A
male
age
36-40,
anonymous
writes:can anyone here who lives in England tell me how great a place it is to be in? ever since i met this girl from England over the internet 5 months ago, i have become fascinated over England and English girls and their accents, etc. now i find myself wanting to live there or at least visit, badly!! i think it would be a great place to live in. i mean, i see shots of England on TV and on the internet and it just looks like an all-around great environment, especially with the nice, cloudy, rainy, overcast weather that i like so much.for the privileged ones who do live in England, please tell me as much as you can to give me the adequate insight that i so much desire. what are your likes about England? what are your dislikes about England? could things be better in England? you know, things of that nature. please, anything to give me a little more insight.Thanks
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reader, anonymous, writes (11 June 2009): When I think of England I think of Coronation Street haha. Everything made out of brick - houses and streets and roads. All the houses joined together too. And SHIT weather. I dunno if its really like that but hey.
I personly couldnt stand the weather there. I hate the cold/rain.
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reader, anonymous, writes (11 June 2009): whatever you do DO NOT visit high wycombe x
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reader, anonymous, writes (10 June 2009): k c 100...I do hate to nitpick, but Cardiff and Edinburgh are not in England.
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reader, anonymous, writes (9 June 2009): This is verified as being by the original poster of the questionwow GREAT! this is all great! great insight! Thanks a bunch!
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female
reader, Sweety Pie  +, writes (9 June 2009):
 Im a english girl :)
Feel free to PM me.
Englands fun, and the countryside is beautiful.
And the drinking age is only 18 ;)
The horseback riding is very different to the western style, and we say trousers not pants. Pants are knickers here.
The shops are great, but its a shopping centre, not a mall!
We drive on the left hand side.
But unfortunatly cant drive until we are 17. Possibly being moved up to 18.
Mobile phone (cell phones) have more didgits here.
We dont all sounds like the English people shown on American TV, namely the Disney Channel.
I doubt this is what you wanted to know but still :)
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reader, anonymous, writes (9 June 2009): I love england, i live in London, i have absoloutely no dislikes, i think that english weather rocks, because you wait through the rain and clouds and when the sun comes out it's so satisfying. There's no shortage about different accents ! AND it's very multicultural, and english humour is hilarious, i love the tv here ;p and the comedians
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reader, daletom +, writes (9 June 2009):
I can't tell you much about England (I was there on business for 4 days in 1976) but I see other kind people have!
I'm glad you want to visit, or even live there for a while, maybe even a long while. Being interested in other places, and other cultures, is a commendable character quality, in my opinion. Make sure you accept them for what they are, without constantly comparing them or judging them against your own culture.
Some people go off to live in a new place, adapt to it, love it, and never regret the move. This was probably more obvious in the U.S. a few generations ago, when we were still very much a "nation of immigrants". And some people move to a new place and never feel like they fit in. Or, they discover that changing places doesn't change what they are themselves, and that they are actually more connected to their original homes than they thought. In the military services they sometimes poke fun at the soldier who "joined the Navy (or Army or Air Force) to see the world" - and spent his entire military career trying to get stationed within 50 miles of his original home.
(These ideas were examined in two award-winning Liv Ullman films from the 1970's - "The Emigrants" and "This New Land". They are worth renting or borrowing from the library - you're more likely to find them someplace that specializes in serious and artistic cinema, rather than the simply popular films. Notice the change in Karl Oskar's character through the whole story.)
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reader, anonymous, writes (9 June 2009): Wow I wish I was as enthusiastic about England as you are! But then you haven't lived here ;). I personally can't wait to move out of the country, and that's more of an IF lol. Okay well where I live (Portsmouth), it's rubbish lol. Seriously, all there is to see are houses and some shopping centres! The only good thing is the beach :). Maybe I should appreciate it, but I think it's more of the people than the place. The weather is crap most days of the year (though last week the weather was lovely). But if you don't mind rain then this is the country for you! :P. Sorry to joke with you :) You've had some great responses from people already, just wanted to say my bit! From what I've seen, Cornwall, Torquay and Brighton are nice places to visit!
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reader, anonymous, writes (9 June 2009): Actually bless you-priviledged English! I'm from London and it makes me laugh that you like our accents. But I think you all like the Queens English and not the chavvy commoners. My dislikes are the weather-it's so unpredictable and just not nice. I much prefer the sun.There is lots to do in England but I don't think it differs much to other countries except the culture. People who live in England do just that, they don't do all the touristy things foreigners find exciting.A lot of things could be better in England, for example the politics who are taking liberties with expenses. Our government needs dealing with and so do a lot of other things.Do visit England, but don't think it's al what it's cracked up to be and don't fall for stereotypes. Seriously, we do not all drink tea and eat scones with jam and we don't have bad teeth! Hope this brief thing helps!
