E016 - Moving to the UK from Romania with Minodora Letinu
James Doran (00:06.35)
So hello and welcome to the expat pod. My name is James, your host. And today I'm joined by my lovely friend and colleague, Manadora. And you're from Romania, if I'm not mistaken. So please feel free to introduce yourself. Hi everyone. This is Minodora. Yes, I'm from Romania. I'm from a really small town. It's called Moldavian County, let's say. But it's not actually Moldova, okay. What a different country. But yeah, I think that's about it. And wherever you live.
So before UK, I lived most of my life in Romania and just for a short time in Portugal when I was doing some studies in my Erasmus, that was it. I didn't really live anywhere else. Perfect. Well, that's wonderful. I guess we'll get into the podcast. Okay.
James Doran (00:59.918)
So welcome to section one of the podcast all about getting that so Minodora you said this is like Touch the Portugal bit a little bit because it's quite interesting for people as an Erasmus Because it's obviously an opportunity and people have especially in Europe I know I don't know too much about the rest of the world for Erasmus students But I know I've got a lot of friends from Brazil who've moved to the UK for work, but Why did you choose the Erasmus exchange?
So I chose it because of my cousin. She did two erasmus, one for her bachelor and one for, I think, her thesis at the end of the doctorate. When she came back from both of them, she went in Portugal and in France. And I was like, kind of, might they want to do this as well? I had no clue. I didn't really knew what this is about.
I know that is like going with studies into another country and then you just go back home. Nothing really happens after the study. But she told me just go to Portugal. You'll love it. So, hand to heart, Portugal and Erasmus was one of the best experience. That's like if I'm ever speaking about the university or something, that's me going there all the time. That's like the best time of my life. I don't know.
It was just a six month time, but that was one of the best experiences I ever lived. This is where I made a lot of friends. This is where my English improved a lot because since then I didn't really use it. I was coming from the school and university where we never really used English, just like the ordinary courses. So this is where I actually improved myself on an independent person as well. I learned how to...
deal with finances on my own and careful with people who I'm hanging out with because I didn't like the bad choices. But it was really one of the best time of my life. I really don't regret taking this decision. And I'm always happy that my cousin encouraged me to go to Portugal. And which school in Portugal did you end up exchanging with? So the one I chose was one that was on the list for my university. It is...
James Doran (03:22.158)
the portal, Universidad de Porto. And did you have lots of ports? No. Yeah, maybe just a bit. I'm a bit like, maybe a bit too much in some cases. But yeah, I think the introduction when I got there, because I remember it was like yesterday, it was me and a friend going there for the Erasmus. And when you got to the airport, I was clueless. I had
I can't really understand what was in my head. I had no idea where I'm going, like accommodation. Who's picking us up from the airport? My friend, she was the one that she was dealing with all of this. And after one of her friends, somehow somebody, I can't remember how this person got to take us from the airport. She introduced us to some parties, like Portuguese parties, and they had these drinking games. I was out in five seconds. I was like, how can these people do that?
drink so much and still learn so much. It was like a dilemma. I never got to it. And like never. It was a really great time. Yeah, I mean, part of university or for me, it was all about the drinking culture as well as the studying came second. It's all about the socializing. Because like, for me, my undergraduate degree was kind of like how to Google stuff.
It's engineering and you had to learn like equations and things but like a lot of the more essay work was just how to research effectively is googling initially and like how to what questions to ask, what to look for in a library or something. So I was like, that's not too difficult to do so I can go out with my friends and play sport, which is what I tended to do for the start of university. Yeah, but that it's I've not been to Porto.
So I'll have to go. You showed it. Yeah. Lovely place. I visited last year on a celebration for my 10th year after going back from Porto. The best time for me is like the pinnacle of this whole experience is for 24th of June. There is a celebration. It's called Saint -Joao. It is like Saint John, if you want. I can't express in words how cool this celebration is.
James Doran (05:41.038)
you're eating sardines on the street, there are fireworks in the night, concerts, party people everywhere. There is like a hammer made from like inflatable hammers, if you want. And they squeaky thinking in it. So when you hit it, it makes a noise. Everybody has that and they just hit people around like everywhere. It's crazy. And like 10, 11 years ago, I was like,
I couldn't believe it because people were hitting each other even if they don't know each other. They're like a big family. And for me it was like, what is this? I had so much fun so I got back to it. I mean, it's a pretty good icebreaker. Just like, with a inflatable hammer. Yeah, they are concerts everywhere in the city. I think last year there were like three stages. It's really a great place to be.
That's 24th of July or June. 24th of June. This is how you can, I think it's 24th of June, yeah. That's the day after midsummer in Sweden. So you could do back to back, do a midsummer and then jump on a plane to Forte. yeah. Awesome. yeah. So then I guess there wasn't much you needed to do in terms of preparation for going on your Erasmus because I guess it was handled by university apart from when you got there.
