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London is my favorite city in the world, and Bath is next favorite. However, I've spent time in other places as well, include some small towns in Kent and Southend on Sea in Essex, and all of them were much nicer than the sweltering heat and cultural wasteland of Los Angeles. I know London is also an expensive place to live and I don't know how I'd earn a living there, but I'd be willing to try. Alas, I have an American daughter by an American father who is not going to let me drag her 6,000 miles from LA anytime soon. So I make an annual visit, getting my yearly fix of English life and English people, and that gets me by until the next visit.

Whereas my English chums who have travelled west either to visit or work in America, are all quite content to stay just where they are. :)

Irene Wilde
 
lol you can have it all.

Ah the cuisine! Wait... fish and chips and burger king :(
Ah, but then there is the nice cafe cultur... oh wait. we only have pubs to get drunk in.
Ah but it's so clean here... oh wait.
Ah but people are so friendly... ummm

Well, anyway, im sure there is something good about England, just havent found it yet :D Ho-hum, each to their own :)
 
cuisine; Pizza Express, and any number of excellent Indian and Chinese restaurants, not to mention Yo Sushi!

cafe culture: Several very lovely and distinctive English pubs, patissieres (I think I spelled that correctly), oh and I did mention the parks and open spaces?

London may not be Geneva in the cleanliness department, but I assure you, it's a damn sight better than Los Angeles.

And the people are the very best thing about England. The friendships I have with my English chums are a treasure to me. I don't think it's necessarily because they are English, I think it is more the nature of our friendship, but I am closer to them, though we live far apart, than I am to most of the people I see here every day. They are the reason, more than any other, that England has become my spirit home. So to Ant, Charlie, Hannah, Gareth/Billy, Alan, the other Gareth, Justin, and all the others, bless you sweeties, and I'll see you next year.

Irene Wilde
 
I don't know. Americans are so much more open. Most American mothers, in my limited experience, tell their kids they love them for instance. Most English mothers wouldn't do this. OK, they WOULD, but only once and awhile, and not everyday. And before anybody posts, yeah, i know there are expecptions :p I am sure your mother was very loving.

If I go into a chat room, I can TELL if somebody is from the U.K in an instant! They have this, don't know, attitude. OK, do an experiment for me. Go into Yahoo chat. Go to chat central. There are plently of Americans in there. Sit there and watch the converstations go by. Go into London chat on yahoo. Sit there and watch the conversations go by. Notice the difference :) One word: Infintile. If you are obsessed with rude words, drinking, football and drugs then you will be in heaven.

Cusine? OK, America is not MUCH better than the U.K but its still better.

UK: Fish and chips, chinese, indian, kebab, McDs and Burger King, KFC. THATS IT.

U.S Ruby Tusdays, Burger King, Arbys, McDonalds, Wendy, Steak n Shake, Applebee, CrackerBarrel ( for folks down south ;) ), Sonics, Olive Garden, mexican, indian, texmex, chinese, donimos, pappa johns, pizza hut, huddle house, Subways and the list goes on and on. OK, its all junk but you have CHOICE.

OK, L.A may not be the greatest place on earth but I assure you it has a lot more going for it than here. The trouble is you are a tourist and don't live here so you don't know what it's like to actually LIVE here. And you have not seen London. The bit you saw ( im assuming so sorry in advance if I assume wrongly :) ) is central London. This is NOTHING at all like the real London. Central London is very nice. It has parks, open spaces, cafes, nice places to eat and friendly people. This is because of the many non-british people there and beacause people work there, not live there.

Anyway, nobody ever agrees with me on this and everybody likes it just fine here. Guess its just me :D

:)
 
But you can go to the Center of London and it is nice. Go to the Center of LA and you won't find it to be so.

Yes, you can find junk food anywhere I suppose, but that doesn't mean there isn't good food in London and other parts of England as well. And a friend's kitchen is best place to eat anyway. Do you consider Highgate/Archway the Center of London? Waterlow is a beautiful park, but most of the Central London folk I know aren't familiar with it.

As for the coarse language, football, and party obsessed...you don't think we have that in the 'States?

But you are right, I can almost always tell if someone's a Yank or a Brit, but it isn't any of those things, it's usually the language, the quick wit, which is often as not of the self-deprecating variety, and a general politeness you don't find in America. Other differences I have noticed is my Brit pals open their homes to me sight unseen based on our conversations on the web without fear that I am some psycho-killer and would never dream of asking for anything in return other than good company. We have an openness and honesty with each other that most of my American friendships lack. (Mssrs. Burns and Enema, please note your exclusion from that statement.) Maybe it's because we have to make a conscious effort to maintain our friendships, maybe it's just the kind of people we are, I don't know. But these are the friendships that last a lifetime, and the fact that so many of this people come from Britain must say something about the place.

I hope, if you never have, you someday have the opportunity to come spend a summer in LA. Get to know it, then come back and tell me London is so bad.

Irene Wilde
 
Hmmm, don't know. I guess it just depends on the type of people we are. Of course our reality is totaly subjective :)

Anyway, I don't really like the U.K OR America, I would not choose to live in either. It's my experience that America is better, but only just :D I would live someplace in Europe if given the chance. :)
 
Neither country is perfect. I've listened to my English chums too much to think that. However, for me, London has an advantage over European cities (doesn't mean I don't hope to visit several of them in my lifetime)...English is spoken there! Despite my attempts to learn both French and Spanish I am still, sadly, monolinguistic.

However, I'm glad our conversation gave you a chance to vent.

