Regular readers may have spotted that I'm quite quick to criticise the UK when I feel the need - but now I'm about to leave it for who knows how long, I feel it's time to redress the balance a bit. After all, fair's fair.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and soon enough nostalgia will take hold, and so I thought I'd pre-empt it, and ask my esteemed readers what you would miss if you decided to live far away from the UK? And if you already *are* an ex-pat, what do you miss?
For some (hello Jon!) it might be Branston pickle, for others it might be Radio 4 - but don't keep it to yourself!
And I'll start the ball rolling - I'm likely to miss the fact that in Britain, most people sitting behind desks in public places seem to have a default setting of "friendly and helpful", compared to "icily efficient" in Germany, or "I get a cheap thrill out of saying 'non'" in France. And I'll miss Channel 4 - and Ribena. Er... I think that's it.
What about you?
Posted by Eurodan at September 24, 2003 9:36 PMThese days you'll find that most of the things you miss are available abroad (with a little effort.)
Here in Spain I have Channel 4, Ribena and Marmite which is my equivalent of Jon's Branston. People sitting behind desks are sometimes, though not always what you'd call "friendly", but in my experience are usually very helpful (often painfully so!)
What do I miss? Well, a lot of them don't count 'cos they relate to the exact location of my house rather than the country I live in, but the rest are to do with shared culture and language. If I spoke Spanish as well as you speak most European languages they'd probably be sorted out too :-)
Posted by: Shyboy at September 24, 2003 9:59 PMMy highlights would mostly be be cultural -- especially dance. Of course, plenty of that is visiting from Belgium, Holland and France, but the trade seems to be a bit one-sided.
I suppose there's also the scepticism I referred to in some blog posting or other; and Adam hits the nail on the head (as usual) with his point about language.
I certainly wouldn't miss Radio 4 -- if I never hear the Today programme again it will be too damn soon.
Posted by: matt at September 24, 2003 11:36 PMCan you not get Ribena abroard? Thats a travesty
Posted by: sam at September 30, 2003 1:57 PMWell, I've never seen it - but then again - there are things available which more than compensate... like Chocomel for one... mmmm!
Posted by: Eurodan at October 2, 2003 10:36 PM