It is all about money.I think Freddie Laker had the right idea spend a few months in the UK,Scotland,Ireland Yorkshire whereever then spend the winter months in Florida.
Look how the rich do things London,South of France,Florida and New York all places have a good season.Money would solve most of these homesick wishes posted on this thread in my opinion>>>>>
It has nothing to do with money for me I have been to 22 European countries and have seen a fair bit of the US and Canada east of the Mississippi.
I can imagine living in a lot of these places. I certainly enjoy a lot of them.
But as eastendboy said, none of them will ever be home. Even when we go home to live in Bristol, I still won't be home. Unfortunately home is not what it used to be. So that will be close enough.
You know, its hard to find stuff back in the uk that i miss that i can't find here. Outside of friends and family i'm getting stuck in here (Sporadically, and as best i can in my own pessimistic, neurotic way)
Good stuff in the UK tends to be the familiar, or non-threatening. I don't missed lagered up twats in the town on a friday night or dog shit underfoot wherever you go. I don't miss trying to rent movies at blockbuster only to find someones initials carved into the disc.
i don't miss riding to work every morning in a dangerously unstable sherpa van or warm coke in pubs, or broken glass on the beach or some drunk guy urinating on my front door just because the entrance happens to be around the side of the building.
I do miss playing weird music with my strange friends and that whole thing about calling somebody a silly twat or (C -Word) in good company and Not having the police called on you. (Same goes for T-shirtswith swearing on them)
And of course, Tea.
One of the good things, people understand tea. Its not meant to be drunk whilst running for the train, or whilst negotiating a tight corner in your Durango or hummer or whatever. Certainly not whilst walking around a shop!!
Sitting down, preferably with biscuits - fruit short cake or rich tea - not biscuits with gravy.
Put your feet up, relax.
(Ironically i drank far too much coffee today and am therefore still ranting at a quarter to one in the morning. Went to an Italian resturant, asked for coffee, they bring a giant thermos carafe and leave it with you!! Hooray for Caffine!! etc.. etc..)
shock shock shock shock shock shock shock shock shock
Actually, I would much rather live in the UK than Japan for many reasons. I only live here 'cos I love my husband and he can't move to the UK.
Women in the UK are generally not treated as second class citizen, baby making machines.
The UK is infinitely more tolerant to foreigners.
The weather in Japan is less tolerable than in the UK, colder winters and very hot and extremely humid summers.
The UK doesn't have earthquakes and typhoons.
UK everyday life is much more informal. We also instinctively use humour in most conversations, something I have to consciously check here. I got into hot water a few times when I first came here.
There are up sides to Japan
My husband.
Very little crime.
Generally much healthier lifestyle. (Diet, exercise, stress levels all better)
People are much more 'society' orientated and are very considerate of others.
No class system. Unless you're in the Imperial family, of course.
Domestic public transport is superb.
Here are some things i've noticed about the UK since being back.
- Kids still play that penny game where you throw it close to the wall. I wonder if they still play conkers (actually most are probably too busy taking ecstasy and shagging other 13 year olds)
- crown green bowling
- burger vans on dual carriageway rest stops
- the fact that using “the barbecue” is a four-times-a-year event that requires inviting family members and neighbours around
- people smoking in the hairdressers (usually the foul-mouthed 15 year old girl cutting your hair)
- fucking awful ice-cream that everyone seems to think is wonderful
- the beer garden on a Sunday afternoon
- Nigella Lawson accidentally getting chocolate all over her tits on television (I swear to God I nearly passed out as the blood drained out of most of my body)
- old men called Neville and old women called Mavis
- milk bottles that a bird has pecked a hole in the top of
- playground parks that are supposed to filled with laughing infants which have been commandeered by gangs of loutish teenagers
- people saying that the British school system/armed forces/health service/public transport system/etc is the best in the world, even though none of them actually work at all.
- familial but unabashed racism from people who call a Chinese restaurant “the chinkies” or calling any non-white/black-run shop as “the Paki’s”
- week after week of overcast greyness
- the weirdness of grocery stores being run exclusively by old ladies (as opposed to high school kids in the US)
- walking somewhere
- shirtless skinny hard-faced boy-men walking around town at 9.30 in the morning with a can of non-descript cider
- hearing an 8 year old girl tell an old lady to “go fuck yourself” because she didn’t want them garden-hopping down her street anymore
- nipples on television
- seeing lots of dogs that aren’t strays per se, but that sort of hang out around town all day
- buskers who are, frankly, blagging it – I saw a guy playing a hand-drum like an epileptic who’s accidentally sat on a dildo
- really rough looking women – I mean hard looking thin holocaust impersonators. These are related to unbelievably attractive women wearing very little who then go and ruin it by opening their mouths only to sound like a sea cow
- eggs right there on the shelf at Tesco just begging you to get salmonella
- lunch sandwiches in Marks and Spencer – phenomenal (and the odd fact that the only people who do their grocery shopping at M&S are old ladies and the middle classes)
- laughably tiny cars – some of them look like Christmas cracker novelties
- the fact that you can only buy 3 aspirin at a time for fear you may overdose
- Henmania. God how tragic. I don’t understand people who love Tim Henman but don’t like tennis.
