Jump to content

Menu

s/o Britain vs. US


MamaBearTeacher
 Share

Recommended Posts

I'm an American who has visited the UK several times.  The last time we stayed with friends who live in London. Some obvious difference is that they do walk a lot more.  Since the weather tends to be more moderate, it's usually fairly pleasant to walk most places.   Also, public transportation is much more extensive and widely used.   They do not seem to have a culture of "stocking up".  Their fridges are smaller, so they usually only have a few days worth of food.   Perhaps in the more rural areas this is different as shops are not just a quick walk to the corner.   Are there preppers in the UK?

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I lived in the UK for 10 years. Off the top of my head, some differences:

In general, houses are a lot smaller, fridges and closets are smaller, prices are higher, and people buy a lot less stuff.
Many families only have 1 car (if that), and people walk a lot more. When I first moved there I was surprised to see so many people pushing strollers in the rain, with clear plastic covers on them.

Cars are a LOT smaller, since gas is much more expensive.

TV is much much better! But you also pay an annual fee to watch it.

Indian food is much more common than in the States. Fish & chips and kebabs are common fast food. 

People talk about gardening a lot, and there are many gardening shows on TV and radio.

A lot of common drugs that are OTC here are behind the counter there, like cough syrup and even pepto bismol. My MIL was shocked that we can buy gigantic jars of ibuprofen at Costco for next to nothing, compared to little blister packs in the UK. 

College (university) is much less expensive, and the admissions process is much different. 

Edited by Corraleno
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is hard to explain, but I'll try:

 

My MIL was British (Scottish), and she and her family had this way of going around and around the topic they wanted to actually discuss, enticing YOU to bring it up instead. It was such a strange (to me) thing. I often told her that if she wanted to discuss XYZ then she ought to just come right out and discuss XYZ instead of trying to manipulate the conversation toward talking about XYZ until someone else brought it up first. It didn't even have to be about a sensitive topic; it could've been about something as mundane as the weather. I have no doubt that was part of the cultural difference between US/UK.

Edited by Kinsa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Customer service is different.  Some US visitors find customer service in the UK off-putting, whereas Brits tend to find the US version overly-effusive.  When I go to bank, I get to the front of the queue, the teller looks up and may or may not say 'Hello' or 'How may I help you?'  This doesn't betoken ill-will, it's just a different habit.

 

Use of 'sir' and 'madam' is very rare (as in the US North East).  It may sound sarcastic.

 

I found my MIL (Texas) difficult to communicate with because (unlike Kinsa's experience) it was I who was more direct and she who avoided straight talking.  She found me rude because I disagreed with her (in my terms) politely, rather than agreeing and then edging my opinion in later.  I later watched my Texas SIL manage such conversations and realised how rude I must have seemed.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I was living with a family in Britain they put coins in a slot in their TV to watch programming.  They only paid for the amount they intended to watch.  They didn't watch a lot of TV but the programs they did watch were really good.  

 

There was a kind of a van that would drive through the neighborhood once in a while and it had all kinds of cool foods/candies you could buy.  Sort of like an ice cream truck but you walked inside it.  All the kids would come running.  There were bins lining the walls.

 

The family had never seen someone IRL sit cross legged.  The family had never seen someone IRL do a bridge while shuffling cards.

 

I attended school with the eldest two kids in the house.  We walked blocks to get to the bus to get to school.  In fact, we walked pretty much everywhere.  I loved it once I got used to it.  I felt very healthy when I returned to the States.  :)

 

Styles of clothing were very different from what the kids in my U.S. school had been wearing (skirt length was much shorter, for one).  

 

The kids at the school were much more acclimated to cold weather than I was.  I was freezing while we were waiting in the school yard after lunch and everyone else was fine.  :)

 

Pubs in the area were family establishments.  Adults and kids were all there.  It was very pleasant.

 

The locals thought I talked pretty slowly.  They spoke rather quickly.

 

The teachers at school were very nice but it was not o.k. to hug a teacher and there was definitely a more formal relationship than with some of my teachers in the states.

 

Slang terms were very different and it led to some misunderstandings.  

 

We were in a small village.  Pretty much everyone knew everyone, many were related in some way, and most people had not moved more than a couple of houses away from where they were born.  The mom had only really traveled away from England one time, and that was a school trip to France.  This is probably true for a lot of people in a lot of small towns, regardless of location, but it did add to the feeling that I was stepping back in time a bit.  Loved it, actually.  

 

Candy labeled one thing here was labeled something else there (not always but sometimes).  A Snickers bar was a Marathon, for instance.

