Reply to: I wonder why ?: More Britons target foreign move

[hyperD]

Should that be

British are the most uptight in Europe.....

[DimPrawn]

I saw an upside down BMW on the Brussels Ring Road about 7am a few weeks back.

Another one of those grass is greener things is people saying how terrrible British roads are because of low standards/under investment/British workers don't care etc. But actually, try Belgium.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5241762.stm

British motorists are the most uptight in Europe, the Belgians the most laid-back, and the French top the league for road rage, figures suggest.
The survey comes as the RAC Foundation warns Britons driving abroad this summer to take care, with UK tourists in far greater danger on foreign roads.

[Shimano105]

I also hear more English being spoken in Denmark than in England.

I can go into a corner shop, petrol station, W.H.Y., in Denmark and speak English and be understood. Why not in England? It is just another one of those truely bizarre things.

That's because your version of English has it's roots in Doncaster tha noze

[threaded]

I hear more English being spoken in Holland than in England.

I also hear more English being spoken in Denmark than in England.

I can go into a corner shop, petrol station, W.H.Y., in Denmark and speak English and be understood. Why not in England? It is just another one of those truely bizarre things.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Aye SS

Life is what you make it, and its true that you cant run away from yourself.

For some odd reason whilst reading your comments a couple of Old tunes from the Smiths camce back to me


Clumsy and shy I went to london and died
I booked myself in at the YWCA
I said I like it here can I stay
and do you have a vacancy for a back scrubber."


I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
But heaven knows I'm miserable now

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I'm miserable now


In my life
Why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I live or die ?


Two lovers entwined pass me by
And heaven knows I'm miserable now


As merry as the days were long
I was right and you were wrong

Back at the old grey school
I would win and you would lose

But you've got everything now
and what a terrible mess I've made of my life

No, I've never had a job
because I've never wanted one

I've seen you smile
but I've never really heard you laugh

So who is rich and who is poor?

[sunnysan]

The UK

I have my issues with the UK, but looking at everything in perspective is a must when deciding whether to emigrate or not.

Your happiness elsewhere will depend on quite a few things. I think a lot of people interperet a desire for change as a reason to emigrate but fail to realise that the reason they are so miserable is not the UK, its themselves.

It sometimes takes an extended sojourn overseas to put things in perspective. Many of my fellow countryman where whinging about SA when they left, spent a few years here and either went back with their tails between their legs, or went back willingly becuase they weighed up the good and the bad and decided that they would rather live there, and put up with all the associated cr@p, becuase the benefits outweighed the positives.

I went through a funny phase a while back. I live in tower hamlets, its summer, so it smells, there are chavs everywhere quaffing KFC with their mouths open, sirens police , tiny flats etc and I was getting pretty depressed.

A mate was over from Minsk, and I went with him to London Bridge and we watched a free openair jazz concert which was brilliant. He said to me that nothing like this ever happens where he is from and he would love to live here because there is so much to do and see, so many opportunities etc. He has lived here before so he know the drill and he is talking based on his experiences in both places.

All it really took was his words to twig in my head to realise that you and you alone make yourself happy, its not really to do with a place, bar extreme circumstances and events.

When I was younger I used to work in a beach bar in Cape Town. Funky house tunes, 100 m away facing the sea, all the drinks I wanted, being chatted up by beautiful girls, enough money to live quite comfortably, lots of free time. The evening sessions where Ibiza'esque in their perfection.

All I wanted to do was get to London, so I could get a job in IT and make money and consequently was miserable a large part of the time and I really didnt appreciate what I had at the time. I now pay 4 times more tax than my monthly salary there at the time, but I would be lying if I said that made me any happier or I feel any bigger sense of well being because of it.

We are constantly told whats bad and negative, every news item has a negative slant making us fearful, paranoid and ultimately shaping our perception of the world around us.

The UK is not a bad place to live, like everywhere else it has its bad points but I think the media make it out to be much worse than it actually is.

Sunny "Tony B is still a tw@t though" San

[Joe Black]

I saw an upside down BMW on the Brussels Ring Road about 7am a few weeks back.

Just the one? Must have been a very quiet morning then.

[Andyw]

Great survey. One of the options was clearly not what people were actually thinking, but a PC comment straight out of the do-gooders handbook.

If there were options saying, "fed up of immigration", "fed up of anti-social behaviour", "fed up of the victims of crime being the victims of justic", I wonder how many people would have ticked those boxes?

Which equals not liking what Britain had become DUR !

[The Lone Gunman]

I saw an upside down BMW on the Brussels Ring Road about 7am a few weeks back.

Another one of those grass is greener things is people saying how terrrible British roads are because of low standards/under investment/British workers don't care etc. But actually, try Belgium.

I would agree with the "grass is greener" issue. Many who move think all is going to be rosy based on 2 weeks in a resort or city break. Or based on complete myths. No long term considerations.
Even when a place has "the weather" or "the lifestyle" or "no chavs" and those places do exist, you still have a number of barriers which make it much more difficult to live there than people think.
Good luck to those who manage, but for many it is a frying pan, fire situation.

I also think it is pointless arguing over why people left based on some dodgy survey data. People dont always answer honestly and may give a positive answer even though deep down there is another reason for leaving.

[hyperD]

Try Croatia... I don't think my farmers have ever recovered...

[VectraMan]

Worked in Brussels for 12 months traffic scared the willies out of me.

I saw an upside down BMW on the Brussels Ring Road about 7am a few weeks back.

Another one of those grass is greener things is people saying how terrrible British roads are because of low standards/under investment/British workers don't care etc. But actually, try Belgium.

[The Lone Gunman]

Bet you loved the whole "Priorite a Droit" thing as well.

Used to that from Germany. Built up areas have the same. Main roads have a big yellow diamond showing priority.
I actualy didnt drive much in Brussels. Local transport was up to the job so I left my car at home. Watching from the bus was bad enough.

[Joe Black]

Bet you loved the whole "Priorite a Droit" thing as well.

[The Lone Gunman]

LG, so far as the "pull over and let faster cars pass you as soon as you can" the problem though is that in some countries it seems you're expected to pull over even when there's no space to pull over into.

In my experience the stats give a fare indication of driving in different countries, certainly here in Belgium where I see far more dangerous driving and general lack of concern for anyone, be that other road users or fellow passengers, any day of the week than I ever did in the UK.

Stats 2004

Worked in Brussels for 12 months traffic scared the willies out of me.

[The Lone Gunman]

And what do you think the rules of the road say in the UK?

The middle and outside lanes are for overtaking only. Once you have passed the traffic you should pull over.

In Germany you should pull over into a suitable gap to let a faster car pass you then pull out again to continue with your over taking.