Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Panic Button]

Found this on the BBC news website.

As an Englishman I think its fairly accurate, especially the bits about "identikit retail zones", cool beaches, sh1tty transport and a good music scene.

However, I'm not fat (yet), I don't like alcopops, and I'm not obsessed with TV, sex or celebrity. A lot of English people are all of these things though.

What do other English people and people who've been to England reckon?

BTW happy St. George's Day.......

England 'addicted to sex and TV'

Alcohol, television and sex are national obsessions, says the guide
England is a nation of "overweight, alcopop-swilling, sex-and-celebrity obsessed television addicts", according to a travel guide.
The latest edition of the Rough Guide to England also warns potential visitors that the hearts of many towns "consist of identikit retail zones".

But it praises the nation of "animal loving, tea-drinking charity donors who thrive on irony and Radio 4".

Tourist body Enjoy England has criticised the book as "unhelpful".

In particular, Enjoy England, whose role is to attract visitors, attacked the book for saying that talking to strangers, especially in London, "can be seen as tantamount to physical assault".


The organisation's Elliott Frisby told the Daily Telegraph that any book making such a suggestion was both "unhelpful and inaccurate".

"Visitors who come here frequently comment on how, rather than stand-offish, the English are extremely helpful and welcoming," he said.

'Poor transport'

The Rough Guide also warns foreign tourists about England's "over-priced, under-funded public transport services".

Mr Frisby told the Telegraph he accepted poor public transport was an issue, but it had not stopped London from winning the 2012 Olympic Games.

There is also plenty of praise from the Rough Guide's authors, who say England is a place "where individuality and creativity flourish, fuelling a thriving pop culture and producing one of the most dynamic fashion, music and arts scenes to be found anywhere".

It tells tourists that the country's most exciting social and architectural developments are in thriving cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle.

It also praises the natural beauty of England's beaches and says they could compare with those in the Mediterranean and Caribbean.

The guide's top three English beaches are Par Beach, at St Martin's on the Isles of Scilly, and Porthcurno and Polzeath, which are both in Cornwall.

It includes a list of 35 "things not to miss" in England, which include castles, tea and Bonfire Night.

[keithinkorea]

Well a lot of it seems pretty true:

England has loads of fat ugly people(Americans might have us beaten on that though).
Some stunning beaches, especially in Cornwall and Devon.
Public transport is bloody atrocious and ridiculously overpriced.
The beer is arguably the best in the world.
We have Chavs.
Britain produces some of the most innovative and fresh art, music, literature and fashion in the world.
We have adult chavs.
Addicted to TV, fat idiots are but whether I'm in the UK or Korea I rarely watch TV. I'd rather read a book or surf the internet.
Britain has some of the most beautiful scenery in any country I've been too. Where my parent live is stunningly beautiful-even though it is a bit boring.


All in all, I think it is pretty fair.

[Muffin]

Yes, it sounds familiar. Unfortunately there is a very visible and unattractive underclass in the UK and their behaviour disgusts everyone, especially foreign visitors. Unfortunately the more civilised folk are well, discreetly being civilised, and therefore go unnoticed!

The transport system is pretty disgraceful, although better deals are becoming available with online booking.

England tends to be expensive and this deters visitors too. The weather is famously unreliable.

However, there are plenty of great things such as the English sense of humour and creativity, English pubs, and English countryside and coastline. My home in England is just minutes away from a stunning sandy beach which I will really miss this summer.

I know and meet a lot of foreign people in England and plenty love it, and while some moan about the weather, the teenagers and the prices, most of them miss it when they go home.

[LL Moonmanhead]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

Hopefully the book was intended a little humorously. Really expensive, yes, but I found the transit system helpful and easy to use. People minded their own business but if I was lost people helped me.

I encountered the unfriendliest people at, no surprise, places like Cambridge university-- and the dorm where I lived. The nicest people there were the cafeteria workers. I'll take working class.

I didn't like the beer. I developed a taste for Guinness there because it was often the only thing I could drink.

>We have Chavs

What's a chav?

Ken:>

[Natalia]

Old thread, I know.

The beach comment is a bit optimistic. Nice, yes, comparable to other places, absolutely not.

But the rest is pretty accurate (coming from an Australian who has spent a chunk of my life in England, with many trips back to visit).

Mind you, for all of the moaning about the public transport, I find Seoul's more annoying (but of course a lot cheaper) than London's. In Seoul you have to change trains have a gazillion times to get anywhere, backtrack a lot, and spend ages waiting around in stations. I love the Tube - except when there's a strike and you realise how dependent on it you have become.

And the good old class system. I know I have been treated appallingly by the 'civilised' upper class, and made great friends with people from the working classes. On the other hand, I have seen disgusting behaviour from the working class and met lovely people who have money. Class division is still such an issue in England, and I don't think people who have always lived in England, nor people who have never lived in England, can see just how strong it still is.

[Juregen]

[keithinkorea]

[bucheon bum]

[bigverne]

Seoul's subway is more modern, cleaner, more punctual, cheaper and far, far superior to the Tube, with its horrible lack of air-conditioning.

[Neil]