I Hate London

[JamSandwiches45]

We've been here as a family for three years now. We moved from Auckland, New Zealand. I can't be the only expat that spends every day regretting the decision?!

Apart from the shopping and the proximity to Europe/US for holidays, I can't think of one thing that's better here than we had at home. The place is a filthy ghetto! The general attitude/reluctance for people to actually put in a hard days work is astounding. I won't even mention the schools, are DH is a supply teacher and the stories I hear are beyond me.. I fear for his safety daily.

I miss my house on the beach! Time to pack it in and go home I think.

But a British passport doesn't list London as where you were born, it says Hammersmith etc, wherever the hospital was? Or am I missing your point clueless probably

We live in London but I am from the countryside originally. Yes London is dirty, often smelly and can be violent but no way is it unfriendly. Everyday I chat to people in the shops and on the streets. The state school our children go to is excellent. The teaching and behaviour is really good. My children are in the minority as white British children but there is not the divide or nastiness that you have experienced. Clearly you dislike London and that is allowed. I have days when the assault on the senses can feel overwhelming but it really isn’t unfriendly.

My British passport lists the city (not in the UK) where I was born. My kids’ passport, one has the London borough and the other says ‘London.’

Op you sound exhausting!

Why come here if you felt/feel such strong dislike for all things British? If it was to access the (wonderful) NHS then I think you should be feeling very grateful. I don't for one second believe lifesaving treatment was denied to your dd while they argued about her nationality. I also don't believe that it was just to be closer to your in laws. The free at point of access healthcare must have been a serious draw!

And as for us all being work shy... You mentioned up thread that you and your dh only work pt...😂
I can understand one parent not working ft
(Or at all) to care for a child with complex needs but both of you?
I only mention this train of thought because you've happily branded an entire country as lazy. I don't actually care who works what. None of my business, but when you start flinging mud you need to expect some to come back in your direction.

Honestly, you sound pretty unpleasant and rasist. The people you're blaming for everything haven't done anything to you and yours.
I'd give you a very wide berth in rl op 😂

*racist.
Bloody phone 😂

Well said!! ☺️

OP I would love you to explain how you have come to the conclusion that you can't be racist to whites.

You might laugh you might frown
Walkin' round London town

Sun is in the sky oh why oh why?
Would I wanna be anywhere else
Sun is in the sky oh why oh why?
Would I wanna be anywhere else

I am very sorry about your DD, OP. Life must be very hard for you but, remember, we take ourselves with us, so if you are unhappy here, you will probably not be happy if you move back to your homeland (which is presumably why you moved in the first place).

London is amazing but, like anything, it's not for everyone.

Do you get any benefits for your child? Sorry if you've already mentioned this.

@JamSandwiches45 Definition of the word racist:

racist
[ˈreɪsɪst]

NOUN
a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
"I had a fear of being called a racist"
synonyms: racial bigot · racialist · xenophobe · chauvinist · anti-Semite · [More]
ADJECTIVE
showing or feeling discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or believing that a particular race is superior to another.
"we are investigating complaints about racist abuse at a newsagents"

op is stressed - hate is a strong word but 'go home then' is pretty stong too.
i'm a northerner and dislike london. outside of the relatively small tourist centre and the city its a bunch of mainly grubby villages crowded together. like many villages a significant proportion of the population havent lived elsewhere and think their villages are wonderful.

in fact many are seriously run down, terrible roads, grubby frontage's graffiti'd boarded up shops unkempt verges and atrocious air quality.
ghetto is an equally strong word but ignoring the strong cultural clusters is wrong, multiculturalism shouldn't mean having many cultures each confined to their own patch.

