My UK/US comparison

Hi, it's my first post here but have been following this forum for a long time now and enjoyed it very much. My beautiful girlfriend is in U.S. and I will be looking to move there at some time in the future. It's great to hear the different views of what Americans love/hate about UK so I am prepared for my move (and the differences), or when my girlfriend visits here.

I was last in US (MI) in May and am going again next month which I am looking forward to! If it wasn't for my girlfriend I wouldn't be even thinking of moving Stateside, but I have enjoyed holidaying there.

These are some of my observations of the UK/US differences, some where I prefer life here, some there! Hope no offence is caused - none meant...

Cost of Living
I don't know if it's the exchange rate but in my visits to the US it seems cheaper. Eating out is anyway. And house prices (certainly in MI) are a lot cheaper than UK. But then MI has only a population of about 10 million for a state with a larger area than just England (not UK). Don't think it's just exchange rate related because I know just going across the border to Canada makes eating out more expensive. One thing I don't like though is calculating the cost of something in my head and getting the change ready (and checking I'm giving out the right notes which are all the same size), only to be reminded by the cashier I didn't add the tax to the total!!! Why not just add the tax to the displayed price  But overall, eating out was cheap for me. Some other things though were comparable in price.

Health Insurance
I am glad to have the NHS (though thank God I don't have to use it much). I don't want to need medical services and wonder how much it's going to cost me or if I am covered. Yep - NHS may not be perfect but I have read some US health stories which are scarey too. And if you need prescriptions, I believe they are much cheaper in UK - I think I read on BBC some US people go shopping for their prescriptions in Canada? And you can of course also take out separate private health insurance here too. I know some students I spoke to told me not to get sick in the US - and if I did to make myself better!

Driving
I like driving Stateside Yes fuel is much cheaper (like when I was in Australia), but you do have to drive everywhere! I like that cars are almost all automatics - why is that  Is it because fuel is so cheap and automatics are more costly to run? Don't know! I like the wider roads - but not all of them! Some are very "patchwork" and bumpy... It was funny when I was out there in May and there was a permanent road sign which said something like "Drive slow - bumpy road" - and it was! I thought "Why put a sign up? Why not just fix the road!?" But overall it's much more pleasurable than driving here - and I didn't encounter any jams at all - unlike when I returned to London    I also like simple things like the little latch on the fuel pumps so you can just leave the nozzle in the tank and wait until it has filled the tank up (without holding the nozzle)! Don't see that much here. I also like the wider, diagonal parking spaces which here you only find at Costco I think.

Eating Out
I've said eating out is cheaper. There have been posts here about waiter service and the waiters being "too friendly" in US. I only experienced that once when this guy kept coming up to the table and I just wanted a mostly uninterrupted meal with my girlfriend! But no problem! It was a nice meal anyway! At the other places we ate at we didn't have super friendly waiters which was fine for me! I remember once in CA though and it took about 5 minutes just to go over the specials and then the several options which they had... I was thinking "Just give me something to eat!!!" 

Patriotism
Certainly different to here, with many flags from quite small to massive flying everywhere. Hard to adjust to, and pledge of allegiance and singing anthem etc but works well Stateside I guess! I read somewhere that while Brits can laugh at themselves and not take things too seriously, Americans don't have that humour so much - but that can also be good in that it makes people more of a team and defensive to their culture, country and lifestyle which has obviously worked well for the USA! I'd like a mix of both I think! I wish we would be more patriotic at times - I do like the last night of the Proms and other patriotic events!

Work
I have heard - and seen about the lack of vacation time in US. I know when I worked in UK for a US company in LA, they were very surprised at how much holiday time we had - and which they had to pay for!!! The people there said they had trouble just getting two weeks off. The lack of work vacation time does concern me a little, and how I'd prefer some quality vacation time now in my working years - not to just have a big vacation when I retire (many years to go yet!)

Shopping
Haven't done much shopping in US. I think with some of the larger 24 Tesco Extras now they give me most of what I need (I'm a night owl!) at any time. I've been to Meijer's, K-Mart which do sell a lot more stuff, but mostly sporting things which I don't need! But from what I saw in the groceries I needed, I could find the equivalents in UK, but as I say I haven't done a lot of shopping. Don't think I'd need use of a 24 hour gym or anything, but great to have all those 24 hour conveniences if you work other than 9 to 5.

