Life in the UK: A professional couple who moved to London 5 years ago talk about their experience

Hello, hi, so I'm Gill at EngVid and today we have an interview and this time I'm interviewing

two people, a couple whose names are Stefano and Lucia. So here we are, thank you very

much Stefano, thank you for your invitation. Thank you for being here, thank you for your

time and for agreeing to be interviewed and answer some questions about life in the UK

and so on. So okay, so thanks for the time, taking time to be with us and of course we've

known each other for a few years now haven't we and I just wanted to show you a little

present you gave me a while ago. Oh, that's nice. I think it was late last year wasn't

it? Possibly, yeah. It was flowering and then it finished flowering eventually but it stayed

a long time I have to say. This is nice. It carried on for a long time but then it sort

of died away but now it's got a new shoot. It looks very well. It started flowering again

and it's got a flower and two buds coming. I thought you'd like to see that. Yes, definitely.

Thank you for letting me know. It's like how it's coincided with our interview. Definitely.

Thank you for that. So okay, so perhaps just to begin with you, you'd like to say something

about yourselves, where you're from, your professions, your interests. Yeah, okay, shall

I start? Yes, of course. Okay, I'm Stefano of course. I'm from Milan. I'm Italian. I'm

an Italian native speaker. I'm an IT guy so I work in the information technology industry

here in London. This is Lucia, my wife. Yes, my name is Lucia. My first language is Italian.

I come from Como which is a city not too far from Milan and I'm a rheumatology specialist

nurse and I work for the NHS. Okay, so the National Health Service that we have in the

UK. Exactly. So that's great. We did interview someone else also who works for the NHS as

a researcher. So obviously the NHS is a very, very big employer, isn't it, in the UK? I

think we are many, many people there, yeah, and popular. That's right. And so Stefano,

you work in IT. Completely different industry, if you like, but I had the chance to work

here in London and talk with many people from around the world because my clients are from

the UK, of course, but from Germany or France, Canada, US, Singapore. So I can talk with

a lot of people with different timings. I mean, yeah. Yes, yes. So London being such

a cosmopolitan city, there's always whoever you work with or, you know, people you see

every day could be from any country. This is challenging, if you like, but it's so amazing.

I like it. I love it. Yeah, so good. And is that quite different from Italy, the area

in Italy where you're both from? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Milan is a big city, it's a busy city,

so you can have pretty the same speed, but not like London, of course, you know, London

is a melting pot of cultures. So you can meet people, it's easier to meet people from everywhere.

So it's very good. It's very nice, you know, to have the occasion to share different cultures,

tastes, and, you know, you learn a lot, actually. That's great. Lovely. Okay. And can you tell

us how long you've been in the UK now? We located six years ago now. Yeah, almost six

years. Almost six years, yeah. That's amazing, because we met quite soon after you arrived.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you remember very well. Well, I think that was six years ago when

we first met. Yeah, it's amazing. So I guess, you know, you're feeling very much at home

in the UK now. Definitely. When we arrived as a tourist, we felt at home almost immediately.

But now I can say, yeah, definitely. We feel at home, of course, you know, and it's a very

good feeling. Of course, we miss our country, we miss our family. But a part of the pandemic,

the COVID-19 pandemic, we have occasion to come back home quite frequently. So yeah,

this is an exception, but it's fine to be here. Yes, it's been a bit different recently

with, you know, not being able to travel and so on. But of course, we've got online video.

So I think lots of people are using online video to keep in touch. Yes, technology is

very important in this moment to save our life in some way, you know, because we can

interact with everybody. He had his 50th birthday this year. Sorry. Thank you. It was a Webex

session birthday this year. You had your 50th birthday on video conference. Of course. It

was funny because we had our party online. Amazing. Wow. Because of the lockdown. So

yeah. Wow. Awesome experience. Another way to celebrate. I'm waiting. I'm looking forward

to that. Yeah. Yes. Oh, gosh. Wow. So, okay. And so I have to say your English is very

good. Thank you. You're speaking both of you very fluently. So would you say, have you

been learning English since childhood when you were at school? Well, yeah. In Italy it's

almost typical starting studying English when you're a child or better with a secondary

school at least. That's a mistake. Yeah. And then it depends where you live. Exactly. Because

