Re: Ping pong pom
 

To be honest, I think you are just on here for a wind-up. If you have nothing else to do then fine but there are people who genuinely like living in the uk and as another poster said i think you chose the wrong place to go back to.

Re: Ping pong pom
 

Jade Goody? Well, because she's only 27 and dying of cancer. It is an emotive story and people are interested - hence it's on the front covers. It has, however, had the effect of thousands of women booking smear tests, so some good has come of it.

You're right though; there is a worrying culture of 'wannabe famous', material possessions, fame and money, but I don't think that is unique to Britain (Australian Idol and Australian Big Brother spring to mind).

I agree about London (rat race, crowded, expensive, etc.). I have to go there for meetings occasionally and every time I think how much I would hate to live there. Plus it makes my snot black. Ugh. But I do like the tube - I think it's clever, simple and fast (mostly), although it is ugly down there. I'm lucky though, I live near the Peak District and sometimes I could just weep at its beauty: big open spaces, lush green grass, frollicking lambs and babbling brooks. Love it.

Weather - yeah, I grant you that; it's crap. But I wilt in the heat and find it oppressive, so I kinda like our weather. Besides, it gives us something to talk about. Look how much fun we had discussing the snow the other week. Marvellous.

Crime - yes, you would see a lot of it in London. Here in the Peak District, we were shocked to the core last week when a boy ran off without paying for his chips and gravy. The horror of it.

Re: Ping pong pom
 

My intention is not to intentionally wind people up. If my posts do wind you up, don't read them. As the old saying says, can't keep everybody happy...and I am not forcing you to read them. What I have said on my OP, is nothing that nobody else hasn't said to me at one point or another over the last few months. Even recent European migrants to London, who I live with, have bitched and moaned to me about being here far far more than I ever do, or will. I live with Welsh, Italian and Polish migrants. They have all told me Im mad to come back to the UK.

I sympathise with them. Personally, I feel bloody lucky to a) Have a well paid job in the current climate and, b) a NZ passport so I can make my escape asap.

If I had neither of the above, I would knuckle down and get on with it. But I have choices now. Thank god.

Peace:thumbup:

Re: Ping pong pom
 

You know, the only problem here is yourself and the histrionic language. I've just come back from the UK and, subjectively, I enjoyed it. You're quite entitled to your own opinions, but they are subjective, and your own. I'm quite capable of making up my own mind about whether to come back, so why would I be interested in a glowing account by you or anyone else?

Re: Ping pong pom
 

:confused: My apologies if i've upset you.

Re: Ping pong pom
 

Mmmmm. You're in roehampton? I don't know how long you've been away but roehampton is a commonly accepted shithole, so it's not surprising you don't like it. I don't like it either and I hope you have a chance to travel around a little.

Predicating your new uk view on that area is a little like moving to darlinghust road in sydney and noting how dirty, scummy, druggy and dangerous kings cross is and therefore the whole city and australia.

Anyway, I'm on my way back to england so all the best to you all whatever your plans.

Re: Ping pong pom
 

Reading through this thread it appears that is exactly what you intended to due. Why have you posted this thread in this forum...it's for people who are moving back to the UK...as the title suggests?

Re: Ping pong pom
 

Well, as I said, it was not my intention to upset other people, just blow off some steam. Sorry, I didn't know where else to post a thread about someone who has moved back to the UK and now is making plans to return to OZ. Suggestions?

It seems to me that certain members of this message board have over-reacted to my OP. Maybe, it's them who have the problem. From somebody living in the USA I thought you'd appreciate the concept of freedom of speech?

Re: Ping pong pom
 

Its surprising to hear this about Roehampton considering its next door to Richmond and other up market areas. Just looked it up and it has an estate called Alton which is meant to be the largest council estate in the UK......This has probably a lot to with its bad image.

