Moving to the UK

[The Stig]

Personally I've never got on well with London and the South East - I think it's from growing up "up North" - I find it quite unfriendly and just overpriced, dirty and overcrowded but that's just me.

We used to call Chavs "charvers" when I was a kid - then the name chav took over I guess.

If I had the choice I'd get out of the UK, and England in particular but that's just because I'm fed up with a lot of the crap that the education system is going through - it's not a bad country - even though any single hint of a bit of weather seems to end up on the news as the end of the world being nigh (if it rains we flood, if it snows the country grinds to a halt, if the sun comes out there are hosepipe bans.... god knows how we'd cope if we had earthquakes and hurricanes to deal with).

Education system is indeed weird. I swear it was near impossible to score A back in GCSE period a while ago, now kids can score As straight with little or no effort. I fucking hate the fact on the news that they report "grades are getting better!" when in fact I bet the papers are just getting easier (when I finished GCSEs the year below me had these science tests at the end of each subject where the higher and lower paper were merged with teachers saying "now everyone would have a chance at A!") so it'll look better overall on paper.

Don't forget the music exam cock up, the answers are written at the back! /giggle

London is indeed a unfriendly/unforgiving in a way. Everyone just wants to get from A to B with minimum fuss, so on public transport it is indeed quite hellish. Most are probably stressed one way or another with too many factors to include.

[liami]

Apparantly to get a C in GCSE's you need 20% now... Go figure...

[Edimir]

Another Midlander here and once again, the area is important to choose from. The only 2 areas I can comment are the Midlands and Wales. Wales is nice however chances are is you'll have to stick in or nearby the main cities of Swansea, Cardiff or Wrexham. Its a lovely country however there are a lot of villages and town's that are quite remote, so most of the population (And the jobs) are more focused in the cities - that and you try to prounce places like Maesycmmer, Pwllheli and the every so delightful Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio gogogoch.

Midlands is great, theres about 6 cities locally (Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Stoke) all with excellent transportation links and then theres some pretty important towns like Rugby, Warwick/Leamington and Stafford not too far away. Jobs wise Birmingham is probably the 2nd most important city in the UK after London, and theres a lot of choice for night-life and culture aspects. Ideally if you were wanting to come to the Midlands and want to live in a small town that has easy connections to the nearer cities, I'd say check out Leicestershire (Hinckley, Loughborough, Coalville), Warwickshire (Nuneaton, Warwick/Leamington, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Kenilworth, Rugby, Atherstone) and to a lesser extent Staffordshire (Tamworth). Derbyshire is also nice (Ripley and Buxton are excellent places for a quiet weekend), but as for living there I cant really comment.

[Popeh]

I'm from teh Norf! (Yorkshire)

Why the hell would anyone 'want' to come here?

[Vigilia]

I don't know, why would you not want to come to the UK? I grew up in Finland, spent few years in the States in my teens, went to college in Dublin, was offered a job in England when I graduated and been here ever since... six years now and considering me and my English practically-husband are expecting our first child I'll probably be here for many years to come. There's pros and cons to living anywhere in the world. You can complain about the English weather all you want but at least UK doesn't suffer from the insane extremes of near 100% humidity or tornadoes of Midwest USA or -35C winters like Finland. Yeah the schools are going downhill after beind dumbed down but honestly, multiple choice exams in a US High School aren't much better and at least schools in the UK including Universities and Colleges are practically free (unless you fork out for the private schools) and hence available to everyone. You don't have to plan on taking out a second mortgage or start saving before they're born just to get your kids through college. Health care is the same, yes we bitch about NHS but it's free and it's pretty darn decent compared to vast majority of the world. House prices and government are bonkers everywhere in the Western world, so that's nothing new. There's a lot of things that could be fixed, but on the whole, it's not a bad place at all.

[Laugana]

I'm from teh Norf! (Yorkshire)

Why the hell would anyone 'want' to come here?

I'm from Manchester and I second that, seriously, why come here? It's damn expensive to do anything - I just stay at home and save my money and hope one day I'll be able to afford to put a deposit down on a house in about 10 years when the market steadies again...

[Obev]

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio gogogoch.

I love that Wales has a village with a name so long that it gets a space wordfiltered in by the forum.

As a depressingly white middle class kind of guy, I've only got experience of the southeast. I was born in Liverpool, so I'm glad I got out before it was too late. Prejudice against the north aside, the southeast's pretty damn expensive, especially those places within an hour's journey of London. At least, it seems expensive to me, as a cheaparse. Currently renting with two friends in (relatively) central London, fifteen minutes or so walk from college, and it's something like £1300/month between the three of us. Rent goes down as you get farther away from the centre, but you also get further away from the centre, and your travel costs naturally rise. The suburbs stretch for miles, and London's "commuter belt" and surrounding counties are some of the more pricey areas of the country.