English is the first language. Often it is the first language. You may study other languages

such as German or French. It depends on where you live. But yeah, English is the must have

I think. Yeah. We had a chance to study at school and that's also before to move in UK,

we did some private courses. And when we came here, we met you Jill. So yes. So I had to

be more fluent. So yes, but I think, I think, you know, now you've been here six years and

I can tell, you know, just how fluent you've become. Oh, thank you. That's great. It's

good to know because, you know, we don't have many occasion to have a feedback from someone

else. Well, and it was a pleasure to help you both. And also, I guess, because you're

both working in English speaking environments every day, so that sort of, you know, just

has a gradual effect if you just get used to the English environment and communicating

with people in English. Yes, it had a big impact. Yes. Yes. It was a bit hard at the

beginning because, you know, try to understand people over the phone, you know, and the different

accents. It was a bit tricky, but I found people very tolerant and helpful. So they

even, they was even helping, you know, when you couldn't find the proper word. So I didn't

feel in difficulties. So that's good. Helped a lot, actually. Yes. I think what you say

about on the phone is particularly difficult because you can't get the extra sort of signals,

whether they're looking happy or annoyed or confused. You don't see that someone's face

if you're on the phone, it's difficult. And as you say, also different accents, even within

the UK. Yeah. You have so many accents. It's so difficult sometimes, but yeah. Yes. It's

challenging, but it's also interesting, you know, the variety. That's right. So I think

you mentioned you came for a holiday initially and then you felt some sort of affinity with

this. Of course. Yeah. We arrived for the first time in 2011, if I'm not mistaken, and

as a tourist in London. And yeah, I can confirm, we felt at home with the love, with the way

of living possibly, with the chance offered by the city, by the country, the way of living,

of people. Yes. Yeah. And anything you can do, you can watch, you know, a lot of museums.

So of course, museums are everywhere, but to have this chance, you know, to give a donation

and to see, get into the same museum hundreds of times, you know, whenever you want and

have the proper experience, you know, it's just amazing. And I think this is the best

way to disseminate the culture, if you like, in the country. Because if you have to just

to pay a donation, it's different than to pay a ticket. Yes. So you can do it. Yes.

Many times in a year. So many people can do it. Yes. So I think that's a good way. It's

a position that we have that so many museums and art galleries offer entry, but with a

sort of collection point where you can. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. To support them and then be

able to offer this service to everybody. Yeah, that's great. And so you both got the same

feeling about London then when you came. I think so, yeah. Almost immediately. Yeah,

we came five times before moving to the UK. And so when we came here, we were just, we

got used to the radio and the habits and so how to travel, how to use the Oyster card.

And we have friends here, so and they could show us before to come, many things, you know.

Yes. The Oyster card is the sort of magic plastic card. You can do everything. The transport

system, the underground, the buses and everything. You just tap it in electronically, don't you?

And it's very simple, not having to hand over coins and get change and all that. Exactly.

Yeah, then if I think, if I look back to that period of time, I think we have been lucky

because we have these friends at the very beginning and we have the chance to live as

Londoners, if you like. But we are tourists, we are still tourists. Yes. We have the chance

to live as Londoners, so to leave the city and to live with commuters and see what happens

in the United States. Yes, just to get a feel. That was great. Yeah. Oh, good. So you could

really test it out and you know, be really sure that that's our place, basically. Yeah.

Great. Fantastic. We could manage. Yes, yes. So when you came here to live then, did you

have a plan about jobs and going for interviews? No plans. Did you just arrive and found somewhere

to live and then started looking around for job vacancies from there? The first step was

to find an accommodation, a property where to live. It was quite challenging because

if you don't have a job, you cannot find a property. And the other way around. So it

was quite tricky, but we were successful in this stage. And then I found a job in a few

weeks and she did the same. Yes. So in two months, he started working and in three months,

I started working. So it's a crazy decision. So we left our permanent job and decided to

get a new challenge. So our friend, they thought we were a bit crazy, but yes, everything went

well. So we can say now that was a good decision. It's worked out well, a sort of big adventure.

