To ask what you like about living in the U.K.?

[glabicki]

I'm pregnant, and we are moving back to the U.K. I'm nervous about it.

So, could you tell me some of the reasons you love living there to calm me down a bit?

A lot of the time, I read quite a lot of negative things, but I know the positives out way the negative!

Help!

I love Germany (especially Bavaria) just wanted to say something nice due to the Germany bashing!
After living abroad I love:
The NHS (how socialist we are in general)
The BBC
The standard of national newspapers and national radio shows
How 'cohesive' we are... this is hard to quantify but the countries I've lived in didnt have it. we come together for national events like the world cup, a royal wedding.
How beautiful our villages our, I love our hedgerows
Our public transport (it's been slated but it's much better than where I was living)
How polite we are
M and S (especially their 'to go' food)

I know north London.
Pubs, fish and chips, transport, that we drive on the left, the weather, the British spirit of trying, you can cross the road against the light - if you want to. cake, shandy - radler was just never the same, cinema, quality Sunday papers, the beach, the countryside, the language, Britsh swearing and, of course, the NHS.

Radio 4 -

I actually really dislike the country but will offer the things I missed:

1. Strictly
2. London
3. Scotland (yes the entire country - it’s amazing!)
4. Scousers
5. People offering cups of tea

I meant to add that one of the things I love most about the UK is how gentle it is. The weather is rarely extreme (though I LOATHE the wind - why did I choose to live in Scotland?!!), and it's very geologically stable. I appreciate being in a country with hardly any earthquakes.

However, I would argue that Scotland does not, in fact, have 4 seasons. There are three days of Summer, and for the rest it's cold.

Lancashire - God's own country. She practised on Yorkshire, then got it right with Lancs. Then threw in the Lake District for good measure.

Not much,but what is the alternative ?

Geologically safe, climatologically not dangerous on the whole.

It’s green and pretty, or rugged and heathery.

I love it’s ancient history.

Till recently I’d have said the sense of fair play but that’s rotting away as I type.

Footpaths in England, what a pleasure to roam the countryside.

London has got such a multicultural buzz (I’m a visitor).

I love all the various waves of immigration and what they have added, but I’m ashamed we took so much and don’t treat people respectfully.

Can I add, I love the variety of accents and dialects in the UK. You find the same in Germany, it adds another layer of interest to learning the language. And I don’t find German harsh, we don’t all talk like Hitler giving an oration, and I am sure my English would sound pretty rough to anyone hearing me yelling at inanimate objects while PMTing.

@parttimers this whole thread is people's personal opinions, why you felt the need to pick out mine over everyone else's is beyond me. Sorry I touched a nerve? The German language does sound awful though and Britain is better, even two of my German friends agree with me, they love it here.

Just London. But that's enough. Best city in the world.

The German language does sound awful though

I think it's sexy as hell.

German is brilliant, it’s endlessly inventive, and I agree, sexy as anything when it’s not a YouTube video of Hitler speaking it. The dry humour of the Germans I know and love is a gift.

I'm wasn't intending for the thread to become a Germany v. U.K. thing, as before living in Germany I lived in Italy, France and Spain. So I'm actually not comparing myself.
I suppose it's easier to be negative about a place you're living in than it is about a place you've only visited a few times, or lived in many years before.
I'm getting really excited now, and my partner was already excited (he's German but loves the U.K. and thinks it's the only place he'd want to raise a child).
Thanks for all the lovely responses.
And the German language is actually quite lovely once you get used to it I think it has an unfair reputation for being harsh when in day to day life it's no more harsh than English.

(But German humour has nothing on British humour, and Germans would always by the first to tell you that! )

Came here just to say what a good laugh this thread gave me and all the friends i shared it with. Best things in uk the foid and weather LoL, still laughing days later. I dont think i never met a nation so in love with themselves

London

OP, can I ask out of curiosity why you don't want to move to Sweden?

Re: UK, TBH I'm not feeling that upbeat about it since the Brexit shit started, but I live in London and do love it for the diversity, range of things to do, villagey atmosphere in each little part of it, the South Bank, the food, etc etc.

@stillagain - I’m pretty sure the USA have us beaten in that regard hands down.

I like that lack of extremes when it comes to weather, and that we have very few natural disasters.

The NHS is a great thing to have, though we won’t have it to this extent forever I imagine.

I like that we embrace food of all nations, and you can generally find ingredients for these in supermarkets such as Sainsburys. Going shopping in France was a nightmare for ingredients for some Mexican/Indian/Indonesian dishes I cook.

I like tea. ☕️

TV is pretty good here.

On the flip side, the trains are pretty crap, in the North West at least it rains a hell of a lot, there is an increase in crime thanks to lack of police, and schools are majorly under funded.

I am reading these comments and thinking that most of the stuff mentioned here can pretty much be found in Germany too:

• relatively safe. Germany is not a war zone either.

-the scenery. Germany is stunning too.

• weather(really???)

-tea. They sell tea in Germany too. -liberal society. So is the German.

Of course there are different things such as Germany not having BBC or the humour but that’s to be expected as they are different cultures. But all in all OP won’t experience culture shock. What will give her a huge shock though is the property prices. They are much lower in Germany. In fact Germany has things going for it that Britain doesn’t, now we are at it.

The NHS
The shops are open on Sundays

Not sure if it's the case all over Germany, but where my brother has lived, no shops are open on a Sunday.

DjMomo disagree about the culture shock. They are different cultures and re-entry shock is a thing. I definitely experienced it when returning to the U.K. from Germany a few years ago. Agree though that stuff like ‘being safe’ and ‘drinking tea’ isn't really relevant to that! It’s Germany, not the Wild West.

In all honesty I prefer Germany but did miss bonfire night, baked beans and variations in weather (e.g. cloudy, atmospheric days - not always clear skies) when I lived in Germany.

The weather
The fact that it is so green
The beaches in Cornwall in summer
The peace
The freedom
Living in a beautiful rural village but only 30 min train to Marylebone.
The NHS
The schools
The humour
The BBC
The food

It's only after spending time away from the UK that you learn to appreciate it. This thread has made me realise that it's definitely not all bad. Just adding my two pence worth in:

*Proper Tea
*The fact we are so multi cultural as a nation that you have such a diverse range of cuisines
*Orderly queuing
*The weather - cannot wait for Spring, its so beautiful
*The NHS
*Humour and sarcasm
*Our history and the sheer amount of buildings you can visit on a weekend to back this up
*The Cotswolds
*Our beaches
*London
*National Parks

Wishing you a safe and happy move OP