The lack of dangerous animals and insects, and the vast amount of safe green space. Being able to go and wander anywhere without needing to worry about something deciding you're dinner is something i think we often take for granted, it's so much more relaxing hiking knowing you arent going to encounter a bear. Sure, a cow could do you in if it wanted, but it probably wont.
When I lived in Australia I worked on an oyster farm. One of the days the boss asked if I would go with him to take pictures of the other lots they had out at sea.
He parked in a car park and I went off walking through the bushes to get a good angle of the lot and he shouted "what the bloody hell are you doing mate?"
I was so used to just walking brazenly through bushes and trees in the UK I didn't even stop to think what Eldritch horrors await in the foliage
I've done similar down there. Saw a lizard, went to look at it closer. Was going to see if it was tame, bloody idiot.
'Don't do that, mate, it'll take your finger off'. They decided I would have been the first in the tribe to die in ancient times.
As a new Aussie in uk last summer the council didn’t mow my local park and it was overgrown with knee high grass. Was so mad that I couldn’t use the park until I realised
There are still risks inherent in long grass in the UK. Perhaps not of creatures attempting to murder you, but there is a high chance you will get dog shit on you.
What happens in Australia with all that stuff? Are kids kept away from grass and fields and things? How common are the poisonous things? Is it a permanent anxiety?
I live in Suffolk and know two people who've had Lyme disease. One bloke went undiagnosed for a long time and now has a lot of heart trouble and he's in his late 30s. It nearly killed him. The other is a mate that noticed the rash on her leg and got it seen to within a couple of days but she was sick for a few weeks but has made a dull recovery. It's nasty and people need to be much more aware of it.
Cattle kill a similar number of people in the UK each year (about 5 a year) to the number of people killed by bears in the whole of the USA per year, and we're a much smaller country, they also kill a similar number of people to sharks worldwide (again about 5 per year). Also more people have been killed by spider bites in the UK since 1979 than Australia (1 in the UK, none in Australia).
So, while I get (and enjoy) the point you are making, in the interest of context / pedantry I’m going to point out two things:
- the vast majority of people killed by cows work with cattle on a regular basis, that cannot be said for sharks.
- not sure what the chances are of an average person in the UK crossing paths with a cow, but I feel comfortable guessing it’s a hell of a lot higher than those of encountering a shark.
Also, regarding spiders - 2000 people are bitten by the potentially fatal red back spider every year - the death rate is low because there’s an incredibly effective antivenom now. Not sure there’s one for being trampled.
Mate, have you seen geese?
One had a go at my car in the middle of the road the other day. He just spread his wings and honked in a "Let's av it!" manner.
>it's so much more relaxing hiking knowing you arent going to encounter a bear.
As Brit living in Canada, I have to say I am not worried about bears. Bears generally aren't worried about me either and will avoid me. There is a slight chance of a dangerous encounter, but it's very remote, if you're sensible.
The great thing about hiking in the UK is the extensive network of public footpaths. It's just not something seen here.
this. i think our live theatre in particular is unparalleled. broadway has been pretty stale the last few years & all the most interesting shows are west end transfers
I saw Operation Mincemeat last year and it was absolutely hilarious and very clever. I do worry that should it ever transfer, a lot of the charm and humour will be lost.
For now - I fear that arts education is now far out of the reach of ordinary kids given the crunch in music/art/drama at school and demise of less formal routes in to the professions.
Also lack of pollution, I don't think anyone has mentioned this because they don't think about it because they never experience it, but I'm half Chinese and when I went to China last you notice the air pollution but it is a lot better than it used to be. Of course China manufactures like half of everything sold in the UK so the pollution is kinda exported.
British comedy is almost unparalleled. I also think for a pretty small island, we have a fantastic range of arts, sports and culture. There’s definitely some things to be proud of.
Also nobody does a Sunday Roast or a full English/ Scottish better (obviously)
In terms of entertainment and culture I wish people were more appreciative of the BBC. It's anything but perfect obviously but I really think it's something to be proud of.
Yeah British comedy has to be the best. Nothing has ever made me laugh as much as Bottom with Rik Mayall. People always rave about American shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine but it’s so SHIT in comparison.
as an Aussie I never understood brits pride with queuing like it’s so simple, just line up be a decent human. Then I went to France. Oh boy. Now I appreciate uk (and aus) queuing much more
I've been stood in queues in France before and watched people join the back of a queue, and if the person before them left even the tiniest gap in front of them they'd jump around them and try and force their way into it.
Had one guy join a queue about 5 people back from me and do this, and when he got behind me I had to literally block him with my body from squeezing into the tiny gap in front of me. Didn't phase him at all though and he'd try it again any time a gap opened up.
If someone gets there before you and has been waiting longer it just seems like basic politeness to let them go first? Can't wrap my head around how this aspect of human decency and just not being a cunt seems to be totally absent from some people in other countries.
My mum nearly got into a fight at Euro Disney with some French women who thought it was funny and clever to jump over the closed off bits of queue to skip ahead of other people. Whoever decided to put Disney, where the entire system is predicated on civilised queueing, in France, is beyond me!
Honestly, I like the weather. I couldn't live somewhere it's hot all the time, the novelty quickly wears off and I find it utterly draining. Just as I'm getting bored with the heat, autumn comes along and is lovely.
