Very pleasantly surprised.
 

Insince arriving back in the UK I have been very pleasantly surprised by many things, especially things I was 'warned' about. Fresh food in supermarkets is easily as good and as fresh as in Australia and importantly mostly cheaper. The variety available in shops, especially food, is extraordinary and still makes my wife smile when we go into a huge Asda or Tesco. Almost without exception the people are happy, helpful and cheerful, it helps living In a village but when I try to do any work outside I am constantly having to stop to chat with neighbours and locals. I'm certainly not complaining. :)
Generally we have found most things to be either cheaper or comparable in price here.
We haven't encountered any hoodies and we haven't seen any gangs on street corners.
It isn't all rosey of course but nowhere near as bad as some would have us believe.
All in all in :thumbsup:

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

What a lovely post! :thumbsup:

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

Thank you. I just don't see the UK some people describe, rubbish everywhere, ignorant, rude, miserable people, the country going down the toilet etc.

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

Great thread/posts - thanks for sharing!

I'll soon be returning to the UK with my US citizen wife so it's great to read stuff like this.

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No problem at all. Don't get me wrong, like every other country there are problems but they really are nowhere near as bad as some would have us believe.Me

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I totally agree with you. The place that is often described on this board certainly isnt the Britain I am fortunate enough to live in. I dare say if I lived in central Bradford I may think differently but, even then, my friend's son does own a house in Bradford and is very happy with his situation!

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

Thanks for the great report. Look forward to hearing more! :thumbsup:

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Yes if I lived in some deprived area in an inner city I would have a different opinion but I hope unlike some I wouldnt use that experience to tar the whole country with the same brush. I have heard people often say 'well you could never do that in the UK', well we must be special as we do it all the time. :D You couldnt leave anything outside here as it would get nicked, thank goodness there is no crime in Australia :rofl: I'm not sure if people think before they make these ridiculous statements or it makes them feel better about the decision they have made ?

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

What’s wrong with Bradford ?

Not everyone’s cup of tea granted but nevertheless it has character and facilities many people enjoy.

• Culturally diverse
• Excellent world class Photography Museum.
• Museum of ‘Colour’
• Excellent authentic curry restaurants
• New paved city centre that puts Brisbane’s City Square to shame.
• New city centre precinct being built.

Not everyone is able to live in middle class ‘posh’ areas in Britain and seem to look down at working class people who live in less salubrious areas.

I for one admire what Bradford City Council has done to the city over the last few years to modernize and regenerate while trying to keep the character of an old working class, industrial city.

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My waistline is showing how much I`m enjoying food back in England:rofl:

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I totally agree!
We've been back in London 6 weeks now and loving every minute of it, though it still feels very much like an extended vacation at the moment! :thumbsup:

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

True. I wouldn't want to live there, but my two oldest friends live in the Bradford metropolitan area and they genuinely love it. One said to me recently "I wish I loved Harrogate - it would make life much easier - but I don't. I love Bradford." He is an integral part of the community and has worked to create a thriving artistic community in the city. My other close friend is enamored of the food and is taking us out for a curry two weeks from now. My mouth is watering in advance!

Jemima55, amen, I needed to lose weight when I arrived back and the chocolate and pub grub and chippies haven't made it any easier.

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

I am fed up of being ripped off on food prices in NZ, we have just returned from a holiday in OZ where according to Kiwis is way cheaper blah blah blah
The 10 day holiday cost us far more than a fortnight in Italy where we ate out everynight. we could not afford more than 3/10 nights, the accomodation was a rip off, dirty and disgusting:thumbdown:

Agreed more choice than NZ but still expensive can not wait to return so looking forward to the choice and muller yogurts!!!
:thumbsup:

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

Despite all of the negativity about Bradford, it has character and history. There are still many magnificent Victorian buildings and the Wool Exchange in Bradford was where all of the wool once bought and sold throughout the British Empire was traded. Also, Bronte Country, Saltaire Village, Worth Valley Railway, and Ilkley fall in the Bradford tourist area. Bradford was a significent city during the Industrial Revolution. It also probably has the best Indian/Pakistani food in the UK. Major national restaurant chains like Akbars originated there. Happy eating!

Have a look at their tourist website:

http://www.visitbradford.com/

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I know what you're saying Johnh009, but I think you'd that it's a stretch to put Ilkley in with Bradford - and I say that as someone who went to "Ilkley and Bradford College" back when it existed.

One recent survey found that Ilkley is now the most expensive market town outside the south of England - it's even more affluent than Harrogate. I don't know anyone from round here who would claim Bradford and Ilkley had anything more to do with each other than Ilkley and Sheffield.

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Ilkley and Sheffield apart, the fact is, Ilkley is still within the Metropolitan Borough of Bradford. I know the delusional residents of Ilkley don't like this and have managed a token effort to become part of the Leeds postal district and secure a Leeds postcode. My original point was that Ilkley is covered on the Bradford tourism site because is within their boundary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Bradford

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilkley

I lived in Ilkley for many years and always paid my council taxes to the City of Bradford Metropolitan Council and still would if I lived there.

http://www.bradford.gov.uk/bmdc/cont...kley_town_hall

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I realize that Johnh, but in the context of this conversation (whether Bradford is a dump or not) it just seems that including Ilkley is giving the city an unfair advantage ;-)

I think you're taking my comment more seriously than it was actually intended.

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LOL, I am sorry, I shouldnt always use Bradford as an exemplar of places I wouldnt really want to live. My tomtom has an aversion to Bradford and it has become a bit of a joke to me - it just refuses to get me smoothly through Bradford to get to my friend's place near Settle so I just avoid the place altogether now. Actually, as I said, my friend's son is more than happy to live there and he has bought a nice house and has a good job so I shouldnt knock it.

