Anyone wish they were back in the UK

[william_wallace 8]

Stupid topic for some maybe.

After nearly 3 years in the US, me and my wife can't wait to move to Scotland. America has it's pro's but it seems to have more con's.

We are both on a good income here but for whatever reason, money doesn't last ####### here. On top of that were both sick to death of the extreme arrogance people have in South Carolina. The place is nice, don't get me wrong.

I have had about had it with all the bull$###### that happens here. Example, I was waiting for my wife to get out at wal-mart and stood outside and had a smoke. This guy was going nuts as I was smoking. I stepped back a few more feet and said sorry and basically tried to ignore him. As i leaned against the wall, for whatever reason he thought I was pulling something out my pocket so he went to his ruck sack and pulled out a gun and shouted, threated etc.

I honestly have to say this is not the first time I've seen this kind of ####### in America. Off all the bloody years, the last 2 years have taken it's toll. Even my wife is sick and tired of this crime ridden, ignorant people. She even says it was never like this until about 3-4 years ago.

Yes, I can understand that cities are like that but were in a population of 45,000 and crime keeps rising and your money is about as worth wiping your backside with.

I am seriously giving up and heading back home to the Highlands of Scotland.

Not looking for sympathy by the way. I'm just pi$$ed off with life here is in the Southern belt.

Edited September 3, 2011 by william_wallace

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

First: let's get something very important out out the way that children learn in 5th grade: an apostrophe within the word "its" indicates a contraction of "it is," nothing else, ever. You make this mistake several times which makes you pretty much unemployable in a country where English is the primary language.

"America has it is pro's (again: no apostrophe for plural forms!) but. . . "

It really hurts. English, the final frontier.

Now we have this out of the way understand the the "USA" is like Europe in many ways. Imagine somebody visited Greece or Norway and tells you he or she doesn't like Europe. Life in Scotland differs from life in Spain and life in Turkey the same way life in Alaska differs from life in Nebraska, Florida, or Hawaii, yet all of these states are part of the USA.

Unfortunately foer you, you picked a very undesirable U.S. state to reside in, so you can't possible imagine the bliss I'm having in living near Santa Barbara, where we have 330 days of perfect weather instead of 330 days of rain and gray skies and more culture than I can take in. I have lived in 6 European countries but would rather castrate myself with a piece of glass and eat my severed body part, despite me being a vegetarian for 28 years now, before moving to any part of the U.K. again.

Edited September 3, 2011 by Just Bob

[Fandango 1,439]

First: let's get something very important out out the way that children learn in 5th grade: an apostrophe within the word "its" indicates a contraction of "it is," nothing else, ever. You make this mistake several times which makes you pretty much unemployable in a country where English is the primary language.

"America has it is pro's (again: no apostrophe for plural forms!) but. . . "

It really hurts. English, the final frontier.

Misused apostrophes grates on me like no other, but even with that being said, this is unnecessarily pedantic and quite rude. Intelligent people make this mistake all the time, and to imply that the OP is unemployable due to ignorance is, well. ignorant.

we have this out of the way understand the the "USA" is like Europe in many ways. Imagine somebody visited Greece or Norway and tells you he or she doesn't like Europe. Life in Scotland differs from life in Spain and life in Turkey the same way life in Alaska differs from life in Nebraska, Florida, or Hawaii, yet all of these states are part of the USA.

Unfortunately foer you, you picked a very undesirable U.S. state to reside in, so you can't possible imagine the bliss I'm having in living near Santa Barbara, where we have 330 days of perfect weather instead of 330 days of rain and gray skies and more culture than I can take in. I have lived in 6 European countries but would rather castrate myself with a piece of glass and eat my severed body part, despite me being a vegetarian for 28 years now, before moving to any part of the U.K. again.

It's 'for' not 'foer'. You might be unemployable, Bob!

However, I somewhat agree with the rest of your post. Not that SC as a whole is undesirable...but that there are a lot of different places within the US which might be a better fit.

William, the wal mart story sounds awful! Did you call the police???? Obviously, JB ignores the economic climate these days, and his solution of possibly moving within the US might not be so easy with the employment factor. But if you can plan a move, perhaps you two should contemplate moving to another area. Even if the long term plan is to move back to Scotland...maybe a domestic move in the meantime could help out. Life is too short to live it miserably.

Good luck.

[william_wallace 8]

First: let's get something very important out out the way that children learn in 5th grade: an apostrophe within the word "its" indicates a contraction of "it is," nothing else, ever. You make this mistake several times which makes you pretty much unemployable in a country where English is the primary language.

"America has it is pro's (again: no apostrophe for plural forms!) but. . . "

It really hurts. English, the final frontier.

