I need to hear good things about the UK

I've got loads.  Here are just two, which I think make a big difference to the quality of life in the UK:

1. The way in which consultation is encouraged (sometimes required) before changes are implemented.  For example, my husband holds a Secretary position in our local community and as part of his proposal to request funding that had been allocated by the council, he was required to conduct a community consultation to solicit input from the people who would be affected by his proposal.  Similarly, there is a high street rejuvenation project in Brentford and the group who are spearheading this are very active in consulting with the local community.  Having read the information they manage to gather, it seems very comprehensive and bodes well for a solution being implemented that reflects the needs and interests of the people who chose to participate.

2. I have found the workplace in the UK to be kinder and gentler (I say this having worked in the same industry my entire career, the first 6 years in Texas and the last 9 years in the London area).  It feels more relaxed, there is more of a friendly banter, and related to point #1 above, there seem to be more employment rights ensuring that employees are consulted and that fair processes are followed.  When I had to conduct reductions in force (RIFs) in the USA, the process felt far more brutal to me than when I've been involved in redundancy situations in the UK.

the uk is very hard to get used to. im not going to lie and say that its paradise, because it's not, but there are some good things about this place. if you are an american liberal, then you will like this country because it is more socially liberal. its also very multicultural, so you can listen to just about every language being spoken on the street. if youre into soccer/football, then youll love it here. if you dont like hot summers, this is also your place. i get rashes in the american summer, and the american heat of 90+ farenheit also drives me nuts. in britain, you will find that most summers are in the 60s. the healthcare here is good, but i prefer medicaid. i find the people in britain to be very nice. i have found on more than one occasion a complete stranger was willing to pay for my bus fare coz i didnt have exact change. might happen in usa too but never hapend to me. things that you would get shot for in america, you probably wont in britain. i also like all the foreigners in britain. they also can be very kind. i love walking into indian stores, and indian market places. the people seem to have very good attitudes. heres one wierd thing i like about britain is those heated things that you can hang your towel on. i never saw them in america.

Wicked, I'm glad you have found a few things here that you can appreciate.

I have realised that far less people annoy me on a day to day basis. When I think back to all the people who annoyed me in the states, even strangers, there were many, but I try to think of someone here who really gets on my nerves, and I can't think of anyone. I think that says something!

Wicked, I'm glad you have found a few things here that you can appreciate.

I have realised that far less people annoy me on a day to day basis. When I think back to all the people who annoyed me in the states, even strangers, there were many, but I try to think of someone here who really gets on my nerves, and I can't think of anyone. I think that says something!

That's great to hear! Lots of people annoy the crap outta me daily (mainly bad GA drivers! lol) so I will look forward to that!

You wanted to hear good things, dear VNP.  Here are the last few paragraphs from your countryman Bill Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island.  He's about to pack up and return to the US, and has gone up into the Yorkshire Dales to say farewell to it all ...

[...]  Halfway down, I had my wife stop the car by a field gate. My favourite view in the world is there, and I got out to have a look. You can see almost the whole of Malhamdale; sheltered and snug between steep, imposing hills, with its arrow-straight drystone walls climbing up impossibly ambitious slopes, its clustered hamlets, its wonderful little two-room schoolhouse, the old church with its sycamores and tumbling tombstones, the roof of my local pub, and in the centre of it all, obscured by trees our old stone house, which itself is far older than my native land.
            It looked so peaceful and wonderful that I could almost have cried, and yet it was only a tiny part of this small, enchanted island. Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I loved about Britain - which is to say, all of it. Every last bit of it, good and bad - Marmite, village fêtes, country lanes, people saying 'mustn't grumble', and 'I'm terribly sorry but', people apologizing to me when I conk them with a careless elbow, milk in bottles, beans on toast, haymaking in June, stinging nettles, seaside piers, Ordnance Survey maps, crumpets, hot-water bottles as a necessity, drizzly Sundays - every bit of it.       
                     What a wondrous place this was - crazy as f***, of course, but adorable to the tiniest degree. What other country, after all, could possibly have come up with place names like Tooting Bec and Farleigh Wallop, or a game like cricket that goes on for three days and never seems to start? Who else would think it not in the least odd to make a their judges wear little mops on their heads, compel the Lord Chancellor to sit on something called the Woolsack, or take pride in a naval hero whose dying wish was to be kissed by a fellow named Hardy [...] What other nation in the world could possibly have given us at William Shakespeare, pork pies, Christopher Wren, Windsor Great Park, the Open University, Gardeners' Question Time and the chocolate digestive biscuit? None, of course.
         How easily we lose sight of all this. What an enigma Britain will seem to historians when they look back on the second half of the twentieth century. Here is a country that fought and won and noble war, dismantled a mighty empire in a generally benign and enlightened way, created a far-seeing welfare state - in short, did nearly everything right - and then spent the rest of the century  looking on itself as a chronic failure. The fact is that this is still the best place in the world for most things - to post a letter, go for a walk, watch television, buy a book, venture out for a drink, go to a museum, use the bank, get lost, seek help, or stand on a hillside and take in a view.
         All of this came to me in the space of a lingering moment. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I like it here. I like it more than I can tell you. And then I turned from the gate and got in the car and knew without doubt that I would be back.[/size]

And you'll be back too, VNP, and Rhia, and Lou, and Krissy, and so many of you good Americans!  And it will be our proud privilege to have you back ...