It was quite extensive. Romania is very difficult on this bureaucratic side of things. Just the trial for this Erasmus was a pain. I think it took me like a couple of months getting signatures for this kind of people going back and forth. It was, I remember it was quite extensive. I just chose to forget about it. So that wasn't really something.
I ever wanted to go back to. And did any of your friends do an Erasmus in different countries or cities? I think I met some of the people afterwards. I remember one of my colleagues from the high school, he did one in Spain and he was also in love with this. I think Erasmus anyway for any kind of student is really great. I don't know anyone that -
James Doran (07:57.102)
came back from an enraptment and they were like, I don't like it. I didn't like it. No, everybody just found it amazing. Porto had a program where they assigned three people for you to introduce you in the culture. So they will get you and, I don't know, present you some really nice shops, some really nice pastry shops, some really nice, well, interesting events. I remember I went to these concerts and I don't know, it was just amazing.
Wow, that's so nice of them to help you out. I don't know, we'll probably answer a bit later, but moving as an adult or being an adult in another country is quite difficult. But I guess having people there to like literally engulf you into society is a lovely thing for them to have done. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going back to like not meeting someone who hasn't enjoyed the Erasmus. I think most of my friends who are international are because they've done Erasmus, what I've been studying.
Because I play volleyball, it's quite an international sport anyway, but most of them are Erasmus students who play. So yeah, a lot of my friends live all over the world because of A, volleyball and B, Erasmus students. It's a great opportunity to definitely live and learn and enjoy foreign cultures. Kind of going forward then to your move to the UK, was that for work or for something else?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. At the time, I was working for Renault in Romania. So I remember I just, it was like a culture back then. A lot of people were going abroad to work. I wasn't having like a really bad salary, but I was just contemplating if I want to buy a house or something, I really needed a lot more. So when I applied for a job in the UK, I was thinking maybe I should just go there for two years and then come back and...
just, I don't know, use the savings to buy a house, plus for that I bought a house here. So everything only changed when I got here, but yeah, in the beginning it was because of my career. And did you move by yourself or did you move with honor? So at the beginning it was just me. I always thought about it like setting the nest. So I came here alone, but...
James Doran (10:18.606)
He was lucky, my husband, he was lucky to get a job as well and he followed me next month. So you were already married before you moved? No, no, back then we weren't just partners. And what was that like then? The unknown, because I've moved and my girlfriend stayed in the UK and I'm going back now. But it was quite difficult, I guess, the start of the unknown, it's just quite, puts a strain on my relationship. So.
Again, back in Romania, this is like a culture. I grew up with people that were leaving families to go and work abroad. So for me, it wasn't like really that bad. I always thought, hey, if this is gonna work out, it's gonna work out no matter what. So I was a bit afraid because, you know, I'm still a low person anyway. But yeah, I think difficulty is one of the words I would use at the beginning. At least I'm...
I found out that he got another also a job. Is he in the same industry as you as well? Yes, he is. We used to work with both of us in Renault. that's lovely. And then I guess when you moved to the UK, did you find a job to apply for and then apply for it? Or did you speak to recruiters or how, what was the process in looking for work from what was for you? Yeah, I know there was like these platforms where you would just put your CV up.
And I remember a recruiter was calling me and he was like, Hey, I have this job for you. But this happened like so quickly because I wasn't really prepared for it. He just very well, he took me on surprise as well. I just went to my CV and then this recruiter called me, Hey, I think I have a job for you. This is it. Do you want to apply for it? And I said, sure, why not? Let's just go ahead. I really had no hope. I was like, I didn't have much experience on that.
CAD job that I applied. At least this is what I thought. Next day the manager called and the next day the recruiter called and he told me, hey, yesterday you got in, but I wanted to tell you in the first, like the first thing in the morning. I was like, what? I couldn't really believe it. And I remember I called my mom, she was the first one to find out. And I was like, what do you think?
James Doran (12:40.654)
Should I? Should I go? And my mom always an advocate for going abroad. She saw so many people going abroad and getting so much, I don't know, happiness in their lives and they were happy and they were doing so many stuff. And she was, yeah, go for it. I mean, you're right. It's a good analogy or good observation, you know, about people who go abroad. They come back with so much energy and excitement about what they've seen and how it's all like, because usually it's sweet.
My mom she was like praying you know you should find I thought I remember when I was in my arrasment she was like find a job there don't come back Yeah, she was an advocate for this but it's interesting because you're saying about like in the Romanian culture you people go abroad to work obviously that's not really something I have grown up with because being in the UK you tend to
My parents haven't moved house since I was born. So they've not left the country for work and they've always just kind of worked in Liverpool. Whereas, yeah, I see more and more, like my neighbor here, Bothos, he's Polish and his family, his wife and two children are in Poland and he comes to work at Volvo, works I think two weeks and then drives home, works a week in Poland and then comes back. And it's like, it seems like such a tough life.
