To think England isn't such a great place to live

[Cloudminnow]

Not just the weather, but so much more ...

parking fees everywhere and having to have change at hand (or very expensive pay as you leave - £8.80 to park for an afternoon shopping today!!)

hopeless and expensive public transport system

traffic jams all over the place

terrible customer service

obsession with celebrity culture and all it stands for

union flag and all it stands for

embarrassing monarchy (even having to have one at all)

desperate government

Olympics sponsored by Coke

Education system overly concerned with literacy, numeracy and data at the expense of a love of learning and creativity...

Can anyone sell England to me?!

Have to agree with kim147 on the first page. Come to Yorkshire! I'm an immigrant from the US and a pack of wild horses couldn't drag me back. I love it here. Sure, there are problems but it's much better up here than in the US!

Well you could try the Sudan, or Mexico were they are beheading people for not handing over thier wages, or you could try China were you will be forced to abort any pregnancies, if you already have one child.

Take yer pick chuckie.

The grass isn't always greener

Hm, yes, you could go and live in an African country. In many of them you wouldn't have a car, so no worries about parking fees and traffic jams - not enough shops to spend an afternoon shopping either though.

Public transport is worse though and in terms of education you would be happy to be able to send your DC to school/higher education.

On the whole people are happier there though and don't moan so much!!!

You Choose!

V refreshing seeing people being positive about the UK. One of the things I like about us is how self-deprecating and non-flag-waving we usually are, but given that, I do think this makes a nice change!

"There aren't traffic jams everywhere."

Try Cairo for size of the traffic jams... OMG! Take at least 3 - 4 hours to get to the airport.... (where my parents live, 10-15 mins, just a bit nearer to the airport than Cairo or Heathrow).....

Miss so many things about UK! The countryside and hills and valleys mainly...

But not these, where I live - I can bike everywhere, coffeeshops to get ma smoke, water everywhere and boats to get on to, good social services (more or less), within a few hours from another Euro country (Cologne, Bruges, Paris) and the best of all, a great airport 15 mins down the road serving the whole world!!.....

True, I do love the cycle lanes and the bakeries in Germany.
I did love living in Sydney, in Spain and a few other places but my home is here now and I love bringing up DC in Norfolk.

to each his own, if you don't like it, you don't like it. I lived in Germany for a long time and missed quite a lot of things from the UK (smiles for instance), when we left Germany I missed nothing at all about the place. Other people like it. That mystifies me but seems logical since we are all different. I like the Czech Republic, it is great here but some things I like about the UK, I don't have here. Maybe if we leave here and go home, I'll miss things about Cz. Probably.

If there is somewhere else you can realistically go which appeals to you more, look into it. Different part of the country? Different country? Personally I think it is ok to have a gripe on here if things are getting you down. It is also not as easy as "well if you don't like it leave" unfortunately, we tend to be tied down because of jobs, partners, dc's schools and friends. When you are 21, single with no dc the world is your oyster, or it feels like it but 15 years on say with dc, mortgage and so on , it all looks different.

I could live in loads of places I think. Main thing for me is that I like the people and I am not living in or surrounded by poverty which leaves a whole lot of places open.

this thread is doing a great job of selling Yorkshire

As others have said, YABU. there are loads of advantages to living here, a democratic society who takes care of people. You go into any A+E with a serious injury and all they care about is your wellbeing, not what healthcover you've got.

As for £8.80 for an afeternoons parking, more fool you for paying that! No one forced you (presumably).

"Hm, yes, you could go and live in an African country. In many of them you wouldn't have a car, so no worries about parking fees and traffic jams - not enough shops to spend an afternoon shopping either though."

Never lived in Africa then? All the expats have really fancy cars - 4 wheel drives - and you can get anything you want in the supermarkets.

Traffic jams are hell on earth in the capital cities.

NGOs and UN all over Africa. So are their employees.

Africa is NOT BACKWARD, YOU KNOW!!!

don't move to Yorkshire, if this thread keeps going it'll soon be overcrowded with the influx of MN types!

I love the UK - even the archaic transport system I am prepared to put up with for a country that is so rich in culture and exciting on the one hand and on the other has beautiful countryside and rolling hills.

I would rather live here than any other place in the world - even though I have only ever left to go on holidays. I think British people underestimate Britain and themselves.

traffic jams are going to be a daily occurrence all over Yorkshire in no time.

Looks like we are moving from here to Canada which is fine by me but I would also be really happy to move to the UK. Dd would be over the moon.

Now I know if we do, it will have to be to Yorkshire

Think cloudminnow is already driving up

Yes! I was thinking of Kenya where the majority of people don't live in the capital cities. I wasn't thinking of expats either. I was thinking of VSO volunteers who usually work in smaller towns or villiges where you see how most people really live! They have a lot less than we have but they seem to be a lot happier. I didn't see too many fancy cars to be quite honest, neither did I find the traffic in Nairobi too bad - there is a lot of poverty though!

Crisps. In loads of different flavours. Nowhere else I have been in the world has this choice or diversity. And believe me, I've looked.

Crisps are important.

• The countryside - the greenness is unsurpassed imo
• Manners and politeness - manifested in the institution that is the great British queue
• Feedom and tolerance (in general)
• The sense of humour - irony and sarcasm in particular
• The seasons - I love the different weather we can have here in just one day although I must admit a bit more summer would be welcome
• BBC Radio - I couldn't live without it
• The language and the accents
• Free education (to a point!) and healthcare
• Music - try listening to the radio in any other European country and realise the shite Euro Pap -pop they listen to there
• The history, tradition, culture

I could go on. I can't think of anywhere else I'd like to live full-time although I love to travel!

...and Yorkshire house prices are creeping up with every post..
soon it'll be more expensive then Surrey.. and with more Boden!

the demise of Yorkshire you reckon? The Yorkshire that was, we all have nice reminiscent TV to remember it by

I must remember to visit Yorkshire once we move back to UK seems to a very popular place
From the list of the op's complaints I can tell she hasn't actually lived in a foreign country. If you do, it really makes you appreciate the UK and all it's faults a lot more. I can't wait to move back.

Forget the folks from the Yorkshire Tourist Board There's loads of gorgeous places all over Britain

And don't forget the crisps

Yeah yorkshire is fucked now! if you're there take pictures to remember it by before the jams of 4x4s block your view!