Emigration

[turbobloke]

There are some good points yes but as almost universally agreed these don't include the weather, beyond that personal perspective willd determine what matters and what doesn't.

The OP is about emigration so this is O/T but there is an alternative to staying put forever or leaving permanently. Set up a place in one or two locations which offer better alternatives to what you dislike most about staying. Then enjoy the best of both or many worlds depending on your preference and capacity to maintain more than one base.

[eldar]

By and large brits abroad tend to winge about weather, lack of proper tea, foreigners and their silly languages. Then get all homesick and go back 'home'.

The rest adapt, live the different lifestyle and succeed.

Everyone should try it, makes you realise the UK isn't the sthole the daily mail portrays.

[turbobloke]

eldar said:

Everyone should try it, makes you realise the UK isn't the sthole the daily mail portrays.

Not always - as you point out, some stay and adapt and succeed.

If there are plans to spend more than holiday time in a location abroad it would surely be a good idea to spend longer than holiday time in those locations before reaching any decision. Relocating somewhere isn't the same as having a fortnight in a hotel or villa and a trial run makes a lot of sense.

[TheHeretic]

I never left because the UK was a sthole. I still love the country, I just like to see different stuff, different cultures, and so on.

[Derek Smith]

eldar said:

By and large brits abroad tend to winge about weather, lack of proper tea, foreigners and their silly languages. Then get all homesick and go back 'home'.

The rest adapt, live the different lifestyle and succeed.

Everyone should try it, makes you realise the UK isn't the sthole the daily mail portrays.

The chap who'd lived in Western Australia said that he avoided certain 'types' of Brit when he was there. I asked him how he differnetiated between types. He said that those who adapted to the country would wear flip-flops, shorts, have barbies and buy sideborads with chrome door handles. Those he avoided would wear sandals, often with white socks, have barbeques and would dress as they would have done 'back home'.

He was having a dig at an Indian chap we worked with who was maoning about life in London. The Inian was a pleasant chap, hard working, but hadn't settled in. His children were causing him problems, mainly his daughter wanting to go to university. One of his sons wanted to follow his local football team, West Ham (no wonder the father was upset) but this was felt improper. My ex Oz friend said things that nowadays would have got him sacked but were then called good sense. Whether the Indian chap learned from it I don't know but I did. When I was in the police I found that those who dressed and lived traditionally should be approached differently to those who had absorbed the British way of life and living.

As you say: adapt to the mores of the society you've moved to and you are much more likely to fit in and enjoy it. My mate said he was in a grocery store in Oz when a brit, in a suit, obviously new to the country, asked for HP sauce. When he was told the shop never carried it the brit threw a tantrum.

It's funny from our point of view but it goes on in this country of course.

[TheHeretic]

So true. I avoid the 'ex-pat' communities here in BG purely because they seem to just want to turn a part of Bulgaria into Britain. They complain about the locals, the language, and so on.

[Halb]

Mojocvh said:

and I detest the sapping underclass this country seems to breed. Good Luck.

The sapping ruling class are no fun either.

[Use Psychology]

been in germany for a while. it's alright. prefer british sausages and miss proper bacon. somehow at the same time as wishing there was something to eat OTHER THAN PORK. it's basically the same here as the UK but in german.

[Halb]

And the comedy is much better?

[turbobloke]

Use Psychology said:

been in germany for a while. it's alright. prefer british sausages and miss proper bacon. somehow at the same time as wishing there was something to eat OTHER THAN PORK. it's basically the same here as the UK but in german.

The last time I was in Germany was a few years back but there was a noticeable lack of litter in most urban locations - I visited three which is hardly a decent sample size but the consistently cleaner environment was striking. In a more rural area where I had some work to do the villages I drove through looked idyllic but appearances may have been deceptive. The other point which I recall was that when using public transport around the cities it was also cleaner, calmer and more reliable. Have things changed on those fronts?

[Use Psychology]

TheHeretic said:

I never left because the UK was a sthole. I still love the country, I just like to see different stuff, different cultures, and so on.

exactly, just like anything in life, if you're going to succeed at it, probably best to having a 'positive driver' rather than a negative one.

[Use Psychology]

Halb said:

And the comedy is much better?

the comedy is sort of, er, immature.

[Mojocvh]

Use Psychology said:

been in germany for a while. it's alright. prefer british sausages and miss proper bacon. somehow at the same time as wishing there was something to eat OTHER THAN PORK. it's basically the same here as the UK but in german.