But I guess the opportunity here in Sweden was much better than what he would have had a home to provide for his family. And it's like, you have such an empathy for this. Yeah. Which I know a lot of people in the UK maybe don't have, or at least in British families, obviously now we're becoming more inclusive and through meeting great people yourself and talking about it, people are gaining the empathy because they're aware of actually, you know, people just have to do it. Yeah.
But it's, yeah, it's something I've never appreciated as much until you mentioned it then. And then I think of my neighbor here and it's, yeah, just so interesting to have to consider and how lucky we all are. Yeah, no, definitely in Romania, this was at least a couple of years back. This was definitely a culture. In my hometown, if I'm looking like on my balcony from my mother's place, the flats around are all empty.
James Doran (15:04.878)
Big people just went abroad and they never come back. Sometimes when I go back home this happens like so rare. I feel like I'm in a ghost town. god. Which is quite funny because Ghost Town is a song about Coventry. okay. I think it's about, well the specials wrote it and they are from Coventry. So it's quite interesting how you use that exact term. So you've gone from one ghost town. So...
that's your, your move then, from, from, from getting the offer. How long did it take you to, I guess, up sticks and leave? I remember it took me three, three weeks because in two weeks I actually left work. So I had one week, I came here one week before I actually started my job. So in that week, I was just going, see the shopping, see the city.
I don't know, find it out. How is it to be in the UK? But I really wasn't, I mean, I had already had this experience firsthand with my Erasmus. It did not feel stressful at all. I came again. I was, I don't know what happened. Sometimes I don't think maybe that's it. I just came here and I was staying at some friends for two weeks because...
The person I was about to move in an apartment, they had to go like to this kind of inventory. Somebody was looking out and the company had to do like an inventory for the apartment so I couldn't move straight away in there. But this person that I was talking I never met before. I had no clue who he was. And then I was like asking everyone because there were so many Romanians that I knew and they were already in here.
And I was asking around, hey, do you have a place for me maybe for just two weeks because until then the apartment is going to be ready. And I just couldn't find anyone. And then somebody just told me, hey, what about this couple? I know them. They're really great. And I stayed with them for two weeks. And when they got me from the airport, I was like, this is like a very good chance to get murdered. I had no clue where I'm going and who am I staying with. This is the best.
James Doran (17:26.67)
I mean, obviously you didn't get murdered because you're talking now. I'm great, yeah. It's quite a scary thing. Like it's quite a risk people take. I just don't think this is it. Well, you think you're putting out there that people are nice rather than the other way around being scared of them. So I think you need to manifest the...
the nice people you're going to step with. Yeah, this is a trait of mine. I always see just the good stuff in people never see the bad stuff. I mean, I'd love to see world from your eyes then because I don't do that. And then so where was it you moved to in the UK? Was it the Midlands where you're living now? I was actually in Leamington Spa. It's such a nice city. I always loved this city. I always loved it. Before moving there.
one of my friends told me, hey, this city is like your hometown. It's like the same size, only like a lot more vivid. I don't know. And I really loved it. I think from the day one, I was like, I'm so in love with this city. It's so pretty, so beautiful. And I think one of the most beautiful stuff that I found when I came here was that everybody was talking to you with this terms. It's like, hi, love. Hi, my darling. How are you? My sunshine.
I wasn't used to this. I was overwhelmed. Sometimes I felt like crying. Like, people really do this? Like, like a norm? I didn't really believe it. It was very strange for me. Yeah, we have a lot of words for like, hello, and like different ways in which like, hi chick, or and then every city has a different, like, favorite, I guess, like the word you would say to someone like darling or love or pets or something, you know.
And it's, it is a wonderful thing we have in the UK. You have no idea how much this helped with this transition. I remember when I started working, I was going to this, we had like a small canteen in our place where I was working in my building and the ladies in there, they made me so emotional like from the first day. They're like, hi, Sarshan, how I can help you, my love? I was like, I already love you.
James Doran (19:46.318)
No, that was one of the best experiences at the beginning. Yeah. Wonderful. That's a great way of ending the first part of the podcast. You've got there and everyone's calling you love. So wonderful. And we'll see you in section two. Okay.
James Doran (20:06.958)
So hello and welcome back and welcome to section two of the podcast. That sounded weird. This is all about being there. So this is where I'm going to try and find some great anecdotes or advice you've had or experiences you've had of living in the UK. We'll play for that mostly than your student times in Portugal, but please feel free to share any moments about that as well.
