The things you hear.
 

I suspect all of us have heard and been told gems of information regarding the UK over the years. The other day I was speaking to my mother in Australia and she told me about a conversation she was having with another lady, apparently all the small villages in the UK have been taken over by Muslims :lol:
Another gem was on an Australian cooking show, one of the 'contestants' had recently returned from some time in England so the inevitable question was asked and yes of course this girl was rightly pleased to be home and away from all the stodgy flavourless food over here a it was nice to be able to buy fresh food again.
Although I laugh at this stuff do these people actually believe what they are saying ?

Re: The things you hear.
 

Everyone has different experiences, though the part about small villages taken over by muslims leaves me bewildered. Perhaps in the future though.

Re: The things you hear.
 

Well seeing as less than 5% of the population are Muslim it will be quite sometime, I dislike all religions equally so it makes no difference to me. Our village has been taken over by Christians lol.
I realise people have different experiences but it's like me saying there are no spiders in Australia, that isn't an experience it is just clearly wrong.

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What cooking show was that?

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Mmm, trying to think , the one with the really gay bloke, Winton. Can't think of the name. No not Dale Winton he is over here I think. My head hurts :) Ready Steady Cook, thanks Google.

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When in Canada, I was told that the clouds in the sky over Britain are caused by air pollution, and the absolute favourite -- the cold in Britain is worse than cold in Canada because it is a 'damp cold'. Yeah, right, -2° with high humidity feels so much worse than -20° with dry air. I don't think.

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This is what I mean, do people honestly believe this nonsense ? Unfortunately the worst culprits are expats, we had a newly arrived Brit visit us in Queensland and he kept talking about all the stuff he could now do which he couldn't do back home, in the end I gave up saying we used to do all that stuff.

Re: The things you hear.
 

As chris says, it's primarily the Brit expats in Canada who come out with the "dry cold" nonsense.

You can forgive the odd cradle who most likely has never left Manitoba or wherever.

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In the 1950s I was told by a Canadian in England that he felt colder here than in Canada, and this summer while waiting for a boat from Brixham back to Torquay, another Canadian said the same. Why this is I don't know, but it can't be discounted.

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'Taken over?'

Possibly some of the people who move in may be Muslims. So what.

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I have not seen much of what the doom-mongers presaged. Waiting to see my first poo tree. Some school kids were playing with the trolleys outside Sainsbury's and I thought we would run into chav trouble. But they all dispersed as we walked up. Absolutely no problems with health service. Food amazing.

My mum had told me there are no white people left in Birmingham - it's true cos they said it on the TV.

It rains more than in LA, and I'm already sick of Christmas stuff. :lol:

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Yes exactly, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if Muslim families moved into our village as long as they behaved like anyone else. They are hardly likely to take over though lol

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Same, not spotted a much heralded poo tree myself either.
The biggest 'problem' is that some Brits, not all by any means but a vocal minority will happily tell you just how bad everything is here and how it MUST be better elsewhere.

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Ask my wife when she has felt the coldest and she will tell you it was a bike ride from Geelong to Ballarat in Victoria.

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Yeah it's a PR problem of some kind.

Even if everything's fine, "It will all go wrong in the future." :huh:

I really do try to ignore it.

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The classic example is what great weather we are having....but it can't last lol

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:lol: always.

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I think they do it to keep the wonders and delights of the United Kingdom landscape and culture to themselves... ;) sometimes it works, obviously most of the world is buying the stories, works so well, even some of their own are buying it... And leaving. Eh, more room for me and my sweet clan when we are all over there.

+7 in Derby today, -7 and DAMP here in Eastern Ontario... Just sayin. Can't wait to hop over and be with my luxury weather enjoyin' Hunny... ;)

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Have you moved back ?

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Yes, moved back mid-August.

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I suspect this is simply to do with being prepared. Or not.
If you dress for -30 it doesn't feel that cold. Plus, of course, you're unlikely to be out in it that long. But a zero temperature might feel cold if you dressed in the expectation of something warmer and you were out a bit longer.

Re: The things you hear.
 

I heard from one of my friends that three people have been charged with plotting to commit acts of terrorism in the form of beheading a random person of the British public. I thought to myself how ludicrous and far fetched that sounded, can't possibly be true, more garbage made up by whingers in the UK.

