Was it a really bright pub then? :courage:
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Wow, I'm amazed at the negativity on here! Maybe Shropshire is just a nice place to live.
The food scene has changed massively since you left. The variety of food has changed so much for the better whether you are visiting a food centre or eating out. You'll be amazed at the prices, quality and variety. Oh, and craft beers, gins, whisky, rum etc - lots of start ups making interesting drinks. Even the UK wine scene is improving, especially sparking.
Good luck with the move.
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Spent 10 years in your wonderful country. Would be back without any hesitation. Especially miss the pubs tbh!
If you're economically solvent
If you don't live in a major city
Then Britain is a wonderful place.
I have a motorhome, and travelling the length & breadth of the country is amazing.
Until you live overseas, you're unlikely to appreciate the NHS underfunded or not.
Until you experience other police forces, you're unlikely to appreciate the British Copper.
I totally agree regarding the negativity.
We have proper seasonal weather, without to many hurricanes, typhoons, wild fires, monsoons etc.
We have very few insects, snakes, animals that can kill you.
We don’t live in an earthquake or volcano zone.
We are never more than 63 miles from the seaside.
We have an excellent health service - which is free at the point delivery.
We have an excellent educational system - not perfect, but literacy levels are very high.
We have a very good police and legal system without to much corruption.
We have lower than average crime levels.
We live in most of the most diverse countries.
We live in one of the wealthiest countries on the planet.
We have a landscape which includes pretty much everything except desert and rain forests.
We have history dating back over 2000 years.
Even the transport infrastructure is as good as you will find in the vast majority of countries.
I love it.
Let's hope we're back to some kind of normality next year so we can all enjoy our country properly again.
Never experienced a British copper.
And Hong Kong, Myanmar, China, Brazil, not to mention most of the Middle East and many more, including I am sure some much closer.
The point is, I don’t live there, I live here, and I compare with what I found when I arrived, despite a significantly better understanding of the culture, the references, the idioms...
Yes, I think Uruguay does all right, too.
Yep, when I was a kid on holidays or out for a drive with my parents the only bar meals available were chicken in the basket or ploughmans lunch, and that would usually only be in touristy areas. The rest had ham rolls under a glass cover if you were lucky.
Best of luck moving back, some lovely pub lunches are out there now.
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I've just finished re-reading Bill Bryson's "notes from a small country" and also a weekend exploring Lake Windermere. I'm fairly well travelled, but this is home and, despite all its faults, there is no where else I'd prefer to live.
Notes from a small island, is it not?
I know, read both. Especially as I first arrived in Dover, too, albeit some years later.
I also liked the cinematic adaptation of a walk in the woods.
Three things killed the local butchers - 1) Weights & Measures - 2) Supermarkets - 3) Vegetarians
I moved back to the UK in July last year. It was great for a short while, but the novelty soon wore off. We lasted seven months and then moved back to the Far East. A costly mistake.
Good luck, Walt. I hope it works out for you.
Yup. I remember in 86 we had to ensure that each piece of product had to have the date, price per pound, weight and price on the ticket. We would normally just scribble the price on the front and then on the back to use it again.
Each offence could then incur a 5 grand fine. Small family butchers didn’t stand a chance.
I would agree with what many have posted - you don’t miss the UK until you live somewhere else! I have been in Budapest and most recently, Bangalore.
The climate, the people (not so much those under 20) and the freedom people enjoy here.
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I'll invite you into the "Doha - the good old days" Facebook group so you join us in reminiscing about that was good and bad about Qatar....
MW
This may well be the answer actually. I think it's really easy to see the negatives about a place, be it a town, city or country. I've said from the onset of COVID that this might be the reset many people need to appreciate what's good in their lives. I live in Northumberland and although familiar with a lot of the county, haven't explored as much as I should have. Our lives have been focused in a particular way in our adult lives, mainly centred around the city rather than the country.
Once this sh*t is over and we have unfettered access to our surroundings, I'll be getting around this wonderful county with the dog.
For a small country in comparison we have a lot to see and enjoy in the UK and also at the front end of technology..
Simply, a nice walk here can be a stroll somewhere like the Brecons, and then a proper ale and pie in a fine pub, great days..