But the main thing is the kind of cultural differences you may have experienced between the two countries. But firstly, what was your, can I touch on your kind of your first experience of worrying about not being murdered, but not worrying about it, but looking back and maybe, but your first impression of the UK apart from everyone being so friendly when they greet you, what was that like? What did you think apart from maybe the weather being bad or something? So what I remember is...
couple of things that kind of made my life a bit weird at the beginning. One of them was anyway all this craziness with paperwork, doing like bank account or whatever. So what I will just ask from people coming or moving to a different country, just have patience. Everything will be dealt with patience as soon as it possibly can. I struggled quite a lot. The bank didn't agree.
for two months to create an account number for different reasons. Sometimes the system just dropped. Sometimes it was something from the paperwork that I had. I don't know, it just took me two months. So it was two months until I got my first paycheck. So it was two paychecks in one. But anyway, it was a bit difficult and I was stressing a lot. I didn't know what happened. But yeah, just have patience. Everything was deal.
will get it eventually. And another stuff that kind of blew me off was this reservation of people from work to interact. I was coming from Renault. Renault is a French company where people just every morning they kiss on the cheek, they say hello, they shake hands. So now I'm coming to this place where even when I'm like introducing myself and I stand in my hand, hi, I'm in Odara, people would look at my hand and be very, hi, welcome.
James Doran (22:29.838)
What's in your head? It's not like welcome, I was feeling like an intruder. Well I'm sorry that happened. That's not what most of the UK is like. That was one of the experiences that I got with my other workplace but with Polestar it was completely the opposite. Yeah it was so much different. I mean Polestar is like a family to me so it's really... I can't express how happy I was.
At least at the beginning with everybody, when we were like a really small team. That was like a complete opposition from the other place I used to work. Another stuff that kind of made me really homesick to be honest was the food. I can't remember, back home you just find restaurants everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. And they have like a really big menu. And here you go.
We like a pub because they are like the general restaurants and stuff that are water like places that I wouldn't really go. And they will have like fish and chips, burgers, and not much choice of not very big choice, a variety of stuff to choose from. And I was like very disappointed. I'm going to start here. So I ended up cooking a lot. I learned how to cook.
a lot of dishes, a lot of Romanian dishes from scrap, things that I've never done before. What is your favourite Romanian dish then? I'm not too familiar with Romanian cuisine. I would like to keep it a secret because you know there is like a diversity thing with cooking recipes on our parallax. So I wanted to put there the recipe. So I want to say. Okay, that's fine. Well, you can leave it in a comment after you've...
I will put it on social media or something when you've made it public and work. Yeah. But if it's in the next 13 weeks, you'll be fine. Yeah, it should be. Actually, yeah, you're kind of right. Should I say it now? I won't do spoilers. Yeah, it's anyways like if you want to, okay, I'm going to just say it. I'm going to just say it because it's going to be a really long time after this parallax thingy.
James Doran (24:53.39)
So it's something that my mom used to do when I was a child. I never actually saw anyone else doing it. I don't know why my mom just did it for me. So I just assumed that when I was growing up that it was like a Romanian dish, but I don't know, maybe she just invented it and I really loved it. It's like boiled potatoes and then you split them in half, make a cup, how to say it, you're making? A dish?
like a hole inside where you put some kind of fillings made out of pate. Okay. Like coat it with stuff and then fry it. So I can't explain how much... my god, I'm hungry. It's like a scotch egg. What? A scotch egg. It's not a scotch egg. No, no, it's nothing like a scotch egg.
I mean the construction. It has like a very big coat of meat or whatever. No, this is like, this is so different. If I'm going to cook it, I'm going to, you're going to be the first to see the pictures. No, I don't mean the flavor or the filling is the same, but the idea of it like being something inside something and then coated and fried. I'm so hungry now. Yeah. It's good that you've done it time soon.
wow. That's so cool. And then so how long did it take you to make that to learn to make that when you first moved? This particular dish is very easy to make it. It takes like 10 to minutes. I don't really make it this often because there is a lot of oil to use, which I don't like. I normally can't have oil in my house. I don't fry stuff. you can get an air fryer. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that could be a way of doing it. It's gonna work.
Yeah, you need to deep fry these potatoes to be really tasty. But the rest of the recipes, it kind of depends on the recipe. I think the first time I cooked, it's called Kozunak. It's one of our traditional cakes that we do like Christmas, Easter. It's very, very traditional. And I remember I started somewhere like 11 o 'clock and finished it by 12 in the night. It took me like five hours.
James Doran (27:17.518)
I was so clueless. I was just mixing everything and then figure out, nah, this one's supposed to go here. Just a fiasco. But the end product was good, was tasty. That was what actually mattered the most. But also, like, the fact that it took you so long to do it, the pride in what you've made. You have no idea. Everybody knew. Everybody from my friends. I made Kozalak. I was feeling like such an achiever.
What are the flavors of Cozumac? yeah, it's actually Cozonac. Cozonac, sorry, apologies. I have a little neck. No worries. it's like a marble cake. Yeah, I mean, it has - Making the marbles difficult. ...the lights in it has a lot of stuff that I really enjoy. And now I'm hungrier and hungrier. This part was a very, very hungry session for me.
You can have like a Romanian feast of like home food when we leave this call. I am actually about to go to a barbecue which is like a Romanian barbecue. So. And how does a Romanian barbecue differ from a British barbecue? So one of the first things is you don't have meat. What's that? It's called meat. It's something made out of like a mix of the meats.
call them it in translation i think is like little something it's very weird but they look like shish maybe to you the taste was different but i'm quite sure if you'll try it you'll love it good good to know and i guess so you can have the the food thing which comes up quite a lot on this i guess really because i'm hungry
No, not you as in like the people I speak with like food no matter where they've moved to or from. Well, I think this is from home is always what people want. You eat three times a day mostly and you always grown up with certain dishes. Like for me, my mum used to make me or make my family pea soup or lentils. And now I'm obsessed with like because I don't eat meat really. So this soup is just like
James Doran (29:39.18)
It reminds me of winter at home and it's wholesome and you have like very nice crispy bread and like I learned to make it when I moved to university because of that I miss this. And like these things that are usually, as you mentioned with the with the fried potato, it's what your childhood was. So it's such a link home. And like, it's really interesting thinking about like the amount of people I've spoken to now and food is such a popular item even if like
It's not a well -known dish. Yeah. It means something to you. I totally, absolutely agree with you. I remember when I came here, I tried curry for the first time in the contain back at work. I absolutely hate it. I was like, why do people enjoy this? I just didn't like it. I don't know. I really, maybe it was one of the worst curry ever. Because then I, a couple of years after, I tried it again when I went to Thailand.
was kind of all the stuff I could eat in there. And when I came back home, I actually enjoyed going from Indian restaurants just to try every curry. And now I'm addicted. I can't I mean, I have I have days or weeks when I'm just I'm really hungry. Should we go to eat to that place? Just get some curry. But it's not actually because of hunger. I'm just I just want that. Yeah.
No completely I like curry is such an interesting because there's so many different types and different Bases for curry and not a connoisseur at all. I spent a lot of hours in curry houses after playing sport Yeah, and it's just that there's a Thai food restaurant in Gothenburg where it is an amazing like green curry and red curry So I've seen when Evie was here last we we went with a friend who came to visit as well And it was like such an amazing meal
But I think it has to be made properly like like in Leamington blessed with a few good Indian restaurants and like Kayam is my favorite one because South Indian Yeah, but again, it's just so weird. It's interesting. I food is like it's because we eat we sleep and like the eating part is quite a big part of our food is such a Instigator of conversation of activity. Yeah, it's quite interesting
James Doran (32:05.035)
And then I guess I know a question I'm interested to know about is when you first moved, did you make many friends? As you said, you know, a lot of Romanians who lived in the UK, but did you start to make friends with people who were British or from other parts of the world? Was it more international as you were friendly with as opposed to British people? So again, I think I'm getting back to that reservation of people. I mean, I wouldn't really have places where to meet friends because I wasn't really going out.
And all we did at the beginning was getting back together with people I already knew like our Romanian friends and then through them meet other friends other other people and make friends with them Even nowadays, I don't think I have many other nationality friends except Romanian maybe like at work we just get get along with but don't really spend time or make I don't know going go to events like with my friends
and they are different nationality. Which is kind of sad, but I don't know. I just didn't really find somebody that was on my level. And I don't know, getting on the same interest, let's say. I don't know. When you did come climbing that one time. Yeah, I was lucky with this health challenge work. Yeah. But again, it was like one thing we never really like. We do barbecues, we go to birthday party.
I never went on this kind of occasions to somebody which is not Romanian. This sounds sad now, but that's actually true for me. Is that out of choice? Is it just me because it's familiar? Like, because it's familiar to socialized people and for them it's familiar to, I guess, the social culture. Everyone just gets it. Yeah, I think it's kind of on the right person, you know, maybe I'm, I'm, I'm
I think I'm really easy going at some person to be, but if people don't feel the same around me, they won't extend an invitation on this level. I always get people around and say, hey, come to me with me. Hey, let's go to this Jin and RM festival. Hey, let's go to this event I found on LinkedIn. It's really interesting. But at some point, this just turns out only like one thing. It never turns out like more.
James Doran (34:31.115)
Well next time I'm in Lemmings Spa you can come for brunch with EP9. my god. I think I'll be back soon. In June. I'm here. I'm coming back from China. Perfect. At the beginning of June. of course. Exciting. Great. Well I'll be wanting to hear all about China. Okay. I'm gonna save all the good stuff. All the baijiu you'll be drinking. I actually have no clue what's going to happen there so I'm just trying to keep...
Again, the same stuff like the first two times I'm living somewhere. I'm just gonna be clueless when I go there. I just want to be surprised. Hit me up with everything you have guys. I guess back to life in the UK. One thing which probably happened, well definitely did happen during your time in the UK was COVID. How did that affect you in terms of your... So I have a few friends who moved back home.
