Four On The Move

It seems that Croatia is our pandemic holiday destination – we decided to go back to the same place that we went the year before, and this is a new thing for us to do. You can read about our last year’s travel here . Croatia has it all, beaches, nature, amazing historical and cultural heritage. I don’t think you can ever be bored in here, even coming two years in a row, there is always new places to see and new things to do. So what was new this time? Cities and towns Trogir This seems to be a rule now that every coastal town of Croatia we visit for the first time leaves us in awe and all we want to do is to wonder on its old narrow streets, wherever they take us. Last year we felt like this about Sibenik, and you can read about our impressions here . Of course, this time we visited Sibenik again, and decided to drive a bit further to Trogir, expecting a similar Mediterranean charm. We made no mistake, Trogir, with its old town on an island, made us equally (or perhaps even more)...

The Brexit referendum was a big trigger of this question. The anti-immigrant propaganda created by some, so-called, media and a particular group of politicians did the job. It gave permission to be open about one’s intolerance towards immigrants. The media reported cases of assaults towards immigrants. Clearly, not a friendly environment? But there is this friendliness which I described in Be nice and carry on .  What is the true picture then? Like any question which suggest that we speak about a nation as a whole, this one is also impossible to answer. We can only describe our own subjective experiences as immigrants in Britain, and recognise that these experiences can be different for others. One thing you can tell for sure is that the British society is very diverse and represents people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Our feeling is that it is easier for immigrants to settle in such societies than in the homogenous ones. However, also within Britain you will fin...

Heath care The health care during your pregnancy is free under the NHS – National Health Service. You will regularly (but not too often) see a midwife, who will do an interview, check your blood pressure, test your urine sample, measure your bump and a few times refer you to get your basic blood tests. If everything seems fine, you will most probably not even see a doctor for the whole pregnancy. The frequency of midwife appointments increases towards the end of the pregnancy. Note that you are not examined gynecologically during your appointments. Scans are done twice – around week 12 and half-way through your pregnancy. If you have pregnancy experiences from another country, you will notice some tests that are routinely offered to pregnant women there, might not be offered here, which is due to costs they would create for the NHS. One of them is GBS, for which pregnant women in most European countries are routinely tested towards the end of their pregnancy. You can arrange to h...

  Some time ago I wrote a reflection on why it is worth moving countries . Moving countries with kids takes the experience to a different level, as there will be many psychological and practical challenges you would need to face as a parent. And yes, we would still recommend it 😊 . Based on five years spent abroad, here is what I think our daughter gained, that she wouldn’t have gained if we had always lived in our home country: Expanded horizons Your home country is not the centre of the world, and so is not your host country, although probably in both of them people feel that ‘here’ and ‘how we do things here’ is the most important.   Things are done differently in different parts of the world, you will like some and dislike some other, but accept the fact. Kids seem to notice this in small things that matter to them, but I’m convinced it translates to their general understanding of the world. In England you received dozens of birthday cards from all your friends and...

Our daughter Lena spoke to her English friend last night and I overheard a small part of the conversation: Friend: -  I wish you were here at school with us, why did you have to go to Poland? Lena (without any hesitation): - Because I used to live here and I wanted to come back. Because my family is here.   Simple, eh? I wish it was so simple for us adults!   *** Why did we move back to Poland after five years of living in England? We enjoyed our life in Liverpool, treated it as home and put down roots there. We never considered or discussed going back to Poland, it didn’t seem like an interesting option for us. We’re also not in love with our home country and were never one of these emigrants who think the grass is greener, the sun is warmer, and people are nicer in their home country. Or one of these emigrants, who are in Britain only for ‘a moment’ and dream every day of going back ‘home’. Never. And yet – we suddenly moved back to Poland. If ...

There comes a time when one needs to get away, even though the pandemic does not go away. We really needed a break and a change of scenery. We were keen on travelling by car to avoid public transport. The choice was quite straightforward, as one of the most beautiful, interesting and sunny destinations that can be reached within an overnight drive from the South of Poland is the Croatian coast. This time we decided to visit Northern Dalmatia and stay near Zadar. Like other parts of Croatia that we visited before (Istria and Southern Dalmatia), this region offers something to everyone, fans of nature, sightseeing and historic landmarks and beach holidays.   Nature: Krka National Park Most people come here to see the famous Skradinski Buk waterfall and admire it while swimming (!). Yes, it is still possible to swim in some locations of the park, but only until the end of this year , so we decided to enjoy this experience before it’s forbidden 😊 . From the main entrance t...

Leaving your comfort zone and moving to a new country brings many challenges and I recall this first period of being new to a country as quite difficult, yet exciting. But my move took place in normal circumstances and I can only imagine the confusion, stress and loneliness of people who are new to (any) country in the times of Covid-19. New rules, written and not, possibly a new language – there is a lot to absorb and from my experience it takes a couple of years to feel that you are fluent in your new reality. What if you haven’t even started on learning the basics and you suddenly need to keep up with new lockdown rules every week, in an unknown environment and a health system that is completely new to you? It also takes a very long time and effort to make friends in a new place and build your local network. And it’s clearly impossible to even start doing it if you can’t have usual interactions with people.  It is difficult enough to stay in lockdown and not see y...