BEVS

TBH that is so rude & actually a bit rubbish.

I'm not saying that the OP's post isn't also rude in places but really? Do you have to go this road? Again and again and again ?

The OP may have some very valid points among that humungous list. The problem here is that Mrs London1947 put the criticisms as the whole of the UK & made sweeping statements.

Reality is that she is expressing the UK as it is for her & that is regardless of her nationality. It is really a subjective view from someone who has not settled at all in what is not a long period of time. Culture and reverse culture shock .

She is just another migrant not happy with the place she finds herself in and so needs to find a place to vent. We read so much of that here all over BE don't we.

That is fine is it not? Doesn't make it actually how it is for the country & for our people happy there but it is how it is just for her. It is just how she smells the roses.

Roses in the USA - fine . Roses in the UK - stinky.

Perhaps Mr and Mrs London1947 can 'snowbird'. Who knows.

Let's wait to hear.

Because the botom line is that only they can solve this for them. No amount of blindly lashing out will do that.

Sally Redux

It would actually be a lot clearer if Mrs 1947 posted from her own account and gave more background info. Knowing why they are trapped in a place they hate could lead to some useful advice.

I have to say that they must be in a particularly bleak part of Devon. It sounds far worse than the council estate in Gateshead where my in-laws live. So again, a little background could lead to advice on possible alternatives.

petrichor

Must be a glutton for punishment. I wouldn't live somewhere that was making me so unhappy, providing I had a choice about it of course.

Pollyana

Me and Bernieboy

SDDep

On the plus side there is the Metro Center. And just down the road, beautiful North Yorkshire.

I spent years living in the southwest and the only part I didn't care for much was Plymouth on Friday nights, and even that wasn't too bad. I would move to Cornwall in a heartbeat.

BEVS

Agree.

I have not looked but Mrs London1947 may not have ever lived in the UK for any substantial amount of time before.

I get that. It was a huge shock to me when I arrived here in NZ & the dazzle started to wear off.

Culture shock and reverse culture shock .

London1947

Thank you. Finally someone who read all the way to the bottom before going off.

Sue

I think Devon (and the SW in general) can be a bit of a shock to someone moving from elsewhere in the UK. It's like a different life entirely down there, and not everyone's cup of tea. Me ... I'd move there tomorrow if I could.

moneypenny20

I wouldn't. But only because my sleazy pervy halitosis breathing uncle lives down there.

BEVS

Actually. More than one of us my lovely. So you do need to give that acknowledgement also. You also do need to state whether you are Mr or Mrs London1947 when posting .

I'd like you to start with that now please, if you don't want to have two accounts.

Y'know. I had actually logged off to go to bed but logged back on when a thought occurred to me.

Someone once said to me that you need to feel an attachment. That a place needs to feel it belongs to you and you to it. If you don't have that , then you are just ...there.
I understand that. I don't feel an attachment to where I am now. I am ambiguous. I actually quite like it overall but I think of my lovely Dorset, Hampshire and Devon area and I love. It is in my heart.

Feeling unattached and so very critical is an unhappy place to be for him/her/them. I do hope the OP finds their place to be.

Please do note that lashing out is OK but can wear thin. My family & friends comes from the place where you called people pigs.

So whilst giving thanks, please think of others reading your posts. That's my family and friends you pegged (pigged) there.

Regards.

edit...sigh... another thought

I am posting as a poster to be clear. Not as a Europe /UK mod which I am.

Jerseygirl

I asked you from the start to open a new account for your wife. If you had it would avoided this confusion.

London1947

This is Mr London 1947,

It has been interesting reading the comments some quite nasty but that was to be expected from some posters. She was commenting on what she has read in papers and the news on the TV and has observed for herself living here now for the past two years. She is highly educated with a BA+MBA. I'm pretty sure that some posters have absolutely have no idea what is going on right in front of their eyes and ears. It is a typical British trait as history have taught us to bury our heads in the proverbial sand. It is laughable to read that someone has no problem with 20% VAT of course the tax cannot be localized as it is in the USA. I have always stated that both the UK/USA have their own set of issues, but I can see both sides of the Atlantic.

