Speaking from my experience as a french guy who has done contractor work in the UK :

1. Romanians are kinda pinholed by the french public because most immigrants from Romania have failed to integrate the french society as well as other ethnic groups. There are lots of romanian street gangs earning money from the pettiest thievery or prostitution, and the public eye has a hard time looking further than that. But it could be an opportunity also because the UK or France need role models of integration, so a well trained, hard working bulgarian/romanian might move up quickly.

2. London and Paris are not cheap. Average rents here go by 1000€ per month for 30 square meters in most of Paris. So a 400 quid 25 square meter flat doesn't seem out of place. It's not crazy small eithe. Here, people rent rooms of 9 square meters and less sometimes.

i'm just curious. is it PC to call them Romanians and not to pin them to their distinct ethnicity?
or is it more like that "suburban youth" euphemism for you-know-who whenever a riot happens? wink, wink

I wouldnt worry about it , just come here, English people are also mistreated believe me , so called "work shy" English people are the current boogiemen as you put it. If you sit around worrying you will never do anything. The work situation is not so hot here though, and living costs are high.

London has been ruined by immigrants, can't stand the place anymore.
Its now the crime spot of the UK, like I said, when you import all these foreign trash over they just bring the same problems.

Attitudes towards immigrants are changing fast in the UK, and the GVT are reacting to the damage labour has done.

You're only doing it cos your country has been granted access, which is a one way thing cos no one is Britain wants to really go anywhere else in europe.

foreign trash

in italy, immigrants have been used by parties as a scapegoat for drifting ignorant voters' attention away from real problems. i guess it's a common strategy.

Yes you're right, its the people of these countries who are now the shit, not the people who have shifted in their millions from their failed countries.

ah, isn't your country exploiting immigrants (e.g. for cheap manpower)?

funny considering you technically are foreign trash there.

but whos fault is that? its all your colonies

Come London and ting

No, the UK is fucking shit

i've been in uk for about a month (conferences + vacation).
as a visitor, i enjoyed London a lot: city center is quite enjoyable and there's lots of things to see.
weather was quite bad: i may have been unlucky, but if you'll work outsite it's sthg i would consider.
i found workers - and people, more generally - to be "cold", but very respectful. they just need a couple of pints to be funny ;)
i didn't like houses: the ones i could afford (short term) seemed old and crumbling; the one i've rented was rat-tier dirty and quite expensive (~15km far away from the city center).
weird fact: washbasin had two faucets - flamin' hot and ice cold.

yeh that faucet situation is pretty normal in the uk. something to do with the water pressure and not mixing the hot water from the boiler with the cold water.

or we just enjoy being awkward

because of that, i guess: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qi...341AAR51ic
anyway, you're not awkward. french people don't say "eighty", they say "four times twenty" because they were used to count in base 20 :)

we're pretty awkward, but it's not so bad in london i guess.

i live in denmark now - the number system here is pretty fucking retarded ))

lol, just speak english to ppl, danish with accent is pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to understand anyway, and most ppl under 40 don't mind speaking english mostly.

hehe yeah i've been here for a while now and people speak better english than back in the uk ))

50 = 20*1.5
cool, that's the same origin as french number system.

plenty of countries use(d) the vigesimal system

oh didn't think it was so widespread
now i'm wondering why they chose 20. maybe it's because they didn't have shoes =P

Great nick, btw.

I can recommend Runcorn, it's between Liverpool and Manchester. Nice and friendly people.

Come to SA, it's not too far and there is a large bulgarian community in Cape Town. However you may have visa issues.

Regarding London, I lived there between 2008 to 2011. These are my answers:

1. Yes to England, No to London

2. You will be lucky to get anything under £400 that is even remotely decent. For an ok place it will more likely be between £500 and £600. Be careful of rip offs, i.e. I was staying in a place with 12(!) other people for £480 per month. I eventually found a really great place in zone 2 (Putney, nice area) for £500, staying with 2 other people.

You WILL have to live with other people, unless you get a really great job.

Your (written) English seems very good, and there will be plenty of IT web jobs. Don't degrade yourself by doing shitty work when you can do something worthwhile. If you can do the job, they aren't going to give a shit if you are from Eastern Europe or not.