It's cheaper up north. But also grim, apparently.

[Cesaria]

Fucking hell - knock the first 1 off that number and you have about what I pay in rent a month... exactly why I'd never live down South (although my mother maintains that the Midlands ARE south...)

[Lordwafik]

me and my English practically-husband are expecting our first child

I knew you two would finally accept me to move in! Packing my bags guys!







Hmmm I just realised, why has nobody told Creeps about the Tele licence? Scammers.

[Cesaria]

We're so used to the TV licence thing I think we forget how nuts that sounds to foreigners... not to mention the joy that is car tax.

[drwaffles]

I'm actually very thankful for the weather we get here. Roasting hot weather is great for a day or two during the summer or on holiday abroad, but can you imagine having to go about your daily business for weeks in that kind of climate? I'd hate it. Ditto with extremely cold weather (minus the part about going abroad, unless you're skiing or something).

[Obev]

Hmmm I just realised, why has nobody told Creeps about the Tele licence? Scammers.

Don't own a TV.

[Popeh]

The NHS is not free nor is University. In fact far from it

I've paid thousands and thousands in NI contributions which pays for the NHS and that will never change. Uni also costs not to mention the huge debt your left with after.

Some places I imagine are ok - maybe I've just yet to find them.

[Vigilia]

Oh yeah I forgot yanks don't know about TV Licence, it's common in several other European countries though, Brits are hardly alone on that one. Same for car tax and yearly MOTs (check-ups) once your car is older than 3 years. Oh we get all the fun this side of the pond. :D

I know NHS and education aren't free per say, it all comes out of our taxes and NI contributions, but it's still free in the sense that you don't have to watch your father die because you can't afford to pay thousands on a surgery or someshit and your kids can deal with their student loan/fees on their own, it's nowhere near as crippling as paying $20k per term for college. I left college with about £6k in loan myself, true it hurts for a few years but it's still manageable.

[The Stig]

Yeh I'm thankful for the current weather. It was hot for maybe 1 or 2 days during the summer and then a storm/rain breaks it up shortly.

I don't mind extremely cold, since it's easier to keep warm than to keep cool.

And yeh, fucking TV license.

And I scammers or not, but if you go to college full time you get £30/week ($60+/week) just for attending college. So if you have potential kids going to college, this is a good system. You can also get a part time job (evening/weekend) on top of that. That's quite a bit of money in a way, depending on your lifestyle.

(FFXI subscription = £10~/month)



Uni is free if your family earns under £15000/year. And you also get an additional £1000+ in grant to cover other costs. And if you live at home, even better. NHS is free if you're under 16, or 16,17,18 and still in fulltime education.

/poke Wop.


EDIT: YAY hometime, brb in 2 hours.

[Laugana]

Don't own a TV.

They'll still hound you for life, thinking you're trying to get away with not paying a TV license.

Yeah, don't live anywhere down south I say, they seem to get flooded at the drop of a hat these days. I've never seen a flood up here and doubt I ever will. Silly people building in flood plains, tch.

[drwaffles]

And I scammers or not, but if you go to college full time you get £30/week ($60+/week) just for attending college.

Not everyone gets EMA, myself included. I wish I did, £30 is a huge incentive to attend all your classes the way things are now. It's dependant on how much your household earns, so kids like me with doctors for parents don't get anything from the government.

[Obev]

Yeah, don't live anywhere down south I say, they seem to get flooded at the drop of a hat these days. I've never seen a flood up here and doubt I ever will. Silly people building in flood plains, tch.

Didn't Hull get drowned last year? That's not very south.

[sb]

I wouldn't head out there unless you have money or the degree your finishing leaves you in a highly in demand/high paying field. British cost of living is currently very out of hand.

[Elesirdur]

To the OP: Is your BA in some kind of field with a specific job course, like writing or communications? Secondly, you mention ancestors hailing from the British Isles, but do you have any options for dual-citizenship from your parents?

Thankfully, between the US, UK, and Canada most university (and American colleges that would have graduate programs) degrees are accepted at par and your credentials are unlikely to be questioned. (Say if you had a degree from a university in Mexico or Brazil it would be a different story, sadly) However, unless you're and Ivy Leaguer or from a prestigious liberal arts college I wouldn't count on your alma matter making much of an impact. Personally, I would be in a similar boat since I got my BA in History from the University of Victoria (where? lol), a respected comprehensive Canadian university, but that wouldn't mean much to an employer in London or Birmingham. However, if my resume said I graduated from one of Canada's "old-world" universities like McGill, UofT, Queens, or Dalhousie then it might carry more weight.

Just something to think about if your resume is anchored mostly on your studies at a good American institution that may not be so well recognized internationally.