To think England is a bit boring?

[Annalikesblue]

I'm from England originally. I was working abroad for a long time.

I moved back recently to work, and for a family reason. I probably won't stay here forever. Maybe for two to three years max.

Do any of you think that England is a bit boring?

Every street, wherever you go,
has the exact same shops.

The Weather is bad. People are miserable. When you go to groups, people are so serious.

It just seems so dull and lifeless

I'm kind of back and forth on this.

I always thought so. So I travelled a lot and lived elsewhere. Now some of what I used to find boring I really like.

I think it really depends on what you do and how you enjoy spending your time.

I don’t agree. I think English people are very reserved and quite repressed. And we are in an economically shit place and confused about what kind of country we want to be and depressed about our standing in the world and the right royal mess we have made of pretty much everything in the past ten years. So we’re not at our best.

Bur scratch the surface and England is incredibly vibrant. We have an incredibly diverse population in our large cities. A long heritage of excellence in the arts, sciences, literature and most kinds of learning. A robust culture and long history. Great food, restaurants and pubs. A strong sense of humour. We also have some of the most beautiful countryside and coastline in the world.

England plc is in an absolutely awful place now to be sure, our sense of national self esteem is in the toilet. But I still think fundamentally there’s a lot to love about this country.

Well the High Street is but the fact that most of us live a stones through away of significantly historic buildings that most of us walk past them and give them no attention. Perhaps it's a case of needing to find out more about where you live to find it interesting rather than just what is on the surface.

Go away then.

Wish this was all I had to worry about. 🙄

Thanks!

How do you know this is all I have to worry about?

It's certainly not. However I don't tend to talk about my extremely serious problems on mumsnet.

I talk about the milder ones.

I don't think it's boring. I've lived abroad in three other countries and if anything, I think England is a little more lively than some places. It has a thriving arts, culture and music scene, loads of interesting quirky restaurants and cafes, lots to do in terms of leisure activities.

Nah, I love it here. England is the 3rd country I've lived in - didn't plan to stay but almost 2 decades later I'm still here.

I disagree the weather is bad - people here are so melodramatic about the weather!

There are of course nice parts of the UK.

But im just going to have a little moan about the bad parts.

I just find the sense of isolation tough aswell.

You know in mainland Europe, you feel so connected to a lot of other countries and you can just hop on a train anywhere.

The UK feels quite isolated.

I lived overseas for 25 years and high streets seem pretty standard regardless of country.
We have wonderful countryside, coastline, amazing historical sites and buildings, brilliant museums and galleries and I love the incredible range of food we can buy.

Well if you look at studies, a lot of other countries do have better weather than the UK.

I've travelled a fair bit too. I love the UK for being tame and relatively stable. I much prefer this to many other places seen as more exciting.

And imo, the UK is far from boring, but this depends on what you find exciting I guess. I live in an areas constantly referred to as a 'shit hole' but it has been great living here compared to North London (the only complaint I really have is the poor quality of state secondary schools here).

I thought you were talking about England. Now you're saying the UK. Which is it?

What part of the UK are you in out of interest? There don't seem to be many activities near me

I think it depends on what you think is boring. I enjoy the peaceful countryside and coast. I like the groups I go to. I would like more stable weather but hey it could be worse. If it bores you maybe you need to find what excites you and do more of that.

Sometimes. The long months with bad weather are crap. Summer is generally better, there’s loads of festivals and things going on, even in small towns, you just have to look for them. I was reading an article on the bbc yesterday which said the closure of lots of venues across the country has meant there are less things to do than 20 years ago. So yeah, it might be a bit more boring than it used to be. Ultimately it depends on what you’re into though.

England. England is in the UK so sometimes I use both terms.

But I'm specifically talking about England.

I lived abroad for an extended period in two different countries, and I've travelled extensively in others. I came back to the UK about 20 years ago.

Like any country, the UK has plus points and minus points. I don't think it's boring at all. I do think it's difficult to move back home after having lived abroad for years, though. Reverse culture shock is a thing.

I suspect you're just in that readjustment phase. It can go on for quite a long time.

Boring people get bored.

I don't know how anyone can say that England, or the UK is "boring". However, I suppose if you're just going down high streets, perhaps it is.
Improving your cultural capital will broaden your mind and stimulate all sorts of interests.

I live in a beautiful part of England. I’m looking to move to Wales or Scotland though.

I know what you mean. I think it's the typical lifestyle in England rather than England itself.

I know it's in the UK. However, you're swapping terms. I think the people in other home nations may take exception to the "boring" label.

Hmm. Yes and no.

There is plenty about England I love (the countryside, for a start) but I often wish we were more radical. We never seem to do anything particularly novel or ambitious anymore...

What's a typical lifestyle?

Well that’s undeniably true and that’s a direct result of the act of national economic self harm which was Brexit. I don’t want to derail this (genuinely) but it’s impossible to talk about England’s current standing/economic situation and sense of wellbeing without referencing this.

Even factoring in Brexit and all the people who sail in it though, I still think there’s a lot to love about England and reasons for optimism.