What will I miss about the UK?

My ticket has arrived. I fly from Manchester airport on Friday the 10th August which is in one week and one day. It has certainly sunk in that I am leaving and I have been doing nothing but watching videos about Abu Dhabi on youtube and I even watched Sex in the City two (set in Abu Dhabi) which I found actually quite offensive. Not only to the culture of Abu Dhabi but also to gay people. The world doesn’t need more stereotypes.

I digress. I have been so caught up in the future that I realised that there will be a lot of things that I will miss about England. In no particular order, these are the things I will miss most.

1. Pubs
I know, I know, there are bars and nightclubs in Abu Dhabi but I am not sure if there will be any British pubs. When I say this, I mean the pubs that have an open fire, giant Yorkshire puddings and a mat to wipe your wellies on when you enter. A place where you know everyone in there and in the summer, you sit on wooden benches outside. I will miss the community spirit and cohesion of English Pubs.

2. British Summer
Of course it will be summer in the UAE all year round. But it is not just the heat that makes the British summer great. It is the beer gardens, (man, im really going to miss pubs) the London parks, the girls wearing next to nothing and looking really, really good. It is the slightly rubbish, but no one minds, ice cream cones from an ice cream van and fighting to get on the tennis courts when Wimbledon is on.

3. Yoga Pants
The person that invented yoga pants should be knighted. I have never seen a girl look bad in them. It almost like they look naked. (Sorry)

4. Cycling
Mainly around London, I used to love flying around the roads on my single speed bike. There is no better feeling than being slightly drunk, cycling as fast as you can over Tower Bridge. Or the noise the millennium bridge makes as you dodge pedestrians going over the slightly loose planks that make up the pathway. It is apparently too hot to cycle in Abu Dhabi anyway, but also I hear that the roads are not as safe.

5. Sunday Dinners
Beef, Yorkshire puddings, Roast potatoes, mash, carrot and swede mix and homemade gravy. I have never had a Sunday Roast (the capitals are there because they deserve to be) I did not like.

6. The domination of football
As I have said in a previous post, I will be able to get the games. But I will miss the back pages of the paper being about just football, I will have to share the screens in the sports bars with American Football and Basketball. Not everyone will like football there.

There many more things that I cannot think of right now. I have left my friends and family of the list as it is obvious I will miss them. Anyway, the countdown is on. 8 days to go.