Livin' in the UK....

[Erja_Perttu]

-snip-

If you are moving for laughs you are barking up the wrong tree; this place is a shithole.

It's not a shithole, it's just the same as any other place in the world to live in, novel when you get there and rubbish when the shine of a new place has worn off.

...so for a little while now I've been thinking about what it'd be like to move to the UK (not anywhere in particular just yet) and honestly my reasoning for doing so is completely careless and asinine. Basically what it boils down to is my newfound love for British humor, two years back I began watching the most recent series of Doctor Who and found the humor to be right up my alley. So I sought out more programming along those lines, Monty Python, Torchwood, Being Human, etc. and I found that I was hooked, I loved all the actors I saw, the (real-life) locations overseas that the shows often took place in and just began to wonder what its really like to live there...

Now I know that what I'm saying here is equivalent to someone from the UK dying to live in America just because they love "My Name is Earl" which, frankly is pretty silly.

But what I'm looking for here is an opinion, I'm looking for someone to bring me back down to earth and tell me how it really is and if its worth moving there someday. So From all my fellow escapist's who live overseas, is it a good place to be or not?

You're right, that is the most asinine reason for moving to the UK ever.

Move here if your job prospects are better, if quality of life is better, if you're being persecuted in your home country etc. etc. but don't travel thousands of miles to set up permanently in a country you think is cool because humour of the 60s/70s was good. Most of those programmes were filmed primarily in Wales, anyway.

I think Britain's a wonderful place (yes, I really live here too) with great humour, but it's got a lot of detractions as well, the same as any other place. I think you'll something more solid to base your decision on than something as hit and miss as humour.

 

[Mcface]

England sounds cool. Unless of course, you are middle eastern. Bit of a problem with them there.

 

[Chogg Van Helsing]

Move to britain! Cold, wet, boring, but no natural disasters apart from the major chav problem!

And you'll find that not everyone is hilarious...

 

[Chogg Van Helsing]

Why i say this is because most places in the north are either very rough, in poverty, or generally not very nice (such as stoke on trent, Birmingham, Manchester, and Ipswich). Near enough everywhere in the south is normally very nice, and that's where I live (Southampton). The lake district area I hear is very nice also.

Oi! I live in Central Scotland! It's not bad, and no offence but that statement seems rather pompous.

 

[Actual]

-snip-

If you are moving for laughs you are barking up the wrong tree; this place is a shithole.

It's not a shithole, it's just the same as any other place in the world to live in, novel when you get there and rubbish when the shine of a new place has worn off.

...so for a little while now I've been thinking about what it'd be like to move to the UK (not anywhere in particular just yet) and honestly my reasoning for doing so is completely careless and asinine. Basically what it boils down to is my newfound love for British humor, two years back I began watching the most recent series of Doctor Who and found the humor to be right up my alley. So I sought out more programming along those lines, Monty Python, Torchwood, Being Human, etc. and I found that I was hooked, I loved all the actors I saw, the (real-life) locations overseas that the shows often took place in and just began to wonder what its really like to live there...

Now I know that what I'm saying here is equivalent to someone from the UK dying to live in America just because they love "My Name is Earl" which, frankly is pretty silly.

But what I'm looking for here is an opinion, I'm looking for someone to bring me back down to earth and tell me how it really is and if its worth moving there someday. So From all my fellow escapist's who live overseas, is it a good place to be or not?

You're right, that is the most asinine reason for moving to the UK ever.

Move here if your job prospects are better, if quality of life is better, if you're being persecuted in your home country etc. etc. but don't travel thousands of miles to set up permanently in a country you think is cool because humour of the 60s/70s was good. Most of those programmes were filmed primarily in Wales, anyway.

I think Britain's a wonderful place (yes, I really live here too) with great humour, but it's got a lot of detractions as well, the same as any other place. I think you'll something more solid to base your decision on than something as hit and miss as humour.

Whereabouts in the country are you from then, it sounds nice. My favourite place in England is Leicester, it's still got lots of scumbags living there, but the majority of people there are nice.

In general though I agree that it's nicer the further south you go. I'm an Essex boy born, and that's really on the frontier edge of civilisation.

 

[Danny Ocean]

England sounds cool. Unless of course, you are middle eastern. Bit of a problem with them there.

N'aaw. Only if you're obviously a Middle Eastern Muslim. My family is from Iran of all places and most people don't even notice! =D

OP! MOVE TO DEVON!

Come live in Exeter. It's an awesome place when they remember to collect the bins.

 

[BringBackBuck]

Do it!

You don't need a better reason than: you think you might like the sense of humour. Seriously that is a good enough reason. It is not 1563 and you have to sail by tall ship for 3 months trying to avoid scurvy, sodomy, and drinking your own urine when the water runs out.

