I'm American moving to the UK. How easy will the transition be?

Question

My husband has gotten a job offer with his old Co. He is from Shepshed,UK

How easy have others found the transition process from US to England? What kinds of things are extremly different? What seems to be the same? What do people think of Americans there? Is it easy to purchase a home at the moment? Lots more questions.......HELP!

Answer 1

Well the currency is different, the language is slightly different and you will have to drive on the correct side of the road which is the left. There is a lot of resentment to America because they are blamed for putting the UK in Iraq, America is also blamed for gun crime and obesity.

However, we in the UK do not hate Americans, it just depends who you are as a person.

However, the exchange rate is not good for Americans because of the weak dollar and stronger pound so buying a house will be difficult because we also have a problem in the housing market thanks to America.

Gasoline is very expensive because half of it is tax (valued added tax and fuel duty tax). SO it costs £1.20 litre for regular which translates to $10.00 a gallon.

Answer 2

House prices in England are not that great you will find you get far less for your money here than the US.  Do you have children?? if so please choose very carefully which part of England you are going to move to, will you be moving back to your husbands old town??  If so you will have an advantage in him knowing the area if not like I said choose carefully as most of the bad elements you hear about in the UK can be found in England and any city.  You will get more for your money if you were moving anywhere else but England but don't be too disheartened by this. The Uk is wonderful do not listen to folk saying about the food I for one miss the food in the UK terribly (I live in Australia now this country has awful food!!)  even if you do hate the food there are so many american food shops online that you can get your favourites quite easily.  

Also no-one blames Americans as individuals for the situation in Iraq and it is only idiots that say that - we all know that Americans are not to blame for what there stupid president does just as we cannot be blame for what our Prime minister does after they get elected so don't worry about people in general's reaction to you that will be fine.

We like the rest of the world I feel are influenced and embrace some american things the only thing I think is unlike some other countries we are frercely British and embrace that - I think the biggest difference will be in little things like - Chips are crisps, we spell words properely, soda is usually when someone is talking about actual soda water not coke we just call that coke.  It will be confusing for you as every town seems to have its own accent and own slang words for everything but people will know you are not from here and should tone there words down for you to understand.  Mind you if you decide to live in any city do not expect to make friends easily I find people in the cities do not like to look at you let alone speak to you in London you could be being stabbed and no bugger will come to your aid it is pretty scary!!! Move to the country yes everyone will know your business but it is better that than the alternative - good luck these things are generally what you make them yourself and plus if it doesn't work out you have at least tried.  I think personally you will love it most americans love it here.

P.s our quality of tv is better though we don't get some of the major Us progs as quickly as you do but that is again the joy of the internet a must for any foreigner!!!

Answer 3

dont its COLD and BORING :)

and nobody is as FRIENDLY

Answer 4

Pfft at all the bad comments about the Uk,

You'll find the same diversity of personalities as you do in the USA ,

The food is fine ,

The weather can be beautiful in the middle of January and

yucky in the middle of June,

and vise versa.

The 'youth' have a fine well being, and i doubt our teens are any worse than what you'll find in the states.

You won't only have 5 channels soon, as everything is going digital.

We have quite a lot of American Tv, but obviously not as much as the states :p

House prices are down.

The cities are buzzing , And the countryside is stunning.

as are places where you find real English character/buildings.



We have a few words different to you,

Pants= Trousers,

Elevator = Lift.

Etc.

At the moment you can roughly half your dollars to convert to our pounds.

We do have tumble dryers and dishwashers.

And people will respond to you as an individual ,not as an American ;)

I'm sure you'd much rather stay at home,

but England is not a bad place, Honest. :)

& people will dig your accent.

Answer 5

it was absolutely maddening. while my hubby off to his new job, i was left with trying to find us a house to rent, and get our life started.

well, the estate agent wouldn't wait on me until i had a bank account. the bank wouldn't give me an account until i had an address. round and round I went. three days of frustration.

I called my husband. His secretary had to meet us at the HSBC bank  in leatherhead to break the stalemate.

we literally had to have a "letter of introduction" on company letterhead to get a bank account.  then an estate agent would show us properties.

i was used to shopping for food weekly, had to adjust to shopping daily.

5 whole TV stations, golly gee, and that was with cable!

TV tax

council tax

horrid smell of urine outside pubs. i wore closed shoes the whole time i was lived in london.

feeling shamed and "slapped in the face" by londoners rudeness.

getting dark at 3 in the afternoon.

i loved not needing a car.

the shoving and pushing. queueing is a sport

the english "tsk" at my doing major life mistakes, like, perhaps walking too slowly or taking up space on the planet.

i liked the national health care. worked fine for me.

waiting on hold for an hour every month to get the telephone turned back on (telewest) it would get turned off monthly due to previous tenants information getting mixed up with ours.

i was surprised by twice daily mail delivery

the pornography everywhere

dishwashers and clothes dryers are not common, so get used to washing dishes by hand and hanging clothes to dry.

that all said, i would go back in london minute!

i enjoyed touring. i studied elizabethan costuming while there.  i actually studied before going to see the whatever, so i would understand what  i was looking at.

i enjoyed living next the hampton court palace and would enjoy the deer in the park in the early morning walks.

the swans, geese and ducks.

the violet candies. the rose chocolate covered candy turkish delight. smarties.