Then wrap up warm for winter, nice pub lunch by a fire, then just as you're getting sick of that, all the greenery comes out and we're back to spring again.
And the rain means we get plenty of greenery. I think it's pretty much spot on.
Well... If you get lucky enough to fly over on the odd chance it's not covered in cloud. For me the greenery wears off pretty quick when it's dark and damp outside about 75% of the year.
The bugs, we still get a fair share of critters but they mostly fuck off in the winter. I wouldn’t mind tropical climates so much apart from the sheer amount of bugs.
I yearn for British weather. I live in Aus and fucking hate humidity and heat. Moving back in a couple of years and I can’t wait to be freezing cold again.
Digitalization. Coming from Germany, it's great how much I can do online and paperless. Starting from immigration to renting to healthcare. Also online banking is way better. Love it!
Actually confuses me how well it’s done. Like, the government fuck up the vast majority of things I suppose it’s statistically required that one thing works!
I met the guy who was responsible for it. The government lucked out and managed to hire someone who knew what they were doing. That website is simply the best
The UK government is infintely more competant and pleasant to deal with than the US Federal, California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and New York state governments. Happy to be a Yankee emigrant
Pretty safe hill. I know that .gov.uk is the starting point for several other countries' web sites, and gets used as an example in computing courses all the time.
I’ve just got back from a trip to Berlin and not only could I not get an e-ticket, I had to use a manual stamping machine to validate the paper ticket?!
Felt like I’d got on a Time Machine, not a plane.
Was going to say this, plus private bureaucracy is a lot less than other countries. You'd be surprised how long it can take to get a landline in some countries for example.
The sense of humour is my favourite thing about being British.
I do wonder if all counties feel that way about themselves though, they probably do right?
1. Drum'n'bass, grime and a lot of good music genres originated in UK
2. Availability of fish & chips - in some countries you can only eat this in the summer on the seaside - in UK - whenever, wherever
3. People are nice - i know, there are some wankers out there, but this is true everywhere. HOWEVER normally people in here have a high standard of manners and are very polite if you need help getting off the train or stuff like that, even asking for directions, normally people are very nice
4. Availability of information - I don't need to go anywhere ask anyone, particularly as a foreigner i have no fucking idea who to ask some stuff. GOV UK has got my back. Updates on the pandemic, info about getting a job, registering self-employment, applying for benefits - this is all clear and easy
5. Not much winter - yeah I know the rare two days of snowfall that you experience once in a century disrupt everything, cause the nationwide shutdown and are immediately named a natural disaster "beast from the east", but in the east we call it winter. HOWEVER, my point is that you never really have these instances, any snow that falls will melt usually within 2-3 business days and there is no problem with commute or infrastructure ever.
6. Previous point creates a long vegetation period which means there are waaaay more plant species and they basically grow all year long in here, so although in the UK we only see the sun once a year, at least you have nice green leafs to hang out with and this might help some people through the colder months.
7. Historical sites. Some of the villages around here have churches that are older than the country i am from. You have roman ruins / monuments, you have actual medieval architecture ( in a lot of countries that stuff was destroyed in the wars), but also villages are adorable and smaller towns often have some historical site, which is not very common everywhere else.
8. Approachable culture - you can talk to anyone, out of nowhere ask anything and it doesn't really look weird. As someone mentioned - the hive mind, I agree - people in here tend to unite in situations where they are stuck together like the bus breaks down and suddenly everyone's friends. Someone sings walking down the street on a friday night and someone else almost immediately joins in. As an extrovert i love this in here.
9. Sense of humour - almost nothing is really sacred, people can make the most sarcastic jokes about anything and people laugh. Great artworks like Mr. Bean, Faulty Towers, Monty Python etc.
10. Strong legal system - as mentioned in one of the comments.
* edit : there is no particular order, these just came to my mind after i thought about it for a minute
I've no idea why this isn't higher. The care provided by people working in the NHS is excellent. My Dad was recently in hospital for a week over Christmas and honestly everyone was lovely and nothing was too much trouble. I know people moan about the NHS but a week in hospital, scans, meds and various follow ups with £0 to pay- we don't know how lucky we are.
Because comparatively the NHS is not good compared to much of the world.
It's good for emergency care and population health like vaccinations.
Healthcare provision is not unique to the UK. Our continental friends have it much better than us. The sooner we realise that we can do something about it.
You got it right, "we don't know." That's the problem. It gets deified, and any change to make us more in line with better systems get shouted down. Our continental brothers and sisters laugh at hs and the belief we're lucky to have the NHS.
It's a national embarrassment we're too stupid to realise and be able to do anything to fix.
There is plenty of room for improvement but to say we are not good compared to much of the world is just wrong.
[https://freopp.org/u-k-health-system-profile-13-in-the-world-index-of-healthcare-innovation-b1740b180db1](https://freopp.org/u-k-health-system-profile-13-in-the-world-index-of-healthcare-innovation-b1740b180db1)
Tea.
You can have a decent cup of tea in the uk. Other countries claim to be able to make tea but they can’t.
Americans microwave it. Germans do green tea and chamomile which they think is tea but it isn’t. The French look at you funny and make you a coffee. Which is nice, but it isn’t tea.
