Anyone NOT miss Britain?

[anonymosity]

I sometimes think about sound of crows hovvering and then landing in a field in suffolk on a misty morning, or the sound of church bells, or the smell and heat of a really good sushi place in Soho on a winter's day, but otherwise I just don't feel anything at all about the UK other than the fact that loved ones are still there. Anyone else ambivalent?

I'd say that my thoughts were pretty similar. I think I might miss London (where I've lived most of my life) more if I lived in a city, but where I live is just so different that I don't tend to think about England very much. I'm visiting family for the first time next summer (it will be three years since we left) and it will be interesting how I feel abut it then (and when we come back home).

I miss the supermarkets. And John Lewis. That's about it but then where I am in Bahrain, the UK expats have a very British lifestyle anyway.

Sorry - miss Britain terribly - rolling hills of Surrey, jaffa cakes, decent cup of tea etc. I think the things I dislike about England are really only in London - culture of violence, rude teenagers, crowded public transport etc. But perhaps I have my rose coloured specs on?

I really miss M and S. And Boots and John Lewis. And a few other nostalgic things like snow and the beauty of places like Edinburgh and the countryside.

Don't miss the attitude, crowds, commuting.

Here is good for now.

I don't miss it at all.

I like it when I am there. I like it more when I am here though (Australia).

I miss it - especially the snow (romantic rose-tinted glasses problems) - gutted that the two winters I've been in Australia have had some of the best snow in years and I've missed it! I miss some of the shops, I miss the cheapness of books, I miss family and friends. I miss knowing where to get anything! I miss being able to walk more places and cycle everywhere more safely.

Am also in Australia - in a provincial town rather like my old hometown in the UK (in NW Surrey), amazingly, so the differences do show up. We can cycle a bit here, but it's so hilly and there are far fewer cyclists so the cars are less aware. We can walk to the shops from where we live but have to drive to most play facilities. I am learning where to find things - but sometimes I still get frustrated that I have to go two or three places to try and find something that I would know exactly where to locate in England.

But there are good things here too so I don't know that I'd be rushing back to the UK any time soon - apart from anything else, we couldn't have the size of house/land we have here in the UK, couldn't afford it. Last time I was in England (August) I found I missed Australia - but still miss England when I'm here. Am very 50:50 about it all.

I miss my career as a Modern Languages teacher which I don't think I can have here (Oregon) due to budget cuts etc. Fortunately I am having another baby so it's not as issue at the moment, but might become more so in a few years' time. I also miss Boots, M&S, John Lewis etc and friends and family. I like a country pub after a good walk and how green the countryside is. I miss the theatre, but that may be a function of having noone to really babysit. I like it here too, just don't know if it is a forever thing.

about 45 kms south of perth australia.
I don't miss the UK that much esp on days like today when it's 31degrees in the shade in my back garden, the sun is shining and I'm taking my ds2 to the local outdoor swimming pool, that will cost me less than an adult ticket to go swimming in the UK!
snow? there isn't much worth talking about from the part of UK I left so don't miss it!

I live in Canada, so plenty of snow here :) Although there has been more snow in London in the last few years, which is mildly irritating.

I do miss my previous career (had to take a fairly large step down when we emigrated) but as the whole layer of the NHS for which I worked is being obliterated I would probably be in a very sticky situation right now.

I miss
lack of career progression opportunity
good friends (people are great but takes a long time to make good friends)
public transport
good internet shopping
supermarket delivery
going to London for the day
good local library
grammar school education for my kids
access to museums
year round swimming pools
castles

Wow, that was quite cathartic! But I am still very glad to be here.

I miss the M25 and the feeling that you were at the centre of things. I miss the clothes shops and the choice of shops and particularly Ikea.
I also miss the BBC and the quality tv programmes - the ones here are generally crap. Thats about it though and there is now way I would move back. I am in NZ.

Yes lavenderbongo I miss the BBC, especially the radio. I have yet to find a decent station, although one morning I was stunned to hear a recording of the present getting the result of her IVF treatment (at least I assume it was a recording). Also in NZ - I know what you mean about being at the centre of things. Still plenty of good stuff about NZ so I am still smiling.

