Originally Posted by Wintersong

Firstly, sites like this are a Godsend for expats like us. Until you have experienced the emotional rollercoaster of moving to another country and giving up everything you are used to, you have no way of understanding what it is like. ...

Originally Posted by Wintersong

If you do live in California as you profess, you were up at 4am typing this? And you accuse others of having miserable lives? Well, I for one am not so miserable that I have to get up in the middle of the night in order to attack others for being negative.

Originally Posted by ImHere

They do, actually its an American company:

http://www.safeway.com/Employment/Em...OurCompany.asp

Originally Posted by fatbrit

Mine reads: Support our terrorists, not theirs.

Would I be safe?

Originally Posted by fatbrit

Mine reads: Support our terrorists, not theirs.

Would I be safe?

Originally Posted by Wintersong

If you do live in California as you profess, you were up at 4am typing this? And you accuse others of having miserable lives? Well, I for one am not so miserable that I have to get up in the middle of the night in order to attack others for being negative.

You claim that your posts have been positive. Well, newsflash here - they weren't. They were just negative in a different way.

I'm not going to enter into a battle of words with you, I'm just going to point out one or two things. Take them as you will.

Firstly, sites like this are a Godsend for expats like us. Until you have experienced the emotional rollercoaster of moving to another country and giving up everything you are used to, you have no way of understanding what it is like. Your stint in Germany does not compare, because you were working for America, with Americans, albeit in a different setting. You may believe that you experienced the culture - in fact, I'm sure you did, but while you were doing so, you had the fallback of all your compatriots experiencing it right along with you. You could hear an American accent whenever you wished, chat about TV programmes or food or whatever it was that you were missing whenever you wanted to. Most of us do not have that luxury. We are assimilating into a new culture and there are some things we need to get used to. We don't have the liberty of being able to whinge about them with dozens of other Brits during the day, so we do it on this forum.

If, as an American citizen, you are hurt and upset by the things we choose to complain about, it begs the question - what on Earth are you doing frequenting a board like this? What exactly is your link to British Expats? Or is it some masochistic desire to get yourself all riled up and hot under the collar? I do think that, for the good of your blood pressure, you need to steer clear of these forums. You are not British. You are not an Expat. Why are you here? Not that you don't have the right to be, but it doesn't seem to be doing you an awful lot of good.

You want us to be more accepting of a different culture (i.e. yours) and yet you are not being accepting of our culture. You chose to come to a British Expats site (which should, by definition, be full of Brits) and argue with us about something which is very much part of our cultural identity - whinging. You don't think we should be doing it. And yet at the same time you complain that we are not accepting the American culture. You can't have things both ways. To us, this site is like a little corner of Britain. I don't go and stand in the middle of Safeway and shout "Jesus christ! You can't even buy ground almonds in this shit hole! What the hell is this country coming to?!" - I save my whinging for the forum. What you are doing is basically coming into the UK and telling us to stop being British. It isn't going to happen.

I don't expect the USA to be just like the UK; after all diversity is a wonderful thing, so I integrate as best I can while I'm out in the real world. I do, however, get homesick every now and then. When I do, it's nice to be able to share some of the things which are getting me down with other people who have gone through or are going through the same thing. The important thing for you to note is that this doesn't mean we hate your country. You're right - we chose to come and live here. It just means that it's not our home and there are some things we miss which we can't get or are different over here.

If you insist that everyone who comes on here has to be positive and upbeat about America, you are removing one of the outlets that we have for frustration and homesickness. To be quite frank, this site is to help British expats settle in and stay sane. It is not intended to make American citizens feel proud of themselves and their country.

Originally Posted by CarlM

Am curious why people start to post such pointless and unsolicited advise for us lesser mortals . What can i look forward to next? Advice on self examining my prostate? Fitting Nitrous to my Chevy Cavalier?

Originally Posted by Perfumdiva1

And your point is ??????????

Originally Posted by CarlM

Err.. pretty much what i just said!!

Originally Posted by Perfumdiva1

Luvvly

Just confirming it...

Originally Posted by CarlM

Am curious why people start to post such pointless and unsolicited advise for us lesser mortals . What can i look forward to next? Advice on self examining my prostate? Fitting Nitrous to my Chevy Cavalier?

Originally Posted by AmerLisa

Besides, Safeway is crap anyway and way over priced for their stuff!

Originally Posted by Schnorbitz

This was one of the first posts I read in the US section - quality entertainment!!