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Customer service is different. Some US visitors find customer service in the UK off-putting, whereas Brits tend to find the US version overly-effusive. When I go to bank, I get to the front of the queue, the teller looks up and may or may not say 'Hello' or 'How may I help you?' This doesn't betoken ill-will, it's just a different habit.

 

Use of 'sir' and 'madam' is very rare (as in the US North East). It may sound sarcastic.

 

I found my MIL (Texas) difficult to communicate with because (unlike Kinsa's experience) it was I who was more direct and she who avoided straight talking. She found me rude because I disagreed with her (in my terms) politely, rather than agreeing and then edging my opinion in later. I later watched my Texas SIL manage such conversations and realised how rude I must have seemed.

I'm curious if the differences between the UK are really anymore dramatic then say the differences between Boston and Texas or Manhattan versus Alaska. I remember going to my first semi-formal business gathering. I wore a dress but didn't own a gown. Where I grew up semi formal meant Dad put on a flannel and jeans without grease stains and holes. We really only knew the term formal. We were teased by our friends (in a friendly way) and looked at funny by others. Fast forward to a recent business party here in Alaska. DH and I now know about formal, semi formal, cocktail, business attire etc. We go wearing the normal recommended for cities stuff and sat at a table with two guys in jeans and t-shirts. They actually had been traveling and hadn't planned to go but were told to come anyway because no one cares in Alaska and no one did.

 

Though my mom's generation wore make-up almost no one I hang out with bothers with it. We are too busy with school, work, excercise, running a chainsaw, shooting, or canning an entire garden. Not everyone does all those things but most people do something like that or similar rather than shop or wear make-up or get a pedicure or whatever. Not that some people don't do those things also but it is not expected and most people I know don't. And you can get away with wearing rubber boots or snow boots with any outfit and no one cares.

 

People are busy but they will stop and pull you out of a ditch. They mind their own business and it is hard to get to know people but often they'll offer to help if they see you need it or do something. They simply don't sit around and chat.

 

I find life very different in the lower 48. I also noted big differences in the South West from Seattle.

 

Parts of our country always wear shoes in the house and parts always take their shoes off at the door. Food is different, terms and slang are different. Many of the differences mentioned above only apply to some parts of the US other then which side of the road to drive on and Americans tend to drive everywhere although a few cities have better public transit.

Edited by frogger
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm curious if the differences between the UK are really anymore dramatic then say the differences between Boston and Texas or Manhattan versus Alaska.

 

I do think that there are major cultural differences.  For example, without getting political, the NHS is a cornerstone of UK identity, to the extent that it was included in the London Olympics opening ceremony.  That communitarian ideal, for all its faults, is a core value.

 

 

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do think that there are major cultural differences.  For example, without getting political, the NHS is a cornerstone of UK identity, to the extent that it was included in the London Olympics opening ceremony.  That communitarian ideal, for all its faults, is a core value.

 

Yes.  Here in Canada, sometimes people expect the culture to be the same as the US.   It really isn't - there are some significant differences that people don't usually notice right away, but when they move from Canada to the US, or vice versa, they find they can run quite deep.  And that's aving a long fairly open border and years of domination of American media.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a TCK (Third Culture Kid) as I'm British, but moved to the US with my parents when I was 10. I lived in a home with British parents but went to school in American culture. I don't feel fully part of either culture.  After DH and I got married my parents moved back to England. I'm now the only person in my family that lives in the US.

 

There are a lot of differences between the UK and the US and for me they are hard to put into words. A friend, whose daughter studied abroad in Scotland last semester, told me that it's like Bizarro World in the DC comics. Where everything looks similar but it's just a little bit different or off. I do enjoy the program Very British Problems on Netflix. It describes, to me, the British culture quite well. 

 

There are differences even within the country itself, however. I'm from the North and the culture is quite different from the South, but still very British. 

Edited by importswim
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's hard to compare entire countries. But one can compare cities ;) London seems a slightly less cut throat, cleaner version of NYC. I don't take the subway in NYC anymore if it can be helped at all, because it is nasty, but it was fine there. Much more public spaces (parks and such).

On the other hand, I spent many hours with a British mom on a vacation recently and we found so many things in common, chief among them complaining about the ways of the French ;)

Edited by madteaparty
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm really far too ignorant to attempt to answer, yet I find the question so interesting!  I'm an American, and I've only spent six days of my life in the UK (London) so it's really next-to-nothing to go on.  Yet, I did notice a few things, and the ones that were the most striking to me were:

 

People in London are far better dressed than people in the US.  Their clothes fit them so much better that I wondered whether people in the UK routinely have their clothes altered/tailored or whether the retailers simply offer a better variety of fits and sizes.  And they just looked more "put together" and professional.  Albuquerque (where I live), however, does have the distinction of being one of the worst dressed cities in the US, so no doubt that colored my perception.  But even in other places that I've lived/visited in the US, people were not as well dressed as in London.

