Living In America: Top 10 Things A British Person Misses About The UK

 

A Typical British Fish and Chip Shop. Image: TeaAndAButty.com

 I've been a British expat in Texas now for a little over 10 years. When I first moved here, I was full of thoughts of the future, forgetting about Blighty, the UK, Britain, The Royal Family, Rain, Fish and Chips, Chicken Tikka Masala, Rain, Marmite, More Rain, Pints of beer, Panel Shows, and Piers Morgan. But, as the years rolled on, I started to remember all those things. Except Piers Morgan, whom I keep actively trying to forget. Here is a list of the top 10 things a British person misses about the UK!


1. The Weather.

Yeah, nowhere else on earth has weather. Only the UK. In Texas, it gets rather hot during the summer for a long period of time. Brits, they complain when the temps get over 65F and wonder if the world is ending.

2. The Television

Television in the USA is largely repeats of past glories. It's the same in the UK, but these are much better glories. Glories such as Only Fools and Horses and One Foot In The Grave!

3. The Food

British food is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best in the world. The USA has to make do with Hamburgers, Tacos, Hotdogs while British food rules the gastronomic waves with beautiful beige colours and chips, lots and lots of chips. The British version of chips. The USA is jealous of this and has perpetuated the myth that it's bad. It's not. It's the best.

4. The People

The crazy Brits who enjoy moaning about the government and eating at Nando's and Greggs are the true leaders of the free world.

5. The Ice Cream

Yeah, it's true. You get an ice cream from an ice cream van and it is the best in the world. Then they stick a flake bar in it and completely knock it up several levels.

6. The Panel Shows

What is better than watching a few birds and blokes off the telly get together and be funny on the telly? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps everything?

7. The Mall

Yeah! The Mall! It's that road that connects Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace! There's no Dunkin Donuts or Great American Cookie Company on it though. That's a completely different Mall.

8. The Pubs

You may think bars serve alcohol but pubs are the cornerstone of British culture. Never ever get fish and chips in one though. EVER.

9. Fish and Chip Shops

The humble chip shop is one I miss. The smell of the fried food, the condensation in the windows, the distorted mirror image of yourself in the stainless steel frying range. Now you miss it too, don't you?

10. The Queen

Every Sunday without fail, I'd be round to see Her Majesty, we all miss that time when the millions of us would crowd in her tiny front room to watch Songs of Praise!

Living In America: Why Is Christmas Celebrated In The USA?

 

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Why does America still celebrate Thanksgiving? Especially since it's essentially the same as Christmas. You eat Turkey (or something else if you're Vegetarian) and all the trimmings, stuff your face with dessert. The only thing different is the opening of presents and the 24 hour marathon of  'A Christmas Story' on one of the channels.

So, is Thanksgiving really about thanks or is it just an excuse to eat a lot of food? To Brits who maybe unfamiliar with the concept of Thanksgiving, it's basically a Christmas lunch without crackers. That being said, the concept of crackers at Christmas. So, why even really bother with Christmas at all, America? You've basically had it at Thanksgiving. Just move the opening of presents to November!

Here's a question for you all. What would you get rid of? Thanksgiving or Christmas? If you had to get rid of one of them, which would be the one?


-Dominic

Living In America: In The Great Divide, Nothing to Decide?

 

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With the elections over, we're looking at Joe Biden assuming office (or prising it from the greasy fingers of Trump who is desperate to hold on to power with fairy tales and ghost stories) on January 20th, 2021. The country is greatly divided, with the very right wing supporting Trump's claims of a rigged election and the very left wing gloating over Trump's legitimate defeat.

The country needs to put aside it's prejudices and come together, work together to Re-Unite the states of America. I can only hope, in time, that it will happen. America doesn't deserve to go down a divided road. It's relatively short history has had much division in its time. The country itself was born out of division between the Crown and the Congress. Yes, much is made of the Fourth of July where some Americans love to go "Yeah! We kicked the Brits asses! Woo-Hoo!" and some pedantic British and French historians love to correct the minor technical details of historical information, but, to be pedantic, it really was between the Crown and Congress.


If you were President, how would you re-unite the country?

Living In America: Taking The USA Back One YouTube Video At A Time

 

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If you watch YouTube, you may have noticed a lot of videos with Americans reacting to British culture or food. Mostly, it's food. The titles of 'Americans try British Candy' are all over You Tube and they get thousands of views, mostly from British people who want to see what Americans think of Dairy Milk or a Double Decker.

