Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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.

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.

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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.

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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.

Bev

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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...

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.

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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.

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

Might as well live in France then :p:rofl: 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 :frown: - 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 :nod:

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.

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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.

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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.

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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.

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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.

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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? :lol:

Re: American would love advice re:moving to England
 

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.