Remind me what you hate about the UK

[AllMyFriendsAreWasted]

4 months in to a new life overseas but having a major wobble this week and I'm seeing uk through very rose-colored-glasses. Give me a reality check and remind me what I'm not missing....

[Moosa]

Weather, expense, unfriendly people, poor diet, binge drinking, traffic jams.

[Moosa]

Umm, obviously depends where you are though... Where are you?

[ClaudiaApfelstrudel]

the weather, the weather, the weather!

[Lorelei76]

this depends where you are
a lot of the problems we have here are worldwide...

weather and fecking tiny homes is the most obvious thing I can think of.

[Lorelei76]

Moosa "unfriendly people"

I can't say I've lived abroad but my experience is that England is v friendly.

[tigerdog]

How dirty it is....I couldn't believe the filth on returning from a very pristine Sydney!

[LoremIpsum]

Cracked school admissions system. Starting and finishing work in the dark. February.

[spanky2]

A slight majority voted out of the eu.
Racists thinking it's okay to be racist now uk has voted out.
Humid, cloudy weather.
Part of society expecting benefits, and work shy.

Although I am proud that I live in a country that has the nhs and benefits for people who are in genuine need.

[SolomanDaisy]

Things that make me worry about returning to the UK with kids: the health service being underfunded, I like being able to get a same day GP appointment; effective lack of school choice in many areas, with very limited choice of educational approach in the state sector; ridiculous university fees; ridiculous house prices, with people buying access to state schools by buying more expensive houses; first past the post electoral system giving the Conservatives a good chance of permanent government; Brexit; increasing hate crime; kids not playing on the street as much as here; dangerous traffic and unsafe cycling; not enough parks and playgrounds.

I like the British weather, people, food, etc. and want to go back, but objectively there are better places to raise children.

[AllMyFriendsAreWasted]

I'm in Australia, funnily enough it was the early dark evening that set me off - I long for light summer evenings.... But keep them coming this is helping.

I just remembered how angry and 'close to the edge' some people are in my UK suburb. Also the time I couldn't get a GP appointment...

[BertieBotts]

Where are you? Maybe you are experiencing a bit of ?

Things I don't miss -

Extremely strained NHS (Love the concept but the reality, and with that government? It's toast.)
Weirdly overprotective attitude towards children and fear of children having much freedom
It's bloody freezing and damp for most of the year
Expensive to live - rent, bills and food
Marketing telephone calls which you can't seem to block even with TPS
Crappy rental system where landlord can sell out from under you at any time and it being difficult to find another place, even if you're working
Low job security and high unemployment
Needing tax credits to top up lower wages just to live, trapping people in crappy benefits system
Depressing town centres which just seem to get worse the longer you're away :( (This one didn't really hit me until I'd been gone for a couple of years)
Uni fees potentially pricing DC out of uni in the future
Crappy education policies, teachers leaving in droves
Childcare hugely expensive and employers not at all sympathetic to parents
Expensive public transport which often doesn't go where you want it to
UK likely to soon leave EU which means losing a load of protections I don't expect them to keep under sufferance of "austerity"
They are building a fucking Trump wall in France (yay)

There are a lot of things I love about the UK too but these are things I find difficult about it.

[lamii]

I'm in Sweden and I miss the UK...I'm neither Swedish nor British. What I don't miss: dirt, overcrowd tubes, Tesco. Although everytime I see a picture of London, my heart melts! Weather isn't so bad compared to Sweden.

[BertieBotts]

Okay, so if you're in Aus the expense of living and the fear of immigrants might not be much consolation

Hey at least you're going into Summer there now. I think you will probably need to brace yourself for more homesickness with the weirdness of summer Christmas, though. But I expect the first time will be the oddest and it will get easier.

And they have decent tea in Aus I hear. We have to import ours. The stuff they sell here is all wrong.

[BertieBotts]

God I do miss Tesco. Every time we go home I just go in there and marvel at the sandwich aisle. DH thinks I'm insane.

[Elenio]

Second it being dirty. Admittedly it depends on the area but some parts of this country are shockingly filthy.

Any city and possibly even town centre on a Friday and Saturday night! Police, ambulance and other services all trying to help or keep under control the vast hordes of drunks that seem to loose all self control or respect on a weekly basis.

[user1473087081]

We moved to Singapore from the UK 3 months ago. Whenever I see a picture or think about the UK I can't help thinking it looks so quaint & idyllic! It's so hot here & I dream of being in the UK again so I can wear a jumper or coat! When I'm having a homesick moment I think about being back & know after a few days of cold weather I'd much prefer to be in the warmth here. Also it feels much safer here & there seems no such thing as unruly teenagers in parks / streets late at night.

[Elenio]

Oh if it's Aus then the town centres are pretty similar on a weekend

[specialsubject]

Most of the listed issues go with overcrowded cities. Plenty of the uk is not that.

Drinkable tap water, seasons, flowers, climate that doesnt make life impossible, culture, history, tv with no ads (even if theres a lot of stupid cake and sparkles), nhs, dog shit on pavements not seen as normal, queue not scrum...

Sorry. Wrong tack. Things i dont like - four month tatmas, dark evenings ( thanks, rees-mogg), being drunk seen as cute not disgusting, red top newspapers, rocketing population but no one willing to pay more tax...

Nothing we couldnt solve if we wanted.

[Lorelei76]

ooh Oz...one of the things I liked is earlier dark in summer. I have raging insomnia and light evenings till 9pm doesn't help.

It is dull grey here in London if that cheers you up.

[Alligatorpie]

The weather, and the cost of everything.

[user1470043860]

A political class that are out of touch with the working class.

[Caipora]

I just like it better here, for many personal reasons. I won't list because I think Brits get very upset about those kind of things.

It takes a good 6 months to adjust to a new place, even if you move around in the UK. If you have a language barrier it can be up to a year.

I'm going to the UK in Feburary. I haven't been back for 3 years but we moved permantly and I was advised not to go back until you call home the place you live.

I'm really looking forward to enjoying the UK as a tourist, but I know I will crave my home and be glad to leave. When I first moved here, I wanted to go back and had many wobbles.

Give yourself time

[Farandole]

The price of an Oyster card
Expensive black cabs
Bad fast food / pub grub - it could be so much better
Domestic help a lot more expensive
Long commute to work
Grey weather
In the summer, sunrise at 4am
Foxes screaming in the garden / eating my bins
Slugs invasion in the garden
Needing a winter coat in June

[Bobochic]

School fees
Supermarkets
Slovenly people
Entitled people

[PitchFork]

litter
gobby people
swearing
out of control dogs
litter
dirty uneven pavements
train delays/strikes/'wrong kind of rain'
school uniforms