 

People in the UK tend to speak more softly.  I am soft-spoken by American standards, but I felt like a loud-mouth in London!  Everyone was so quiet.  It was so nice to be able to enjoy a meal at a restaurant without having to yell to be heard.  

 

The evening television news here in the US is all about the US.  The television news that we caught while in London was far more global.  

 

ETA:  London was much cleaner and felt much safer than similarly sized cities I've been to in the US.

Edited by Greta
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The US is such a large country that exhibits regional differences.  Thus I think it is sometimes hard to capture what is a "typical" American. 

 

That said, Americans often stand out when they leave these shores.  Particularly when they are in groups.  In groups, Americans often look large compared to other people--and they can act larger than life too. For some reason, Americans seem very loud when they are in a group of four or more. 

 

Americans really pride themselves on individualism.  Private property is private property.  In Britain, if a walking path is on privately owned lands, it is understood that the right to walk on the path continues via tradition.  (Maybe someone else can phrase this in a more accurate way.)  This says to me that the past is honored--although it could be more about finite resources on a small island.

 

One difference:  we may have football, but we don't have "the football".  :D

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Americans really pride themselves on individualism.  Private property is private property.  In Britain, if a walking path is on privately owned lands, it is understood that the right to walk on the path continues via tradition.  (Maybe someone else can phrase this in a more accurate way.)  This says to me that the past is honored--although it could be more about finite resources on a small island.

 

 

There are different systems in England vs Scotland.  In England, I believe that if there is an ancient path, so long as it is still used regularly, then it carries on being open to all.  The Ramblers association organises mass walks to make sure that all paths are walked.  Wild landscapes (moorland etc) are open for walking, paths or not.

 

In Scotland, all land is available for everyone to walk, apart from a few exceptions.  Essentially, the area immediately around a house (garden/flower garden) is not available for walking.  The rest is.  We have three acres of land, of which one acre would be considered protected 'curtilage'.  The rest is legally available for anyone to walk over and wild camp.

 

http://www.ramblers.org.uk/advice/paths-and-access/england/what-is-the-right-to-roam.aspx

Edited by Laura Corin
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are different systems in England vs Scotland.  In England, if there is an ancient path, so long as it is still used regularly, then it carries on being open to all.  The Ramblers association organises mass walks to make sure that all paths are walked.

 

In Scotland, all land is available for everyone to walk, apart from a few exceptions.  Essentially, the area immediately around a house (garden/flower garden) is not available for walking.  The rest is.  We have three acres of land, of which one acre would be considered protected 'curtilage'.  The rest is legally available for anyone to walk over and wild camp.

 

Among the things that wouldn't work on this side of the pond...

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Americans really pride themselves on individualism. Private property is private property. In Britain, if a walking path is on privately owned lands, it is understood that the right to walk on the path continues via tradition. (Maybe someone else can phrase this in a more accurate way.) This says to me that the past is honored--although it could be more about finite resources on a small island.

 

 

The footpaths are usually public rights of way and they're part of the Queens highway and protected so landowners have to keep them accessible. Landowners change but the traditional routes from place to place remain. There's also open access land and areas with right to roam and things like that.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm really far too ignorant to attempt to answer, yet I find the question so interesting!  I'm an American, and I've only spent six days of my life in the UK (London) so it's really next-to-nothing to go on.  Yet, I did notice a few things, and the ones that were the most striking to me were:

 

People in London are far better dressed than people in the US.  Their clothes fit them so much better that I wondered whether people in the UK routinely have their clothes altered/tailored or whether the retailers simply offer a better variety of fits and sizes.  And they just looked more "put together" and professional.  Albuquerque (where I live), however, does have the distinction of being one of the worst dressed cities in the US, so no doubt that colored my perception.  But even in other places that I've lived/visited in the US, people were not as well dressed as in London.

 

 

 

I felt the same in Edinburgh...I felt totally frumpy and unfashionable there. I was SO relieved to get into the smaller villages where I fit in better...seems it was a city thing, not a country wide or UK thing. In the smaller towns and up in the highlands my sweater and nice jeans were perfectly normal. In Edinburgh people wore dress pants, skirts with tights, etc. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes. Here in Canada, sometimes people expect the culture to be the same as the US. It really isn't - there are some significant differences that people don't usually notice right away, but when they move from Canada to the US, or vice versa, they find they can run quite deep. And that's aving a long fairly open border and years of domination of American media.

