Best and worst things about England

[Alice Roosevelt Longworth]

I come from a rather dangerous country - particularly for women. Every evening when I walk home on my own from the station, I am so immensely grateful for the independence that living in England affords me. The freedom of being able to walk around on my own without fear is one of my greatest pleasures.

As most have mentioned, the weather can be challenging and I know quite a few people who struggle with the winter blues.

 

[judsmum]

Worst - the weather and the darkness of winter! I could deal with the cold but detest that we seem to get a short spring, an even shorter summer and then a grey, rainy, dark and dreary autumn/winter for about 8 months of the year.

Ha! Your worst thing is my favourite thing! I LOVE the dark nights - in fact I can’t wait for our clocks to change at the end of the month! I live for grey days and I can’t stand the light days or when it gets warm!

 

[SavvyBee]

Best thing - it’s home! I like how there is a system for things, legal parameters, organisation and a general sense of timeliness to getting things.... I know people who struggle with the laid back nature in mainland (particularly Southern) Europe and how getting simple things done can be difficult if you don’t know the right people or have the patience of a saint. Having just planned a wedding in Italy I can definitely testify to this.
On the whole I think people are friendly and I’m from London! We go to Yorkshire a lot and people tend to get friendlier or at least chattier in their day to day lives the further you get from big cities. I like that we have a rich history and a that there is a good amount of multiculturalism and open mindedness (again especially in London - I can’t speak so much for elsewhere). It’s easy to travel internationally from here especially if you’re near a London airport and getting to the rest of Europe is reasonably priced thanks to budget airlines. We have good travel infrastructure although it can be expensive. We also have the NHS which, for all of its faults, I am so grateful for every day.

Worst - the weather and the darkness of winter! I could deal with the cold but detest that we seem to get a short spring, an even shorter summer and then a grey, rainy, dark and dreary autumn/winter for about 8 months of the year. I also think our food can be a little bit bland on the whole but back to my multicultural point above, we are able to import some of the most fantastic recipes, chefs and ingredients. I can’t stand our politicians either but I think that might be the case anywhere!

 

[Fatima]

I don’t live in England but I just wanted to say that in England, people respect everyone no matter their origin and their religion.
And for that (among other things), I will always admire this country.

I was amazed about such respect and politeness by people towards me when visiting London.

I’m sad what my country is little by little becoming, focusing of a piece of fabric rather than real problems like feminicides.

And I am now a little bit uncomfortable going out because I am afraid of one day, a sicko would tear my long hijab (it has already happened on other women) because he watched too much news (focusing on laws against hijab) on tv that day.

I hope it wasn’t off topic, if so I apologize in advance.

 

[Pinchme]

I love this country of ours, have travelled and lived abroad, but it's always great to come home.

Love our NHS, we are so lucky
Love our traditions,
the 4 seasons, living in a hot climate really gets boring after a while.
Love our diverse scenery

Dislike our political system and currupt polititons.& the price of public transport which is so ridiculously high


Wouldnt want to live anywhere else on earth

 

[Natgnash]

Damn right, about music in particular. This tiny island was responsible for the Beatles, Bowie, the smiths, oasis... that’s just picking one from each decade (pre 2000) of course there’s heaps more. I defy anyone to argue otherwise!

This is what gets me when you watch those dire programmes like "Wanted Down Under". Parents thinking the outdoor lifestyle is best for their kids. Thinking that kids only thrive in hot climates.

Maybe some kids. But this country has always thrived in producing the best most eccentric and influential rock/pop music in the world. The Beatles, Stones, Bowie, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Punk, Black Sabbath, Eric Clapton, Muse, Jam, Madness, The Specials, The Smith's, Joy Division..I could go on and on. All bands that started off on rainy, deary days in all seasons stuck in their rooms learning to play the guitar, writing lyrics.....

Our climate has produced these creative avant garde forerunners in every aspect of the Arts.

