I live abroad. The things I miss the most are an English pint and sitting in an English pub drinking it, a good old English fry up and good fish and chips.
When I first moved out here, I would have said, the BBC, M&S food, decent English ale such as Bishops Finger. To my continuing amazement they are all here in my house now.
I still miss the way British people smile when encountering a stranger to put them at ease. I miss the shy friendliness of people working in British shops and other services. And the humour; it's what draws me to CL, to get a fix of it.
I would say the humour. Bermuda carries little British TV and I can't be doing with ex-pat TV and the constant buffering. So certain TV progs, although you can download almost anything.
Other than that - mates, family, the pub, and Charlton. Although being 4,000 miles away does have it's bonuses!
My last job involved spending circa 10 days a month abroad. My new job is UK based and is so nice knowing I'll be home pretty much every night. When I switched, my daughter said to me "daddy, I'm glad you won't be going away all the time but it does mean I won't get as many presents when you get home"
Gotta be a decent cup of tea. I spent a few months in south America... All those cows and the milk was all uht, it was all lipton yellow label... And in brazil they put sugar in everything without asking you. When I had a cuppa in new Zealand (which is basically England in the 80s) with fresh milk... Pg tips... I actually groaned.
The joy a sunny day creates here, nowhere else in the world has that communal feeling of happiness that the first warm(ish) day of the year can deliver here!
Public Realm. Foreign streets are always dirty, have shite pavements and limited street lighting. Cafes put seats out in the street, drains are exposed and there is generally little interest in making streets look nice.
We're great at that in the UK - even in places that are not important.
I just miss it all to be honest, its home. I've tried adopting an Aussie team here but its not the same and after 5 years here I've given up. I hate the falseness and hype of mundane shit we get here, they are the kings of making something ordinary sound extraordinary. The upside is the weather and having a great Mrs and a beautiful home.....but ask me if Id come home tomorrow.....
Comments
I still miss the way British people smile when encountering a stranger to put them at ease. I miss the shy friendliness of people working in British shops and other services. And the humour; it's what draws me to CL, to get a fix of it.
Other than that - mates, family, the pub, and Charlton. Although being 4,000 miles away does have it's bonuses!
The joy a sunny day creates here, nowhere else in the world has that communal feeling of happiness that the first warm(ish) day of the year can deliver here!
We're great at that in the UK - even in places that are not important.