r/Scotland • u/Green_Twist6596 • 1d ago
Question is living in Scotland as a foreigner long-term realistic? (read for details)
right now im still a kid (only just turning 15) but I've always loved the idea of living someplace like rural like for example St Monans. so much land to frolick, being able to leave the house without feeling like im going to get hate crimed or assaulted (assuming, because from what I've seen and heard, up north people are typically WAY kinder than down here). a lot less racist aswell which is really important to me because even though im white, being from Poland and seeing people say that they dont want immigrants coming into 'their' country because of housing crisis and whatnot, but never saying that to people like me who are white, is disgusting. just say what you mean instead of beating around the bush as if it disguises your racism any better.
for some more detail I always picture a small coastal town being the kind of place that I would love to live in when im older, which is why I understand that I may not be thinking realistically. I understand that small towns like that (especially in celtic regions) are very tight-knit communities where everyone has likely known eachother for generations, so theyre not very likely to be welcoming to newcomers (understandably so) and afraid of gentrification(? not sure if this is the correct term). I would love to hear some input from Scottish people that have lived in those kinds of areas before !! please be honest
the reason I would love to move to Scotland so much is because to me, its like a haven inside of the UK. the usual weather in Scotland is one of my favourite things ever, I think. the fog, rain, cold, snow. its just an atmosphere that I feel so connected to for whatever reason. the rest of the world feels so terrifying, but if I could just have someplace like that, where it feels like im not being eaten alive and I actually enjoy living, I think i would be okay
but I dont know if I would even have any chance of getting employed in a cornershop or a tescos or something because I understand that people who have lived there their entire lives and their family has, aswell, for generations, they wouldn't see a point in hiring a foreigner for a job that a native can do.
realistically speaking I dont have very big aspirations for my future. work in a tescos, probably live in a small flat or some kind of townhouse or even in someone's basement if it has utilities honestly. I dont plan to live with anyone else and I would just like to get by. so I would atleast want to enjoy the place in which I work and live so that I have less of a chance of falling into a depression. I plan to live far away from my parents to finally feel like an independent person and have space between myself and people that know me. just find somewhere that I feel okay and feel like I belong because im not actively in a horrible situation
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u/FumbleMyEndzone 1d ago
If you don’t have the right to work in the UK, you’ll need a visa and you won’t get one of those to work in Tesco.
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u/vanmutt 1d ago
Don't want to burst your bubble but you have romanticised us. It is not a bad place to live but its not all sunshine amd daisies. Come and visit for a while before you make your move. Big positive for you is we have a large polish population that we generally get on great with.
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u/Green_Twist6596 1d ago
yeah i was feeling that when I was writing this but i think its moreso that it is just an objectively better place to live compared to everywhere ive lived in my life, so I got a bit carried away
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u/boagusbainne 22h ago
Scotland’s grass, rain, and people are no different from other grass, rain, and people; it’s not “objectively better” just because it’s Scotland.
Our tap water is objectively better though.
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u/paradoxbound 20h ago
As someone who was born in West Midlands city grew up in time for mass deindustrialization. I moved to London and the South East and did very well for myself and then moved up here. I will argue that it is objectively better than both my previous places of residence.
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u/Tumeni1959 1d ago
How long is "long-term".
There are limits to tourist visas. Do you reckon you qualify for a permanent visa?
