My dad's friend has a nice place in Manchester. I've met her; she seems very generous and easy to get along with. She says their kids could introduce me to the club scene and the lovely outdoor spots, and I'm guaranteed a job in the spring. A plane ticket from here to there costs less than $800. And Ireland is so close by. I'll probably ultimately want to end up in Germany, though, and I would be brought a hell of a lot closer. It would make it easier to get the necessary documents together to live and work in Europe.
I want get the hell away from America, for dozens of obvious reasons, and this so-called "paradise." It's a wonderful place to visit time and time again, but I'd much rather live somewhere else, in a new land full of new places to explore. And it would be fabulous, if my heart desired, to take a two and a half hour train ride to London one night, or wherever. I'm tired of all the restrictions of living on a very small island.
So what can you Brits here tell me about the U.K., aside from the obvious stereotypes? How's the weather this time of year?
Hawaii will never be the same.
One thing I can tell about Manchester is that it's a crap hole. The north of England is very different to the south.
South is posh, well educated, civillised and friendly. The north isnt (going by stereotypes of course). Seriously Manchester isnt the best place in Britain.
It's a very cold winter we're having right now. The last one was too cold to. That said our summer are usually very hot. Britain has the best weather in the world. Other places have hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzard and volcanic eruptions. The worst you can expect in ol Blighty is rain.
Consumer electronics are quite expensive here, so if you do wind up migrating, be prepared to pay through your nose one way or the other.
The Southeast is probably the most glorious part of the United Kingdom - Kent is called "the fruit basket of England" for good reason. The countryside is lush and green, and it's nowhere near as rough as, say, Liverpool (sorry, DK). It's a short train journey from Canterbury to central London, and my lord are they both great towns. It's a bit touristy here, but there're a decent variety of shops and restaurants (and perhaps a club or two), but London seriously has everything. The public transport system easily kicks the crap out of anything the USA has - The Tube (London Underground) tends to be on time whenever I take it, and if you get an Oyster Card the fares are incredibly cheap.
Be prepared to have to tolerate a good deal of... Unscrupulous individuals. They're not the same thing by a huge margin, but the closest thing I can compare Chav culture to is the American "wigger" scene. You'll encounter stupid accents, total dimwittedness and absolute contempt for social goodness wherever you go, so it's probably a good thing to read up on beforehand. Also, they're violent in rougher places (hi Liverpool!)
The one time I've been to Manchester was for about half an hour whilst I was getting a connecting train, so I'm unable to pass comment on anything but the station. It was ugly as sin and covered in pigeon ****.
Traveling to other European destinations is cheap from here - Budget airlines! There are services like Ryanair and Easyjet which operate out of the smaller UK airports. Hell, it's so affordable that I can actually pay my own airfare without any financial qualms whatsoever - Last time I took a trip to the Dordogne it was only £50 to Bergerac airport from London Stansted. No-frills transport is great here, so you'll be able to flit around Germany, Ireland and wherever else you please as often as you like.
Of course, only being sixteen I don't have much extensive knowledge of the financial aspects of living here, so I'll leave that to someone else. It's somewhat odd in that I'm actually likely to move to the USA after I finish school...
oh and you can't forget endless cups of tea and bagpipes and crumpets and cricket and scousers and man united and-
Weather: Winter is cold, but nowhere near as cold as America can get. Snow is rare. Our summers are pretty awesome, they're not hot enough to make you sweat or worry too much about sunburn, but they're hot enough to warrant wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I can only speak for the south, though. Up north it's generally colder and wetter.
Accents: You will understand no one in Manchester, I promise you that.
Err what? Not worry about sunburn and sweat? Did you go out the house this summer? Personally I sweat like a jew in an oven but sunburn is very common for people in summer and cant be passed off as something "you shouldnt worry too much about".
Hah, remember summer 2003, guys? :/
When we're not in the middle of a heatwave our summers are very pleasant. Heatwaves are hot no matter what country you're in. The heatwave this summer lasted only 2 weeks, the rest of the time you didn't have to worry about being too hot.
You know how much I hate the heat in summer. Honestly, I'm a good judge of this.
You're an idiot Dark Kirby. Read the rest of the sentence you scouser.
Dark Kirby is from Liverpool? Wierd. I didn't think Liverpool had electricity.
[quote=Raptor]But they listen to slightly better music, right? Slightly.
Actually, from what I've seen they all listen to the same mainstream hip-hop crap. Thankfully most of them are too poor/stupid to be seen in cars, so you won't be knocked out of your chair by some passing mAaAaAd BeAtz.
