How are we actually benefitting from living in the UK ?

Phil_aka_Pip

exocet said:

Truth is "your Britain" and all that it entails may be very different to "Other Peoples" Britain. The same goes for any other country.

If you have a bit of money, own your hone and are in stable employment with paid leave etc then the U.K is a fantastic place with a rich cultural heritage and stunning scenery. 

It's also very well connected to get to other places at reasonable rates. 

If you are short of cash and have limited employment opportunities, your view will be very different. 

I hear what you say, but I think the cultural heritage and stunning scenery would be there anyway in spite of a low income. Although I grant that these may be a lot less accessible

TTony

Emp_Fab said:

 I'm in South Wales.  It rains here pretty much constantly - it's always cold, the sun and blue skies are very infrequent visitors, and it's even worse outside the summer months.  Also, I'm looking at my retirement (if I make it that far),

And yet you manage to be such a positive, optimistic, carefree, upbeat, happy sort of chap.

blobb

p90fool said:

I have ended up back in rural mid Wales half a dozen times after living in different countries, for me it's just more relaxing. 

Me too, although only from the heady heights of 'elsewhere in the UK'.

Mid Wales is an interesting comparison. It's always been a little different, segregated from the rest of the UK / Europe / World. It's changed though from when i was growing up here in the late 70's and I suspect this will change more as KFC etc... start their progression Westbound. So I see this whole discussion from the perspective of 'Would you go live in England? What keeps you in Mid Wales?' Same arguments really, integration, way of life, people's attitudes to incomers....just in microcosm.

I could never understand why people came to Mid Wales on holiday.....I do now. I like to go to Belgium on my holidays. I don't want to go to London. I've considered working in Netherlands, the social attitude, especially towards kids and disabled people appeals, not sure I could handle the bureaucracy though.

..but I'm back here, the most beautiful place on the planet. I miss the old Mid Wales though and I guess that itch to get out needed to be scratched, just like the itch I got from Holland... er, maybe that was something else....

thecolourbox

Teetonetal said:

thecolourbox said:

I lived in Vienna for a year, and I did rather enjoy it but I was studying (did a German degree) so was something of a bubble I guess. I didn't move away for uni in this country so I imagine this was the equivalent of that.

What I liked in Austria:
Lovely cakes, Schnitzeln and Würstel.
Obvious good music scene in Vienna.
Lovely architecture (albeit mostly very much a fake facade given most of it was bombed!).
Nightfly's cocktail bar where I somehow used to get paid for mucking about on a piano.
Proper public holidays where stuff happened, not just "have a bbq if it's nice"
Excellent public transport albeit the city is quite small. They tell you which side of the underground train the station is at as well, genius.
I enjoyed the isolation, I could vanish if I wanted to and it was OK, but that's just the thing of living by yourself isn't it, not country specific

What I didn't like:
Hugely xenophobic country. I had a stage German accent owing to my mostly Scandinavian friends, which Austrians treated with a huge amount if apprehension. Yet more so if they found out I was English.
Guitar gear cost a lot.
My ability to speak German and English was essentially useless as an advantage, as everybody there also speaks German and English, and usually better than me on both accounts (I'm from the Black Country)
Creme Eggs cost €2 each!!!!

That's really true of the UK too. In fact a lot of European countries are way more xenophobic than they would like to admit. 

Yes but I'm not foreign here so it's less of a day to day obstacle for me, as abhorrent as it still is for those that experience it here.

PC_Dave

chillidoggy said:

"Come to Margate... Please?!? Anyone?!?”

FTFY

guitars4you

so many positives and negatives I suppose + so many overseas options to go to if required

However this bank holiday weekend I caught quite a bit of the Tour De Yorkshire bike race and the Giro D'Italia which was in Israel at the time - Looking at the over head camera shops from the helicopter then no competition whatsoever - If there is/was any debate about the promised land, then Yorkshire wins - Then I'm seriously biased

Fretwired

Emp_Fab said:

Inspired by the Great Garlic Conspiracy, I started wondering what is so great about living in the UK when other countries have so much to offer. 

In answer to your question:

• It's relatively peaceful
• The NHS
• Welfare system
• BBC
• Weather - what else would we talk about
• Good music can be found in most towns
  
• Warm beer
• Cheese
• Fish and chips
• The Proms
• The list is endless ...
  

