Suggestions please.

What's the best and least expensive way to move all my stuff?  No furniture.  Just clothes and books, etc.

I would really like to see something on this one.  I know about the M bags thing, but there are too many books & I am just not going to have that much time to mess about with it.  Next time I'm in Florida, I'm clearing out my storage unit & shipping all the rest over -- books, fragile dishes, silverware, cast iron, photo albums, family memorabilia & other odds & ends.  Nothing is packed well -- it was more or less hurled into storage in a frenzy three years ago.   Now what do I do to have someone pack it & ship it?  And how much is it going to cost me?  A thread with various options, recommendations of companies, etc would be really nice if anyone out there is up for this?

Please, please, please tell me how to organise a UK house.  Where do you put linens, towels, out of season clothes, etc. when you have no built in storage and limited floor space? 

Yes, for me too please.

I'm going to do one on plus-size shopping some time this week.

How about a thread on where to find larger sized shoes?

What's a TV License and how do you get one?   (Maybe include a list of bbc stations and what's on them?)


I saw the suggestion about explaining skype and other long distance call options.  I agree that it'd be awesome.  I could help with the Skype part if you wait until after my wedding in 2 weeks.

Also, since everyone here relies on broadband so much, it might be nice to have a thread about which companies offer the best services and if there is anything oddly different about signing up for UK internet when you move in.   I know my boyfriend has Virgin and they cap our download speed a LOT,  which I would have liked to know if I were there setting it up for myself.

maybe a thread about how to call emergency services.   seems silly but i don't actually know the number and well, it's not the kind of thing one wants to dig for.


a thread about english cat culture, explaining how they all go outside so much more than at home and how people deal with it.   and maybe one about dogs and what the rules usually are for having them in a park.  (i notice them off-leash much more often in england.)



i would really love a thread about common pop culture references in the UK.  things like what shows people watched as children, or what movies really hit it off big that people might refer to.  like, top ten movies/shows/radio personalities you should be familiar with if you want to follow conversation in england.  (doctor who, for example, or that nigela chick with the cooking shows.)

ok, i will stop now.  haha. 

I really like that last one about the pop culture references. I was watching Star Stories last night (just started here on BBC America!) and they were making fun of a guy called John Leslie. Seemed there was something juicy in his backstory (he was dressed as a really bad transvestite!) but I had never heard of him and missed the joke.

I agree definitely with pop-culture..maybe a list of popular tv shows, movies etc throughout the decades. There are loads of actors that I have no idea where they're from and I don't want to ask someone and seem stupid.

How about a thread about how to find your local reading group/book club?

Working in the UK...how the work culture is different. Especially for those who have going into one of their first jobs ever. Also, could include how to find a job etc

Not sure if this has been done before - but with the cooking..maybe a list of the different names for things. Like the other day I found out that swede (the vegetable) over here is the same as a rutabaga...I never knew that!

I'm not too sure about the pop-culture references idea... that's the sort of thing that (i think) you just have to learn on your own as you experience life here.   Watching loads of videos of old 80's & 90's TV programmes might help?

The suggestion about stores would be great (especially if there could be a "translation" of which stores are closest equivalent to US stores and which US stores are not going to have an equivalent, and which UK-only stores are a MUST)

Additionally -- suggestions about the order in which to do things when first arriving (find a flat, set up bank account, get a mobile, etc.)

Also...any breakdown of various London neighborhoods and their pluses and minuses.

Maybe this already exists on the forum and I am just not finding it, but I would enjoy a place to share and discuss resources about adjusting to british culture.  We could share our reviews of Expat-related books, offer suggestions on which books are most helpful and which are a waste of money, and possibly even debunk some of the generalizations presented in certain books.

As an example, I purchased the following in preparation of my move:

Brit-think, Ameri-think: A Transatlantic Survival Guide by Jane Walmsley
The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British by Sarah Lyall
Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox

I apologize if this topic already exists somehwere, I have tried looking and have not found one.

Thanks!
Bekah