[getting the quotation right ]

I was fortunate, as a youngster, to be exposed to many different cultures around the globe and I feel that it is important that children get the chance to visit other countries to broaden their horizons.

If I could I would head for Germany, obviously with employment secured. I really do like the general way their society as a whole operates, yes all places have their problems, but once you make the effort to LEARN how their heads work it can be good fun.

As for their food, how on earth you could say you prefer British is beyond me

[Use Psychology]

turbobloke said:

The last time I was in Germany was a few years back but there was a noticeable lack of litter in most urban locations - I visited three which is hardly a decent sample size but the consistently cleaner environment was striking. In a more rural area where I had some work to do the villages I drove through looked idyllic but appearances may have been deceptive. The other point which I recall was that when using public transport around the cities it was also cleaner, calmer and more reliable. Have things changed on those fronts?

i'd agree with this. there seem to be a lot more (and perhaps more visible?) 'municipal services' - you see people sweeping the streets and fixing stuff and cutting hedges, etc. a lot of it I think does come down to the employees doing a decent job - everyone I've encountered here does stuff very thoroughly. (except me i mean).

[Use Psychology]

Mojocvh said:

As for their food, how on earth you could say you prefer British is beyond me

I didn't say that but I think the advantage in the UK is that you get a lot more diversity in one place - you can just go to a supermarket. you can get all the same stuff here, but you may have to visit several shops. And where I am located, there is not such a wide range of cuisines available in restaurants as in the UK (for a comparable sized town). and if something says 'scharf', it's probably not. at all.

and I totally agree with you about exposing children to different cultures. this is the 4th country I've lived in and I think the pattern was set by doing part of my growing up abroad, and by our family holidays which were generally taken in europe in places where we could avoid english people and look at cool stuff.

[TheHeretic]

Use Psychology said:

I didn't say that but I think the advantage in the UK is that you get a lot more diversity in one place - you can just go to a supermarket. you can get all the same stuff here, but you may have to visit several shops. And where I am located, there is not such a wide range of cuisines available in restaurants as in the UK (for a comparable sized town). and if something says 'scharf', it's probably not. at all.

That is true. I love Bulgarian cuisine, (except for mystery meat, but I despise that world over), but you do hanker for bits and bobs now and then. When I was in Aberdeen a few years ago for work, some of the other went out on the lash. Not me. Straight to a curry house the first day, and the second day for a pub meal, and bangers, mash, and onion gravy!

[Use Psychology]

haha, I am planning my meals for my next trip home already, it's not until the end of august!

[speedy_thrills]

As someone who has lived outside the UK for most of my life (in various countries) I agree with other posters, the grass is just a different shade of green.

I do smile at the “all these immigrants coming here, taking our jobs...” thread living in a country where the net flow is outwards, the impact on countries of population decline (especially the young professionals that tend to be the ones who want to leave and make a better life abroad) is a major obstacle to economic and social progress. The UK is lucky to have the addition of young, able and ambitious people to its population.

Yet I still wouldn't return to the UK of course so maybe I could also be accused of hypocrisy. I feel Oceania offers better services, society and economic opportunity for young people right now. I guess I'm not that different to the eastern Europeans or north Africans moving to the UK really.

[Derek Smith]

Mojocvh said:

[getting the quotation right ]

I was fortunate, as a youngster, to be exposed to many different cultures around the globe and I feel that it is important that children get the chance to visit other countries to broaden their horizons.

If I could I would head for Germany, obviously with employment secured. I really do like the general way their society as a whole operates, yes all places have their problems, but once you make the effort to LEARN how their heads work it can be good fun.

As for their food, how on earth you could say you prefer British is beyond me

One of the benefits of living in England, I am told, rather than France and Italy is the range. A mate of mine goes to Italy for months at a time, and he reckons that whereever he goes out there, the place if full of Italian restaurants. Over here there's a vast choice.

[eldar]

turbobloke said:

Not always - as you point out, some stay and adapt and succeed.

If there are plans to spend more than holiday time in a location abroad it would surely be a good idea to spend longer than holiday time in those locations before reaching any decision. Relocating somewhere isn't the same as having a fortnight in a hotel or villa and a trial run makes a lot of sense.

Correct. Too much prior research is probably a bad thing Loses the sense of adventure and discovery when you get there.