To emigrate, or just move down South...

PhillyDee said:
Yeah, get out of there. Thats a cold awful place. Worse than smogland and sunderland!
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Yeah it's awful like. Where I live is OK as it's a new build estate and quiet but a few minutes drive out of the estate and it's just a dump.

I'll certainly miss friends/family but I'm also a very independent person so I've always been content heading out and doing my own thing. A crap situation almost got the better of me but going for this has really sparked my enthusiasm to just get on with my life again
 
I think given that choice it would be Iceland for me as far more sense of an adventure. I went a few years back for a holiday, not at all my type of choice for a holiday but I went along with it with some friends.

I don't think it would be the best move for me personally as I find the winter months hard to get through but I would still risk it compared to Harlow. So there's the shorter day light hours to consider.

Being such a cold place it did seem as though you would need to build up a good network of friends as it seemed people must be more organised at arranging to meet up to socialise. I mean there didn't seem to be too much going on outdoors, so you're either at place A or B rather than spending much time in between. Decent broadband would be important so you have an additional source of contact with the wider world otherwise it could seem quite isolated whilst at home in spare time. So whether you're an outdoors type of person or not might be something to consider. Obviously the weather, not sure they get much in the way of hot summers so if sunshine is your thing you'd have to factor in I think some sunny holidays somewhere during annual leave.

It's a very beautiful place, quite surreal that it's inhabited because you obviously have infrastructure, buildings etc but then natural beauty and some of natures harsh wild side all very close since it's not a huge place. The journey from the airport to Reykjavik is an odd one as you'll wonder where on earth have I arrived, do they even have buildings and pots and pans etc.

They're very ecologically minded and like recycling and self sufficiency if those values appeal to you.

If you can get to the Blue Lagoon you should definitely go. The scenery whilst soaking in the outdoor volcanic heated spa is somewhere you could forget what is going on in the rest of the world and wonder why everyone else isn't sharing the same view and peace.

Not sure what the cost of living is like there now, post banking crisis. It was expensive when we went prior to the banking collapse. Therefore consider if the salary is as high as it might seem as I think they struggle to import some food items at reasonable prices. If you like fish that'll be a good thing. I don't think they have a lot in the way of meat products. Good to have a look around a supermarket whilst your there. Spirits were expensive too we bought some at duty free and sold some of it for a fair profit.
 
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Op still here?

Go - unless you have huge family ties/serious relationship etc - go. Grasp the opputunity with both hands and enjoy. I would do it in a heartbeat.
 
thenewoc said:
I think given that choice it would be Iceland for me as far more sense of an adventure. I went a few years back for a holiday, not at all my type of choice for a holiday but I went along with it with some friends.

I don't think it would be the best move for me personally as I find the winter months hard to get through but I would still risk it compared to Harlow. So there's the shorter day light hours to consider.

Being such a cold place it did seem as though you would need to build up a good network of friends as it seemed people must be more organised at arranging to meet up to socialise. I mean there didn't seem to be too much going on outdoors, so you're either at place A or B rather than spending much time in between. Decent broadband would be important so you have an additional source of contact with the wider world otherwise it could seem quite isolated whilst at home in spare time. So whether you're an outdoors type of person or not might be something to consider. Obviously the weather, not sure they get much in the way of hot summers so if sunshine is your thing you'd have to factor in I think some sunny holidays somewhere during annual leave.

It's a very beautiful place, quite surreal that it's inhabited because you obviously have infrastructure, buildings etc but then natural beauty and some of natures harsh wild side all very close since it's not a huge place. The journey from the airport to Reykjavik is an odd one as you'll wonder where on earth have I arrived, do they even have buildings and pots and pans etc.

They're very ecologically minded and like recycling and self sufficiency if those values appeal to you.

If you can get to the Blue Lagoon you should definitely go. The scenery whilst soaking in the outdoor volcanic heated spa is somewhere you could forget what is going on in the rest of the world and wonder why everyone else isn't sharing the same view and peace.

Not sure what the cost of living is like there now, post banking crisis. It was expensive when we went prior to the banking collapse. Therefore consider if the salary is as high as it might seem as I think they struggle to import some food items at reasonable prices. If you like fish that'll be a good thing. I don't think they have a lot in the way of meat products. Good to have a look around a supermarket whilst your there. Spirits were expensive too we bought some at duty free and sold some of it for a fair profit.
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Yeah some good points to consider there. I think the long evenings and cold weather would be negatives for a lot of people but those things don't really bother me. I enjoy the sun sure, but actually enjoy the winter just as much, if not more.

