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Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Old Oct 26th 2011, 10:48 am
  #76  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by iaink
My experience is the opposite. My earliest trips back to the UK coincided with the most negative feelings about the UK, my most recent trips it seemed to have more going for it. Still wouldnt want to go back though.
Agree completely. It was a good while before the rose tinted came out.

I'm still pretty negative about here but there's lots of stuff that I also find enjoyable that gets me through the crap. I found once I hit the wall in Canada, that was it, I couldn't dig my way out of the boredom.
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Old Oct 26th 2011, 5:04 pm
  #77  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by Editha
..Homicide rate in 09 for Canada was 1.85 per 100,000 of population. In UK it was 1.17. That's 58% less. I would not call that "broadly similar". But, again, I live in Edmonton, homicide capital of Canada. Homicides so far this year 44, and at least half of them caused by knives. So, living where I do, I have every reason to be concerned about knife crime.
I too live in the homicide capital of Canada. The buildings are all pock-marked with bullet holes and there is blood running in the streets.

Seriously, there are places like that but not within thousands of miles of Edmonton. If anyone living here is the least bit concerned about knife crime* then I think that's very sad indeed. 58% reduction on a tiny risk is inconsequential, especially when that risk is not random. Have a look at the death rates from other causes, then celebrate that you are not living in Sirte or Kandahar or Mogadishu.

By the way, when I was living in Washington DC the residents of Prince George's County were celebrating getting their murder rate down to 2 per day!

[edit: * I mean of course people who are not immersed in organised crime being concerned about their personal risk of being knifed]
[edit 2: by the way, 1.17 is not 58% less than 1.85, it's 38% less. Alternatively, 1.17 is 63% of 1.85. 63% of a tiny risk is another tiny risk]

Last edited by agr; Oct 26th 2011 at 6:30 pm.
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Old Oct 26th 2011, 5:35 pm
  #78  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

I miss Bisto Best Gravy Granules. Also miss a decent chinese takeaway that delivers.
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Old Oct 26th 2011, 7:38 pm
  #79  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by rivingtonpike
I miss Bisto Best Gravy Granules. Also miss a decent chinese takeaway that delivers.
I miss decent fish and chip shops where you can get pies, burgers and kebabs.
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Old Oct 26th 2011, 8:00 pm
  #80  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by rivingtonpike
Also miss a decent chinese takeaway that delivers.
Really?

God i miss Neighbourhood Noodle House in N Van. By far the finest Chinese food!
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Old Oct 26th 2011, 8:59 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by Oink
I miss decent fish and chip shops where you can get pies, burgers and kebabs.
I miss having a pie and a pint at lunch time. A proper pie that is, not one of those things in a dish with a crust on.
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Old Oct 26th 2011, 9:19 pm
  #82  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

I wonder if the Young's pubs in SW London still all have a clear plastic box on the bar with the day's sandwiches in... slowly drying out and curling up as the day wore on.
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Old Oct 27th 2011, 9:14 am
  #83  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

hi !!

you wanna learn how to cook a decent curry? well, you just met the right person....even my best indian friends always ask me where i learnt how to cook my curries...they say i make it better than their wives!!

anybody want to learn...i can post you my FREE recipe...dead simple...ingredients you can buy at any indian store or supermarket...you can be eating it in less than half an hour, all in!!

cant see the problem....!! (PS i picked it up from an indian girl i knew yonks ago.........

just PM me to confirm, and i'll be happy to oblige!




I just need to learn how to cook a decent curry and I'm good![/QUOTE]
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Old Oct 27th 2011, 9:41 am
  #84  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

well...heres my take on the subject...and this from someone who is still here (the UK), albeit not for long....

very, very unsafe streets (it was worse when i was in streatham...its only marginally better in west london)

everyone, especially youths who ahve nothing to do, have a weird, angry look in their eyes...god help you if you accidentally meet their eyes...!

almost all youths carry a weapon (read knife)

driving manners non-existent (gone are the days when u gave way and got a thank u from the other driver...now they wont give u way...u have to stop urself or have an accident..after which you will most likely get ur head kicked in..!)

