To all the British members: What is it like to live in Britain?

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Hi there,

Could someone from the United Kingdom tell me to what it is like to live in Britain?

This question is maybe a bit off-forum, but I'm very interested to know what it is like to live in the United Kingdom. I'm from the Netherlands and living here is utterly, utterly boring. In my residence just never happens anything! So could anyone tell me something about the United Kingdom in general?

The United Kingdom has always been my favorite holiday-country, but I rarely come there, just once every two years, so I actually don't know much about it, except that fish & chips is the most popular fast-food up there and that the Britain's pay with the Pound Sterling.
I don't know why I love Britain so much, perhaps because it's the culture, maybe it's Mony Python, who knows.

Right, so could anyone tell me something about living in the UK?
(maybe it's better if you send me a PM, as it isn't very handy to share personal experiences on a public site, just to spare bad comments).

Kind Regards,
Pepijn
"For by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing"
-Plato
This video should answer your question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS1RIyR6uW8

The Netherlands shouldn't seem so boring anymore.
Kenny

- Verifying your Asian and British-territorial coins everyday with the best quality photos and the best information.

Check out my Facebook, Kenneth Gucyski.
I'm sure there are many misconceptions out there. I'm also curious. Whenever I think of the UK, three things come to mind... cold, wet and multicultural. I've never been, is there more? ;)

Multicultural Nation

The UK is known for having a multicultural society with all religions and faiths represented in some way. With a racial, ethnic and religious jumble, ...
 
General Climate Conditions

The UK has a reputation for having cold, wet and dreary weather.

http://www.intelligentpartners.com/why-study-in-uk
I live near Newcastle the most northern major city, the UK is beautiful but it's no place for young people ! I intend on leaving.. You get taxed time and again and they like to screw the working man into the ground ! I'm currently paying 138.9p per litre for petrol ! About 80p in every litre is duty and tax, my car's road tax is £138 for 6 months and you get taxed on your wage and if you save some you get taxed on the interest you earn !
... and where do you plan on going in order to avoid this? 8~  I heard Depardieu got a Russian citizenship and passport. :D Just 13% across the board.
Here's a recent, bleak view of the economic prospects in the UK.

Can England be saved?
Scotland if they become independent, or Australia - at least both of these have balls and will tell the E.U. where to go.. They are also both self-sufficient !
I'm assuming you plan on earning a living in Australian dollars. Today's gas prices, AU$1.45 - AU$1.60/liter. Personal income tax rate is 20% - 45%, plus there is a 10% HST on purchases. Did you do the calculation? By how much will you be ahead?
I lived I Greenock, Scotland, for eight years doing customer support for Swedish customers.
I remember one call I got one day:
Customer: So, you're in Ireland, right?
Me: No, Scotland - United Kingdom. Ireland is another country.
- Aah, right... So you like football then?
- No, I don't like football.
- No? But you like whiskey!
- No, I don't like whiskey.
- No? But you do play golf, don't you?
- No, I don't play golf.
- But... But what the f**k are you doing in Scotland then?
- Eeh... Work? You just called me, right?

So people have this prejudgment about places, based on movies, news and of course holidays.
Also there is this misconception that taxes are very low in the UK - Yes, it's only 25% on your salary, but on top of that you have to pay council tax - which is a flat tax based on the value of your home. Or to be precise, the value of your home as it was in 1991 (could have changed, but was at least true in 2008). Homes are in 8 bands, A to H, with A being the lowest. My flat was in band B, which meant I had to pay another £100 or so per month, 10 months per year - that equaled 10% of my net pay. Salaries are (were) quite a lot lower in Scotland than in England.

Weather in central-western Scotland is the same all year round. Windy, temperature between -2 a cold winter day and +20 a really "hot" summer day. I think this is not the case in England, especially not the south-east.

