OT: Life in the UK

[chis]

Well, I know some nice people there (I work as an independent IT tech in the area), but yeah, it WAS an army town but they've supposedly moved out. Haven't taken the squaddies with them yet, though.

[necho]

I live in Oxford and its awfully nice.

Everyone is terribly polite and most people wear tweed.




Actually, Oxford is full of mindless 12-year-olds in fancy dress braying about how "awesome" everything is, mincing around Tescos in herds, driving up the property rental prices and not paying council tax.

Plenty of larger-crazed morons lumbering around thumping each other and bellowing like anally-distressed cattle, too....


Ah well - at least sometimes they fight eachother

[UKRuss]

all together now:

And did those feeeeeeeet, in ancient times
Walk upon England's mountaiiiiiiiins greeeeeeeeeen

[leedsquietman]

Oxford the old city, the university town may be quaint, but Oxford, where real people live, outside the old city is quite a bit less desirable - try taking a drive (don't stop, or they'll have you tires) around Blackbirds Leys housing estate etc. Used to be known as the joy riding capital of the UK.

[funky shit]

I live in Northern Ireland.


That is all.

[blackboab]

I grew up in sunny Govan In Glasgow (of Rab. C. Nesbit fame), but have been living in Switzerland for the past 7 years or so.

What a culture shock when I first arrived. It was just great to be able to walk the streets without any fear of random machette attacks. There are seriously no dodgy areas in my current city which is just great for bringing up children (all relative I suppose, and plenty of Swiss would probably disagree)

On the other hand, it does get a bit boring and I quite miss the UK sometimes, warts and all ... I can always watch Shameless on TV though

[brightonalex]

I was mugged at christmas. But the awful thing is, I had drunk so much that I didn't remember a single thing about it, nothing. I was mixing wine and beer at a party and I don't remember leaving.
I woke up the next day with my wife flipping out "don't you remember, you got mugged! the police dropped you home!".

The guy was caught on CCTV and he'd taken my wallet, but there was no violence. I had to identify myself from the pictures and it was just me with a massive grin on my face looking like a dick.

They caught the guy, he went to court, I didn't even have to go as a witness, and he got 15 months.

So now, on the negative:
I feel guilty that someone's gone to prison because of me;
I feel bad that I let myself get so drunk I got mugged and couldn't remember anything;
It was annoying losing my cards and travelcard etc.

On the positive:
Apparantly the guy was constantly mugging people and this was the first time they'd got evidence, so the police were really pleased;
I haven't been drunk since and am trying to be more responsible;
The police do sometimes solve crimes.

Actually it happened in Brick Lane, i think I defended the area in a different thread a few months ago!

[necho]

The less desirable parts of Oxford?

That would be where I live then!



Only the rich students and nesting City-types can afford the nice areas...

Oh - and the TVP (Thames Valley Police) are absolute cunts when it comes to free parties...

[andydes]

People here talk about binge drinking as if it's a bad thing. I mean really.

[Babalazarou]

/\

Spoken like a true gent.

Mine's a pint.

[funky shit]

People here talk about binge drinking as if it's a bad thing. I mean really.

This^

[forge]

I was mugged at christmas. But the awful thing is, I had drunk so much that I didn't remember a single thing about it, nothing. I was mixing wine and beer at a party and I don't remember leaving.
I woke up the next day with my wife flipping out "don't you remember, you got mugged! the police dropped you home!".

The guy was caught on CCTV and he'd taken my wallet, but there was no violence. I had to identify myself from the pictures and it was just me with a massive grin on my face looking like a dick.

They caught the guy, he went to court, I didn't even have to go as a witness, and he got 15 months.

So now, on the negative:
I feel guilty that someone's gone to prison because of me;
I feel bad that I let myself get so drunk I got mugged and couldn't remember anything;
It was annoying losing my cards and travelcard etc.

On the positive:
Apparantly the guy was constantly mugging people and this was the first time they'd got evidence, so the police were really pleased;
I haven't been drunk since and am trying to be more responsible;
The police do sometimes solve crimes.

Actually it happened in Brick Lane, i think I defended the area in a different thread a few months ago!

I LOLed

[macmurphy]

The countryside always looks nice, but in my experience people in the country drink, take drugs and get into fights too - sometimes more so (not much to do), drunken trailer parties with magic mushrooms and under age sex and so on. And those pleasant suburbs have their share of junkies (prescription meds especially), sex maniacs/swingers and desperate housewives and husbands who are hiding something.

This is very true. I live in a small village called Emneth near a town called Wisbech on the Norfolk/Cambridgeshire border. I moved here about 9 years ago from London, where i grew up (i'm 35). Now, Emneth is pretty much fine. Of course you get bored kids hanging out getting drunk/high/up to no good but nothing serious. Apart from the farmer Tony Martin who shot a burglar in the back and killed him around ten years ago after been harrassed for years. But up the road in Wisbech..well it's just so shit. A lot of 'outsiders' as we're called have moved to the area in the past 5 years or so and you can spot us a mile off. We're the ones who aren't clad in dodgy knock-off Adidas track suits, dropping litter and chewing gum AROUND the bins, acting like drunken idiots in the street during the day, driving like twats while not insured or not even holding a license, carefully placing bottles for recycling around the outside of the bottle bank but never in it.. i know i may sound like an angry Daily Mail reader but if i do it's the countryside (at least, Wisbech) thats made me moan like this. I want to move back to London for a more stress free life...

[Emissary]

I live in quite a nice town, we had our first homeless person yesterday sitting outside the local offlicence. Nobody knew quite what to do. Everyone just walked past him and smiled. He seems to have moved on today. Poor guy.