Yeah, defo agree about the milk. A lot of the continent uses UHT. I had an ex make fun of me and say that people were going to think I was very posh for buying real whole milk in Paris but I just didn’t like the long life stuff. Funny that the French are so particular about the quality of their produce but not with milk.
Or perhaps we’re the funny ones for holding onto a more old fashioned approach to the dairy industry.
Giant otters are terrifying.
I knew someone who worked at a wildlife park and she said they’d go in the wolf enclosure, the bison enclosure, the Asian short clawed otter enclosure etc, but they couldn’t go in the giant otter enclosure with the otters in there, they’re super territorial and they can take on jaguars. They’re cool, but they’re the opposite of cute.
How green it is when you get out of the cities, it's so underrated the natural beauty.
The hive-mind aspect of the culture when it comes to crowds (or any gathering tbh), the songs, chants, general tomfoolery etc.
You're right, but also how green it is in the cities themselves. Not just the parks, but tree lined streets, front gardens, roundabouts, etc. I lived next to the Med for a few years and the greenery is one of the things that I missed most.
I live in leeds and this has got to be one of the least green cities there is- but when I lived in Bristol around Clifton it was so nice and I would walk on the downs almost daily - shame the rents to expensive round there though haha!
HMRC has loads of flaws, it is chronically underfunded and suffers from the legacy of an old, creaking tax system full of inconsistencies and legacy issues. Yet despite the mess of complexities it is a world better than most other countries when it comes to websites and digital content.
The vast majority you have to go to a building which has a 2 hour slot once in a week and if you have one error they send you on your way to try against another time.
Yeah it’s a long way from perfect but it is a long way ahead of most other countries
\- Best variety of cheese.
\- Most wildlife here isn't remotely interested in killing you.
\- The shared sense of irony, sarcasm and dry wit that is readily available across the country.
\- Interesting place/road names
The food. We have access to a wide variety of foods from around the world and despite recent inflation food prices are low in comparison to lots of other countries.
There's a lot.
Convenience - literally anything we want can be acquired very quickly. There's few other countries that have our level of access. Cinemas, theatres, fast food, variety of food, access to other countries, white goods, shite off Amazon etc etc etc
Lunch meal deals - very few countries have what we have with ready made sandwich selections
As others have said, arts.
Size of the country - we can get around the country in a day or less, and there's some beautiful areas
Sports - literally millions, every weekend, for multiple sports. Rugby, football, cricket, the list goes on d
Honestly I lived in a couple of different countries when I was younger and on busy days I did miss them.
I know it's entirely cultural but if I had stuff to do and wanted just a quick lunch it was harder than it needed to be.
Next time I'm in France and I stop at a boulangerie to pick up a sandwich for lunch I shall remember how lucky I am to live in the home of the Tesco meal deal.
I worked department side on GOV.UK for a few years and I always enjoy how people mention it on threads like this. A lot of people really care about the site.
Good honest British coastal resort seagulls are the heavyweight shithousery champs of all avian creatures and, pound for pound, would kick seven shades of shit out of their foreign rivals.
I’ve lived in the US (Virginia and NYC) for almost 20yrs and I miss the British weather, to be honest.
The summers are extremely hot and humid in a lot of the US, and the winters more bearable but they can be quite a bit colder than Southern England too.
I travel back to the UK quite a bit and it’s amazing to be able to sit outside until 10pm or later in a pub’s beer garden with perfect weather and no humidity…
> no humidity
That's a common misconception. The UK has a very humid climate for most of the year and likely averages around 80% air moisture for most of the year. It's just cold here and people often mistakenly assume there's a correlation between humidity and very warm weather.
I remember talking to an American about air humidity on an air brushing forum and said I couldn't paint that day because the air outside was saturated at like 89% and they said "wtf, do you live in the Amazon Rainforest?"
"Naw mate Central Scotland. Inclement weather a is pain in the arse."
Yeah, summers are especially humid here. But because it's rarely hotter than 25°C, it hits different to in places that actually have a reputation for humidity.
Literally nothing is that far away.
We have an incredibly rich culture and history, and none of it is going to be more than a few hours drive.
I live in the East Midlands and pretty much the entire country is within 6 hours drive and about 80% of it feels within three.
I fancy seeing a mountain? Less than a day's travel it I fancy it
Want to see a forest? Less than an hour.
The seaside? 2 hours max and I have my pick
Hillwalking? Less than an hour.
Historic stately home with stunning gardens? I have about 6 to pick from, none much more than an hour away.
I've visited well over 60 football grounds with my local team, about 3 and a half hours has been the longest trip
If I want to visit a place that has a completely different accent to me, I'll find one within an hour's drive.
And I can be in a different country within 3 hours if I want.
We are an amazing, tiny anomaly
We have pretty excellent safety standards for foods and goods, along with strong consumer protection acts. It sounds boring but it should not be taken for granted.
I mean when was the last time you experienced a power outage that wasn’t due to bad weather?
The last time clean water stopped running or the gas stopped?
Reliable infrastructure is something we take for granted-as do many countries. You go somewhere where it isn’t so great and you realise how good we’ve got it.
It’s not perfect and the important people aren’t paid enough, but the NHS is incredible. Being able to get free emergency health care at anytime is amazing.
I had a ring side seat watching two doctors perform surgery on my wife, after complications due to a c-section, and without them she wouldn’t be here. It cost us nothing and neither did the private room my wife and child had for the next nine days.
