In NZ, really is a long way from family back in Scotland.
As mentioned driving here is ludicrous,most people think indicators are painted on the car. no one says thanks when you give way to them.
State highways are crap. you have to stop to let pedestrians cross the road on the main highway between the 2 largest cities, imagine that on the M1.
large Methamphetamine problem which entails in pschos carving up people with samurai swords and then saying they can’t remeber doing it.
limited choice of retail goods.
Still wouldn’t go back to scotland unless bribed with a bathful of tenners with Scarlett Johannsen in it.

loads of good micro brews all over now

Sweden – spent a year there and loved it. The food was not great, and was mega-expensive, but was better than I expected (and a lot better than Norway or, or course, Holland). But the best thing was the Swedes – really nice, friendly, helpful, patient when I tortured their beautiful language. Also, fantastic unspoiled scenery.

I’d go back tomorrow, if I had the choice.

Nice here

To be honest I miss the “british way of life”.
Place here is filled up with little ****, trains are most of the time late. Uni is a disaster and could use with a good H&S.

I think at the end of the year It’s very likely I’ll go back to the UK. Wouldn’t mind living in a nice place like York.

DrJ – Member

Sweden – spent a year there and loved it. The food was not great, and was mega-expensive, but was better than I expected (and a lot better than Norway or, or course, Holland). But the best thing was the Swedes – really nice, friendly, helpful, patient when I tortured their beautiful language. Also, fantastic unspoiled scenery.

I’d go back tomorrow, if I had the choice.

I’d be leaving tomorrow given the chance…

Well I really loved living abroad (Finland).. the novelty/adventure factor really made the drudgery of daily work much more bearable.

Things I missed about the UK:

Big hills for biking (Finland’s got many many small ones)
Rocky trails for biking
Being able to be on a hill and look out across a big view (loads of trees in Finland)
British Tea
Malt Vinegar
Salt and Vinegar crisps
Curries (and foreign food in general other than Italian and Chinese)
Chip shop chips
Verdant fecund broadleaf forest with loads of undergrowth and greenery
The coast
Green-ness in winter

Things I liked and now miss about Finland:

A general sense of chilled family orientated contentedness about people
The scenery – stunning lakes, forest, twisting undulating trails forever
The access laws – go anywhere on anything, swim anywhere, the land is everyone’s
Did I mention the scenery?
The winter – crisp, cold snow.. it does actually crunch like glass when it’s cold enough
The winter sports
The sunlight – light till 11.30 midsummer, which isn’t very useful but it’s light til say 9 for 4 months
People’s affinity for the outdoors – no-one called you ‘mad’ for wanting to ride your bike in the woods, they all understood it
The fish

Things that annoyed me about Finland:

The price of cars
The slowness of spring in terms of green-ness
The shortness of summer

I would go back, no worries, if a job came up. Skiing through those frozen woods in the winter dusk was just.. well I just can’t describe it. Deeply moving for me.

I’m in Germany too; and after 2 years there’s not much I don’t like – I even like German food and can now cook proper Spätzle, Reibekuchen etc. etc.

But, and it’s quite a petty but, we travel by train a lot (mostly because they’re cheap and aces), and nobody lets us off with a pram at a stop before barging on and blocking the aisle; and NOBODY understands queueing! Grrr.

That apart, all good. I even find some German comedians funny, although a lot of the humour seems to be of the: “why can’t men tidy up after themselves”, “why does it take women so long to get ready” observational type bobbins.

tarka – do you watch Stefan Raab, he is a funny guy

Raab, Bully Herbig, Rick Kavanian, occasionaly Michael Mittermaier, there are a couple of fairly humerous people in Germany nowadays, but not quite side splitting… yet. But close. Two films: Der Wixxer and Periode Eins did make me chuckle occasionaly. 😯

i find german humour severly lacking.

was at the girl friends the other week. six of us sitting in kitchen and one of her housemates, rather odd lad at the best of times, kneels down in front of the fridge looking foe eggs and says
“ah, wir habe n zwei eier zu wenig”

i said “oder du hast zwei eier zu wenig?”.

the GF, another housemate and i pissed ourselves laughing. the others were schocked and the lad was alomst in tears and i had to apologise for making a joke at his expense. thought that would have gone down a storm in england.

was surprised by one comedian on tv talking about barrack obama. he said that once he was in office merkell would be straight down the tanning salon, get really deeply tanned and be all over obama. struck me as rascist. there was nothing funny about what he said other than the fact merkel would essentially get ‘blacked up’ which isn’t particuarliy amusing.

