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Topic: Pro & Con between life in UK & US  (Read 55131 times)

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Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« on: July 16, 2007, 01:52:34 AM »
US
pro: later shop hours, breakfast places, sunshine, the beach, SERVICE, apple pancake from Walker Brothers in Wilmette, cheap petrol, cheap consumer goods, NHL, target, cheaper MINI Coopers, music radio, smiles, on average much cleaner people, dry weather, kinkos, cheap dry cleaners, Panera, Chicago pizza, Vienna beef (a Chicago thing), Bears, less rain

con: higher crime, no NHS(it really works and pay more in US to wait just as long to see a doc.), high cost prescriptions, weak currency, stop signs, slow traffic and heavy snow that last for months

UK
pro: history, less regulation, more grocery choice/better quality produce,  easy pace of life.....at least in the Cotswolds, the village pub, exceptional weekend trips, strong currency, traditions, rugby, Royal Ascot, London, the village store, countryside, access to vintage goods, political system that seems to be more connected to the local community, BBC news and crumpets.

con: rain, clouds, cheap kabab places, high petrol prices, motorbikes that cut you off, restuarants that have no service or table water, bad teeth, chavs, bus shelters with lots of baseball cap wearing chavs, moldy walls from months of rain, rude builders and grotty Slough


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2007, 11:03:37 AM »
I live in Scotland and I would say beaches are one of the pros about the UK  :)


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2007, 12:00:20 PM »
TheYank, I think a lot of the things you've mentioned are regional ... both in the UK and the US. And a couple of the things you've mentioned are slightly offensive, to be honest.
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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2007, 12:07:20 PM »
haha!

"Grotty Slough" - just like all else on UKY, you are in denial! Slough is the centre of the universe!!!

Just wanted to add a few things to your pro's cons

US - Pro - Value for Money & Buying power is much greater. Houses are generally substantially larger and still affordable by a much larger proportion of the population. Opportunities exist to a larger proportion of the population in many more cities across the whole country. Business innovation, opportunity, choice etc are much greater (think that the USA is the worlds no.1 market for goods/services). Salaries and Renumeration for professional jobs are much higher. Disposable income across a larger percentage of the workforce both professional and non professional is greater. Healthcare research is cutting edge leading to substantially higher successful treatments of ailments. Day to Day living costs/luxuries offer more choice and in some cases exclusivity/increased performance (for the US market) & capacity & availability. US 'system' was built on immigration and many more ethnic diversities exist within the country at proportionally higher levels than other's of the G8.

US - Cons - You need to have a decent Lawyer and Doctor just in case the ridiculous lawsuit nature gives you grief and/or your health takes a turn for the worse. Insurance culture related to the above. Higher 'risk' of violent crime in more areas of where many of the population live. A substantial proportion of the US population who are ignorant to anything 'non american', still only 2 weeks holiday time as standard in 'most' jobs across the country.

UK - Pros - Essential services provided by government i.e Welfare State and it's general acceptance of being positive. Mixed Political system (mixture of a Free Capitalist system and the Communist system) economic strength amongst the best in Europe. Opportunities amongst the best in Europe. Proximity to other Countries within the EU to allow better movement of business and labour and freer trade. British sense of humour!

UK - Cons - Quality of life is substantially lower for a larger percentage of the population than US and other developed countries. Cost of Living is exorbitantly high for a very large percentage of the population, Salaries and income levels disparity between costs and living is extremely wide. Highest levels of debt ever seen by it's population - more than every other European country combined!, Value for money substantially less in almost every sector affecting large swathes of the population. Less choice in many aspects, substantially increased business costs. House prices prohibitively expensive for many people. A distinct underlying 'racism' issue (the US is more 'visible' in this respect). Consumer attitude to goods/services causing the higher prices seen on the shelves. UK 'image' in other countries rather appalling.

Many aspects are similar in both countries and indeed in others as well, I've not gone down to 'personal' level elements such as 'rugby' and 'crumpets' and 'history' etc - but rather focussed on the more higher level differences.

This topic of course has been covered quite a few times - the 'change' needed so that there's less negatives (for each country) will take far longer than the instances of the topic re-appearing!

Lastly, where exactly in the US are yer from 'TheYank' - I wanna see if I can have a 'dig' at it too!  

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2007, 12:10:01 PM »
Yes, for sure... that heavy snow that lasts for months can be a real pain.
in LA.

And d*mn those pesky stop signs.

Definitely worth moving overseas for.

