I have a friend who just got engaged to a man from the UK to manchester i think. She will be moving to the UK after her marriage and was wondering if UK guppies can inform her on what to expect she’s dreading the weather? is the weather really gloomy there? how is life in general for paki muslims there? our desi community here is pretty small everyone know everyone type a thing? hows it there? does the desi community dress in shalwar kameez or should her jahaiz focus on jeans and stuff …? any help is appreciated. what the social atmosphere dawats a norm or not, here its only on holidays (again just to figure out what to take, i know it varies for family)…
Re: USA to UK
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/wedding/391810-moving-manchester-pakistan-after-shadi.html
The weather can be gloomy but that’s not really the problem in the UK. It’s the unpredictability. One minute it can be sunny and the next minute pouring down with rain. Everyone layers clothing and always carries an umbrella (if they are sensible).
Re: USA to UK
You can't trust UK weather. It changes whenever it feels like and quite fast too.
Life in UK is very good for desis. Cities like Manchester & Birmingham are like Raja Bazaar lol, a lot asians....it feels like as if you are in Islamabad or Lahore lol!
The desi community dress in both shalwar qameez nd jeans type stuff......people wear what they want to and frankly, no one really care about it. I see a lot of asians girls wearing shalwar qameez while some wear jeans nd other stuff you know.
I haven't visited US yet and don't plan to either, but judging by the amount of asians there (specially pakistani's) i doubt life for asians there would be better than UK.......
I wouldn't live in Manchester, West & South London is probably the best place i would say. Life is really good here.....
Re: USA to UK
lady red, wha city is she moving from? its different if she is moving from phenix vs seattle, or from a big city versus from ponca city oklahoma
Re: USA to UK
One of my in-laws families have settled in the US and I'd say we're better off in England.
Be prepared for the weather-it is kind of unpredictable but I'd miss the rain if it didn't appear for a while. We do get heatwaves which when they do hit they are really hot (according to my mum these heatwaves create a 'dry summer feeling what that means in beyond me).
If your friends in-laws are community focused and attend loads of local Eid parties, dawats etc she'll make plenty of friends and find her feet quickly.
As for clothes-erm it's not a UK requirement that all people must wear jeans. Girls wear what they feel comfortable in. I personally have a very mixed wardrobe which reflects by shopping addiction.
Re: USA to UK
No offense to people up north but it's too Azad Kashmiri up there. If you're mirpuri then that's the place to be. Manchester city center is much nicer than before and the city is pretty large.
I like Londontown, totally diverse, urbane, and convenient to the rest of Europe. Huge South Asian community. I think Pakistanis are all over the UK.
As for the weather, carry an umbrella, invest in sweaters, and make sure that she has a good mix of clothes. I have seen women wearing shalwar kamiz to jeans, its pretty widely accepted.
tell her: all the best in the new life!
Re: USA to UK
the weather up in manchester area is much colder compared to wat we get dwn south, oh n we i was there it was freezing even in mid april we only had about 4 weeks of warm weather followed by lots n lots of rain :)
Re: USA to UK
lady red, as others have said we wear the clothes we find appropriate. shalwar kameez is fine and so is very chique, highly fashionable western clothes as long as it can be considered 'fully dressed.'
but i can only advise you to focus on very acceptable asian shalwar kameez or islamic clothes for the settling in period post marriage. that is because these will ease her into her new environment, until she herself can assess what she wants to wear given her change of location as every familly is different
GASP! and whats wrong with that?
Lady Red, if your friend is moving to a desi community, then it will sort of be like everyone knows everyone, cos desis are nosey man! but in general i would say the UK’s a great place to live, im sure she’ll find it a bit strange at first, cos i imagine its pretty different from the US, but inshallah she’ll grow to love it here, best of luck to her:)
GASP! and whats wrong with that?
Nothing at all, just a smaller insular community up there. In London, you find Pakistanis originating from all the major cities.
Re: USA to UK
If she's moving to Berkshire then don't move in Reading, move in rural areas of Berkshire. But if she wants to stay close to Desi community then Reading is full of Muslim and Asian community but it's a big town so crimes are quite common in that town.
If living close to Desis is not an issue then move to Surrey, a very beautiful and posh area with educated people.
ood information it was really helpful thanks everybody...anybody live or lived in manchester? where we live is overwhelmingly white, and hispanic, and african (in the south) we dress in jeans there is a considerable south asian community but nothing like the sorts of uk. everyone knows everyone....small knit community...growing but small. not too many dawats or anything just everybody with their own business/family typa deal life is fast paced not much time for socializing...hmm shalwar kameez not so popular here thats why we asked that a lot of girls don't go too far out in making clothes for jahaiz...so do i tell her make a huge jahaiz provided that there might be places u can wear these clothes too or does the fashion change like in pakistan i know in pakistan it changes rapidly so would she have access to getting it sewn and getting new clothes readily? we get only clothes from india here. well never been around a huge south asian community who are these people have they lived there for awhile or are they all freshies (no offense but provided that its huge just curious abt demographics)...my friends getting married to her cousin...but with a huge desi populationi would imagine it wouldn't be hard to get married in the uk here in usa due to limited population here its a norm for them to go back to pak hhmmm the weather is really dampening her mood lol but she thanks u all muchos gracias..
Nothing at all, just a smaller insular community up there. In London, you find Pakistanis originating from all the major cities.
This is so true.. some ppl might prefer living in the much more traditional communities up there tho I guess.. it's all down to personal preference.. There are upsides esp if ur very into ur culture but like Pak-one said they tend to be more insular compared to London..
To the op, does the boy actually live in the city cos there are places nearish to Manchester like Knutsford and Wilmslow that are totally totally different.. I mean like the polar opposite..
Re: USA to UK
manchester isnt so bad. Wilmslow road has all the pakistani restaurants and I love going there.
If she is open minded and relaxed about the move then she will be able to adapt anywhere in the world.