Things I like about England

I've been promising myself lately that I would write down all the things I like about England, to balance out all the times I whinge about it (ummm, that would be quite a lot so I'm not sure that *balance* is exactly the right word...). Cause let's face it, here basic things are extortionately expensive, housing is tiny and poor quality, trains are appallingly overcrowded and inefficient, the economy is a complete mess, Network Rail, banking, pensions, land title, planning permissions, train ticketing systems are all convoluted and ineffective, nobody can make a decision, then there's the absolutely ridiculous obsession with celebrity, the complete lack of any safety awareness, the never-ending people, traffic, pork products and of course ... ok, you get the idea!

So here goes....

The beer
Real English ale, or bitter to the locals is hand-pulled from casks. It's a "live" beer which I think means that it's still fermenting, and so it's nothing like the John Smith or Newcastle Brown that you might find on tap in an "english pub" in oz. I seriously considered joining CAMRA at one stage - the Campaign for Real Ale. Yummmm

Boots
Boots is, believe it or not, a pharmacy chain that sells sandwiches. They have an absolute fantastic loyalty card that means you get really good deals on their products and buy 5 meal deals a month, get the 6th free. So every day I get my duck with hosein sauce wrap, Innocent fruit smoothie and peppermint nougat bar, all with the best energy/health labelling I've seen in recycled packaging. Perfect!

Parsnip crisps
They sell these at Boots too. Did you know that parsnips are native to Britain? No? I didn't either.

To be fair, England boasts a fabulously imaginative and tasty range of crisps (note - not chips - not only is crisp the correct word but I wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea about the chips here). But I'm not going to put crisps in general on the list because the whole idea of having a packet of crisps with your lunch .. every .. single .. day .. is just WRONG!!!

London
I need to caveat this one with the fact I've only ever visited, never lived there. But I love the place. More nationalities than in the UN building in Genève, so I feel right at home as just another foreigner. Always buzzing with atmosphere, but totally different atmospheres in different parts. And fabulous parks, particularly James Park. Not to mention the history and that whole monopoly board/Georgette Heyer novel feel :) Last time I stayed on Drury Lane, home of those wicked actresses who would kick their heels up on stage. Coooooollll

My friends
No explanation necessary.

Waterstones
My other favourite chain store, and this is going to be a surprise I know, is a book store. And what a book store. I can spend hours there. Add that it's not very expensive and you've got my store of occasional treats.

The scenery
It is undeniably pretty in quite a lot of this country, not least around my little Mossley.

The cold
Ok, there's no denying that generally British weather is absolutely crap. I'm told by some that we've had two particularly bad summers since I've been here (never above 20 degC, always grey and raining) but when I looked it up it turned out that we were right on average. But I do like the middle of winter. It's invigorating to be out in the freezing cold fresh air, and nice to dress up all snug and warm in gloves and scarf and beanie. When it's also nice and dry and clear, it's just like being on a ski holiday (a modern, post-global warming one that is that doesn't include actual snow).

The BBC website
I specifically mention the website only because a) my brief contacts with BBC television and radio have been utterly uninspiring and b) that has meant I still don't have a TV to judge more closely. But the news website is one of the best in the world, if not the best. Well laid out, informative, relatively unbiased, interesting, up to date, varied... you get the idea.

Rambling
Lovely walks through the English countryside, over stiles, past the sheep, around the Roman ruins.... tuck into a nice cosy little old pub with the fire blazing for a pint of real english ale...

Tracker mortgages
The one part of the financial system I've found that I think Australia really needs - tracker mortgages are where you sign up to an interest rate guaranteed to be a certain percentage above the Bank of England rate, in my case a tiny 0.35%. So I'm a big winner from the recent crisis, at least in that respect. Of course there's no way you'd get one now.

Accents
I still can't get over the sheer variety of accents in this country! It's amazing that they persist. Although does that mean that no-one travels? Not at all, at least when I look around my colleagues -they've mostly come from other places from all over the UK.

Shallow connection charging (transmission system only)
A part of my work - sort of complicated to explain, but seems efficient. Not as good as Italy ironically, but hey, this is probably just a comparison to Australia as the only other place I've ever lived and worked.

France for 2p in 2 hours
That is, 2p plus taxes, baggage fee, credit card fee, check-in fee. 2 hours on a plane plus 2 hours getting to the airport, an hour and half at the airport, waiting for the delayed flight....

Still. This is of course the best thing of all for me about England right now.