Hilarious! How little some americans know about England!

The first time my Mom met MrRed5 she started talking about one of her old jobs, which was headquartered in London.  She then went on to ask him if he knew where the company was on such and such road.  At least she didn't ask if he had met the queen. 

I think a lot of times people ask questions because they are interested and then go home and smack themselves in the head about what a dumb question they asked.   

I could do an entire comedy routine about the York/NY conversation I have everytime people ask me how's London.  I've given up and say great although the two hour train ride into the city is a pain. 

The thing is, when people get comfortable with me here they do ask the similar silly questions about the US, like, so you lived in NY, Florida or California.  Apparently these are they only places you can live in the US!   

The other thing I'm happy to do is roll with these things, but dh won't.  When we go back to the US, I keep telling dh we should say he's the Lord of Worcestershire, partly because we'd get great tables at restaurants.  He never will do it. 

And then there're the waitresses who ask if DH is Australian when they hear his accent.

And then there're the waitresses who ask if DH is Australian when they hear his accent.

Yeah, we got that a lot too!  We just go with it, rather than explain it. LOL. 

And then there all also wait staff to ask me to order my husband's meal for him because they don't understand him and don't even try. 

My mom asked me if they celebrate the 4th of July here. I told her that they might celebrate American Independence for different reasons. 

I've been asked "do you have July 4th", I tell them no, due to the connotations of the day we skip straight from the 3rd to the 5th! Or say "Yes, but it's called Thanksgiving!"

And people being surprised that we don't have Thanksgiving.

I also once got into an argument with an American who insisted that we could be arrested for being in a pub and criticising the Royal Family!

The other thing I'm happy to do is roll with these things, but dh won't.  When we go back to the US, I keep telling dh we should say he's the Lord of Worcestershire, partly because we'd get great tables at restaurants.  He never will do it. 

HEHE! If you ever do it, you totally have to make a video so we can all watch. 

Great thread!

My favorite story came from when I was prepping to move here. A friend of mine happened to be moving to London around the same time as I was, and her very concerned sister (who is an adult, whose own mother is from the UK), asked us if they had tampons over here!

While on my MA course, I've met a few other Americans that have come over here. I find it funny that some people just make no effort to learn anything when they move over here, because they know they aren't staying. After a late night of working, I walked into the tube with a fellow American dude, and he just stood staring like he had never seen public transport before. I asked him which area of London he lived in, he knew the name, but had NO idea whether he lived in North, South, East, or West London. North or South of the river? nope! How long had he lived here? TWO YEARS. 

Shortly after I moved to England, I was having a speakerphone conversation with my mum and my (UKC) boyfriend came into the room as she asked 'Do they have drinking laws over there?' ... he had to leave the room from laughing so hard.

Another annoying thing is that my boyfriend is from Northern Ireland, which results in everyone simply calling him Irish (a bit of a no-no). And worst was when my "irish"-american uncle (who has never been outside the US) wanted to meet BF because they're both Irish. 

I have a feeling I'm going to get a lot of remarks/questions like these from my family when I move...

I guess my brilliant moment was when I was in Plymouth with my fiance visiting his mother.  We went and saw the Corfe Castle ruins.  When we got back, his mom asked me what I thought of it and the best thing I could come up with at the time was,"It was so big!"   

Great thread!

My favorite story came from when I was prepping to move here. A friend of mine happened to be moving to London around the same time as I was, and her very concerned sister (who is an adult, whose own mother is from the UK), asked us if they had tampons over here!

While on my MA course, I've met a few other Americans that have come over here. I find it funny that some people just make no effort to learn anything when they move over here, because they know they aren't staying. After a late night of working, I walked into the tube with a fellow American dude, and he just stood staring like he had never seen public transport before. I asked him which area of London he lived in, he knew the name, but had NO idea whether he lived in North, South, East, or West London. North or South of the river? nope! How long had he lived here? TWO YEARS.  

Holy smokes Was he blind or something?! Did he not see London Borough signs with post code markers (NE, SW, WC, etc) hung...oh I don't know...EVERYWHERE?! 

this is years ago now but I was telling my brother I flew into Heathrow, hired a car and drove 5hrs down to Cornwall...............

"oh I didn't know you could drive 5 hrs. in England"

 

I now live in Switzerland, very close to the french border and I told my sister in law we do our market shopping in France on saturdays

" oh , can you see the Eiffel Tower ? " ( yes she was serious )

only if we jump reallllllly high.

Another annoying thing is that my boyfriend is from Northern Ireland, which results in everyone simply calling him Irish (a bit of a no-no). And worst was when my "irish"-american uncle (who has never been outside the US) wanted to meet BF because they're both Irish. 

I never heard of that. I know people in England who are originally from Northern Ireland, and everybody says they are Irish.

I never heard of that. I know people in England who are originally from Northern Ireland, and everybody says they are Irish.

I was thinking the same thing.  There's a girl from Northern Ireland in my church, and I think we've all called her Irish too--I'm the only American there. (racking brain to try to remember)