scot47

People only communicate by watching television. Inter-personal contact is discouraged and viewed as deviant.

scrubbedexpat141

Ditzy

Oh yes I forgot about the endless 'reality' TV shows that were on (in between the adverts for more junk food!).

bakedbean

I thought this when we last went back. That was 7 years ago. Reading this thread, not sure I'd ever want to go back to be honest.

Bahtatboy

The thing is, you remain in control.

There’s a lot of poor food around, but equally there’s a lot of really excellent food. One of the highlights for me of going home is the food. Partly that’s the home cooking, but partly the meals out and the fantastic fresh food available. There’s a small chain of supermarkets up North, with one in the town I live in; first opportunity I have I go there to select a bits’n’pieces dinner, with cold meats, pork pies, scotch eggs, cheese, bread and various veg. There is also an award-winning butchers in town, plus Betty’s for afternoon tea. There are also some great restaurants: English, French, Italian and Indian. That’s just in one small town. England has great food on offer, in restaurants, supermarkets and speciality shops. (Also – I had questioned my wife’s decision to pick up a couple of sandwiches from Morrisons to put in our golf bags, when she’d had the opportunity to make them herself in the morning. It turned out she’d been busier than I thought, plus the sandwiches were really good—two quid, bursting with chicken breast and green stuff. That’s from a bog-standard supermarket.)

So, don’t complain about bad food. Find the good stuff.
TV: Yeah, most of its shite, as is most TV round the world. Again, you’re in control—watch what you want, discard the rest.

There are far deeper problems than other people’s obesity (apart from the impact on the NHS), bad food and crap TV, such as those which Millhouse alluded to. But I’m not sure we’re in the position to complain about those from a distance.

bakedbean

Mmm I would lump in Pork Pies, Scotch Eggs with crisps, fatty foods, sugary foods, crap foods, but I guess it's whatever floats your boat.

Bahtatboy

In that case you're not eating the right pork pies or making your Scotch eggs properly

Beakersful

What I'd give for a proper pastie right now!

EDIT: I have an oven and google, perhaps......

bakedbean

Cornish Pasties...now you're talking.

Bahtatboy

Smuggled back with me black pudding, sausages, bacon and brown sauce (not sure the sauce counts as smuggling, though). Sunday morning's going to be that lot with grilled tomatoes, scrambled eggs, toast, butter and English breakfast tea.

Beakersful

Waitrose essentials brown sauce sourced over in the UAE is far better than that HP monstrosity we get in every supermarket. It's little wonder why the shelves are full of them. I once found Daddies here, but next time I went back to the same supermarket it was gone forever, as if it had never existed.

Lorna at Vicenza

It's not just about food though. Even my Italian OH admits that UK drivers are more respectful than Italian ones (that doesn't take a lot) and less selfish. An Italian will keep a closed gap as tight as he can just so that nobody can squeeze in from a side road. God forbid they let another car in the queue. They always have to be first. An Englishman will often let a car in and get a hands up in recognition and thanks. There is no recognition here. If it ever does happen I faint at my wheel.

Food in the UK can be and is fantastic when you're sick and tired of pasta, pizza, risotto and bruschetta (pronounced with a K please like brusKetta and not brushetta). I laugh and despair at some UK shows and even though Jamie Oliver is not my best friend, I agree with him when he criticises some UK mums for being lazy, stuck in a rut or just not knowing what to do with a bit of rice, veg and pasta. "It's ok for you Jamie love, you can afford fresh veg and time to make a home cooked dinner." Well guess what love, so can you. That half an hour that your chicken nuggets and oven chips are cooking, I can make pasta, risotto, soup, tortellini, grilled chicken breast and salad, a nice fillet of white fish and a whole lot more. In fact fresh pasta in Italy is considered a fast food as it cooks in about 3 to 5 minutes. If you're English like me with an electric kettle, you can even get the boiling water ready in a flash rather than waiting for it boil up slowly in the pan on a gas stove. Leftover veg in a pressure cooker and some stock soon turns into minestrone soup.

As for kids getting fatter and fatter, well that is happening here too even with all the much publicised hype about the Med diet being all fresh and virtually no takeway choice. We have hundreds of ready made croissant type products that kids take to school for break time though or eat for breakfast, then eat bread and Nutella for a snack at home, then ice cream, then something else. My kids eat junk. Why not? Everyone loves a bit of junk. Eat junk today though and tomorrow or the day after you're getting minestrone jam packed with veg or steamed fish and broccoli.

Perhaps I should pause now and draw breath.

scrubbedexpat141

I let a car out into a gap the other day. He put his hazards on to say thanks. I actually pressed the brakes and was preparing to have a go because I thought he was going to just stop and let someone out or something....nope, he was saying thanks.

Driving in the UK is alright, but if you do force your way in to a gap (like I did when I was in the wrong lane on a bridge near Glasgow) you can be in for a whole world of abuse. I only recognised the middle finger and the wanker sign before the guy behind lost me with hand-signal rage.

flares

I wanted to open an outlet selling these treats on Abu Dhabi's seafront...

'Corniche Pasties'

Bahtatboy

Tad more difficult here...