the police are nowhere to be seen (if you call them, they will come, but well after the problem has been committed and the perpetrators absconded)

parking? ha....thats a standing joke! where i am, min of 3 to 4 cars per house, and nowhere to park them...so, daily arguments with neighbours over parking....and if you do get a spot near ur house, wake up next morning and there are ugly scratches all over the car...u know who it could be, but cant prove it...and they know it!)

weed being bought and sold under the very eyes of police (something called khat...used by somali people, who have taken over large parts of london...in fact, there are now somali shops selling it openly!)

angry confrontations with people high on said "khat"...

a feeling that nobody cares about the laws of the land and that anybody does what he/she feels, mainly cos police are afraid of infringing personal rights of people!

petrol price waaay above what it should be.

costly food items (such as cheese, meat etc) now carry electronic tags in some supermarkets as people have started nicking the stuff, why? recession..no jobs...no money...easier to nick...police never there...

hordes of romany people from eastern europe begging on the streets...making more than £100 a day..but also claiming child and other benefits, some more than £13000 a month..then sending it all back to romania and buliding huge villas there, before coming back for more...

green countryside? not where i am

pubs? yes, ok...but still packed with people with aforesaid violent look in their eyes....

if youre still awake....ive finished!!




Originally Posted by Steve_
What a timely thread, as I just came back from a business trip to the UK.

Bloody hate the place, and this was the first time I've been there in three years and it was worse than I remember which takes some doing.

The traffic is appalling and I was rapidly getting stressed, there are too many people. I was standing outside the Bullring in Birmingham and I started to suffer from claustrophobia even though I was outside, all the people around me made me feel ill.

And really we have this subject of the TV over and over again, without question the TV is better here. No doubt remains in my mind on that topic.

The basic problem with the UK is that it is too crowded, streets and streets of tiny houses with too narrow streets overflowing with traffic and you get to pay 20% VAT, etc. for the privilege of living there.

Never moving back, ever. The only possible advantage of living there is that the NHS is somewhat better than AHCIP, and I'd rather die here than suffer a lingering death there.

Bizarrely I had some craving for Tesco sandwiches, cured myself of that delusion pretty quickly.

And for ages I've been saying that the food is better in the UK than it is here, think I've made a mistake on that score. I went into Waitrose and yeah there definitely is more esoteric stuff that you would never find here but for your average day-to-day shopping I don't think there is that much difference anymore. The main difference is you can go into Tesco Xtra and get everything (or rather suffer with their sausage rolls etc. which are mainly rolls and no sausage) in one go, whereas in Calgary you have to go to more than one shop. But in fairness Calgary is a city of a million people, rather than this huge metroplex in the UK of millions of people so you would expect that the food choice would be narrower.

I'm glad I went because before I was certain I had made the right decision, now I am absolutely certain that I did.
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Old Oct 27th 2011, 10:25 am
  #85  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by julius smith
angry confrontations with people high on said "khat"...
How many angry confrontations have you had with people high on weed?
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Old Oct 27th 2011, 10:41 am
  #86  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

khat is a stimulant and very different to the 'weed' you are thinking of.
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Old Oct 27th 2011, 12:30 pm
  #87  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by julius smith
well...heres my take on the subject...and this from someone who is still here (the UK), albeit not for long....

very, very unsafe streets (it was worse when i was in streatham...its only marginally better in west london)

everyone, especially youths who ahve nothing to do, have a weird, angry look in their eyes...god help you if you accidentally meet their eyes...!

almost all youths carry a weapon (read knife)

driving manners non-existent (gone are the days when u gave way and got a thank u from the other driver...now they wont give u way...u have to stop urself or have an accident..after which you will most likely get ur head kicked in..!)

the police are nowhere to be seen (if you call them, they will come, but well after the problem has been committed and the perpetrators absconded)

parking? ha....thats a standing joke! where i am, min of 3 to 4 cars per house, and nowhere to park them...so, daily arguments with neighbours over parking....and if you do get a spot near ur house, wake up next morning and there are ugly scratches all over the car...u know who it could be, but cant prove it...and they know it!)

