ex pats from birmingham

[frederick]

Where I am living now it is in great Britain but I think it is better than living in parts of Birmingham, I had a look around about four years ago and I was very disappointed with what I saw         and if you look closely you see the same houses but another nation has been moved into them       

[planetmalc]

I went back to Rednal on holiday after 12 years in California. My rental got broken into. Never seen so much garbage on the streets. Beer cans, dog droppings, even a hardly eaten fish and chips somebody dropped on the pavement. Birmingham wallow in your own crap you seem like you are enjoying it.

 
The beer cans and dog droppings are on the pavements because we hand out benefits to the unemployed without requiring them to do a workfare stint such as litter removal.    In a properly-run Britain, 'hardly eaten fish and chips' would only ever be seen among the rotten fruit piled around the base of the stocks that were hosting the battered bodies of scum that break into other folks' rentals.

[maggie]

I wont be visiting the UK again, I prefer to have
happy memories of how it was.
Another reason being the only family I have there
are all older cousins,dont think they would
appreciate me landing on their doorstep,emails
phone calls and the odd B'day card suits us all now.
After being here inN Z  for nearly 43 years
reading about how things have changed I think
you that still live there are very brave to tolerate
how things have gone down the gurgler

[Val]

England is a beautiful country, But it had been shafted well and truly, and I blame the people who say "yes, ok if you think so", and the politicians get away with it, they don't live in the real world, and it does make me angry when I read about politicians ripe off the taxpayer, and nothing is done about it, Criminals are let off or are not kicked out the country, because they have a cat, or the have a right to family,? rubbish, they are criminals, you will find in most is not all the countries in the EU don't have that problem, and yet the politicians say well it there human rights,? WTF, as I've said they they get into power they loose sight of what they are there for, FOR THE PEOPLE, NOT FOR THEMSELVES, but if/when you say something you get nasty looks and comments about well you don't live there any more, But I put this down to their bad judgement in saying "ok if you think so", and so anyone can commit a crime, and they are let off lightly, but nothing is ever said about the victim, but is the people like the victim are saying ok it's all right, when we all know it's not,
You get politicians stealing money from expences/ getting money for their second homes, and it's not in hundreds but thousands, and the taxpayer pays for it, but nothing is said, Britain is a rich country, but much of the money is given away, then the government get into debt for billions, and the people have to suffer low wages, high bills, but the money is there, old people have to turn of the gas because the cost is too high, Our hero's ( Army) have to live in [censored] hole even when they have been told they will be the first to get a house, ( look at the Army in Cyprus, this money problem is non of their doing, but their money has been taken, when really it's non of their business, the Government sent them out there so the government must make sure they don't loose out ), .. but we all know the MOD have treated the Armed forces like dirt, You get the guys who have laid their lives on the line getting food to the Russians in the last war, The Russians wanted give them a medal for good job they did, and the MOD said no, but then it was ok to have the medals, and they were given but that prat "Call me Dave" and he wasn't interested in being there, They should have been given by the top man in Russia, not some little man from Eton.
Like the Olympics a fortune was made for the politicians, and all you could hear was Great Britain, just look at what you have after Billons and billions have been spent from the taxpayer, and what do have you from it,?  Nothing,? everything has been sold off the houses are/will be split into small units and then again sold off to companies ( None British) for a profit,
The country has been filled with Overseas Nationals, many who don't even speak English, have no skills other than taxi driver/curry maker/car washing, but then on the other side you do get doctors,Nurses, who haven't a clue on how to look after anyone, and when they kill someone because they didn't know what they are doing, don't get sacked, but moved to another hospital, to carry on doing what they did before, because you have managers that are only interested in their reports look good.

And you moan when we Expats complain about what we see, and ask why is nothing being done about it, England is still our country, and it will always be, so really it's up to you to stop moaning about it and do something about it. .. or wil it be "Ok if you think so",? have a nice day. J2 ( an Englishman living over seas. ),

This sounds like our local and national papers in the US. 
No matter how long we're away, it's always great to 'go home'.  The people there 'get us', we're them, they're us.  It's easy to criticize from a distance, and not really fair.  We gave up that privilege when we left.
 