Like my Bulgarian friend who was living in London and he moved back home because of COVID and stayed in Bulgaria. I know their neighbors would be me, which is the extent of my... But, and he was saying, yeah, because of COVID he went back and then speaking with some Portuguese colleagues, if they didn't have jobs, then they would have also gone back because obviously being so far from your family was so difficult. No one knew what was going on. So did that ever cross your mind about...
moving back home for COVID or? So first of all, I think COVID for me, it's like a sweet and sour experience on the whole level. When the pandemic hit and everything kind of turned upside down, I got fired. I lost my job. Yeah. And in the same time, the same happened to my husband. So we were like both of us jobless. That's super scary. It was very scary. And we were like,
cutting off every subscription for everything like Netflix, everything we were just copying and making like a lot of finance checking just to see how long we can stay in the UK. In this kind of situation, we don't running all of our savings. So we kind of set a goal. If we don't find a job in more than six months, we're just going to go back home. We really didn't know what happened. But I had this feeling just before the hand.
James Doran (36:57.035)
pandemic hit, I had the interview with Polestar and I had this feeling, don't go yet, don't go yet, don't go yet. So, I got another interview and I got accepted. So, I just, I was jobless for three months, my husband was for six months. I think he felt a lot more, it was a lot more stressful for him because he was like trying to figure out how we can work it on only with one of us working.
and still pay the bills and do everything we need to sustain ourselves in here. True, a lot of our friends, they left UK and they went back home. But at the same time, we kind of started developing a new norm. We were working a lot because back home you needed like a paper to prove that you have this motive to go out from the house and you were visiting a doctor.
or something. It was like a declaration, if you want. But in here, you didn't really need it, especially in Leamington, where it's such a small place. Police wasn't very brutal. Like, you need to stay indoors or something. No, it wasn't the case. So we were just walking a lot. And I remember that we found so many beautiful paths in Leamington because of this. We also kind of did a lot of activities. I learned so many courses back then. I read so many books.
I was doing like binge watching a lot. I think this was the time when I saw all the Marvel characters, the Marvel movies, everything just happened, everything that time, which was good in a way and bad in another way. But still, I think it was something that we all experienced it in a way and we learned from it and kind of grew it. Yeah, I think COVID for me, I was, I took the one exercise a day.
quite far. I was like, I'm going to run a half marathon. I'm going to go cycle for three hours because I think weekly is good for once per day. And I moved home right to my parents house because I was living in Lemington at the start of COVID and I lived in a flat with no outdoor space. I didn't really fancy not being able to like go outside. So I went to my parents who lived near a beach. It's about one kilometer away from a beach. Only have a dog and a garden. I was like, maybe we stuck somewhere for 12 weeks. Then.
James Doran (39:22.635)
it's going to be there, obviously, and there'd be a lot longer than that. But it was, yeah, again, similar to you saying like, COVID is such a jack -o' -lantern. You know, of course it was horrific that our lives got put on hold and my, I had a trip to South Africa booked and like the week after lockdown, we've got cancelled. and you would have some experience. That was the year when we were supposed to get married. And that was also the year when we were supposed to have like one month honeymoon in...
in the Central America, visiting Cuba, Mexico and Costa Rica. All of it got blown away. Have you students been to Mexico, Cuba and Costa Rica? We just couldn't do it afterwards. No. Well, I hope you go. Maybe we can make a nice anniversary gift. But so how long did you have to then wait to get married? We actually got married in 2021. So. The year after.
Yeah, it was still pandemic back then, but we just chose to do it because some of the rules were a bit more okayish. Yeah, there was a, I think there was like a period where weddings were on again. Yeah, that was us. Yeah. Everything got shut down. Nothing else happened. Yeah, you tell you in Romania, that was the last night. After that night, everything got shut down like events and stuff.
nothing would just happen, nothing. Everything got closed down. wow. It's so crazy thinking back at, it wasn't that long ago, right? It feels like forever ago. Yeah, like two different worlds. But wonderful. And I guess my last question for you before we kind of wrap this bit up, because we've been talking for 25 minutes, is what's the biggest change you've noticed between living in the UK and living in Romania?
So I would think that everything like paper works, it's a lot more easier to do in the UK. Romania has, or used to have, I don't know, maybe with COVID everything changed, but it used to have such an extensive bureaucracy system that really made everyone crazy and sad and frustrated at the same time. I remember just before coming to the UK, I came into the UK in February.
James Doran (41:47.211)
And just a year before that, in December, we decided to buy a car. From the moment we paid for the car until it got registered, it took us a month and a half. All that paperwork, it took a month and a half. When I came here, I just remember it was like, hi, I would like to see the car. We saw the car and then everything was ready on the app in one hour. Like everything, paperwork.