Sounds to me like you're bored. Why not go on a trip around Europe or to the US?

frank1985

Stockholm syndrome

And kebabs ^^

prowla

Not many nasty beasties and buggos to attack you.

prowla

Of all the places I've been, the UK is the nicest.

Basic freedoms (no need to carry ID, freedom of speech, etc).
Four real seasons in the year, rather than just scorchio all the time.
Lovely scenery (this green and verdant land).
General social conventions.
Variety of food and drink.
Entertainment: gigs, shows, theatre, cinema, TV.
Unrestricted internet access.

Sure other places may seem nice, especially if you go there on holiday you've splurged several months pay on, but it soon wears thin and it's time to head for home.

thecolourbox

prowla said:

Not many nasty beasties and buggos to attack you.

Just us lefties

frank1985 said:

Stockholm syndrome

I've often thought any notion of patriotism as essential this

p90fool

@blobb I moved here in 1980 so know exactly what you mean. There are a few old pockets of it left though, but you have to dig deep and cycle up a lot of tracks. 

It won't be long though until every half derelict but still working farm is a million pound conversion with a retired 40-something couple from Surrey hiding behind electric gates. 

HAL9000

The UK does tea, ale, roast dinners, and fish & chips better than anyone else. Also comedy - think about it, no-one else could have come up Monty Python, Fry & Laurie, the Goon Show, etc, etc. I mean, most other countries still think slapstick is the height of jocularity. 

We also don't grow apples with misleading names like golden delicious.

Moe_Zambeek

I live in Scotland, near Edinburgh, and have spent time abroad working in Germany (Freiburg), France (Aix-en-Provence) and Austria (Graz).

I loved my time in France but I was living an expenses lifestyle there, my food and accommodation costs were covered and I had given up my home in Edinburgh so it was a good life to lead. I took lessons so spoke decent French and got on ok there - but it was quite lonely, there’s only so much time you can spend with friends from work (especially when many of them were also from other towns further away in France).

However, I loved the weather, the food, the wine...some of the people. It’s also the only time I’ve been prescribed cigarettes and coffee by a GP (for eye strain).

Germany was great too - Freiburg and the Black Forest are beautiful places and my work
colleagues were friendly, amusing and interesting people. Food and beer was good here but again it can be lonely as a single person. I think this area of Germany is underrated as a holiday destination but I wouldn’t want to live there, it’s very regimented. 

Austria....was cold, miserable, unfriendly, racist and downright backwards in many ways. Didn’t like it at all.

The UK has clean water, free healthcare, upholds property rights and the rule of law, is generally pragmatic in all things and it doesn’t take 2 months to open a bank account (for example, as it did in France). Our online services are world class and there’s lots of interesting things to do and see.


In general though the main thing keeping us in the UK is family and friends - mine and the wife’s parent are aging, my brother in law has special needs and will never be independent. Good lifelong friends will get you through a lot and are frankly invaluable. We’ve thought of emigrating many times and had points and immigration application sorted but stopped short because of family and friends. 

Edit to add - ime there are very few (relatively) UK expats *working* in France and Germany other than a few inter-company. The reality is that the language is a barrier and in the case of France, they just don’t really want to hire anyone when they can contract them somehow.

Musicman20

The one thing I do LOVE about living here is the music, We are pretty damn good at music, and good bands from other countries seem to like coming over. I'm in Manchester now, and I've never been so busy seeing live music.

However, the culture of all work/lack of time off/high stress and not daring to take a sick day is awful. I'm in law and the amount of staff who are dealing with seriously damaging levels of stress is getting out of hand.

ESBlonde

I've travelled outside the UK a bit over the years. There is something in most countries that we don't have and I would like, but few places that have the kind of combination of nice things I feel comfortable with.
I like the Dutch, but sometimes they are just too regimented. I like the northern med countries for the weather and layed back attitude, but many of thier political leaders are baltently incompetent, corrupt or both. The quaint old worldness of Eastern European states is nice, but many are dying where they have few young/family aged people living in the small towns and villages. America....well it's lots of regions joined on a common land mass and some of them are best not visited.
But our own nation is in a state of deep flux, the society of my youth seems foreign to my own children. Society is an ever changing thing, always has been and always will be.