(thank you Dennis for the patience of giving a serious answer!) :)

I would (seriously) suggest stopping by the Welcome board to let us know who you are and a little about yourself; and what your point is with this post.  I am genuinely curious.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2007, 12:12:13 PM by ~Elizabeth~ »
Hollywood, CA -> London, UK 2004
London, UK -> Long Beach, CA 2007

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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2007, 12:12:09 PM »


Dennis, I always love your posts.  :)

Your neighbor just down the road in DReading!  ;)


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2007, 12:26:24 PM »

Lastly, where exactly in the US are yer from 'TheYank' - I wanna see if I can have a 'dig' at it too!  


watch yourself, there, boyo -- sounds to me like the OP is a chicagoan, and there's enough of us on here to keep you in dog poop for a long, long time!  ;D :P
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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #7 on: July 16, 2007, 12:54:05 PM »
watch yourself, there, boyo -- sounds to me like the OP is a chicagoan, and there's enough of us on here to keep you in dog poop for a long, long time!  ;D :P

Yes definitely - Dennis you DON'T want to mess with the chicago girls on here!!


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #8 on: July 16, 2007, 01:18:44 PM »
  on average much cleaner people,

Are you for real? On average much cleaner people???
Whats that all about?
I am gobsmacked. I never run into below average dirty people.
hmmmmmmmmmm....


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2007, 01:31:55 PM »
I think generalised lists depend entirely where you live.  My husband is from Tennessee and would never say beaches are one of the best things about the US whereas being from a coastal area I’d say they are a good thing about the UK.  Some small rural areas in the US might not have late opening stores, whereas urban areas here would have them etc etc the list goes on. 

I don’t think it’s possible to really generalise two entirely different countries and I can see why some people get offended by it.  The bad teeth thing always makes me roll my eyes because it’s usually based on what people have seen on television.  Doesn’t that stereotype originate because British sailors back in the day had bad teeth due to scurvy and suchlike?  It’s time to move on from that one I think.  Plus the clean people thing?  That baffles me entirely.  Poor personal hygiene is not any more socially acceptable here than it is anywhere else.

In short, it really depends where you live.  It’s hard enough to generalise about a city or town let alone an entire country.


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2007, 01:53:37 PM »
higher crime

Depends very much on the area I'd say.   Where I lived in Nebraska people would leave cars unlocked with the keys in all day long, just like you can do out here in wilds of Norfolk.  That's not something you'd want to do in London, New York, or any other large city, British or American.

Quote
stop signs

But fewer roundabouts!

Quote
pro: {.....}  less regulation

Again, I'd say it depends upon what you're comparing.  In some things the U.K. is more tightly regulated than the U.S.

Quote
con: {.....} high petrol prices

No argument from me on that one!  :(
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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2007, 03:37:50 PM »
Hi again..

Whilst it's true that you should 'personally' evaluate a country based on your own situation - I was pointing out the larger picture as a country on the whole, which usually is where people thinking along the lines of emmigrating think about.

When you look at the most popular destinations people choose to move permanently to, the USA is by far the most popular choice. I think it's followed by Canada, then closely UK and Australia (I think that's the order)

There's a reason why the USA is number 1 and why the other countries appear in their respective places - usually, citing reasons such as 'rugby' or 'regulations' or 'people are cleaner' (which sounds ludicrous!) are not the main reasons.

Economic opportunity, work and marriage probably make up the vast bulk of moves and the elements I pointed out are the ones which spring to mind initially. It's the 2nd steps which is where more personal evaluations come into place.

I think i've mentioned it previously, for me personally, I'd choose Canada to emmigrate to on the basis it takes the good parts of the UK, the good parts of the USA as it's basis - which for me is a very attractive destination, it's the secondary elements which need careful research to validate that ! which is what I'm always doing!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2007, 04:14:21 PM »
I'm from Chicago too and although I hate the rainy weather in the UK sometimes, IMO it's WAY better than Chicago's winters and summers.

I'm actually in Chicago now and luckily it hasn't been too hot/sticky, but sometimes its horrible!

Some of your other comments are questionable (dirty people?  Have you ever watched an episode of Cops??), but everyone is entitled to their opinions! :)

P.S. I agree with you on the Bears and Vienna Beef comments though! :)  Have you ever had a vienna beef deep dish pizza?? YUMMY!


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #13 on: July 16, 2007, 04:31:52 PM »
Are you for real? On average much cleaner people???
Whats that all about?
I am gobsmacked. I never run into below average dirty people.
hmmmmmmmmmm....

When I first moved over here, a shower was a rarity in houses - you had to get them installed as most houses (and ours was a relatively new house then) weren't built with them. So I guess the attitude was a bath went a long way; given the costs of heating the water, taking a bath everyday is extravagant (and Americans tend to view baths are more of a pampering experience than just a getting clean experience). So if you are used to showering everyday (and some people more than once a day), yeah, the whole not bathing daily would be a little odd. I wouldn't say this is as much for the younger generations, but for older people. I'm sure we've all sat next to the old man on the bus, have we not?


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Re: Pro & Con between life in UK & US
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2007, 06:11:24 PM »
After working in a shop for the last 11 months I would have to say that teeth here are generally worse than in the U.S.  Not as extreme as movies make it out to be, but still worse. 

Also, as my mom is Native American, just because the people weren't white doesn't mean that we don't have a history.  My mom's family never left the area we are from, my dad's built one of the first cabins in the area in the early 1720's and we have the oldest continous operating bookstore in the world.   


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