Everything just after an hour we just left and the car was on our name and I was so blown away. I was like, I like this life now. So much quicker. So much quicker. Everything, everything was so fast. Even moving to a new home, buying a new house. Everything was like on internet, having chats or emails and having this platform where we just make everything you need. Hustle.
No stress, just lovely. I liked it. That was one of the biggest change, biggest change I noticed compared to Romania. It's a convenience of living. yeah, that was it. Yeah. Wow. What a great way of ending this section and thank you.
James Doran (43:06.955)
So hello and welcome back to the podcast. Welcome to section 3, which I still haven't named. My dad actually sent me a message saying to call it tips or something, or top tips, but if that's a good idea we can do that. But for me it's a recap of your time and the first thing is like if you could go back in time and tell the you which is about to go and you have your ticket in your hand to move to the UK, anything, a bit of advice, you know, what would you say? What would you tell yourself? What?
What would you warn yourself for? Maybe not getting murdered would be the first thing. But other than that, would you haven't been done on this? Okay. It's a bit weird now anyway. When I came to the UK, first of all, it was before Brexit. So everything was a lot more different. I think now people coming to the UK, they need again, coming back to one of the stuff I already said, be patient.
I don't know exactly what the process is, but I think it's a bit more difficult now because of the Brexit. I remember I didn't really have to prove. I know a language I didn't have to prove. A lot of stuff maybe now they do. But again, every information that you need, it's on GovUK. I think you already heard this like a hundred times, James, but everything that anyone is...
going to have to consider about moving into the UK. You should have a look on this gov .uk. It's a great place where you can find a lot of information straight from the government. They are very well explained. In case you need a translation or something, they can provide this as well. I think the system itself is quite friendly. And if you want to have a discussion with somebody regarding anything,
you just search for your phone number in that particular case that you need and somebody will pick up and explain to you whatever you need. I didn't actually need it back then when I moved to the UK, except maybe doing an appointment for my national insurance. That was the only call I had to make. It wasn't really that difficult. You just have to be present in the UK and have an UK number so people will believe you're
James Doran (45:32.459)
in the UK and want to do something in the UK. But except that nothing else is just reading whatever you need. When I came in here, I had to set up an LTD because I came as a contractor. That was a bit of another area where I had to do a lot more work. But I think now this is kind of difficult for anyone and I don't really know if I should recommend it or not, but...
I think it's easier to go with an umbrella. People just, you just gave them the details and they just take care of you. Also get a bank, baby. Why not? Yeah. Like there's so many great, like revenue, you can make different bank accounts and doing currencies. Because when I moved to Sweden, I had this issue, like the government is a bit slower. Well, feels slower. Maybe it's just because my limited Swedish, but.
Brexit was quite a scary thing, I had to apply for a visa, I had to wait for the visa to come through and when I moved here I had to go to Migration Services and get my work permit card and then go and get my personal number which is my National Insurance number, I had to go queue in a physical office and then do it and then I waited like 16 weeks for that to arrive and then once I got that I can go get a bank account and then when you get a bank account you get Bank ID and then Bank ID let you do stuff since we didn't know which is quite a drawn out process.
Probably the same will happen to anyone coming now to the UK. Back then I didn't need a visa. I was in the European Union, so I was working as a European citizen. Yeah, it was... So when that changed then, was it so you had to apply for residency? Yeah, because of the Brexit I had to apply for the residency. And this year I also started applying for my citizenship, which is...
I think I'm learning all this great stuff about UK culture and history that I had no clue. I mean, so my friend Shoni, who is on the podcast as well, he has just got his I think, but he, I remember he was doing his exam and he was like, I was asking him, what questions are on there? And he was like, it's about, you know, this person, that person. And I was like, I don't know. I know.
James Doran (47:57.515)
Why would I need to know that information likes the voting stuff? Yeah, yeah politics. Yeah, but like the history Side, okay. It's probably nice to know what I should have an appreciation for but I don't need it my day to day life. So Yeah, maybe it's my grits but because you're not needing to know something means if you're busy or lazy like I went both things that you you just don't really care and then you see
people having to, you know, study random bits of information. Yeah, it's just another process, isn't it? You just take it and that's it. It was very funny, the English test, to be honest. It was like a 10 minute talk in this place where they give you a certificate and they say, yeah, this person knows English. After living in UK for six years, it's kind of weird not to, you know, it's very weird not to, but anyway, you need a certificate. I mean, it depends on what part of England you live in.
From my point of view it's just another thing there so you get a knowledge that you're okay to move in the UK. You could have had a Scouse accent. I can say that because I'm from Liverpool. But if you heard a Scouse accent and were like, does she know English? I don't know. yeah, this would be another tip maybe. Just be patient with people's accents. When I came here it was terrible. I mean... Yeah because...
