what's it like to live in scotland?

[mrsflibble]

just a thought. scots ishers please give me any of your thoughts!!!

[Shirley]

Well... it's a big place and it would depend on where you wanted to live - town, city, village, rural etc. What do you have in mind?

[Annpan]

As Shirlz says, it is a really diverse country.

Glasgow is the 3rd biggest city in Britain but there are areas in the highlands where you could live 50 miles away from anyone else. The weather in the East is dry and cold, the west is wet and warm (palm trees grow on the west coast)

Being a Scot, and that I have never lived anywhere else, I couldn't leave.... well maybe to NZ or Canada, but only cause they are like Scotland.

[citizentwiglet]

It's cold, it's wet and they all talk funny...
And they have midgies and funny money, and drink lots of Irn Bru.

Nah, I love it here. Amazing place, smashing people (on the whole).

[mrsflibble]

erm. we'd need to be near a railway maintenance base (under an hour commute).
I was more thinking of things like what's the health care like? schools? education system on the whole? public transport from outside major cities into them?

[Annpan]

I think the big central belt railway place, thingy, wotsit (my goodness all that talking to a toddler really is improving my vocabulary ) is at Yoker, which is just outside Glasgow and fine, I mean, not the best place in the world, but far from the worst.

Public transport around Glasgow is better than Edinburgh Both have huge bus networks. Glasgow also has low level train (like a miniature version of the tube) and the subway (a circular inner-city underground)

Compared with where you live now... well...
I live in the country, in a farming community, no buses within 2 miles, no shops within 2 miles, 30mins from Glasgow City centre by car... if we lived the same distance from London, we wouldn't even be outside the M25, and it would be continuous urban sprawl.

Greater London has a population of about 8 million, Scotland has a population of about 7 million.

Schools are good, never seems as though the kids get tested as much as they do in England. NHS is alright, Scotland tends to have better access to newer stuff (medicines and procedures)

Visitors to Scotland always think it is amazing that you can get on a train in Glasgow city centre and 45 mins later be at Loch Lomond side, or on a ferry to Arran. (similar with Edinburgh, but I am a Glaswegian)

Scotland has it's own parliament remember and things have always been done 'differently' up here, there are different laws, different initiatives (school meals are going to be free for all kids, prescriptions are cheaper)

But those damned midgies

[Silver Ether]

I think the big central belt railway place, thingy, wotsit (my goodness all that talking to a toddler really is improving my vocabulary ) is at Yoker, which is just outside Glasgow and fine, I mean, not the best place in the world, but far from the worst.

Public transport around Glasgow is better than Edinburgh Both have huge bus networks. Glasgow also has low level train (like a miniature version of the tube) and the subway (a circular inner-city underground)

Compared with where you live now... well...
I live in the country, in a farming community, no buses within 2 miles, no shops within 2 miles, 30mins from Glasgow City centre by car... if we lived the same distance from London, we wouldn't even be outside the M25, and it would be continuous urban sprawl.

Greater London has a population of about 8 million, Scotland has a population of about 7 million.

Schools are good, never seems as though the kids get tested as much as they do in England. NHS is alright, Scotland tends to have better access to newer stuff (medicines and procedures)

Visitors to Scotland always think it is amazing that you can get on a train in Glasgow city centre and 45 mins later be at Loch Lomond side, or on a ferry to Arran. (similar with Edinburgh, but I am a Glaswegian)

Scotland has it's own parliament remember and things have always been done 'differently' up here, there are different laws, different initiatives (school meals are going to be free for all kids, prescriptions are cheaper)

But those damned midgies

sighs spent a bit of my life there .. maybe I will be lucky in my next life to be there full stop.
SE wanders through the hills, follows a burn to a gushing fall, lies in the heather, goes to sleep watching the stars to be woken by the rain and the day is set for dreek ... but I would still be happy.

[John Headstrong]

it is quite nice up here really (and I have a London accent)

houses are better value up here, I live half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh, trains are OK but they are planning on improving the service, they are building train lines up here, the bathgate line is being extended. schools/health are fine around here. West Lothian is a explanding area.

Scotland IS a different country, we have our own parliament , laws and culture

buy this place, it gets rid of the twat that lives there and you get a wonderful neighbour
http://www.remax-scotland.com/PublicLis ... 3307229627

[citizentwiglet]

They don't do the SATs testing for the kids up here, MrsF. Children start nursery at 3 (unless they are in a private nursery, then they can start younger of course; but at the age of 3 they are eligible for their 2.5 hours nursery education per day). They start 'infant' school at 5, rather than 4....I think their 'reception class' is their 2nd year of nursery, IYSWIM (but don't quote me on that). As they go through school, they do Standard Grades and Higher Grades instead of GCSEs and A Levels.

