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

You don't have to refer it to the UK.

I meant that abroad, people commonly say UK, they dont say England, Scotland, Wales

For example I worked in a large company abroad once. I was from England. One of my colleagues was from Scotland.

The other people ALWAYS said about me "there's Anna, she's from the UK"

And they would say about the Scottish coleague :"there's Grace, she's from the UK."

So I got used to saying" UK" instead of England.

I'm not sure that is just a British tendency, I have Scandinavian family and IMO they are more private and hard to get to know.

I would also say it depends where you are in the UK, one of my parents has moved to the midlands and when I visit I'm surprised at the friendliness of the neighbours and people on shops. I was born and grew up in London and I'm still in the south east and although people are friendly once you get to know them they aren't in an every day transactional way, e.g nobody calls you 'love' in a shop for instance.

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.

If you lived here 1997-2012, then left, then came back in the last couple of years, then the difference would be massive.

I can remember the optimism around the millennium. British culture was at its soft power peak. Things were happening. Things were vibrant. Despite the 2008 financial crash things still managed to hit a peak for the Olympics.

Austerity. That's what fucked things over in the UK. Austerity and the politics of division that followed it.

I disagree. I'm from France and love living here. As a PP said, it depends of what you enjoy and where you are.

I love that here my kids have lots of opportunities despite us living quite rurally, lots of groups and sports.Where I grew up, there is absolutely nothing for kids.

I love the diversity of cultures and the openness of people. In France you very much have to fit in with the majority, differences aren't embraced as much.

If my kids grow up to not fit the mould they will be a lot happier here than they would be in France.

Same thing with job opportunities. In France they look at which school you went to rather than your attitude and competence. I could never have had the career I've had here in my own country. Just very elitist in general.

The only thing lacking here is the food. Supermarkets are tiny and don't have a lot of choice. I just spend most of my time home in supermarkets!

Would you prefer too hot summers worrying about drought to our weather?

I think children with disabilities are better in the UK than for example France from what I have read.

I guess it depends on your personal situation. I don't know anyone who is depressed and miserable and having lived in lots of different countries, find the UK an amazing place to live. I love being back and have no plans to leave again.

It depends. There are several towns in England where the High Streets have similar shops, but there are also loads where there are independent boutiques etc.

Lots of pubs are independent.

There's a wealth of historical buildings including castles, churches, stately homes etc.

Within a relatively short distance you can get from coasts, to mountains, to dales, to lowland. There's staggeringly beautiful scenery in many places.

But there are also some pretty awful places.

I agree with you about 'clone towns' as they are sometimes called, and there is a great deal of division caused largely starting with the self inflicted economic wound called Brexit.

There is still a lot to like about England though, and even more I would argue in Wales and Scotland.

I moved away to spain a few years ago. I honestly cant bear it when i return to visit family .Its soooooo boring. Nothing to do as the weather seems to impact everything.

Weird thing to complain about because you are restricted in what you can do by the weather in Spain when it is boiling in summer.

@FrenchieMind Supermarkets in France (and Spain for that matter) really are fantastic!

Great post!

I really think it depends where you live in England! For example when it comes to the weather, if you live in the North West it will rain/be dreary weather far more often than if you live in the South East.

England is a very beautiful country (as are Scotland, Wales and N.I) with stunning beaches, lots of greenery, limited wildlife. There are lots of historical buildings with interesting architecture. What types of things do you enjoy doing that aren't possible in England?

You’re comparing it to where you’ve lived aboard - where have you lived?

My parents lived in the states for around a decade and worked themselves into the ground. Now they’re back and are much happier. Grass isn’t always greener.

If you prefer wherever you’ve lived before, don’t let us hold you back!

To those saying that Italy and France has better food... yes the food is good in those countries, but it's very samey. In the UK there is so much choice! It might not be traditional British food ( though nothing beats a good roast imo), but there's variety.
In France, unless one is prepared to pay €€€ and be in a "fine dining " atmosphere, it's all steak frites /steak hâché frites.
There's also so much going on in Britain... culture/music/architecture/the countryside.
The only downside to Britain is the weather.

