what's the best thing about living in the UK ?

What a great thread!
I want to come home now too
And my parents still get milk delivered in glasss bottles by a milklady(!)

Am going to show this to DP later to see if it makes him want to come to Bighty!

ponymum-lovely post

I think if you have lived somewhere else you can really appreciate what GB has to make it special.

The UK is a great place to live! DH and I are from NZ but have now settled in the UK, but the response we get from most Brits is WHAT???!!!

Well here's my list:
I think the weather is "just right".
It rains less than NZ, and I don't get so sunburnt in the summer.
I love the seasons, especially autumn in the countryside.
The fresh produce and local meat is fantastic.
Sausages from our local butcher.
The RSC and the other great theatre companies.
Marks and Spencer.
Footpaths and bridleways covering the most beautiful countryside.
Fast train to Paris for the weekend.
Walking to the Christmas service at the local village church, complete with bicycling vicar and hilariously bad musical accompaniment from local residents.
Glorious country pubs, especially when taking lunch en route a rainy hike in the country.
The buzz of London.
The quiet beauty of Scotland.

Last week we were granted permanent residency, and our baby girl dual nationality. We feel so proud and happy to truly call the UK home.

Suffolk is getting a good rap here - yay for windy beaches, fish & chips, Adnams and Aspalls, oh and festivals - Latitude's the best IMHO. Our milkman delivers milk in bottles, but there's no longer cream on the top - what's that process it now has to go through that distributes it evenly throughout the pint?

daysoftheweek:
some of the hospitals...could give any third world country a run for it's (sic) money and access...is dependent on money.

Have you ever BEEN in a third world hospital???

Well...I'm American (I confess I've never even BEEN to the UK (blush)) but some English things I love are the humor (more witty than ours for the most part), most things on the BBC, and you've got such a rich literary tradition. More than anything, I guess it just depends on what you picture when you think of "home". A few questions: We don't have real cheddar in the US? Really? Now I'm sad, because if there's one thing I love, it's cheese! Also, I'm genuine and friendly, even though I an American- I promise!

I miss Blighty so much.

Milkman deliver milk in bottles in Wales too. I visited my brothers last year and they all had milkmen come to the house. And in Wales, you know its straight from the cow.

I stand corrected hazeyjane, though i am v disappointed that cheery whistle is no longer part of the job description (probably gone the same way as church bells, which were deemed 'too noisy' by incomers in my mum's village and muffled.

nkf-fish and chips on the beach-fab !!!

We have had a milkman in the last 3 areas we've lived in, and the milk came in bottles

not sure if he had a cheery whistle as he delivered the milk though

The NHS
Snow days.
London
Edinburgh
Village pubs
Dartmoor and Exmoor
Fish and chips on windy beaches
Spring and autumn

Your answer to this thread absolutely depends where you are comparing it to (eg: comment above re: good recycling and eco-stuff, refuted by Ernest who lives in Switzerland, Germany).

So my list, having lived abroad in Turkey and in the States is:

Good re-cycling facilities and eco-awareness

Bacon
Sausages
Biscuits
Chocolate
The Guardian (though it's good to get it online anywhere now)
Supermarkets in general
Marks and Spencers

Decent holidays and employment/maternity rights - compared to US (not Sweden for eg!). SO important.

The NHS

Spring and Autumn...but not winter.

Agree midnight express it's clear most of this lot havn't lived in UK since early '80s

I live here

LOL at 'the mainland' JPS. I hope you're not suggesting that Britain is part of Europe?

I'm afraid some of you expats might be a bit disappointed if you come home. I last saw a milkman circa 1985. Do they still exist? And if they do, they almost certainly deliver milk in plastic bottles these days (health & safety).

I'll add lollipop ladies/men to my earlier list though.

I'm an American living over here - I long for my home in the States, my friends and family and after our summer visits my husband knows it will take a good month for me to adjust to being back here. And when I'm there I think of all the things I love about England and miss - it is a catch 22. So as someone not from here I'm thankful for ....brown sauce! Branson pickle! the dry humour! EastEnders! Handsome Rugby fellas on the telly! school uniforms instead of the hype of the MUST have item! knowing if my kids got very very sick they would get care immediately! the proximity to the mainland thus easy exploration with my kids (France/Spain/Italy/etc).
Hope that helps coming from someone who isn't English.

I came back from living abroad 8 months ago and I have no regrets.

My dcs are in a good school surrounded by friends and family.

Sainsburys is just up the road

Wide open spaces are all around and I live in London!

Mildish weather

the NHS (its the best)

and best of all the British sense of humor, no one else gets it!

LOL Shitemum - I have the opposite I think, I hate it when the bank's cleaner reminds me I'm late for a dental appointment! (yes it happened!) It's just a little too much for me, I haven't quite chosen the right place to live with the perfect level of anonymity vs. friendliness!

it is quite multicultural

Great cities,great architecture...lots going on

stunning countyside...it still amazes me how beautiful this country is.

sense of humour...so dry

The seasons...spring particularly

cadbury's buttons and marmite

Treacle sponge and custard.
The feeling on a bank holiday (or unexpected snow day as last week) when everyone is cheerful.
Ironic sense of humour.
The Peak District
Sense of history (and evidence of it in archtitecture, tradtions etc)
The bongs on the news at 10

Fuck me, I sound like I'm 112. I'm not.

Vast Sunday newspapers
Georgian architecture
The RSPB
The smell of wet leaf mulch in November

I live near the Equator and I miss decent newspapers, manners, real log fires, proper milk, courtesy to other drivers, drivers who let the emergency services pass them, cows, sheep, rolling hills, National Trust and National Parks. While I like the warmth and light here I miss the fresh cool air of England and the changing seasons. And of course Bonfire Night- nobody has heard of it here.