"Move back to Britain - No way" - any other Albion ex-pats seen Telegraph article

[tinycowboy]

I've lived in France and Germany, but I've always been pleased to get back home as I've missed English culture, countryside, friends, family, even food. Having said that, it's an interesting experience living abroad. I know some people who live in Spain, don't speak a word of Spanish, left this country because of immigrants who don't speak a word of English and make no attempt to integrate. They aren't great fans of irony.

 

[Trufflehound]

I have recently started cycling to work as well.

I would cycle to work if I could, but the stairs in my house are too steep. Besides, the wife would kill me if I got tyre marks on the carpet.

 

[Seagull58]

Your post also suggests money makes for better quality of life. Whilst money certainly takes the sting out of being poor, quality of life is much much broader than simply having a few extra pennies in your pocket. In fact, all of the qualities I look for have nothing to do with how heavy my wallet is.

Indeed. I moved to Joburg 3 years ago for a 25% paycut. I wanted a new challenge, a new lifestyle and 9 months of summer every year. Very happy here despite all the stuff you hear about violent and corrupt South Africa. Cost of living is much lower for one thing.

 

[Seagull58]

My experience is very different to yours. Most of the Brits I know are not on staggering salaries – they are doing OK (some definitely better off than in the UK) but earning more money is not always the prime reason for moving. They want a new start, they want a better environment for their kids, they want to experience a different way of life etc. etc. – if it’s just about the money go somewhere tax free like Saudi. I have an American girlfriend and generally have more contact with Americans both at work and socially – if you are just going to sit with other expats in bars I’m not really sure what the point is in going. Like most things it needs a bit of effort.

Agree with this. I have no Brit friends that I socialise with. My girlfriend and nearly all my friends are (black) South african.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

I would be very happy to come back... and then I read Footsoldiers comments and I remember the things I hate rather than the nostalgia.

For my kids though, Id come back in a millisecond.......whatever you may think about the education system when you live in the Uk you have no idea how lucky you are.... and this is from someone who has worked with education systems in more than 70 countries.

But Footsoldier's comments are a load of old cobblers.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

See what I mean by ill-informed? You are making sweeping judgements, yet again, on your somewhat limited exposure. I cannot claim to speak for everyone but what I can state is my experience and the experience of quite a few people I have discussed ex-pat life with is very very different to the one you portray. Your version may well be the case in certain sunny ex-pat ghettos but in international cities you will find a different approach as well. I make an effort to meet locals and hang out with locals and have a nice circle of German friends I socialise with.

I think Lyndhurst feels the same.

You simply cannot say hanging around in bars with other ex-pats is the "reality for many" with any authority.

To be fair I should imagine that HovaGirl is referring to the many ex-pats that have retired abroad. I have seen this in a community in west Crete where many are verging on alcoholism because they are having a full time tourist lifestyle, because of having very little else to do.

 

[RandyWanger]

I love living in France, good weather, good food, good wine, good times!

I'm finding it hard to integrate with the French as you can't have the banta with them that you do with the English. There is quite a sizable English community here, all very active 'outdoors' type people so evenings are spent cycling, playing football, touch rugby, climbing etc but always ends up in the pub, which isn't a bad thing at all!

No idea how long I'll stay for though, I do miss a few things at home, but the longer I'm here the less I miss.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

To be fair I should imagine that HovaGirl is referring to the many ex-pats that have retired abroad. I have seen this in a community in west Crete where many are verging on alcoholism because they are having a full time tourist lifestyle, because of having very little else to do.

I'm not disputing this per se. More her "reality for many" comment. I'm not convinced this is the case outside of the leather skinned lasagne and chips Daily Mirror Mike Reid sovereign ringed ex-pat ghettos. Triffic.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

I'm not disputing this per se. More her "reality for many" comment. I'm not convinced this is the case outside of the leather skinned lasagne and chips Daily Mirror Mike Reid ex-pat ghettos. Triffic.