Yeah, it was. But I guess because you were two of you together, you could support each

other through it all. Yeah, it's very important. I think our determination to succeed was the

key point because you may have some desires, some targets to reach, but we cannot reach

everything. We know that. Yeah, we didn't know, but of course, that is all our effort

and we supported each other, you know, and then. Yeah. And you just have to keep trying,

trying different things, don't you? And eventually it will work. So that's great.

Lovely. So are there things that you like in the UK that you don't have in Italy?

Yeah, we don't have a pub in Italy, so I think I like very much the fact that you can easily

meet people, start talking with somebody, you know, it's a very, it's a special place,

I think. And then there are very beautiful pubs here in London, so along the river. So

very fascinating, actually. So it's an icon, of course, for London and we don't have it.

We have different things. It's very typical here, so we really enjoy it.

Yeah. So I guess you have maybe more sort of cafes, wine bars, things like that in Italy,

more than pubs where they serve beer. Exactly, yes, it's a bit different.

So, and it's a sort of social mix of people, isn't it, the English?

Yeah, exactly. So it's the way, probably, yeah, exactly, the way they approach you as well. So

we had such a lovely conversation with people that we never met before and we met again.

Wow, that's nice.

Yeah, very nice memory.

And there are pubs everywhere, aren't there? You can just turn the corner and there's another pub

and, you know, they're all different styles and different methods and so on.

Some of them are quite old, so the one in London Bridge is, you know,

historical, so it's fascinating because there's history as well.

Yes, but definitely old, sort of 19th century or even older buildings, nice architecture.

Exactly.

Yes.

So very peculiar.

Yeah, that's great. And so you mentioned earlier, of course, you missed your family

back in Italy. Is there anything else that you miss about Italy?

The weather.

Sometimes here in this country, sometimes we change the weather, the season three times per

day. It happens.

Yes.

And I guess because Milan and Como are sort of in northern Italy,

maybe sometimes there's not that much difference.

Exactly.

Because here in London, actually, the temperature is not bad. It's not bad.

It's just because the summer is very short here.

Yes.

We miss a longer summer.

Yes, because it can be unpredictable here because I think this year we had quite an early,

you know, in April, the weather was amazing.

It was like, oh, it's like summer already.

Exactly.

And so it gets a bit confusing, I think, with climate change, you know, the timings of seasons

are changing.

Yes, everywhere.

Yes, and the temperatures and so on. You know, we had a very, very hot day yesterday, didn't we?

Yeah, it was very, very hot. Yes, definitely.

What was it, 37 degrees at Heathrow or something like that, which is very unusual for the UK

to be in the high 30s.

Yes.

Definitely.

Yes. So of course, at the moment, we're still under sort of slight restrictions

here in the UK with the pandemic.

And so would you like to say a bit about how that has affected you?

Have you been doing remote working or have you been having to go into work

even in the middle of the pandemic?

What has it been like for you?

Well, the pandemic is still affecting our way of living and working, of course.

I started working from home before the actual lockdown in the UK.

At some point, my company simply decided for the remote working, it was safer for us.

Of course, I can do it. I'm an IT guy, so I can work almost everywhere.

I just need an internet connection. That's it.

And our plans are to work remotely till the end of this year.

Wow, really? Wow.

Yeah, we are following the big players in the IT, such as Google or Facebook.

So we are not big like such as Google, but yeah, we are a big player.

But the pandemic changed the way we worked.

Yes. Yes. Well, I think that's very sensible to keep going.

It's very sensible to keep going to the end of the year because it is looking like,

you know, autumn, winter, it will still be risky.

Yeah, exactly.

It's a very good decision. Not every company decides in that way.

So I think it's a good decision.

To me, it's different, of course, because I didn't work on the front line,

but I'm still going to work every day.

So as soon as you get into the hospital, you are exposed, you know, to some risk.

And, you know, a lot of people around me had the COVID-19, so I didn't get it.

So my main worries was just not to pass the virus to Stefano.

Yes.

So it was, yeah, it was, of course, difficult. It is still difficult, but a bit less.

But yes, it is a difficult time for us and for our patients as well,

because a lot of people are shielding.

And we had to change our way to look after people, our patients.