Horopu - you can listen to all the BBC radio stations live or download podcasts here. It has the World Service listed as the main station but there are 11 other stations to listen to underneath. I have been here 9 years and still listen to the Archers (yes, I know, a bit sad really!).

I download lots of programmes as podcasts so I can listen to them when the dc are asleep. Occasionally tune in to the Today programme in the evening too!

Oh yes, I miss good TV. We really don't watch it at all here (well the kids watch stuff, but that's all American rubbish which they would probably have watched in the UK too), and Canada is a backwater too. Very politically apathetic, although I wonder whether some of that is because it is such a backwater. Before we lived here we lived in New York and London which were obviously much more at the centre of things. Now I tend just to read the local paper, full of nice pictures of children doing outdoorsie things and the minor crime stories. Previously I was very politically interested, but here it just seems so irrelevant.

I'm from Canada and have moved back and miss London terribly. I hate that I can't go have a pint in a pub with my little one. I hate that I have to pay way too much money to go to publicly funded organizations, like museums and art gallery's. I despise that I live in a city (Victoria) that actually considers and touts itself more quintessentially English than any town in England and its history is barely 150 years old. I hate that getting 'dressed up' here means putting on your fancy fleece and wearing white socks with your birkenstocks. I hate how much money it costs to get off the damn island to go to Vancouver. Man, I could go on. I do have a great group of Mama friends and I love the environment here, the scenery and such but you can only go for walks in park so many times before you just want to stick pins in your eyes... oh ya, its against the law to drink in provincial parks or public spaces, so no beer on picnics; just licensed venues and your backyard.

And the news... its not fucking front line news that the family cat warned you about your idiocy that you put your fireplace ashes in a plastic bag outside your door and it combusted! And neither is the 4 ducks that crossed the road and held up traffic for 5 minutes.

I miss my family definitely. I also miss the architecture and ringing church bells.

I don't miss working in the hellhole that is the NHS, the m4 commute, the rudeness of strangers, the crime, the graffitti, the teenagers hanging around Tesco bored stiff or high or both, the drugs paraphernalia I found in public toilets (Bath), the appalling school system, the crowds, the commercialism... I could go on.

Here (NZ) we have a fabulous lifestyle with fresh air, beaches, mountains, national parks on the doorstep - my boys are getting the opportunities I would never have been able to give them back in the UK.

We'll go back for a visit, I may feel differently back in Blighty (suspect not!) but I couldn't see myself moving back. Shops here are just as good :)

I quite like the short history thing, but I live in an Interior town which has no pretensions. I can quite see that it might grate a bit! I've visited Victoria and thought is was a nice town - reminded me of an English seaside town. The public drinking thing is a bit nuts (but don't imagine that all those insultated coffee cups actually have coffee in them ) BC is a bit overprotective/regulated at times.

Yes, indeed; overprotected and regulated sometimes. There are still some pretty magnificent things here even though I bitch, but in London, I just felt like there was so many more interesting things to do when you were feeling a little 'bored'. Bath has nothing on Victoria and Vancouver for drug paraphernalia. lol. We are the Pot distribution capital to the world (apparently, I've not checked this status) and it is decriminalized and we do have the largest population of heroine addicts in the world. East Hastings in Van is quite the scene.

Oh and lavenderbongo, do you really miss the M25???

When I was in Cyprus all I really missed was my family and the ease of shopping. I could get most of what I wanted online though, so it wasn't so bad.

Now we are back in UK (a year on) I miss Cyprus dreadfully. I miss the outdoor living, the acceptance of children, going to AI hotels for a weekend break, a different style of cooking, less clothing (!), and many other things.

Saying that, Cyprus was unbelievably expensive. Seriously so and without my specific job (and housing included) we could never afford to live there again. In a way it's nice to accept that and look back with Rose tinted specs everytime I moan about UK!

Thanks Whatshesaid. That looks good.
Oh and I miss a multicultural society too. But bicultural is fine.

Auckland's pretty multicultural, don't know if you're in Auckland though. And yes, the emphasis is on "bicultural" rather a lot isn't it.

I am in Northland which is fab, big change from my last school with 22 different nationalities. Went to Waitangi last week and learnt lots on the 3 hour tour. We even did a haka for some tourists which was very moving.

Sorry OP I seem to have wandered off on a tangent.