A Mexican view

Published by: Teresa Norman

Published on: 3 Feb, 2017

 

Many of our stories have been from people who live in the city but here we have a story from someone who started off in the capital but found they were much happier, somewhere quieter and more peaceful.  Jose also gives an acute observation on how many more opportunities you have, once you have learnt the language.

Jose’s observations

Jose arrived from Mexico City 7 years ago. He lived in London for 2 years and now in a rural and ancient village which he loves. He found London too busy and overcrowded, not seeing nature and being surrounded by buildings. He now works in a local shop where everyone knows him and chats to him in the day. He describes the village as very quiet, relaxed and beautiful.  He enjoys the festivals and Carnival – carnival happens all over the UK , the last weekend in August when different villages and towns do different things.

His observations of the UK are that the people are very polite and that people give their pets a lot of attention and affection. The main thing that surprises him is that when it is very cold, not everyone wears warm clothes but sometimes people go out in sleeveless shirts.  He also likes that the British like to dress up so he describes a party where everyone came in medieval dress.

His advice to anyone coming here is to learn English.  When he arrived, he didn’t speak English and this left him with one option for work here – to be a cleaner.  When this came to an end, it took him a year to find another job but as his English improved, his options grew and he now has a job that he enjoys that puts him at the heart of village life.

For more information on daily life in the UK go to: www.togetherintheUK/daily life, for education go to: www.togetherintheUK/education and for more on working go to www.togetherintheUK/daily life.

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