And they are chronic patients, so they need a different kind of support.

So we had to modify a bit the way we were still doing telephone consultation,

but we increased the number of telephone consultation

because we cannot see patients face to face.

We're starting now to go back to a bit of normality, but it's difficult.

And so we help people, you know, with advice on how to get food delivery,

because not for everybody it was so straightforward, you know,

to get the delivery was shielding.

They were shielding.

So, you know, as a mental health as well, you know, in effect, quite, you know, significant.

Yeah, it's a tricky moment.

So we need to stay strong, keep going.

Yes.

So in the hospital where you work, was there at one time,

were there a lot of COVID patients in intensive care and so on?

Yes, because it's a big hospital.

So one of the biggest in London.

And yes, we had also some colleagues have been in intensive unit care.

So something was very sad because we lost people, we lost some staff.

But yeah, the situation at the moment, at least it's getting better.

So we want to be positive.

That's right.

I think the number of patients in intensive care now is much less,

I think, isn't it, everywhere in the UK?

Yes, yes, definitely better.

So I think that they're finding ways of treating the illness to sort of stop it getting...

Yeah, now we know more about it.

It is still a very strange virus, but doctors and research is helping a lot.

And they found that there are different, so they know better what can happen.

So they are more aware about what can be done.

Yeah, and medication that could be used to sort of...

Yeah, a few trials as well on medication that can be used for people.

And we have a few trials in our hospital as well.

Yeah.

So for you, it must have been very worrying though,

coming home and hoping, you know, that you hadn't sort of touched anything or,

you know, you must have had to use a lot of protective equipment more than usual.

Yeah, when, yes.

And so, you know, the government says it was mandatory from the 15th of June

to wear a surgical mask, so even in the office.

So before that, the policy didn't allow us, you know, to do that,

probably because of the lack of PPE.

So now we all wear a surgical mask in the hospital,

and you cannot get in access to the hospital without that.

So which is great because we need to protect each other.

And of course, you know, washing your hands and social...

Well, social distancing is a bit difficult for us

because we are in very small offices, but we do our best.

And we are doing our best to protect patients coming in hospital.

This is the main thing for us, you know, we want to make place safe for them.

And we are working very hard on that, you know.

Yes, yes, that's good.

So that's obviously a very, very tough time for you both, really, to get through.

Yes, I cannot say differently.

Yes, but it's fine, you know, even at work, you know, with colleagues,

we are all in the same position.

So we try our best to help each other and just overcome this period of time.

Yeah, yes.

And Stefano, with your remote working, what was that like?

I mean, was it in a way not having to travel to work?

So it was saving you time and energy?

That's fine.

Energy is money, if you like.

That was excellent, but I have to be honest with you,

the first two weeks have been very challenging for me.

I don't know why, I don't have the explanation.

I had difficulties in concentrating or getting simply focused on what I was doing.

I was probably simplifying the new way of working, but it was pretty hard for me.

Of course, it was easy, I was working from home with my staff, no commuting.

So apparently in a perfect situation, but again, the first two weeks were really bad.

Nowadays, I have to say, I'm quite happy for that.

I don't want to come back.

I will, of course, the offices will reopen again.

I will be happy to meet again physically,

my colleagues, my mates, but again, it's a type of job I can carry out

simply from my desk, from home, and I'm quite happy for that.

Yeah, that's good.

And do you do plenty of video conferencing with your colleagues?

Every day, every day I spend hours with my colleagues or my clients.

So again, from the professional perspective,

there's no such a difference.

No, no, no, there's no.

Of course, previously, if I look back at the previous situation, the lockdown,

I was meeting my clients in the office, that was great, of course.

Now I have a web session with them, so we can turn on the web camera

and there's no difference, basically.

No, no, and it's so flexible, isn't it?

And, you know, not having to travel or having that extra time and so on.

Exactly, and I can wear a shirt, feel more relaxed, if you like.

Yes, so you could have a shirt and tie on,

but you could be wearing shorts or pyjamas.

Exactly, this is against the policies, but it doesn't matter, they don't know.

So that's good, lovely.

So in terms of English again,

obviously, your English has improved over the past few years.