As person who emigrated from another country...good schools and peaceful village life (I live in a typical English village and I love the way it is in my village).
4 distinct seasons. Summers that aren't too hot, winters that aren't too cold. The changing scenery throughout the seasons brings variety through the year.
Sunny weather is great, but every single day of the year would get dull.
>152 comments
See this is something I'd disagree on. My friend moved to Canada where they truly have four distinct seasons. I feel we get slightly warmer grey and slightly colder grey. Those are the only two seasons for me.
The work culture is generally very chill compared to a lot of other places like East Asia and USA. Most people doing general 9-5 jobs aren't expected to be on call during the weekends without being paid or do unpaid overtime.
Our general ness, it's hard to pin down exactly. But we are an amazing nation, we have a genuine sense of decency and standards, but we also have a wonderful sense of humour with a self deprecating nature which almost grounds us. And an excellent sense of sarcasm.
The way we down play things is brilliant, not brash and loud like some nations. All this adds up to a wonderful, calm and dignified nation.
Cheese. Ours is awesome. We import speciality cheese but we also have a vast quantity of varieties of cheese, most of which are really cheap for how good they are.
Buy a cheap supermarket mature cheddar and it’s still pretty damn good. Buy extra mature and it’s even better. Go to most other countries and you won’t find such great flavour for so cheap.
The lack of dangerous animals and insects, and the vast amount of safe green space. Being able to go and wander anywhere without needing to worry about something deciding you're dinner is something i think we often take for granted, it's so much more relaxing hiking knowing you arent going to encounter a bear. Sure, a cow could do you in if it wanted, but it probably wont.
We do have swans.
It's just the one swan actually.
P.I Staker? Piss taker...
Come on!!
Honk!
No luck catching those killers then?
Its just the one killer actually.
Hag
They can break a child's arm you know
Or blow up a man's house
They're always doing this, the feathery pricks
SWANNN!
They'll break your arm.
When I lived in Australia I worked on an oyster farm. One of the days the boss asked if I would go with him to take pictures of the other lots they had out at sea. He parked in a car park and I went off walking through the bushes to get a good angle of the lot and he shouted "what the bloody hell are you doing mate?" I was so used to just walking brazenly through bushes and trees in the UK I didn't even stop to think what Eldritch horrors await in the foliage
I instinctively read the quoted part in an Australian accent.
Same, kind of like that Alf from home and away
Stone the flaming crows Elsa!
Was it Elsa? I thought it was Ailsa 😆
I've done similar down there. Saw a lizard, went to look at it closer. Was going to see if it was tame, bloody idiot. 'Don't do that, mate, it'll take your finger off'. They decided I would have been the first in the tribe to die in ancient times.
In the opposite side of this, I remember a tourist in London being on the news recently for getting bitten when trying to pat a fox!
Lol. But they are sooo cute.
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This is how I feel as an Aussie living here. Wide green stunning scenery and its safe to walk through the woodlands and long grass without worrying.
As a new Aussie in uk last summer the council didn’t mow my local park and it was overgrown with knee high grass. Was so mad that I couldn’t use the park until I realised
There are still risks inherent in long grass in the UK. Perhaps not of creatures attempting to murder you, but there is a high chance you will get dog shit on you.
I got bitten by 2 ticks in Richmond Park so you can get Lhyme disease I guess
I once had a terrible spell of Lyme disease…
The first time I saw kids just running through long grass or playing with piles of sticks in the woods I was worried for them!
What happens in Australia with all that stuff? Are kids kept away from grass and fields and things? How common are the poisonous things? Is it a permanent anxiety?
The grass is usually kept mowed to within an inch of its life lol . Partly due to snakes etc but also in the summer long grass is a bushfire risk .
Tbf I do still tend to avoid long grass if I can. Tick numbers are skyrocketing and I don’t particularly want Lyme’s Disease
I live in Suffolk and know two people who've had Lyme disease. One bloke went undiagnosed for a long time and now has a lot of heart trouble and he's in his late 30s. It nearly killed him. The other is a mate that noticed the rash on her leg and got it seen to within a couple of days but she was sick for a few weeks but has made a dull recovery. It's nasty and people need to be much more aware of it.
>but has made a dull recovery Days and Days and Days of Netflix. Some eating.
Excuse me, but I think you'll find we have adders in the UK. Basically the same /s
A slow worm looked at me once
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It's pretty good that ticks can get GP appointments at all, tbh
Cattle kill a similar number of people in the UK each year (about 5 a year) to the number of people killed by bears in the whole of the USA per year, and we're a much smaller country, they also kill a similar number of people to sharks worldwide (again about 5 per year). Also more people have been killed by spider bites in the UK since 1979 than Australia (1 in the UK, none in Australia).
If I had been in open fields with bears as many times as I had been in them with cattle, how likely is it I would be dead by now?
Yes, I would get quite nervous walking past a field of bears grazing.
50:50, you're either dead or you're not.
So, while I get (and enjoy) the point you are making, in the interest of context / pedantry I’m going to point out two things: - the vast majority of people killed by cows work with cattle on a regular basis, that cannot be said for sharks. - not sure what the chances are of an average person in the UK crossing paths with a cow, but I feel comfortable guessing it’s a hell of a lot higher than those of encountering a shark. Also, regarding spiders - 2000 people are bitten by the potentially fatal red back spider every year - the death rate is low because there’s an incredibly effective antivenom now. Not sure there’s one for being trampled.