Considering that most Germans consider themselves well cultured I also find a lot of the comedy here a bit base. They love Mr Bean for God’s sake! It’s all a bit LCD. We are pretty lucky in the UK for having such an uncensored comedic media. I could never imagine that a comedy such as the League of Gentlemen or even Little Britain could ever be produced here (they did do a version of the office but it was terrible!).

Can someone translate Alpin’s witty anecdote please?

Well, I am South African but have been living in England for the last six years.
So what grates me about the foreign country I live in?
To be honest I like England a lot but two things come to mind that grates me:
The YOBS and the SNOBS.

@ molgrips.

‘we’ve got two eggs too few’

‘or you’ve got two eggs too few’

eggs also means testes

ah, wir habe n zwei eier zu wenig”

i said “oder du hast zwei eier zu wenig?”.

We’ve got two eggs too few or have you got two eggs two few?

(eggs in German is also slang for men’s testicles)

Some great oz beer here now but expensive. Still petrol is cheap and the cost of living generally lower i think.

I really miss the countryside of UK / Europe. Proper cold weather. There’s some over east in what passes for mountains but sod all out west.

Driving ability / courtesy – zero out of 1,000,000
Competently scheduled TV – set your video for 20 mins either side to stand a chance. 1st episode of new series of (insert your favourite here) on Monday at 8.30 and the second and third are on back to back on Sunday at 4.15 for no good reason and without warning. Remainder of the series on Tuesday at 9.30
Expensive / compulsory car insurance. Really sometimes I miss it. I’m an old (selfish)git now so not so important but at least it kept the tribes of local teenage fcukwits out of 300hp utes.
Cat up a tree news. Over now to our on the spot reporter to see how tiddles is doing while uncovered goes world news
Ozzy rules ‘football’
Constant reference to the UK or anyone from the UK as english. You can have flaming red hair, an accent like a 70’s Billy Connoly and wear full highland battle dress and they ask you about back home in England. (At least they realise their mistake when you explain rather than not understanding like the average American)
Calling all sweets ‘lollies’ Eh?
Calling all bed sheets, blankets, quilts etc ‘Manchester’ What?
TV / radio adverts that yell louder to increase effectiveness.
Generally backward attitude / resistance to change. We’re about have another referendum on keeping daylight saving after a 3 year trial. We’ve had a 3 year trial and now a predicted 78% will vote against it. Apparently they are worried their curtains will fade. I kid you not.
For all that I’m not going home.

The rather sad, small-minded chip on the locals’ shoulders about ‘the English’

in Switzerland..the opening of supermarkets till 7…i get home 10 mins before it closes everytime..sat they close at 5 and sun all day! its like the uk 10yrs ago..but im getting used to that.

the lack of indicators here is incredible..annoys me when driving aswell as cycling..

apart from that im kinda lucky..

supermarkets in germany are a little better by one hour but your local petrol garage minimark pisses all over most super markets here, both in terms of size and choice.

indicators are only to be used as you are turning, not 50m or so before. same goes on autobahn. turning indicator on as you are halfway over the line is the norm.
and don’t you dare give way, let some-one out of a side road or parking space. that just isn’t the german way.

I’ve had people look at me as if I am an absolute idiot for letting them out of a side road when it was my right of way. In this part of Germany the driving is super aggressive too which I put down to them all learning to drive in Trabbies! When I learned to drive it was drilled in to me that any action I make that makes another driver have to alter their direction speed etc. is bad driving. I see this practically every minute on the German Autobahns. The norm is to wait until the last minute then pull out into a faster lane right in front of someone making them have to brake heavily. One last thing I don’t understand is the lack of cat’s eyes on the Autobahn either.