- People come to your door to sell you cable tv because you put your number on the Do Not Call register
- Public transport - both wonderful and horrible all at once
- Jeremy Paxman, God bless him
- There seem to be only 5 people who do all the work on television - some good some bad
- The sad state of Graham Norton now only doing reality and game shows and rather poorly too
- Asia means an entirely different part of the globe now
- teenagers on mini-motorbikes everywhere
Ain't life grand?
Well they did a feature on Brainiac's 3rd season about cheating at conkers so someone must still do it.
Looking forward to picking them up at the park downtown and roping in my co-workers this autumn.
Those rough looking women are chav scum. Their male counterparts are equally odious.
Here are some things i've noticed about the UK since being back.
- Kids still play that penny game where you throw it close to the wall. I wonder if they still play conkers (actually most are probably too busy taking ecstasy and - teenagers on mini-motorbikes everywhere
Ain't life grand?
Nice one Gav!!! Hey, hows life back in the UK by the way? Is the wife there yet?? I just got back a few weeks ago!!
Life is good mate. I'm basically enjoying the simple things that I came back for. My wife isn't here yet but there are just 31 days to go. She has shipped all of our stuff - books via USPS and the rest via UPS - and I have got some of it already. Amusingly Customs searched some of the boxes and then charged me £137 for doing so. (Seems like a scam to me. ANY search results in you having to pay for it!) I'll get another 550 pounds of boxes probably next Thursday and the rest in 6-8 weeks. But yeah I'm just going about my days and getting very excited about the new Premier League season.
How's about you? Re-adjusted yet or still in shock at how different the UK is?
Lifes good back here simply because its the UK and well, I have no choice but to have to make the best of it. I mean I hadnt intended to stay as I only came for a visit but ended up staying due to being pushed into it in the worst circumstances you can imagine. So Im here for good it looks like...But yeahh its sooooooooo different, it really is..
You are so right, its the simple stuff that people enjoy here that makes life so great. People get excited over a cup of tea, over a curry, over a TV show, a radio station...etc etc.... I have noticed something else too when listening to people talking and people calling the radio station...People here dont talk about their work any where near as much or 'emphasize' what they do for a living or how worn out they are due to how many hours they are working as much in the U.S. WHenever I would would listen to the radio over in the U.S half the time the first thing people would say when they called a talk show they would say something like 'Well I'm in the U.S Army. or well I am a Parmedia etc etc...' and somehow link that to the next thing they were going to say.
People in the UK generally dont like people who show off or brag about what they have either. Over in the US however everyone seems too do it and people dont really mind.
I think British people are so much more commpassionate, tolerant and loving than Americans are ... thats my opinion....
So yes their are differences...and then dont get me started on the so called 'Christians' over their either (the Stepford wives types etc)....and how people marry and divorce like they are buying a cheese burger....
1. The supermarkets are phenomenal. The conveyer belt things for your trolley and actually having a million choices of food (whoever said British food was bland never tried making a meal from ingredients in an American supermarket).
2. Customer service people that actually help you, don't sigh, huff and act like you are the problem when you ask them a question. Plus the customer service people sound like they have an IQ over 85 (which is about the average I give the folks who do the job over here).
3. Most people are genuine and are keeping it very real.
4. Good Indian food.
5. You don't feel obligated to tip 20%.
6. Few people are on anti-depressants.
7. Most of the people who are college educated can spell and conduct and think critically as opposed to here where a degree is meaningless due to the fact there are few true standards and everyone has one.
8. One's children are not treated like babies up until they are 21.
9. You can walk to the corner shop.
10. Public transportation is generally pretty reliable and cheap.
11. It's not disgustingly humid all summer.
That's just a quick list for now (and I was back over the summer). I still wouldn't move back, however.
You forgot the dog shit. Acres and acres of dog shit everywhere.
Yes, but where has all the white dog poo gone? There used to be loads of it when I was a kid!
Debs x shock
1. The supermarkets are phenomenal. The conveyer belt things for your trolley and actually having a million choices of food (whoever said British food was bland never tried making a meal from ingredients in an American supermarket).
2. Customer service people that actually help you, don't sigh, huff and act like you are the problem when you ask them a question. Plus the customer service people sound like they have an IQ over 85 (which is about the average I give the folks who do the job over here).
3. Most people are genuine and are keeping it very real.
4. Good Indian food.
5. You don't feel obligated to tip 20%.
6. Few people are on anti-depressants.
7. Most of the people who are college educated can spell and conduct and think critically as opposed to here where a degree is meaningless due to the fact there are few true standards and everyone has one.
8. One's children are not treated like babies up until they are 21.
9. You can walk to the corner shop.
10. Public transportation is generally pretty reliable and cheap.
11. It's not disgustingly humid all summer.
That's just a quick list for now (and I was back over the summer). I still wouldn't move back, however.
Sounds where I live in Ottawa, except we have much more space and less crowded streets etc, etc.