And to you Britons, stop nagging about the cost of petrol - It's just as bad over here, and about the same all over Europe. :)
Think of the poor Romanians making on average €250 per month, and still pay £1.15 per litre!
Or you do like me and fill your tank with ethanol which is £0,93/litre here in the summer.  :P

Anyway, my experience in life is this: People are the same everywhere - we're all humans. We have the same dreams and the same desires. Some places are warmer, some colder. Some are rich, others are poor. A place is as fun as you make it (or can afford to make it).
Quote: pileborgI remember one call I got one day:
Customer: So, you're in Ireland, right?
An Irishman had been drinking at a pub all night. The bartender finally said that the bar is closing. So the Irishman stood up to leave and fell flat on his face. He tried to stand one more time; same result. He figured he'll crawl outside and get some fresh air and maybe that will sober him up. Once outside he stood up and fell flat on his face. So he decided to crawl the 4 blocks to his home. When he arrived at the door he stood up and again fell flat on his face. He crawled through the door and into his bedroom. When he reached his bed he tried one more time to stand up. This time he managed to pull himself upright, but he quickly fell right into bed and is sound asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He was awakened the next morning to his wife standing over him, shouting,

"So, you've been out drinking again!!"

"What makes you say that?" he asked, putting on an innocent look.

"The pub called -- you left your wheelchair there again."
Coinsoldier again!
Quote: bam777Coinsoldier again!
Saighdiúir Mona.
But if you want to move, do it! You'll be a more experienced person afterwards, which is never bad.

I read, that once you have moved you will start to want to go home. After about two years, you will completely hate your new country. When you do - don't go home even for holiday, because this feeling passes. After three - four years, it will be the opposite; when you go home to the Netherlands you will start to wonder why people do such strange things.

And I can say from experience that this is true.

For example: When I moved to Scotland I got really stressed when buying food. In Sweden, in a food shop, the till has two lanes, one for the present customer and one for the previous customer so that he/she can pack while the cashier is working. Not so in the UK, there is one lane, and I really thought I had to hurry to get all my stuff packed really quick to clear the space - but not so, they patiently wait for you to finish, even give you a hand with the packing if needed which would NEVER happen here (not ergonomic for the cashier you see).
Ok, eight years later - Sweden. I went to buy food. Man, did I get stressed. I had hardly paid before the cashier started serving the next customer, in the other lane, but anyway, it was really stressing.

That's one of the moments when I realized I'd been britonized.  :)

I still can't close doors in the face of other people! I just have to hold it open!
I haven't done any calculations yet as my fiancée still has a year left at university after that Is when we will get serious.. Thing is its very hard at the moment for jobs.. I'm a time-served plumbing and heating engineer, and a year and a half ago it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for me to be picking up £700+ at the end of the week after taxes etc.. BUT the construction industry has collapsed and I now find myself working in a factory through an agency earning £211 after tax. So an you see why I am a little disgruntled ?  
I fancied Canada too but its a bit too cold and I have psoriatic arthritis (another reason to move somewhere warmer).
I'm exploring my options still though.. I've just applied to Nissan to do a 5 year apprenticeship as a maintenance engineer, so I would be chained down until I'm 28 but then I could go to any factory to work as well as plumbing. Nissan have a factory in Barcelona which is also appealing, although the whole European economy is VERY unstable at this time. My closing statement is I'm struggling here.. Often having spells on the dole.. I might as well be there on the beach ha !
Quote: Mark240590I fancied Canada too but its a bit too cold ...
Now here, compared with Canada, Australia has a discount on taxes. The gas prices are $1.30 - $1.45/liter right now. We easily get taxed 45 - 60%, after you factor in the additional 13% tax on everything you buy, services too. Welcome to the NWO, junior.

Thing is stuff tends to be cheaper - I wouldn't rule out a move to the States like mighty Phil did. It's a great place somewhere like flo-rida - everything is cheap there and I can drive a 6.2 litre car cheaply haha.

I used to love Hogan he was my favourite wrestler as a child. However I thought the wolfpack was better !
I moved from Germany to the southern US like Uncle Phil, not Florida but NC....the climate is perfect, not so cold in the winter and hot and humid in the summer, good people and decent jobs. I have a cousin still in Germany who is a master plumber and coppersmith, I have been trying to get him to move over here and start his own gig...maybe someday. European craftsman can make a lot of money here, still.
Taxes are what they are, nothing like in Europe by a long shot. Cost of living is not as bad as it is in other parts of the world or even the western US and if you not scared to work a decent plumber/coppersmith self-employed could easily bring in $ 75,000 to $ 100,000 per year. Trade jobs is where it's at around here; got enough computer nerds and over-educated dummies to last a lifetime, stuck in a $ 35,000 per year job after wasting $100K plus on an over-rated education. Hell, even "over the road" truckers make more than that and all they need is a drivers license.

