So homesick! Please remind me of all the bad things about the UK

[footprint]

I've been living away from the UK for 3 years - first Portugal, now Switzerland. I REALLY hate where we are living right now It's been 2 years now and I'm finding it worse not better. I don't like being a SAHM, but there are no jobs and no childcare here. Dd cannot start kindergarten until aged 4 (She is now 2). I miss my mum, I miss English people in general, I miss my friends, I miss having a choice about how I live my life.

Dh is not English and doesn't want to live there again. In my darkest moments I feel like upping sticks and moving back with dd. But couldn't do that to her or dh.

I know "the grass is always greener" but I'm soooooo homesick. Help!

We're shit at football.
Always knocking ourselves. Gloomy, accusatory news stories slagging each other off.

It's too hot right now.

I have to admit though, I love it here. Sorry.

it always rains! it's cold!

except today when its really hot and if you choose to brave the outside you are assaulted by the sight of lobster coloured wobbly flesh from all angles.

The water companies charge a fortune and then impose a hosepipe ban because all the water is leaking through the pipe system that they have never mended, yet they are still taking a profit from the company

Public transport is rubbish - it's expensive AND unreliable, just to add insult to injury.

we're shit at tennis

We're cr*p at all sport (pretty much)
We moan
We build people up only to drag them down
Public transport is rubbish
Most places to eat out are distincly unchild friendly
It rains (alot) and then we have a hosepipe ban
If its not raining its too cold or too hot....

Does this help?

ooh yes we pay too much for fuel, gas/electric as well if u ask me, the trains never run on time - and if u watch the airport prog neither does easy jet! lol.

council tax is a rip off (apparently I don't pay it) - high crime in some areas.

filthy streets and bad habits, nothing ever works, complete mess trying to travel everywhere, delays, engineering works, etc.
TRAFFIC
But it does sound as if you need somrthing to give your life some oomph and focus - could you go somewhere where you would have more options?

What doesn't your dh like about living in the uk?

This is London moaning
Streets full of rubbish.
The tube is packed to the gills with hot half naked people.
Sometimes there's unecessary rudeness
There isn't anywhere near enough green space.
The air is fetid and grubby

The people are not as good looknig as the Swiss

ooh don't forget a bloody speed camera on every corner as well.

OK, so at least Switzerland has plenty of water (although our water bill was still astronomical, as are all our bills), the public transport is great and it's clean!

Rude, unfriendly, lobster red people - plenty of those here too!

Ooomph and focus?? Spot on!

Caligula ??????????????

I disagree!!!!!

Stupid rightwing pro-capitalist anti-labour policies, means we work too hard but aren't productive. Stupid daily-mail-esque attitude to children and teenagers, nothing for teens to do, poor sex education = vast teen pregnancy rate. Increasing racism and rise of BNP! Binge drinking culture. Disappearance of hard-won feminist values means that today's British girls only dream of being famous and having boob jobs.

These are what I hate about the UK.
(But I still love it! )

All of these are problems here too, especially racism and BNP-type idiots.

And maternity leave here is only 12 weeks!!

In Switzerland you have a minister for mushrooms (or so I heard). That can't be bad.

More seriously, can you track down other English people? That saved my sanity when I was in Canada.

Oh, I hope that's true about the minister for mushrooms (wouldn't surprise me!).

We live in the back of beyond, in two years I have found one New Zealander, one Scot and one English person in the entire Kanton.

It's different in the cities of course, but Zurich is three hours away.

Oh Fio, the crap ham! I love my homeland dearly but the ham has had me rooting out my passport many a time...

Oh shame footprint.

I'm trying to help here but it seems you'll just have to go mad. All I can offer is sympathy. I hated it in Canada (which I think is comparable to Switzerland in some ways, IYKWIM).

People who don't wash - good point, the Swiss are VERY CLEAN!

Who is Jeremy Kyle?

are you there permanatly ?? could you suggest another european destination to live in....I lived in australia for 7 years and the last 2 were hell , I was sooooo homesick.....to this day people still think we were mad to come back to the uk ...i compromised with my DH who wanted to stay there and we agreed to move back for 12 months at first but when here i got kids settled into kindy/school, live near my mum who babysits at drop of a hat and generally life runs smoother and i am happier, every time DH tries to mention OZ i point out he now has a happy stress free wife which = happy stress free husband! it seems to be working, could you try this.

Thanks Snowleopard - I'm glad I posted this, it has cheered me up this afternoon!