Karachi   ->   Sweden   ->   Karachi, again   ->   Dubai   ->   Bahrain   ->   Karachi, once more   ->   London and Leeds

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Second Year in the UK

Comes March, and so does completion of another year in the UK. Like last year, I would like to rate the impact of moving to the UK in various areas on a scale of -3 to +3 where -3 indicates that something has been a complete disaster, and +3 indicates that something was so good that I "couldn't have asked for more".

Personal Level

I rated last year at +2 on a personal level. This year wouldn't have been any different if I didn't have to go through the extremely testing visa extension process. Firstly, the overall process has to be taken extremely seriously; make a mistake of not submitting an important document, and your "leave to remain" will be jeopardized. Secondly, after we had had applied, the result of the visa application remained hanging in the air for 3.5 months! Lastly, once the visa extension was granted, UKBA (or perhaps Royal Mail) managed to misplace our passports!

The rating could be worse if I don't include the opportunities life offered to the family, on the whole. This includes the volunteer work that my wife managed to do at the local city council, and the award for which got nominated.

Speaking of my own self, the only good things that happened are that I obtained my driving licence here, and then managed to buy a car--a 2008 Vauxhall Corsa.

So, the rating in this area is +1 (down from +2).

Financial Aspect

The financial standing in the previous year was -2. This year turned out to be a little better, mainly because of the various "bonuses" I got from my employer time to time. The overall impact of these, and the reimbursement of visa extension fee by the employer, made this move from -2 to 0 this year.

I am quite certain, the next year is going to be much better, in-sha-Allah.

Health and Safety

As I stated earlier, perhaps this alone was the sole reason for temporarily leaving the homeland. The previous year rating in this area was +2. This year would have been a little better, had I not been diagnosed with latent TB. Now, this is not a disease if you think like a Pakistani. Nevertheless, I was required to undergo a 3 months treatment. Once again, this should be set to +1.

Career

Several improvements happened from a career perspective. Though there is no change in the designation, I won several awards this year. Recognition was both in terms of the job responsibilities and financial rewards, which makes the rating in this area grow from 0 to +2.

Experience

Rare things have kept happening, though the frequency has reduced as I grow to understand British culture and processes. This has reduced from +3 to +1.

Overall Score

So the overall score is +1+0+1+2+1 = 5 on a scale of {-15, 15}, not better than last year but surely going to take off in 2013!

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