Moving To Portugal? 3 Astonishing Ways To Stay In Lisbon!
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9 Dec

Thought of moving to Portugal? 3 astonishing ways to stay in Lisbon!

Are you moving to Portugal? Because I did!

A short introduction into the life of an expat who moved to Lisbon, Portugal

Moving to Portugal is not so easy. I will not beat around the bush and tell you how amazing the fairytale of Portuguese expat living is as you may imagine in your head.

I’ve heard people would say, “Oh, you live in Portugal!

Your life must be a dream near the ocean and palm trees with its always sunny weather, and always smiling people”.

But those are just comments of people who have never visited the country or never had an opportunity to see it from the inside.

Moving to Portugal

Pros and cons of moving to Portugal

There are obviously pros and cons everywhere because we live in a duality where the world is divided into black and white, good and bad, and yin and yang.

If you see a country in the magazine which looks absolutely perfect – don’t believe it! Try to find what’s inside of it – it might mesmerize you, or it may disgust you.

There is a secret hidden behind all that shines.

Lisbon is a beautiful ancient story of ships, pirates, and tasty wine, which was cheaper than water back then.

Today, almost no Portuguese family would go without a glass of wine during lunch, dinner, or even both of these daily events.

Don’t forget, if you are traveling with children – the best way to engage them in a peaceful activity is a book club for kids. Not only a good intellectual activity but also a peace of mind for the parent.

If you are traveling with your partner, entertain yourself with these hypothetical questions for couples.

P.S.: If I were you I’d also take a look at these stem activities for middle school. It’s engaging and it really stimulates your kid’s brain to stay in shape even during the holiday.

And if you are running out of ideas what your kids could do, while you are busy with Portugal – get them these easy things to draw.

In Portugal, your meal is a very important process and a topic of discussion throughout the day.

How life in Portugal looks like

Moving to Portugal
Moving to Portugal

Don’t be surprised if you hear local people talking about food all the time, sometimes, even during lunch, they would already be engaged in a very active talk over upcoming dinner later that same evening.

Once you are there, you will notice that Portuguese people are very conservative in their looks and thinking and tend not to open their close friends’ circle immediately.

I would say that a real Portuguese is a hard nut regarding friendship or personal communication.

Historically they were invaders, and nobody here would like you to invade what doesn’t belong to you.

Be a friend and show interest in their culture and language, and then the ice will break. 

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A Complete and Easy Guide that helped me understand Portugal and its culture before I moved in.

When you fall in love with Portugal

I fell in love with Portugal when I first came here in the summer. The heat was not a disadvantage to me, it was a part of the Portuguese city vibe.

I loved to take a train from Cais do Sodré station and go to the ocean to feel the scorching hot sand contrasted with ice-cold ocean water.

It’s a city of contrasts with beautiful tall palm trees and people of all nationalities.

Once you end up being at the end of the Cascais shore – you will notice the waves getting higher and higher and the wind getting stronger.

My favourite beach place is in Guincho, where the sea meets sandy dunes and pine forests.

It’s a little Dubai desert where you can still see golf valleys and surfers in one place.

Occasionally horses get a ride on one side, and cars beeping the other.

A perfect place for those who wonder where to learn surfing and a more secluded place for those who want solitude.

How to stay in Portugal

Moving to Portugal
Moving to Portugal

1. Study at the University of Lisbon

Portuguese universities are considered to be one of the best. Thousands of new students are coming here every year with the Erasmus program.

Some come on their own will, as I did. In my opinion, there are two universities that you would want to think of when applying.

How to apply for a University in Portugal

study at Lisbon university
study at Lisbon University

1. Universidade Catolica and Universidade Nova de Lisboa, which is where I studied.

The very positive thing is that you do not need to pass exams to apply to the university.

However, you would need to have all the documents as secondary school or your hometown university translated into English or Portuguese altogether with your grades.

You will be enrolled in the program based on your scores from the last institution.

And if you are applying to the Master’s program, that would be a plus if you had a working experience, so as you would also need to submit your resume.

Nonsense but that is what is required here.

What to expect in Lisbon

After moving to Portugal – don’t get too happy. If you did get enrolled at your desired university. So passing your exams will be another kind of story.

Before applying, please consider learning at least the basic Portuguese language and if possible, get an intermediate level, so the majority of professors will be native Portuguese and might not want to conduct a class or talk to you in English.

As you came to this country and stayed – their basic demand would be respect to their language and to their almost royal persona.

There is a high probability that you will not pass to the next level if you expect a lot of partying with friends. Portuguese university requires a lot of time and dedication!

If you don’t pass, you can stay for one more semester, for which you will have to pay according to the university policy.

Some people here are all-time students since this process of passing exams is quite tiresome and differs greatly from what you have seen before in your country.

For example, writing your final diploma might take several years; in my case, that was a year and a half. Just keep calm and do the hard work.

    2. Getting a local job in Lisbon

call center in Lisbon

 The other option would be finding a job in Portugal. There has been a “boom” of international students and immigrants coming to the capital for the last five years.

With its minimum wage of more than five hundred euros, there is still an opportunity with international companies based in Lisbon.

Most young people nowadays try finding their luck at a call centre, the most popular of which could be reached from Oriente train station.

Companies that are gladly hiring are Teleperformance and Sitel, which is where I started. Working in an international environment requires a lot of persistence and stress resilience.

Student life in Lisbon, Portugal

For a lot of students, just starters, university graduates that want to start somewhere but still heaven an idea where they need to land, that might be a good starting point.

You will have a chance to understand and learn about other cultures, their advantages, and drawbacks while learning whether it’s really your life path that you need to follow.

For me personally, that wasn’t my true passion, even though I am immensely grateful for that experience regardless of the outcome.

Yes, this is a regular 9 to 5 job, sometimes even with night shifts that would tire you easily, but if you enjoy different foreign languages and feel like you could learn and use your skills – you could give it a try.

So after all, maybe moving to Portugal will not be such a bad idea!

    3. Best co-working place in Lisbon

Best cowering space in Lisbon
Best cowering space in Lisbon

“Second Home” is another solution for ex-pats and digital nomads.

A perfect place if you already have your own project or work as a freelancer. It’s a place of exchanging ideas, collaborating with other great successful people and just a useful and comfortable place to work.

If you just landed here in Lisbon and have no idea where you could find meaningful communication and a little space for your laptop because we all know, you still need to respond to e-mails – feel free to drop me a message, and I will show you around or at least send you required details. 

Already planning to move to Portugal and looking for a place to live? See what you need to know about it in this first apartment checklist.

READ MORE:

I speak Portuguese: Learn more

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Iryna Fedorchak

irynafedorchak@filosofashion.com

Throwing my fashion & color philosophy like confetti ;)

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