Starting in Europe

Europe was to mark the death of our relationship. It is a place where neither of us could ever be happy in the medium or long term. I had learnt that there are better places to live and work, I have no ties to the Europe and I despise the blinkered tribalism; and Claudia - well her reasons were similar I suppose, but then she was at least German.

I went Scotland because I knew people there who I had not seen for five years and I was reasonably certain I could start to work immediately. This was not Apple-related work in any way; in fact it had nothing to do with IT. I was building - labouring really- and I was doing it because there was no realistic chance of getting into what I had been doing in Brisbane. The 'Old' world just does not move as dynamically as the 'New' and nowhere is that more true than in Scotland. People stay in jobs far longer than they would anywhere in the 'New' world. Roles that in the New World would be occupied by young people will be held by someone a good deal older who has been there since Noah was a lad -and who is quite happy to stay there. Hell, just look at the police in Europe. There is no shame to being a mere constable over forty, whereas in Australia it would be seen as a failing. One couldn't avoid being labelled a thicko, someone a bit simple, kept on because there would be some benevolent corner of the force where they could service cars, staple papers together or talk to children. (After all isn't that what public service is all about? Ahem!) So, how do young people get jobs in Europe? Well, it seems like they can only manage by having a degree or a trade and a Magic Bit extra. That Magic Bit is either experience they were lucky to get somewhere (in the 'New' world more than likely), contacts (invaluable anywhere), good luck (ditto), or an edge provided by further study. Meet up with a group of Germans in their late twenties and you will be surprised at the number who are almost thirty and yet still living an impoverished student's life as they complete another degree. Twelve years out of their parents house and they are still studying and working at some shitty job! That is almost halfway through life towards retirement and they are not contributing meaningfully to society. Not yet paying off the cost of their subsidised studies, not yet saving the deposit for a house, breeding only by accident and in de facto relationships, not saving for their own retirement yet knowing well that they are going to be the ultimate victims as Europe's nanny-state crumbles and they have to pay more for their own health care. In that same group, you will find that most are still supported to some extent by parents who have already retired! Now how bad is that, sponging off the wrinklies retirement fund! But such is the social fabric of contemporary Europe. The emperor's new clothes springs to mind. I see a future that is pretty gloomy there - nowhere near as gloomy as Africa's (where I come from, if you're wondering), but still not a place I enjoy enough to want to stay. Oh, and the obsession with soccer gives me the shits. Twenty two overpaid, millonaire drama-queens diving over a piece of leather, worshipped by clans paying allegience by purchasing overpriced merchandise, tickets, and satellite subscriptions and obsessing over the lurid gossip pedalled by a media leviathan that wouldn't know how to do a back page or sports bulletin if the word 'football' didn't get a mention. Don't get me started, I have opinions!

So I was in Scotland working in the building trade. It was there, it kept me busy and I quite enjoyed it. But it did not pay well - of course it wouldn't. Who was I? I had no trade and no experience and generally a local in the same job would be in a cheap council house and not have too many overheads. (You think that Eastern Europe was the only place that did ugly public housing - check out Scotland. The grey rough-cast used to coat cheap bricks that would not otherwise stand up to the harsh weather has to have created some of the ugliest housing estates ever. But I won't go there either....). I chipped away at the credit card balances steadily and waited for Claudia to come up with a place to stay and a job that would enable me to come over and set up. It was to be a long wait...........