Now, British people trying American candy or snacks isn't that fascinating to American viewers on YouTube. Could that be because Americans assume the candy and snacks they eat are available to be enjoyed by the rest of the world? Sure, Oreos, Skittles and Snickers are available in the UK but there's a majority of candy products that are not. It could also be that British people just simply don't interest them. Which is fair enough. We are, by and large, an uninteresting culture to Americans who have only known their own stuff for the past 100 years.

So by this reckoning, Brits on YouTube are taking an active interest to encourage Americans to be into British culture. This is why Americans visiting the UK and making a video about it generates a lot of interest with Brits, who tell them to try this and they shouldn't have tried that or gone there but should have tried this and gone here.

Is it possible that Brits are trying to spread awareness of British treats and culture to Americans and affect a sort of change in the way Americans see the world?

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Top 3 Scary Movies - Episode 196

So, Halloween is almost upon us! If you're American, chances are this is a big deal for you. Americans, especially the Northern variety, are OBSESSED with Halloween. Candy, Scary movies, more Candy, Pumpkin carving, more scary movies, dressing up, more candy, more scary movies and then trick or treating then its home to count all the candy you got.

What are your top 3 scary movies??

Living In America: It's All Guacamole and Fairytales

 

Image: Jami430/CC BY 4.0

Guacamole. Why is it SO beloved? What is it about a tasteless, mushy green side dish that appeals to so many Americans?

I have never been a fan of Avocado. It looks green and healthy. That could be a factor but to me, there's no flavour. It tastes like unsweetened baby food and then mixed with the onions and the tomato it does nothing. Also, Avocados are ripe for approximately 2.5 seconds. Before and after that, they're USELESS to everyone. All these people who are like "Yeah, my breakfast of avocado toast, mate!" have clearly never been corrupted by the smell of bacon and pancakes in the morning.

I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't want to go for the sugary option in the morning. Given the choice between a plate of Avocado toast or pancakes, which would you go for. Now, those of you said Avocado toast, would you still choose it if neither breakfast item would harm your health or waistline?

Interesting. Most interesting.

Living In America: Does America Change You As A Person?

 

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One of the questions I've been getting as of late is "Has living in America changed you as a person?" and, after a decade here, I've come to the conclusion that it has. My lifestyle definitely has changed, my outlook has been broadened a bit more, I've learned a few new things, I have definitely changed and, dare I say it, grown as a person since I arrived on these shores. But that's only my opinion. Others, who've known me all my life, might see me as being the same person that I always was.

But living in another country, it changes you. It takes you away from home mentally as well as physically. Even though the internet ties the world together in ways it never could in the 20th century, there's still a distance there which will never be closed by technology as you are physically living somewhere else.

Do you feel the distance as an Expat?

Living In America: Whose Side Are You On?

 

 

 

 

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 Living in a country that you now call home while still having ties to the country of your birth can be confusing. It's a rather unique experience to expats. For instance, the World Cup. England and the USA are playing. Who do you support?? Your new home or your old one? Some might even say whichever one that goes the furthest!

Continuing on the sports theme, does one completely forget about football, or "soccer" as they insist on calling it over here? For anybody wondering, American Football is called just that in Britain. Formally, it's known as 'Gridiron Football'.

I still follow the World Cup when it's on, but not exclusively. If the USA or England (as usually Scotland and Wales never qualify) are doing well in it, then I'll be interested and, it seems as if the sport has gained some popularity in the years I've been here. Due in no small part to my influence of course! *ahem*

What sport would you miss if you moved away?

Living In America: The Cancel Culture

 

Image: Dick Thomas Johnson (CC BY)

From what I've personally observed in the USA, there is definitely a competitiveness, an eagerness to be successful, to be elite, to own the newest car or most luxurious home, to not just keep up with the Joneses but completely leave them in the dust.

While there's nothing wrong with wanting to be a success, with wanting to own many nice things, there is fundamentally something wrong with wanting to do it just to rub it in other's faces, just to lord it over less successful people. In my mind, when you get to the top and you gloat, brag or be obnoxious, you instantly fall to the bottom, because the people who you are gloating to are the ones holding you up there. This is partly how the "cancel culture" was formed. Celebrities are celebrities only because the people allow it. Just because you've had a string of successes and you are making enough for you and your line to live off for life doesn't mean that you're better or greater than the person struggling to put food on the table in a low paying job. Some celebrities forget that, some don't.