As for Germany: Read up on the language for a year or so and you're essentially set. It's a lot easier than it looks - Although considering I myself lived in Frankfurt when I was very young, perhaps I was helped by the fact that there was a time at which I was speaking more German than anything else... Honestly, it's like French without the total trainwreck grammatical constructions.
Germany sucks, you can't play videogames with any degree or violence there. Food's crap, too, especially if you're a vegetarian.
Hey, why don't we listen to the guy who's actually from Manchester. Yeah? Okay.
To start with, the club scene and lovely outdoor spots don't really exist in Manchester. If you travel just a few miles up the road to the Peak District then you'll absolutely fall in love with it, although it will be much colder than what you've come to expect. If you look at a world map ([url="http://www.phnx-international.com/Pictures/Photogallery%20-%20Job%20Locations/World%20Map%20with%20Job%20Locations%204x2%204-15-2005.jpg"]here's a handy one![/url]) you'll see that we're on a parallel with northern Canada.
My advice? Sheffield (around 50 miles from Manchester, or a 90 minute journey) and around Yorkshire. I moved here for a reason. Much nicer city, landscape much more impressive and it's closer to the countryside you love so much. Plus a better club scene, one of the safest cities in England, and easy access to everywhere. Also I've not seen a single chav in the year and a half I've been here.
Don't listen to Bebop. Yorkshire people are the most hospitable in the country.
As a side note, right now I'm not wearing any socks, jeans and a t-shirt, and it's just about tolerable - it's 4pm. In a few hours I will have to put some more layers on or turn the heating up.
Yorkshire is pretty cool; I've got distant relatives of some kind there.
Mancunians are evil! The plague! The plaaaague!
Wings cant be from Manchester. He uses grammar.
I hate the Yorkshire accent. Loads of people bum it but it just annoys me.
You must be from around London. You're a total cock.
The Yorkshire accent isn't that bad. The Liverpool accent is the awful one.
Christ calm down. I don't want to be bottled. Anyway, hows life at the factory going?
I hate the Yorkshire accent more than the Liverool one.
...I have no idea what you just said. :D
Tis a shame. Then again reading is a novelty skill up north. Perhaps over time more people will leave the coal mines and pick up a book. One without pictures.
No, I mean, bottled? Like, put you in a bottle? What? And is working in a factory a common occupation for a northerner?
Learn your stereotypes, sir.
Smashing somone over the head with a bottle and working in a factory is a northern stereotype.
But congratulations on knowing what a stereotype is. You must have attended one of the few schools in Manchester. Here, have a Stella.
*gives Stella bottle*
Ridiculous. What a society you must live in where smashing a bottle over someone's head actually has a term associated with it.
Also, Stella ia arse-gravy.
A northerner who doesnt like Stella? Whoa. Next you'll tell me you use knives and forks to eat.
British country side is very nice. The beaches arent all that though.
Germany is excellent. I'd move there if I could be bothered to pick up the language again. The weather will be much more what you're used to; I'd recommend it.
I love this thread, Bebop obviously listened to common stereotypes from the Southern Fairies that couldn't handle our Northern Customs. Personally I think the accent from the North East is FAR worse than the accent from the North West. I'm surprised they can understand eachother.
"orrgh larday poort thar gayrebarx een there car"
"arllreetay thuts argh cannae leke ye the noo!
Such big words for a Northener. Next you'll stop stealing cars.
I'm actually having alot of fun in this thread.
STEREOTYPE
I've never actually stolen a car, I don't even know HOW to steal a car, stereotyping is fun.
You're all snobs and drug-dealers. The chavs are all down South, and the North beats up the South daily, and you're all gay.
Wheee Southern Stereotypes.
Bit slow arent we? Then again, it's expected from you people.
Chavs migrated from the North because it was running out of space. Something to do with too many babies. Its annoying having the north down south. Before you came we never heard of muggings, rape and murder. We only had articulate crime, such as tax fraud, but even then we wouldnt do it.
Bah, the Rhine valley isn't anything like it's made out to be. There's a place called Morfelden-Walldorf near Frankfurt which I can highly recommend, though.
You're an idiot. Just get out.
Nothing like watching the cultured, sophisticated British argue with one another over topics Americans like me would never understand.
Huh. I think Germany would be a better choice, primarily because you're not on camera everywhere you go. Also, the "health and safety" stuff in Britian seems absolutely rediculous. It's no wonder Americans are often appaulled when they visit the UK. A friend recently returned from a trip to Britian. She said it was like an Orwellian nightmare and the many of the people were of the same mindset of "hicks" stateside. My father said the same thing after returning from the UK from business last year. Germany he liked OK, and he liked France even more.