 

[PineappleQueen19]

You should have quoted my entire sentence.
Not only a part of it.
I said “people respect everyone no matter their origin and their religion” as multiculturalism and open mindedness.
They accept differences and are not afraid of it unlike some countries.
And it was not based only on my visit in London.
It was generally speaking.

Sadly tolerance for ‘others’ has gone downhill in the past few years, I’ve found, although certainly it depends where you’re comparing it to.

“Go back where you came from” rhetoric is on the rise, even to people born here. In particular I have witnessed some horrible treatment of women in hijab/abaya since the ‘letterbox’ bullshit - it makes me rage.

Edited to add that I have also seen many people jump in to defend victims of racial abuse which is great. Especially when it’s an older white guy saying “you can’t say that here mate, this is England ffs” - there is hope.

 

[Luce0331]

I don’t live in England but I just wanted to say that in England, people respect everyone no matter their origin and their religion.

I have lived in the UK my whole life and I would never agree that ‘people respect everyone’ maybe your experience in London was nice but I don’t think it’s wise to big it up so much to this person as he/she may be disappointed when they visit.. From my experiences, London has some of the rudest people I have ever met, they can be so impolite and impatient. Again, this is just what I have experienced and I don’t mean to offend anyone

 

[Dizzy]

I love England and think we do these things better than anywhere else in the world:

fashion
music
sarcasm
queuing
talking about the weather

 

[PineappleQueen19]

Great question. I’ve lived in England for 15 years now, based in London so most of my points are London/city-centric:

Pros

• there is always something going on, you can go out any night of the week
• The diversity of fashion - where I come from it felt quite one-note. Here in London individual style is celebrated and the street style is inspirational
• Supermarket food is cheap
• So many good restaurants to suit all tastes/cuisines/budgets
• Good coffee (but not cheap sadly)
• So much to explore outside of London - particularly the north and Scotland, I also love Wales
• Spoilt for choice - there’s always events, exhibitions, concerts, sports matches, book signings etc
• General convenience eg shops are open a lot (evenings, Sundays etc)
• People are friendlier than the stereotype suggests, a million times more so in the north
• London has the most beautiful green spaces to explore

Cons

• The weather is tough. Jan/Feb is a slog. (And when it is sunny, people go a bit punch drunk crazy - it’s funny)
• Related to the above - everyone lives indoors a lot. It takes some getting used to
• Freedom of the press is becoming worse - nearly the worst in western Europe now - and it’s not enshrined anywhere in law. Worrying.
• People work hard and long hours
• cost of rail travel is generally high - you can get good deals by booking ahead but in the whole it’s expensive which is such a shame as there are amazing places away from London
• Rail system complicated and inefficient compared to what I’ve experienced in Italy, France etc
• Wine costs a lot due to high tax (amongst highest in Europe). In a £5 bottle you only get 20-30p of wine
• Everything can feel dreary and grey.
• Crowds (eg rush hour on the tube, shopping on a Saturday) can be overwhelming if you’re not used to it

I’m sure there’s more but that’s off the top of my head.

 

[Wetmyplants]

The best thing has to be a proper Sunday dinner in a proper pub!

Also, winter walks on a beach are one of my favourite things.

The NHS is something that I am eternally grateful for.

The single worst thing in my eyes is our government and politicians.

The weather can be crap but we are British and love to complain about it!

 

[Youtubegossip]

Pro’s
People that know how to queue. My pet peeve in Europe and other places

 

[urghwhy]

My favourite thing about this country has to be the sense of humour of natives, and pies up North... my least favourite thing is the overpriced railway network! Oh, and the poor quality of new build homes.

 

[Natgnash]

Makes me think of a famous quote from the third man: “ In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. They producedd Michaelangelo, da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.”

But in this case it’s less about oppression more the boredom of a dreary British town on a drizzly Sunday afternoon....

Calls to mind the Barry Humphries quote,

"Growing up in Australia was akin to going to the school disco with your Grandmother "

 

[newtoyou]

My fav thing about England (and the UK as a whole) is our ability to laugh at ourselves and each other. We dont take ourselves seriously and embrace our failures in sports, politics etc with humour.

