I was browsing the internet for similar blogs like mine. I was surprised to see how many people are coming to the UK to learn English or work or just to get some life experience.
Others going to a different country for a couple months/years became a lead example for people in their 20ies in Hungary. That is one of the benefit EU gives us.
Many of these blogs end after a couple months after they created staying on the internet "forever" as a memento of success or failure.
I cannot imagine how many people travel to the UK and how many stays for long-term.
Since we live abroad, this is one of our greatest problem. You meet new people every time, some of them become good friends of yours and after a certain time comes the inevitable.
They leave. They go back to Hungary or whatever country they came from. Relatively small amount stays for long term or planning to settle down here. I believe no one likes to "lose" friends, so you can imagine the feeling. It looks like you are in constant move, but not, they are the ones.
People back home, (let's say back in Hungary, as I begin to feel my home is here) are desperate for information. They want to know "how to do it", "what to do it" for sure. "How to be successful", "how to make a fortune". They want every information you can possibly provide of the country and everything around here, and it is still not enough. Eager to get more information is not a bad thing. Desperate? Maybe it is.
That is how other Hungarians can gain money out of these people. Because information is power, information is the MONEY. Desperate people are willing to PAY for every bits of info they can get. When I talked to fellow Hungarians wanted to move to the UK, I always told them first: "Don't pay for information". Ever. If it does not come free, it is a scam. All the info you need to get is on the internet. Government sites, jobsites, forums, tips, tricks, etc. For FREE. Don't pay for it.
I can tell if you are not crafty enough to get these simple infos, you have nothing to do in a foreign country.
There is an industry now. Created to get infos for the desperate people and gain profit on them. I was recently in Hungary and heard an ad in the radio about a company, who helps Hungarians to come and work in the UK.
I remember when I first came here in 2003. I did not have any help. I came as an aupair, chose the family myself on a FREE website. And stayed. All the infos I got was from the internet. Never paid for it.
There is a blog I am reading regularly. It is about a couple trying to find a place to live, trying to find work here in the UK. I gave them all my experiences and advices regarding finding a job. Everything I could. I don't want them to follow it word-by-word, but it is a fact: I have a pretty much clear image of the way things work in the UK, so I can be a good help for someone who doesn't.
The guy made many mistakes finding a job (on my opinion) and at the end he told me: "You don't know how things work here, because you came years earlier" :) Of course. Since then the world turned upside down. :)
Many times, I got it back from my friends: "It is easy for you, you earn a lot, you have a good job, etc, etc, etc" - These people tend to forget the fact, that I was an aupair for 15 months, then in 2004 I was scrubbing oil off the walls in a McDonalds in Central-London, washing the oil covered clothes by hand when the machine broke down, etc.
So I believe I experienced both. Good and Bad. We suffered a lot, we tried many things. The fact we are on a relatively good track was not guaranteed from the beginning. We made it like this.
I keep on telling people, if you wanna learn the language, if you wanna fit in, you must act like it. I became a policeman (sorry, constable) in my FREE time, just to get more challenges in my life. To give back something to the community I am living in, to challenge myself, to improve my skills and nevertheless to learn English :). You need to look for challenges in your life to move forward. No matter how difficult they are, what is the worse can happen? You fail :)
So my advise would be for those who are trying to go abroad. Don't wait for someone to tell you EVERYTHING you need to do. Because this specific someone does not exist. If you decided you wanna go abroad, collect every information you can possibly find for free then go for it. Don't wait for someone to sort out your life. You need to experience it after all.