...where did they go? Sounds like London only.
I know, it's kinda like what we do here, just with more sophistication.
I do. Ive kept a furry out of ol Blighty and made fun of pikeys.
I should be knighted.
Leave the crown jewels alone you peasant!
Now if you'll excuse me I having a day out at Ascot.
Bebop - you're a disgrace to my country - get out.
[IMG]http://www.safety-sign.info/img/img_signs/10final%20exit%20sign.gif[/IMG]
Hey, weren't The Beatles from the North? Then again, I'm not sure, since I'm just an American.
No they werent. That was a marketting technique so people would pity them and buy their songs. In actual fact they were from the south and very well educated. I mean, you cant expect a northener to play an instrument can you?
Ha ha youve done me there. I wasnt thinking. But to save face Ill say "He may have been from Kent but he acts like a northener"
[quote=Misoxeny]Also, the "health and safety" stuff in Britian seems absolutely rediculous. It's no wonder Americans are often appaulled when they visit the UK. A friend recently returned from a trip to Britian. She said it was like an Orwellian nightmare.
Here's the difference between British "freedom" and American "freedom".
British "freedom" will get you arrested within 12 seconds of doing something completely minor because most of the time there is a camera on you. Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority are privately owned, ie a security camera set up by the owner in a small shop. If you don't do anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about. Creepy, but relatively safe.
American "freedom" will get you sent to jail for 5 years for posting on 4chan or sent to an illegal concentration camp in Cuba for the rest of your days without trial for being a muslim. American "freedom" involves having no human rights whatsoever.
I like mine more.
Whatever, this thread's been f[COLOR=lightgreen]u[/COLOR]cked over by ignorant a[COLOR=lightgreen]s[/COLOR]sholes already.
And I thought America was bad for its east-west/north-south rivalry, but I see it's just the same elsewhere in the world. Stupid. I may just pack extra winter clothing and move to Antarctica. Cold, but at least there's no one there to ***** about the weather or write ****ty songs about how one side has better broads or teeth than the other.
I lived in England for eleven years of my life, now I'm in this crappy place where I like to call Florida, I MIGHT move back in the winter, but..I've never been to Manchester, though I've heard both fun sides and bad sides of it, *Siiiigh* I want to see Camberley again.
But anyway, if you're going to move, think about it for a while.
The weather? Hm. I faintly remember it being very sunny in the summer, it's an awsome time for kid's to play with watergun's, play footie, and hang out. The winter..It's only snowed two times in my life over there. And hardly any thunderstorms! Well, where I lived anyway.
I say next year me and Raptor swap houses.
Anyway, I'm in the process of applying for a passport.
Theres one thing you need to be careful of Raptor. Britain is very different. well basically live is like a hurricane here in Duckberg. Race cars, lasers and airplanes. It's a duck blur. Life's all a mystery, or rewrite history! DUCK TALES! WOOO WOOO
Overused.
The day Duck Tales can be over used is the day Muffla learns how to spell and use grammar. WOOO WOOO!!!
This is the first time I've heard someone mention DuckTales in months. It's one of my favourite cartoons of all time.
Yeah, given all the apparent separatism going on over there, it could happen, assuming that the folks on this board are a representative general of the entire population, which could be highly unlikely...
Still, interesting thought. Also, it's funny how over there, the Northerners are supposedly the uneducated bumpkins and the Southerners are the refined...
After all, our country was made out of anti-British thinking. It's only right that we be opposite to them.
There have been civial wars. All won by the south of course.
It was an unfair fight, you all had proper weapons and we were just poor farmers, we just had fire and pitchforks. :(
Dont mess with these Americans heads. You cannot afford pitchforks! You still use your hands like the apes from the trees. Your main attack force was rocks. Alas using your main food supply as a weapon swayed in our favour.
Actually, We also had 2 Southies to 1 Northy, and we still killed 99.999% of your army. BECAUSE WE ARE REAL MEN LOLOLOL.
But yeah, We can still beat you lot in a fight. We have petrol bombs and "Nuts" magazine, BECAUSE WE ARE HARD. Teeheehee.
Like you British ever resort to fighting. We all know you use your legendary diplomatic skills and etiquette to resolve things like gentlemen. [spoiler]America rules![/spoiler]
Rar!
don't you have to get a work visa?
Not sure, but I think it depends on what you're coming over for. I'll ask my housemate, she moved over from NY a few years ago.
I'm sure you know this Raptor, but just keep in mind that no matter where you go, there will always, always be the same exact people you hated before--except now, they speak differently.