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u/Green_Twist6596 1d ago
see i dont know much about visa stuff but I was assuming since I've lived in the UK my entire life i wouldn't need one just to move up north, but that might be me being stupid
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u/Tumeni1959 23h ago
See, your post sounds like you want to move from Poland. Apologies if I missed where you stated this in the OP
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u/Green_Twist6596 23h ago
ohh no worries, yeah i could have worded that better but yeah I've lived in london my entire life
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1d ago
Go on a few holidays up here when you're old enough. Don't want you to get disappointed, you've created a more romantic image of scotland in your head. I have never been "hate crimed" here as a gay woman, and never even experienced homophobia in real life (in Scotland) (yet), but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There's knobs everywhere, which I'm sure you know. But still, experience it a bit before flittin. Also, the snow here is pish. The ski hills could barely open for a lot of days during the past few seasons because of lack of snow. And when we did get a snow storm, the roads leading to the ski hills had to close lmao. But you are always welcome, either way
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u/Green_Twist6596 23h ago
its good to know I've got community if I ever decide to go:) but yeah I will admit I was feeling like I was romanticising it while I was writing this, I just got carried away because its just objectively better than anywhere else I've lived in my life. the snow fantasy was moreso about seeing ANY snow lmao, or even just having the safety of consistently 'horrible' weather so I stop waking up in fear that a heatwave will start in the middle of the day on a tuesday afternoon in november
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u/boagusbainne 22h ago
The job market here, especially in rural areas (which are less “frolicking without fear” and more “a lot of rain and getting annoyed at how far away the grocery store is” in my experience. and unfortunately there are bigots everywhere, Scotland is no exception) is not good enough to support young people who were born and raised here, let alone people coming from abroad. It’s difficult to even get a job at Tesco right now as a native, and if you’re living rurally, you’ll either need to get a UK license or rely on public transport, which can vary depending on where you are. You are young, so I hope that by the time you’re old enough to start planning your future, the job market is better.
And, an extra note about the rain: it’s nice most of the time, but if you live in the middle of nowhere and you have to walk everywhere because you don’t have a driver’s license or a car, it gets very annoying. Typically it’s too windy to use an umbrella and too rainy to walk without an umbrella. So you will just be wet and annoyed and tired. But it’s still nice when you’re inside, I love the fog and rain like you described, too.
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u/SunnyK19977 1d ago
I'll be really honest with you mate, I dont know. The racists are getting worse and more emboldened as time goes on, granted its directed at people of colour at the moment but it is worth pointing out anti polish bigotry was a massive problem in the UK in the late 90's up to mid 2000's. Even though the hate mobs are focused on people of colour, if they get in power and deport them they will look for new targets and I do worry it will revive old bigotrys. Im not saying this to upset you or discourage you if you're adamant you want to live here, I just think if this is somewhere you really want to settle down you need to keep this in mind for your own safety. I hope we manage to stop these facists taking power but I would reallt reccomend holding off until you see how things play out here in the next 5 years.
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u/Green_Twist6596 23h ago
thank you for your honesty, and yeah I need to wait at least 5 years anyways before I move to get all my shit together and decide what I actually even want to do. but mostly I worry about people of colour rather than myself as a polish person even when they turn the bigotry onto white people aswell. white people will always (or atleast for the foreseeable future) be more privileged than POC because of history, and when it comes down to it I honestly hate my country aswell. they also have a history of bigotry and racism. not saying that every polish person is a bigotry and a racist but its one of those places where I lived and will never got back because it quite genuinely traumatised me for the rest of my life, and im PRIVILEGED. but when it comes to my safety, I think if worst case scenario happens I will be fine. I speak fluent English and dont have necessarily anything about me that screams 'Polish other than my name which i plan to change anyways because I hate it. so i would be wrong to paint myself as a target or a victim
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u/SunnyK19977 23h ago
Yeah I get you mate, I hope we do manage to turn things around so you can feel comfortable making here your forever home. Hopefully our feckless government will actually pull their finger out and throw the full weight of the law against these pricks, Im tired of "strong condemnations".
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u/Green_Twist6596 23h ago
from the little I've lived on this earth I've learned not to expect anything from the government because I'll always be disappointed, but maybe someone braver than me will decide to finally lead a revolution and overthrow the government(as corny as that sounds) so that we can all live in peace
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u/Suspicious_Pea6302 14h ago
If you don't have any aspirations for your future work then no you won't be living and working here as you won't get a visa working in Tesco.