Re: Ping pong pom
 

Next door to Putney, too. I don't know if all of Roehampton is a shit hole. I feel safe enough walking around there at night. I just gave one example of cops patrolling inside a supermarket, which i've never seen in Australia. The first time I went there to do some shopping, there was a police van arresting a bunch of kids, fighting or something outside. I asked the shop assistant about it and he said it happened every friday night when they gather to drink booze and meet up.

Another thing I don't like about England is the CCTV big brother stuff. On the bus there are voice messages, like : "This bus is being recorded on CCTV"....."There is no smoking on this bus"...."there is no drinking on this bus"....There are tv cameras on the bus watching everything you do.

London is one of the most CCTV intensive cities in the world. What are the authorities afraid off? They've used the "war on terrorism" as an excuse to erode our personal liberties.

You can have your camera confiscated for taking pictures of buildings, rail-tracks etc living here.


I watched a program on tv the other night about cops patrolling the inner city estates. He said that they were losing the battle against the scum.

SO, yeah, I feel vindicated in my initial assessment that England has gone wrong, big-time.

Re: Ping pong pom
 

They haven't over reacted it was frankly a load of rubbish, it seems to me you're perhaps just not a happy person who's leaving for all the wrong reasons (escaping as you put it is a very poor reason).

I live in a town in Devon just outside Plymouth, crime is virtually non existent, plenty to do, dartmoor, beaches, night life, pub life, friendly locals etc. There are some things I miss about Australia but on balance this is my home and I prefer it, I also learned years ago not to chase rainbows as utopia doesn't exist. Your angry exit indicates to me you're the type who looks for negatives to justify their actions, no doubt you'll be moaning like hell about Australia/NZ within a couple of years.

Good luck, I think you're going to need it!

Re: Ping pong pom
 

Being in a similar situation, I'd agree there is no perfect place on MBTTUK to have a good old whine about the fact you came back, realised you might have screwed up and want to go back to wherever (in my case the States). However, I've done my fair share of whining on here and haven't had a major problem upsetting people.

If it's Oz you're going back to, I'd imagine your style of trashing the UK would probably go down a lot better in the Barbie - have you tried there? It's pretty obvious that MBTTUK is a dumb place to start a thread with a post essentially summing up the UK as a cr*phole. :rolleyes:

Re: Ping pong pom
 

LOL! Or Orkney. Or a little village in the Yorkshire dales, perhaps.

I agree. It's not Britain, it's London. Definitely not for everyone. I know I couldn't live there. Or Toronto. Or even Vancouver. BTW, they're having a wave of gang murders there, and one was in a supermarket parking lot on a busy afternoon. Just mentioning.

And there were a couple of cops in my supermarket yesterday. I didn't assume law and order had ceased, only that there was some shoplifting going on.

Where did you last live in OZ, Coda?

But by all means leave. You have to be making everyone around you miserable.

Bev

Re: Ping pong pom
 

Coda, I notice that on another thread here you said "I arrived back in the UK after 7 years in OZ/NZ, virtually skint. " You were complaining about not getting instant benefits.

Doesn't seem as if you did too well in the place you long to be, but never mind. No wonder you're living a bit rough. Fair enough to warn people that if they return to the UK skint it's not going to be fun, but shouldn't you have included the above in this thread, so people knew where you were coming from?

Congratulations on doing well enough in England to save enough money to return to where you want to be.

Bev

Re: Ping pong pom
 

It does surprise me how many people use their experiences of being in London to judge the rest of England. There is no comparison whatsoever. London may improve in time to host the Olympics, I hope it does but it is over populated and it has it's problems.

Coda, there are a lot of people going through agonizing dilemmas about whether they should return to the UK or stay where they are. They use this MBTTUK forum as a source of advice in trying to weigh things up for making the right decision for them.

Your description of the UK really only applies to London and as I've lived all over the UK, I know it has a mixture of good and bad places.

Did you not have any good experiences in the UK? If you could re post, would you say anything different in hindsight or would you still feel it's the people and the place that were wrong? Nothing to do with your own attitude perhaps?