Welshie82

Hi all!

I'm back in Blighty (Birrrrrmingham) for 2 weeks as of next Monday, SOOOO excited. Already have an Interview lined up with a recruiting agent, so fingers crossed that will work out well. I'm also contacting a University about the possibility of going back to school!

I'll continue my blog posts while I'm there so feel free to check it out to keep tabs on what I'm doing

Hugs,
Welshie

http://expatriatereturns.wordpress.com/

johnh009

And, no doubt, you find the centre of Birmingham quite impressive these days. Big change there.

brits1

We visited Birmingham just before Christmas (2010) mainly for the Christmas German Markets....we were very pleasantly surprised with Birmingham as we had not visited for years, we liked the "new" area around the canal not far from the City centre, was very much impressed with the work on the Bullring and loved the bar/pub etc under one of the hotels off the high street (cannot remember the name of the hotel),the bar had a Medieval Theme in a classy way though, yes enjoyed our visit to Birmingham, it has a lot to offer....although not as much as Manchester lol.....

brits1

Good luck Welshie...I am sure everything will turn out well for you..all the best.

Lothianlad

I am currently working here in London but I was in Birmingham on Tuesday working on an assignment in the city centre for much of the day, not all that far from the Bullring which I have to agree is a really great shopping centre with excellent eating places. The Pallasades shopping mall is also really good - it's situated right above New Street train station which is one of the busiest in the UK after the London main line stations, with trains going direct to practically every major city in the UK - the train departures indicator screens showed trains departing to one destination or another every three minutes or so with very frequent direct trains to London Euston (via Birmingham International - for the B'ham Intnl. airport and the NEC (National Exhibition Centre - and then Coventry) and then on down to Euston. It's interesting to see if you can complete the Telegraph main crossword and scoff a BLT sarnie and a cup of coffee before you pull into Euston train station.

Birmingham has more canals that does Venice and the whole area around all th canals as well as many other places in and around Central Birmingham have undergone massive transformation and re-development over recent years. I really like Birmingham and people generally there are extremely friendly and approachable - like the elderly gentleman who served me in the huge Food Department in the basement of the massive Marks & Spencer store in the street the name of which I can't remember - the one with a huge W H Smiths opposite and a Waterstones book store fuertheer down the road on the same side as M & S, heading down towards the Bullring and the city church the name of which I think is St Martins in the Bullring.

I went down the escalator to the Food Dept to see if they had the regular "M & S Dine for Two for Ten Quid" offer comprising of a starter of your choice, a main course for two of your choice, one side dish for two of your choice, a dessert for two of your choice and a bottle of wine of your choice - all from the selection on display. Unfortunately that only seems to be on offer on Thursday to Saturday inclusive so for me to take back to London for my dinner that night at my flat in Putney I was able to buy a cooked roast chicken at £4.74 and a free Bramley Apple lattice pie. The guy serving me was a cheery old geezer with a thick Brummie accent who said "you got a good deal there - this is your lucky day - don't eat it all at once!" I didn't _ I shared it with two mates.

Actually, while I was browsing about on several of the flooors of M & S I happened to see and immediately recognise Summer Strallen doing some shopping there - she is absolutely gorgeous and was a sort of protege of Andrew Lloyd Webber and both he and Summer appeared in the weekday TV teen soap "Hollyoaks" (which is set and filmed in and around Chester) before she headed for the West End, still under his patronage, and began to appear in mainly musicals. She is currently appearing in the musical "Top Hat" at the Birmingham Hippodrome, a musical which is set in the 1930s apparently. After Birmingham it will tour the UK before finally ending up in the West End for what may well be a lengthy run. The longest theatre run of any show in the entire world is still running in the West after 56 years - Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap".

Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen at the Birmingham Hippodrome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ACxcAr1gqg

Birmingham city centre is extremely busy and vibrant (sadly it was badly affected by the recent inner city rioting but on Tuesday I saw absolutely no evidence of it all whatsoever - not even a single boarded up shop window so the clearing up work must have been done at the speed of lightning, just as it was back in London - there is absolutely no trace at all left of the destruction of that department store in Croydon which had escaped the Blitz bombings and doodlebugs and V2s of WW2 totally unscathed but fell victim to rampaging fire-raising, looting, thieving deadbeat rioting opportunist scumbag wastrels in August 2011.