I have a friend, a brick mason from London who moved over here 12 years ago, he started his own company with nothing but his skills and his British accent and he is doing very well, well enough to vacation all over the world two to three times per year for weeks at a time.

Any of you young guys/gals stuck in a rut, broke and barely making it with any kind of trade skills should explore the southern US, it'll be worth your time.

Just saying.......Bon Voyage
I'm seriously considering it my friend ! I also have my heavy goods licence to drive up to 40 tonnes rigid body though, I'm not sure if I would maybe have to re-take that licence over there (I assume not since we have a good standard of driving exams here too).
In order to drive a truck in the US you would need a "CDL" Commercial  Drivers License. If you Google CDL it'll explain it to you, nowhere near the cost of a license in your country....couple hundred dollars and passing a test. Some companies hire drivers with not many "Roadhours", some don't.

You also need to explore the immigration laws. It's better to come here with a particular skill than just to come to drive a truck.....many things to consider, but worth your time....

You could always move to Florida and hunt alligators, they bring $35 per foot and grow to 15 feet long, that's a cool $ 525 bucks......per beast, I mean if all else fails, that would be an option...lol
Or just come on over and live off old man Obama, he'll hook you up.....I better shut up.
Well the idea of doing the truck licence was to open as many doors for me as possible; I already have my gas safe certificates etc and now have the wagon licence, and if I do get this apprenticeship it should mean before I'm 30 I should never be out of work for the rest of my life, and can job hop to another well paid job if I'm bored. :D
Hulk Hogan AKA Terry Bollea, lives about a mile from me. Seen him at a couple of local diners, his ex wife owns one.

If I was Mark's age I'd be heading for Texas, they are creating as many new jobs each year as the other 49 states put together. Friends in Abilene tell me there is a huge natural gas boom along the interstate corridor with high paying jobs going unfilled.

There is a lot of talk of Texas leaving the Union, even Gov. Perry has publically considered it. If they do it will be a mass stampede of the more productive elements of the rest of the US and Texas will very quickly become one of the world's largest economies. People in the South are very angry at paying ever increasing taxes to support the welfare lifestyle of northern cities. Several Yankee states plus the West Coast have spent themselves into bankruptcy, any attempt to bail them out will ignite a firestorm.

The biggest problem facing the South is the massive influx of Yankees who are fleeing their decaying economies. Unfortunately they haven't learned a thing from the destruction of their own states and instead of adapting to The South, they start forming committees and agitating for the same policies they just fled from!

The easiest way to move to the US is to find an employer willing to sponsor you, otherwise you can expect to pay thousands of dollars in filing fees plus an equal amount in attorney's fees. Or you could just sneak accross the border and wait for the amnesty. It's much cheaper that way apparently.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
LOL Phil I will need to visit the States first but to be fair I've always thought the US would be better for me than Oz like every other Englishman bangs on about !
Yankees have been a problem to the southern way of life for a long time.....Phil is right. They snarl up our highways and breath our air and try to corrupt our children. Some say the only reason they come down here is to see what they won....

I think Texas should leave the Union, I'd like to live to see the chaos that would cause......

My ex-father in law (who is still my buddy) hunts a lot in Argentina and tells me it's a great place to live; once you made your money in the States and want to get back to live a more relaxed way of life.

All this is way off topic, sorry...... all of you all Brits should continue and tell the boy what it is like to live in Britain, I guess that was his original question.
I think I've summed it up from a disgruntled point of view - I would like to see what people who are happy here's point of view !
Quote: SmartOneKgThis video should answer your question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS1RIyR6uW8

The Netherlands shouldn't seem so boring anymore.
Well, I may have been a bit too excessive, but in my town just never happens anything. There are cooler places in the NL, but I don't go there often.