Howard

what a wonderful post....thank you.

Just back from a quick visit to the UK, and, as a Brit, I have to say that I just love the fact that everything smells right, and that the birds you can hear are the right birds. I realise this won't apply to Americans, though, for whom the exact opposite would be the case. Still, it's something I really noticed.

I also love the fact that anywhere I was driving, even if I was on a fairly major A-road or motorway, I had the sense that I could pull off anywhere and find myself in some interesting and pretty little village or historic spot or footpath or place of great natural beauty or some woods full of bluebells or...just...something. Here in the US Midwest, I realyl have a sense of myself as being surrounded by miles and miles and hours and hours of nothing. I drove down from Chicago for nearly three hours, and completely never got that same sense that there were all kinds of interesting little places lurking just down the off-ramp. At best I would probably find a Taco Bell, a McDonalds, a Subway, and a few gas stations.

Just back from a quick visit to the UK, and, as a Brit, I have to say that I just love the fact that everything smells right, and that the birds you can hear are the right birds. I realise this won't apply to Americans, though, for whom the exact opposite would be the case. Still, it's something I really noticed.

I also love the fact that anywhere I was driving, even if I was on a fairly major A-road or motorway, I had the sense that I could pull off anywhere and find myself in some interesting and pretty little village or historic spot or footpath or place of great natural beauty or some woods full of bluebells or...just...something. Here in the US Midwest, I realyl have a sense of myself as being surrounded by miles and miles and hours and hours of nothing. I drove down from Chicago for nearly three hours, and completely never got that same sense that there were all kinds of interesting little places lurking just down the off-ramp. At best I would probably find a Taco Bell, a McDonalds, a Subway, and a few gas stations.

You have really captured and expressed the sense of desolation that I feel in the US compared to the UK.  Thank you.

You have really captured and expressed the sense of desolation that I feel in the US compared to the UK.  Thank you.

Heh, no problem. I aim to please.

Just back from a quick visit to the UK, and, as a Brit, I have to say that I just love the fact that everything smells right, and that the birds you can hear are the right.

You had better get that job then so you can move back there!

I also love the fact that anywhere I was driving, even if I was on a fairly major A-road or motorway, I had the sense that I could pull off anywhere and find myself in some interesting and pretty little village or historic spot or footpath or place of great natural beauty or some woods full of bluebells or...just...something. Here in the US Midwest, I realyl have a sense of myself as being surrounded by miles and miles and hours and hours of nothing. I drove down from Chicago for nearly three hours, and completely never got that same sense that there were all kinds of interesting little places lurking just down the off-ramp. At best I would probably find a Taco Bell, a McDonalds, a Subway, and a few gas stations.

Yep, that sums it up for me entirely. It's strange how I lived in a big city in America and yet I felt like there was never anything to do. Now that I am here in a tiny village in the UK, there seems to be lots of things to do. Strange how that works! But I will take the lush scenery here over Taco Bell anyday (though if someone handed me a Mexican pizza, I wouldn't turn it down!  )

Yep, that sums it up for me entirely. It's strange how I lived in a big city in America and yet I felt like there was never anything to do. Now that I am here in a tiny village in the UK, there seems to be lots of things to do. Strange how that works! But I will take the lush scenery here over Taco Bell anyday (though if someone handed me a Mexican pizza, I wouldn't turn it down!  )

Wow...my sentiments exactly.  When I lived in the States I couldn't stand living outside of a major city.  I hated, hated, hated rural life.  Now that I am back in England I live in a tiny town with the biggest city being Cambridge about 30 minutes away...but I LOVE it.  It seems like I am always busy doing something.....love it.

Interesting to hear it put that way, George. How much of the stuff you do is in Cambridge, vs. in other little places nearby?

It varies really.  Some days are just spent walking around Cambridge and then maybe just hanging out on one of the greens there....others are spent going around tiny villages when they are having a market or something.  Helps to that the beach is only about an hour away as well so we can always head that way too.  I just seem to spend a lot more quality time outdoors wereas in Chicago it was almost always in doors or if it was outdoors it was at a sporting event of some kind.

I know what you mean. The countryside is so much more accessible here, somehow. The U.S. has plenty of majestic beauty, but you really have to make big plans to enjoy it. I'm always amazed here that I can walk 15 minutes in one direction and be in the city centre or walk 20 minutes in the other direction and be in green rolling fields amongst the sheep! 

For me it was easier in the US. 

I lived all over from Missouri to Rhode Island and always found something to entertain me.  I think it is true that familiarity breeds contempt.

There I had a car, here we don't so what should be 45 minutes to the beach takes about 3 1/2 hours, if they don't decide to lay on buses for the weekend. 

If we had access to a car then things would be vastly different.