One Year in Scotland: 3 Reasons to Think Again

1. Being Far Away Sucks.

Far, far away Soria Moria Palace shimmered like gold: painted by Theodor Kittelsen, 1900.

This is the number-one reason we are thinking again about staying in Scotland. It is far away from family, from friends, and from events (like, for example, birthdays, anniversaries, my 20th high school reunion, American Anthropological Association conferences where friends gather, and of course the Orioles finally going for World Series).  We're also too far away to help - for example, as family members recover from surgery.  People ask me if we traveled back to the United States over the summer holidays.  The answer is no, of course. Trips for all four of us are too costly to even consider.  We have TIME, but not money.  One day, maybe we'll have both.  Which brings me to the number-two reason we are thinking again...

2. It Costs a Lot to be a Foreigner.

Scottish Pounds. Yes, Scotland has its own money, they are equivalent to English pounds, but with more character.

This is actually in two parts, the first being the actual costs of coming to and staying in the UK.  Although the University hired me, and paid for some relocation costs, they did not pay for even my visa costs.  And it was not just me who needed a visa.  In order to come work here for 2 years, we (okay, full disclosure, my dad) paid $800 for each of us - including the two year old! - to come here. While I'm here, I also don't have a pension plan that transfers back to the US ( I opted out, after reading the fine print that said, in essence "we'll try to get your money into an account you can use in the U.S."), and there are also certain benefits that people in the UK get that we do not qualify for as US citizens - for example, Child Benefit.  If you have 2 children in the UK, you qualify for approximately $55 per week to help with their care.  It may not sound like a lot but over a year it amounts to almost $3,000. The second reason it costs a lot to be a foreigner is the desire to do stuff.  It's the "Hey, we're in Europe, when will we get here again, let's take advantage of it!" Except it really is not that cheap to go to Europe for 4 people - even cheap flights add up.  Even just traveling around Scotland is not so cheap if you want to stay anywhere for any length of time during the times you can actually go (i.e., when kids off school).  When thinking about "living overseas" in the abstract, there's sort of a  myth of an eternal vacation - but I'm at work, the kids are in school, and we're trying to travel at peak times just like everyone else in the UK. And of course, there's also...

3. The Weather.

View from the 7th floor of the building where I work, toward St. Peter's Free Church, the River Tay and the Tay Rail Bridge.

Dundee advertises itself the sunniest city in Scotland.  And, it probably is, given what I've heard about Glasgow.  Even today, perhaps in an effort to make me change my mind about Point 3, it was sunny and clear.  But the truth is that it's far more likely to look like there pictures than to be beautiful and sunny.  This past Monday it was rainy and so windy that the rain was like little daggers trying to stab Audrey and I as we walked up to her school.  Umbrellas were useless (as they often are) and the wind was trying to whip our raincoats away from us.  When Scotland is clear, it's gorgeous, and I love taking the atmospheric cloud picture (see below).  But when it's rainy, it's just Scottish weather.

Tay Rail Bridge with atmospheric clouds

If you enjoyed this post, why not visit Part 1 of my One Year in Scotland series: One Year in Scotland: Five Reasons We Love It.