First Time Wife/gf Went To The Uk

[Jockstar]

Me and the missus are going to the UK in April. Though i cant foresee any problems. But just curious how other people have dealt with this.(ie. wife/gf new country) My missus speaks English. But when we go to Scotland i will be a translator sometimes. What was her first impressions? Was it what she thought it would be? Was she blown away with certain things?ie drugs(so available anywhere), the price of beer, food. Thai food? Anything else. Comments please!

[GuestHouse]

My wife loved the UK and when we discuss the possibility of me being assigned back there for a spell she immediately starts planning trips to the lake district, days out in the countryside and all the other things she enjoyed while there.

[GU22]

The temperature. Bright sunny day in winter; "Why it so cold? The sun is shining!" She arrived for the first time in February. My brother was picking us up and when we got outside the terminal into the car park a look of shock appeared on her face as she exclaimed "Why smoke come out my mouth!?"

Light evenings in the summer, dark afternoons in the winter.

How expensive everything is compared to Thailand. Tell her "Don't think baht; think pound."

[Donz]

My brother was picking us up and when we got outside the terminal into the car park a look of shock appeared on her face as she exclaimed "Why smoke come out my mouth!?"

Thats fukcing halarious, i would be in tears laughing so much if my gf said something like that

Did your brother laugh too??

Edited February 19, 2006 by Donz

[snoophound]

Priceless

MY problem was taking my lady to NZ..she was a bit of a bangkok party gal if you get my drift.

She couldnt handle the fact she could not go out and eat at 2 am in the morning.

Why no shop open?

Me hungy

Why only one thai shop and far away?.

Dont underestimate the importance of food in a thai ladies life.

The temperature. Bright sunny day in winter; "Why it so cold? The sun is shining!" She arrived for the first time in February. My brother was picking us up and when we got outside the terminal into the car park a look of shock appeared on her face as she exclaimed "Why smoke come out my mouth!?"

Light evenings in the summer, dark afternoons in the winter.

How expensive everything is compared to Thailand. Tell her "Don't think baht; think pound."

[edd]

When we arrived in England it was January, my wife looked shocked and said `what happened?

why are all the trees dead?

Why so cold?

Why houses so ugly?,look like box.

Why people look so angry?

Why every thing expensive?

Why food have no taste?

Why?

Why?

Why?

This went on for weeks.

Now after 17+ years, and a UK citizen, she loves the UK and would happily stay here.

I am the one that can not wait to make the permanent move to Thailand.

Edd

[Jockstar]

Any more comments? The ones so far have made me laugh

[Donz]

Any more comments? The ones so far have made me laugh

is there anymore classics thats come out of your gf's mouth??

and did your brother laugh at the smoke comment??

[BKK90210]

at 78 degree in July...it's still cold!!!!

Can't sleep, it's too cold!....Crank up that heater!....boy oh boy and in the bedroom too!

[Rinrada]

On first visit to the UK I laughingly asked her what she had in her 2 suitcases and suggested ..again laughingly they were so heavy that it was a couple of bags of rice ................o dear dear....20 Kg Thai frag.....

[Jeff1]

Mine hates the static shock that you get from dry air , carpeting , clothes , anything really . She woukd spray with staticguard the car seats to the point I couldn't get in because of the smell . Then she thought that some shirts of mine were the problem , she promptly threw them out .

One day she touched a mango at the market , SHOCK ! Did the shock dance right there

Now whenever she touches something she does it with her hand in her sleave .

[SamuiRes]

We were lucky and had good weather so no complaints about the temperature.

Could not understand why it was still light at 10pm.

Major problem was lack of Papaya Salad - she was practically drooling at the lips as we landed back in Bangkok in anticipation of the first one!

[Jockstar]

Mine hates the static shock that you get from dry air , carpeting , clothes , anything really . She woukd spray with staticguard the car seats to the point I couldn't get in because of the smell . Then she thought that some shirts of mine were the problem , she promptly threw them out .

One day she touched a mango at the market , SHOCK ! Did the shock dance right there

Now whenever she touches something she does it with her hand in her sleave .

55555555555555

We were lucky and had good weather so no complaints about the temperature.

