Einars: – My name is Einars Vitols and I lived in England for five years.
Ieva: – My name is Ieva Muiznika. I returned from Swindon, England, just two months ago. I spent a year in Swindon, England. You could say that I went there to visit Einars. We have returned to Riga as we decided to look for opportunities in the capital. The only work I’ve done in England is working in a clothing store. I really liked it, there were really cool people there and the work was not too difficult. But still I wanted to go home so we set that as a goal and here we are.
Einars: – In any case, we had arranged everything before coming back, we both had been offered jobs. So, there were no problems. You could say that our jobs were already waiting for us here.
I think that support is really important. If, for example, I didn’t have someone to poke and prod me, I’d probably still be in England and, most likely, would have stayed there forever. Because… it really matters whether you have people who support you, who are there for you, who are read to help you. That’s really important. Then you feel that you are not alone. It’s hard to push yourself forward in life if you’re alone. It can be done, of course, but the motivation is a lot weaker. People next to you are the ones that provide really strong motivation.
The most difficult part is the emotional part. There are people who I worked with for four, nearly five years, they’re almost like your second family. The hardest moment was when I had to go to work and tell them: “Sorry, guys, it’s time – I’m going back!” We visited Latvia on vacation quite often and we saw how it was here, and our friends told us how they were doing. People really aren’t doing badly. Everyone lives, everyone has apartments, houses, cars, work… Everyone is happy! Maybe there’s less money to be made here but the standard of living is a bit different here, too. All costs are lower. When I calculate how much I earned in England and how much we spent on rent and everything else, the overall situation was exactly the same as it is living here. In any case… Maybe… I’d say that people who have lived abroad for years might have it harder because they are used to the wages there, they are used to everything there… Maybe it will be harder for them. But at the same time – our friends who lived there for more than a decade returned too, and they are very happy. People are happy, they said that this is the best decision they could have made. I see the standard of living here going up with my own eyes, people are happy, people are dressed, fed and living under a roof. The main thing is not to be afraid – to dare, to take a chance! You really cannot lose anything, you can always go back. I believe that there is a point in trying because… well, when, if not now? I believe that this is the best time to do this. Many people I know have returned, many of my friends have returned. No one has run away after two months – they all have found jobs, stabilized their lives and are not complaining.