20 ridiculous complaints

[JBODEN]

Originally Posted by mrypg9

The most ridiculous expat complaint is : 'Far too many foreigners in the UK, that's why I left and came to Spain'.

JBoden: I lived in Krakow for a while, beautiful city. Do you know Skawina?

Unfortunately no. My brother-in-law had a house not far away, in Myslenice.
The whole of that area is very pretty with undulating hills and views of the Carpathian mountains in the distance.
Krakow is a beautifull City with a great night life. The only thing that spoiled it for me was the recent influx of lager-louts from UK. Prague & Bratislava didn't escape either.

[JBODEN]

[The most ridiculous expat complaint is : 'Far too many foreigners in the UK, that's why I left and came to Spain'.]

Actually not as ridiculous as it sounds when one considers that in metropolitan areas the so-called minority ethnic groups are in actual fact in the majority.

[Tallulah]

Thanks for those links XabiaChica. Made me smile on what has otherwise been a thoroughly depressing day!!

xxx

[mrypg9]

Originally Posted by JBODEN

Unfortunately no. My brother-in-law had a house not far away, in Myslenice.
The whole of that area is very pretty with undulating hills and views of the Carpathian mountains in the distance.
Krakow is a beautifull City with a great night life. The only thing that spoiled it for me was the recent influx of lager-louts from UK. Prague & Bratislava didn't escape either.

Yes, that's one of the reasons I left Prague. Skawina isn't very pretty, it has far too many ugly 80s tower blocks. I remember Myslenice, stopped there once for a coffee.
When I was in Krakow I lived first in an apartment in Ulica Dluga, off the Rynek, then moved to a more modern apartment block reserved for Jagellion University staff.
I also spent a month living with a family in the mountains, can't remember the name of the nearby village. That was a memorable experience. Water from the well, occasional electricity, home-made bread, butter, cheese,freshly slaughtered meat....
Next time I visit friends in Prague I think I'll take the train down to Krakow.

[mrypg9]

Originally Posted by JBODEN

[The most ridiculous expat complaint is : 'Far too many foreigners in the UK, that's why I left and came to Spain'.]

Actually not as ridiculous as it sounds when one considers that in metropolitan areas the so-called minority ethnic groups are in actual fact in the majority.

That wouldn't bother me in the slightest. I'd rather live next door to educated, well-behaved 'ethnic minority groups' than English chavs.
Seems to me it's the appallingly behaved indigenous who cause the most problems, here and back home.
Are there really any metropolitan areas where these 'ethnic minorities' are the majority? I know there are Asian ghettos in parts of our northern cities but these groups surely don't constitute a majority.
I do know of towns in rural areas where an ethnic minority has increased the population by over 15% but the minority in question is Polish.
Now, take Alicante: that's an area where an ethnic minority is now in the majority; I read that the population is now made up of over 50% Brits and Irish.

[JBODEN]

Originally Posted by mrypg9

That wouldn't bother me in the slightest. I'd rather live next door to educated, well-behaved 'ethnic minority groups' than English chavs.
Seems to me it's the appallingly behaved indigenous who cause the most problems, here and back home.
Are there really any metropolitan areas where these 'ethnic minorities' are the majority? I know there are Asian ghettos in parts of our northern cities but these groups surely don't constitute a majority.
I do know of towns in rural areas where an ethnic minority has increased the population by over 15% but the minority in question is Polish.
Now, take Alicante: that's an area where an ethnic minority is now in the majority; I read that the population is now made up of over 50% Brits and Irish.

"30.6 per cent of London's population is from an ethnic minority (defined as non-white) and 42 per cent belong to groups other than white British" (Wikipedia). Just type 'ethnic population in ...(town name)... into google.

It would seem that the Poles are going home because, with the current exchange rate, they are actually worse off in PLN terms (that and the fact that they, too, are being laid-off). They have suffered financially in the same way as UK expats have suffered with the GBP/EU xrate crash.

[mrypg9]

Originally Posted by JBODEN

"30.6 per cent of London's population is from an ethnic minority (defined as non-white) and 42 per cent belong to groups other than white British" (Wikipedia). Just type 'ethnic population in ...(town name)... into google.

It would seem that the Poles are going home because, with the current exchange rate, they are actually worse off in PLN terms (that and the fact that they, too, are being laid-off). They have suffered financially in the same way as UK expats have suffered with the GBP/EU xrate crash.

That can't be right, surely?? 72.6% London's population non-British? I suspect that people who leave the UK to become an ethnic minority in Spain or wherever to escape ethnic minorities in the UK are de facto racists. What do they think gives them the right to settle in someone else's country when they object to foreigners settling in the UK? Very odd thinking -or lack of -there
Yes, Poles, Latvians, Portuguese et al are all returning. I rented properties I owned in the UK to Polish and Portuguese workers (profiting from ethnic minorities) and they all went back. The £/euro rate is truly dreadful. I posted elsewhere that it has today cost me £600 more to buy euros to pay my next quarter's rent than it did at the end of May and I got the best possible exchange rate via my daughter-in-law who works in the City.
I was trying to think of the name of a small village I spent time in near Zakopane -Makow Pod Halinskie or something like that. I'd love to go back to those places now as I was last there in the 70s when I was a student. I've been to Krakow more recently, though.

[Pesky Wesky]

Originally Posted by mrypg9

That can't be right, surely?? 72.6% London's population non-British? I .

Have you been to London lately????????!!!!!!

[Caz.I]

Originally Posted by mrypg9

That can't be right, surely?? 72.6% London's population non-British? I suspect that people who leave the UK to become an ethnic minority in Spain or wherever to escape ethnic minorities in the UK are de facto racists. What do they think gives them the right to settle in someone else's country when they object to foreigners settling in the UK? Very odd thinking -or lack of -there

No it isnt right. The figures quoted of 30.6% of ethnic minorities in London are included within the 42% of the population who are not white British (ie. could be Australian,New Zealanders, American, Canadian, Russian, Spanish etc.) If the statistics had been explained correctly, you would see that it is not the case that the majority of Londoners are from ethnic minorities. If you look further down the page from where the statistics were taken, you will see that 69.4% of London's population is white - ie. the majority. This is the trouble with statistics, isnt it? They can be taken out of context and people can manipulate them to suit their own agenda.

There are some parts of London, where there definitely is a high percentage of ethnic minorities, as some ethnic groups have settled in the same area, but they are not the majority in London as a whole (and London has the greatest number of ethnic minorities in the UK).

I lived in London for 20 years, mainly in Brent in north west London, in an area which had the highest diversity of ethnic minorities. I didnt have a problem with this. For me, it was a lot more interesting than where I grew up, where the only diversity was being Protestant or Catholic (and, unbelievably in those days, a lot of people thought that was a big issue!)

So when I hear British expats going on about too many foreigners in the UK, it is funny to me too because they are totally unaware of the irony of now being a foreigner in Spain!
(BTW, I was back in London recently (3 weeks ago) for first time in 4 years and didnt see any dramatic changes there!)

Caz. I

[JBODEN]

[I was trying to think of the name of a small village I spent time in near Zakopane -Makow Pod Halinskie or something like that. I'd love to go back to those places now as I was last there in the 70s when I was a student. I've been to Krakow more recently, though.[/QUOTE]

Here's a link
Oficjalna strona miasta i gminy Maków Podhala?ski