Can you think of an example of something you can do more easily now

that you couldn't do before in English?

Definitely calls, phone calls or simply meetings like this one, for example,

personally, at the very beginning, I was scared because the communication

over the phone or with a web session is different by face-to-face one.

So I was simply scared, but I have to say after six years

and thousands of hours spent on remote sessions like this one, I'm happy.

Yeah, for me it's pretty the same. I still struggle quite a bit

with the accent from the north of England.

So my matron comes from the north, so she knows that her accent is a bit

tricky for us. So we have a laugh sometimes,

you know, when even not myself, but someone else doesn't get what she says,

"Oh, yes, it's my accent." I went back home during the weekend,

so it's a bit stronger. But again, the fact that

people are aware that they have a different accent is not a problem.

It's just a matter to say, "Oh, I didn't catch what you said."

It's easy, it's just if you ask in a nice way,

"Can you just repeat, please?" So I will say, "Oh, I didn't catch what you said."

So somehow it's much better, so I get used to it.

Yes, and sometimes people from a different

part of the country use an unusual word. It might be a local dialect word

that people don't know in London, anything like that. So that's good.

And what's the most difficult thing, would you say, about the English

language? What's the hardest part of English?

Some pronunciation? Yeah, there are some specific words for us that

were difficult to pronounce, yeah, to say, such as "although", "although", "rough".

Yeah, you know that.

It was quite hard for us to understand that.

Yes, starting with "a", "w", or, you know,

and the "k", you know, it's like... Sometimes I feel a bit shy to

say something because I'm not pronouncing very well, so

again, you know, just have to try and time will be better at least,

you know, if you... Yes, because the difficulty with English

is that the spelling of English words isn't phonetic,

so it's not like... I think Italian is very specific.

Once you've learned the basic rules, you would know how to pronounce any word

if you saw how it was spelt, but with English it's all over the place.

Yeah, it doesn't work like that, yeah. No logic.

But this is what it is, so... Yeah, but it's interesting.

It's nobody's fault exactly, it's just the way the language has

evolved over centuries, you know, for various historical reasons, so we

can't do much about it really. No, no, but it's fine, you know.

So that's right, and it's funny sometimes as well.

So, okay, so and then just finally then, what advice

would you give to someone who is thinking of coming to the UK

to live here and work or study? What sort of advice would you give them?

I think, you know, don't give up, to be brave, you know, don't be shy and then

because we met a lot of people ready to help us

in different occasions, so of course it's difficult, you know.

Be aware that it's difficult but also be optimistic because

London offers a lot of opportunities, so just keep going and then try

because for us it was very successful and then we hope that it will

be for someone else, so yeah.

I still agree with her, of course, but I think also the determination you put

in place in the game is fundamental. The competition in this

country is pretty different from the others.

I'm talking about Italy, of course, because we are native Italians,

but because there's a lot of competition

you have to do your very best to be successful.

The great thing is that you have, every time you have

at least one chance to demonstrate what you can do,

so this is great. Yes, so just sort of go for it, you know.

Don't, you know, just keep trying and maybe try different things.

Exactly, yeah. And if you fail, not just because you're not

in the right place or in the right moment,

so just because it can happen. Yes, because I think life, anyway, and there is a way

just to learn how to, yes, to try again.

Yes, and a lot of luck is involved as well,

just being at the right place at the right time

and the right people and so on and just, I mean, I think London being the capital

city, obviously it is very competitive. There are lots of people

competing for one job vacancy, for example,

but, you know, as you've done yourselves,

you know, you just kept trying until you got there

and that's great, so congratulations. Thank you, thank you.

Successful move to the UK, that's really great.

And thank you very much again for taking time

to take part in this interview today. Thank you for your time.

It was a pleasure, actually, so yeah, very nice experience, so first time

we have been interviewed, so yeah, thank you.

Okay, so thank you. So, okay, so I think everyone, I hope that's

been a helpful and interesting interview for you to

watch and a bit of an insight into what

it's like for someone to move to the UK. Do look out for our

other interview videos, we have a few of them now

on different topics with different people, so do look out for those.

And so do subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and see you

again soon. So it's goodbye from the three of us.

Bye. Bye. Bye.