Anyone wish they were back in the UK

[Fandango 1,440]

However, I agree with everyone here re. medical costs. If I moved back to the UK for ANY reason, that would be it! I'm actually expecting right now and I think if I wasn't the main earner I'd be on the first plane back home (being near family for this period would also be a bonus). Fortunately I have decent medical insurance, so the costs shouldn't be more than $8,000 (our deductible)... although that is still going to take a while to pay off! It seems ridiculous that it should cost $800 a month to insure two healthy adults in their 20s - Alex and I rarely have to see the doctor more than once a year. Oh, and in my experience so far, both waiting times and bedside manners have been far better in the NHS!

Yay, congrats!!!! Check out the baby thread here...revitalize it for us, lol.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Thank you! I shall!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Edit: Duplicate post!

Edited September 6, 2011 by Alex & Rachel

[Fandango 1,440]

Thank you! I shall!

I had to bump it for you

Afterthought: 'bump', lolz. pun not intended.

[Chris921 13]

I will be honest with you, only thing i miss about the Uk is my family and friends, i lived in London so overall the cost of living here in Michigan is a hell of a lot cheaper, someone i worked with was paying a 1000 pound a month in rent just for a 2 bedroom flat, i like the fact for that sort of money here i could have like 5 bedroom house and other bills all paid off. and the cost of food in London was astronomical too, so it all depends on where you live, i haven't seen any crimes since i have been here only been 3 months but i haven't had any trouble yet

[TracyTN 237]

My husband doesn't miss the UK one iota, either. There isn't really one thing he can say that's positive about the culture there as a whole. (Yes, that includes the NHS.

It's all relative. Whatever works for you and your family - go for it.

[kikip 12]

I guess I'm lucky my husband loves the US and hates England.... I had no idea how many UK transplants here were unhappy. He occasionally gripes about things here (med insurance and not getting Liverpool matches on TV mostly), but he says he never wants to go back. New Hampshire is a wonderful place to live though :-) Good luck to all of you!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I've been missing family and friends particularly lately so I went onto UK-Yankee to read up on what Americans there miss about the US - instead I ended up reading the threads listing all the things people love about the UK!

I can't believe I forgot to mention what is probably my second biggest gripe - vacation policies! And I miss the more relaxed attitude towards work in the UK in general. I work more hours in the US, but am no more productive. I've seen people get very, very stressed here over really quite trivial things - so many people really do 'live to work' here! Frantic 4 am meetings called for... well, no reason, really.

[fozzie 41]

I agree on the 'live to work' thing. People here are so worried about what they do for a living and how it defines them in the eyes of everybody else (my wife is like this). I come from an attidiude that is considerable different and my work doesnt define who I am. It's actually become more noticable the longer I am here and I constantly feel under pressure to advance my career.

Otherwise its the family and friends thing, I love NYC and don't see my self back in England any time soon.

[Jilli & Ales 9]

I can't believe I forgot to mention what is probably my second biggest gripe - vacation policies!

My fiance literally could not believe I was only going to get one week off after my first year of working. Hm.....

[fozzie 41]

My fiance literally could not believe I was only going to get one week off after my first year of working. Hm.....

I am lucky to get 2 weeks. pah! I have an option to buy an extra week, which of course I do, at 85% of a days pay for each day. It's wortth it but I wish i didnt have to pay for the extra days. Also I am rarely sick so my sick/personal days go towards regular days off too so I get over 4 weeks when all is said and done. I do miss the standard 5 weeks form England but I honestly don't know what I did with all that leave when I was in the UK. Frittered away here and there probably, i appreciate time off work more now.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I travelled! Now my entire annual holiday gets used up in visiting the UK, which I don't mind, of course, but it does mean I can't go anywhere else!

I borrowed time off to spend two weeks visiting my family this past summer - and what with friends, grandparents, aunts and uncles and immediate family, I barely had enough time in which to see everyone!

[Twinkles 10]

Been here since the end of February.

I have not enjoyed a cup of tea since i left English soil...That gets to me, tea is the answer to ALL lifes problems

Always been a skinny person, emigrate to America and i started to notice my waistband expanding. I mentioned it to my Brother in Law and all he said was "welcome to America"

Now i would give just about anything up for my Husband. Theres a line though and that line stops when it comes to the way i speak, my accent, my Geordieness. I love my Geordieness and i be damned if im giving that up. I divvent na wut all the fuss is aboot. du ye na what i mean like?!

I do try to talk like the Queen alot of the time. Its just draining to do it all of the time.

So when im home with Hubby, it all comes oot and i divvent give a monkees. This is Sparta!

One thing that i have loved, is going back to old fashioned letter writing, to my parents in the UK.

They have sent me a couple of very sweet letters...written by my stiff upper lip Dad tu boot. Just priceless.

I got a letter from him a few days ago, where he told me that they have sent two parcels. I know one of the items is Ringtons Tea bags. No idea what other goodies though. Its little gestures like that, that help me get through the transition.

[fozzie 41]

Theres a line though and that line stops when it comes to the way i speak, my accent, my Geordieness. I love my Geordieness and i be damned if im giving that up.

Good luck with that. It's harder than you think. Not being understood gets frustrating at times, especially on the phone. If I didnt need to be on the phone and be understood all day in my job then I would still have a more pronounced english accent than i do. Some things won't change though, tomato, banana for example. I caused some confusion in Subway the other day as I asked for tomato in my sub, she reached for the Mayo so I repeated that i would like tomato not mayo. So she reached for the jalepinos. I ended up describing a tomato to the poor girl.

[Robert&Karen 264]

I visited my fiance four times this year, that is coming to an end as she will be here soon!

But from my trips there are plenty of things I miss:

Yummy bacon! Not the streaky kind!

Crunchies

Irn Bru

Maleteasers

Flakes

Sausages

The price you see is what you pay, taxes are always included

Antique shops with things older than 1950

Very inexpensive cell phone / mobile services

Harrod's

Cute little police cars and ambulances

Things I don't miss:

Expecting a head on collision at any moment

No one knows what root beer is

Cold

Gray skies

VAT

Congestion charges for going to London on a weekday (actually I got a ticket!)

Tiny cars