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Anyone can pull the worst from society and make things sound bad, your points above could also be seen in a positive light but if your a negative mindset then you'll always see the worst in any situation.
So where would you like to live in comparison to the UK?
In that case you misrepresented TTC's post. If you meant to say there were plenty of positives in living in this country nobody would argue the point.
But you explicitly saidAnd I am afraid Andyg's list doesn't qualify as an answer.Quote:
your points above could also be seen in a positive light
Okay
Fallout from Brexit - No Deal - Lets wait to see what the next week or two brings
Tory Government - Someone has to govern and the other parties just look weak.
Horrendous weather - Everyday is different, wild and colourful
Most powerful person in the UK is Dominic Cummings - I would rather DC over Trump
Different rules and allowances for the upper class - But that's just the economics of money, this scenario is far worse in lots of other countries.
COVID management is a shambles - Agree on this but I cant see what any of the other parties would do different, especially as Labour agree with everything the Tories suggest.
Roads and infrastructure are a total mess - No there not, maybe the odd pot hole or road works but in general we're not driving on dirt roads with no laws
Horrendous weather - cold damp drizzel on your face makes a cup of tea taste/feel better
High house prices - Generally linked to decent earnings and positive economy.
Tuition fees - You want a high paying job but dont want to pay for the education, we need some give and take.
Totally underfunded NHS - NHS is a bottomless money pit, at least we can all get a high level of health care if needed
Totally underfunded Ambulance Service - Most ambulances arrive on time and again we should appreciate that we have a service this good.
Totally underfunded Police Service leading to - More money is being pumped into the Police force, lets hope we see the benefits soon.
Huge crime rates - Depends where you live but not a patch on lots of other countries
Knife crime epidemic - Again depends where you live but knife crime is very small over the country as a whole.
Institutionally racist country - We're also the most biodiverse country accepting many religions and people, go visit plenty of other countries and this is not the case.
And did I mention horrendous weather? - Who doesn't like scrapping a bit of ice in the morning
Welcome home. Yes, welcome home to beautiful Blighty, if you want it to be dull and dismal then it will be, it is simply what you make of it and most of the above is out of our personal control so you might as well try and be a bit positive and enjoy your life rather than be in a negative mindset!.
I have just recently returned from Spain and am now in 14 days isolation.
The UK is a marvellous place for opportunities and making money is relatively easy when you are working. It is however a rough old place to retire as the weather is rubbish and every where is crowded.
The wife and I are going to sit back and see what the brexit outcome is and then we will decide whether to live out in Spain all year or just do the usual permitted 180 days.
Some 300.000 legally registered, most likely well over 100.000 more not registered, Brit expats think a Spanish mediterranean coast preferable.
Like many here, I have lived abroad in several countries and mý take on it is that éverywhere you find and leave something. That adding it all up you get at the same total. The difference being that seperate elements will have more or less weight for a particular individual.
Take the english pub. If you enjoy that a lót then that is a point for the UK. If you never visit one, than it has no weight.
Same thing a tostada con aceite y tomato with a proper cappuccino on a spanish terrace for 2.50 € under an bright early morning sun.
Bottom line is that there is no discussing taste, personal preferences.
I'm not one to look at the UK through rose tinted specs we have our share of issues and problems but I'd not choose to live anywhere else (except perhaps Western Canada).
Also apparently the UK not only has a desert but rainforests too.
You got to stop thinking of Britain v the rest of the world as a place to live but rather that you are a global citizen. In the UK London is a brilliant place to work and making money is dead easy. However it is better to retire in places like Devon, Cornwall or say the Lake District.
It's the same for the world, you work in places like London, Paris, Brussels, NYC and Hong Kong to make the money and then you retire to the laid back places of the Meditteranean or Asia.
The world does not cease at the cliffs of Dover.
Yes the flower is a bit poncy but if you're ever in Brecon the Brecon Tap is well recommended, that mash was stunning and pie something else..
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I did; as I wrote; it adds all up the same, just specific things weighing more/less for individuals. In the UK there is at present more work and less sun, over here less work more sun, to highlight but two things. Pick your choice for yoúr situation/preferences.