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American would love advice re:moving to England

American would love advice re:moving to England

Old Mar 14th 2012, 5:35 am
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by sile
Thanks for your comments. I will say again, I am aware that no place is ideal and that there is violence at some level everywhere. But believe me when I tell you that the gun thing here is bad. I mean, people are afraid to say anything to someone who cuts them off in traffic because people shoot people for such things. A lady working in a store in a nice town not far from here was shot to death after a holdup.

In regard to NHS, I would be resident in a short period of time if I move there and have my Irish citizenship.
Is there a lot of animal abuse there . I surely hope not.
There may not be quite as big a gun problem in the UK but it is rising. Innocent kids have been caught in the crossfire of gang fights. Knives however are a massive problem as is the gang culture.

Re. animal abuse - all I meant was that there are not things like doggy parks which you can get here. In most public parks dogs must stay on a lead. Also if you rent property it is almost impossable to find a landlord that will allow you to have a pet there.
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Old Mar 14th 2012, 12:22 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

I honestly didn't find it that hard to find a rental property in the UK that would accept pets (we have two cats). About half the properties we considered turned us down because of pets but the other half had no problems with it. Perhaps it's different if you're renting a flat rather than a house.
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Old Mar 14th 2012, 12:33 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by Gillymonkey
There may not be quite as big a gun problem in the UK but it is rising. Innocent kids have been caught in the crossfire of gang fights. Knives however are a massive problem as is the gang culture.

Re. animal abuse - all I meant was that there are not things like doggy parks which you can get here. In most public parks dogs must stay on a lead. Also if you rent property it is almost impossable to find a landlord that will allow you to have a pet there.
I'm unsure about elsewhere but London murder rates are at their lowest in 20 years.

That's an unfortunate thing about back home there's a bit of a glass half empty kinda vibe.
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Old Mar 14th 2012, 1:03 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by sile
I don't know how much you know, but everywhere is the US has some weather problems. I would be jumping from the frying pan into the fire relocating in the US.
You could move to the northwest and get a climate that's much like Britain. There is a risk of earthquake, but not big enough to deter, I don't think, as we lived in Victoria BC for years where there's a definite risk of a "big one." Also, places on the lower east coast are pretty moderate.

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Old Mar 15th 2012, 6:09 am
  #95  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by sallysimmons
No Britain doesn't have the extreme weather that America does, but it's impossible to describe the grim depressing feeling of waking up and seeing that it's grey and rainy for the 7th day in a row. No, Britain doesn't have the gun problem the US has, but it does have a real binge drinking problem that means more casual violence and an unpleasant atmosphere in even some of the prettiest towns come night time.
To me, the above two things were the biggest culture shocks when I went to live in the UK. I was younger than the OP but had a similar feeling that I wanted to live in the UK. I am French so I was not moving too far - though I had already lived in the US and Bulgaria so was used to adapting to foreign climes - but I have to admit that the long long grey rainy periods, the early nights in winter and not seeing the sun for weeks at a time were amongst the reasons I was happy to leave the UK. I also hated the binge drinking and all the unpleasantness that came with it.

As Sally pointed out, those are things that are very hard to explain to somebody who has not experienced them. I spent 5 years in the UK and enjoyed most of my time there but having grown up and lived in sunnier climates, I knew what I was missing and so was relieved to move to somewhere with more sunshine.

OP, the weather might be more predictable in the UK, but be aware in that it will also be less sunny and greyer than where you are now. Just coming at it from the angle of someone not from the UK who moved there and away again...
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Old Mar 15th 2012, 11:31 am
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Going to live somewhere is completely different to holidaying, so on that front I too would be saying "go for it". I too have moved countries both with and without having visited first, and honestly the holiday in no way prepared me for the reality of living somewhere where my language was questioned, though it was also an English speaking country.

English is a complicated language and my USC oh and I can still be talking about 2 different concepts using the same word, and I am not just talking the obvious ones such as candy/lolly, bum/fanny, diaper/nappy or cordial/koolaid.

Some of the things I needed help with was using phones, accents are harder without body language, getting a job because I wasnt a local and dealing with bureacracy.

I still think its doable, but my caution would be, dont burn all your bridges just in case you feel returning to the USA is your best way forward if all doesnt meet your expectations. In the thread Over 50's plus moving back some have found it's ideal, others have returned to the US.

