illusions?

[winterbadger]

So, I'm curious. For those of you who live, or have lived, in the UK having come from the US (or in the US having come from the UK), what surprised you most? By which I mean not so much economic things or climate things, but what did you believe/expect/look forward to about the place you were going that turned out to be completely wrong? I'm thinking first of all of disappointments (shattered dreams? ;-) but also of unexpected pleasant surprises.

I know, I know, in [X] they don't have [Y foodstuff] and the cost of living is [better/worse] and it always [rains/is sunny], which is just awful. But on a somewhat deeper or more abstract level, what was really different that you didn't expect?

(crossposted to some communities)

Comments

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

I lived in the UK between 1978 and 1982 for the first time and am now back here living in the London area since last year.

The first time I lived here, I think the rudeness. I expected people to be polite based, I think, on the nice way they talked. They sounded pretty, but they still weren't very polite over-all.

The lack of instant friendships. On the other hand, although it took much longer to build up a friendship, that person was a much better, longer-lasting friend than all of the instant friendships in the US.

Now I have to say it's the binge drinking that stuns me, especially how public it is and how much people do on the streets and don't mind that they are totally out of their minds.

On the other hand, I have some excellent, long-lasting friends and the best job I've ever had in my life. Love the 5 weeks of paid holiday a year that I can actually take. Love the greater job security as well. Oh yes, the whole of Europe on my doorstep!

[silme.livejournal.com]

The difference in administering education floored me at first, though I'm used to it now and understand it.

I don't think I could live in the US again, though.

[snolan.livejournal.com]

I lived in Suffolk, England from 1967-1969 and again from 1971 -1974.
I visited England in 1992 and several times since then.

Surprises visiting England as an adult:

• driving on the Left is more natural to me even though I learned to drive on the right
  
• drivers in England are vastly more proficient than the vast majority of American drivers
  
• people in England, including drivers hidden inside automobiles and anonymous, are vastly more polite
  
• the roads in England are vastly better in the 1990s and today than they were in 1974 (used to take 4+ hours to get from Woodbridge/Bentwaters/Ipswich to London, now it takes 4 hours to get from the same place in Suffolk all the way to South Wales!)
  
• more people walk regularly, and as a result there is a much lower proportion of people who are overweight
  
• corn syrup has had an impact on the UK though, and more people are heavy there than were in the 1970s
  
• there is a freaking mobile phone store on every corner and every other business on every block; there are in fact more mobile phone stores than there are people; this is a great mystery to me - as simple math would suggest that everyone who has one already has a mobile
  
• I love traffic circles, they simply make more sense than stop lights in most situations
  
• eating in restaurants is expensive, but fabulous Indian, Chinese, Spanish Tapas, and Tex-Mex are no more expensive than fast food - so you can eat really well now; fish and chips is still a good bargain, though good places are getting harder to find
  
• people in England have many, many layers to their relationships; on a tour/visit you are unlikely to meet the real person; instead meeting their public face
  

Surprises returning to the States after a short visit to England:

• driving on the right-hand side is difficult and unnatural
  
• people cut you off in traffic and seem to delight in it
  
• there is an open frankness to money that is a welcome relief to the confusing nuance of social class in England
  
• Puritanism and it's ugly, shameful legacy are still strangling creativity and freedom of expression in the States
  
• There are no where near as many "pert, spankable bottoms" as there are in England
  

I started a whole list of my impressions returning to the states as a child, then removed them as I don't think that is really what you were after.

[magaidhbhan.livejournal.com]

Aside from the fact that it's standard practice to have separate taps for hot and cold water (wha...??), the thing that surprised me the most was what I saw as the general Scottish attitude towards their past and their culture, especially as they relate to England.

Of course I knew going in that there was rivalry, but I guess I thought it would be something like my own experience of the North/South rivalry -- mostly in jest, most real resentment forgotten. It's not. I found myself wanting to shake most of the people I met when they started talking about Scotland's history, England, the future, culture, and things like that. They were petulant and bitter, blaming England for everything that's wrong with Scotland, but without initiative, like the only thing that would satify them is if suddenly E2 said, "Oops, sorry, we shouldn't have done all that bad oppressive stuff to you, here's your independence and all Parliament's money to make up for it." Mind you, this resentment is tied to a vague envy -- England is still where people look to find the standard to try to conform to.

Most of the people I spoke to (outside the university) saw Scotland's heritage as a needless weight, a dead thing that tied them to poverty and disgrace. There was no sense that they needed anything from their past -- save tartan and bagpipes to keep the American tourism -- to constrct their future, if they ever get around to it. That being said, the memory of things like classes (which most Scottish people would say don't exist) is still very strong -- I knew a man named Sir Iain Noble (did you ever meet him?), who was a Gaelic acitivist, and a very very wealthy man, who owned much of the Isle of Skye. People were very often *rude* to him, just to show that they didn't feel that they needed to be polite because he was nobility. Or they would be sort of grudgingly polite to his face, then start complaining about him as soon as he left the room. It was strange. I think he and I got along as well as we did because I treated him with the respect I would show and 70-odd-year-old man, with none of the baggage.


Also, obesity and alcoholism are rampant. The drinking culture is astounding. I astounded myself by how much I ended up drinking by the end of my first year, and had to make myself cool down. I could down a bottle of whisky in an evening and not feel it, no hangover, nothing. Now, back to normal, two glasses is my limit. It's very common for someone to sit in the pub from 5 to 9 downing pints like water, then get up and drive himself home.


You asked for the things that surprised me, and you're getting the bad stuff -- but I was very naive, and I expected the things that I did indeed come to love about Scotland. People are friendly and welcoming and generous, and entirely open (none of the making-the-polite-noises culture I'm used to over here -- if they're wiling to do something, they'll say they are and then they'll do it; if they're not, they'll tell you why). It's beautiful. There is a rich and wonderful history if you look for it, and there are still people who care about the traditions they're heir to.

[beckon.livejournal.com]

There were two things that struck me as unexpected during my tenure 85-89 and 90-91.

1. The number of places to buy alcohol. The village I lived in had something like one store or pub for every 30 people.

2. The violence. Random vicious violence of the youth. If you go into the wrong pub or say the wrong thing you'll be met outside with not just the offended party but all of his mates and their mates and the old granny walking buy and they will fuck you up. They will ring around you and kick you until you stop making sounds.

Probably the most violent place I've ever lived.