Safety
I have to say that in London I don't feel so safe and seeing the increasing yob culture on TV isn't a great advertisement for UK. I don't know if it's just my stereotypes from media (with guns) but I don't feel so safe in US either. Certainly some counties in MI have very high crime rates, especially in Detroit. I lived in Madrid for over a year and felt safe there and happy to park the car wherever and generally happy - but that may just be down to ignorance. I don't know about US schooling and safety but it would appear (from media) that there are problems in US just as there are certainly classroom problems here. So overall there wasn't much difference to me between UK and US.

TV
Didn't watch too much TV, and yes if you have satellite then you get most of the shows here anyway! What gets me at times is the number of commercials. It's like  Commercials -> Opening Titles -> Commercials -> Few mins of prog -> Commericals -> Few more minutes -> Commercials -> Last part -> Commercials -> Closing Credits (!!!) -> Commercials.... It's crazy!!! I find the news much more "hyped up" than BBC/ITV news too - like on Fox the presenters can get quite "excited" in front of the camera. But I'm not criticising because it's just the cultural difference. It's great to be able to see most films sooner in US at the cinema and they are released on DVD faster too...

Litter
There were posts about litter recently here too. I have to say that MI was very clean - even in what seemed like the older parts - though the buildings there made the area look run down. But not like here... I don't have much litter where I live in UK but I drove through where I used to live (border London/Essex) last week and there was litter everywhere - it was filthy - and I noticed it more because of what I'd read here. In US we went to Cedar Point in Ohio too and that was very clean also. I've heard it said that UK theme parks are full of litter compared to US and I think that's true. Years ago there used to be a "Keep Britain Tidy" program but it obviously doesn't work at all now!

People
People seemed no more, no less friendly than people I meet here. None seem like "crazy, loud Americans" or the opposite - just normal people!!!

Cell Phones
Don't understand why you have to pay to receive calls! I'd never answer the phone! But there is a new company (Centuron or something) who is changing that, but not sure how much the monthly tariff is different to normal cell providers.

Houses
I of course prefer that most of the housing is detached, big, has a good plot of land and is cheap! You have to spend a lot more £££ here for that, but again probably because we are so crowded compared to the US.

Space
Love the space too - not crowded! There aren't many places in UK to escape to where you'll be miles from another person... When I can I love to escape to the Scottish Highlands.

Language
I did have to laugh a couple of times in the US    Things like the air hostess saying "Ladies and gentlemen, today we will be de-planing from the front doors!!!" De-planing?    I think that often when we pronounce things, the Brits say the first three letters of the word and then say the rest of it, whereas in US, they take the first two letters and then say the rest. For example : (UK) Yog-urt (US) Yo-gurt   and  (UK) Maz-da   (US) Ma-zda, but there are lots of examples! And things like "erb", "umane" instead of "herb"/"humane", but that is also true in parts of London/UK too... I did find a times I would pronounce things differently - like "tom-ay-to" instead of "tom-ar-to" - especially in Subway where I read on here that people in Subway would pretend they didn't understand you!!!


Well that's what I can think of so far. I may add to this or let you know how I get on next month when we're having 3 days in Chicago too! Hope you don't mind me posting this here.

Overall I do enjoy it Stateside, but I do like life here too - because it's what I know!   I don't think my enjoying US is just the novelty factor, but I'll see - I intend to spend a month or two there early next year which I'm looking forward to! I know a month or two is nothing compared to a life in another country, but I'm looking forward to having just a taste  ... but the most important thing ...being with my girlfriend! 

Thanks for a great forum and for all the contributors, some of who I feel I know quite well!

UK2MI, are you MI Friend's boyfriend perchance? lol

About the health insurance thing.  My in-laws must pay out of pocket for their insurance premiums and shell out $1600/month, which is about £950.   This figure does not include their prescription plan, which is an additional $300/month, and THAT does not include the co-pay which still goes along with any medicines they must purchase. 

In this country, you can lose your house and everything you own to unpaid medical expenses if you don't have health insurance and if you can't afford to pay.  And even if you do have coverage, most plans have a cut-off figure.  Which means if you have a catastrophic illness or injury, which involves expensive surgeries and treatments, once you hit that top figure (for ours, it's 1 million dollars, which could easily be exceeded in a bad situation), you are responsible thereafter for all your medical expenses.