 

I lived on the border of Canada and we often visited Dawson and had Canadians work and live in the same camp as us. A Canadian family built our house while we camped with them for a few months for example. I can't help but think Dawson Canadians had more in common with the people they worked with and swapped stories with then they did with Canadians in Montreal but maybe you are right. Of course there is border towns like Hyder, Alaska where people just claim the American population is secretly Canadian.

 

I remember chatting with a Canadian in a little town west of Prince George and he was asking me about the problems on the Mexican border and if they really were that bad and I had to respond with the fact that he had access to the same media as I did (in fact I often go to the BBC for news ) and lived a lot closer to the Mexican border than I did so maybe he could enlighten me. He had to chuckle at that. I also find Canadian words mixing with ours and I'm always saying "eh". But there is still a major American influence here especially in politics.

 

UK is I'm going to assume, more cohesive due to geography. There probably aren't any places you fly to in the UK where you feel like you just flew into a third world country. Where you get off the plane and people live in housing that most people in the same country would find unacceptable, there aren't any paved roads or there are but you still can't drive out of town, milk is $10 a gallon, and you eat a lot of whale blubber. Lol So I'm having a hard time believing that bush Alaska is closer to Washington DC than the UK is just because it they are both "American". I have been reading the replies and what I see is how the UK is different from some specific place in America. I should probably just accept the fact that I'm an anomaly and not really an American.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I felt the same in Edinburgh...I felt totally frumpy and unfashionable there. I was SO relieved to get into the smaller villages where I fit in better...seems it was a city thing, not a country wide or UK thing. In the smaller towns and up in the highlands my sweater and nice jeans were perfectly normal. In Edinburgh people wore dress pants, skirts with tights, etc. 

 

 

Ah, I see.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The footpaths are usually public rights of way and they're part of the Queens highway and protected so landowners have to keep them accessible. Landowners change but the traditional routes from place to place remain. There's also open access land and areas with right to roam and things like that.

Our state has this. If a path or ATV route was already in place you can't suddenly block it off. It is "grandfathered" into place. There are particulars to the law but no need to get into that here. That wouldn't apply to camping though but the majority of our land is public anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, you MUST list some books please! Or I can start a new thread?

 

Oh gosh, put me on the spot! I will have to look through my email orders if I get time, but off the top of my head any of the Horrible Histories, Murderous Maths, geography, etc. series to start. Mr. Men is also good, and there are several DK books and BBC series which you have to have shipped from overseas to get here.

 

I have an affinity for a particular British homeschool blogger and she has introduced me to more DVDs and books than I can think of that are aggravatingly impossible to find here. It is getting better with Amazon- I can at least get some, but I have had to buy a region 2 player as mentioned, and some things I simply cannot buy. She will link the UK Amazon link and it doesn't switch over to being available here in the US in all cases.  With all of the technology and openness of this world I really don't get why it's so hard to purchase these things. But I guess now I sound like a spoiled American. Oh well, the fact is that I am. If I have the money to pay for it, I should be able to buy it!! It's just stupid that such awesome offerings aren't available more easily here for kids, when they are such quality shows/series/books. It's a bit sad actually. Murderous Maths shouldn't be a homeschoolers secret, you know? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh gosh, put me on the spot! I will have to look through my email orders if I get time, but off the top of my head any of the Horrible Histories, Murderous Maths, geography, etc. series to start. Mr. Men is also good, and there are several DK books and BBC series which you have to have shipped from overseas to get here.

 

I have an affinity for a particular British homeschool blogger and she has introduced me to more DVDs and books than I can think of that are aggravatingly impossible to find here. It is getting better with Amazon- I can at least get some, but I have had to buy a region 2 player as mentioned, and some things I simply cannot buy. She will link the UK Amazon link and it doesn't switch over to being available here in the US in all cases. With all of the technology and openness of this world I really don't get why it's so hard to purchase these things. But I guess now I sound like a spoiled American. Oh well, the fact is that I am. If I have the money to pay for it, I should be able to buy it!! It's just stupid that such awesome offerings aren't available more easily here for kids, when they are such quality shows/series/books. It's a bit sad actually. Murderous Maths shouldn't be a homeschoolers secret, you know?

We do get horrible history on cable, plus horrible science on Amazon prime?

 

I agree we need more open trade. Maybe list the blogger? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are right of course, Frogger, that the US is very diverse.  You would probably be pretty surprised by the differences between London and the Gaelic speaking Outer Hebrides too.  Britain grew up at a time when communications were poor, so local identity (town to town, county to county) can be markedly different.

