Originally Posted by Jennifer Fletcher

Wow I'm shocked... That sounds awful! If you put it that way I guess UK are lucky to have the so-called 'nanny state'!

I really feel for you and hope that you can move back to your lovely hometown with ease.

My husband said he didn't want to stay here in Sydney and I said to him the only way I would go back is if we moved to the countryside! I love cornwall or even just Hertfordshire.

I think the countryside has more friendly people there so you should be able to build up friends again easily.

My dad told me that it takes leaving the UK to really appreciate it. He was in the merchant navy for a few years. Although, he is now as upset as I am about the way London is and wants to move to the Philippines! lol! Maybe I should suggest to him to just move to the countryside

I love this thread

Originally Posted by sallysimmons

I don't have any problem with immigrants - far from it. I think they have made Britain a richer and more interesting place than it was when I left it. And they've introduced way better food! But then again, since I left Britain I've lived in very multi-cultural societies and I know how much it has improved my life. I'm not interested in 'whites only' living - never have been.

I had a list of reasons I left too, Jennifer. Top of mine was Margaret Thatcher, rain and football hooligans. But you change as you get older - or some of us do anyway. Be happy that you're enjoying your life, but don't presume to know how people much older than you should be feeling. You have a lot of life experiences to go before you understand.

As for the birds, we have a lot of bird song here and I'm 20 minutes outside Manhattan. Do you guys genuinely not hear birds where you live?

Originally Posted by ldyinlv

I live in the desert..there is the occasional poor little sparrow with its tongue hanging out ..lol. to be serious there are birds but nothing like there are in the UK
Jackie..

Originally Posted by windsong

Yes, I would like to go to the countryside to be with nature and the birds and feel the peace. I always loved flowers and trees and green grass anyway. I don't want to be too far from a town, though. This is one of the reasons I am looking at Somerset in addition to Edinburgh. Wells is such a lovely place.

I would certainly miss the possums, raccoons and squirrels here, though. They are adorable! There are things I will miss from the USA but it certainly is not the people.

Originally Posted by windsong

I don't here many at all and I live in suburbia.

The neighbors can't stand me feeding the squirrels. Ohhh, it encourages raccoons and they cause damage! Ohhh, it encourages mice and you don't want those. Ohhh, we are scared to live alongside wildlife!

Sorry for the sarcasm but people have taken away the habitat of wildlife - and now they can't stand them when they come close? Oh my! This is just one example of the pathetic nature of some Americans.

Originally Posted by Jennifer Fletcher

In Australia we have this really weird bird walking around called an Ibis. It's like a miniature ostrich with short feathers and a really long beak! The bird life here is rich, we have budgies and cockatoos. The birds are loudest at dawn and dusk and some of them sound really strange! There is a lot of greenery and people mow the lawns as well as the grass on the street that they don't have to mow! I think it's lovely that people take care of their surroundings for the benefit of others as well. At night I hear crickets as well which is quite peaceful No squirells anyway though - I thought Koalas would make up for it but I think they're endangered because I have seen zero koalas here

Originally Posted by Jennifer Fletcher

Hi Windsong

Whereabouts in the UK are you moving to?

I'm from London, moved to Sydney last month. I'm 27 so I can't recall past 30 years but I can tell you that in the last 15-20 years of life in London it has changed dramatically. It's one of the reasons I left. I've only been in Sydney for a month but I can already feel a connection with this place and it actually reminds me of how London USED to be. Strangely, Sydney is more similar to the London of my childhood than the current London is.

If you're moving back to somewhere in the countryside then I guess that's a different story, but I don't know much about that. It would be interesting to hear more about where you are from.

I doubt things will be the same after 30 years, the population has changed, the races and religions have changed - you might even see mosques and cultural food markets in place of your butchers and grocers. It's not a bad thing, it's just very different. The christmas I knew as a child has all but disappeared due to political correctness. There's a whole load of things that have changed, and I don't think most of them are for the better really. But that's just my opinion. In light of that, I would imagine in 20-30 years from now I would rather keep the England I knew in my memory and not spoil it by going to a deteriorating economy and culture. England is not a place of good manners anymore, not a place of community. It's very easy to get iscolated and lonely there and people do not respect the elderly.

Whatever negatives you might be facing in the US won't neccessarily be resolved by coming back to the UK. Perhaps you would be better off planning to move to another destination - maybe check out Scandanavia or Italy (again personal opinon!) and then you'll know that you are close enough to home to drop in now and then. There are lots of options and I think you sound like someone who is passionate and has a lot of life in you. Wouldn't going 'back' to UK be a kind of regression? And on top of that an unfamiliar regression? If you're gonna go into the unfamiliar, may aswell do it somewhere new and nice, and not risk shattering your love for UK as it was.

