When my wife moved over from Canada three years ago people always assumed that she was from the US, but the thing is they would always ask with enthusiasm. She would tell them that in fact she was from Canada and normally a chatty little conversation would follow. I'm certain that the same conversation would have taken place if she had been an American. I'm sure you'll be fine.

- where the heck have you been hanging out?

Ooops... I should have been more detailed in what I wrote just then.... I don't mean that British people I have met in person have been vicious and violent. What I meant was that the remarks I have read, about Americans, on the other British sites have been...

Which confuses me even further because when I was in England for three weeks I didn't hear things like that. *Sigh* I just don't know....

Sorry about that.... My husband was still logged in under his name.... The above was from me...
:D

I'm not sure the kind of people who hang around in internet forums are a balanced crosssection of society...there seems to be a higher than normal incidence of people with more to say than their brain can safely cope with....with the obvious exception of the good people here of course (well, most of them;))

On the bright side, even if the folks in the UK dont like you or your views, at least they will not be sending an invading army to the US to shut you up:)

Iain

Re: Brits Hate Americans???
 

er.. I don't think think you will have a problem in regards to this issue and you are worrying too much about this.

Very funny, Iain. Honestly, brightened up my day (and it wasn't a very bright day despite the sunshine, seeing that my better half has gone to London). Thank you!

:D :D :D :beer:

Re: Brits Hate Americans???
 

Pretty bad....better get used to "oh, you're from Boston - do you know Sam and Carla and Woody....." ;)

I wouldn't worry too much....as someone said, don't push the "bigger and better" theme too much, but apart from that I wouldn't be too worried about expressing your own point of view...after all, not everyone in the UK has the same viewpoint on everything, and its gonna be pretty boring friendships you make if you all sit around and agree all night:) Just remember that you're a 'guest' over there (as I am here, as any expat is anywhere), so things aren't always the same as at home, or what you may have expected, so perhaps a little tact may be necessary on occasions.

I wouldn’t worry about the people at all..
However I will warn you that the UK has little or no air-conditioning (mainly because it never really gets hot enough and if it does it soon rains).
What you will miss is windows with screens… welcome to the world with bugs (guaranteed) in your house..
And small refrigerators..

You’ll have much more to stress about at first than some ignorant dick head…

Bugs in the house? I'm a little used to that because I live in NC, but it depends on what kind of bugs you're talking about....

With No screens, any thing that can fly..

Drove my wife mad... kept calling the British uncivilised because of it.... :)

Maybe depends on where you live - I don't ever recall haing a problem with bugs in the UK, and slept with the bedroom windows open all year round - but here in Houston we have everything screeened, and still end up with squadrons of undesirables in the house if we so much as crack the screen on the back door to throw the trash out...

Aircon - spot on - with the summers getting warmer over there (allegedly!) I wonder how long it will be before aircon cathes on, or at least ceiling fans...But at least the houses have decent central heating to get you through the long cold miserable winters......

Refrigerators - spot on again. I can remember looking at the massive american ones and wondering "why do people need such big ones". Now when I go back to visit I find myself wondering "how on earth do they manage with such small ones!!)

Like anyone
 

Not at all, like anyone who is pleasant, funny, easy to get on with and doesn't think the world owes them a living.

Goodies and baddies in all forms and races!

All the best
Merlot :)

Re: Brits Hate Americans???
 

My wife is American and we travel back and forth with some frequency. Britain is a very multi-cultural society and if her obvious North American-ness is even acknowledged then it is in a friendly and inquisitive sense; very much the same as the reverse would be in the US.

Many Britons do disagree with American foreign policy, but I have never met one that would hold an individual American responsible! My father, for example, disagrees passionately about Iraq and so forth, but loves my wife to death. Most people just won't make a connection between what's going on in international politics and the American person stood in front of them. A person is a person.

The same comments you make might also be said of Canadians (my wife and I now live in Canada), who are supposedly deeply anti-American (some really are). But my experience is once again the same: even the most ardent anti-American Canadian will treat an American person as a person.

At best you will go completely unnoticed, at worst you will be an interesting novelty.

As another poster mentioned, if you go around behaving like an idiot, you will be treated like one. This is the same everywhere! Nobody - in any country - likes Joe Foreigner telling them how awful things are and how much better they are back home. In terms of being defensive and outspoken: Britain is a free country, say what you want. Be prepared for others to exercise their freedom in response, just like you would in the US.

The absolute worst thing you can do is arrive in the UK (or anywhere) with a built in prejudice about how you will be treated. If you do, you will perceive everything in light of that prejudice, even if it's completely untrue, and it will make you miserable.

Heather, do not worry about moving to the UK, you will be fine......it will just take a little time to get used to the change of scenery and culture. I am from Leeds, in West Yorkshire(Northern England) and at the time when I left to come to the USA(4 years ago), it was the fastest growing city outside of London in the UK and is also significantly cheaper to live than the south of england. One question though, why on earth would you want to leave the great city of Boston to move to England. Here I am living in PA and I desperately want to move to the Mass. area. By the way is your husband now a US citizen?

cheers,
Patrick