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

daysoftheweek. UK isn't ripoffshire compared with Ireland. You have to pay ?60 for something that costs £40.

Kitbit, I used to live in Spain and I agree with you. Your deepest distress could be met with a shrug.

They do know how to enjoy themselves, and in many ways I think they have their priorities right, but that talk to the hand stuff would wear you down after a decade! If you weren't brought up with it. It obviously slides off their backs.

I was only there a year. Even a 17 yr old old being paid 5.40 an hour to pretend to give a shit about your electricity bill being wrong seems like heaven.

things get done in Britain, they don't just shrug, raise their hands and hope the problem/ you will go away

gooseberries

blackberries

rhubarb

nice apples that aren't Granny Smith

cheddar that isn't rubbery

decent teabags

humour

proper motorways where you don't have to pay tolls every twenty minutes

proper green countryside (as opposed to dried out yellow)

puddings

availability of English books in bookshops (it takes ages to arrive when you order on Amazon)

Pre dc, we moved back to the UK after only 2 years living in the US. It took us about 6 months to get over how old-fashioned & staid this country is (and small), but after that it was good to be back somewhere with such depth of history & culture, familiar humour, nhs etc etc.

Now we have kids, would not swap the school system & family network for another country.

Lovely post, newgirl, agree with everything you say.

kitbit - is your bank sabadell atlantico by any chance?!

Oh yes, and shops and Banks beeing open all day in uk. Here you have to do everything by 1.30 pm

You can call me saddo if you like but i really miss the british weather.

I am in Cyprus and we had a very long and humid summer and very little rain. Missed the rain and the smell after it , in london.

Also i echo the other posters about the wide choice in supermarkets. And the charity shops.

Been close to Europe (obviously wouldn't work if you're moving back from Paris, but if from Oz the a tick).

I like living in a small country - I can go to London for the day or the Lakes or Scotland/Wales for the weekend.

Music festivals.

Interesting thread. We lived in Germany for 5 years and then moved to Holland last May. We're loving Holland and don't really want to leave, but DH got made redundant 2 weeks ago.

My gut feeling is for us to find a job ANYWHERE other than the UK, but this thread has given me food for thought...

Bubbaluv, we're in Spain! And yes, it is. In some ways.

Customer service, let me give you an example!
The bank cocked up a payment, they paid it twice effectively clearing out my account and not leaving enough to pay the mortgage and end of month bills. It was entirely their fault, an administrative error in a payment being made to a third party.

When I noticed via online banking I rang them. They said in a nutshell:
They already knew, they just hadn't got round to correcting it or ringing me to let me know
They were very busy, was it urgent that I needed the funds back now?
It happened because her colleague was off on holiday thereby doubling her workload and it wasn't her fault that she'd been too busy to double check everything
...and then in the same conversation she said "did you know you don't have enough funds to cover the payments being taken today? We'll have to transfer some from your deposit account so you'll lose the interest. I need it in writing, please come today otherwise there will be financial penalties."

I kid you not and this kind of "I cocked up but it's not my fault and it's your problem [shrug]" attitude is everywhere, it's not just one bad bank employee. I know it is said that having a bad attitude yourself attracts bad attitude in others, but I am easy going to the point of horizontal and a very easy customer so I really don't think it's me! Noone wants to help in shops or go over and above the call of duty whereas in London last weekend the woman in Paperchase fell over herself to be lovely. Ditto Waterstones, WHS, Boots, sandwich shop, bar, shoe shop and tube ticket bloke.

I have to say I am astonished at the number of times customer service has been mentioned - where the hell are you people living??

I have moved back to my country after 10 years in London and I miss:

The multicultural food
Fashion
Sense of humour
Customer service
Sunday paper
Pub Lunches
M&S raspberry triffles
M&S underwear

I still watch only UK TV so I don't miss it and I listen mostly to english music.

food - honest! farmers markets, regional produce, the apples, strawberries, gooseberries are the best in the world

the architecture - market towns, funky cities, beach huts

beaches - wild scotland, dorset, witterings, suffolk coast to name just a few

fantastic walking - lake district, coastal paths

best city in the world - london - and many others are fab too

fab primary schools with traditions and very high standards, yet funky and creative too

fab theatre

best music in the world

education - the universities are world-known

fashion is best in the world - accessible to all

gardens

blue sky days, bluebells, snowdrops

baking - great cakes not too fancy (!)

family if you are lucky

free healthcare which can be fantastic - has never let us down

your neighbours can be from anywhere in the world

Lovely thread. Am probably repeating but:

500 year old pubs with roaring fires
Pints of Aspalls and/or Adnams
Cheddar and Stilton
Sunday roast with yorkshire puddings
Sense of humour
Rain
Day off work every time it snows!

Waitrose
Private schools
Creativity
The NHS
The BBC
Humour and general insight into human nature

Although I guess the answer to this question really depends on where you live and where your heart is......

Ernest I don't know where you found customer service.
I last saw that in 2000 and infact the current moan at work is how it takes so many times to do anything.
Seriously I can't do anything without being told to phone back, phone another number, phone the call centre, phone anyone but the person answering the phone

Good:
Friends and family
History and culture
Living in the countryside

Not so Good:
Where do I start?!!!

However

cheese
lovely local food
those pubs they use in ads and used to have in your home county (but are now filled with juke boxes and happy hours)
libraries
counties
seasons
seasons
seasons
seasons
(there are 4 here after all unlike so many places )
the NHS
school nativity plays and Christmas carol concerts
mince pies
easter eggs
chocolate
bacon sandwiches
fresh cut grass in parks
long light nights
public transport/night buses
pimms in your garden
schools closing in a bit of snow

I'll think of some more....

another thing to add to the pot
my parents moved back to their country after living abroad for the best part of thirty years. and are finding it quite difficult to enjoy life there as much as tehy thought they would.

OK guys shall I p&%s on your parade?

What about the rise of the chav?

Yes the Beeb was once good but now it's all reality TV/big brother/strictly come dancing/celebrity chefs (I could go on but I don't really watch it!)

When was the last time you put money in a meter over here or even tried to find a car park?

have you researched house prices?

Yes it's cheap in Euros now but earn pounds and you'll soon realise it deserves the moniker 'Rip off Britain'

The whole place is busting at the seams and no one has queued for a bus in my neck of the woods for at least 10 years.

Our children are amongst the unhappiest in the world, or maybe we win that one?

They are also the most assessed and achieve the least at maths compared to similar countries (although that is dragged up from the back of my mind so might be out of date)

Some of the educations system is good, as are some of the hospitals and some of the universities some of it could give any third world country a run for it's money and access to some of it is dependent on money

By all accounts emmigration is at an all time high

If you're here you want to live in France!

No genuine, friendly people in the US?!?
Bit harsh!

Well, this is the other side of the coin here, but I think you will be able to relate.

I lived in the UK for a long time, and then returned to my home country.

Despite being a native, I found myself feeling as foreign here as I had done to start with in England. My accent had become very English and people were genuinely confused as to whether i was Irish or English. If I heard an English accent I would almost chase after it! So clearly there was a part of me that felt England was home, was normal definitely.

I had fistfuls of coins becuase the euro had been brought in since I'd left. Little things were different, like, if you asked for a white coffee you got a latte not a white coffee, and until you grasp all these tiny little things you feel a bit irritated all the time! But within a year, I've settled here, and I'm glad I'm back, even though I can't imagine never having left either.

GL

Whoops, living!