[trapio]

This sounds like our local and national papers in the US. 
No matter how long we're away, it's always great to 'go home'.  The people there 'get us', we're them, they're us.  It's easy to criticize from a distance, and not really fair.  We gave up that privilege when we left.

Val I've been away from brum over 50 years, visiting UK again last year but not brum - and you are the first poster who has said to us that ''it's great to go home'' posters say the opposite, as most old homes are no longer standing, and / or are now part of an alien area, with different languages, cultures and belief systems - see this thread.

It may be that some criticise superficially, but not on this thread - we never lose the right to constructively comment on that which is our roots and was formative. We do it because those experiences have made us care in ways that being an immigrant / resident of another country never could - unless we arrived as a toddler...   

So you are wrong, we have not, and and never can, lose the right to do so...rather what we shall never have, is the privilege of criticising any other country in which we live  - even if we obtain its citizenship, we still do not have that right...as those who've had said status revoked have found.

trapio

[john2000]

And We have above all else, one thing in our faver what the people of the country we live in don't have,.... We can always go back home, for what it's worth.. J2

[blane]

I've been to a lot of countries,third world and developed countries,for long stays and short.Every time it was time to come home I was glad.The only draw back with England I can find is ''When are they going to put a roof on it''.

[john2000]

I've been to a lot of countries,third world and developed countries,for long stays and short.Every time it was time to come home I was glad.The only draw back with England I can find is ''When are they going to put a roof on it''.

I don't think a roof will do any good now, the water is already knee deep, and if they open the flood gates next year, you won't have anywhere to stand. 

[Val]

Val I've been away from brum over 50 years, visiting UK again last year but not brum - and you are the first poster who has said to us that ''it's great to go home'' posters say the opposite, as most old homes are no longer standing, and / or are now part of an alien area, with different languages, cultures and belief systems - see this thread.

It may be that some criticise superficially, but not on this thread - we never lose the right to constructively comment on that which is our roots and was formative. We do it because those experiences have made us care in ways that being an immigrant / resident of another country never could - unless we arrived as a toddler...   

So you are wrong, we have not, and and never can, lose the right to do so...rather what we shall never have, is the privilege of criticising any other country in which we live  - even if we obtain its citizenship, we still do not have that right...as those who've had said status revoked have found.

trapio

Trapio.  You’re right of course.  However, my opinion is that if you’ve moved away, you can’t be part of the solution, that’s a privilege you get through voting and/or running for an elected position.  Also, one can’t be fully informed if they’re not present.
 
I also left B’Ham 52 years ago,  and never became an American citizen because it would have choked me to renounce my citizenship, therefore, I can’t vote here either.   I am still easily identified as an immigrant as Nechells marked me with a permanent  accent,  and so I also keep my opinions to myself (most of the time).  All this aside, I love the States, but England is where most of my family are.   I love, coming home, and am just as happy to come back to the States to my children and grandchildren.
 
England isn’t the country of 50 years past, neither is the States, both have changed so dramatically.  In  fact, the entire world is completely different,  and not always for the best.  But so much of it is better, much, much better, and would we really go back 50 years?  I’ll take Brum  as it is (warts and all), and overlook the miserable parts of it,  as I do those which existed 52 years ago.  And good luck to those who stayed, you did a lot of it right.
 

[johnjames]

I'm an expat living in Switzerland. CH is a great place to live, with high pay and low taxes and very little crime but to be honest it's sometimes a bit boring and bland, which you could never say about the UK. Very poor beer here, (unless you head for Germany), everybody smokes, too many mountains, once the novelty wears off and very little choice in supermarkets (basically only two chains). I know that New Lab  did a lot of damage in the name of 'Multiculturalism' and the Tories want to give it all to the bankers but they haven't destroyed our country yet and there are signs that both of them are rowing back from their previous positions. 

[maltablue]

I have just returned from Malta. I lived there for over 7 yrs.and can honestley say, "it's good to be back ". Malta was fine until the dreaded EU, became part of the Maltese culture.
 Most prices, for everyday items, also electrical and white goods are a lot cheaper here. So is the cost of utilities. Non Maltese pay 60% more for their water, 30% more for electricity, in Malta. The only miss is the sunshine  .
   Well that's opiion anyway !!.