weed being bought and sold under the very eyes of police (something called khat...used by somali people, who have taken over large parts of london...in fact, there are now somali shops selling it openly!)

angry confrontations with people high on said "khat"...

a feeling that nobody cares about the laws of the land and that anybody does what he/she feels, mainly cos police are afraid of infringing personal rights of people!

petrol price waaay above what it should be.

costly food items (such as cheese, meat etc) now carry electronic tags in some supermarkets as people have started nicking the stuff, why? recession..no jobs...no money...easier to nick...police never there...

hordes of romany people from eastern europe begging on the streets...making more than £100 a day..but also claiming child and other benefits, some more than £13000 a month..then sending it all back to romania and buliding huge villas there, before coming back for more...

green countryside? not where i am

pubs? yes, ok...but still packed with people with aforesaid violent look in their eyes....

if youre still awake....ive finished!!
You need to find a different bit of the UK mate.
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Old Oct 27th 2011, 12:56 pm
  #88  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by julius smith
well...heres my take on the subject...and this from someone who is still here (the UK), albeit not for long....

very, very unsafe streets (it was worse when i was in streatham...its only marginally better in west london)

everyone, especially youths who ahve nothing to do, have a weird, angry look in their eyes...god help you if you accidentally meet their eyes...!

almost all youths carry a weapon (read knife)

driving manners non-existent (gone are the days when u gave way and got a thank u from the other driver...now they wont give u way...u have to stop urself or have an accident..after which you will most likely get ur head kicked in..!)

the police are nowhere to be seen (if you call them, they will come, but well after the problem has been committed and the perpetrators absconded)

parking? ha....thats a standing joke! where i am, min of 3 to 4 cars per house, and nowhere to park them...so, daily arguments with neighbours over parking....and if you do get a spot near ur house, wake up next morning and there are ugly scratches all over the car...u know who it could be, but cant prove it...and they know it!)

weed being bought and sold under the very eyes of police (something called khat...used by somali people, who have taken over large parts of london...in fact, there are now somali shops selling it openly!)

angry confrontations with people high on said "khat"...

a feeling that nobody cares about the laws of the land and that anybody does what he/she feels, mainly cos police are afraid of infringing personal rights of people!

petrol price waaay above what it should be.

costly food items (such as cheese, meat etc) now carry electronic tags in some supermarkets as people have started nicking the stuff, why? recession..no jobs...no money...easier to nick...police never there...

hordes of romany people from eastern europe begging on the streets...making more than £100 a day..but also claiming child and other benefits, some more than £13000 a month..then sending it all back to romania and buliding huge villas there, before coming back for more...

green countryside? not where i am

pubs? yes, ok...but still packed with people with aforesaid violent look in their eyes....

if youre still awake....ive finished!!
You are believing all of this because you are convincing yourself that you want to leave the UK. Where does all this happen?
We hear so much on the news but what happens a hundred miles away does not affect you!
There is crime everywhere!
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Old Oct 27th 2011, 1:39 pm
  #89  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by Londonuck
Agree completely. It was a good while before the rose tinted came out.

I'm still pretty negative about here but there's lots of stuff that I also find enjoyable that gets me through the crap. I found once I hit the wall in Canada, that was it, I couldn't dig my way out of the boredom.
Back in the late 50's I moved from North London to a Bedfordshire village because we wanted a better place to bring up our kids. It was a much slower pace but a more civilized place to live, but I think you would find it boring.

After a few years the poor transport and the feeling that we were always going to be strangers.In 1963 I was offered a job in Ottawa and quickly accepted. I was immediately accepted by our Canadian neighbours and in less than a year decided we had found our real home and bought our first house in Ottawa. We didn't have the cheap flights or instant communication that people have today so we had no distractions or inclination to return even for a visit.

We are still in Ottawa after almost 50 years and the UK is a distant memory.
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Old Oct 27th 2011, 1:50 pm
  #90  
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Maybe I like Canada because of the time I spent in North Beds, it innoculated me to boredom perhaps?. My Dad is still there...

Very little if any of what Julius reports to be found there it seems.

Last edited by iaink; Oct 27th 2011 at 2:32 pm.
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