Buy a plane ticket. If you don't like it in the UK, buy another ticket and go home.

 

[liveslowdiefast]

i wouldn't reccomend it, there is still a lot of hate around, but hey expose yourself to a diffrent culutre, hey and you just might learn something.

 

[GeneralDefiance]

i too live in central scotland and its really not that bad here, there are certainly worse places to live. You get assholes worldwide and theres no place thats idiot free. Scotland is a very welcoming place to come and live.

 

[StinkingOoze]

Once, but that was, a llong time ago kiddo, you don't wanna go there friend. Place is full of mutants now, but if you do, make sure to stock up on gems+flashlights.

 

[The_Fezz]

To be honest the North's alright, there are some REAL hell-holes but the Durham area's fine, except for Stanley.

Also the Conservative's are robbing us of jobs but that should subside in four years time...

 

[Gekkeiju]

My favourite place in England is Leicester, it's still got lots of scumbags living there, but the majority of people there are nice.

Really? I live in Leicester.. the city itself is pretty grotty and the transport systems are awful I live about five miles out in the suburbs, which is admittedly pretty nice, but i still have to go into the centre sometimes and its not a lovely place to go...

That being said, why so much bashing on the north? Northumberland ive found to be a lovely area, places like Alnwick and Berwick are real 'English countryside' places. Google Etal village, its the most gorgeously quaint place ive ever been!

Be warned OP, gotta take the good with the bad...

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

One piece of advice I can give you if you want to visit (or live) in the Uk is to keep to the south as much as possible.

No more north than london, and no more south than scarbrough.

Why i say this is because most places in the north are either very rough, in poverty, or generally not very nice (such as stoke on trent, Birmingham, Manchester, and Ipswich). Near enough everywhere in the south is normally very nice, and that's where I live (Southampton). The lake district area I hear is very nice also.

wow... are you actually being serious?... are you a member of the royal family or something? someone who has never left your palace to be amoungst us peasants?

OT: stay away from the south (cornwall and devon is okay, for example penzance where i used to live, if you can get a cool place near a beach)
why i say this is because they're all pompous tory snobs

 

[Eagle Est1986]

Do more research! I live here and I've been trying to escape for ages. There's some nice places to live here, sure, but out of all the places in the world they're pretty low on the list.
Visit first, take a couple of months and explore as much as you can. That should be enough.

 

[gibboss28]

Humour among the young people involves simple taking the piss out of eachother. You're trying to move for the wrong reasons.

Jokes about sex, insulting each other and general silliness is the standard of Humour in the UK...always has always will be

 

[Lawbringer]

One piece of advice I can give you if you want to visit (or live) in the Uk is to keep to the south as much as possible.

Why i say this is because most places in the north are either very rough, in poverty, or generally not very nice. Near enough everywhere in the south is normally very nice, and that's where I live (Southampton). The lake district area I hear is very nice also.

Is this a serious comment or a joke? You've definately been watching too much TV if you think the North/South divide is as extreme as that. I've lived all over the UK and I can tell you (both Jazoni and OP) that every county in Britain has both shitholes and gems (this includes Southampton). It's just a case of finding the gems.

I myself live in the Yorkshire Dales near Harrogate and York. It has some of the most beautiful countryside and friendliest people I've ever met in the UK. It's also the second richest area in Britain after Central London, so not rough or poverty stricken! Easy access via road or train if you want to travel up and down the country and without the insane prices you get down South.

Just thought I'd temper Jazoni's advice with someone who has a slightly less rose-tinted view!

As other people have said, visit the UK before planning a move. If nothing else, just so you can have an idea where you actually want to try settling!

 

[Actual]

My favourite place in England is Leicester, it's still got lots of scumbags living there, but the majority of people there are nice.

Really? I live in Leicester.. the city itself is pretty grotty and the transport systems are awful I live about five miles out in the suburbs, which is admittedly pretty nice, but i still have to go into the centre sometimes and its not a lovely place to go...

I may be biased because I went to university there. It's geek friendly with Leicester and De montford games societies accepting non-uni members, there's a Forbidden Planet, a couple of tabletop gaming shops, and a comic book store. There are clubs which are actually enjoyable to go to, which I've never found elsewhere, Mosh, Fan Club, and Retribution, yes they're a bit grotty but that's what you want for a rock club.

In the four years I lived there I only had one random street thug try and start a fight with me and he was only doing it half-heartedly. That is miles better than Harlow and Cambridge, the other two towns I've lived in.

While I was living in the Muslim area in student digs I was worried the Indian populace wouldn't bother making friends with us but they were really awesome.

Also, it's cheap to live there.

I just had a really good time and would go back in a second if I wasn't enjoying my current job a great deal.

 

[Gekkeiju]

-snip-

Fair enough I guess familiarity probably breeds contempt. There are some real horrible places there though..!