Answer 6

Its cold there, And the food i'm sorry to say is shite its not the cook its just the quality. the housing market is down right now in the UK at least parts of it so housing should be cheep and easy to fiend, most of them don't know many Americans so just be nice and you'll be the one they base America off. good luck with the move i'm moving back to the states July and i'm kinda scared about that.

"The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences." - Chris McCandless

always helps when facing big moves, just be open to every thing new and try and don't always talk about america it gets anoying to forigners.

Answer 7

The UK is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful, and you will transition well. The temperature is cooler, the accents are funnier, the food is not so great. The yogurt is amazing, as is the produce. But any cooked meat has wochestersauce on it , and is thus yucky in my opinion. The people are friendly if you are friendly back. Don't talk on your phone in the tube. And if your lost ask a cabby for directions.

Answer 8

I spent two years in England attending university (I'm Canadian, if that matters).  Without knowing where you currently live,  a few things to consider:

-The whole driving on the left hand side of the street

-The population is more diverse than much of America

-Real Estate questions should be directed to a local professional.  In the main, the process is similar.  

-You will, for the most part, find a welcoming people, however there is not this need to open up and tell complete strangers your innermost secrets from the start.  

-You 'may' find the cuisine different than what you're used to; depending on your exposure to non-North American cuisines.

-Winters can be tough since the amount of daylight is much less than you experience in America.

-Generally speaking, there is a greater acceptance of things not always going to plan.  Trains may be late, traffic may be heavy...it's not indifference, but rather a "okay, this has happened- let's make the best of it".

I enjoyed my time in England.  Be polite, be friendly, and follow your husband's lead.

Good luck with the relocation.

Answer 9

Depends a lot of where you will be living. Big city? Rural? The people are very different in different areas and different parts of the country - which is part of the charm hopefully.

The British are very like any other nation in that they don't like someone coming along and criticising everything (it's ok for them to do that about themselves though). If you jump right in and try to embrace everything you will be made welcome. If you moan about things not being like home you may be invited to go back home... Fair enough.

America isn't at it's most popular at the moment - but that's more to do with politics than the people.

The biggest complaint about Americans themselves tends to be along the lines of them expecting/demanding that things be done in the same way as in the US. If you're not like that then you'll be fine! :o)

House prices have peaked and are starting to fall - but only just and we don't know whether it will continue. We are probably due for a bit of a dip in the economy, it always seems to come in cycles no matter which government or what they do. We've had it pretty good for the last 10 years.

Below is a link to info & other links regarding Shepshed.

Good luck and (pre)welcome!!!

Answer 10

Get used to not having much as much spare money (USA has one of the highest disposable incomes in the western world. Uk, however.. does not.)

If i were you - i would not buy a house yet as the market is a bit unstable... they are coming down so wait a year or so.

Get private health insurance (not that expensive at all). NHS is okay; but waiting times are terrible among many other reasons.. Same with dental. Don't go with the NHS.

Costs are rising. Especially food.

Weather............

Ugh i can't do this. You are making one of the biggest mistakes of your life. The UK is in a terrible state at the moment. And it's just getting worse. Many people would love to leave. Please rethink. America is an incredible country.

And please do not raise children in this country. (link)

Quote: "our children today have the lowest well-being in the developed world"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo...

Also read the comments in that article.

Quote from an American:

" I am from the states, go to university in London, and have traveled extensively around the U.S, UK, and Europe. English teenagers are BY FAR the worst i have ever seen in my entire life! "

Answer 11

I moved to the US in 1994. I love it here. I'd never go back for anything besides a vacation to see my family and old friends.

The UK, in my opinion, has changed a ton since I moved - lots of eastern european immigrants in the big cities, much more crime (not that the 2 are related, of course), liberal spending on stupid projects has stifled the economy and the whole place just seems rundown and stale.

The house will cost a ton and probably be a shoebox compared to what you were used to in the US. My walk-in closet is bigger than some bedrooms in the UK.

There is a lot of Anti-American sentiment for many reasons and I'll not stir up a hornets nest by expressing my opinions on why.

Cars are smaller and so are the roads :-) Some surface streets over in the US are practically freeways compared to UK roads.

Don't get me wrong, I love England. The history and architecture are awesome - the countryside is fantastic. I love the little village pubs (English beer is awesome) and being able to walk to the chippy or to the local curry house. There are things I miss, but I would much prefer to stay here in the US.

Answer 12

Smile and the UK will smile with you, just dont be going on like some Americans do how amazing america is lol we dont like that, it can be cold, it can be hot, one minute it will be sunny next stormy. You will get used to it I think its a great place to live =)