Is it really THAT different to the US??

Fallgal, I need to learn to "kick ass" as well. I understand when I'm shopping people aren't deliberately moving around (or not moving  ) in a certain way to inconvenience me. Everyone is there for their own things and wants to get their stuff quickly and get out quickly. I understand that. It feels like every man for himself, so I just need to adopt a bit of that and not worry about being seen as rude.

but as he is so mild, he'd stand there and fume until the people finished their conversation and moved on!

Haha isn't that the English way?!! I've discovered that the tube stations during the morning and evening rush have a ton of "road rage"!! You either push your way through or stand aside!! And don't you dare look someone in the eye!! Haha so funny!! 

I try to give myself time when I go to the grocery store to wander around and see what's new--I found Frank's buffalo sauce in Waitrose the other day and I was so excited!

so I just need to adopt a bit of that and not worry about being seen as rude.

Exactly. It's not rude to ask to get by, or to ask for help. Just smile and speak up! Keeps your blood pressure down as well!

<<Haha isn't that the English way?!! I've discovered that the tube stations during the morning and evening rush have a ton of "road rage"!! You either push your way through or stand aside!! And don't you dare look someone in the eye!! Haha so funny!!>>

That's what my DH tells me. When I ask him why he doesn't speak up when he's so frustrated/angry/inconvenienced, he says, "That's not the English way". Yet he'll come home and fume for an hour! LOL!  I tell him it's not rude to speak up, as long as you do it politely, and he is slowly doing that. Baby steps.    

My DH arrived and settled in immediately, we went through a period where we thought about moving to the US, then again when I was unhappy in my job, but he was never that keen. He's finally admitted that he never wants to go back, so I guess we're here for the long haul (which is fine by me, although I do wish to own a house *sigh* )

Having been here over a year now I think it's similar in a lot of way to the U.S. and different in a lot of ways in the U.S. but see, it's easy to decipher different as "bad" and that is just not the case at ALL! I've learned many wonderful and new things in life here and seeing new cultures and view points choices and really broadened my horizons and to be honest with you, I've come out at this point realizing what a spoiled brat I was!

Sure there is some adjusting that everyone has to make no matter where they move to (UK or even just from one state to another in the U.S!) Really what it boils down to is what are you going to make of the experience? I'm finding if you choose to be miserable about it, then misery is what your going to get back, but if you choose to take it as an adventure and try to learn and mold yourself in, it's a great experience and you will see the beauty and reap the benefits of it which just could be loads of happiness!

Best thing I would suggest is to be open, optimistic and learn laugh at yourself and be patient with yourself! You've already expressed a lot of openness and comfortable feelings about being here...You'll be brilliant I think!   

I'd have to agree with mostly what's being said.   Even though I don't currently live in England with my boyfriend yet, when I did visit I never felt that foreign either. It's a good thing you feel this way because if you do end up moving to the UK it'd be a smoother transition then someone that thinks there are massive differences between the US and UK. I really don't think it is much -that- different. Aside from slang, drinking age, what side of the road they drive on, and accent wise, things are mostly the same. But not at the same time.  If that makes any sense at all?

My DH arrived and settled in immediately, we went through a period where we thought about moving to the US, then again when I was unhappy in my job, but he was never that keen. He's finally admitted that he never wants to go back, so I guess we're here for the long haul (which is fine by me, although I do wish to own a house *sigh* )

I am Curious about is there some reason why you cant buy a house here?
(I just read in another thread about how good you and your DH are doing financially in your jobs ect.)   I guess it does take a while to save up a deposit, but dont be sad (sighing?).  If you are on good incomes you will get your house someday.  Probably sooner than the rest of us ever will! 

My first grocery store experience was in an ASDA as well and I just about had a meltdown right there in the middle of the store.  We'd been to the tesco express across the street and that was odd but, all right.  I went into the ASDA, a smaller one, not a great big one with clothes and such mind, and I found it really hard to deal with.  It wasn't exactly Raley's or Bel-Air that's for sure.  None of the products were right, the fruits& vegetables weren't right, the cheese didin't look right and the eggs... good lord why aren't the eggs in the refrigerated section??