But there's a fine line. There seems to be an unwritten rule that a celebrity can't have their own opinion and their opinion, when asked for, should conform to the watchdog's own, the watchdog being the person who lives on social media waiting for a celebrity to put a foot wrong so they can 'cancel' them. Now, I'm not saying that celebrities shouldn't be held accountable for opinions that go against basic human rights but if you're having a meltdown and trying to stir up the cancel culture because Tom Hanks posted about hating avocados, then maybe you need to look at your own life and get off social media.

Note: I have no idea if Tom Hanks hates avocados or not, I don't know him and neither do you. Unless there is the remote possibility you actually are Tom Hanks and you're reading this right now, if so, Hi Tom Hanks, I loved you in 'Forrest Gump' and 'The Terminal'! Oh, by the way, do you like avocados?

My digression onto Tom Hanks and avocados aside, I still think there are instances where the cancel culture needs to calm down and be more aware, as they claim to promote, of just general insanity on their part.

If I am to be cancelled for my opinion, then so be it.

-Dominic

Living In America: Adjusting To The American Way Of Life

 

Image: Luciof (CC BY-SA)

Coming from an English speaking country, you'd think it wouldn't be that hard to adjust to the American way of life. Indeed, for some, it might not be that hard. They might slip into it quite easily. Indeed, I've heard some of my fellow Brits have gotten their citizenship and discarded their accent, proclaiming to US born citizens that they are more American than them.

But it all depends on when you came to the United States. If you moved here as a young child, then you undoubtedly have little to no memory of your country of birth so you are American. Which is why it's inconceivable that government organizations such as ICE are sending people who came to the United States before they were of legal adult age back to a country they did not grow up in or have a connection too.

Personally, I was born and bred in the UK. I came here when I was 24, so if ICE decided to send me back (Sorry folks who hate illegal immigrants, I am a legal resident alien right now, so put your pitchforks and torches away) I DO have a connection to the UK and could easily go back into living life there.

Or could I? The UK has changed in the last ten years. Indeed, I may be more suited to the Texas way of life right now.

Do any of you think you'd easily adjust? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!


- Dominic

Living In America: Missing Crucial Events At Home

Image: Wallpaperflare. (CC BY 2.0)

As an Expat, you have to learn to live with certain things when you move away from your home country. With today's technology, we can see and hear them in real time, imagine what it must have been like 100 years ago? 1920, no internet, bad phone connection. Planes were still new and took a long time and a lot of money to get places. Many people who crossed the Atlantic ocean never set foot on their home soil again. So, it may have been a case of out of sight, out of mind. I wonder how many who set out to start a new life had family back home they missed and thought about often? It's much harder to forget about home these days with the current technology rate. Still, today's technology reminds you that you aren't physically there and with the current global pandemic, we are social distancing so this makes it even harder.

In a few days, my dad, my sister and my best friend will all have birthdays. On the same day. My sister and best friend live in England and Wales respectively, my dad lives in Spain. This is hard for me because I would love to be able to spend their birthdays with them, to celebrate, to enjoy their company. Even without a global pandemic, it would be hard. Flights back to the UK and EU are expensive.

My fellow Expats, how are you finding this time? Is it even harder than usual? For me, it's been much the same. I suppose it helps having a rather small family. I know that if we were in the UK, Erica would be having a much harder time not seeing her family.

How do you think you would do if you were living away from your homeland?


-Dominic

Living In America: Black Lives Matter

I'm a firm believer that bigotry is the product of extreme ignorance and woeful lack of education. Kids aren't born racist. They do not give a toss who they play with on the playground until Mum or Dad say "You shouldn't be playing with them" and that's where it starts.

Growing up in the UK, I wasn't taught about the bad things Britain did in its empire days. In most respects, the bad things the USA has done pale in comparison to the British Empire's antics. Slavery was only one part of it. Of course, British schoolchildren aren't taught about it in history class. It's more along the lines of "Wasn't Henry the VIII a bit of a lad with all his wives?!" and "Wasn't Francis Drake so cool playing bowls when the Spanish Armada were coming to get us??"

Take Bob, for example. Bob is my hypothetical white bloke from Small Town. That's Small Town anywhere, not just USA or UK.