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reader, anonymous, writes (9 June 2009): i live near manchester in the north west of england n i live in a small town tis pretty much fields n farms n we're crzy about our football team over here most people are very polite and kind with the exception of a few who are total idiot the englsih accent you will ahv heard will probably be a southern accent our accents vary some town sucha s liverpool and newcastle sound like they're speakn a different language places i recomend are london manchester then maybe the lake district
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reader, k_c100 +, writes (9 June 2009):
 Well England itself and its people are two very different things. England as a country is very beautiful, with lots of trees and greenery everywhere. There is little variation in landscape across the whole country - from north to south it is pretty much green fields and sheep galore! There are a few mountains and lakes and there are obviosuly the big cities (London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh) but overall it all looks the same! Each region/city has its own accent (you will find what you think as an "English" Accent is actually a London accent/southern accent). The north is actually quite different and has some very bizzaare accents! In Scotland they almost sound like they are speaking another language, same for people from Newcastle (north east england), Birmingham (west midlands) and Liverpool (north west). The Welsh actually have their own language which is becoming increasingly popular.
There are serious problems with immigration in England and I would say that walking around a big city, especially London, you will hear more people talking foreign languages than speaking English. The Polish, Muslims and a variety of others have come across in their thousands to the UK for a so called "better life". This is impacting our jobs - while it is hard everywhere to find a job in a recession it is even harder for native english people to get jobs due to the influx of cheap labour from the EU. The EU means that all member countries have easier access into the UK and they can stay longer on Visas etc.
The weather is pretty much the same all year round - grey, cloudy and cold. It is a heatwave in the summer if we get temperatures over 20'C! Winter is pretty cold and it rains a lot, every now and then we get snow but that is pretty rare. I would say that most places in England stick at around 15'C for most of the year! We are awful when the weather does change - as soon as it gets hot everyone seems to strip off, sit outside a pub and get sunburnt! And when it snows (even just a tiny bit) the whole country grinds to a halt, buses stop running, schools close...madness descends!
Football (or soccer as you call it) is our passion - each town/city/village has its own team and people are very passionate about their teams. Often it leads to fighting and what we call "football hooligans" (football fans who get too drunk and pick fights with fans from other teams). Binge drinking is a major problem over here - teenagers as young as 12/13 get drunk in the streets/parks and make a nuisance of themselves. Even when we are legally allowed to drink (18) people still get way too drunk, stumble out of clubs, throw up in the streets etc.
But on a positive note life is a bit more laid back over here than it is in the US. English people are prettt lazy and dont lead such manic lifestyles as you do in the US. I would say most people in the UK have similar personalities to those living in New York - pretty miserable, sarcastic and stressed. English people never talk about how they feel and are very reserved - therapy over here is still seen as taboo and you are a freak if you have a therapist! English people are pretty private and the whole "stiff upper lip" thing is still true, it is a sign of weakness over here to show emotion in public.
I'd say we are a pretty friendly bunch and fairly laid back. We all like to generally sit in a pub and have a pint of lager! I'm sure you would enjoy visiting England, there are some great places to see and there is so much history and heritage in this country. We are all a little bit eccentric (if you went out into the country you would find some very interesting people, probably wearing tweed, smoking a pipe and drinking a cup of tea!). We are a little bit mad in our own way and we are certainly like no others in the world! Visit before you decide to move out here, and try and visit a few places (not just London). Try and see some places in the north (for example Manchester is only 2 hours on the train from London and that has a very different feel). Visiting York and Durham (north of England) would be great places for you to go to give you a different taste of the UK and you would see some great scenery on the way up!
I hope this has helped and feel free to ask for any more information!
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reader, anonymous, writes (9 June 2009): They invaded, slaughtered and brutally subjugated half the planet, but that was a very long time ago, and it isn't really fair to blame the present-day inhabitants, many of whom are among the sweetest and nicest people you could ever meet. (In much the same way that individual Americans can't really be held responsible for the way their government treats the planet as if they own it).
I agree with you, it's an endlessly fascinating place. Not sure why 'nice cloudy, rainly, overcast weather' rocks your boat, but yes, it has plenty of that. The accents range from decidedly sexy (London) to deeply unfortunate (Birmingham and the Midlands).
As a nation of 65 million people (I think), you'll find much the same range of human qualities as you would anywhere else, so it's ridiculous to make sweeping generalisations, but purely for fun, I'll do it anyway.
National characteristics would include: Very polite, possibly a bit dull, well-mannered, reserved, modest, trustworthy, mad about sport, not overflowing with charm or warmth, find foreigners and sex hilarious, drink lots of tea and disgusting warm beer, keep themselves to themselves, value their privacy, very reluctant to talk to total strangers (this often comes across as unfriendliness), tend to view England as the centre of the universe, would NEVER bleat on endlessly about their feelings like the Americans you see on talk shows, have a pleasingly dry sense of humour that's often tinged with fantastic wit, act strangely in hot weather, read tons of newspapers....
I'll stop now. I hope I didn't offend anyone, and if I did, feel free to speak your minds about the Irish.
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reader, Lilly Rose +, writes (9 June 2009):
 I Live in London, weather is usually always crap, but there is so much history here and beautiful places to visit.....though we do have alot of crime and thats increasing, think very hard before you live here, maybe just come and visit find out yourself what its really like!!
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reader, kellyxxx +, writes (9 June 2009):
 Hello, I'm from england. You could personal message me if you would like? X
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