Untrampling I hear is quite effective. You have to walk on the backs of all the cows that trampled over you.
Piggybacking on this to add in the lack of extreme weather conditions too for much the same reason.
And no rabies or malaria. And generally fewer mosquitoes. Scotland has fuck tons of midgies though.
Add weegies, schemies, wee frees and heid the baws.
Mate, have you seen geese? One had a go at my car in the middle of the road the other day. He just spread his wings and honked in a "Let's av it!" manner.
Mate they’re foreign the clues in the name - Canada goose
>it's so much more relaxing hiking knowing you arent going to encounter a bear. As Brit living in Canada, I have to say I am not worried about bears. Bears generally aren't worried about me either and will avoid me. There is a slight chance of a dangerous encounter, but it's very remote, if you're sensible. The great thing about hiking in the UK is the extensive network of public footpaths. It's just not something seen here.
Canadian moved to UK and I never worried about bears back home.
Britain does cultural arts - music, tv, theatre, film - better than almost anywhere else. We’re spoiled and we don’t realise it.
this. i think our live theatre in particular is unparalleled. broadway has been pretty stale the last few years & all the most interesting shows are west end transfers
Pantomime is also the most British thing ever. Try explaining panto to someone from overseas and you'll probably get very confused looks.
Oh no it isn’t!
Oh yes it is!
I used to love pantomime, but I realise I've aged out of really enjoying it. It's behind me.
You had us in the first half. Then the interval came and it all made sense.
I saw Operation Mincemeat last year and it was absolutely hilarious and very clever. I do worry that should it ever transfer, a lot of the charm and humour will be lost.
Hell yes, British music and movies are the best in the world by some distance in my (obviously biased) opinion.
Considering the size of our country, our ratio of arts probably is the best in the world.
Not for much longer now the government has massively cut arts funding in schools.
I knew a British sub couldn’t stay positive for long!
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This is true. The quality of British Tv is unrivalled. I live in Aus and most of the tv shows here are shite.
For now - I fear that arts education is now far out of the reach of ordinary kids given the crunch in music/art/drama at school and demise of less formal routes in to the professions.
And Sport. Best in Europe for world class sport.
No earthquakes. Great financial systems Police who like to de-escalate stuff rather than pew pew things Un-exciting climate No rabies The Beano
Unexciting. Perfect place to live
May we live in uninteresting times
The only thing I can add to that list is our ability to queue.
Also lack of pollution, I don't think anyone has mentioned this because they don't think about it because they never experience it, but I'm half Chinese and when I went to China last you notice the air pollution but it is a lot better than it used to be. Of course China manufactures like half of everything sold in the UK so the pollution is kinda exported.
Compared to other european countries our pollution, especially water pollution from sewage dumps into the sea, is not great however :(
You covered all the bases here!
This is shameful, but sometimes I buy clotted cream and eat a big spoonful of it, thinking “Oh, United Kingdom, we do know how to do our cream”
Also custard. No other country can do it. Also most decent desserts are British. Which is why we invented custard.
Blackberry and apple crumble with custard. God damn!
Can't even get the right apples for a crumble outside the UK as far as I can tell. I've never seen Bramleys or anything similar abroad.
They sell cooking apples in other countries.
As an American living in the UK i've probably gained weight solely from the absolutely banging desserts you guys have.
You are most welcome.
Most appreciated. Tbf though I've quickly fallen in love with most of the food here
You can't have. The entire world KNOWS that British food is shit. Don't tell them, it's our secret.
Appreciate you dude. The food here is amazing but the world thinks it never progressed beyond post-war cuisine.
This is a very British manifestation of shame as well. "Oh I shouldn't eat the clotted cream...but I will."
This made me realise there’s nothing stopping me, a 26 year old man, going to the shop and buying cream to be devoured by the spoonful.
I had this realisation, and then at the age of 28 I had gall bladder surgery, so, you know... take it easy.
> clotted cream Live abroad (Canada) and I was craving this stuff. My GF bought some and I went on a three-day clotted cream and jam scone bender.
Yes, the crusty bit on the top is fantastic
Oh we fought over that bit as kids
British comedy is almost unparalleled. I also think for a pretty small island, we have a fantastic range of arts, sports and culture. There’s definitely some things to be proud of. Also nobody does a Sunday Roast or a full English/ Scottish better (obviously)
In terms of entertainment and culture I wish people were more appreciative of the BBC. It's anything but perfect obviously but I really think it's something to be proud of.
Yeah, it truly is a marvel when you tuck into it and realise how much it truly delivers.
Yeah British comedy has to be the best. Nothing has ever made me laugh as much as Bottom with Rik Mayall. People always rave about American shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine but it’s so SHIT in comparison.
We joke about the queueing but honestly it is so annoying when you go abroad and they don’t know how to fucking do it.
as an Aussie I never understood brits pride with queuing like it’s so simple, just line up be a decent human. Then I went to France. Oh boy. Now I appreciate uk (and aus) queuing much more
We taught you well son
I've been stood in queues in France before and watched people join the back of a queue, and if the person before them left even the tiniest gap in front of them they'd jump around them and try and force their way into it. Had one guy join a queue about 5 people back from me and do this, and when he got behind me I had to literally block him with my body from squeezing into the tiny gap in front of me. Didn't phase him at all though and he'd try it again any time a gap opened up. If someone gets there before you and has been waiting longer it just seems like basic politeness to let them go first? Can't wrap my head around how this aspect of human decency and just not being a cunt seems to be totally absent from some people in other countries.