The English that I knew was American English. The best thing is for yourself, just look around on YouTube and anywhere. There are so many channels where you can learn some English spoken by... I breathe English. ...English and like acknowledge the difference. Because I think I kept saying this to all my colleagues now. But when I came here, like in the first days, I spilled coffee or something on my trousers.
that's the word but what I said was like I need some napkins I just spilled trousers on all my pants here you go you're laughing in my head I was like why is this person laughing but yeah pants are not the same with trousers in the UK people so try to try to make a little bit of effort and just learn some some some British words and accents
James Doran (50:23.627)
It's a thing that is like a hit and miss. When I joined Polestar, I started working with one of our colleagues, which is from Ireland. And I remember I was like, Milondora, you need to focus now. You need to focus now. What is this person saying? I was terrified. At some point I was like saying, can you please say that again for like three times in a row? I was like, I'm just pointless. I can't get this. I mean, it's funny because...
We only call his Matt. He and I grew up like three miles apart. Yeah, so I yeah, he I can cycle to where he's from in like a half an hour or something and I think we sound completely different. I mean the UK that's how it is like every town or city has its own dialect, which is quite I don't know if it really has a in Romanian. This is a city.
So from my hometown, there is actually an accent, actually not from the hometown itself, from the region, Moldovan region, which is different from the other places. But I always was kind of happy that I never really picked up on that accent. So when I was studying in Bucharest, people were like, where are you from? You don't have an accent. But again, I'm really good at languages. So I pick up accents really fast.
When I was studying in Portugal, I studied Portuguese in like an intense course. And I was able after one month and a half to speak as a native. Again, my accent was a bit weird. So people were like, are you from Brazil? There was something, but I always like picked up accents. That's such a great skill to have. Different. Yeah. With English was different. I remember I was feeling so scared that I wouldn't understand people.
and they won't understand me back because this is something that even nowadays happen. People just see me and they are ready for, I don't know, different kind of language and accent and then when I speak they are not prepared for an accent and they're like, come again. It makes me funny. But this is me. I have an accent probably and I speak in a way that they are not probably expecting to. But everyone has an accent. Yeah. Like people think I'm Swedish. What?
James Doran (52:48.619)
When I walk into a shop, they speak Swedish to me and Evie as well because we're both tall and she's blonde. And we're like, what? No? Ingersvenska? Blonde speaks Swedish there. I mean, obviously it is Sweden, so they should speak Swedish. So I could have like... But I can now order some like food and drinks. But as soon as it goes past that bit of dialect, I am very much lost. Coming back to it.
English it is. I mean, on the English level here is so much better than in England. It's funny. Wonderful. Thank you. Is there any advice you want to give to anyone listening or watching, if that matters, like on moving abroad or traveling in general? One of the other stuff that I'll probably recommend is just be careful with exactly the job you're looking into. I mean, I know people that...
started working in the UK and then they just decided it's not for them so they went back home. Just decide if this is really the goose path. I do encourage anyone to try it. This can turn out one of the best experiences. For me, I already said this. Initially, I came into the UK with a plan for staying here just for two years. I never left. But one of the things is I would always recommend try it.
And if this costs you maybe losing some, I don't know, connections, maybe spending time with family. Just try it. You never know. Maybe you're going to bring the family back with you. We don't know. We never know. Just try it. And you can always go back as you said as well. Hopefully you can. Obviously there's some people who can't go back, but no more jibes people who do move for work are able to go home. if it's not right. Wow. And then to end on a lighter note.
what's your favorite british saying? let's see a favorite british thing i don't know i just love that that thing that everybody's saying how are you my love i just love it i it just has love in it how can you not love it yeah that's a very good point i mean yeah i i've had dd dally before and like yeah we know that we we make loads of random noises with our mouths and then we can
James Doran (55:13.899)
description for something. But yeah, no, it is lovely how we do greet so warmly. We might not greet with physical contact like in France or for other parts of Europe, but we do it with words. Yeah, that's it. Words do matter. It's a vocal hug. Yeah, indeed. Not so awkward. Well, thanks so much, Minodora, for spending your time, for indulging me with my silly questions and...
and sharing a story of travelling and living abroad, it's been so nice to hear it and explore it more. It's something that I've said to all my guests, like spending time talking about one topic, be it your moving somewhere else, I think really helps appreciate the struggles or the kind of journey that someone's come on. And I feel like I know people a lot better, a lot more closer because you've not just skimmed the surface of several topics, you've gone a lot more.
you know, in depth on one topic. So thank you for agreeing to be part of this. And yeah, I hope you enjoyed it. Yeah, my absolute pleasure. I'm looking forward for the next one then. Yeah, I'm the one after that. Thank you for having me as well. Always. And if you did or people listening did find something really useful or want to ask you the question or find out some information, please do go in touch. I'm sure.
I can forward any remaining specific questions to the Minadora and get back to everyone. Thank you and we'll see you next time. Always happy to. Bye. Okay, bye everyone.