Re: The things you hear.
 

Eh? That's not some daft sweeping statement you hear in passing. That's made world news and the NZ news for that matter.

Here is one along the lines of this thread but not of the UK. Of NZ.

It rains here. Obviously it rains here. It is raining today . The clouds from whence the rain comes are.....white and grey in colour. Just like clouds all over the world. The place is green , verdant & our area is home to a gazillion orchards, vegetable farms, dairy farms and the like.

So . A day of rain or even days of torrential rains but what are we told.

"You'll be used to that where you come from. It's always raining there & so very dull , grey & miserable"

I mean........really? Thinks to self - Give me a realistic break or get a reality check.

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I didn't realise you were making the move. Welcome back. How is it to be non-expat again? As expected?

Re: The things you hear.
 

So just like the arrests we have had here in Australia for the same thing.

The same threats made to many western countries following calls from ISIS.

Do you think NZ is somehow immune to all this then?

Re: The things you hear.
 

"London streets are paved with gold." - Dick Whittington.

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Having just returned from the Yukon, I couldn't agree more.

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That of course is total bull. If it's -30 it just is cold. I can't possibly imagine it not feeling cold. If it happened to be windy too, you'd die rather quickly.

Clothes are all well and good, certainly it's better under those circumstances to not just have pyjamas on, but what rational human being would subject themselves to such torture.

For the kids I suppose or for a bigger house.

Re: The things you hear.
 

I've just been dog sledding and driving a snow mobile in -12. With the correct clothing, no problem at all. You can dress for the cold, there's a limit to undressing for the heat.

The problem I had is putting all the stuff on and taking it off.

Weather? Grey low clouds should be banned from the planet.:( What a difference they make to ones outlook.

Re: The things you hear.
 

For what it's worth, I found the -30 - -40c temps commonly experienced in a Northwestern Ontario winter far easier to cope with than winters in Toronto where -15c was considered COLD. Dry vs damp.

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Not at all. Grey clouds can be quite calming. I find day after day of relentless big blue skies to be slightly nerve wracking. When the weather is great, I feel I must be doing something active outside, and guilty if I am inside. A good mix of sunshine and cloudy days is the ideal.

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Thank you! It feels great to be home, and personally I think England has so much going for it, it really is a shame that people don't praise the good things more. The only trouble is that my kids are now more American than British so we'll see what happens there.

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I agree. I try to do my bit on pointing out the good/great aspects on Britain. Especially when a newbie expat claims the country has gone to the dogs. I do find the level of debate interesting and lively. This Emily Thonberry White Van story is a good example. Of course it's a storm in a tea cup, but the fact that a single un-captioned photo can convey so much, and has so much cultural reference within it is fascinating. Try explaining to an American the a senior politician had to quit because they tweeted a photo of a patriotic blue collar worker and they would be flummoxed!

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They have their own issues around racism. But in general, yeah.

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Elections coming up. Naturally virtually everything represents some existential threat, and explains how Britain has become impoverished and taken over by dubious foreigners. As long as it supports your party's battle cry anyway.

Daily mail also has something to do with Britain's widespread belief in wacky nonsense. I reckon election times are like Christmas for them.

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Oh God. A damp cold versus dry cold conversation. I thought I'd escaped them after my last Canadian dinner party.

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:rofl:

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It depends on where in Canada though, as its about humidity. I cold in the centre of the landmass (eg. Alta, Sask) is bound to feel drier than that around the oceans and great lakes.

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The Daily Mail is poison. It seems to be very prominently displayed in our local M&S, quite jarring to do your shopping with screaming headlines on the end of the aisles.

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It's just a possible explanation for why people who have experienced -30 might have a recollection of feeling colder at zero.
Of course.

But that's why you dress for -30 and make your arrangements to not be out in it that long. ;)

Whereas that unexpected wait at a bus stop at zero - when you're not done up ready for Ice Station Zebra - will feel cold.

Then you recall experiences of feeling cold at zero but not feeling so cold at -30.

It's not scientific, of course, but perhaps a human reaction.

There's an old game show where the audience is asked questions before the recording of the show and the contestants have to give answers they think the audience gave.

The purpose is not necessarily to give the correct or logical answers to the question, but to say what a popular answer would be.

This is similar. :nod: