I have been living in Scotland for several years now. The other day I published a series of articles on my Facebook about the pros and cons of life here. The articles have found a great response among my friends, and so I thought it might be of interest to the wider IT community. So - I spread it on HabrΓ© for everyone. I'm looking from a 'programmer' point of view, so some of the points in my pros and cons will be specific to programmers, although much applies to life in Scotland regardless of profession.
First of all, my list refers to Edinburgh, since I have not lived in other cities.
View of Edinburgh from Calton Hill
My List of Pros of Living in Scotland
- Compactness. Edinburgh is relatively small, so almost everywhere can be reached on foot.
- Transport. If the location is not within walking distance, then with a high probability it can be reached very quickly by a direct bus.
- Nature. Scotland is often recognized as the most beautiful country in the world. There is a very healthy combination of mountainousness and the sea.
- Air. It is very clean, and after Scotland in the big cities you start to feel how polluted it is.
- Water. After Scottish drinking water, which simply flows from the tap here, almost everywhere else the water seems tasteless. By the way, Scotch water is sold in bottles throughout Britain, and usually it is in the most prominent place among all bottled water in stores.
- Availability of housing. Prices for apartments in Edinburgh are about the same as in Moscow, but salaries are on average twice as high, and the mortgage interest is very small (about 2%). As a result, a person of the same qualifications can afford much more comfortable housing compared to his Moscow counterpart.
- Architecture. Edinburgh was not damaged during the war and has a well-preserved medieval centre. For me, Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
- Low social inequality. Even the minimum wage (~8.5 pounds per hour, about 1462 per month) here allows you to live a decent life in general. For low salaries in Scotland, low taxes + those who really need help with a variety of benefits. As a result, there are not many poor people here.
- There is practically no corruption, at least at the βgrassrootsβ level.
- Safety. It is relatively calm here, almost no stealing and rarely trying to deceive.
- Road safety. Mortality on the roads in the UK is 6 times lower than in Russia.
- Climate. The Scottish climate is often disliked, but I find it very comfortable. There are very mild winters (in winter about +5 - +7) and not hot summers (around +20). I generally only need one set of clothes. After St. Petersburg and Moscow, winters are very pleasant.
- Medicine. It's free. So far, interaction with local medicine has been exceptionally positive, a very high level. True, they say that if you need a non-urgent appointment with a rare specialist, you need to wait a long time.
- Low-cost airlines. Most European low-cost airlines fly to Scotland, so you can fly around Europe for a penny.
- English language. Despite the accent, it's great that you can immediately understand most people in most situations.
- A large number of places for cultural leisure. Despite the fact that Edinburgh is relatively small, there are many different museums, theaters, galleries, etc. And every August, Edinburgh hosts the Fringe, the world's largest arts festival.
- The quality of education. Higher education in Scotland is very expensive, more on that below. But the University of Edinburgh is consistently in the top 30 in the world, and, for example, in linguistics it is generally in the top five.
- Opportunity to obtain citizenship. On a regular work visa, you can get permanent residence in five years and citizenship in another year. Britain allows you to have two citizenships, so you can keep your country's passport. The British passport is one of the most powerful in the world and you can travel to most countries in the world without a visa.
- Adaptability for people with limited mobility. Now that we have begun to move around with a stroller, this is especially felt.
Dean Village, Edinburgh
Cons of living in Scotland
Even though I enjoy living in Scotland, life here is not without its downsides. Here is my list:
- There are no direct flights to Russia.
- Taxes are higher than in most countries of the world, and even higher than in England. I give a very substantial portion of my salary in the form of taxes. I must say that the tax is very dependent on wages and for people who earn below average, taxes, on the contrary, are very small.
- Expensive higher education for foreigners. Despite the fact that education for the locals is free, for visitors it is necessary to pay for it, and very expensively, tens of thousands of pounds a year. This may be important for those who are moving with a partner who wants to study here.
- Lower salaries for programmers compared to London, not to mention Silicon Valley.
- Fewer career opportunities compared to major cities.
- Not Schengen, you need a visa to travel to European countries.
- And vice versa: Russians need a separate visa, which reduces the number of friends who come here.
- Garbage. Compared to other Nordic countries, it's not as perfect order, although it's not messy. Mostly local giant gulls are to blame for the garbage.
- Scottish accent. It's hard to understand when you're not used to it, although you get used to it after a while.
Pluses of life in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which I did not notice while living there
Before moving to Scotland, I lived all my life in Russia, of which 12 years in Moscow and 1,5 in St. Petersburg. Here is a list of things that, in my opinion, are the clear pluses of Moscow and St. Petersburg compared to Britain. In general, this applies for the most part to any Western European country.
- Opportunity to see friends. My closest friends are from the days of school and university. Despite the fact that many have left Russia, the majority still lives in Moscow and St. Petersburg. When moving, the opportunity to see them often was lost, and it is very difficult to make new friends in a foreign country.
- A huge number of professional events. Some kind of conferences, meetups, informal hangouts are constantly held in Moscow. Not every city in the world has a professional community of the same size as in Moscow.
- Cultural adaptation. In your own country, you know exactly what is decent and what is not, what topics you can talk with a stranger, and what you canβt. When moving, there is no such adaptation, and especially at first it causes a certain level of anxiety and discomfort: how not to say something superfluous.
- Concerts of famous musical groups. Moscow and St. Petersburg are big cities, and famous musicians constantly come there.
- Cheap and high quality internet. Before moving, I used unlimited internet from Yota for 500 rubles (6 pounds). My UK mobile operator has the cheapest rates starting at Β£10 per month. For this they give 4GB of Internet. At the same time, such a tariff has an obligation for 2 years, that is, it cannot be changed, even if prices fall in price over 2 years. The same applies to regular home internet.
- banking applications. Most of the mobile applications of banks in Britain are βhello from zeroβ. They do not even have elementary notifications about transactions, and transactions appear in the list after 3 days. Recently, new startup banks have begun to appear, such as revolut and monzo, in which this is fixed. By the way, revolut was founded by a Russian, and, as far as I understand, the application is being cut in Russia.
- Personal - baths. I love to go to the bath. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, on this account, there is a huge choice for any budget and class. Here, basically, it's either a small crowded sauna at the pool, or a huge SPA complex at some hotel for a lot of money. There is no option to just go to the bathhouse for little money.
- Food. After a while, you start to miss the traditional food that you can eat all the time in Russia: borscht, Russian salad, dumplings, etc. I recently went to Bulgaria, went to a Russian restaurant there and enjoyed it immensely.
The Shore, Edinburgh
In general, taking into account all the pros and cons, Edinburgh is a very comfortable and safe city that provides a high quality of life, although not without certain disadvantages.
Thank you for reading the article, I am glad to answer questions in the comments.
Source: habr.com