With Tallinn dropped from consideration was I really going to just move to Dublin, Ireland? Moving from Bristol, a place I was consistently inspired by and excited about, to Dublin, for which I was less-than-enthusiastic, seemed a bit sad. Living in Europe has been an incredible experience and the prospect of expanding that experience by moving to a new country was, in itself, exhilirating. I honestly would be happy in most places; in Tallinn’s small city, where I could try to kickstart the Meetup community; in Dublin, the mental health capital of Europe; even back in Bristol, where there was a small possibility (15%) I would be allowed to remain after Brexit. I was resigned to Dublin, but was plagued with doubt about the decision to move there.
- Maybe I had rushed the decision: My original British immigration tour included 13 destinations, everything in the UK except for Belfast (Northern Ireland, technically), Southampton, Exeter, Plymouth, and Portsmouth (Here’s the first post in the UK of that tour back in 2012). Now I was going to make a decision after visiting only 2 places? I still had quite a bit more energy to travel as well.
- Maybe I had been too strict with the requirements: The English-based universities requirement was able to cull a list of 34 cities down to 4. Actually, quite a convenience. However, prioritising this requirement is also what lead to 2 of those finalists being removed. Maybe this was a slightly unreasonable requirement.
- Maybe I had missed other options: Thirty-eight cities in twelve countries seemed pretty thorough. Maybe it wasn’t…
Brexit Travel Blog: Phase 2
Since both Copenhagen and Stockholm were initially on the final list of candidates, reconsidering them was a straightforward first step. Although I was quite excited at the eventual prospect of animation school, there were defniitely a sufficient number of other art degrees in Stockholm. In contrast, the decision by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of Denmark to cut admissions to English-based programmes by 28% and the negative experience of foreign academics were both signs that university life for foreigners was difficult. Although Copenhagen was undoubtedly the best place I traveled to in Europe, I was still unwilling to reconsider it. Thus, the next stop was definitely Stockholm, Sweden.
I researched other options as well. This Best & Worst Places for Expats in 2017, while not including Tallinn, Estonia at all, was instrumental in adding another location to my list. There are 3 European Union countries in the Top 10; I had already researched both Spain and Portugal extensively; However, I had never considered Malta. The population size fit within my rather strict parameters and, unlike most other destinations, English was an official language of the country. Since there are only 2 universities in Malta, it was easy to research the academic offerings. The technical school was biiingual and required both Maltese and English profficiency, but the larger University of Malta (UM) was exclusively in English. To my surprise, UM followed more of a US university model where virtually every subject was offered. This is in stark contrast to what I understand of European universities which tend to broadly focus their instruction in a few disciplines. So Malta was also added to the list.
Since Stockholm was nearly on the original list, I decided that if I liked it in Sweden, I would stay. And I booked 5 nights on the island of Södermalm in the Stockholm archipelago.