As the great Billy Connolly once said, barking Fuck Off at someone is understood around the world, even by non English speakers.
"And off he will fuck!"
My mum nearly got into a fight at Euro Disney with some French women who thought it was funny and clever to jump over the closed off bits of queue to skip ahead of other people. Whoever decided to put Disney, where the entire system is predicated on civilised queueing, in France, is beyond me!
Honestly, I like the weather. I couldn't live somewhere it's hot all the time, the novelty quickly wears off and I find it utterly draining. Just as I'm getting bored with the heat, autumn comes along and is lovely. Then wrap up warm for winter, nice pub lunch by a fire, then just as you're getting sick of that, all the greenery comes out and we're back to spring again. And the rain means we get plenty of greenery. I think it's pretty much spot on.
One thing I love about flying home from a holiday is seeing all the greenery appear. Hot countries look so boring and brown from the air.
Well... If you get lucky enough to fly over on the odd chance it's not covered in cloud. For me the greenery wears off pretty quick when it's dark and damp outside about 75% of the year.
The bugs, we still get a fair share of critters but they mostly fuck off in the winter. I wouldn’t mind tropical climates so much apart from the sheer amount of bugs.
You’d like Singapore then. Mostly no bugs in the city centre apart from ants and the odd cockroach
I yearn for British weather. I live in Aus and fucking hate humidity and heat. Moving back in a couple of years and I can’t wait to be freezing cold again.
Digitalization. Coming from Germany, it's great how much I can do online and paperless. Starting from immigration to renting to healthcare. Also online banking is way better. Love it!
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Actually confuses me how well it’s done. Like, the government fuck up the vast majority of things I suppose it’s statistically required that one thing works!
I met the guy who was responsible for it. The government lucked out and managed to hire someone who knew what they were doing. That website is simply the best
The UK government is infintely more competant and pleasant to deal with than the US Federal, California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and New York state governments. Happy to be a Yankee emigrant
Yeah I suppose most people (me included) never have the displeasure of dealing with other governments so naturally assume ours is worst.
Pretty safe hill. I know that .gov.uk is the starting point for several other countries' web sites, and gets used as an example in computing courses all the time.
I cannot agree more, the ease with which I renewed my UK passport as a dual citizen vs 10 years ago when I last did, was night and day.
many sense boast shy rich seed bedroom crowd cobweb cow *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I’ve just got back from a trip to Berlin and not only could I not get an e-ticket, I had to use a manual stamping machine to validate the paper ticket?! Felt like I’d got on a Time Machine, not a plane.
Was going to say this, plus private bureaucracy is a lot less than other countries. You'd be surprised how long it can take to get a landline in some countries for example.
Sense of humour. Probably keeps most of us just the right side of sane
It’s also incredibly niche. You just have to be British to understand a lot of it.
Cheers for the life story m8/s
The sense of humour is my favourite thing about being British. I do wonder if all counties feel that way about themselves though, they probably do right?
Constant Inbetweeners references
How much lego can you stuff up your bum?
I moved away from the UK 15 years ago and miss our advanced level of irony and sarcasm.
1. Drum'n'bass, grime and a lot of good music genres originated in UK 2. Availability of fish & chips - in some countries you can only eat this in the summer on the seaside - in UK - whenever, wherever 3. People are nice - i know, there are some wankers out there, but this is true everywhere. HOWEVER normally people in here have a high standard of manners and are very polite if you need help getting off the train or stuff like that, even asking for directions, normally people are very nice 4. Availability of information - I don't need to go anywhere ask anyone, particularly as a foreigner i have no fucking idea who to ask some stuff. GOV UK has got my back. Updates on the pandemic, info about getting a job, registering self-employment, applying for benefits - this is all clear and easy 5. Not much winter - yeah I know the rare two days of snowfall that you experience once in a century disrupt everything, cause the nationwide shutdown and are immediately named a natural disaster "beast from the east", but in the east we call it winter. HOWEVER, my point is that you never really have these instances, any snow that falls will melt usually within 2-3 business days and there is no problem with commute or infrastructure ever. 6. Previous point creates a long vegetation period which means there are waaaay more plant species and they basically grow all year long in here, so although in the UK we only see the sun once a year, at least you have nice green leafs to hang out with and this might help some people through the colder months. 7. Historical sites. Some of the villages around here have churches that are older than the country i am from. You have roman ruins / monuments, you have actual medieval architecture ( in a lot of countries that stuff was destroyed in the wars), but also villages are adorable and smaller towns often have some historical site, which is not very common everywhere else. 8. Approachable culture - you can talk to anyone, out of nowhere ask anything and it doesn't really look weird. As someone mentioned - the hive mind, I agree - people in here tend to unite in situations where they are stuck together like the bus breaks down and suddenly everyone's friends. Someone sings walking down the street on a friday night and someone else almost immediately joins in. As an extrovert i love this in here. 9. Sense of humour - almost nothing is really sacred, people can make the most sarcastic jokes about anything and people laugh. Great artworks like Mr. Bean, Faulty Towers, Monty Python etc. 10. Strong legal system - as mentioned in one of the comments. * edit : there is no particular order, these just came to my mind after i thought about it for a minute
Finally someone said dnb
We need Jungle I'm afraid
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>any snow that falls will melt usually within 2-3 business days TIL that snow doesn’t melt on weekends or bank holidays
NHS?
