Living the dream - really????

[bebespain]

Apologies in advance if this comes across as a self-indulgent moan (its been a long weekend at home alone with the 2 ds)

I´ve just been peeling vegetables looking out of the kitchen window at the bleak scene, remains of snow/slush on the ground, grey skies, bare trees etc and I remember what somebody told me a while ago when I was moaning discussing my life here that I was "living the dream"

Can somebody remind me of what "the dream" is?? I am in Spain btw some 40kms out of Madrid

It is a serious question, honestly but I really am struggling to find the answer.

Is anybody else living overseas told that you are "living the dream" or does it just depend on the country you are living in? I mean is the British idea of Spain still that of being by the sea/beach sitting drinking sangria all day, munching fish and chips etc

I think I'm going to start a new thread to thrash this out!

ZZZenAgain I too am not rooted - in fact when someone asks me where I'm from I'm never really sure what to answer. I was born on one country, but that's not the same as my accent, I went to school in a second, uni in a third and I've lived overseas since leaving uni. I've never even been to the place where my parents live now. Which is why perhaps I make my roots in my home, with my new family and my life.

I have a friend who has spent the last 9 years living on an expat compound on Saudi - which at first glance sounds awful (to me!). But she seems really happy, she's done a couple of degrees, she travels a lot, has a part-time job on the compound and is just basically happy and I thought she'd last 6 months!

I really do think that you can be emotionally happy without things being "perfect". I am really happy with my life but right now am living in a flat - sold my detached house with a paddock a couple of years ago. I am FAR happier now than I was then! All this blaming the postcode thing reminds me of the women you see who ask should they stay with their husbands and their beautiful, beautiful house in a good area or should they enjoy life? No brainer to me.

HI skihorse, just seen my last post looks like a snotty reply to yours. I had read the thread and gone off to do something and come back and posted. Wasn't replying specifically to you.

Well I don't want to name particular countries but social interaction in some places is on a level whihc I could never warm to or ever want to imititate. Other people can shrug all that off or even find something attractive in it. If youcan, you can find happiness there, if not, you will never like it.

I think if after giving a place a good 2 years effort, I didn't like it, I would move on, judging for myself from the experiences I have made.

It's hard to like a place that doesn't like you too. I know friends who have experienced racism daily and however beautiful a soul you may strive to have, it is almost impossible to really feel happy if you feel slapped in the face almost every time you leave your home IYSWIM?

haha I didn't see it as snotty.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1259430/Lauren-Booth-Our-French-dream--I-fear-happy-marriage.html

This article has really resonated with me this is how DH and I live apart from with the increasing prices from Ryanair he only gets home now for two weekends a month. It's so hard sometimes.

Still the sun is shining today.

why did I not discover this thread before? It has really made me laugh!

I have heard people tell me how wonderful my life is in Greece so many times that it's almost like hearing good morning. It barely registers.

Bucharest - I love your posts!

Greece is so corrupt it's just incredible. People in the uk say things like "why do you put up with it?" or "just refuse to go along with it." They just don't know what it's like.

But, aside from bureaucracy, my personal favourite is the roads. Holes everywhere, broken pieces of tarmac in the middle of the road. A new motorway, only recently opened, already being dug up again. And ramps up to pavements with steps at the end of them. Incorrect or nonexistent roadsigns. The list is endless.

groundhog - if you're still watching this - where in the north are you?