British Expats - A year today.

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Its interesting that you mention the negative approach of many people in the UK. I hear this from so many people and yet when I lived there I was never really aware of it. In the US there is a general "can do" approach but I think a lot of what some people see as negative attitude in the UK I see as being "anti bragging" for want of a better term. I think my friends never want to be seen as boasting or showing off so tend to "play things down".

This is SO true. What I've found is that when people say things like "why would you want to come back here?" and you say "because it's fantastic here and so much better than where I was," they kind of puff up a little with pride and agree that yes, it's not so bad after all. Then they start telling you their favourite places and things to do.

I can see how, to an American, it can seem as though people are being negative, but really they're just bracing themselves against bad things (criticism, future events, whatever). There's very little naivetÃ© in Britain - people tend towards cynicism and this can be a very good thing IMO because it prevents the government and the media and the corporations from pulling the wool over everyone's eyes.

That said, I can understand where Britwhore is coming from. It's hard when you just don't fit in. That was certainly the case for me in America - I could have lived there 500 years and I'd never have understood the place.

I love everything about where I live, including the wonderful people in my little village. But if I loved everything about America, that's where I'd go. We only get one life.

Britwhore, I hope you can make this work for you. I wish you the very best.

I do disagree with the statement that the UK has changed for the worse more than for the better. I remember the UK I left in the mid-80s. It's infinitely better now. It's more multicultural, the arts scene is amazing everywhere, the food is better, there's less violence, people have more disposable income, the standard of living for average people is higher ... I can't think of any ways in which things were better in the 70s and 80s than they are now. Maybe I'm just blanking out?