katybluewater

That is so true Sally. My friends think we are 'living the life' and dont believe me when I tell them how expensive it is, bugs etc . I too used to moan about the UK, but I am definitely go back with fresh eyes. I am so grateful for our NHS, and employment laws. Over here in the USA you can lose your job in a second for no reason - way too scary to put roots down. Am counting down the days until I can sit in a pub garden with my dog!

MissBetty

I really enjoyed reading this thread and am glad that so many of you seem to have made a good decision in returning to the UK. It was interesting to note how people said how expats slate the UK here in Oz and big themselves up on Facebook - made me laugh cos its so true! My ex boss is a Pom, lovely bloke but always calls the UK a shithole, has he taken out citizenship? No! His wife is always depressed cos she misses her family and that causes so many problems, he pays a fortune for his kids to go to private school as he feels the state schools here are no good and ends up working all the hours under the sun to pay for it. Every now and again he goes on about how much he misses going to the pub and playing football with his mates and then he puts up a photo of a beach on Facebook to 'rub it in' to folks back home when really he always seems quite unhappy in 'real life'.
I think I came here for an adventure and I have enjoyed it. I've done some crazy stuff, met amazing people and grown up a hell of a lot but now I think its time for a change. When I was a kid my Irish father loved adventure and we quite happily trotted around the world with him - Australia, NZ, USA, Ireland etc so think I'll always be a bit of a gypsy and have that urge to explore pastures new! I do totally agree though that I have a whole new appreciation for the UK now, whereas before I would dismiss the UK there are so many things I miss, main thing being family and friends. When people say "why would you want to come back here?" and "oh God, gotta go to my bloody parents for Xmas!" it makes me shake my head in disbelief!!!! What wouldn't I give for a family Xmas after spending the last 4 alone?! The best thing about being away has made me appreciate what I had/have, I have no regrets - whats the point? But I'm looking forward to coming home. Oh and nice cake, proper football, British pubs and good telly lol!!! Cheers everyone!

Lothianlad

It's not true that all shop staff are miserable here in the UK.....well, with just one exception in my own personal experience......those I enountered in Hebden Bridge, in West Yorkshire in three separate shops, all of them middle aged women afflicted with some kind of condition that prevents anything resembling a smile but promotes an attitude of hostile incivility and sharpness of tongue. My own friendly approach was simply not reciprocated in any way at all.

Why that should be the case there in an otherwise pleasant looking small town set in an area of lovely if rather wild moorland countryside with great literary links (the Bronte sisters) and a wonderful privately run railway line (Keighley and Worth Valley line - links with the Railway Children) I have no idea at all....maybe it's something in the water there.

For the exact opposite in terms of polite and friendly and helpful service in the shops and restaurants (even though many of the staff are Polish in the eating places, not that that is any kind of reflection on Polish people whatsoever - they were all very polite and efficient) head for Wokingham, in affluent and rather posh East Berkshire in Southern England.

Bo-Jangles

I agree with most of you here and had many a wry smile and a knowing nod or two at the comments. Seems somehow we have to 'live the dream' and walk a mile or two in someone else shoes to appreciate that what we had before wasn't such a bad thing afterall.

If I had my time again and a chance to choose I would look closer to home, perhaps with adjustment in location and work harder on correcting some of the niggly / humdrum lifestyle issues that lead us to want to leave.

sallysimmons

Hebden Bridge is a unique town with unique problems. In the 70s, it became a haven for hippies and particularly hippie lesbians - the local joke is that you can't move there unless you have a degree in textiles and weave your own yoghurt. People moved from all over the country to 'live the dream' pushing up property prices. Those same incomers have fought against local plans such as a big new supermarket (the town doesn't have one) and this has caused enormous resentment among locals, whose kids don't have jobs and who struggle to make ends meet and would value lower prices at the grocery store.

The supermarket is just one example of the cultural battles going on in the town. Another are signs that were erected by the local council as you enter and leave town that say 'that's SO Hebden Bridge.' The hippies thought they were ironic and funny, the locals hated them.

Finally, the hippies and creative types brought drugs with them and over the years that has resulted in a bigger-than-usual drug problem among local youth, who haven't handled drugs in the same way as the professors and BBC Radio presenters.

I have friends there (all arty and creative of course!) and have only ever come across warm friendliness in Hebden Bridge, but perhaps you don't have a local accent and were unfortunate enough to run into some of the more bitter residents.

Lothianlad

I speak as I find...I found Hebden Bridge to be quite an attractive little town nestling in a deep valley between the hills surrounding it..I liked the area because of its literary connections ( I studied English history and literature at uni) My partner and I attended a so called " musical evening" in the an ancient church at Heptonstall, a village set on a hillside above Hebden Bridge - the people there were truly lovely and welcoming to both my (male) partner and myself - the concert there was memorable....a lovely experience all round....I was stilll a student at not so far away Leeds uni at the time....the best English Department in the entire world which is why I went to Leeds in the first place irrespective of free Scottish uni edication - I am a Scot from Edinbiurgfh and fervent opponent of any kind of Scottish breakaway from the United Kingdom....that wouldd be an utter disaster all round in my opinion. ..it'll never happen anyway.

Yes I did have a "foreign" accent in Hebden Bridge - Edinburgh Scottish through and through - and although I happen to be gay (I am now in a very committed legal civil partnership) I no way resemble anything like a hippie or any kind of social dropout, and far, far far less can I ever be mistaken for a lesbian! A homosexual male I may be but I am no way anything like a Hebden Bridge type sccial outcast.

Hebden Bridge is really a very pleasant looking place - it's a pity I was there when those particular uptight upper age uptight female shop assistants were on duty. Their attitude and general demeanour were very much out of kilter with the norm of all all the normally decent public service employees here in the UK.. a land into which I am more than happY to have been born way back in 1982..righht in the middle of what became known as the middle of the Falklands War.

I repeat - the vast majority

sallysimmons

No perhaps I didn't make the history clear. After the hippies, came the creatives. And as the creatives 'grew up' they took jobs as art directors, graphic designers, professors, journalists etc. They bought bigger houses and further pushed up prices in town. It is these - not the original hippies - who have fought against development in the town and who therefore engender resentment among a small group of locals. It would have nothing to do with you being gay and everything to do with some bad-tempered people being resentful of well-to-do 'incomers.'

My explanation wasn't intended as an accusation at you - you said you couldn't imagine why people in such a pleasant place would be rude and I just thought some context would help explain. Hebden Bridge really is a microcosm of what happens when well-meaning, well-educated people choose an area to 'gentrify.' On the one hand, they have made such an improvement to the place (you only have to go to nearby Todmorden to see what it could be like if left alone). On the other hand, resentment naturally builds until the locals are eventually pushed out altogether.

richardm123

I'm heading back to the UK in June and it's great to hear all the positive news. I would not change my Canadian experience for the world but living away from the UK makes me realize what I miss about England. Canada is just different and I think a LOT harder to find meaningful work here.

As for customer service I actually prefer the UK. Nobody, ever in Canada has ever got it right for me regarding customer service. I know it's bad all over the world but when I call First Direct I'm always just blown away by how great they are.

Editha

I think to some extent it is a question of what you are used to. I find Canadian shop assistants over-attentive, particularly in women's clothing stores. I've ended up buying garments I don't want or don't fit me, and on several occasions I've had to walk out of the store before I lose my temper. What they think is being helpful, I experience as harassment. I much prefer shopping for clothing in the UK, or Austria (a country I visit regularly), where I'm left alone to choose what I want from the racks.

I also bank with FD, and their customer service is exceptionally good. Unfortunately, I don't think it is typical of the UK.