Best wishes with whatever you decide, at least you can research fully and be prepared for the change of culture. Being flexible and without too many preconceived ideas may be the best way to avoid disappointments.
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Old Mar 15th 2012, 3:38 pm
  #97  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by elice_in_oz
OP, the weather might be more predictable in the UK, but be aware in that it will also be less sunny and greyer than where you are now. Just coming at it from the angle of someone not from the UK who moved there and away again...
Or you could just move down south. Much lighter, for much longer in Oxford compared to York, far less rain and miserable grey skies too.
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Old Mar 15th 2012, 9:48 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by Bob
Or you could just move down south. Much lighter, for much longer in Oxford compared to York, far less rain and miserable grey skies too.
Might as well live in France then Food is better!
We lived in the Midlands so closer to Oxford than York. And I experienced living in both the not-so-lovely city - Coventry - and the really pretty - Leamington Spa - and regardless, still not enough sun for my southern French temperament. This is of course just my humble opinion
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Old Mar 16th 2012, 1:42 am
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

I really appreciate all the comments here. I must say, this is a lovely community. Everyone is so willing to give helpful opinions and information.
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Old Mar 16th 2012, 4:12 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by Sally Redux
They don't make that horrible screeching racket though.
Foxes scream; they sound like a female screaming. They always do that at night and the early hours of the morning!

You won't hear many foxes in the countryside as the farmers' control the numbers, but in cities and towns, the councils are very poor at fox control. The little scavenger type foxes that use to reside in cities are now being replaced by big blooming predator type foxes that have moved in from the countryside. Some of those are 16" and bold as brass; one passed me in the street in broad daylight! A lot have mange too.

Oh and we have heartworm (called French heartworm) in England now, or otherwise known as lungworm. The vet surgeries have been giving out lots of warnings that this is now in the UK. It got into the south west and then moved across the county to London and the rest of the south of England.

Last edited by formula; Mar 16th 2012 at 4:48 pm.
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Old Mar 16th 2012, 4:33 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by Ethelred_the_Unready
That I don't know. I do know that the Scots were smart enough not to implement the tuition hike
Well that's one way of looking at it. Scotland is now getting all the EEA citizens looking for free university, because England's home fees are too high.

I notice Salmond is now looking for ways to stop Scotland having to pay for EEAs education. Good luck with that one.
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Old Mar 16th 2012, 4:48 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by formula
Well that's one way of looking at it. Scotland is now getting all the EEA citizens looking for free university, because England's home fees are too high.

I notice Salmond is now looking for ways to stop Scotland having to pay for EEAs education. Good luck with that one.
Not sure I'd say all the EEA citizens... according to this article, there are 6000 fewer European applicants to English universities for 2012, but only an additional 1000 (slightly less in fact) to Scottish universities.
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Old Mar 16th 2012, 6:55 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by rebs
Not sure I'd say all the EEA citizens... according to this article, there are 6000 fewer European applicants to English universities for 2012, but only an additional 1000 (slightly less in fact) to Scottish universities.
A 16.5% drop in EU students going to English universities, is a big drop. A 6% rise is Scottish universities; I wonder if the word has got round yet, that the UK has 4 countries and the rules are different? Give it time.

Interesting to read that one student has been exercising his EU right to live elsewhere in the EU and is now allowed free university education in Scotland as an EU student. I wondered if that was a route for students from England, NI and Wales to get free university education in Scotland and it looks like it is.
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Old Mar 16th 2012, 7:01 pm
  #104  
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

I wonder if the word has got round yet, that the UK has 4 countries and the rules are different? Give it time.
So when you said this was a massive problem, you were assuming it would be one day based on your (so far unfounded) own assumptions and then when presented with evidence that there isn't actually a problem, you just say 'give it time.'

Are you sure you don't work for The Daily Mail?
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Old Mar 16th 2012, 7:33 pm
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Default Re: American would love advice re:moving to England

Originally Posted by formula
A 16.5% drop in EU students going to English universities, is a big drop. A 6% rise is Scottish universities; I wonder if the word has got round yet, that the UK has 4 countries and the rules are different? Give it time.
Was reading in the news how a lot of EU uni's were heavily hitting education fairs in the UK to attract students.

1500 squid a year to go to Dutch uni's and free in Germany, and plenty of universities in those countries were offering courses in English so language wouldn't be a issue.
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