Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

interesting comments Norway. I hear that Norway is an expensive country to live in on a daily basis - any comments?

Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

That is part of the problem for me too Norway - England is just too crowded. Whenever I go back for visits, it's always the first thing that 'hits' me: the sheer number of people crammed into one space. It's strange that it's been allowed to happen as study after study has shown that little personal space causes people to feel very unhappy. Battling my way through a busy highstreet in London, Manchester, Birmingham made me feel a tad unhappy.

Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

I get bugged when people refer to England when they are talking about the UK in genral. I have had post from America addressed Wales, England!

Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

That's probably because more people will have heard of England as opposed to Wales. People often confuse the Isle of Man thinking I live on the Isle of Wight - I don't get bugged though (even though Man neither looks nor sounds anything like Wight).

Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

A lot of this topic was refering to England.

Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

that is exactly a point I made earlier - there is no longer a United Kingdom in reality - does Scotland, Wales and Ireland really feel strongly united to England - I doubt it - NO I know it - I traveled around the UK in 2000 and visited Scotland, Wales, and Ireland and asked discretely what they thought of the English parliament these days - most responses are unrepeatable. Let's face it Scotland, Wales and Ireland all have their own strong identities [and the Isle of Man and also Cornwall] that they see England as sort of irritation on their own nationalistic backsides!

Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

To put the other side of the argument - I'm pretty sure there will be a number of English who feel exactly the same about Scotland, Wales and Ireland. I can assure you that on the Isle of Man (given its location), its loyalty is to England. As an English person, I would dearly love to see Scotland, Wales and NI get full independence so I never have to listen to them drone on and on about it ever again; bliss.

Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

Mindbender, you naturally are looking at Norway in relation to the U K. If you do that then yes it is a very Expensive country. For the British Tourist it can be frightening, cup of coffee min £2. Average everyday meal £40 can of Beer , low alcohol £4,
Admission to Tourist attractions, expensive compared to similar in U K, but have to remember that many attractions that you would be asked to pay to see in the U k would be free here.

Now as for living here, Wages are much higher than U K,Tax is around 37% highest. There is no set figure as in the U K, so there is the annual battle with the Tax people, which goes a bit like this. " How much will you earn" " Sorry dont know" " "How many hours will you work" " dont know" " Well you have to know how much you will earn before we can set a tax figure" Stalemate ! so you then agree together on a figure, usually higher than you think you will pay, so come January following year you will find that you have paid too much, this you get paid back in June with interest. Many people pay too much on purpose and the tax rebate pays for their Holiday, believe me this could only happen here
Wages, well I worked as a seasonal worker in a Resturant, washing up, clearing tables, bit of serving, wage £13.50 per hour, which was not much above kids rate. Full Time Teacher will get approx £32,000-35,000 per year, shop worker about £22,000. so that now puts it into perspective.
Shopping, 250grm coffee £1.20 !! many items as in the u k will be on special offer, lately at the Co-op superstore, comfort, and all the cleaning materials such as Bleach etc 10Kr which is around £1 now this here is a great price .
Meat , Beef, average Joint about £20, pork is cheap and bacon also. Petrol, around the same or little above the U K.
Public Transport is wonderful, many long distance buses, example fromwhere i live to Bergen is a 5 hour trip including a ferry crossing,
£20 which is very cheap here. Trains have two prices, A mini price which is available until all seats are sold , so it will still be there on the day you wish to travel, so Bergen to Oslo 8 hours £25, if you use the sleeper train, you have a cabin comfy bed, soap towels , water wash basin, whole trip £100, this applies to any of the night trains whether they be 7hours or 12 hours, same price.
Council tax, much less than u k , mine is £400 per year, two bins emptied weekly, chimney swept yearly , septic tank emptied yearly, verges cut , gullies cleared.
BUT !! I pay tax on my house, on my car and on m y bank balance in December,
Sorry gone on a bit, one last thing, Each January I and everyone else in Norway can view on line how much Tax anyone has paid, so I can see how much my neighbour has paid and visa versa.

Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

That is exactly how we feel when we come to the U K to visit, we actually get frightened now with the amount of people in towns and the noise. We dont see a traffic jam or a traffic Que, sometimes perhaps a short Que at supermarket checkout

Re: How far would your country have to push you before you up and left ? Or would you sta

I agree - I don't feel British (and I certainly don't feel remotely European). I am English and I totally understand the way the Scots, Welsh and Irish feel about their countries and would support them in their bids for independence.