 

So you could say that London and New York City have more in common than London and The Hebrides or New York and Alaska, and I don't think you would be wrong.  I do think that there are overall differences in culture that transcend this, however.  Something to do with having a constitution vs not; being a nation of immigrants vs one that received immigrants later; a large country vs a small one that has been repeatedly invaded; a country that went overseas for the World Wars (with the exception of Hawaii) vs fighting them home; different versions of what is fair; different views on the role of government.....  It's very hard to put your finger on, but I do think it's there.

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We do get horrible history on cable, plus horrible science on Amazon prime?

 

I agree we need more open trade. Maybe list the blogger? :)

 

Well that's good to hear it's available now at least. At the time I found it, Amazon only had season I of HH, so I just bought all of it. :) Same for all of the book series. I've had to order all of them and wait forever for shipping. Some of the DK books I simply could not find period. 

 

Here's the blogger as requested. She removed some of the photos from her earlier posts due to image space issues, so some of the resource links are gone, but she's very responsive to comments and emails with questions. :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I lived on the border of Canada and we often visited Dawson and had Canadians work and live in the same camp as us. A Canadian family built our house while we camped with them for a few months for example. I can't help but think Dawson Canadians had more in common with the people they worked with and swapped stories with then they did with Canadians in Montreal but maybe you are right. Of course there is border towns like Hyder, Alaska where people just claim the American population is secretly Canadian.

 

I remember chatting with a Canadian in a little town west of Prince George and he was asking me about the problems on the Mexican border and if they really were that bad and I had to respond with the fact that he had access to the same media as I did (in fact I often go to the BBC for news ) and lived a lot closer to the Mexican border than I did so maybe he could enlighten me. He had to chuckle at that. I also find Canadian words mixing with ours and I'm always saying "eh". But there is still a major American influence here especially in politics.

 

UK is I'm going to assume, more cohesive due to geography. There probably aren't any places you fly to in the UK where you feel like you just flew into a third world country. Where you get off the plane and people live in housing that most people in the same country would find unacceptable, there aren't any paved roads or there are but you still can't drive out of town, milk is $10 a gallon, and you eat a lot of whale blubber. Lol So I'm having a hard time believing that bush Alaska is closer to Washington DC than the UK is just because it they are both "American". I have been reading the replies and what I see is how the UK is different from some specific place in America. I should probably just accept the fact that I'm an anomaly and not really an American.

 

Certainly places like that, where people are living close together, are going to have more cultural similarities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My friend who moved here from the UK told me that she misses being able to take her dog into restaurants. She also said that horseback riding is very popular there, and that equal numbers of boys and girls ride (as opposed to here, where it's mostly girls who are horse crazy). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Customer service is different.  Some US visitors find customer service in the UK off-putting, whereas Brits tend to find the US version overly-effusive.  When I go to bank, I get to the front of the queue, the teller looks up and may or may not say 'Hello' or 'How may I help you?'  This doesn't betoken ill-will, it's just a different habit.

 

 

 

I have to say I loved this about living in the UK. I could actually walk around a clothing store without someone asking if I needed help. If I did ever need help, it was easy to find, but I liked not feeling like I had to talk to someone in every store.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are right of course, Frogger, that the US is very diverse. You would probably be pretty surprised by the differences between London and the Gaelic speaking Outer Hebrides too. Britain grew up at a time when communications were poor, so local identity (town to town, county to county) can be markedly different.

 

So you could say that London and New York City have more in common than London and The Hebrides or New York and Alaska, and I don't think you would be wrong. I do think that there are overall differences in culture that transcend this, however. Something to do with having a constitution vs not; being a nation of immigrants vs one that received immigrants later; a large country vs a small one that has been repeatedly invaded; a country that went overseas for the World Wars (with the exception of Hawaii) vs fighting them home; different versions of what is fair; different views on the role of government..... It's very hard to put your finger on, but I do think it's there.

I'm sorry to sound ignorant, but which country is it that you think doesn't have a constitution? As far as my general education goes -- I thought that both of these countries operate under a modern constitution?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sorry to sound ignorant, but which country is it that you think doesn't have a constitution? As far as my general education goes -- I thought that both of these countries operate under a modern constitution?

The UK doesn't have a single constitutional document. There is nothing to which we can refer and say, 'Government cannot do this, or must do this, because it is in the Constitution'. All is precedent, but it's easier to say, 'This was appropriate in the 18th century but should change now'.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sorry to sound ignorant, but which country is it that you think doesn't have a constitution? As far as my general education goes -- I thought that both of these countries operate under a modern constitution?

 

I'm not at all convinced that constitutions are a better model - they seem to freeze things in a particular form - look at the trouble we have with senate reform.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...