Once I braved that my BF took me to the Tesco super store and oh boy...

6 months in and I don't even notice it anymore.  I still wish I had a Costco close by and one of these days I am going to go to the one in Leeds just because I can!  Ikea's there as well. 

Can I just say I've been here almost 7 years and still have freak outs in the supermarkets about how its laid out (as someone who worked in various supermarkets back home doing everything from stocking diary shelves to cashiering and collecting carts) and cant find anything ever in the same place twice.

Paper towels and toilet roll should be in the same aisle.
Gravy shouldnt be stocked in the frozen food department and yet ice cream toppings be stored in the baked goods aisle..

$£@%&£^

For the most part, I settled in okay and could never dream of going back to the US unless we absolutely had to.

Can I just say I've been here almost 7 years and still have freak outs in the supermarkets about how its laid out (as someone who worked in various supermarkets back home doing everything from stocking diary shelves to cashiering and collecting carts) and cant find anything ever in the same place twice.

Even my FIL, who once ran his own little indie grocery shops down in Norwich over here & then left retirement at one point to stock shelves for awhile at Sainsburys, freaks out about the silly supermarket set ups! 

To be fair, though, I got frustrated in US supermarkets for the same reason.  The people who organise the shelving in both countries must have the same cruel sense of humour. 

And I LOVE not having to refrigerate eggs.  It is so much easier, plus room temperature eggs are better for baking.  I always used to forget to take them out of the fridge in the US. 

Even my FIL, who once ran his own little indie grocery shops down in Norwich over here & then left retirement at one point to stock shelves for awhile at Sainsburys, freaks out about the silly supermarket set ups! 

Thank god! Im not going crazy then.. I hate walking in circles in the supermarket!

To be fair, though, I got frustrated in US supermarkets for the same reason.  The people who organise the shelving in both countries must have the same cruel sense of humour. 

And I LOVE not having to refrigerate eggs.  It is so much easier, plus room temperature eggs are better for baking.  I always used to forget to take them out of the fridge in the US. 

Each supermarket in the States is set up differently too, so I think its just a matter of getting used to the local store you use.

As for eggs in or out of the fridge, I have to laugh. Hubby the UKC was here from September by himself till we got here in March. One of the first things I noticed was that his eggs were in the fridge. I guess being in America for 3.5 years converted him in more ways than one. I'm hopefully going to convert him back to keeping them in the cupboard.

Love this thread!! How I've explained this to friends in the US is as follows:

It's like a parallel universe. You know how sometimes when you are dreaming, but you don't know you are dreaming? You are going along and all is fine...normal as can be until see what you think is Kentucky fried chicken...and you get closer and you see the dude on a sign. You get closer and realize its not Colonel Sanders, but Captain Saunders!!!! Noooooo!!!! Kansas baked chicken. Or worse it's  Mc. Tucys fried burgers... A taste of home. ( I live in Darwen Lancashire).  

I am Curious about is there some reason why you cant buy a house here?
(I just read in another thread about how good you and your DH are doing financially in your jobs ect.)   I guess it does take a while to save up a deposit, but dont be sad (sighing?).  If you are on good incomes you will get your house someday.  Probably sooner than the rest of us ever will! 

What with prices in London rising and rising, it really means that we'll need at least £60k deposit, which whilst not impossible, will take a long time, the other part of that is the $100K+ we have in student loans Which really all of our spare income is going on right now in an effort to get them down, as most of them are private loans with interest so even if we did save that 60K it certainly wouldn't go on a house deposit    

It was a sigh really because it was something we were going through at the time, we were going to move to a different rental property then with switching jobs and everything it didn't work out, and I just want to own a little piece of something, but actually in the last few weeks this has brightened up considerably and I'm feeling more positive about it as we start to put some plans in place around clearing those epic student loans.

I am grateful we're doing so well now, but it comes after YEARS of scraping by so there's a lot of legacy stuff we have to deal with first.