Anyway that's my thoughts on your topic!

Originally Posted by Jennifer Fletcher

Glad to see this forum is active!

I don't know how I will feel in 3 - 30 years time. I made the choice to leave London because I just felt that life was really depressing and the types of people you run into on public transport leave a lot to be desired. So many people are annoyed about the immigration issues, I would be lying if I said that wasn't part of the problem for me. I know there's a whole bigger picture and I'm not an economist or anything but from what I could see there seems to be a constant looming threat of terrorist attack (after 7/7 if people like that get their hands on nukes, they wouldn't hesitate to use it on London), there is a problem with numerous underage pregnancies (sorry I don't have any stats but it's obvious just walking down Croydon high street) to single, uneducated mothers leading to a cycle of producing more of them (promiscuity is a problem amongst these types), the latest immigration wave of polish people has seen to it that you are exposed to the polish language everyday while they work in jobs that the government should've forced the uk benefit busters to work instead. Those are just a few of the observations I made from a mixture of experience, media and discusssions amongst like-minded people. From my everyday experience I have plenty of things to say about the general public! Once upon a time we used to have civilised bus queues. Now it's like a baboon troop scrambling for food just to get the bus. The weak, ill or elderly have no chance of getting the bus - even if they queued there first. It's overcrowded, people bash into you and don't apologise. It's dangerous - my phone has been mugged from me 2ce in my own street. I've been attacked at my local park while on a sunday morning run. It's a place where immorality is rife, it's not a place for children. London is a place to make money if you can (with the goal of enjoying that money elsewhere) and get the hell out! On top of this we have bad weather, what's the point?

You know what I do love about England though? Pork pies, savaloy and chips and pie and mash. I loved it when the food of the chavs was pie and mash - that's changed now to chicken and chips eaten on the bus with a loud rnb song playing on their mobile. Sorry forgot, I was supposed to be positive in this paragraph! I do enjoy going to a football match in the cold season, the chants of the supporters and seeing your breath-vapour as you watch the pitch is an amazing atmosphere. I love those shows only fools and horses, keeping up appearances etc! I loved going to the butchers or the grocers! I love Mayfair and Canary Wharf - both places I worked at. The back-street bars in Mayfair around Berkley Square were lovely. I love the cheap prices of food, I love the atmosphere when the christmas lights are up, I love the snow and I love sitting with my nan in her cosy flat by the fireplace watching x-factor or whatever she wants to watch!

So, there are parts of the UK that are close to my heart and can never be replaced by Australia, but it's just too heartbreaking to watch all that disappear in front of me as the UK deteriorates. It's sad to say but it will one day be as distant as a foreign country with no way to return.

Okay so now you know my opinion and why I was telling windsong to reconsider

Originally Posted by Jennifer Fletcher

I can sympathise with you there, even though I've never been to USA I understand when the demographics change for the worse anywhere else is better! I guess London is like an inferior version of New York.. I just spoke to my husband about your situation and how horrible it was there - mainly because the people don't care, and he said that's how LA is. He said that the cafes and shops are filled with wannabe actors, porn stars and the like. I think that sounds pretty much like the reason why things are so bad there. Lots of people who only care about themselves doesn't make for a successful society! I feel that way about London, it's full of people who only care about themselves and have no consideration for others on many levels. On a simple level for example, just stepping to the side or stopping in the street to let others go by - it doesn't take much to say thank you. It's just the little things like that which make a society a better place. You don't really have to genuinely care about your neighbour, but just to show that consideration as a basic way of conducting oneself really benefits everyone.

Anywayyy, all the best with your move. I think you're making the right decision to go to Scotland

Originally Posted by Jennifer Fletcher

In Australia we have this really weird bird walking around called an Ibis. It's like a miniature ostrich with short feathers and a really long beak! The bird life here is rich, we have budgies and cockatoos. The birds are loudest at dawn and dusk and some of them sound really strange! There is a lot of greenery and people mow the lawns as well as the grass on the street that they don't have to mow! I think it's lovely that people take care of their surroundings for the benefit of others as well. At night I hear crickets as well which is quite peaceful No squirells anyway though - I thought Koalas would make up for it but I think they're endangered because I have seen zero koalas here

Originally Posted by bluesglue

to whom can i send a private message to with regard to the topic. just need some good advice...

Originally Posted by ldyinlv

I remember when I was a child living in OZ the budgies would fly over, and it looked like a rainbow they where so colorful..
Jackie

Originally Posted by ldyinlv

But I didnt live in Sydney..