Comments on: One Halloween, Two Cultures

by: Josh

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 11:01:32 +0000

Nick, those were great days in Hackney werent they? Do you remember the evening when the classic VW Beetle was dumped in the courtyard? By the time we got back from the supermarket it had been stripped. Even the paint job had been stolen.

Beau and Simon, I’m sorry England is a violent place if you want proof I swear I WILL fight you!

Paul you’re right about the food in England. If you want good food it’s easily obtainable.

In fact when I’m not out fighting I’m in cooking. Something that Nick can vouch for.

By the way Halloween is for goths and children. As a form of institutionalised begging I disaprove.

by: Beau

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 08:55:42 +0000

Paul if memory serves your mother in law is Scottish. we all know perfectly well that the Scottish always find things expensive. Simon I was saying the UK is pricey with bad food and often poor weather but not in comparison to NYC, just simply in it’s own right. It would take a better man than me to understand why you chaps living in new york no doubt with windows shot out and molotov cocktails cascading of your walls keep harping on about violence in the UK.

Good weekend all, I will be at twickenham watching england play new zealand, that is the only violence will see in the near future

by: Simon

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:31:29 +0000

Beau, I must be both incoherent and un-bona fide because violence is absolutely my number one reason for not wanting to return to the UK. There may be less violence than I imagine, but that doesn’t stop my fear of it. Your bona-fide reasons wouldn’t stop me for a second, prices here are as high as where I come from in England, I hate the weather here (too hot or too cold) and I think I should be paying more tax and getting some proper services.

by: pdberger

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:44:54 +0000

There is no coherent reason for not living in the UK. In fact, I would argue that most, if not all, people who leave the UK do so because of pull factors (work/relationship) rather than push factors.

My point about hooliganism is that it is one of the few things, including the weather, that I do not miss about the UK.

I don’t agree about the food. I think the food in the UK is pretty good nowadays.

And as for high prices: I think you will find many people complaining about the same in New York as they do in London.

My mother-in-law, who is a devoted bargain hunter, said she thought grocery prices in NY were on a par with the UK–and she was converting the prices into pounds sterling.

by: Beau

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:37:06 +0000

“”Measured against German, French and Italian youngsters, British 15-year-olds are drunk more often and involved in more fights, and a higher proportion have had sex.

In England, 45% of 15-year-old boys spend most evenings out with their friends, and in Scotland the figure is 59%. On the other hand, European teenagers tend to sit down for meals with their parents far more often.”"

what’s your point? Once again this is delinquents and once again I repeat that at least these kids are not shooting each other over their trainers, or blowing each other away in the class room.

Violence across the board simply is not a coherent reason for not living in the UK. weather yes, high prices yes, even food to a lesser extent but not violence.

by: pdberger

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:20:25 +0000

Today on the BBC: UK youths ‘among worst in Europe’

by: Beau

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 16:56:38 +0000

Bottom line England is not a violent place. Foreigners do not see it as such either as millions choose to holiday here with their children when they could go elsewhere and spend far less money. I reckon there are perhaps 3 bona fide reasons for leaving the UK and these would be: quality of food, cost of living/tax reasons and the weather.

by: Simon

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 16:22:52 +0000

That is part if it I guess Beau, but it doesn’t explain why foreigners think England is such a violent place. Neither does it explain why the statistics prove it.

by: Beau

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 08:23:38 +0000

EX pats are a strange breed, i’ve met them in thousands of Irish bars around the world and they all sing the same tune. Eventually I realised it was mostly to convince themselves rather than the audience. But then if you’ve upped sticks and left your friends and family behind, I suppose you neeed to believe in what you are doing.

by: Nick

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 00:52:57 +0000

True enough, Simon. Friday-night-closing-time meatheads are something you don’t get to enjoy in this country. It’s been a while since I was asked what I was looking at by a random stranger (my trips to the West Village not included).