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Since returning to the UK, it is obvious that just about every city/town has its good and bad areas. I am currently working in the Wolverhampton area and the suburbs go from homes worth millions of pounds to depressed areas where the buildings are boarded. Same with Bradford. And even the much touted Harrogate has its bad areas. It is not just the North either. I recently worked in Great Yarmouth and how the word "Great" became part of the name is a loss to me. I have never seen as many ankle monitoring bracelets in my life.

On a different note, the press speculates that George Osbourne is to be replaced by William Hague. Imagine, the country's finances being run by a Yorkshireman rather than a little snot from Eaton. Great, this is what we need.

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Yes exactly. We are lucky to live in a village which has no bad areas but every city in the world has good and bad areas.

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True. Although the "bad bits" of the towns round me have a way to go before they can match the bad bits of New York City :lol:

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It would be my preference that arrogant posh boys from privileged backgrounds, no matter which county they come from, do not run the country.

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The North / South divide is all relative.
In Norfolk recently I irritated someone coming from somewhere south of Norfolk and she accused me of being an uncouth Northerner, lol, given I have a somewhat mid-Atlantic accent.

There once was a Little Yarmouth thus the need to differentiate by naming the larger neighbour as Great. I haven't been there in 30 years despite it being only 50 miles away but I have heard it is not as desirable as it was when we holidayed there as a children.
However, travel up/down the coast a bit from Gt. Yarmouth and you will find rather expensive areas frequented by posh 2nd home owners.

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Great post

Generally i find people who moan about the UK either

a) Never lived abroad and think that holiday to Spain is how life would be if they moved there

b) Looking for a reason not to stay in the UK, Saying how crap the UK is makes it easier

c) They live abroad are not really happy where ever they are but the thought of moving back to the UK makes them feel they failed, So find it easier to think and talk about all the bad things about the UK - Which every country has (crime, unemployment, stupid governments etc...)

d) They read the daily mail newspaper


Alot the time it is mostly D lol

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

The UK has a very self-deprecating press which can create a bad impression of the country. On the other hand, if you go to Canada, which has very similar problems to the UK, then the press portrays a "rainbows and lollipops" scenario.

I bought into this "UK is going to the dogs" scenario when I was much younger and went chasing dreams. Now realise that I would be much better off had I have stayed in the UK, although I suppose I have gained the life experience for what it is worth.

Better to read everything (including the Daily Mail) and form your own opinions.

In reality, I should have gone to Devon.

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It is good to see Chris955 presenting such a positive viewpoint on the return to UK. It must give a llot of hope to a lot of people.

I do think the return experience does depend a lot on your circumstances, what resources you have available to you and how well you do your research beforehand.

There are lots of nice places and nice people in the UK and if you are lucky enough to find them (as Dorothy says) "there's no place like home".

If you return with little money and no job, then it can be difficult to avoid some of the things which people complain about in UK - it is a stark reality that there is a section of society who are literally anti-social/anti - society.

I hope that when I come back, which should be sometime soon, I am able to find an existence like that described by Chris955

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:rofl: Its been a while coming. Hope Hague finally gets the chance:fingerscrossed:

Unfortunately those arrogant little posh boys pervade and make things very difficult whenever they don't get their own way, all politics aside.

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Thanks. From our point of view there are far more positives about living in the UK than negatives.
Of course there is anti social behaviour, there was in Australia too but we havent seen any since being here.
We were lucky in that we could to a degree pick where we wanted to live and we had a fair amount of money to do this.
For the first couple of weeks we found ourselves actively looking for the bad things we had been warned about without much success :D We didnt see miserable people, bad service, gangs on street corners.
England for us is still the England we have always loved.

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I rang the council to set up paying Council Tax yesterday and have never laughed so much in my life! A complete "off the wall" conversation with the guy on the other end, instead of somebody reading through a script. It was fun and made me feel so at home, and almost lessened the sting of council tax!

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What a load of bollocks. Have lived in 5 countries. Just because someone prefers not to live in the UK doesn't make them any of your pathetic choices. It means their lives are better somewhere other than the UK.

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Generally i find people who moan about the UK either

Generally Meaning and Definition
In general; commonly; extensively, though not universally; most frequently.

At what point did i say everyone, i know many people living abroad due to many reasons family, work etc... They are happy but they don't moan about the UK

Maybe you're one of them too, But going by your response who knows

My point is when living abroad i found a lot expats living a lie telling you how great life and the country is, But there struggling financially or to find work and the thought of coming back to the UK is horrible as your dream was to live in XYZ So for many its easier to make excuses as to why the UK is bad as you still want that dream

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Very true. For a long time, I was happy abroad and during that time it wouldn't have occurred to me to come on a site like this and aggressively state how happy I was. No need - I was happy and therefore it didn't matter what anyone else thought.

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:confused::confused::confused::confused:

Re: Very pleasantly surprised.
 

Much as I'd love to remove your confusion, I'm not actually sure what you're confused about. Can you tell me and then I can clarify?

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I'm easily confused. :)

Isn't there a strong contradiction in your statement.....

To clarify, if you replace the word 'abroad' with 'in England' in the above you'll see my confusion. Nothing wrong with being happy, or expressing ones happiness, unless of course one is 'living a lie and telling you how great life and the country is' , to quote a statement from "b121", which you supported.

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I understand what you are saying b121 and Sally, I think the word aggressively is the main point.

Its great that people come on here and talk about how happy they are in their chosen country or in the UK, but the people who then go on to aggressively attact another country (not just state logical facts), appear to be justifiying their choice of country.

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The word 'agressively' was not used in that context.

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Touched a nerve ?

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Exactly what I thought :D

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Only in the sense that the generalisation irritated me :)