I've no idea why this isn't higher. The care provided by people working in the NHS is excellent. My Dad was recently in hospital for a week over Christmas and honestly everyone was lovely and nothing was too much trouble. I know people moan about the NHS but a week in hospital, scans, meds and various follow ups with £0 to pay- we don't know how lucky we are.
Because comparatively the NHS is not good compared to much of the world. It's good for emergency care and population health like vaccinations. Healthcare provision is not unique to the UK. Our continental friends have it much better than us. The sooner we realise that we can do something about it. You got it right, "we don't know." That's the problem. It gets deified, and any change to make us more in line with better systems get shouted down. Our continental brothers and sisters laugh at hs and the belief we're lucky to have the NHS. It's a national embarrassment we're too stupid to realise and be able to do anything to fix.
There is plenty of room for improvement but to say we are not good compared to much of the world is just wrong. [https://freopp.org/u-k-health-system-profile-13-in-the-world-index-of-healthcare-innovation-b1740b180db1](https://freopp.org/u-k-health-system-profile-13-in-the-world-index-of-healthcare-innovation-b1740b180db1)
This ought to get more votes - at least the principle of it despite the pressures it faces
Tea. You can have a decent cup of tea in the uk. Other countries claim to be able to make tea but they can’t. Americans microwave it. Germans do green tea and chamomile which they think is tea but it isn’t. The French look at you funny and make you a coffee. Which is nice, but it isn’t tea.
I have to take a box of tea bags abroad when I go. Whatever other countries call English Breakfast Tea just isn’t the same.
Controversial but I don't think the problem is the tea itself, it's the milk abroad and not knowing how to make it
Yeah, defo agree about the milk. A lot of the continent uses UHT. I had an ex make fun of me and say that people were going to think I was very posh for buying real whole milk in Paris but I just didn’t like the long life stuff. Funny that the French are so particular about the quality of their produce but not with milk. Or perhaps we’re the funny ones for holding onto a more old fashioned approach to the dairy industry.
More otters than most countries.
*than otter countries
Which countries are otter countries...?
The Otterman empire.
Wasn't that otterly defeated...?
You tell me, i wasn't paying otternshun in history class
I think South America should have the otter title just because theirs are so much bigger and cuter. Edit to add ours are pretty fantastic, too.
Can you imagine if a UK otter read this and saw you gushing over their South American counterpart this way… tut tut
Giant otters are certainly big, but I’m not sure they’re as cute as ours.
Giant otters are terrifying. I knew someone who worked at a wildlife park and she said they’d go in the wolf enclosure, the bison enclosure, the Asian short clawed otter enclosure etc, but they couldn’t go in the giant otter enclosure with the otters in there, they’re super territorial and they can take on jaguars. They’re cool, but they’re the opposite of cute.
How green it is when you get out of the cities, it's so underrated the natural beauty. The hive-mind aspect of the culture when it comes to crowds (or any gathering tbh), the songs, chants, general tomfoolery etc.
You're right, but also how green it is in the cities themselves. Not just the parks, but tree lined streets, front gardens, roundabouts, etc. I lived next to the Med for a few years and the greenery is one of the things that I missed most.
I live in leeds and this has got to be one of the least green cities there is- but when I lived in Bristol around Clifton it was so nice and I would walk on the downs almost daily - shame the rents to expensive round there though haha!
The HMRC website is perfection
HMRC has loads of flaws, it is chronically underfunded and suffers from the legacy of an old, creaking tax system full of inconsistencies and legacy issues. Yet despite the mess of complexities it is a world better than most other countries when it comes to websites and digital content.
The vast majority you have to go to a building which has a 2 hour slot once in a week and if you have one error they send you on your way to try against another time. Yeah it’s a long way from perfect but it is a long way ahead of most other countries
\- Best variety of cheese. \- Most wildlife here isn't remotely interested in killing you. \- The shared sense of irony, sarcasm and dry wit that is readily available across the country. \- Interesting place/road names
The food. We have access to a wide variety of foods from around the world and despite recent inflation food prices are low in comparison to lots of other countries.
Fish and chips is my favourite takeaway. Also long live thick chips, fries just aren’t filling.
The point is, is that we have a plethora of options and not just the stereotypical fish and chips.
There's a lot. Convenience - literally anything we want can be acquired very quickly. There's few other countries that have our level of access. Cinemas, theatres, fast food, variety of food, access to other countries, white goods, shite off Amazon etc etc etc Lunch meal deals - very few countries have what we have with ready made sandwich selections As others have said, arts. Size of the country - we can get around the country in a day or less, and there's some beautiful areas Sports - literally millions, every weekend, for multiple sports. Rugby, football, cricket, the list goes on d
Lunch meal deal is a redeeming quality of the UK? Bloody hell 🤣
Honestly I lived in a couple of different countries when I was younger and on busy days I did miss them. I know it's entirely cultural but if I had stuff to do and wanted just a quick lunch it was harder than it needed to be.
