The Crepey Cube

[cremolafoam]

DP and I are having one of our discussion about whether we should move out of London. Is this really it? Do we need to live in urban grit, or shall we embrace leafier climes and relax a bit? I wouldn't want a village or rural, but a proper small town with its own life, with lovely countryside or beach. Not too Tory-fied. Faintly arty. Choir compulsory. Additional complications include aged parents in Suffolk, sister in Surrey, inlaws in Berkshire.

Current contenders are Broadstairs, Bury St Edmunds, Framlingham, Saffron Walden....

It will probably never happen, but as time marches on, if we did do it, now is probably the time as we'd be able to 'start again', making friends and building networks, and uprooting DS from school wouldn't be too disruptive at this stage.

Mine loved Parc Asterix - but then ds was/is a huge Asterix fan. And I am a Disney-refuser. They also liked the Montparnasse Tower, from which you get amazing views of Paris, and it has one of the fastest lifts in the world (apparently).

But I thought you loved all that urban-tastic stuff, Herbs!

I am not doing Disneyland.... we did this several years ago (paid for by the in-laws) I am afraid it is my idea of hell.....

Herbs - yes, good to move before secondary school (so you have a few years yet ;) )

Sometimes I do, stropps, but then I wonder if I'm just pretending and denying my aga-saga desires. Positives of living here: lots of friends, diverse, lots for us all to do... Negatives: small-ish house and garden, bit bleak at times, feeling of 'is this really as good as I can do?', everything's hard work.

Crikey. I don't know.

Um, what about your dp's lack of a driving licence? Won't that be more of an obvious drawback if you move outside the metropolis?

I lived in London for 5 years and when I was done with city life, I really knew. I worked for a year again there later and hated it with a passion. I have absolutely no regrets about leaving - aside from being too far from a decent-sized airport. But you wouldn't have that issue if you're staying in the SE. Then again, I don't care much for the theatre etc and am chronically underwhelmed by much of what other people love about city life, so being in the country is a no-brainer for me. If I didn't have dcs, I would be somewhere out in the country proper.

I like urban grot.

Urban grot is starting to have its attractions......

I don't know - recently gone from big city to country(ish). It has certainly been better for ds and dp - me? I don't know. But that I suspect is more to do with my general lack of direction in life.

Re driving (whispers it) I don't and we cope - but good transport links are a must.

Oh yes, we loved parc Asterix too! No need to do Disney again if you've already done it!

Stropps, that is a good point, re the driving!

I like urban grot too, MI! Though I do drool at the mansions we could buy if we moved to nowhere land!

Re driving, him passing his driving test would be a condition of moving. It was him, in fact, who brought up the notion last night.

I just wonder if I'm doing the best thing by DS. His school seems fine, but all he sees from one day's end to the next is tarmac. The playground's tarmac, there's no greenery, the main road is so busy, etc etc. Everything's OK, but not GREAT. Is OK enough? Blah blah blather...

We could move slightly out to Redbridge, where the schools are good but we'd still be near friends, but then would living in suburbia be the worst of all worlds?

Have to say Herbs ds loves it - but we go to London frequently (in-laws) and he has access to a range of experiences so I guess that is the key.....

Oh yes - I think we'd be back in London lots. It's not as if we actually ever go to the theatre, the British Museum, pop-up espresso martini bars, etc, but I kind of like knowing I could if I wanted to!

College record has arrived

Herbs, he also does see faces that are not uniformly white. And it is often easier to have parents who are not a matching male/female pair. Etc etc.

Dh is a natural urbanite in the same way that I am absolutely not. He thinks the countryside is just boring green and brown stuff you are forced to look at through the car windows when you are on the way to somewhere interesting.

Mi - college record???

The paperback volume issued by Jesus College Oxford to make former students feel crap by comparing themselves with everyone else.

Oh I don't want to live in the actual country. Somewhere with a market I can walk to, independent shops, thriving local shizzle going on - basically the Guardianista's dream.

Ah, MI, I see. Mmm. Not recommended reading for when one is feeling anything less than extremely robust, clearly.

Hmm, Herbs, now you have me wondering if I am living the Guardianista's dream? I can't be arsed to walk to the market, though.

Luckily Newcastle university doesn't bother with such volumes

MI - I love the College Record, although I make damned sure I'm never mentioned.

"Hamish Fotherington, having headed an important policy unit at the UN for the last three years, has recently been appointed CEO of MegaCorp, and is moving to NY with his partner, world-renowned lawyer and concert-violinist Cynthia Snottington. Hamish is looking forward to spending more time on his yacht....blah blah blah...."

"CointreauVersial, after six years of wiping bottoms and attending high profile toddler groups, is now heading up the Tea-Making Department" at a small engineering company in the Home Counties."

MI, you don't get college records when you went to a poly

And now I see hatty's post, maybe it's just an Oxbridge thing?

Herbs, my BFF moved to naice suburbia with lots of green around. It took her 10 years to settle in!

CV

MI - that sounds unutterably grim... (glad none of my alma maters do such things) But CV :)

MI - depends where you go! Here the male/female pair is not a given (ds's gf is brought up by her dad alone), and there is a fair spattering of non-white faces.....

CV that's cheered up my afternoon.

Gosh, CV, I can't believe you forgot to mention the Fotherington-Snottington octuplets who have already all got places at the alma mater.

The posh boarding school I went to for the 6th form does this. If I'm feeling particularly low, I just put the thing straight into the recycling. It's for the best. :) Bath Uni has gone all American and also keeps sending out glossy "alumni" update brochures.