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One of the benefits of the modern world is that most of us get to see other countries and cities and get a taste of what they have.

It amazes me to find in many cases the locals think their own country/city is rubbish. They see only the faults and shortcomings and imagine that no one else has any in comparable places.

I was in the UK in 1995 and found it to be a fantastic place. It rained almost every day and (quite honestly) I loved it. Coming from Perth, Australia I found the UK weather a nice change. In fact, in London I really felt like I was 'home' even though my Aussie heritage goes back 5 generations now. My pommy mates had warned me that "Londoners are a surly lot" but I found most to be perfectly friendly.

A guy I work with is from Kansas and he has nothing but bad things to say about America. I keep reminding him of all the great things the Yanks have done and he's almost embarrassed to admit it.

For fucks sake be proud of your own country - unless of course you're from Paris.

I think some of it comes from the fact a country's own media will bash the country all the time, vilify many people and constantly kiss-arse to a lot of people who con't deserve it and will vilify you if you don't too. It's interesting what you said about the UK. I have lived in north London all my life and I was working with in one particular job in north London a few years ago where virtually eveyone was foreign. So much so that this Spanish girl I worked with said she had been in England about 3 years and had barely met any English people during that entire time - either through work, socially, walking down the street, or anything.

She told me after a month or so that she thought I was Australian. I told her I wasn't. She said to me: 'where are all the English people in England, I have hardly me any, there were more in the town in Spain where I grew up than there seems to be in London'. I raise this to point out that when you say 'the English this, or the Americans that...' they may be so few in number in that particular geographical area that most of the views on that place will come from people who dont regard themselves as being from there anyway, have no allegiance to it, and therefore will gladly bash it.

Max trying to pin Deano's point on the foreigners. Well I never.

And then you return to "civilisation" and you have to deal with the the people.
I mean I get the piss ripped out of me by little ned cunts because I work.
Scotlands a great country and I`m proud to be Scottish, its just 95% of the inhabitants are work shy or retards.
A nation of morons who think because Sean Connery spouts some bullshit that Scotland could be independant and we`ll be millionaires from exporting haggis and whiskey. Watch them shit themselves as you tell them if Scotland gets independance then they`re dole money`ll be stopped.
Why the fuck can`t an earthquake hit Glasgow, then we wouldn`t have to keep all the lazy bastards on disability.
How the fuck does that one work anyway
"Doctor I`m a fat bastard and I`ve a bad heart."

"Have car so you get even less exercise "

Excuse me I live in Belfast, you clearly have stolen all our layabouts from your description of them so if you'd kindly return them as we miss them terribly...no wait hang on a minute...

max_tranmere wrote:

(snip)
> She told me after a month or so that she thought I was
> Australian. I told her I wasn't. (snip)

That's funny - people often think I'm British! My accent isn't strongly Aussie, but I guess that comes from watching a lot of BBC TV programs in my youth.

Your point about London being full of foreigners makes me wonder whether we will really even have different cultures in 200 years or so. The world might just homogenise into one.

I have travelled the world at the taxpayers expense and pissed a lot of it up the wall and the one thing I do know about other countries is;

In UK you can drink water from most any tap, not a well if there is one.
You can have a shit and it is taken away and processed.
Every home has a light switch, not a candle or parafin lamp.
Every home is built from bricks, not mud.
Every town has proper roads, not mudtracks.
There is public transport, above and below ground.
There is a system of law and order, no matter what we may think.

The UK is probably the best country in the world to be in, and the rediculous benefits system that we have attracts all the worlds undesireables who want to come here to sponge off us.

Me, I work and pay taxes and am in receipt of pensions, so therefore I am not entitled to fuckall and my tax pounds go to support the unwanted illegal bastards who migrate to our shores.
That is the only thing wrong with the UK.
When I retire I will go and live in Portugal where my pensions will enable me and my wife to live comfortably without rubbing shoulders with the unwanted bastards who are taking the piss because of the present system, which will not change, believe me.

There is a lot about UK to be proud of.

We have an incredible history. We have wonderful buildings (York Minster, St Pauls, Windsor Castle etc), wonderful cities and towns and villages (London, Chester, York, Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon etc etc)

For such a small country we have some amazing beauty spots (Lake District, North York Moors, much of Scotland and Wales, Dartmoor, White cliffs of Dover etc).

In music and the arts we have Shakespeare, many fine orchestras, "pop" stars like the Beatles, Elton John, Rod Stewart etc are known all over the world.

We have had inventors, scientists, architects, engineers etc who have done some amazing things (and continue to do so).

But I have to agree with RoddersUK, our very fame and generosity and gullibility is being abused by both people already INSIDE the country, but also those that try to come here under false pretencies.

The fake asylum seekers, the illegal immigrants, the "adults" who pretend they are kids so they cant get thrown out again. This has escalated under "nu-labour" and has dragged this country down to third world levels.

I used to love England, and love living here, now I hate it and I am ashamed at how eaily we are conned.