How do we benefit? We live in a great democracy with a figurehead that is the envy of much of the worlds population. We have arguably the worlds best free healthcare, a system of social aid that is among the most generous in the world (you may find better, but it's hard). We welcome others to join us if they want to live like we do in our little island. We are protected by decent laws (again not perfect, but it would be hard to find better). We have rights as citizens. Our police do thier job with our permission, try telling a US cop they got something wrong! Our food is safe and our medication likewise (given the standards of modern science). Our media have a lot of freedom and you have access to the internet. Jobs are available to most and you can pick your career.

Not perfect, but life isn't like that don't you know.

sev112

Within 50 miles of where I live are : 
Oxford, Windsor, river Thames, Henley, Portsmouth, London, Richmond, the chilterns, the north downs, the new forest, the South Downs, the ridgway, 
geology, history, museums, nature, sports facilities, holiday spots
the coast, rivers, hills, 
trains to London, Wales, Cornwall, Manchester, Scotlandall from my local station
Heathrow, Gatwick on a direct train, Southampton airport on a direct train
ferry port to France at Portsmouth, 

Numerous guitar shops, lots of open mics, lots of gigs, lots of golf courses, lots of quiet cycle routes, good schools for the kids, lots of work opportunities 


i still dream of living on a mountain or by the sea somewhere warm
i think I will just continue to go on holidays there 

exocet

sev112 said:

Within 50 miles of where I live are : 
Oxford, Windsor, river Thames, Henley, Portsmouth, London, Richmond, the chilterns, the north downs, the new forest, the South Downs, the ridgway, 
geology, history, museums, nature, sports facilities, holiday spots
the coast, rivers, hills, 
trains to London, Wales, Cornwall, Manchester, Scotlandall from my local station
Heathrow, Gatwick on a direct train, Southampton airport on a direct train
ferry port to France at Portsmouth, 

Numerous guitar shops, lots of open mics, lots of gigs, lots of golf courses, lots of quiet cycle routes, good schools for the kids, lots of work opportunities 


i still dream of living on a mountain or by the sea somewhere warm
i think I will just continue to go on holidays there 

...and we can cure the "poor tasting carrots, tomatoes, garlic" etc by growing our own at home.

All in all, UK is pretty good....

I'm just getting on my sweaty commuter train out of London....

ThePrettyDamned

blobb said:

On a less flippant note, Water & Sewerage. Forget the fat cat newspaper headlines, How often do you have to worry about the quality of your tap water? Granted, in some areas, taste can be subjective but it's always safe. Always. Our rivers are cleaner than they have ever been (to the chagrin of Coarse Fisherman on the Trent) and if you can't pay for your water, they won't turn it off.

Why to the chagrin of fishermen on the trent? 

I love seeing a clean, clear river - and fish thrive in them much better than dirty or polluted water. Birds do, too, although you'll often hear fishermen who don't understand the importance of predators complain about them...

I benefit from feeling mostly safe. Our police are, mostly at least, lovely hard working folk. The NHS is excellent. Violent crime may be going up (I actually don't know the stats so feel free to correct!) but seriously, I mostly feel safe. In some places I've visited, I feel like a fish out of water. 

We have excellent weather. 

We have excellent education.

Also, we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I mean, not Cambridge specifically - but the Dorset coast, Lake District, Scottish Lochs... Lots to love here imo. We have loads of beautiful wildlife, too. 

sixstringsupplies

what is it that keeps you here that you couldn’t also get somewhere else ?

^cricket.

on a serious note - I think for a lot of people it is quite simply comfort zone....and the language.

i have lived, studied and worked in France for a combined 7-8 years or so. Despite being fluent in French, I feel far more comfortable in the UK.
Any possible medical conditions/legal stuff/etc...you’d want to do it in your own language. 

Brits are notoriously bad at learning foreign languages, the general attitude is “we don’t need to learn” and in truth...we don’t. I used to work for a French multinational due to my language skills but all my French colleagues spoke perfect English. Incredibly good English it was almost embarrassing. 

I currently live in what I consider to be bit of a dive...but I am comfortable.