That's quite an apt description of those that I met, except that it was Gyros and chips

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

That's quite an apt description of those that I met, except that it was Gyros and chips

Triffic

 

[daveinprague]

Ive always moved, and lived to where there is decent paid work for me..currently here...before here, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Saudi Arabia.
Go to the expat pubs maybe once every couple of months to eat an over expensive Full English Breakfast, but most of the ingrediants can be bought
in M&S or Tesco's, lazy I know, but it tastes better if somebody else makes it, especially on a Sunday...but never have really enjoyed drinking in the places, as British expats seem to spend a lot of their time moaning about 'locals', and local 'cultural differences', and ive experienced that in all the places ive lived ...
I tend towards bars where there will be English speakers, rather than English citizens, and that grows by the year.
Have no plans to move whilst im employed on a decent wage.

 

[piersa]

I would never move to USA because of their cretinous gun culture. Britain is a great place for many reasons. Some people just prefer other places. I love it here. Horses for courses

 

[The Spanish]

I would never move to USA because of their cretinous gun culture. Britain is a great place for many reasons. Some people just prefer other places. I love it here. Horses for courses

loads of countries have cretinous gun cultures. would you state you would not move to south africa, or the philippines, or finland, for the same reason?

 

[daveinprague]

Funnily enough, my experience of the most guns ive seen carried by people, and the most shootings, have been when I lived in Den Haag in Holland...

 

[The Spanish]

Funnily enough, my experience of the most guns ive seen carried by people, and the most shootings, have been when I lived in Den Haag in Holland...

exactly dave. when you read all this guff about oh i dont like america because of fast food the guns and that they dont have a passport unlike us oh so worldly brits who couldnt name the presidents of france or ireland if asked, it cracks me up.

 

[Simster]

exactly dave. when you read all this guff about oh i dont like america because of fast food the guns and that they dont have a passport unlike us oh so worldly brits who couldnt name the presidents of france or ireland if asked, it cracks me up.

Whilst I agree with you regarding people's hypocrisy towards American insularity, I think you're being a little disengenuous towards their gun culture. Most countries with a similarly crackpot attitude towards guns are third world places. On the other hand, the gun laws in Canada aren't notably different from the laws in the USA, yet they have a gun crime rate of a fraction of the USA

Murder rate per 100,000

U.S. 5.22
U.K. 1.19
Germany 0.8
Italy 1.16
Denmark 1.4
Canada 1.16

And in Canada, 2 thirds of murders are NOT gun related whereas in the USA 2 thirds ARE gun related.

 

[piersa]

loads of countries have cretinous gun cultures. would you state you would not move to south africa, or the philippines, or finland, for the same reason?

Clearly, Yes. You are a bit one eyed if you think the gun culture is not abnormal in the USA.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I would never move to USA because of their cretinous gun culture. Britain is a great place for many reasons. Some people just prefer other places. I love it here. Horses for courses

Yes, clearly you cannot deny the problem exists. But NYC and the State of New York have some of the toughest gun controls in the US, so I have to admit I’ve never really seen it as an issue. If I was to wander around the Bronx at 2 in the morning it would be, but I don’t – if you go looking for trouble you will find it – that’s the same in every country. I find the many random acts of violence and aggression in the UK just as much of a concern as the US gun culture.

But as you say – it’s horses for courses

 

[The Spanish]

discounting third world countries proves exactly my point regarding parochialism. Narrowing our comparisons down to countries we are extremely familiar with culturally, or are similar socio-economically, doesnt really make it a more valid proposition. South Africa and the Philippines and Finland (just to re use my examples) are still to degrees very sophisticated societies, and its not unreasonable that an expat might live there. why not include them?

Canada for all its similarities is still a different place from the US - just because its next door speaks English and has a shared history doesnt make it the ideal comparison. I would say the US and the Philippines is a better comparison, massive US cultural influence there that has led directly to their gun culture, and although more extreme, pronounced wealth disparity more akin to the US than Canada.

 

[The Spanish]

Clearly, Yes. You are a bit one eyed if you think the gun culture is not abnormal in the USA.

you couldnt miss the point more spectacularly if you tried. my point is its not that abnormal, globally, and you are a bit one eyed if you pick out the US for special treatment on this. yes we speak the same language, share a history, and are culturally dominated by them, but focusing on them because of that is to take a very narrow view of the world.