Irene Wilde
 
lol Thank you, a venting is good for the soul :D

I do hope you get to see some other places in Europe, then come back and we can talk again :)
 
I plan to. It took many years to find the door out of America for the first time (place is just too damn big!), but now that I've found it, I hope to see much more of the world. Miller's Paris is still out there waiting for me, and from the pictures Budapest is a beautiful city. All it takes is time and money and I have to squirrel both away to travel, but it's always worth it.

Irene Wilde
 
most of the people in my social circle don't read books. i know maybe 3 people who read as much as i do. but almost everyone i know reads magazines. the women buy the usual cosmo, glamour etc, and the guys buy lowrider and blvd (car mags) and skateboarding/snowboarding mags. do magazines count? so many arguments for and against on that one.

it's always the same excuse, though, when they say they don't read it's because they don't have time. but everyone has time for tv (or most i know). i have time for tv, but i also have time for books. i think if more people just picked up and read a book they enjoyed, that they would read more. it's getting them to do that that is the hard part. i haven't encountered anyone who doesn't read because they think it's not cool. they just can't be bothered.
 
Kind of the same situation....most people just don't seem to want to bother because of the time and thought it takes. However, here at college the cool thing could definately be an issue. Not necessarily with reading, but choosing to read over other things. Since there is always something to do, if people were to skip out and go read instead, they would be made fun of. I often catch flak when I don't want to go out, but would rather stay and curl up with a book. Why is it though that if a favorite movie is on it's ok to stay in and watch that? Or go out to a new movie, as opposed to a new book? :mad:

I will flat out blame TV , at least the most commonly watched, as being indicative of people's attitudes anymore.
 
Irene Wilde said:
I plan to. It took many years to find the door out of America for the first time (place is just too damn big!), but now that I've found it, I hope to see much more of the world. Miller's Paris is still out there waiting for me, and from the pictures Budapest is a beautiful city. All it takes is time and money and I have to squirrel both away to travel, but it's always worth it.

Irene Wilde
Click to expand...

Well, good luck :) Yeah, it is always worth it.

You can travel to Paris pretty cheap from London via the Euro Star ( train ). I think at the moment it is only £59 return from London to Paris. I think you have to book a bit in advance to get that price though. It only takes about 2 and half hours to travel there :) Here is the web site Euro Star

Actually, its very cheap to travel pretty much anywhere from London into Europe via companies like Easy! Use Sky Scanner to find the best prices. It can be VERY cheap!

I'm going to Barcelona later this year. The flight there and back only cost me around £60 pounds! If you stay in a hostel, you can stay there very cheap. You can get hostels that have a single room so its exactly like staying in a hotel, only a lot cheaper. A hostel will only cost you around £10 - 20 pounds a night! also very cheap. Here is a great place for information and booking some hostels Boots N all

So, next time you are in London, you might want to consider taking a little trip ( day or weekend ) into Europe :)
 
I have loved books since I learnt to read and throughout the years I have seen reading come in and out of fashion here in the UK. As for the argument as to whether it is 'cool' :cool: or not, I think it just depends on what social circles you mix in. I just think that reading is my hobby and it is what makes me happy and I don't expect other people or friends to have the same hobbies as me, just as I don't share theirs.

I know TV does have alot to answer for but in many ways it has also promoted reading and made it 'cool'. Take 'the big read' for example. For those outside the UK the show had celebs on to promote their favourite book in a weekly televised show and brought the long 'best loved book list' to a Top 20 and let the public vote.

Then we had the Book Awards ceremony which was televised and had awards for author of the year, best non-fiction, best autobiography etc etc.

Then take Richard & Judys book club - I know the list may not contain books that are on our 'must-buy' list but at least its sending out the right message. Richard and Judy also had good celebs on to discuss their opinions on a particular book and each week had a book club from somewhere within the UK give their thoughts aswell. A friend of mine works for Waterstones, at the head office, and she said that the books being reviewed on Richard and Judy went through the roof and demand was staggering, so it has certainly helped.

I also agree with previous comments about there being a good selection of childrens books and this is creating a generation that do consider reading 'cool' and acceptable.

Anyway, now I'm rambling. Basically, I can't speak for anywhere else, but here in the UK in the past 12 months I have noticed a real change for the better :) :)
 
The fact they have books on Richard and Judy is, obviously, good :) I just wish that people would get a brain and a opinion of their own. Why do they NEED to be told what to buy???????

Also, they have celebs on there talking about the books! Again, WHY? So, a book is better if they have ( insert move star/popstar here ) telling you it's good?

We live in such a crazy world!
 
:)

No, there is nothing wrong with a recommendation! I have gotten many books on recommendations. But it's considered recommendation and not mindless. Somebody will recommend something, I will read about it, think about it, and if I think that I will like the book, then I will buy it. There is a big difference between that and sitting around like a mindless zombie, glued to the tv set, and buying everything that some celeb or tv presenter tells you is good :)

I mean, I BET you a packet of hobnobs that thease people sit around all day and never buy a book. Some TV show recommends it and they all rush out and buy it. Stupid.

Also, no, it's not bad because a celeb has recommended it. It's bad that people sit around and it's somehow much better because a celeb has endorsed it. Like trainers, or a drink, or coke, why is it suddenly better if a celeb tells you its good? Who CARES?
 
Mr. Wabbit,

You are right, hostels rock! Without them I'd never be able to afford an extended stay away. And yes, yet another upside to life in London (I won't give up) is that you can go visit much of Europe pretty quickly and economically. Loads of my Brit pals holiday in Spain or Greece (lucky so-and-sos), and I keep planning that trip to Paris, but you see, the funniest thing seems to happen...I get talking with my chums and loose track of the time and the next thing I know, it's the next day! However, there's always next year!


Irene Wilde
 
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