From LA to rural Scotland: The odyssey of a bookworm

I also  like how her idea of trashing it is pouring marbles on the floor. That's just dangerous, has she not seen Home Alone?!

 

  Now you have me thinking about the tarantula scene!

All I'm saying is, if someone wants to organise an angry mob, I can bring extra pitchforks.  I've got a byre full of them.

Also, everyone knows that if you think your BF is cheating you don't trash your OWN flat - Jeez! 
I also  like how her idea of trashing it is pouring marbles on the floor. That's just dangerous, has she not seen Home Alone?!

Ha. I was confused reading her "I was so mad I just HAD to trash my room" thing. I'm sure I have different ideas than she does, but I don't see how pouring marbles all over is therapeutic/stress-relieving. Especially since then you have to pick up all the marbles.

I've now been wondering - how much of the story is actually true & how much is just made up so she could write a (cliché filled) chick lit book?

Also, she was supposedly a filmmaker for NASA and clearly she knew that Google was her friend - as she was able to Google for the bookshop by the seaside. So surely she wasn't a stranger to research - wouldn't you think? Wouldn't someone like that also use Google to figure out the ins/outs of international travel? Ok, I know we see naive stories from girls on here all the time, but these other factors mean this kind of beggars belief for me...

So was she honestly that innocent/naive (not stopping to properly research what she was undertaking)? Or was she willfully flouting immigration laws, under cover of naïveté, so she could get her chick lit story? Hmmmm.  

So was she honestly that innocent/naive (not stopping to properly research what she was undertaking)? Or was she willfully flouting immigration laws, under cover of naïveté, so she could get her chick lit story? Hmmmm.  

Never attribute to malice what can also be explained by stupidity or incompetence.   

My guess is she didn't look into the requirements for living/working in the UK because she just figured it wasn't a big deal, and would be easy to do.

Never attribute to malice what can also be explained by stupidity or incompetence.   

My guess is she didn't look into the requirements for living/working in the UK because she just figured it wasn't a big deal, and would be easy to do.

I guess...but I don't understand that kind of thinking, lol! 

I mean, the US doesn't let just everyone/anyone up & move there because they want to - this isn't exactly a secret with being in the news all the time. Why would you think (not YOU - camoscato) that another country would?

I mean, the US doesn't let just everyone/anyone up & move there because they want to - this isn't exactly a secret with being in the news all the time. Why would you think (not YOU - camoscato) that another country would?

Because America is the bestest place ever! All countries should welcome Americans, especially when (to quote her) she's not taking anyone's job because the bookshop employs locals, and she's just helping out a friend. (And she's white, speaks English, is educated, etc.) Clearly every country should welcome her with open arms, no matter what the circumstances.

From the bits ksand24 posted above, it sounds like she found out the very basics (no paid work, 6 month time limit) and didn't bother investigating further (no volunteering, 6 months in every 12). Why bother looking for more information when the info you have matches your plans so well?

Clearly every country should welcome her with open arms, no matter what the circumstances.

But would she expect this from another country?  Sometimes I feel like the "special relationship" has a lot to answer for in these situations.  I mean, if she had dreamed of working in a noodle bar in Beijing, would she have thought she could just up and waltz into China? 

That's the thing - I went on a little vacation when I was 21 to Brazil at the invitation of a friend. I was younger than this woman was & grew up in the middle of nowhere & certainly wasn't worldly at all in any sense of the word. I'd never had a passport before - never needed one. Yet I had enough sense to look into what going there entailed - I had to apply for a visa to go (after I'd gotten my passport, of course) & wait for that to come back to me before I made my arrangements. I didn't think - wahey! All I need to do is get on that airplane...  

ETA - Oh! And Google wasn't my friend either, because there wasn't any internet back then in the dark ages. Yet somehow I managed to still find out the relevant info!  

Delusional, entitled people have an incredible ability to assume everything is going to go just the way they want it to because why on Earth wouldn't it? I suspect that factors in to it somewhere. I mean, she had a vision people!   

That's the thing - I went on a little vacation when I was 21 to Brazil at the invitation of a friend. I was younger than this woman was & grew up in the middle of nowhere & certainly wasn't worldly at all in any sense of the word. I'd never had a passport before - never needed one. Yet I had enough sense to look into what going there entailed - I had to apply for a visa to go (after I'd gotten my passport, of course) & wait for that to come back to me before I made my arrangements. I didn't think - wahey! All I need to do is get on that airplane...  

ETA - Oh! And Google wasn't my friend either, because there wasn't any internet back then in the dark ages. Yet somehow I managed to still find out the relevant info!  

But you probably didn't have a massive sense of misguided self entitlement.

Sure there are rules but they don't apply to ME and what I want to do! I'm white, educated, attractive and American, I'm just having an adventure. What?! This is ridiculous, let me back in, oh great I got back in on a visa technicality because see WEAM thing, yay and now I get paid for telling my story which totally justifies my opinion of myself.

I shall carry on being a terrible human because everything worked out well for me - huzzah!

Delusional, entitled people have an incredible ability to assume everything is going to go just the way they want it to because why on Earth wouldn't it? I suspect that factors in to it somewhere. I mean, she had a vision people!   

Exactly - how dare the government get in the way of her DAILY meditation vision?! It's meant to be, people! (Likewise with the boyfriend - though her vision didn't seem to include anything beyond a bookshop in Scotland, clearly she improvised the romance angle once she found out the bookshop owner was vaguely eligible bachelor-ish.)

I'm guessing most UKYers would research before travelling anywhere (or we wouldn't be here on this forum, either because we didn't move to the UK because of visa refusals, or because we wouldn't have thought to seek out a community of expats). A lot of people do have the White Educated Attractive American thing going, though, and just figure that because of X [they speak English/they don't speak English (and should welcome English speakers)/they need tourism/insert-whatever-reason] then they should just be let the person to do whatever they want to do (because whatever they want to do is OK because it's them, regardless of whether that's volunteer/live with boyfriend/marry boyfriend/etc).

Delusional, entitled people have an incredible ability to assume everything is going to go just the way they want it to because why on Earth wouldn't it? I suspect that factors in to it somewhere. I mean, she had a vision people!   

You're right.  And you know the most annoying thing about that?  In my experience, it usually does.  It's like, people who just assume the rules don't apply to them seem to just float through life.  I always secretly hope that they'll hit a big ol' brick wall at some point, but they never seem to.

I guess...but I don't understand that kind of thinking, lol! 

Because there was very little, if any, thinking.

I also wonder if she's unwittingly gotten "Euan" into some trouble for when he let her work at the bookshop without proper legal permission.

Because there was very little, if any, thinking.

I also wonder if she's unwittingly gotten "Euan" into some trouble for when he let her work at the bookshop without proper legal permission.

A £10,000 fine has an amazing way to put strain on an already tenuous, on/off relationship.