A very noticeable feature of Birmingham is its amazing diversity - a mix of all colours with the Asian population very much dominating it all. I would say that all in all only about four faces in ten were white - or that's what it seemed to be the case in my opinion.

Birmingham University seems to have a train station all to itself, on the main line leading out of New Street station on the way to Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Worcester and Hereford o on down to Gloucester and Cheltenham and ultimately Bristol and the West Country. Birmingham University train station is the second station, after Selly Oak, out of New Street, passing close to the Cadbury chocolate factory complex. Some of the suburbs of Birmingham look really classy and nice with plenty of green open spaces, parks and sports grounds and golf courses.

I think it may well be a fun city in which to live but I am hooked on London big time in spite of its ******* expense! but there again you'd be really hard pressed to find a more vibrant and more beautiful city than my own Edinburgh. I could never survive in a small town or any place where people have a narrow outlook on life.

What students at B'ham uni think of Brum:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOqNw...eature=related

the troubadour

What a vivid and interesting account on a city that I have always by passed for no particular reason besides having little interest.
Will make the effort the take a look next time over.

Sally Redux

We revisited Birmingham on our trip this summer and enjoyed it.

I must say, because everyone keeps on about the colour of people in the UK I was really looking out for this, and it still seemed very white to me in all the places we visited, no way was it anything like 4/10 white. That may be the case in small pockets like Sparkbrook but the whole of Birmingham, really?

golgo13

I did a mini reccie last year to London, Brighton and Birmingham and was very supprised by Birmingham and all of the changes. I have a school friend who lives there and has done since she finished Uni and she is still enjoying it. Brighton reminded me of Melbourne from an party eclectic perspective. London still had the buzz it always has but not a big fan of SE London so was happy to visit the new Westfields and other less crowded areas of London. The key I think for most returnees with the option to relocate to a new place in the UK is that it will be a whole new adventure and you will notice that places aren't the only things that have changed.

charleygirl

Oh wow def. got to go to brum now, was there 3 years ago and was very impressed... lovely well written update thanks!

Welshie82

Wow thank you for this wonderful response. I've been hearing wonderful things about Birmingham from the people that live there and can't wait to experience it for myself.

I might just have to pop into Marks now and grab myself one of those chickens...

Perthbum

Birmingham is a different city from a couple of decades ago, go any warm evening and you will find a great coffee culture with people sitting outside and enjoying themselves, great clubs and theater's, try the comedy warehouse
You could always go even better and try a night in my part of the world...Stratford Upon Avon...now that is class

Welshie82

Oh don't worry, I'm sure I'll be visiting Stratford at some point.

johnh009

Like Birmingham, they have done a really good job in Stratford. They have created a major tourist attraction without it being tacky. For anyone driving there, some of the surrounding villages with their country pubs are a great place to stop.

usoruk

I will be visiting Birmingham for my cousins wedding. Flying out thursday and landing, first time for me, at Birmingham Airport this Friday. I went to Birmingham Uni, had my graduation at Symphony Hall and always liked the city center, so many trendy shops, cafes, shopping areas, vintage stores, book stores. Nothing like the boring strip malls here in the US. Bullring was not done up back then and I have heard its really nice now.
I have not been back to the city for over 15 years and I do miss the hustle and bustle, walking around and exploring the nooks and crannies during my carefree uni days. The area by snowhill station I remember was very nice. I hardly walk about anywhere here, except at Walmart, target, mall occasionally or in and out of the car at a strip mall..no quaint and quirky sights to enjoy...I do miss the walkabilty and all the familiar places back home and the history dotted here and there... I even have a soft spot for Digbeth station and the greasy spoon cafes around that area!!

brits1

I must admit I am not a huge shopper but I just love exploring all the street shops etc, its nice to have the shopping malls but I do like the options and we did not really have that at all in Perth. As I said we enjoyed Birmingham and was surprised it was hilly coming from Manchester its surrounded by hills its a very flat City. Hope you have a good time and try and see some of the countryside surrounding Birmingham while your back its lovely.