I would say, since you're a British citizen, at least if you did have some terrible medical condition, you could go home and get the care you required from the NHS.  For a lot of people here, lack of health coverage is a very, very serious drawback to living here.  My best friend's aunt just suffered a stroke.  Her employer does not offer healthcare as a benefit, and she could not afford the premiums on her own.  The reason for her stroke is uncontrolled high blood pressure, a genetic condition she inherited from her mother.  She couldn't afford the cost of going to a physician, and she couldn't afford the medications either.  Now, she's got an even more serious condition, coupled with an astronomical hospital bill, and still no way to afford the medications she needs.  She's dependant upon charitable organizations to help her, and so far none have been found which can cover her longterm. 

Sorry this is such a downer post, but lack of healthcare is a BIG issue to me.  It's a huge drawback to living in the U.S.  Especially since I have a son, and want to know his future healthcare needs won't depend upon his bank account or how generous an employer is with offering health insurance benefits.   

Rebekah

Hello and welcome!

I'm from Michigan, and the one who posted about it being a clean place. 

My fiance had many of the same observations you have, he's from Sheffield, England.  I'll have to send him the link to this discussion, I think he might enjoy reading your comments. 

Glad you like Michigan!  It's my home, but England will be home to me as well next year after Simon and I are married and I move there for good.  Take the time to go "up north" - your girlfriend has probably already talked about it - in the autumn if you are here.  It is totally breathtaking when the colors change.  - that's much like the colours changing, but American style.

Anyway, glad to have you!  I'm sure that once everyone reads your post you will hear from others as well.

~Liza

UK2MI, are you MI Friend's boyfriend perchance? lol

Hey Rebekah - you're too good!!!     My posts may not be as popular (but twice as long!!!) but I hope they won't cause as many problems either 

About the health insurance - I've heard some scary stories like that. That can get really expensive, especially with all the "optional extras" which really aren't optional at all I think! Hmmm    To think my annual multi-trip insurance to include USA is only £93 (about $160) - for the year! - which covers me up to $10m including winter sports, flight delays, computer equipment loss, repatriation etc etc... Seems a very good deal to me! Don't know why it is so expensive for US citizens....  I certainly don't pay anything like $1600/month in National Insurance thank goodness! Sorry to hear about your friend's aunt... what a terrible situation to be in, and how can all the stress of that help her situation? It can't possibly...    Like the people I spoke to when I was over there, it's just best not to get sick. Hmm...

I'm from Michigan, and the one who posted about it being a clean place.

Right - I remember    It's so true... I was in East London the other night going through the "McDrive" (MD's Drive Thru) and I was in their parking lot and you should have seen the litter all over the place... I thought it was a new landfill site or something! It was really bad. Then I drove through the area I used to live in and the amount of litter along the kerb.... I don't know if it was always like that and I just "didn't see it" - maybe your posts made me more aware... Don't know... What I do know is that is was really bad - Michigan was very clean... Though I'll be looking out now for litter!!! But that will apply to wherever I travel now I think!

My fiance had many of the same observations you have, he's from Sheffield, England.  I'll have to send him the link to this discussion, I think he might enjoy reading your comments.

Would be good to have another English guy on here!    I remember a couple of points which you said about him - all good of course (for if he reads this post!  ) - for example the flags  .  It's interesting seeing the differences - some take a little getting used to!

Glad you like Michigan!  It's my home, but England will be home to me as well next year after Simon and I are married and I move there for good. 

I hope you enjoy my home as I hope to start enjoying yours and taking your place in defending against the Canadians! I wish you both the best and you can get used to the (often crazy I'm sure) English ways! Just go easy on him   You see how us English are making you feel "at home" (your mom's place) already by converting the whole country over to separate hot/cold faucets!    Hope you can get used to them and the other things we do differently!  A small price to pay for being with him I'm sure 

Take the time to go "up north" - your girlfriend has probably already talked about it - in the autumn if you are here.  It is totally breathtaking when the colors change.  - that's much like the colours changing, but American style.

