USA to UK relocation guide
Out of context: Reply #23
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- DaveO4
A few notes form an Englishman abroad – been in New York for ten years now and am feeling quite decoupled from England, for better or worse.
Here goes:
If you are moving there from New York be prepared to get paid phenomenally less for what you do, but have a cheaper cost of living in general.
Don't ask British people if they know the only British person you know. I have once met a John Smith from Manchester, but i can almost guarantee its not the same one that you once met.
Be more of a 'Jerry Seinfeld' American (sarcastic) than a 'Jerry Springer' American (earnest). Brits love dry humor, and it will get you VERY fucking far.
The C word is not quite as taboo in the UK – go nuts with it, but temper your useage when you return home to the states.
USE THE EU PROXIMITY. I lived in the UK for 28 years and never once appreciated how much was on the doorstep. Within three hours you can either be in Norway, Italy or morocco. Its a gift i never used and i regret it now I'm n New York.
Go to Scotland. It fucks.
Learn how to cook a roast and put your own spin on it. You will make MANY friends through hosting on cold rainy Sundays.
Don't watch Eastenders. It's trash.
Get a car, because trains are blindingly expensive for what they are and they are rarely on time.
Go to cities like Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, York. They will blow your mind by how beautiful they are.
Watch Little Britain – it contains the best index of British stereotypes and humor for a quick crash course.
Be prepared that everyone will tell you that you can't do something. People in the UK love to be naysayers. Use your American sense of blind optimism to get things done and prove them wrong.
Read the FT and fuck the rest. British newspapers are so obviously political and full of tabloid trash or subjective opinion pieces.
Get used to cold damp winters and summers without AC.
Enjoy drinking outside on the endless summer evenings that stretch on way past 10pm with the sun still lighting up the horizon.
Say hello to the white cliffs for me. I do miss it from time to time.
- Be one of the GOAT comedians not a washed up trash TV host who does insurance ads now. Yeah ok done!nb
- :)nb
- Little Britain is hilarious. I was told not to watch Corrie or Eastenders and I didn't.cherub
- But never try to combine the buying a car thing with driving into the centre of Oxford. I'm not making that mistake for a third time.webazoot