kate white

do I speak scottish or somethin I can understand yours and have had many a laugh

Member123

Yeah by Republican terrorists because the Policemen are both Catholicsmad: - oh and you would also have the priviledge in having the political wing of the same terrorist organisation ruling you in Government - if you fancy living in NI.

rwin

Okay, so maybe Birmingham was a stretch. I really meant the area around it. What would that be called? West Midlands? We actually stayed in Coventry which seemed nice enough.

But whats wrong with Leeds? It seemed like a nice place and was my favorite of all those we visited. The first place we were asked if we were American. At a place called The Flying Pizza.

What kind of son in law (or two) will I get?

As far as the accent goes, I'm sure we didn't invent it. It must have come from somewhere. Do we sound like the English of hundreds of years ago? Not that anyones old enough to remember. I hope

dbd33

That wasn't sarcasm. I assume rwin isn't dragging a family with him so I think if he's at all interested in trying the UK he should do it.

Biiiiink

Oops, just noticed that Glasgow isn't in England. And I was saying how great my geography was on another thread

Re accent - Bill Bryson's "Journeys in English" audiobook (don't get the "Mother Tongue" printed version, what's the point, you need to hear this stuff) has lots of recreations of what we may have sounded like, how the American and Aussie accents developed, etc.

kate white

you dope

hot wasabi peas

'Yeah go for it' but more for getting out of Canada for a while, not so much for going to England. There's a lot to like (and dislike) about England but if I were to leave Canada again to live abroad, I would go somewhere else more different like Japan, Chile or Papua New Guinea. But if you're drawn to England, why not go?

It was a good experience and helped me to realize what I had taken for granted about Canada and more specifically the west coast. At the same time, the experience can underscore some of the negatives of Canada.


I never experienced any of the stuff people talk about either but I think that had a lot to do with me being a foreigner.

My 'American' accent was an ice breaker and allowed social conventions to be suspended a bit. For example, the snobbery based on perceived social class and the 'don't talk to strangers' paranoia evaporated when people heard my accent.

All Canadians and Americans I know living in England can recount stories of walking up to a stranger to ask for directions, the time or whatever and being amused by the initial "are you going to mug me?" or "piss off low life scum" expression that morphs into a usually friendly chit chat about some nephew who moved to Canada twenty years ago and do you know him?

Also, I witnessed a confrontation in which a knife was involved. I didn't really think much of it except 'oh well, good thing it wasn't a gun'... my English friends were horrorfied by the "attempted murder!!!!!" and IMO blew the situation way out of proportion. I think there are some cultural differences in terms of how crime is conceived and perceived... but that's all part of the fun.

hot wasabi peas

I know the University of Glasgow has exchange programs with UBC and McGill where (I think) students pay their local tuitution to their local uni and then swap universities for a period of time - a year, a couple of years or whatever.

rwin

If I wasn't I'd probably do it in a minute. But I am.

Ranjeet2217

k

Biiiiink

Pardon?

manghams

Why Leeds?
Did you go to Leeds Train Station?
Armed police; metal detectors; stop and search policy; any reason for this?
Whats the Go train like????
Work it out for yourself.
I personally live in the outlying area of Bradford and dont go to either Leeds or Bradford! Can't wait to get to Canada, mostly for the safety of my teenage boys.

Groover42

Have you thought about Nottingham?
I can't wait for the comments..

rwin

Didn't go to the train station. We drove around.

I liked the look of the city. I thought the downtown looked pretty good. The residential areas looked good. The niced people we meet were from there.

But then a visit is not living there. It does make me wonder how valuable a recce trip really is. Obviously you have to do a lot more research than going there. Although that does help.

I wonder sometimes what it was like for my grandparents coming over in the 1920's. They were the first of anyone they knew. No internet. No letters from friends who came out before them. They came on a boat so no recce. Different times for sure.

rwin

I saw it from the freeway at 70mph. I've heard bad things about it.

Don't they have a sherif protecting you from the bad guys?