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Continue reading →: The cost of living in London – expat perspectiveCost of Living Expat Perspective Those of you who is just looking to move to London from outside the UK might be wondering how much money you might need for the first few months. While you are settling down, chances are, you will have to splurge on other expenses that…
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Continue reading →: The cost of living in London in 2026: real monthly expenses breakdownI gotta be transparent – I am VERY bad at budgeting. To the extent that it’s easier for me to find ways to earn extra money than to take an honest look at my spending and set limits for myself on maximum spending per category. Between my partner being in…
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Continue reading →: The most unhinged thing I have ever experienced in the UK
I’m not good at seeking attention. So, if you haven’t yet heard it from me personally, please don’t take it as an offense. Most likely, I either have forgotten or didn’t find a good opportunity to weave it naturally into our conversation. I am engaged and getting married, hopefully, end…
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Continue reading →: Mastering Small Talk: Tips for Introverts in the UKChit-chats are a must when you live in the UK! Awkward silence and an intimate contact with your phone are signs of good manners when you are on the tube or otherwise surrounded by complete strangers. In contrast, if you end up in a group where you are expected to…
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Continue reading →: Something lost, something gained, or How moving abroad changes you foreverA few days ago, I quitted smoking and vaping, putting an end to almost nine years of misery that terrible addiction brought upon me. While there’s still some work to go, such as an urge to chew on something (hellooo, carrot batons, you will be seeing me a lot in…
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Continue reading →: Navigating Communication in the UK: Tips for Newcomers
It was my very first trip to London in December 2014. I was following my boss at the time through the labyrinth of changing at Bank, as I had no idea where he was going and how he managed to figure out where we needed to head in the first…
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Continue reading →: 9 fun ways to embrace a new cultureWhen you move to a new country and start rebuilding your life there, a matter of integration into the local society comes up at some point. You and the locals were raised in different ways, you read different books and watched different TV shows growing up. You don’t exactly share…
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Continue reading →: Are you British or Belarusian?Photo by: Very British Problems A couple of months ago, my partner’s mother, a lovely born-and-bred Brit with German ancestry, asked me something that I have been pondering on this whole time – and will probably continue thinking about it for a few more years: – So, do you identify…
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Continue reading →: How living in a different language changes you
Whenever I crave a bit of showing off, I share a very simple fact about me – I speak 5 different languages. OK, two of them are my native ones, Russian and Belarusian, so I can’t really take credit for them. I just happened to be born and raised in…
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Continue reading →: When time is a commodityThey are moving the goalpost for me after all… It’s not set in stone, but most likely – yes. A couple of weeks ago, the Home Office announced pending modifications to the settlement scheme. Their proposal for immigration changes is now open for public consultation. (If, by any chance, you…
This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer. In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time…I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind! Therefore, any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not be completely the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today.
Hello,
I’m Kate
A Belarusian by birth and a Londoner at heart, an aspiring marathoner and a novice author who is trying to make sense of the life in the UK – and how an Eastern Slav like me can fit in. If you are considering a move to the UK (regardless of where you are from), want to learn more about Eastern Europeans – or simply enjoy reading random immigrants’ stuff – this is the place to be!
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Minsk to Mist 