Yes - we have talked about going north. She's actually around Lansing right now.... If I make it again for fall, we will go up north. We just talked about it last week! I think your fall has a much larger and impressive, more breathtaking range of autumn colors than we have in the UK - and a few more daylight hours to see the trees too... Well like you say we don't even have "colors" here    Is there anywhere in particular that we should head for? If you like, you can just post a picture of you pointing at your hand and I'll know where you mean    So yep - I'm looking forward to that. If I can't make it over, the next time will be Christmas with her and family at Battle Creek. We hope to go further north then and maybe do some skiing - I've never been! And I hear you can get a snowflake or two in Michigan!!! 

Anyway, glad to have you!  I'm sure that once everyone reads your post you will hear from others as well.

Thank you for your welcome and advice 

Great post, UK2MI! Very informative...I enjoyed reading it.  My boyfriend feels similar to you in alot of ways about the US compared to the UK.

I find making comparisons not much good until I've actually lived in the place I'm comparing another to for at least 2 years. 

I'm from Michigan too, (in Houston now  )  When DH first came over we were living there.  He used to carry sport/travel insurance to cover anything catastrophic.  It sounds like what you have now.  He did come down with Montazuma's Revenge after getting back from Mexico once, but there are plenty of after hour clinics.  We told the doctor that he didn't have insurance, and he gave him all of the antibiotics in free samples.  As soon as we were married, I added him to my insurance at work. 

I hope you like Michigan, I know DH would have had a much easier time adjusting if we had stayed there as opposed to coming to Houston.  The immigration wait times are much shorter through Detroit as well. 

I bit of a hint.  In a little town called Tecumseh on M50 just south of the Michigan International Speedway, is the British Pantry and Tea Garden Cafe.  They sell all sorts of tea, jams, Heinz beans, and chocolates.  We used to go once a month for some essentials.  It will give you a bit of home and if you will be living in Lansing, will be a lovely Saturday afternoon drive.

I find making comparisons not much good until I've actually lived in the place I'm comparing another to for at least 2 years. 

Why is that so? 

Why is that so? 

Speaking only for myself here....I find that it takes me a while to go through all the stages of adjusting to a move.  There's the 'honeymoon' phase where everything is wonderful and different.  There's the 'homesick' stage where everything is horrible and different.  And THEN reality hits, and things are still different, but not necessarily wonderful OR horrible...usually somewhere in between.  Sometimes, for a small move, it doesn't take long to adjust.  For an international move, I don't think 2 years is unreasonable...

There's the 'honeymoon' phase where everything is wonderful and different.  There's the 'homesick' stage where everything is horrible and different.  And THEN reality hits, and things are still different, but not necessarily wonderful OR horrible...usually somewhere in between.  Sometimes, for a small move, it doesn't take long to adjust.  For an international move, I don't think 2 years is unreasonable...

Well put, CH. I totally agree. Once things become more routine and not so new and either super bright or super scary... that's when there's enough perspective to really compare things - when they're not tainted by the stress of a move. Things still felt to novel for me until now (just finishing my 2nd year) to really make comparisons other than those coloured by excitement, fear, etc.

Why is that so? 

I'm going to agree with closet hippie and expat on this one.  When I first visited the UK, everything was fabulous because it was all new to me -- the chocolates, the accents, the roundabouts, the shops.  And then when I moved there as a student, the honeymoon phase wore off, and I got stressed out when I wasn't making friends as quickly as I would've liked, or had a hard time finding things that were familiar to me.  Eventually all that leveled out, and although I still love the UK dearly, I no longer view it with rose-tinted glasses.  I see it for what it is, pros, cons and otherwise.

Although it's not always possible, I wholeheartedly advocate test-driving a place before you become committed to it, for as long as it takes for that honeymoon phase to wear off, so that you can make sure you're making the best possible decision, and exercising good judgment.  Visiting a place gives you a taste, but not a grounded perspective of what a place is really like, IMO.

I agree with what many here have already said. It does take a while to adjust, and there is definitely a honeymoon stage that later turn into a stage where you are challenged. If I remember correctly from my International Business studies, there are four phases that you go through. A lot of people get stuck in the second phase where you find things miserable because they are not like "home." Fortunately, many people do move on and are able to ajust and embrace the new culture.

I would say that after a year you'll have a good understanding of the new country, and after two years you most likely have adjusted. That's how it was for me when I came to the US.

I also think it's a great idea to "test drive" a country first. We're thinking of moving to the UK, but I think I first may just plan to go for one year to get my master's and if we like it, find jobs etc, we'll stay, otherwise we can easily go back to the US.