Is there anyone on here that has made the move back to the UK and realized that they had made a big mistake and why, let's here from some of them.

My wife found some of the posts quite laughable "do I expect my landlord to supply a kettle" it has been an interesting experiment. We both accept no benefits from the UK Government and paid a great deal of money to bring my Wife here legally. Now we have to decide whether or not to proceed with her ( ILR )

To those of you that posted some nice replies I thank you.

Regards
John

moneypenny20

Do you get white goods in rentals in the US? It's not normal practice here in Aus; you get a house/apartment with cupboards and that's pretty much it unless you're renting a furnished place that has everything.

theOAP

Imagine, Americans unhappy when first living in the UK. How unusual.

I, an American, first moved to the UK at the age of 35 (plus a few). I had lived in America all my life.

I moved over in January, and since finding housing was difficult, I lived in a hotel for the first two months. I can't tell you my surprise when, on my first night here, the heating in the room went off at 9:30 PM and didn't come back on till 6:00 AM the next morning. I assumed there was a problem with the heating system. Of course, there was no heat in the bathroom, at any time. It was only some time later that I learned that wealth in the UK was measured by the number of 'bars' on your 'fire'.

It was also while living in a hotel that I learned if you didn't eat lunch between 12 noon and 1:30, you didn't eat lunch that day. Anywhere. I also learned that having a quick hamburger was difficult. The nearest McDonalds was 40 miles away. If you did find somewhere, nearby, custom dictated you ate it with a knife and fork (What!). I had a company car allotted to me, and one had been pre-arranged for my arrival. I had no idea cars, anywhere in the world, came in British Standards Green. I also learned that very, very few petrol stations were open on Sunday.

I learned that everyone at work gathered around the radio on one afternoon in the autumn to listen to the Chancellors budget. I was shocked when the Chancellor put 3p on to the already insanely high price of a litre of petrol (do they not understand riots in the streets here!), but duly watched everyone leave work early to go fill up with petrol before 6:00 PM, if they could get near a petrol station.

After finally finding a place to live ("The lounge is cosy, you can get by with a single bar fire."), I learned the basics of shopping. Sainsbury's, Tesco, et al, closed at 6:00 PM during the week. If you didn't shop before 10:00 AM on a Saturday, you had no bread. They also closed at 2:00 PM on Saturday and didn't reopen till Monday. Milk was fun. I found I had to go to the post office and pay for a license with a real (postage type) stamp on it before I could watch TV. There were 2 and 1/2 channels available. There was no TV available at 10:00 in the morning, but two available at noon. By 6:00 in the evening, there were 3 channels available, but all went off the air by 11:30 that evening.

I also discovered British standard refrigerators. The combined fridge/freezer area was about the size of a large bread bin.

Then, they declared war on Argentina. (What!)

I learned to not be alarmed when 2 police officers showed up at my front door at 5:30 AM every 5 or 6 months to check my green Aliens Registration book. ("All in order, thank you! Ta.")

I finally found somewhere new and very nice, but I had to purchase a new washer and dryer, as well as a decent sized refrigerator. I waited all day for John Lewis to deliver them, but only realised that evening there was a problem. The next day, from the office, I in all innocence, called John Lewis to inquire about the missing 3 pin plugs they had obviously not fitted. I really do remember slamming down the phone and shouting at the top of my lungs - "F***ING THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!"

Fast forward 30+ years, and I'm living in the UK and I have dual US/UK citizenship. Since one of those has now become an absolute PITA, I'm seriously considering giving it up. Guess which one?

Bud the Wiser

An enjoyable read. Your post reminds me of the Bill Bryson TV series, "Notes from a small Island."

My guess is the US.