And my town is continuously a construction site! The municipality is starting every two months a new project, for no good reason! Just like the time they spend 500,000 euros on restoring the pavement in front of the new libarry. The pavement was alright, it laid there for 1/4 of a year, but someone saw that there was a tiny slit in a dark corner, so they ripped all the bricks out of the ground and they are trying to put them back again.
So that's how things are going up here!
"For by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing"
-Plato
It's rubbish don't bother if you intend living here and it's going to get a lot worse. If your planning a visit you will enjoy the beautiful places just don't make it your home.
So I live in Denmark, moved here 25 years ago, we pay something like 45 % in tax, and I also pay VAT on food, etc etc and of course we pay property tax, it rains a lot and in the winter it is pretty dark.

And I love it; yes I pay high tax, but I do not need a college fund for my son, the state will give him money to go to the university, I did not pay for the times my wife needed a operation, and if I would get unemployed I would get social welfare.

In fact there is only one thing that I do not like; the coins are very boring.
world square coin book 1900-2000
Show off! ;)

I think this topic can easily turn into a bunch of individuals from the majority of European countries searching for something better than austerity measures. You were probably one of the last few spoiled nations in this world. The reality is, either move to a very undesirable country or accept the fact, that the countries least affected by the multitude of crises in this world, have been taxed to death for generations. Welcome to the real world, where we do not get 5 to 6 weeks of paid vacation every year and we learn how to live on half of our income. Like michaelheuvel wrote, 45% and a VAT or 50% and a GST/HST are the reality for a sustained standard of living, today. There is also no gov't paid university for many.
Quote: michaelheuvelSo I live in Denmark, moved here 25 years ago, we pay something like 45 % in tax, and I also pay VAT on food, etc etc and of course we pay property tax, it rains a lot and in the winter it is pretty dark.

And I love it; yes I pay high tax, but I do not need a college fund for my son, the state will give him money to go to the university, I did not pay for the times my wife needed a operation, and if I would get unemployed I would get social welfare.

In fact there is only one thing that I do not like; the coins are very boring.
Well, they look much better than the eurocoins we use in the Netherlands!
"For by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing"
-Plato
Quote: michaelheuvelSo I live in Denmark, moved here 25 years ago, we pay something like 45 % in tax, and I also pay VAT on food, etc etc and of course we pay property tax, it rains a lot and in the winter it is pretty dark.

And I love it; yes I pay high tax, but I do not need a college fund for my son, the state will give him money to go to the university, I did not pay for the times my wife needed a operation, and if I would get unemployed I would get social welfare.

In fact there is only one thing that I do not like; the coins are very boring.
What do you find boring about the coins? The majority of British coins are very desirable and well sought-after from collectors worldwide.
Post self moderated, sorry.

Congratulations for 500 posts though!  :8D  
                ^
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Catalogue referee for British, English and Scottish coins.

Le référent pour des pièces britannique, anglais et écossais.
And I think he meant Danish coins.
Catalogue referee for British, English and Scottish coins.

Le référent pour des pièces britannique, anglais et écossais.
Quote: manxcat12And I think he meant Danish coins.
Yes I was refering to the Danish coins
world square coin book 1900-2000
Haha got it, I miss read the start and read it as "so I lived in Denmark". I should have gone to specsavers  B.
English coins are boring now tony, do you think the shield is good ? The new stuff for '13 looks good though !
Quote: Mark240590English coins are boring now tony, do you think the shield is good ? The new stuff for '13 looks good though !
I do like the shield Mark, it was a refreshing change, and this years coins are very impressive. Can't wait to get the collector's set, hoping one of the family gets it for me.  :)
I don't particularly like the shield or the portrait. :(  I mean yeah it's a little cool but it's not really up to much. The 2013 50p looks mint too, I miss Britannia ! It's a truest I of being British and a massive part of our history !
Quote: Mark240590I don't particularly like the shield or the portrait. :(  I mean yeah it's a little cool but it's not really up to much. The 2013 50p looks mint too, I miss Britannia ! It's a truest I of being British and a massive part of our history !
Yes that is true, hopefully they might bring it back with some slight alterations. Wishful thinking probably though.
Yeah I know she should be on the penny or probably more suited to the size of the 2p !
Any truth in the rumour that the new Brittania will wear a burkha and hold an AK47 instead of a trident?
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
Quote: pnightingaleAny truth in the rumour that the new Brittania will wear a burkha and hold an AK47 instead of a trident?
and the shield will be replaced with a backpack

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