Could not understand why it was still light at 10pm.

Major problem was lack of Papaya Salad - she was practically drooling at the lips as we landed back in Bangkok in anticipation of the first one!

I'd probably be the same since i love somtam. In fact i have just sent the missus out to buy some. Also sticky rice and larb. Love it. I think i'll be the one missing Thai food.

Edited February 20, 2006 by Jockstar

[opothai]

most has been said but get her some socks for bed time, cold hands and cold cold feet,

when we landed we were in heathrow and she did honestly ask are we in england???

i'm sure she'll love it in bonnie scotland

best of luck

Edited February 20, 2006 by opothai

[skylar]

MY problem was taking my lady to NZ..she was a bit of a bangkok party gal if you get my drift.

She couldnt handle the fact she could not go out and eat at 2 am in the morning.

Why no shop open?

Me hungy

Why only one thai shop and far away?.

Dont underestimate the importance of food in a thai ladies life.

Hey, I'm not Thai and I complain about Sydney's restaurants shutting at 9pm. When I go out I'd love a decent restaurant wherever I am to be open in the wee hours... and most young Thai people would say the same

[Jockstar]

most has been said but get her some socks for bed time, cold hands and cold cold feet,

when we landed we were in heathrow and she did honestly ask are we in england???

i'm sure she'll love it in bonnie scotland

best of luck

They get better. When i started this thread i had no idea i was gonna get so many funny replies. The things we take for granted. Keep them coming.

[Spit the Dog]

The first week or so was a culture shock for my girlfriend when she visited to Scotland. The combination of the cold(this was April ) and the fact that rain blows in sideways to her wasn't very pleasant.

Another thing that she had difficulty with was understanding people. It wasn't so much the Scottish accent, as she is familiar with it. It was that nobody would take the time to speak pigeon English with her like you would do in Thailand.

Some of the guys have already commented on the things that your missus will find strange. The smoke coming out of the mouth and the sun not setting until 9pm.

[GU22]

Major problem was lack of Papaya Salad - she was practically drooling at the lips as we landed back in Bangkok in anticipation of the first one!

Most Thai or oriental shops in the UK do sell green papaya, but as they have to be flown in my wife reckons that at around £4 each they're too expensive. She and her friends find raw carrot or turnip to be acceptable substitutes. She also reckons raw cooking apple to be almost as good as green mangoes.

Talking of mangoes, she hates the American kind most places sell here. Our local Asian supermarket often has ripe honey mangoes imported from Pakistan, though.

[NordicMan]

I must say that after 4 years in London, my wife strongly dislikes it. At least once a week I'm told that I need to find a job in a new country. Well, she was here 3 years before she met me, then left UK hoping never to come back, and then she ended up getting married to me and dragged back here again. Bad luck for her.

The winter puts a serious damper on her mood. She just last week discovered that the undersuit for my scuba diving drysuit is perfect for wearing at home every day (thinsulate and fleece, I would sweat to death if I wore it indoors). her mood is a lot better in summertime.

We live in central London so there are a few oriental grocery stores in Chinatown, there are restaurants open pretty much all night, and there is a Thai karaoke pub 500m from our flat that is open all night (unlicensed of course, Bangkok style). We go to the oriental grocery stores twice a week and she make som tam almost every day. She's a bit of a party girl also, loves to dress up and go out. Lots of places to go, but the nices ones all are quite costly so we can't go out as frequently as when we lived in Bangkok.

Oh, and she speaks good English and works full-time as well. I guess having things to do is important.

I'm not English either and live here mostly for the work opportunities. When something good comes up in a warm/tropical country - SG, HK, TH, indonesia, middle east etc, we're both out of here.

-nm

[Prakanong2005]

""Why smoke come out my mouth!?""

Brilliant - made me laugh out loud.

I read another one on another board. Guy came out of the airport and it was blowing a gale and there was a hailstorm

His wife said, "I can not believe it rain nam keng"

[bkkmadness]

On first visit to the UK I laughingly asked her what she had in her 2 suitcases and suggested ..again laughingly they were so heavy that it was a couple of bags of rice ................o dear dear....20 Kg Thai frag.....