Now we have this out of the way understand the the "USA" is like Europe in many ways. Imagine somebody visited Greece or Norway and tells you he or she doesn't like Europe. Life in Scotland differs from life in Spain and life in Turkey the same way life in Alaska differs from life in Nebraska, Florida, or Hawaii, yet all of these states are part of the USA.

Unfortunately foer you, you picked a very undesirable U.S. state to reside in, so you can't possible imagine the bliss I'm having in living near Santa Barbara, where we have 330 days of perfect weather instead of 330 days of rain and gray skies and more culture than I can take in. I have lived in 6 European countries but would rather castrate myself with a piece of glass and eat my severed body part, despite me being a vegetarian for 28 years now, before moving to any part of the U.K. again.

Sorry to say, but it rains more in SC than it does in my part of Scotland where I'm from. I have been in a few states but obviously not all. You can go on about Santa Barbara all you like, doesn't change the fact the America is fast becoming a second nation and spiraling downwards.

As for you wanting to cut your nuts off and wanting to eat them, instead of moving to any part of the UK, sour grapes on your part. You obviously don't know where I'm from.

[william_wallace 8]

Misused apostrophes grates on me like no other, but even with that being said, this is unnecessarily pedantic and quite rude. Intelligent people make this mistake all the time, and to imply that the OP is unemployable due to ignorance is, well. ignorant.

It's 'for' not 'foer'. You might be unemployable, Bob!

However, I somewhat agree with the rest of your post. Not that SC as a whole is undesirable...but that there are a lot of different places within the US which might be a better fit.

William, the wal mart story sounds awful! Did you call the police???? Obviously, JB ignores the economic climate these days, and his solution of possibly moving within the US might not be so easy with the employment factor. But if you can plan a move, perhaps you two should contemplate moving to another area. Even if the long term plan is to move back to Scotland...maybe a domestic move in the meantime could help out. Life is too short to live it miserably.

Good luck.

Moving is an option, but not at this moment Anita. With 2 kids in high school, we don't want to leave until they at least get to college.

Soon as they are, myself and the wife are off to Scotland.

As for the wal-mart part, yes he was arrested. Another idiot who was high on drugs.

[Fandango 1,439]

Sorry to say, but it rains more in SC than it does in my part of Scotland where I'm from. I have been in a few states but obviously not all. You can go on about Santa Barbara all you like, doesn't change the fact the America is fast becoming a second nation and spiraling downwards.

How is America becoming a second nation and spiraling downwards?

[william_wallace 8]

How is America becoming a second nation and spiraling downwards?

Don't you watch the news, read the papers?

Just a small example. You have lost your AAA rating.

Nearly 15% of the U.S. population relied on food stamps.

That's up 12% from a year ago, and 34% higher than two years ago.

I don't have to mention the national debt.

Unemployment, was there jobs created last month? No

You can go on about Europe, UK, whatever other country with it's debt crisis. The cost of living has shot up big time this last 3-4 years.

[Sapphire1965 5]

Don't you watch the news, read the papers?

Just a small example. You have lost your AAA rating.

Nearly 15% of the U.S. population relied on food stamps.

That's up 12% from a year ago, and 34% higher than two years ago.

I don't have to mention the national debt.

Unemployment, was there jobs created last month? No

You can go on about Europe, UK, whatever other country with it's debt crisis. The cost of living has shot up big time this last 3-4 years.

Hi I have to add my opinoin hear as I was born in Scotland and left to live in England at age 30, I much definately preferred my way of life in England and then met my now Husband who was orignally from the town in England where I was living, he moved over to Chicago in 1994 and got Citizenship and this is how I have now become to reside here myself. We live and hour and half south of Chicago and I find the people hear to be extremely polite and very friendly, albeit that I have only been living here since May but had been visiting several times a year for the last 3 years. I honestly would never live in Scotland again not that there is anything wrong with the Country just personal choice, and Scotland also has its fair share of high unemployment, social housing and very nasty areas where people live. All that said maybe me and my husband may return to our homeland of England who knows. But I love the US way of life and my husband who as I said has been here since 1994 definately agrees that the standard of living here is much higher than in the UK. Good luck to you and your family for the future and as for the person who made comments about not being unemployable because of spelling errors, I think you are extremely rude as this had nothing to do with a constructive response to the post!!!!! :-)

[Boiler 43,565]

Isle of Man still has a AAA rating.

And the OP is Scottish, not English. And English is an oddity in the US, they seem to have a major issue with the letter U for example.

[Fandango 1,439]

Don't you watch the news, read the papers?

Just a small example. You have lost your AAA rating.

Nearly 15% of the U.S. population relied on food stamps.

That's up 12% from a year ago, and 34% higher than two years ago.

I don't have to mention the national debt.

