Out of curiousity, for those of you who have left your home country and came here to the US, what are the biggest differences (positive or negative) that you have come across? How hard or easy was it for you to adjust to the American culture and lifestyle? I'm just wondering how different our culture is as compared to others. And have you found yourselves starting to become "Americanized"? ;-)

Hope this proves an interesting topic of conversation!

Depends on where you are coming from... As a Canadian... there isn't a lot of adjusting to do... since lifestyles are "quite" similar... But for myself personally... the biggest adjustment for me and that is still plaguing me now is establishing credit.

I am going to speak for my husband and answer climate. He is now reassured that his blood will not, in all likelihood, freeze. I have considered videotaping his kvetching about the weather and sending it to SNL. If he could get a spot as the weatherman he would have folks rolling in the aisles. To listen to him go on about the seven shirts and three trousies one must wear to live up here is hysterical.
Friends of mine take a midwinter camping trip in a local state park. His face when they asked him along? Priceless!

good to know.. I hadn't really thought of this until recently... there's probably a whole slew of things I am not thinking of.. was going to sell my car and then just get a cheaper car there, but I may not be able to get a loan.. so best keep the one I have now... driving across.

for me the thing I worry about, is missing all my friends and family.. very social girl.. but it just may prove to be a nice break too only time will tell

Getting used to having to "pay" for medical treatment while I didn't have insurance! In the UK, pretty much everything is paid for via the NHS (after deductions from our pay, of course! )

Also, I still can't get used to the heat in Florida. It makes me feel quite faint sometimes. Corey's the same. He's lived here all his life, and he hates the sun!!!!

Kate. xxxxx

Very true... $15 to just "see" the doc for 15 seconds... quite the pay per hour I must say... but I guess they need to pay for their insurance with all the lawsuits going on too...

This is an OT (off topic) discussion but we seem to have a lot of them on here.... many started by me and even our moderator started one recently so........

As a Brit, I am still amazed at the differences in cultures. I wouldn't like to go into any great detail here but I would like to say that there are many pluses to even out the minuses and I am settling well into my new home.

You have to come with an open mind. I still find myself comparing what I see with what I left behind, whether it's good or bad. I guess that it is reasonable to do that and I am sure that it is something most immigrants do. I am sure that will ease with time and I will be doing things the other way round when I go back to Britain on holiday!

Someone said that Britain and America are two countries separated by the same language and that is a very true expression as the language difference is one of things that comes as the biggest surprise. I travelled here a few times before moving to the USA to marry and I think it is essential to see what you are letting yourself in for before taking the plunge.

A tolerant and understanding spouse certainly helps!

John

This isn't really an adjustment, more of a pet peeve. My fiance hates the word precipitation. Whenever we watch the weather here he always complains about the use of that word. He says, "If it's going to rain just say rain, if it's snow just say snow what's with all the 'precipitation'!" Watching the weather with a rainy forecast now brings a smile to my face whenever the meterologist says precipitation. It's something small but I get a big kick out of it...it's a nice little outside reminder of him while we're separated.

MarDae

Being Canadian there is not much. For me it would be the medical care.
Not being able to just go and see a doc when you need to, but instead
having to worry about having enough money to do it. I am enjoying the
warmer winters but not the humidity in the summer. But I guess the
biggest bummer for me is the loss of $350 to $650 (per month) of my
Canadian disability to the exchange rate.

Alexj

sunflwrgrl13 wrote:
    > Out of curiousity, for those of you who have left your home country and
    > came here to the US, what are the biggest differences (positive or
    > negative) that you have come across? How hard or easy was it for you to
    > adjust to the American culture and lifestyle? I'm just wondering how
    > different our culture is as compared to others. And have you found
    > yourselves starting to become "Americanized"? ;-)
    >
    >
    >
    > Hope this proves an interesting topic of conversation!
    >
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Interesting topic! My fiance is not here yet, but I'm anxious to see his reaction to many many things here in the US, and of course to help him adjust along the way :-)

He and I have discussed all the adjustments that will need to be made (on both our parts, not just his!), and he understands that he will be learning a whole new set of "rules" here in daily life. But on a personal level between the two of us, it's comforting to know that we will each contribute something from our individual cultures within our household; merging them to create our own personalized "sub-culture".

