Differences between England and Northern Ireland??

I'm not sure if this is the proper place to post this question, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

   I'm currently living in Michigan but will be moving to N. Ireland with my fiance in October and was wondering if anyone knew of any cultural differences (aside from the obvious) between N. Ireland and England.
 
   I have visited the UK (England) 6 times staying a few months 2 of those times and have visited Ireland, but have yet to visit N. Ireland and feel like I will be entering a "whole new world".   
   
  Any and all info would be appreciated.. Thanks in advance 

Be sure to search the archive.  Someone who posted here was in great distress over the limited job opportunities due to the relative lack of economic development and the de facto segregation between Catholic and Protestant.

Last I recall, she had found a job in retailing.  Might have had a long commute.

I was in NI last year.  I thought it looked like a clone of England, except that the police stations are fortresses.

Jim

Jim's speaking of hauntedmansion...if you do a search for her posts you should get some good info.

Welcome to the site!   

I have visited NI a couple of times and thought it was fab.
Belfast is magic, and the North Antrim coast... stunning.
Clone of England?
No way!
(my opinion, and not designed to cause any controversy).
I thought it was more like Scotland.

Oooo otterpop, sounds wonderful to me... I am a big fan of Scotland as well 

  I've done a search for Northern Ireland and didn't find much ,but I will do a search on hauntedmansion too, Thanks     I shouldn't have to worry about working for a while ( never if Micky gets his way), but any info is helpful

I agree, otterpop.  I like the accent as well - we have several NI students in our department, some from the northern coast, and they have lovely voices.

The food was lovely there... lots of gravy! 
Even the Chinese restaurant we went to (in Ballymoney) offered the option of gravy on the side of every dish!

We were in Portrush during this big annual motorcycle rally thing (i think it was called the Northwestern?), and for me, as an ex-biker, it was really cool and exciting to see all the bikes and talk to the lovely leather-clad guys.

And the whiskey (not whisky)!   We stayed 1 night at the Bushmills Inn... definitely the nicest hotel i have ever stayed in (i have no idea how we managed that!), and sampled lots and lots of gorgeous whiskeys, each one smoother than the last.  Yummm.

Don't know if this was e/one's experience, but on the whole we found the food (in restaurants) cheaper, larger portions, and tastier than here.  Just our experience, though.

We were in Portrush during this big annual motorcycle rally thing (i think it was called the Northwestern?), and for me, as an ex-biker, it was really cool and exciting to see all the bikes and talk to the lovely leather-clad guys.

That would be the Northwest 200! What a fun time of year - coming up in May. The Bushmills Inn is our favorite place to eat a special meal, though I have yet to stay overnight.

MickysMartha, I live on the north coast of N. Ireland. Been here 4 years. I've been a visitor to England numerous times but have never lived there so I don't know if I could pinpoint cultural differences in the two. The landscape is more similar to Scotland in places. The motorways are nice and new. You wont find as many of the big shops here as in England. (i.e. no ASDA  ) We don't have american restaurants like Chilis, Outback, TGI's, Krispy Kreme. Starbucks has just begun making an entrance here. You'll find some really good restaurants here. I have never missed the american chain places, but that's just me. There are places like Woolworth's, and Big W. Also your usual ones like Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrisons. Some towns have a Marks and Spencer (not mine). There are many convenient shops like Spar. There are lots of independent coffee shops and bakeries and also independent department stores and homeware shops that are fantastic. I think the people are friendly and are easy to chat with.  The accent changes from town to town!! (along with the vocab, sometimes.)

Hope this stuff helps. I'm kind of rambling  .

If you ever wish to PM me with any questions, feel free to do so. Good luck in the move.

Cyndi

hiya,

i haven't been on this board in ages, but thought i'd pop in.  i lived near cyndi (in portrush) for about 4 months last year.  i guess it all depends on where you move to in n'ern ireland.  it can be quite bigotted, but it all depends.  but, i loved it there!

suz

Sorry it took me so long to chime in on this one. I've been working a lot lately and just trying to get myself back to my old ways again. So far it has been working out well.

As for NI and England. Though I have been to England a bunch of times, I can only really give my experiences on NI based on my living here the last 2 and a half years. Yes. The police stations are like fortresses. It was because of the troubles some years back. They aren't and never will be over but things here are a bit calmer than they were. It is a beautiful place unlike what a lot of natives here like to believe. We all take our homeplaces for granite sometimes it seems.

I do find it much more bigoted here rather than any other place I have ever known HOWEVER, people here once they get to know you are very friendly. Jobs are hard to get. Though I am in fashion/retailing, because it's a small country all around, they like to keep to their own and because they don't know the whole US expat thing, they tend to keep things simple for themselves. I did get work but with an American company. Go figure.

Food here is simple but I think that is the case with most places in the UK. I come from NY originally so my tastes are quite extreme. I do think the food they do make is quite good and prices are comparable or cheaper than most in the UK.

Accents are quite different here than the rest of the UK. That is quite apparent. Belfast has a more whiney accent than where I come from, but in my opinion, they have some of the most interesting accents in all of the UK although I must confess that Welsh accents are a fav of mine.

Sheep and cattle are the same here I think the slurry thing may be the most annoying and apparent difference with the landscape. Even over the border of the republic doesn't have that stench like here. I guess they care a bit more.

As for other things, there are many and I am not sure where to start. I can say, I still love it here despite its many many problems. For now, it's my happy home.

If you want help or advice, give me a shout. I'd be glad to help

Where are you planning on moving? Belfast is different from Derry which is different from the country areas which would be different depending on where you are at as well. It's a small place but because of the way the culture is, the nuances of daily life are varied. For example you can live your whole life basically never leaving your estate and that small sphere of contact/experience creates a coccoon that makes it different from someone's experiences less than a mile away. This place is one of the most segregated societies you'll ever encounter, segregated both on religious lines and economic lines. Depending on where you live and what you do, you may rarely encounter people from different backgrounds than those you live amongst or get to know them in any meaningful way. You begin to understand a little more about the troubles when you realize that the Malone Road (very posh area of Belfast) is an entirely different world from life on the Falls Road (deprived area) and that the two don't intersect, and did not intersect during the height of the troubles. You could live your life on the Malone Road relatively untouched and your life on the Falls would be dictated by them.

Of course this is something that is not peculiar to Norn Iron, the rich and poor are seperated in parallel lives that rarely meet everywhere but I'm just saying what life is like here is dependent on where you will be living.

Also, like anywhere, this may be a nice place to visit but daily life is very different from a flying visit. It is a pretty place (especially if you have a car and you can get out of the cities). The standard of living is very different from what you'll be used to in the states, and depending on where you are from (I am from California) you will have to adjust to a very interior life. Just an illustration - the houses may look drab on the outside but as soon as you step inside you will be met with a riot of wallpaper, color, clutter.

Anyway there's a handful of us expats in Norn Iron so feel free to ask away.