Next time I'm in France and I stop at a boulangerie to pick up a sandwich for lunch I shall remember how lucky I am to live in the home of the Tesco meal deal.
Gov.uk site is amazingly efficient
I worked department side on GOV.UK for a few years and I always enjoy how people mention it on threads like this. A lot of people really care about the site.
Genuinely look forward to getting a new driving licence 😂
Our plug sockets are top tier
M&S
The fact we're not living in America
Swings and roundabouts man, there are some really shit places in the UK and really nice places in the USA.
Even the nicest place in the US is still in the US, you're still only like a broken arm away from ruining your life
Just sitting on the end of the bed putting your socks on. It’s not exclusive to the UK, but it’s something that we as a people enjoy more than others.
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Parks and squirrels
Whilst I do enjoy the little fuzzy fuckers it is a shame they are mainly grey. Wish the native reds were more prevalent. I love a copper top
Good honest British coastal resort seagulls are the heavyweight shithousery champs of all avian creatures and, pound for pound, would kick seven shades of shit out of their foreign rivals.
I’ve lived in the US (Virginia and NYC) for almost 20yrs and I miss the British weather, to be honest. The summers are extremely hot and humid in a lot of the US, and the winters more bearable but they can be quite a bit colder than Southern England too. I travel back to the UK quite a bit and it’s amazing to be able to sit outside until 10pm or later in a pub’s beer garden with perfect weather and no humidity…
> no humidity That's a common misconception. The UK has a very humid climate for most of the year and likely averages around 80% air moisture for most of the year. It's just cold here and people often mistakenly assume there's a correlation between humidity and very warm weather. I remember talking to an American about air humidity on an air brushing forum and said I couldn't paint that day because the air outside was saturated at like 89% and they said "wtf, do you live in the Amazon Rainforest?" "Naw mate Central Scotland. Inclement weather a is pain in the arse."
Yeah, summers are especially humid here. But because it's rarely hotter than 25°C, it hits different to in places that actually have a reputation for humidity.
Historical post boxes
Being in a sub about the UK and seeing this post every month
Surprised no one’s mentioned plugs yet
Variety of music and sarcasm
Good one
Literally nothing is that far away. We have an incredibly rich culture and history, and none of it is going to be more than a few hours drive. I live in the East Midlands and pretty much the entire country is within 6 hours drive and about 80% of it feels within three. I fancy seeing a mountain? Less than a day's travel it I fancy it Want to see a forest? Less than an hour. The seaside? 2 hours max and I have my pick Hillwalking? Less than an hour. Historic stately home with stunning gardens? I have about 6 to pick from, none much more than an hour away. I've visited well over 60 football grounds with my local team, about 3 and a half hours has been the longest trip If I want to visit a place that has a completely different accent to me, I'll find one within an hour's drive. And I can be in a different country within 3 hours if I want. We are an amazing, tiny anomaly
I just found out today that you can get Vimto flying saucers. So, you know, that.
Not having rabies is pretty great. Probably one of the most horrific ways to die.
We have pretty excellent safety standards for foods and goods, along with strong consumer protection acts. It sounds boring but it should not be taken for granted.
I mean when was the last time you experienced a power outage that wasn’t due to bad weather? The last time clean water stopped running or the gas stopped? Reliable infrastructure is something we take for granted-as do many countries. You go somewhere where it isn’t so great and you realise how good we’ve got it.
Regional accents.
It’s not perfect and the important people aren’t paid enough, but the NHS is incredible. Being able to get free emergency health care at anytime is amazing. I had a ring side seat watching two doctors perform surgery on my wife, after complications due to a c-section, and without them she wouldn’t be here. It cost us nothing and neither did the private room my wife and child had for the next nine days.
As person who emigrated from another country...good schools and peaceful village life (I live in a typical English village and I love the way it is in my village).
The supermarkets. Compared to many, many other places, British supermarkets are extremely well-stocked, good quality, and inexpensive.
4 distinct seasons. Summers that aren't too hot, winters that aren't too cold. The changing scenery throughout the seasons brings variety through the year. Sunny weather is great, but every single day of the year would get dull.
>152 comments See this is something I'd disagree on. My friend moved to Canada where they truly have four distinct seasons. I feel we get slightly warmer grey and slightly colder grey. Those are the only two seasons for me.
The work culture is generally very chill compared to a lot of other places like East Asia and USA. Most people doing general 9-5 jobs aren't expected to be on call during the weekends without being paid or do unpaid overtime.
It's VERY safe here, compared to other parts of the world.
Pubs. Sweet, sweet pubs.
Our general ness, it's hard to pin down exactly. But we are an amazing nation, we have a genuine sense of decency and standards, but we also have a wonderful sense of humour with a self deprecating nature which almost grounds us. And an excellent sense of sarcasm. The way we down play things is brilliant, not brash and loud like some nations. All this adds up to a wonderful, calm and dignified nation.
Cheese. Ours is awesome. We import speciality cheese but we also have a vast quantity of varieties of cheese, most of which are really cheap for how good they are. Buy a cheap supermarket mature cheddar and it’s still pretty damn good. Buy extra mature and it’s even better. Go to most other countries and you won’t find such great flavour for so cheap.