Classic!

[TAWP]

If the sun not settling until late bothers the gals, just wait until they discover it never go up in the morning and are already set when they leave school/work...sure to depress them out of their mind.

Mine managed to bring along 20 kilo OVERWEIGHT on the airplane and sent an extra 20 kilo of stuff as a package, totalling to a mere 60 kilo of cloths and shoes. (One full suitcase of thin cocktail and dance-shoes.)

She never got to use any of them, so she wasn't happy about that. ^^

(And best part is that we left them behind when we moved here. No woman ever needs 50+ pairs of shoes!)

But Jockstar, you will most likely hear some (or alot) of complaints in the beginning. They are not shy at telling you abut weverything they miss...but if you move back here they aren't shy at telling you about all the great things you had and they now miss...go figure.

I have no funny anecdotes on my mind now, but the first time they try to bicycle to school/work in 1 meter of snow is fun to see...

[phuketsiam]

As we drove in the city, my (now) wife saw rows of terrace houses on a hill, she asked me if they were houses and did people live there, - yes I replied, to which she asked : "so are they mountain people then?"

these bangkok girls eh ?

[Rj 81]

Great thread. A good insight for people who are planning to visit / settle in the UK in the future.

[Ricardo]

Finding that every road is made-up, with even trip-free pavements on both sides, was really strange - a picture of what Thailand might be, in 100 years time. We tend to forget just how long we've been investing in these things - to get to where we are now.

Having to drive 2 hours to the nearest shop that stocks anything from Thailand - 15 years ago - which THANK GOD has changed , since then. Paying 75 Baht for 1 kg of fragrant rice.

I'd recommend contacting other local-living Thais, so they can get together & speak Thai & eat Thai food, and discuss how strange farang husbands are ! It helps , especially during the first few months, when culture-shock is at its worst. Also get Thai satellite TV, if you can. And cheap phone-cards, for long calls home, will save you a fortune.

Edit-add And be prepared for long thermal-underwear, which can still look quite sexy, on the right person !

Edited February 21, 2006 by Ricardo

[mraitchison]

We were picked up at Glasgow airport by my folks.

We stepped off the plane into a mild day in Glasgow first thing she said was " It's like a ######ing fridge"

Which I had to remind her that my old dear wouldn't be to pleased to hear her swearing like that.

About thirty minutes into the journey back to the boonies where they lived she saw her first sheep and we had to pull over and examine the field of sheep.

We then found a field of hay rolls. We had to stop so she could get out and take photos of the rolls of hay.

She was cold for the first few days then she kept inisisting she was ok and trying to go out with only a jumper on or a jacket and surviving for 20 minutes before running back to the car.

She did however spend ALL day walking around Newcastle with me. No complaining just happily walking and looking.

When we were in Scotland she got to see snow on Ben Nevis which really impressed her and a steam train which was a bit strange.

She loved pickled eggs and chips.

And carpets. When we got into the house she sort of sat down and started touching the carpet and making that Thai tutting sound that they make when they are impressed by something (upto this point she had never made it before).

We went down my old local in Newcastle - The Free Tade Inn which isn't the nicest pub in town and she was sat outside wearing all my friends jackets with a pint in front of her and a straw in it cause she was too cold to use her hands.

I would love to take her back but it will be a while before we can.

[Donz]

love the stories, keep them comming

[chanchao]

> My brother was picking us up and when we got outside the terminal into the

> car park a look of shock appeared on her face as she exclaimed "Why \

> smoke come out my mouth!?"

Let me guess: Southern girl? (North & North East it most definitely gets cold enough in the winter to see condensation/vapour from your breath in the morning)

[pnustedt]

First time my (then) g/f came with me to UK I had the smoke from mouth, dead trees questions. Also first time she touched a warm radiator she thought there was a serious problem. We've subsequently been half a dozen times - I get an annual trip with my employment package - but she doesn't want to go anymore, me neither.

[Jockstar]

My wife is getting very excited as you can imagine. Been reading some of these stories and she had a laugh. I'm sure she will have a few words herself when she gets there. Lets remember Scotland in April is hotter than January. But will still be cold for her.