In October last year, me and my husband Mariano decided to move from Italy to Oxford in the UK. We chose Oxford for a number of reasons. Firstly, I am a nurse and there are good hospitals in Oxford. Health care in the UK has been affected by the recession and subsequent cuts in public spending, but the hospitals in Oxford are doing quite well and there are always job opportunities for nurses. Secondly, my husband is a dog trainer, and there are several charities in the Oxford area that train dogs to assist disabled people, which is the type of work he wants. Thirdly, my brother lives nearby and we have some Italian friends who live in Oxford. So, both for work and for social reasons, Oxford seemed like a good choice.
Mariano stayed in Italy while I came to Oxford to look for a house. I managed to get a job immediately, so we needed to find a house quickly. We have two big dogs, so it’s not always easy to find a house to rent because many landlords don’t allow pets, but I managed to find a house in the village of Charlbury, about 10 miles from Oxford.
Then we began the complicated job of moving house. I borrowed my dad’s camper van and drove down to Italy via the Channel Tunnel, through France and Switzerland. We packed all our belongings into cardboard boxes and loaded them into the van, somehow managing to squeeze everything in. Then, with the dogs in their beds balanced on top of everything, we drove (very carefully!) back up through Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Belgium, all the way to Charlbury.
Now the dogs are enjoying exploring a new place, although their life here is very different. In Italy we had a big garden and we lived in the mountains so they could run around freely. Here the garden is small and there are a lot of farms and livestock, so they have to stay on the lead much more. But we are all getting used to it, and settling in to our new life..
Vocabulary
belongings = averi cardboard box = scatola di cartone charity = organizzazione benefica get used to = abituarsi a job opportunities = opportunita’ lavorativa landlord = proprietario lead = guinzaglio livestock = bestiame (to) load = caricare (to) manage to = riuscire move house = trasferirsi (to) pack = impacchettare, radunare pets = animali domestici public spending = spesa pubblica recession = crisi economica rent = affittare, prendere in affitto settling in = sistemarsi, sentirsi a casa somehow = in qualche modo squeeze = schiacciare, far entrare a forza train = addestrare
We chose to move to Oxford because __________.
there is plenty of work and we have friends in the area
I am from there originally
the climate is very good
it is a very beautiful city
The hospitals in Oxford __________.
have all closed due to the recession
are mostly private
are doing well despite public spending cuts
are not looking for nurses
We needed to find a house quickly because __________.
it took me a long time to find a job
I found a job quickly
you need a house in order to get job
in winter it’s difficult to rent a house
Sometimes it’s not easy to rent a house if you have pets because __________.
