Leave the UK?

I lived for a short while in Norway, Germany, and for a few years in the US in and around NYC. And obviously I am from Ireland, so there too. I was in south-South America for 4 months, but not really living there, more traveling.

Scandinavia is a pretty amazing place to live, the winters are tough though, but the quality of life is great. Copenhagen is probably my favorite city in the world. Norway is stunning, and loooooaded.

I dont think South America suits my brain, I dont think I could deal with living there, the place is just too big. Mind meltingly huge.
Germany... well, is Germany. Pretty much as you would expect. Pretty dull, although I wasn't in Berlin, which is a whole different kettle of fishies.
Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to Berlin and all that.

The US... meh, definitely far and away the most oppressive closed minded police state-ish place I have ever been in. Cops everywhere, most of them utter douche nozzels, the kids that were the bullies in school and who now hate "them college types with their fancy thinkin ways". It has its up points, the weather is pretty nice which is most of the time ( ie when its not insanely cold or hot). The police state, scumbag cop, neolithic attitudes are really an insurmountable mountain for me. I can't spend my life here for this reason, and could not expose young kids to that.

Ireland... is actually a pretty good place. The big mark down is the weather, which amazingly manages to be slightly worse than the UK. I would still take Ireland, or Scotland instantly over almost anywhere in the UK. The UK is a ferociously grey drab place in fairness, although I have been in places like Cumbria / Yorkshire that weren't too bad. Most of the south is pretty grim though.

But, if I was to live somewhere else tomorrow, I think I would look at New Zealand.
I like Kiwis, for a start. They are fairly sound. And, NZ has basically everything Ireland has, only better and nicer it seems, AND it has some reasonable weather.

Other than that, there are parts of Spain that are very nice, and France. But, the Kiwis speak (more or less) English which makes life a little easier. Also NZ has real Ocean around it, which I really miss coming from Ireland.
So NZ it is.

Ka mate ka mate wha'?

Originally Posted by Spanner Man

Not sure I'd like the BNP in power, all they do is spout the old NF rhetoric, but I'd definitely kick a hoodie up the backside for free.

See, thats the perception that everyone has of them. I'm not going to get into a political argument and i can't tell you who to vote for. All i can say is that if you could see past that one issue and read the rest of their propositions, they do speak for the British person.

Sean

[dizzyblonde]

My best friend left sunny Hull for the midst of France three years ago
Last year she had a return trip to the Uk in unfortunate circumstances...on arrival in Stanstead she was greeted by an airport lady with ' welcome to Britain have a nice stay'
'in this s***hole? not bloody likely' was her reply..
Every time i go to see her she gets more and more anti British. We went to pick up a friend from La Rochelle airport on my last stay, and I'd been only in the country a few days and I could really see her point of view. I'm a real people watcher anyway, but i could really see how generally Brits are rude, ignorant folk with not a lot of respect for anyone but themselves as a collective. Apart from my few chosen friends I have( and family) that i'd leave behind, I wouldn't give moving over there a second thought if I had the opportunity.
There are many folk that I have come across over my lifetime and remembered with affection, like the folk on here..people like them are far and few between these days in this land....

And my friends thoughts when all the British left on the plane back to Britain....'F off back where ya came from..good riddance to bad rubbish'

Perhaps this is a different view on the Johnny Foreigner slant

See, thats the perception that everyone has of them. I'm not going to get into a political argument and i can't tell you who to vote for. All i can say is that if you could see past that one issue and read the rest of their propositions, they do speak for the British person.

Right, I mean, I'm sure apart from psychotically hating the blacks, Pakistanis, Indians, gays, Asians, Paddies, trannies, Arabs and Jews, and wanting to shank them all, wrap them in carpet and drop them off at the local landfill the BNP are absolutely lovely salt of the earth people.




I just remembered, a mate of mine lived in Belize for a couple of years. She was a dive instructor. She said it was pretty nice alright, but she had enough after a couple of years though.

Originally Posted by philipMac

Right, I mean, I'm sure apart from psychotically hating the blacks, Pakistanis, Indians, gays, Asians, Paddies, trannies, Arabs and Jews, and wanting to shank them all, wrap them in carpet and drop them off at the local landfill

Your source for this fact based rant is?...

Sean

Originally Posted by Balddood

Your source for this fact based rant is?...

Sean

Experience.

I'm Irish, and my Aunt/Uncle live in Brighton/Hove area and there were a fair few BNP types knocking around where she lived at one point.

They were hanging around, and presumably heard me speaking, and I got a load of "Paddy on his day out" type of gibes thrown at me.
This was around 20 years ago, I was young and I had no idea they were talking about me since I didn't realise that "Paddy" was a racist term for Irish people. So I didn't really pay any attention, some other stuff was said, my cousins realised something was up and we all legged it off, when we were running off a lot of stuff was said, and I realised it was directed at me. We were not allowed play out side any more, and my Aunt (Irish) got her car robbed the next week. (She moved house with in the year.)

So, yeah, there were a few other incidents, that was the main one though. They pretty much seemed to be the personification of every obnoxious and disgusting trait available to humans.

What I find really sad these days is the level of disillusionment expressed by so many people about theU.K,(maybe more specifically England?) I left England not for the fact that so much about the place I disliked but more for family reasons and wishing to have a crack somewhere else. I never really had any axe to grind and would oft say to people that England was a great place to hail from...yes despite even then it having certain warts.

But it does seem to have changed so much in the 7 years that have passed since I did a runner. As each news report is read or comment picked up on forums digested it merely puts even greater distance between myself and the place I grew up in. That is a terrible shame and on the few visits I have made it really does not seem like home anymore.

I am not saying where I live now is perfect...trust me it is not, however I made the decision to come here and so also accepted that a change of life style and the way things work had to be adaapted to.

I guess the long and short of it is, if you decide to stay then if you wish to see things improved you must align with a political movement that best suits your vision. If not act and choose an alternative country to live in where you are prepared to adjust and start all over again.

Here, Peter, what age were you when you left the UK if you dont mind me asking?

I also just sort of left Ireland for no particular reason, like yourself. I still feel that Ireland is home, even though Ireland has changed a hell of a lot more than the UK has in the last few years.

I haven't been gone as long as you have though...

There is something about the west of Ireland though that feels like home to me in a way that nowhere else can though, no matter how long I am away for I think.

Phil...I am of prehistoric age compared to you. I left when I was 39. I have to tell you that with my mum's family originally hailing from Cork,(don't laugh) the west of Ireland is certainly a place I would consider if lush green as opposed to golden sunshine became my preference.

[dizzyblonde]

Mr Pedrosa I think you see along the same way as my best mate in my above post...she has quite a different life over the pond, and often a hell of alot more difficult than the life she left...language, lifestyle, see's husband less now than before, even though they moved there for the opposite( he's a trucker), blah blah blah
Her own words once " I could be absolutely on my ****, flat broke etc, but so long as I had the roof over my head i wouldn't go back to the Uk if you paid me"