I also think it's a great idea to "test drive" a country first. We're thinking of moving to the UK, but I think I first may just plan to go for one year to get my master's and if we like it, find jobs etc, we'll stay, otherwise we can easily go back to the US.

I agree. One of the many reasons I'm over here as a student is for that very reason -- I didn't want to commit myself entirely to living in the UK, and finishing up a degree here is the perfect way to "test drive" living in a different country with very little sacrifice. I would have been beyond upset if I had given up my entire life in the US without REALLY knowing what it would have been like to live here permanently and ended up not liking it and feeling trapped.

Hi UK,

I'm British too, lived in the States, and have now been back in England for 9 years. 

I don't know if it's the exchange rate but in my visits to the US it seems chepaer.

Undoubtedly, unless things have changed very much since I was there.  I always used to reckon that most everyday items (with variations of course) worked out about two-thirds of the U.K. price. 

One thing I don't like though is calculating the cost of something in my head and getting the change ready (and checking I'm giving out the right notes which are all the same size), only to be reminded by the cashier I didn't add the tax to the total!!!

At least the sales tax is a much lower percentage than British VAT though. 

Health Insurance

Probably the thing which would be of most concern to me too if I were to return to America.  I had a package through work when I was there, but I know some of my American friends have been complaining about the skyrocketing cost of insurance in recent years, particularly for the self-employed.    I have one such friend in Long Island who is now paying something like $1500 per month to cover his family.   Ouch! 

I like driving Stateside

Couldn't agree more!    I find American road markings and signage to be far more logical than the British/European mixture that we have here now.    Contrary to many Brits, I also much prefer traffic lights and 4-way stops to roundabouts!

I like that cars are almost all automatics - why is that 

My guess would be that automatics just caught on in the States after they became widely available in the fifties.   In Britain, with the very high purchase tax rates which were applied to cars in the past, the expensive auto transmissions might have been seen as an unnecessary and very expensive luxury. 

I've found that many British drivers seem to have an aversion to automatics, even those who openly admit that they've never even driven a car with automatic transmission!     Personally, I find an auto transmission makes for very much more relaxed driving.

Is it because fuel is so cheap and automatics are more costly to run?

There is a certain amount of power lost in the torque converter, which may have contributed to the dislike of auto transmission here.   Many later models have a lock-up clutch in the converter anyway, so once you hit top gear and 35mph or so, the transmission is then running as efficiently as a manual (I had that on my 1979 Chrysler).

It was funny when I was out there in May and there was a permanent road sign which said something like "Drive slow - bumpy road" - and it was! I thought "Why put a sign up? Why not just fix the road!?"

We have plenty of those in rural Norfolk!   

When I first moved here there was also a sign nearby which read "Road liable to flooding."   Apparently it was erected after a drain (one of the few which actually exist on the backlanes) became completely blocked.    I wondered why they paid out a lot of money to put up a sign instead of just clearing the drain.....   

I also like simple things like the little latch on the fuel pumps so you can just leave the nozzle in the tank and wait until it has filled the tank up (without holding the nozzle)!

They used to be common here as well.  Apparently they were banned by some new regulation back in the 1980s, which is why on older nozzles you can just see the remains of the latch mechanism where they were disabled.

But not like here... I don't have much litter where I live in UK but I drove through where I used to live (border London/Essex) last week and there was litter everywhere - it was filthy......

Years ago there used to be a "Keep Britain Tidy" program but it obviously doesn't work at all now!

I'm afraid that many urban areas of Britain seem to be disappearing under all the filth. 

Dusty Says... Keep Britain Tidy

Cell Phones
Don't understand why you have to pay to receive calls! I'd never answer the phone!

I think the American system is better than the "caller pays" arrangement.    Even though cellphones have become much more common in recent years, and rates have fallen, there are still plenty of people who balk at being given a cellphone number to call.   

The American approach has the caller pay exactly the same rate as a call to a landline in same place would be, and the cellphone user pays the extra for the convenience of being able to take a call while mobile.

I of course prefer that most of the housing is detached, big, has a good plot of land and is cheap!

No arguments there!    They also have electrical and plumbing systems which are far superior to the average British home.

