hungryhorace

The motorways in England are littered with SPECS cameras now anyway. The nanny state is alive and well.

London1947

Hey Nigel,

Will you be going to the 4th July fireworks in Leesburg. We went there last year in the heat and humidity. For those Brits that have never gone to that part of the world it's difficult to explain just what's it's like.

John

feelbritish

3 weeks ago!!!

ncoomber

yeah....I will take my kids one last time.....

and its one of those days today - close to 100 and hot and humid....I wont miss these kind of days.

Cheers
Nigel

windsong

Very hot here, too - uncomfortably so. Doesn't help that the sun is also very strong and very few places to hide from it, except inside.

phr1

I am moving back to London on Friday after spending 6 years in Toronto..
The humour - this is what I miss the most. Canadians are plums.

mazmataz

I've been back for a few weeks now and at least three times I have tipped cafe waitresses less than I would have in Canada (usual 15%, I've been tipping just over 10% since I've been back) and they have tried to give it back to me saying it's too much!

between two worlds

mazmataz, this is interesting--it sounds as if you are saying you are back in UK where you are tipping only 10% as opposed to 15% as you used to in Canada (and waitresses still say it's too much! ah sweet) --but can you clarify this is the case?

Because your location still says Vancouver, and I am confused...

The tipping situation in UK is certainly better than US or (it seems )Canada.

between two worlds

London 1947, so sorry to hear you have not settled back in the UK after 30 years in US, and that you regret having returned. It's terrible if you feel trapped there now....

I am interested in why this has been your experience, why you thought you
wanted to live in the UK but now are so unhappy there....understandable if you don't want to discuss in detail though.

...I wonder if it makes a big difference (this relates to the OP as well) whether one has gone back for frequent trips or not. I was in the USA 27 years and although at first we couldn't afford for me to get back often (far less for the whole family to go, so when I did go it was sometimes just for 4 or 5 days!!), as time went on I was able to get back more, until in the last few years I was going for about two weeks at a time, twice a year. This meant I was there enough that changes were gradual and I didn't really experience much culture shock.

(Though I am still taken aback when someone says "All right?" and it seems to mean, "hello!")

So that is one thing. And another is ---everyone's different. I adjusted well to life in the US --threw myself into the community etc--BUT still yearned all the time to be in the UK. Reasons were many, not just one thing like "family."
A combination of family, landscapes, history, language, and culture....--and more and more as time went on, just a desire to feel I was where I belonged. (Though I am not a stick-in-the-mud--chose to leave the UK and go off to live in Europe right after graduation from college.)

I am so happy to be back in the UK, in my home town, family around, lots to see and do, food choices I like in shops and restaurants (more modern, healthy, provenance-aware, and multi-cultural than in my small US town), and etc etc. Banter in the lines in the shops, those changeable cloudy skies...all of it. I knew I wanted to be home again, and I was right. (Now my USC DH just has to feel settled there.... )

Now back in the US town for a visit, it's lovely to see friends again and lots about it is nice and familiar as it was home for more than 2 decades...but I am still glad I will be going back to be based in the UK.

I trust this will be your experience, Nigel....and others returning or about to.

Bnet36

I am so excited about getting away from all of that madness here in the US!