Unemployment, was there jobs created last month? No

You can go on about Europe, UK, whatever other country with it's debt crisis. The cost of living has shot up big time this last 3-4 years.

Cost of living has gone down in many many cases. 4% interest rate on buying a home, prices the lowest they've been in decades.

It's all relative. We can sit around and talk US credit ratings, but at the end of the day, I'm living better than I was 5 years ago...and 5 years ago wasn't too shabby either *shrug*

Edited September 3, 2011 by Anita Cocktail

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

Well, we are moving back to the UK. Not for any of the reasons listed above but because Glyn's Dad is ill, and older and he just misses his family. He really loves it here in New Hampshire as do I. Saying that though, we both love England. A general statement that one country is better than the other is unfair....both countries are beautiful in their own way...and both have MAJOR problems. I feel really lucky to have the option to live in either place.

[JohnandWendyB 21]

Stupid topic for some maybe.

After nearly 3 years in the US, me and my wife can't wait to move to Scotland. America has it's pro's but it seems to have more con's.

We are both on a good income here but for whatever reason, money doesn't last ####### here. On top of that were both sick to death of the extreme arrogance people have in South Carolina. The place is nice, don't get me wrong.

I have had about had it with all the bull$###### that happens here. Example, I was waiting for my wife to get out at wal-mart and stood outside and had a smoke. This guy was going nuts as I was smoking. I stepped back a few more feet and said sorry and basically tried to ignore him. As i leaned against the wall, for whatever reason he thought I was pulling something out my pocket so he went to his ruck sack and pulled out a gun and shouted, threated etc.

I honestly have to say this is not the first time I've seen this kind of ####### in America. Off all the bloody years, the last 2 years have taken it's toll. Even my wife is sick and tired of this crime ridden, ignorant people. She even says it was never like this until about 3-4 years ago.

Yes, I can understand that cities are like that but were in a population of 45,000 and crime keeps rising and your money is about as worth wiping your backside with.

I am seriously giving up and heading back home to the Highlands of Scotland.

Not looking for sympathy by the way. I'm just pi$$ed off with life here is in the Southern belt.

I agree with what others have said. Alot of America can't stand the southern states. Hehehe Nah, you just got to try different areas. They are almost like different countries in a way. Try the west coast or I personally LOVE Colorado. Minnesota's twin cities aren't bad but would most likely melt a Brit.

I wish it were easy for me to immigrate over to the UK. I really do. Would love to leave the US for a bit. I think it is easier to buy a house over here and car compared to over there isn't it?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Yes,

the U.S. is spiraling down the tube with alarming viscosity, and it's not just because of the poor economy, but because of a corrupt and broken political system where multinational corporations and their money control who gets media coverage, sufficient funds for a campaign, and thus becomes electable.

Once such a person has become an elected official, corporate powers control what he or she is allowed to say or to do. In case of disobedience the money and support stops and a scandal surfaces in the corporate-controlled media. That's really bad, but not the worst part. The worst part is hat the largely dummyfied electorate here in the U.S. is so ignorant and distracted by irrelevant issues such as gay rights, the Kardashians, illegal immigration, and many other things that have nothing to do with their own life, that they don't even realize that they are being shafted and thus rather vote against their own interests in order to make sure no gay can get married, even if that means they are giving away even the fragmented remainders of what in F.D.R.s time had been a social net, yet was deliberately dismantled from 1981 on, when cowboy actor Reagan came into office.

Enough of politics. Every country has more desirable and less desirable areas to live in. What I meant to say is in my initial post is that having chosen SC might have contributed to the bad vibes about the U.S. For somebody who doesn't mind the rain (I do), either New England or Oregon or Washington are many times more desirable places to live. But, if you compare the most desirable places in the U-kay with tose of the U-ess-ay, the latter wins hands down because of the missing component of the former: the fantastic weather of the American Rivera.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

I agree with what others have said. Alot of America can't stand the southern states. Hehehe

And alot of southerners can't stand the d@mn yankees from up north.

Good luck in finding the place that fits your needs, Wm Wallace. Thank God my hubby is loving it here and I don't have to worry about him moving back to England. He hasn't even melted yet in our current record heat. I melted a few weeks ago, after returning from a trip to Alaska and San Francisco. Actually wore fleeces in August. Bloody unbelieveable!

[gwenneh 7]

We do a fair amount of back-and-forth between the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland.

Each place has pros and cons. No place has it all "right." On the whole, my husband dislikes living in the U.S. but that is because for us, the "smaller picture" things -- salaries, cost of living, etc. -- don't stack up well against other places. YMMV, obviously, but that is what our experience has been, and that is why with our international lifestyle, we prefer to be headquartered elsewhere and just visit the U.S.

Either way, I understand where you're coming from and wish you the best of luck in your move.