Language

Don't forget that many pronunciations, spellings, and usages which are regarded as "Americanisms" here these days are actually the original British forms. 

Sure, there are some things which originated on the west side of the Atlantic, but many are simply older English usages which have been retained in America and since dropped in Britain.

Hi Paul,

Great to hear from you and that you've lived in US too.

At least the sales tax is a much lower percentage than British VAT though. 

Yep - true, but what I also find confusing is the different rates of tax on so many things. For example I'm sorting out a quick visit to Chicago and the hotel has tax of 15.4%, theatre tickets have (I believe) 11%, museum exhibition tickets have 3% etc etc... Same in Lansing, MI too - hotel 11%, take away Subway 6%, theatre 10%!!!  Guess I'll get to know about all the different rates....?

Probably the thing which would be of most concern to me too if I were to return to America.  I had a package through work when I was there, but I know some of my American friends have been complaining about the skyrocketing cost of insurance in recent years, particularly for the self-employed.    I have one such friend in Long Island who is now paying something like $1500 per month to cover his family.   Ouch! 

Yep - I agree - that is a huge amount to pay each month. Even with our higher tax rates, you certainly have to take US health insurance costs into account. I'm sure it very much levels things out!

Couldn't agree more!    I find American road markings and signage to be far more logical than the British/European mixture that we have here now.    Contrary to many Brits, I also much prefer traffic lights and 4-way stops to roundabouts!

I'm one of those contrary Brits too I think!     So many times when driving there I just thought "There's nothing coming! If there was a small roundabout here I could have just gone straight through!" instead of stop/start... Anyway - I'm not gonna get into one of those heated roundabout/no roundabout heated debates  Everyone has their preference I'm sure  I did get a bit stuck a couple of times because quite a few of the lights (in MI) don't have white stop lines... so you think should I stop here? Where do I stop?! Of course it's not a problem if there are just one set of lights, but this was normally where there were two sets of lights very close together. You don't know whether to stop at the first set or move onto the next... I was often stopped at lights waiting to turn right and then thought "Why am I waiting? I can turn on right"

Thanks for your thoughts on the automatics - I prefer them too.

They used to be common here as well.  Apparently they were banned by some new regulation back in the 1980s, which is why on older nozzles you can just see the remains of the latch mechanism where they were disabled.

I guess it's just an extra safeguard in case the auto cut-off fails for some reason....

I'm afraid that many urban areas of Britain seem to be disappearing under all the filth.

Good old Dusty!  Well found!  I must say I look everywhere for litter now! Happy to say though that I was driving round another area I used to live and it was litter free - maybe they've just had a big cleanup!?  But I was happy to see it clear. And when watching the news in the UK what do I look for? The litter!!! Was happy to see a couple of places on the news yesterday were litter free!    But I know there are many places with lots of litter... 

I think the American system is better than the "caller pays" arrangement.    Even though cellphones have become much more common in recent years, and rates have fallen, there are still plenty of people who balk at being given a cellphone number to call.   The American approach has the caller pay exactly the same rate as a call to a landline in same place would be, and the cellphone user pays the extra for the convenience of being able to take a call while mobile.

This is one I disagree on, and my US friends agree with me - why pay to have someone call you? That includes prank callers, wrong numbers etc - you have to pay (or have it deducted from your inclusive minutes)! And that is why there is a new company where that doesn't happen - have to see if they survive or not... I don't think it's such a big issue with mobile phone numbers now as calling any another network is now included (has been for a while now) in price plan inclusive minutes. The difference is our whole phone number system. If you have a number starting with 07 then you know it's a mobile you're calling. They would have a lot of changes to make Stateside if that ever happened. So I expect there would have to be a voice prompt to say "Calling this number is charged at ##cents. Hang up now if you don't want to continue."

Don't forget that many pronunciations, spellings, and usages which are regarded as "Americanisms" here these days are actually the original British forms.  Sure, there are some things which originated on the west side of the Atlantic, but many are simply older English usages which have been retained in America and since dropped in Britain.

Yep - that's right. Not sure about "de-plane" though    But the English language is quite flexible and expandable! 

Thanks again Paul - hmmm - seems like us Brits do pretty long posts     We seem to have a lot to say!

Thanks also to everyone who has replied. I agree about the honeymoon period and that a short holiday is nothing like changing your life by moving... I have it all to find out!