Bob is (you guessed it) white, raised by white people, went to school with white people and now works with white people in his white collar job. Bob has never been anywhere outside of Small Town, only watches things that come on his TV that his dad liked and they are comedies that involve white families from Small Town doing the same thing that Bob's family does, but funnier. Bob also enjoys watching movies where a white guy from Small Town saves the day. So when Bob's friend Bill, also born and raised in Small Town, starts talking about the couple that's moved next door to him being from somewhere different and also looking different, Bob becomes worried. Who are these different people? Bob didn't go to school with them. His parents didn't know their parents. They're from somewhere that isn't Small Town. How can that be? Small Town is the only place to be from. Bill and Bob decide that this won't do. People who look different, sound different and are from somewhere different. They need to leave. Only the same people here. Bob and Bill teach their kids the same values they hold and the same ignorant bigoted beat goes on.

Bob and Bill and all their similar friends believe that it's only right to see people they want to see, doing the things they think they should be doing. Bob and Bill haven't been educated or thought to educate themselves, so they're easily led to believe anything different from their way of life is wrong.

Now, this is just me, a white person's perspective on everything. Yes, I'm privileged but I don't consider myself uneducated.

Don't be like Bob and Bill. Educate yourselves. Anyone different from you isn't to be feared or hated simply because they are different. Black Lives Matter.

If you want to help, please consider donating to the American Civil Liberties Union.

https://www.aclu.org/

-Dominic Williams

Living In America: American Kitchens Vs British Kitchens

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So an American kitchen differs from a British one in many ways. Perhaps the most notable difference is the lack of a washing machine in an American kitchen. Now, you folks from the US might be going "Wait, what? You have your washing machine in the kitchen and not the laundry room? What kind of crazy kitchen is that?" Well, in most older British homes in the kitchen, a laundry room doesn't exist. The newer builds might make a provision for this, or detached houses might even have the space for a laundry room where you can store a washing machine and a dryer. Me? Well, I grew up in terraced (that's "Row houses" for those not familiar) houses. So space was at a premium. We had the washing machine in the kitchen and we dried our clothes outside on a washing line or inside on a clothes horse or a radiator.

Another difference is the lack of a kettle in the American kitchen, usually replaced by a coffee maker. I've learned that because the voltage in the states is quite low, it takes longer to boil a kettle than it would in Britain, because of the much higher voltage.


Which would you prefer? An American kitchen or a British one?

Living In America: Why Is Food Something You Miss The Most?

The Traditional British Chip is something I miss terribly.

When you move to another country, you might miss home a lot, depending on how attached you were to that place. Most times however, you find that you miss the food a lot. I've heard people say that only two weeks away from their home and they miss their favourite restaurant.

Since moving to Texas, I have missed a variety of things about the UK. Most especially, the chips. Chip shops are and probably never will be, a staple of Texan culture. They are quite possibly, a huge favourite of mine and my waistline shows it. Growing up in Wales, I had access to some of the best Fish and Chip shops in the world. Yes. The WORLD.

I'm giving Llanelli's The Oyster Bar a shout out here as I must have gone there well over a thousand times in my life and I never had a bad batch of chips from there. Perfectly cooked, a little crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. Doused in salt and vinegar. Yes, I've gotten YOU hungry now, haven't I?

I have sat here laughing myself into silliness from reading that review. I wonder if they got their curry sauce and chips?? If you're ever in Llanelli, try it out if you want to be dragged into the Twilight zone like this person seemingly was...

Are you an expat? What foods do you miss from home??

Living in America: Life After Lockdown

World Lockdown.

After these tumultuous months on lockdown, are we seeing everything getting back to normal? How will life be in these "new normal" times. Will people be more appreciative of what the world has to offer. There have been reports of a drastic decrease of pollution thanks to there being less cars on the road. The canals of Venice are clear thanks to there being less cruise ships and boats stirring up the silt.

Is this the much needed break that mother nature needed from humanity? Perhaps the birds, bees, trees and sea life are like "I don't know what's going on with humans but long may it continue!"

Perhaps the world needs more of a curfew like this so our planet can regenerate a little. Maybe though, as experts have reportedly said, there's nothing left to do to effectively 'save' Earth.

But don't get too down in the dumps! We're all still alive...


For now!

Living In America: Kettles Boil So Slowly In The USA!

