The whole of England is not London ;-)

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Regards,

Them: Where in England do you live?
Me: Derby, in the Midlands.
Them: Where's that?
Me: Great Britian is an Island. We live in the Middle (hence the name Midlands  ).
Them: Oh, cool. So you're close to London then...
Me: Yeah, about 3 hours.

haha! 3 hours?! do you have a Flintstones car?!! 

If I tell you how quickly I can get from Heathrow to say Birmingham, I think you might call the Police on me! 

Does anyone else find that it's like...

When I'm in the US, a 3 hour drive/distance to somewhere is not a pain, but going on the train from where I live (near Leamington spa-ish) to London, which only takes 2.5 hours is a huge pain! Maybe it's to do with the expense?

haha! 3 hours?! do you have a Flintstones car?!! 

If I tell you how quickly I can get from Heathrow to say Birmingham, I think you might call the Police on me! 

Ah see, difference between the M1/M25/M4 route that we take and the way you go most likely. The last time that we did it we left Derby at 7pm and made it to our hotel (next to Heathrow) at just after 11pm, but we did have to stop once (we had an 18 month old at the time) for about an hour and we did the speed limit the whole way. We have a 2000 Ford Focus 1.4 - so flinstones car? Probably.

Back when I lived in NC, I honestly got asked "You're British?  I have a friend who lives in London, do you know Toby?"

I also took to answering "What part of London are you from?" with "What part of Texas are you from?"

I live in London..so haven't really encountered this.  But I ALWAYS encountered the revese in that New York City does not mean just Manhattan. 

I do find that people underestimate how far (or how long it will take, really) it will take to get places from here. 

Does anyone else find that it's like...

When I'm in the US, a 3 hour drive/distance to somewhere is not a pain, but going on the train from where I live (near Leamington spa-ish) to London, which only takes 2.5 hours is a huge pain! Maybe it's to do with the expense?

I've kind of noticed that since I've been here, I don't have a car so I use public transport or walk.  I just was hired (so happy I finally have a job!) where I will have to have a 35 minute bus ride in the morning.  I was a little bummed about that because my husband and flatmates all have 10-20 minutes walks to work, but then I thought I used to sit in traffic for over an hour on the interstate in rush hour to get to my job in the states! 

Does anyone else find that it's like...

When I'm in the US, a 3 hour drive/distance to somewhere is not a pain, but going on the train from where I live (near Leamington spa-ish) to London, which only takes 2.5 hours is a huge pain! Maybe it's to do with the expense?

My husband works 12 miles from where we live. It takes him over an hour to drive those 12 miles. When I lived in the US I lived 12 miles from work and it took me 10 minutes to drive to work. Go figure  

oh my, I've just remembered my very favourite encounter like this

"Are you Australian?"
"Actually, no, I'm English."
"Close enough"

oh my, I've just remembered my very favourite encounter like this

"Are you Australian?"
"Actually, no, I'm English."
"Close enough"

My husband gets "Australian" often too. His Midlands/Yorkshire mix doesn't sound anything like it to me.

Family and friends: So, how's London?
Me: We don't live in London we live in the North.
F&F: Oh, but I bet you go to London often.  DH works in London doesn't he? 
Me:  Not really.  He goes down occasionally for meetings but we live 200 miles north of London so it's not very convenient.
F&F (confused by now):  I thought you lived near London.  So, where do you live, Scotland?  I love Scotland, but I've never been.    

OMG... and that's the good version.  I'm sure I've done my York vs New York bits on this site before.  I love that one.  'So, you don't live in the UK, you live in New York.'  OMG.. headaches ensue. 

Mine is the other way around.  I have gotten this from people basically since I arrived here 6 years ago. 

Them: Where do you originate?
Me: West Virginia
Them: Ah, Western Virginia...we have been to Virginia and the beach there
Me: No, there are no beaches in West Virginia, only mountains. WV and VA are 2 different states.

I would be a millionaire by now for every time I have had to explain the difference between West Virginia and Virginia.  

Mine is the other way around.  I have gotten this from people basically since I arrived here 6 years ago. 

Them: Where do you originate?
Me: West Virginia
Them: Ah, Western Virginia...we have been to Virginia and the beach there
Me: No, there are no beaches in West Virginia, only mountains. WV and VA are 2 different states.

I would be a millionaire by now for every time I have had to explain the difference between West Virginia and Virginia.  

Iowa is just a non-starter.  I don't even bother.  I just say from near Chicago and call it close enough.

Iowa is just a non-starter.  I don't even bother.  I just say from near Chicago and call it close enough.

Yep!  If I say I'm from Washington state that causes confusion with Washington DC.  Usually I say I'm from the Northwest corner.  And eventually it's "not far from Seattle" even though it's actually 300 miles and a 4-5 hour drive.  But oh well, close enough.   

Pennslyvania/Transylvania and while some have been jokes, others clearly have not.