Hey,

Come to Poland. We hate each others and also we are all racists. Government take from us more than we can get. Unemployment is quite big. Still, we are the best and politics keep telling us that we have great situation.

Enjoy your stay.

eheheh no shit slav mate

Yes, we need more english speakers to sell burgers and fries at mcdonnalds.

1. Is it true Bulgarians are mistreated on general grounds or is it more of an individual thing? How does the general population (not the politicians) feel about residents of the poorest country in the EU going to the UK to "steal their jobs"?

if your English is decent enough and you're not one of those visible "Bulgarian"/"Romanian" types (more like an euphemism for gypsy bums), i suspect no one will care or bother you at all, especially when you're going there for a white-collar job.

all this fuss in the UK about Romanians/Bulgarians waiting to invade is just a scare tactic used in their political struggles (UKIP banking hard on this as of lately).

truth is, nobody is stopping them from coming AND certainly they won't come in droves like advertised. all the gypsy bums are already there hustling and exploiting the goodwill and naivity of people unaccustomed with them. they didn't come there for jobs or a decent living anyway. whatever restrictions remaining to be lifted in 2014 didn't really stop them to get there, now did they?

secondly, Romanians (of all ethnicities) prefer other countries in the EU for cultural/linguistic/climate reasons (Italy/Spain/France - in this order).

I guess it is the silent-majority-phenomenon, as seen in every country. What people see are the criminal gypsy bums who barely speak English while the perfectly integrated Bulgarians are invisible for the public. If your English is fine and you get a proper job you should be fine. Why London though? Great Britain has lots of beautiful cities.

If you want to go to the UK to experience something new, don't go to London. It's just a generic large city, sure it's English and big and has lots of stereotypical attractions.

Why not try a city like Bristol or the likes

1 – Not true at all and as some already stated it's just political movement to scare away this new 2014 legislation. It's no secret that UK wants out of the EU and this showed even before they enter by not accepting the currency. If UK right now don't accept Romania and Bulgaria they will be breaking the EU policy and they will either get kicked or a few more years will be given before they can decide. The second most likely to happen.

2 – Adults always want to send their teens to a “better” country because they heard something on the news or somebody told them there is money to be made there. This wave of hope + the fact that they dislike they job/house/politics/money situation, immediately = 1 way ticket. Unfortunately minimum wage in UK doesn't bring happiness since most of those money will go for rent/electricity......bills in general so hardly any left to save or spend on stuff you like. Welcome to the loan bitches!

3 – Alright, honest opinion is you are wasting your “short period” stay. You are hardly going to make any money, you most likely not going to find a job given what you want to do, your girlfriend is not going to wait for you, and you wasted time when you could try and establish yourself in your own environment.

There are 2 kinds of people:

a) those that go to a stronger currency county, find a job, work, sleep and live very tight life (no girls) by saving all their money. Go back, their minimum wage is suddenly in between medium-rich standard, and spend it into oblivion such as partying, hookers, cars, dad's new firm that has no prosper and it's eaten by competition, your own private office, a 2011 Mercedes Benz because you believe in status, and other bullshit like that, which puts you back where you started. A 40 year old man, single, paying child support, with broken diesel pump and stolen alloy wheels, a bank that is itching to gets it's office back, and a dying family business that is about to close it's doors. And all in all you blame politics for your situation, how shit life is and how you are going back to another strong currency country.

b) You really want to move not because work but because the culture and you don't feel like in your own waters. You find a job, you work, sleep, get loans, pay mortgage, buy brand new car, buy brand new girlfriend, get a new Iphone, moan that you don't have enough money and can't go out because the bank is breathing in your neck, rave about on forums how you found an amazing all inclusive holiday for 500 euros for you, the wife and kid and you had great time. Tell all your friends in ex country how you live now and how much awesome live is here on borrowed money, persuade them to come over and watch rumours spread in your home town how you are suddenly the big boss man and how others need your help and money because they can't help themselves.

And if you think I was talking about specific country, you are dead wrong! This is the same story all around the world America – Mexico, Germany – Turkey, Wadiya – Iran :D, UK – Poland.......Actually Polish are everywhere, they are the worst, they will even steal your shoes!

Amen!