I think one of the worse things - in my area, anyway (I am sort of sandwiched between Annpan and Glasgow), is some of the rampant sectarianism you can come across...there are children on my estate who can't play with other kids because they are the 'wrong' religion or go to the wrong school and sadly that is something that seems to stay with many people as they grow up. Although, in fairness, it does seem to be improving - in my area, anyway....nursery classes are ecumenical in South Lanarkshire (not sure about elsewhere), which means they cannot teach religion at that age, or discriminate on religious grounds. So Ellis can attend the nursery class in the local Catholic primary (which is right at the end of my street) and then start his 'proper' primary education in the non-denominational primary school in the village when he is five, alongside around 35% of his peers (so their headmistress tells me), the remaining 65% will continue in the Catholic primary. (The non-denominational nursery is quite a distance away from us, the local non-denom don't have a nursery class).

Some of the complete nonsense you hear from a small (albeit loud) section of society does make me wince sometimes - would you believe that I know Catholic families that refuse point blank to dress their children in blue, and Protestants that actually pull the green leaves off their french marigolds?!!! Unbelievable, isn't it?! OH and I were actually given a load of abuse one day whilst out on our bikes...why? Because he was wearing a royal blue t-shirt and rode a green bike, I was wearing a green t-shirt and - shock horror - have a blue bike! We were told to 'get our f%cking priorities right'!!!! We were never sure whether they were referring to our clothing, our choice of bicycle colour or whether they thought we were in a 'mixed relationship'....must admit, we didn't hang around for any clarification!

[Milims]

it is quite nice up here really (and I have a London accent)

houses are better value up here, I live half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh, trains are OK but they are planning on improving the service, they are building train lines up here, the bathgate line is being extended. schools/health are fine around here. West Lothian is a explanding area.

Scotland IS a different country, we have our own parliament , laws and culture

buy this place, it gets rid of the twat that lives there and you get a wonderful neighbour
http://www.remax-scotland.com/PublicLis ... 3307229627

Lol I clicked on the link all excited and thought - eugh! He must have bought the show house! It looks exactly like EVERY OTHER house that was on the numerous building sites that I worked on! Clearly the man is a sheep! lol!

We've been thinking about moving and Scotland is on of the places we've considered. It's less than 30 miles up the road from us but it might as well be a differt world, and from what you've all said a much better world than this one!

[John Headstrong]

Lol I clicked on the link all excited and thought - eugh! He must have bought the show house! It looks exactly like EVERY OTHER house that was on the numerous building sites that I worked on! Clearly the man is a sheep! lol!

yep, the house was nice before they moved in, they spent thousands on the kitchen, trashed what was a nice garden, built a dog pen for his pack of attack dogs, there are loads of new builds around here. I love my cottage(s) and it will be even better when they move away.

[ina]

Not a lot of Scots left in Scotland, though... Often we think ourselves lucky if there is a token one amongst us! Maybe they are all in England, running the country?

[possum]

Being a Scot, and that I have never lived anywhere else, I couldn't leave.... well maybe to NZ or Canada, but only cause they are like Scotland.

Settlement lesson for Scots in NZ
Lesson 1 Identification of strange phenomenon
Look up in the sky during daylight hours - notice the strange blueness there, the big yellow thing up there is called the sun, do not be afraid, it will stay up there.
Lesson 2 cultural differences
BBQs take place on sunny days
Lesson 3 Clothing
Thermal underwear is not obligatory in summer
Look up the word sandal in the dictionary, it may come in useful
Lesson 4 Gardening
This is possible outside of a greenhouse
Lesson 5 Food
Haggis is only available in the far south, but then it is likely to come with its own country music singer instead of bagpipes

If unable to adjust, then pick Stewart Island, probably the least shock to the system.

[ina]

Actually - I got a bit sunburnt this week... We do, occasionally, get to see the sun. And it seems to be a lot stronger here when we do; you can get burnt at temperatures below 20 degree C...

[possum]

Actually - I got a bit sunburnt this week... We do, occasionally, get to see the sun. And it seems to be a lot stronger here when we do; you can get burnt at temperatures below 20 degree C...

One of the first things you learn here is to be very wary of the sun, the lowest factor sunscreen you can get is factor 30, burn times can be as little as 10 mins. We live out in the middle of nowhere and OH decided to lie on an inflatable in the pool naked. Put it this way something that doesn't often see sunshine, getting its first outing in NZ sun......