Uruguay easier to get to than other side of London

A LONDONER has explained to friends that it would be easier to attend a party in South America than theirs on the other side of London.

Ellie Shaw, who lives in Caterham, was invited to a friend’s Christmas get-together in Winchmore Hill even though reaching it would basically take a week.

She said: “Uruguay? Train to Heathrow, flight to Madrid, flight to Montevideo. I could be there in 18 hours.

“From where I live to where Jayne lives? Waiting 40 minutes for Ubers that keep cancelling when they’re within five minutes of me, a dash to the train station interrupted by police cars stopping a madman, then my Oyster card says ‘94 SEEK ASSISTANCE’.

“Then a four-change train journey, ending with an unsettling overground train with oddly patterned seat covers, then I stride out of the station in the wrong direction but I can’t do a U-turn without looking like a tourist.

“After that there’s only a walk down a long and unfamiliar street, lit only by Google Maps on a dying phone, then I’m there, there’s no-one I fancy and I have to do the whole thing again in reverse.

“I’ve told Jayne if she really wants me at her party, I’ll Facetime in.”

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Five ways to convince yourself you're an expat rather than an immigrant

ARE YOU a Brit living abroad but apoplectic with rage about foreigners living in the UK? Here’s how to convince yourself there’s a difference.

British people are innately wonderful

Immigrants are lazy scrounging bastards who make the UK worse, whereas Brits boozing on the Costa del Sol improve Spain simply by their innate values of justice and fair play. Eighty ex-Empire nations will disagree, but they’re just bitter.

You don’t mix with the locals

As expats you’re proud of your thriving community, drinking at the Only Fools and Horses bar and buying Marmite from Jean’s English shop. Immigrants, meanwhile, suspiciously keep to themselves, talking their own language and importing their unpleasant foods. The two couldn’t be more different.

Immigrants just want all the good stuff

Immigrants only come to Britain to take advantage of Britain by going to our universities and working in our hospitals. Expats moved to France for big cheap farmhouses, sunshine and cheap wine, which is only fair because they’ve worked hard and deserve to enjoy their retirement.

You don’t expect everything for free

Unlike immigrants, who only come to the UK to get free houses on luxurious British council estates, expats pay taxes and don’t expect anything for free. Apart from healthcare, which given that many are on their third heart attack can be substantial, but that’s different in principle.

You’re not a bloody foreigner

The ultimate trick of being an expat rather than an immigrant is to perform a special type of cognitive dissonance that stops your brain from recognising that anywhere outside of the UK you are a foreigner. Even though it doesn’t make sense you must always remember: you can never be a foreigner because you’re British.

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