Deff wanna try and get decent broadband though yeah. Be interesting to find out what it's like out there. I mean I currently stream about 700gb of NHL a season and it is my No.1 interest. I'd give it up for everything else if I had to though but I'd hope I didn't have to.

Cost of living is very high there from what i've seen. I'll be able to do some more in depth research while there to get more of an idea on costs. Wage is lot more but given i'll (at least for a while) have to pay 50% of costs for one of my houses here until it sells and the living expenses it's not necessarily as much as it sounds.
 
Personally I find Iceland depressing for some reason - but if I had an actual interest in geology it would probably be a completely different story.

However I have never regretted having had the opportunity to live elsewhere for it a bit though so I'd say go for it - strangely it also made me appreciate life in the UK the more.
 
especially considering the marriage situation definetly harlow!

Edit: I meant definitely Iceland!
 
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At least you will know where you stand with Icelandic women. Apparently they talk openly even in front of strangers about sex and will tell you within 15 minutes if they want to have sex with or not.

Also Icelandic men find it hard to compliment women so you should have an advantage.

Can see op married within two years and he never comes home ;)
 
There is a tradition in Iceland that if you die and someone had asked for your legs. If you had agreed they can flay the skin from you legs in one huge piece. And they have to steal a coin from a widow and place the coin in the... man area. They can then wear the legs as tights. I do believe they are referred to as necropants.
 
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blitzwing85 said:
Been married years, thought the world of my wife and gave everything to the relationship and she decided just before our holiday to South Korea in September that she wasn't happy - then we went as it was paid for, had a nice time but we got home and she left me.

So I felt like crap for a couple of months then decided to pick myself up and I feel lucky that this job was there at this time. It's the perfect new start for me!
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Man sorry to hear about that. :(

But echoing what others have said, go to Iceland!
 
GSK per chance?

Good company to work for, I know this because the wife works for them in Harlow and Harlow is where we live.

Not a bad area but you might want to consider living in one of the Hertfordshire towns (Hertford, Ware, Bishops Stortford) but house prices can be steeper.

I personally would feel lonely in another country but you may not mind that and Iceland would be a good experience.
 
LOAM said:
Comprise, get a job at Iceland in Harlow
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:D Good thinking - best of both then

oweneades said:
Man sorry to hear about that. :(

But echoing what others have said, go to Iceland!
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Yeah it sucks - She decided to put a lot of effort into her career and it meant constant travelling so for me there wasn't a whole lot I could do to fix things. She seemed to just enjoy that lifestyle and maybe realised the commitment at home wasn't for her. It crushed me, but I know I can be better off eventually :)



Colbaker said:
GSK per chance?

Good company to work for, I know this because the wife works for them in Harlow and Harlow is where we live.

Not a bad area but you might want to consider living in one of the Hertfordshire towns (Hertford, Ware, Bishops Stortford) but house prices can be steeper.
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Yeah it is - they said they are moving the site to Ware in 2-3 years but a calibration engineer position opened up due to an internal promotion to work in Harlow and then help with the transition to Ware later.

Good to know it's a good company. The site was pretty impressive from what I seen. Different to the manufacturing environments I'm used to!

The Iceland role is the most enticing for me - but it IS a new start up company and they have until 2018 to get all the accreditation to go into production. So that's really the primary reason i'm keeping my options open - but it is backed by a larger more established company so I need to go and assess the company and their strategy and decide what the risk factor is and go from there.
 
I'd still take the gamble on the Iceland one.

Most people have partners/family which would make the Iceland move a massive decision.

As young free and single, you have no excuses and you really should jump at it. Even if it doesnt work out GSK will always be there in Harlow (and yeah they are a good company to work for but so are most of the companies in pharmaceuticals anyway according to my better half)

She turned down a chance of a job in Germany and Brazil because of practicalities because we have 15 animals and what I would do as a job and would I really want to move abroad?

So grab this opportunity while you can. Go check it all out on the trip of course and do your research but if it all stacks up, take it IMO.
 
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