Gracie06
From: England
9/27/2007 21:11 EST
Hello Pants. My family are hoping to relocate to Cyprus in 2008. We actually refer to Cyprus as "home" even though we are still very much UK citizens. Although we are not resident yet, many good people through this forum have helped us on our way with ideas and information. Always listen to someone who is living the dream and is making it work.
YES, their motoring skills leave a lot to be desired and YES, they abandon their cars wherever they want and YES they can get rude and aggressive BUT SO DO WE BRITS. I don't find driving a problem. Drive like you were taught in the UK but expect the unexpected and you will be fine.
Carbon footprints apart, where in the UK could you leave a car engine running for over an hour just to keep the car cool whilst you eat at a restaurant. A Greek Cypriot friend of ours does that! Do that in the UK and within 8 seconds or less, your car would have disappeared!!!
At least they don't have hoodie culture or gun wielding gangs, children are much safer in Cyprus, you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder for a paedo and although they have an increasing drug problem its nothing like we have in the UK. In Cyprus they have all the right bars, bells and braces in place to deal severely with anyone involved in drugs.
As for the kindred spirit, we have been bowled over by their generosity. We have made quite a few Cypriot friends already who are very supportive of our move and go out of their way to check up on our progress. We have based ourselves near Larnaca and whilst we are on a small estate surrounded by mainly brits, we are very close to the village and we practice our greek every time we go down there. Sure, we make lots of mistakes, but they help us by correcting us and explaining how we should say it. Because we make the effort, we get far more in return. Recently we went for a holiday and we drove to our village, parked the hire car and went for a walk. Word got out that we had returned and when we got back to the car we had been showered with gifts of lemons and grapes and a very large water melon but there was no one in the street to thank!!
As for the Greek Cypriot people themselves, we find them to be generally very warm hearted. Surely there are good and bad in every race??
In the UK, at any one time there are 81,000 people in prison and more than 10,000 people from every country under the sun on community service, or in secure hostels or attending drug clinics etc. In Cyprus there are approx 400 people in prison and they will jail you for £100 of debt. The Greek Cypriots are governed by right and wrong and a sense of duty and respect to others, something that has sadly disappeared in the UK. No one in their right mind would want to be in a Greek or Cypriot prison so they tend to be honest people and on an island, where would you go to get away?
In the UK, if I am faced with a group of teens, I tend to cross over the road to avoid any possible confrontation. In Cyprus, young to mid teens may congregate at coffee bars but you rarely see them drunk and groups of teens are usually very polite. Any that we have encountered stand politely to one side to let us past and often say hello.
I am very sad that a fellow brit has had a less than desirable experience of living in Cyprus.
From a personal point of view, I can't wait to be a resident.
Gracie06
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