Winter neighborhood

We have had snow since Thursday and the temperature is still falling and the snow is getting thicker and heavier.

I enjoy watching the snow falling though I am sufferring for a heavy cold and slippery. I've been waiting for this moment since the day I came here in England. I am so very grateful to the Almigthy for letting me to actually experience snow.

The first taste of the first snowfall

This morning I have awoken to massive snow scenes, there was a skiff of snow on the ground and rooftops. At last, it's started snowing. Half of the UK is covered in snow at the moment. Only small flakes though.

I wanted to go out and throw snowballs straight away but not that there was enough snow for that!

What a beautiful day in the North of England... bright, crisp and dry, just lovely. There is a slight chilliness... although i guess those who have to travel to work will not think that!

There is only one thing to do on a day like today... yes, build a Snowman, might even take a picture.

Consultation on Tier 4 Student Visa in UK

The announced consultation on Tier 4 visas will be addressing ways of reducing the number of students coming to the UK whilst also continuing to attract the “top students to the top universities”. These include:

• for adult students, focusing Tier 4 on higher level courses and those offered by Highly Trusted Sponsors
• introducing tougher entry criteria such as English language competence
• requiring evidence of academic progression for students extending their studies
• limiting students’ entitlements to work and to sponsor dependants
• improving the accreditation and inspection process for education providers

The Home Secretary draws attention to the issue that perhaps “people imagine students to be those who come here for a few years to study at university and then go home - that is not always the case”. Whilst the student immigration route remains high on the Home Office’s agenda it is questionable how much effect new restrictions will have.

Research published by the Home Office in September 2010 - The Migrant Journey - shows that, despite the high number of people entering the UK on Tier 4 visas, 79% of them had left the country within 5 years. Of the remaining 21%, 6% were still studying and 7% were in work. Less than 5% had been granted settlement.

The indication here is that whilst student visas may account for high numbers of people coming into the country they also account for many of the people leaving the country. The proposed measures under review in the consultation will no doubt be effective in reducing net migration, but will not address the question of migrants achieving settlement. The question of whether reducing the number of people settling in the UK seems to remain unasked for the time being. It will certainly be interesting to see how the the migrant journey looks in five years’ time.

Facebook banned for hours in Saudi Arabia

Users of the widely-popular Facebook were only able to access the website around sundown.

According to a source at the Telecommunications Agency in Saudi Arabia, the site was restricted most of the day because it did not conform with social values.

Facebook, which has over 200 million active users, was temporarily restricted in Pakistan and Bangladesh earlier this year due to a group on the website that was planning an "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day", which led to massive demonstrations by people in both Muslim-majority nations.

The best countries to retire to

With the weather turning icy, thoughts begin to turn to sunnier climes, not just for the Christmas period but for life generally.

The number of Brits trying life abroad has grown significantly over the past few decades — there are more than a million Brits living abroad, according to the Institute for Public Policy research.

And it's not just students taking a year out to 'discover' themselves making pots in a shack in Peru, but older Brits too. According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, an extraordinary 38% of over-55s are planning to relocate in the next few years.

So if you fancy retiring somewhere abroad, which countries should top your wishlist?

Quality of life

HSBC Bank International has recently published parts of its Expat Explorer Survey, encompassing the views of more than 3,000 expats across more than 100 countries to find which nation performs best in various different areas.

And it found a clear correlation between those countries that offer a great quality of life to all expats, and that nation's popularity among silver expats — those looking for a new country for their twilight years.

But what does quality of life actually mean? The survey took into account a range of features, including the following:

• accommodation,
• food/diet,
• entertainment,
• healthcare,
• work life balance,
• social life,
• commute to work,
• opportunities for sports
• opportunities for travel,
• the ease of organising schools for their children,
• the ease of learning the language,
• how easy to make friends,
• healthcare and utilities,
• weather,
• how easy to fit into the new culture/lifestyle.

The top nations

With that in mind, below are the top 15 ranking nations for overall quality of life according to the Expat Explorer Survey.

Rank	Nation
1	Thailand
2	Bahrain
3	South Africa
4	Canada
5	Bermuda
6	Spain
7	France
8	Switzerland
9	Australia
10	Malaysia
11	Philippines
12	Germany
13	Belgium
14	Singapore
15	Hong Kong

Some of the top-performing nations boast extraordinarily large numbers of retirees among their expats — in Spain, just shy of 40% of all expats are retirees, while France (33%), South Africa (24%), Thailand (24%) and Canada (17%) also boast a large proportion of retired expats.

Perhaps a touch worryingly, the UK finished 23^rd in the survey, behind nations like Qatar and Mexico, but just ahead of Russia and India. And you can't blame that entirely on the weather.

If you can't make your mind up on which nation you'd like to retire to, why not have a read of Ditch Britain for somewhere better!