Legal Aliens

I find it very sad (‘sad’ as in ‘not happy’) when people have a bad experience in a foreign country. As a Spaniard who visited the UK quite a few times before I moved here for good, I’ve always had awesome experiences that made me appreciate the country for what it is and can be. And I tend to think that everybody is going to find this country as fascinating and gorgeous as I do. I couldn’t be more wrong.

The main problem is that a great percentage of the people who make bad remarks don’t really want to be here. They have come because the economic situation in Spain is really bad with the highest unemployment rate in history (or something like that). They leave Spain because there’s no other option. So, where can I go to do something useful with my life? Okay, let’s go to the UK… I will learn English, I will join one of the tons of Spanish ghettos, I will meet more Spaniards, and at the end of the day, it’s only a two hour flight away and with companies like ryanair I can go there and back for less than a hundred euros. Yes, let’s try that. Which is fair enough. Everybody is free to come and go as they please.

Of course, there is something called Culture Shock that I do understand happens to almost everybody who has never travelled before. You can, however, get over Culture Shock quite easily. You simply have to understand that you are not in your country any more.

We could talk for hours about the differences between the UK and Spain. Cultural, social, gastronomical, and whatever have you… But after much discussing, we can only reach one final conclusion: There’s no point comparing because they ARE two different countries!

But going back to my original idea.. Sometimes I wonder if people have bad experiences in the UK and criticise it so much because they have not tried to adapt to a different way of life. To the country and its culture. I am not saying that anyone coming to the UK should renounce of Spain whilst they’re here, but comparing them all the time won’t do them any good. At the end, they will go back to Spain talking only about the negative and superfluous things (Oh, the weather is so bad. Oh, food is shit. Oh, people who say please and thank you are so fake, they don’t mean it, Oh, there are so many teenage pregnancies, etc)

Of course I am not saying that this is the case all the time. I do believe that some people will come to the UK and have a bad experience regardless. Those cases I can’t explain. Bad, tough luck, I suppose. But I bet that the chances of having a positive experience are greatly increased when your attitude and your expectations of the country are not constantly compared to the fantastic Spain where no wrong can happen.

The UK, and especially England which is the country that I know the most, is not perfect. Far from it. It has got its good things and its bad things. And I do understand that there are some people out there who are very analytical and will think that my view of the country is biased and “I don’t want to see further”. Some other will say that I am still in the “honeymoon phase” of my immigration process in which I believe everything is so much better than in my homeland. However, it is believed that this phase lasts for around 1 year at the most. I have been in the UK for way longer than that. And it is not that I believe that everything is better than in Spain -far from it too-, but for now, this country gives me more in every aspect of my life.

I am Spanish. I am not ashamed in any way to admit where I come from. As I have said in the past my nationality is part of me but doesn’t define me. I am who I am because of what I’ve done, what I’ve seen, what I’ve read, what I’ve watched, what I’ve learnt, etc. I am who I am because I want me to be like this. Of course my upbringing “a-la-Spanish” influenced me, but people change. I have changed over the years to become who I am today and I believe this would have happened regardless of my location.

For those people having a rough time in the UK: please try to see beyond the clichés about the food and weather. Try to meet British people, get to know them, learn their history, learn their customs. Try to be one of them for a little bit. It is only fair that you at least try, since it is you who is living in their country. And after doing all that for certain amount of time, I’d like to know if your perception of the country and its people is still the same.

(PS: Since I don’t fancy any “abuse” in the comments from people who may take offense about this entry, I have disabled to comments option for this post. Cheers.)