Despite our name 'Great Britain', we don't have a 'we're the best' mentality and are always pleasantly surprised when we do well at something.

 

[Horatio]

I love England and think we do these things better than anywhere else in the world:

fashion
music
sarcasm
queuing
talking about the weather

Damn right, about music in particular. This tiny island was responsible for the Beatles, Bowie, the smiths, oasis... that’s just picking one from each decade (pre 2000) of course there’s heaps more. I defy anyone to argue otherwise!

 

[SavvyBee]

Ha! Your worst thing is my favourite thing! I LOVE the dark nights - in fact I can’t wait for our clocks to change at the end of the month! I live for grey days and I can’t stand the light days or when it gets warm!

Genuinely thinking “huh, really?!?”. I like the last week of November until Boxing Day and with the pretty twinkly Christmas lights but from then until the clocks go forward I really struggle. I am lucky enough to live close to work so I can wake up in daylight (just) and even then it kills me. I don’t believe I suffer from SAD but I can very much understand how so many do.

 

[Horatio]

(Seems that we posted something similar at the same time ! Yours is much more detailed but I’m glad we both shouted out the parks...)

I know it’s not the same across the UK but I have mainly lived in London so can speak about it best and it is worth pointing out that it really is a particularly tolerant and multicultural city. Things like the way it is built have been significant - council estates (government housing) are dotted through every borough, you can see them next to multi million pound houses, making us far less segregated by class (and to an extent, race) than places like Paris which famously confine their tower blocks to the outskirts of the city and even New York where project buildings dominate certain areas and are completely absent from others. Of course it is no utopia and inequality is still a huge issue (Grenfell tower fire proof enough of that) but it is something.

As a con I would say it can sometimes feel very big and very busy and getting from one side to another can be a nightmare. That’s true of most big cities I’m sure and the public transport system is a bit expensive but pretty good (again compared to New York who , now there are night services here , only up us on having air conditioning. The tube is unbearable in hot weather, honestly).

London also has the best parks in the world, probably.

 

[judsmum]

You are my soul spirit. I thought I was the only who was like that.
I LIVE for a rainy day.

I cannot stand hot summers and I really really hate light nights! I spend every weekend outside in the hills of the Peak District and there is nothing better than pissed off or angry weather!!

 

[Amelia01]

In regards to the racism topic, I just want to say that racism to muslims, Europeans, anybody is wrong and I absolutely do not condone it. I have friends who are black (hope that's okay to say!) And from Romania, Africa, etc and they can't help what colour skin they have or where they were born. Nor does it matter. They have especially since Brexit experienced more racism and it's upsetting.

However, as a white English woman I also have experienced racism ~ albiet not as much at all, or as common as the other way around has experienced but that doesn't make it OK ~ from non English people, it works both ways but almost always gets swept under the carpet. It's unfair some of the comments that get made about Brits, that we all are on benefits or are all lazy, or we all go abroad and all are ignorant and aren't respectful abroad. The pics you see of drunken Brits causing havoc in Magaluf for example isn't an example of us all and many of us feel embarrassed by that behaviour and what other countries think of us. It's unfair to tar all us Brits with the same brush.

Racism can happen anywhere and happens in the US, Australia is quite bad... I don't understand why Brits get singled out and don't think it's fair as I certainly would defend a muslim experiencing abuse. Especially a lone muslim lady who clearly was put on the spot. Plus someone saod above that an Englishman defended them against some racism, so clearly we don't all accept that behaviour and would act on it.

I used to have a Spanish friend who themselves and their family hated muslims and apparently alot of Spanish people don't like muslims. I took it with a pinch of salt, I never go around saying all Spanish people hate muslims because you can't tar tear everyone with the same brush.

I'm sure I'll get called "racist" for posting this, I absolutely am not racist at all, and voted remain bu the way. I just think it works both ways in that alot of English people get painted into a picture and tarred with the same brush as each other which also is unfair and racism can come both ways, it is wrong whoever is racist to whoever. I hope people understand where I'm trying to come from and I won't be flamethrowed too badly.