A kettle on the boil. Image: Needpix.com

Hello again readers. Yes, this post is about my frustration with the voltage system in the USA. All of North America operate on a 100-127 volts of electricity. The rest of the world is shall we say a little more high powered in terms of voltage, operating on a 200-240 voltage.

Nowhere is this more noticeable than when you're boiling water in an electric kettle. In the US, a kettle takes more than a minute and a half longer to boil than it does in the UK. This is probably the reason kettles never took off in the US as a household item. In the UK, almost everybody uses the kettle to boil water quickly and not just for water for tea or coffee, I personally used to boil the water to pour it in the pan when I was making pasta, just to shave off a few precious seconds of boiling time on the hob (or the stove as it's known in these here parts). How's THAT for instant gratification? Perhaps the UK is worse in that respect!

Do you have an electric kettle in the US? Have you been to the UK and noticed the speed at which kettles boil and thought "Wow! That was fast! I wish my kettle at home boiled that quickly!"?

Living In America: Living Your Best Life

Image: Etsy

If you live in the USA, you should be living your best life, right? What is the origin of that phrase anyway? 'Living Your Best Life'. We only get one, don't we? Unless these people who say this know something the rest of us don't.

Some people aren't living their best life, however. Spare a thought for them who are living a truly miserable existence. But maybe it's not so bad on the outside. Maybe people see their life and think "It's not so bad" but they don't know what's going on inside their head. Maybe it's a case of they have to deal with it themselves? Get themselves out of whatever rut it is they are in.

We can only speculate.

I hope your month hasn't been too trying and you are still keeping calm and carrying on.

Living In America: Is It Like In The Movies?

Image: Wikimedia Commons

America for many Brits seems like a wondrous place. Thanks to a lot of movies and television, we've grown up with this perception that they all ride around on horses in Texas and are cowboys, they all eat Chinese food from little white boxes, all the taxis are yellow and checkered, all the school buses are yellow and everyone has guns.

Well. I'm here to tell you that it's all true. Every last bit of it. All the stereotypes. Just kidding. April Fools and all that. Though that would have been something if everyone had believed me.

No, the only thing that's fully true about those perceptions are that they do all eat Chinese take out food from little white boxes (Well, the rice anyway) and all school buses ARE yellow.

But no, the rest of it is not. The most important of these is the gun stereotype. Yes, some people do have guns but they're not walking around with them on the hip ready for a quick draw. The people you see at those gun conventions walking around with assault rifles, those conventions are usually held at secret locations in the desert because the people are paranoid that they'll be persecuted for their love of firearms. Which, in truth, they very well may be.

So, to sum it up, America is not like it is in the movies, except for the good bits. Whatever those good bits are, they're up to you to decide.

Living In America: Can The USA Be Quarantined?

In quarantine until further notice. Image: Pixabay

With the current climate of a world pandemic, I'm asking can a country like the USA be fully under quarantine??

I mean, not everybody is going to follow government advice and if they try to clamp down, then we know it won't end well. Already, there's people still going out to public places in defiance of the lockdowns with phrases like "No virus is going to stop me having a good time" and "The government can't tell us what to do!"

Until it does and they do, of course.

Until this pandemic is over, we MUST follow advice. We MUST take precautions to stop the spread. This is imperative until we're given the all clear. This is going to require everyone to do their bit, as they used to say during the war. But will the people do this? There's going to be plenty who won't. It'll be business as usual until they catch this virus or someone they love catches it and the consequences are dire.

For future historians, the Covid-19 virus is a pandemic around the world and most countries are under quarantine restrictions until further notice.


Dominic

Living In America: Offended By Everything?

Easily Offended, Overly-Sensitive. Image: Daniella Urdinlaiz

These days, it seems there's an awful lot of offended people around. You see them all over social media being offended by things a public figure has said.

Many people, especially on social media, seem to have a non-existent sense of humour. Sarcasm seems to go over the head of quite a few Americans and they take a deadpan joke quite seriously, sometimes personally, and end up getting offended and worked up over it.

Many times you might see this in person, I have made a few jokes that have been deemed "not funny" by an American. Now, these are not jokes that are designed to piss people off but rather to make light of a situation. It can get frustrating when someone takes offence to a glib comment and demands you apologise when it really isn't that big of a deal. It's just been blown WAY out of proportion.

Have you ever come across an American that has taken offence to your sense of humour? Did they blow it far out of proportion?