(condemning Staffordshire is unfair, hanley, stoke - the six towns have been pummelled since thatcher but the moors survive even if the wallabies havent)

Since MN have not been along to comment on this thread and remind us of the MN philosophy;

All together now:

Tūtira mai ngā iwi,
tātou tātou e
Tūtira mai ngā iwi,
tātou tātou e
Whai-a te marama-tanga,
me te aroha - e ngā iwi!
Ki-a tapa tahi,
Ki-a ko-tahi rā
Tātou tātou e

Or (to summarise):
Stand together as one, all of us together.
Seek knowledge and love each other, standing together.

unfortunately that description could also apply to some NZ north island small towns.

OP, I suspect being a supply teacher gives your DH the worst of all worlds: no permanent relationship with colleagues, or kids, less job satisfaction as you don't see a cohort of kids through, and all teens say that everyone misbehaves for supply in a way that they don't for permanent staff.

Come to yorkshire x

"Apparently a British passport can't list 'Takapuna' as the birthplace, or it's fake, must say 'Auckland' according to the NHS."
😂 As I recall correctly (I should - I lived there), Takapuna is a suburb of Auckland. This would be like listing Shoreditch as your birthplace, rather than London. Your complaints are beyond ridiculous now.

If the NZ passport is like the Australian one, then they do list suburbs as the birthplace. So now my DD's Aussie passport has a non-existent suburb as her place of birth, e.g. Gipsy Hill instead of, say Lambeth or London. It will cause no end of trouble when she uses it in the UK. because they have different systems.

I also have a child with severe epilepsy (in fact i am just debating whether to give rescue meds as he is having continual seizures. He has multiple disabilities due to the brain damage caused so i DO get your situation ) . I have to say he has always had excellent care from the nhs. Ditto my ( asian ) foster child who has hydrocephalus.
My children would not be alive if they had not .
There are more specialist childrens hosp than GOSH (which i guess is your centre ) so you could try moving elsewhere but having said that i live in Staffordshire so you have managed to alienate me on that front as well .
I am sorry you are so miserable and yes you would be better off going back. Hope your daughter stays as seizure free as possible.

echt If you agree that some countries put the suburbs as the birth place, how can the Op be unreasonable to have that place in her passport???
I mean you do realise that she has NO control on what the passport office put on hers? That you dint just ask from your birthplace to be changed just because you feel like it?

But in the other side, it seems ok for someone, whoever they are, to police that, tell the OP the passport is wrong?nwo any check or knowledge of the way things are done in that particular country? As if any lay person could tell that a passport is fake
Or like yourself,that the way NZ is doing passport is wrong? Would you like to go and see the NZ government to tell them that maybe? Do you think it would work?
And seeing that your aunt clearly hasn’t been able to have that birthplace changed, maybe you would like to go and tell the Aus government they are doing things wrong too?
Fgs. If there is one thing he OP has no control on is what is written in her passport!!

Don't you put your place of birth in your passport application?

You could put Shoreditch or London both would be correct.

Errr... you need to send your birth certificate with your first passport application. You can’t ‘choose’ where you were born.
H has a very small parish in his birth certificate. One that non one has ever heard about (even local sometimes look at you like this ).
IN the UK they might decide to then out the bigger town nearby but in other countries, they would Just put that place.
So when he applied for his French passport, the birth place in that passport is said tiny parish....

I expect the same to happen in other countries (and clearly in NZ). The place of birth is the one on your birth certificate. Which sounds like the most logical?? Otherwise you could say whatever you want on the application???

Mine is different. It has the larger town rather than the suburb.

I think I might have put the larger town because it was where my DM told me where I was born.

I didn't get to see my birth certificate as she was the one who sent it off.

• If you agree that some countries put the suburbs as the birth place, how can the Op be unreasonable to have that place in her passport??? I mean you do realise that she has NO control on what the passport office put on hers? That you dint just ask from your birthplace to be changed just because you feel like it*

I never said she was unreasonable. I think she is reasonable. I sort of thought I'd made it clear because that's what happened to my DD.

Evidently not.

Don't you put your place of birth in your passport application

You have to send a copy/original of the birth certificate. Then they record as per their rules.