Foreigners in the Home Counties?

[Whirlwind79]

Hi

This is a bit of an odd question, but we're considering a move out of London. We need to be within commuting distance of London and need a fast train as start work v early, so that limits the number of places available (basically has to be the larger places as smaller villages are rarely on the fast lines). The main reason for moving is schools.

I grew up in a city and it was abroad, so I have big reservations about moving "out", which is not at all what happens in most of the rest of Europe (where you tend to stay where you were brought up). So my question is: are there any foreign mums in the commuter belt outside London who can tell me what their experience has been like? I really like the cosmopolitan feel in London and I worry that I'll lose it altogether by moving out?

I live in the home counties. Nationalities that I know of around here include: French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Romanina, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, USA, Canadian, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Thai, Russian, Ghana, Nigeria, South African various Arabic, New Zealand and Australian. There are probably others, but those are the ones I can think of and know examples of.
We have Chinese, Thai and Polish supermarkets, as well as those and other sections in Sainsbury/Tesco. There are Swedish, French, German and Spanish saturday language schools. (and may be more that I don't know about).

This is all in a predominantly white British town.

Home Counties will be fine I think.