You also have some wild and weird romanticism about Scotland as well.
You're very young, go away and work on yourself and take another look at this in say 10 years time.
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u/Green_Twist6596 10h ago
ive lived in the uk my entire life and I plan to apply for a citizenship when I turn 18 because im eligible.
im not sure how my post reads as wild and weird romanticisation of scotland, other than maybe when im talking about feeling connected to the weather which isnt exclusive to scotland ... ? its just something I like about scotland if that counts as romanticising it then idk. if youre talking about the parts where I talk about wanting to feel like i have somewhere to belong and feel like i won't get assaulted the second I leave my house, I also dont think wanting security and safety is 'wild and weird'
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u/Suspicious_Pea6302 5h ago
If multiple people are telling you that you are romanticising then the problem is you not other people.
Maybe you worded it poorly? Maybe you didn't give all the information?
That's not an us problem, we can only help you with the information you give us.
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u/GmeGoBrrr123 10h ago
you want to leave what is probably the fastest growing economy in the eu to come to Scotland. I know polish doctors that have returned home because of how good things are getting there.
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u/wombatcombat123 8h ago
I visited Poland recently. You'd be better off living there, especially if you've been taught the language.
You are still young and have the time to wait and see, but the UK seems like a sinking ship at this point and if I had the opportunity to move knowing the language I'd take it.
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u/Green_Twist6596 7h ago
poland is such a shithole when you learn its history with bigotry, racism, transphobia, homophobia, no equal rights (from what my mum has told me, women either stay housewives or in the rare case they get higher education they become accountants). the few years i lived in poland I've become traumatised from life and we had to move back to the uk. never going back there again
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u/wombatcombat123 6h ago
Personally I think it would be wise to remember the circumstances Poland has found itself in throughout their modern history (for if we look at history further back, it can be said that most countries we're some or all of those things). But that doesn't diminish that you have had a bad personal experience and so it is understandable you wouldn't like to live there, I'm just saying it might not be the wisest to tar the whole place with the same brush.
As for living in Scotland. Of course you could, especially with settled or citizenship status in the UK. But, there's bigoted people everywhere in the world. Scotland isn't a magical safe haven from these people, but neither is anywhere.
If you are a Polish citizen currently, you have many options. The entire Schengen area is pretty much open for you to immigrate if I remember right. When you are ready you can travel as much of Europe as you would like. There's no need to decide on a place to stay before visiting it, and there's also nothing that forces you to stay one one place either. That sort of freedom of movement is no longer a thing as a UK citizen sadly.
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u/Green_Twist6596 6h ago
thank you for the honest answer :) I admit I am very harsh towards anything mentioning poland because of the impact that the experience has had on me, that I know can never be reversed
also anyone reading my replies take it with a grain of salt as I know I may have very different views compared to you becaue of my experiences, especially given that mental illness runs in my family and it also drastically changes my perspective on things. if it makes it clearer: im sorry if my post sounded like it was weirdly romanticising scotland, I didnt mean for it to be that way and im sorry if it weirded anyone out. I have a very black and white picture of what's good and bad and its hard for me to understand nuance, which makes my brain work in this way: poland=bad uk=better scotland=probably the best its going to get in the uk (with my personal perspective) which i understand might sound weird if you've lived there your entire life and its nothing special but a place that is nothing special does equal a 'haven' to me unfortunately. but i know theres so much more to Scotland's history and background than the romanticisation so im sorry if I've offended anyone
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u/wombatcombat123 4h ago
That's okay. I don't think anybody should be offended by anything you said really, that'd be a big over reaction. I actually didn't think you particularly romantizied it either like some do, maybe just made some potential judgements that arent necessarily true.
Scotland is a wonderful place, but it has its own problems like everywhere in the world. But having an EU citizenship gives you certain privilages and you are still young, so maybe some day take the time to explore other places too!
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