in the toilets of a bar once because she actaully tried to push my girlfriend out of the way when it was her turn for the toilet. I am not a fan of violence, especially among women, but I must say that I was proud of my girlfriend because she hit this other girl a slap. Of course, we had to leave the bar pronto, but it was better that than have her pushed around. Can't remember the name of this bar, wasn't Times Bar, was somewhere else.

Too many Cypriots have little or no respect for anybody that even looks as though the are not a fellow Cypriot. They either ignore us, rip us off, or try to push us around. My friends have had similar experiences over here. Strange too, because I would say that Cypriots are not fighters, so they have nothing to back up their rude behaviour (the girl in the loo at the bar proved that point). I don't want to have to go around ready to fight all the time because of the lack of manners from Cypriots. They do not get treated badly in the UK, don't know why they have such a bad attitude nowadays towards us ex-pats.

It's a real problem.

[Piratis]

Maybe it is the different kind of manners.
Personally I find the attitude of many (not all of course) British quite annoying. Some of the older ones behave like everybody that lives on this island is here to serve them, and the younger ones when they get together become very loud and noisy (more than the average Cypriots of their age).

Strange too, because I would say that Cypriots are not fighters, so they have nothing to back up their rude behavior (the girl in the loo at the bar proved that point).

Have you thought that maybe your girlfriend was wrong and it was not actually her turn? Or maybe that the other girl didn't try to steal your girlfriends turn intentionally?
Then what you do? You attack them either verbally or physically? Do you think such manner would improve the situation?

[ex_pat]

Cypriots are by FAR the pushiest and rudest race I have ever encountered. Many say the yanks are pushy, well I have to tell you that they have more manners in there little toes than the average Cypriot has, full-stop.

I do not want to get into a slanging match over Brits and Cypriots - my original point is that Cypriots have changed in their attitudes towards foreigners, and anybody not looking like a one of their own gets pushed out of the way, ignored or ripped off.

I don't like having to say it because I once loved this country, now I cannot wait to get out of here. My job is what keeps me here, otherwise I would blow this gaff in a second.

The cost of living is too high (you never get your moneys worth) and the people are a nightmare.

What I said before I stand by - there is no self-sustaining industry here in Cyprus, tourism keeps this place alive, yet the people of Cyprus treat tourists like dirt. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why tourism is dropping, and will continue to do so. I know many ex-pats who all say the same. I had 2 groups of friends come over for a holiday this year already who said, and I quote "this place is a dump and the people are ignorant b*******".

I could rant all day, but there is no point

[brother]

I have to say ex-pat that i am dissapointed in the way you are being treated and apologise for the way my fellow cypriots have treated you and your partner.

I currently live in Stevenage in Hertfordshire/u.k, when i bought the house 4 years ago i thought this was a lovely area but 3 months down the line my wife was outside painting the gate when a english women in her early 50's walked up to my wife and put a kitchen knife to her throat and said"you foreign bastards leave this area it is an english area and if you do not go i will cut your throat" and then run off as some people came round the corner, the police was called and in time we accepted it as an isolated event, but 2 years ago when my daughter started school several mothers at the school got togethar and started to racially harass my wife and many trips to the police station later nothing done until 4 months ago when one of these racist mums bought her husband to the school he started to swear at my wife so she tried to leave the school and go home when this racist wanker saw my wife trying to leave he ran over and punched her and then slapped my 2 year old son who started to bleed from his mouth.
Police yet again informed, local M.P, local papers and all various racial authorities and guess what they have done so far fuck all as they are still to arrest the man and charge him.
Now i have sold my house and am about 2 weeks away from completion but these incidents have scarred my entire family and community, so things are not better in the u.k for cypriots who try to live out side of london.
These kind of incidents get heard by many and even though i am rational enough not to hate the entire english civilisation others are not but i will add that for me now the next 2 weeks can not come quick enough when i will be moving back to london near my family and where there is a lot of cypriots.

[Marina2005]

Brother, I am so shocked with your story and truly sorry you and your family had to encounter such treatment.
I for one lived in Hertfordshire for 18 years, At.Albans to be exact, and grew up wanting just to blend in, they don't take too well to foreigners and as a kid this was very scary! My brother was constantly hassled and called names.
When I finally got excepted it was OK but why the pressure to be excepted?
As for moving to Cyprus I would n't change a thing, I just had to except the mentality or ignore it!
I feel that my kids are much better off here for many reasons and I would hate to bring them up in the UK even if that means I struggle a bit more to make ends meet.

[brother]

Hi marina,

I know what you are saying at the moment we live with my parents in london as my wife refuses to go back to shitty stevenage( can't wait till completion and move into our new home) but god willing a few more years and we will return too cyprus, its just that we would prefer the cyprus problem solved before we go back but will that be a possibility i do not know.
As for st.Albans its a rich area and i find them very snobby but like you said why should you have to work at being accepted, my daughter had no friends at the school in stevenage and in 2 years she did not get invited to one birthday party while all the other kids were, my heart would bleed every night for her but in her new school in enfield there is 7 other cypriot kids in her class and she is very popular and her GC teacher is wonderful and i have never seen my baby so happy and eager to go to school every day.

[davidp]

Brother,
I must say i'm ashamed that fellow English people behaved in this way.

Some English people seem to be becoming more xenophobic, although i think that much of the blame can be laid at the door of the press in their reporting of asylum seekers etc and politicians for cocking up foreign policy.

Your experiences with police inactivity is unlikely to be anything to do with your nationality, a prime example is that of the Tony Martin case in Norfolk.

Good luck and happiness with your move

[Marina2005]

Hiya Brother,

I am so glad that your little girl is so happy, I too have a boy and girl and it would kill me to have them go through all that crap that your kids have gone through.
I wish you and your family all the best and hope your little ones never have to face any sort of bullying or racism again.

All the best