Funny, we lived in Spain for 3 years and although we mainly loved it, we found the summer heat really restrictive, especially with the children. Now we’re back in the U.K. we can do so many things in the summer holidays that we couldn’t do in Spain.

Puts me in mind of the Mikado - "all centuries but this, and every country but his own."

Ireland is the same. Being an island, like Britain, we are geographically cut off from (continental) Europe, but also somewhat culturally. How many of us on these islands would say "we are European"? Not many I'd say. We are European of course, but it's not something that we would put down as our identity. Europe (continental) feels connected. So many are multilingual, we very much are not.

Even in football, our teams (my own being Liverpool) who qualify for UEFA competitions, "play in Europe", as though it's some separate entity.

In Europe:
Drive on the left? Only us.
Use miles, yards, feet, inches? Only us.
Use common law? Only us.

Not being as connected though doesn't make here boring. It's probably the opposite as who wants the same?

The UK is a cultural superpower, being a global leader in literature, music, theatre, sport (oldest golf tournament in the world (the Open), oldest tennis tournament in the world (Wimbledon), oldest football club in the world, the most famous sports stadium in the world (Wembley)), television (BBC the world's oldest national broadcaster), comedy (British/Irish comedy cannot be surpassed), film (first moving picture filmed in Leeds; Roundhay Garden scene), the birthplace of Halloween, of modern Christmas customs (Dickens), etc etc.

There is also history wherever you walk (in London the blue plaques on buildings commemorating famous people and events). Over 1000 years of history, from castles in the 11th century to the world's first iron bridge in the late 18th century (an iconic symbol of the Industrial Revolution).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Bridge

I don't know where to start, OP.

I love England - its history, culture, countryside, literature, landscape, music.

I love its little country towns, its cathedrals, low hills, hedgerows, streams, old green lanes, cottages, churches. Also love the other countries in the UK, of course, but we're talking about England here.

I also love France with its crumbly medieval towns and so many more places (mostly in Europe, I admit) with interesting history and architecture.

What are you after? The Grand Canyon? Great Wall of China? The majestic Himalayas? Swaying palm trees and white sand? I admit it's no good for those!😃

Having spent a month in Asia this summer, I disagree! It was sooo hot and humid ther3 that I just couldn't exert myself. We had to be driven everywhere because of the heat. I thought, "How do people here stay fit?" It's so unpleasant even to walk for ten minutes.
We landed back in the UK and it was 18 degrees and cloudy. The kind of weather people complain about, but I loved it! For the first few days backs I walked for miles just because I could. It was so refreshing. I didn't feel restricted by the weather at all.

I was at Disney once (we lived near London) and they wondered if we knew this other family from Manchester. People on the whole don't get our different nations, but here it is important to name the nation.

In fact the country is so homogeneous that it's ridiculous to say England is boring, do you mean London or Clovelly or Leeds or Chester or Ashby de la Zouch or...
Lots of High Streets are clones. Others are quirky and full of independent shops, for example compare the main shopping drag of Southampton to areas like Shirley.

You went to one craft group and it was unfriendly - then try another one.

I think your problem is a) you didn't really want to come back
B) you weren't prepared for the stages of relocating thefinancialdiet.com/5-emotional-stages-moving-new-city/#:~:text=The%20Psychology%20Of%20Moving%3A%205%20Emotional%20Stages%20Of,4.%20Apprehensive%20enthusiasm%20...%205%205.%20Acceptance%20

I don't recognise the England/UK you're describing OP. We live on the edge of a small town and there's so much going on. Something every day, plus lots of monthly/annual events. Large cities are a drive or train away, with all the culture they offer.

As for the weather, it's not always better elsewhere. Hot summers are getting hotter and torrential rain events more frequent (speaking from experience of living in mainland Europe).

You're not unreasonable to think it's boring.

Personally, I bloody love it here. And I'm not unreasonable either 😍

The world don't move to the beat of just one drum .....