Discussion
V88Dicky said:
If I had no other choice than to leave this country, then I would opt for one of the Colonies.
Canada, the US, Australia. Hell, I'd even consider New Zealand!!
Has to be a country with a completely different culture and language for me, spent years in Austria, Germany, Netherlands etc and still on the continent. English speaking countries don't interest me at all as a place to live & work.Canada, the US, Australia. Hell, I'd even consider New Zealand!!
Have been here in Singapore for a year or so ... not a bad place to be.
good points : low income tax [20% max], good food , clean and safe and modern, interesting city with a lot to see.
bad : steamy weather 365 days / annum , 6-8 GBP / pint , little countryside, no skiing, cars are super expensive [ 3 year old focus would be around 40kGBP , newish BMW mid range 100-120k GBP +
], expensive rent.
..but I like it here , have been sailing today , scuba tomorrow ... easier to do those things than in the UK [wihtout freezing ! ]
good points : low income tax [20% max], good food , clean and safe and modern, interesting city with a lot to see.
bad : steamy weather 365 days / annum , 6-8 GBP / pint , little countryside, no skiing, cars are super expensive [ 3 year old focus would be around 40kGBP , newish BMW mid range 100-120k GBP +
], expensive rent...but I like it here , have been sailing today , scuba tomorrow ... easier to do those things than in the UK [wihtout freezing ! ]
AJS- said:
Interesting topic.
There's no welfare scroungers in Canada.
The weather is always perfect in Australia.
Pigs fly.
I just like being foreign.
looking at thi sthread, most want to leave the UK but not have a real change, only want to pay less tax and have better weather. Well, that isn't going to happen. You have to open you mind to a different culture, different language which most Brits aren't willing to do, so they end up in a different country that's English speaking, mixing with other Brits etc. Total mistake.There's no welfare scroungers in Canada.
The weather is always perfect in Australia.
Pigs fly.
I just like being foreign.
Silver993tt said:
AJS- said:
Interesting topic.
There's no welfare scroungers in Canada.
The weather is always perfect in Australia.
Pigs fly.
I just like being foreign.
looking at thi sthread, most want to leave the UK but not have a real change, only want to pay less tax and have better weather. Well, that isn't going to happen. You have to open you mind to a different culture, different language which most Brits aren't willing to do, so they end up in a different country that's English speaking, mixing with other Brits etc. Total mistake.There's no welfare scroungers in Canada.
The weather is always perfect in Australia.
Pigs fly.
I just like being foreign.
turbobloke said:
Not sure you can diagnose that from short posts in a thread. Intentions are more complex, there can be more than one destination and people can have the language skills already to widen horizons while some will positively want to avoid areas with lots of expats.
most on this thread want to move to US, Canada, Australia or NZ, kind of sums up exactly what I said, people are running away rather than positively looking for a culture and lifestyle change. The majority who 'run away' will return.
Derek Smith said:
.....and asked him why he chose Britian when he had a choice of a number of God's Own Countries and he said more or less that same thing. For him there was the added advantage of lack of racial prejudice compared to so many other countries. I didn't know he was Jewish and told him so. He said that that was the point.
It is, he said, only the nutters in this country who are overtly racialist. In other countries, notably Oz he said, many politicians openly touted such drivel. This would have been in the 80s.
Very true. My dear wife runs recruitment programs and her experience in France has shown that presenting 'foreign sounding' CVs for vacancies is largely a waste of time. Nipping across the Channel to the London office of the company in question and she was completely charmed by the multi-cultural office with girls in saris, sikhs, a community of mixed europeans, etc. Radical difference in attitude - that is one of Britain's strengths.It is, he said, only the nutters in this country who are overtly racialist. In other countries, notably Oz he said, many politicians openly touted such drivel. This would have been in the 80s.
Silver993tt said:
Has to be a country with a completely different culture and language for me, spent years in Austria, Germany, Netherlands etc and still on the continent. English speaking countries don't interest me at all as a place to live & work.
Maybe worth looking at Scotland then
Derek Smith said:
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.] 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
and would say that whilst the UK leads in multicultural cuisine the continentals, especially those with a colonial history, aren't so far behind. Silver993tt said:
turbobloke said:
Not sure you can diagnose that from short posts in a thread. Intentions are more complex, there can be more than one destination and people can have the language skills already to widen horizons while some will positively want to avoid areas with lots of expats.
most on this thread want to move to US, Canada, Australia or NZ, kind of sums up exactly what I said, people are running away rather than positively looking for a culture and lifestyle change. The majority who 'run away' will return.As to why people want to get away, culture change is one but there are more besides. Those who do may well want more than one change. If some people don't want a culture and lifestyle change why is that indicative of anything negative, if they get other changes it can still work. In my view the biggest obstacle to seeing any plan through is lack of capacity and that can be personal as well as financial. Far more so than any one reason for wanting out.
The point about taking a trial run is indicative, if it's not possible to do so for whatever reason then first off the capacity question arises and secondly the so-called mystery of discovery can be a nightmare as well as a dream ticket.
Buying a car is cheap in comparison to the potential cost of making or breaking a new life overseas. Not having a test drive would make for a more risky purchase. How much more risky with a new life abroad, but then how many test drives=lives happen? No wonder some find they aren't suited and return from every destination there is, including with / without a similar culture.
Mojocvh said:
Derek Smith said:
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.] 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
and would say that whilst the UK leads in multicultural cuisine the continentals, especially those with a colonial history, aren't so far behind. For us, the UK is better in almost every way, no more paying paying 64% of tax and NI from every single Euro earned (no starting rates, if you earn a single Euro, you will keep only 36% of it), we can now enjoy a proper British Indian and a whole range other other dishes for reasonable prices.
Also fuel is as expensive as the UK, gas and electric perhaps more so. In fact, the only things that were cheaper were fags and alcohol, so if you're a chain smoking drunkard, you'd be quids in, or perhaps not if you play it straight with your taxes....
The UK does have its own set of big problems, but so do most other countries, you just swap one set of problems that you know well with a new set of problems to moan about.
I missed Balti's, pork pies and keeping a lot more of my earnings too much to stay, so back we are.
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