I think the thing he will find most disturbing is the public show of affection here in the US. Holding hands, or an arm around the shoulder, or a peck on the cheek is acceptable, but anything beyond that, in his eyes, needs the phrase "get a room!!" He really didn't believe me when I told him we kiss in public here. Wait till he sees high-school kids necking on the way home from school....yikes!! LOL

Rene

I moved to the US when I was 11, so in that sense I guess I am pretty "Americanized" already, considering I remember more of my life in the US than Germany. What is hard for me is the fact that I have less rights now as a married adult than I did when I was a teenager! I had a drivers license and a car and everything and now I have neither and am "locked" in the house.
What I miss though, and I think this has a lot to do with Atlanta (the town where rush hour goes from noon Sunday to Saturday evening, haha), is that you can't walk ANYWHERE. Living in London I didn't have a car and I relied on walking and the tube or buses...and I loved that. And about all other European cities in general. In Atlanta you are lost without a car.
Then little other things I miss are stuff like food and sweets. Like German chocolates, the variety of cheese and bread (especially in Germany, mmmmh) you get in Europe. Or getting used to cooking certain dishes and not being able to get all ingredients, or when you do you have to go to special places where they are costly (like the nice soft mozarella you use for tomato and mozarella cost 78 pence at ASDA in the UK and costs $4.99 at Kroger in the US). The food goes both ways of course. You get used to the convenience of certain things that aren't available in all countries.
Ohh, and something I have yet to get used to after basically 10 years of living in the US is the pride in the American flag and being patriotic in general. I guess Germany isn't very big in displaying it's flag due to the history of the country, but I always have to grin at the cheesiness when you watch the news for example and they have this giant American flag waving or something. I think sometimes it's just taken a little TOO far.

I think the hardest thing for me has not been a difference as such but the
realisation that I've moved here for the rest of my life now. its not a
long holiday that I'll be going home back to the UK from eventually.

I've only been here for 6 months, but at the moment I don't see myself
wanting to live here forever. I could definitely stay for a few years but I
want to go home eventually - just got to convince my husband of that!

As for differences, though, I think the biggest is health care. I was
worried I needed to go the dentist the other day and the first thing that
crosses my mind is "How much is it going to cost?". Back in England I would
have just booked an appointment without giving it a second thought.

Lindsey



"sunflwrgrl13" <member@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Out of curiousity, for those of you who have left your home country and
    > came here to the US, what are the biggest differences (positive or
    > negative) that you have come across? How hard or easy was it for you to
    > adjust to the American culture and lifestyle? I'm just wondering how
    > different our culture is as compared to others. And have you found
    > yourselves starting to become "Americanized"? ;-)
    > Hope this proves an interesting topic of conversation!
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

This isn't a huge adjustment, but I know it drives David crazy everytime he gets carded for a drink. He's well above the drinking age and when they ask I can almost see the steam coming out of his ears. Obviously, if that's our biggest problem, we're doing okay , but wanted to see if it bothered anybody else!

Well there is nothing wrong with not wanting to live in the US forever. When I get older I would definitely consider retiring back to Europe with my husband. I think America is an amazing place when it comes to business. The whole attitude of anything is possible. It is much easier to open a business in the US than it is in Europe for example (from what I have been told). On the other hand I think once you get to a certain age where you can't do everything yourself anymore Europe would be better. When I think of older people that have to go to retirement homes here for example, vs my g'ma who is 83 and can still do so many things in Germany that she definitely couldn't do if she lived in the States.

*L* Yeah, I can totally see that. Being used to European standards where you can drink at 16 or 18 (but you can still get away with it at a younger age than that) and then moving to the US and still being carded when you're 60 (hey, some places DO card EVERYONE) is pretty strange. I don't mind it because well...I'm only 21. Actually once I was asked by someone if my sister and I were twins (she's 15) so yeah, people think I'm young anyway. I guess you have to TRY and think of if as a compliment that you look too young to drink.