Things you'll miss from the UK, and how you'll compensate?

[Hypnos 6,576]

Rotherham. Tough break.

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Tbf, she lives in Sheffield, a nice part of it too (as I said, bordering the Peak District). To be absolutely fair, I am actually really looking forward to spending an English Summer with her doing English stuff. For real. It will be great - until I start pining for America. But you know what? Sometimes we just have to make sacrifices for the ones we love. And, when push comes to shove, I know damn good and well that it'll be far, far easier for me to re-adapt to the UK than it'll ever be for her to Americanise. And we both know it. Hey - she's worth it.

[Pooky 3,786]

... if it weren't for my English wife!! And she's Northern too. Yorkshire more specifically ...

You're married to a Tyke?

That explains a lot.

[nobbie 105]

Tbf, she lives in Sheffield, a nice part of it too (as I said, bordering the Peak District). To be absolutely fair, I am actually really looking forward to spending an English Summer with her doing English stuff. For real. It will be great - until I start pining for America. But you know what? Sometimes we just have to make sacrifices for the ones we love. And, when push comes to shove, I know damn good and well that it'll be far, far easier for me to re-adapt to the UK than it'll ever be for her to Americanise. And we both know it. Hey - she's worth it.

Good luck to you both, I'd move back in a heartbeat, but I said I'd give it a couple of years and see how we go. I'm quite jealous of you moving back.

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Good luck to you both, I'd move back in a heartbeat, but I said I'd give it a couple of years and see how we go. I'm quite jealous of you moving back.

Weird isn't it, how some of us completely adapt to stateside life and some of us don't. And thanks.

[PBJ 60]

Since my approval last week, and the subsequent storm of planning and scheduling and booking and general blue-a*se-flying, i've been experiencing a new kind of charm as I go about my English life. Everything I do and everywhere I go gets studied from a different angle, under a different light. What is this place I call home? What does it mean to me? Why do we persist in being so English?! A kind of nostalgia is already setting in and i'm really enjoying it.

Just yesterday I was at the lido, enjoying some sun and a casual swim with friends, and of course peacefully distracted by all the other people sharing this space for the afternoon. Its June and a barmy 22 degrees outside, so the place was very busy. So there we are, the British, all half naked and lying on towel-draped concrete and sizzling our bellies in the sun whilst licking Cornish ice cream before sploshing into the outdoor pool and apologising for barely colliding feet or hands with the dainty breast stroke swimmers going back and forth in orderly rows. There was a gentle hum of chatter as yummy mummies with toddlers swapped yoga tips, freelance creatives waffled about next weeks' shoot, and old guard gents moaned about it being too hot whilst constantly fidgeting with their tight speedos. And still, in between the variety of people there seemed to be a common bond. Everyone seemed to be shouting, 'the sun is out, and we're going to bloody well enjoy it!'

It was quaint, it was quirky, and a thoroughly English afternoon.

I am soon due to swap the lido pool for swimming in the Pacific Ocean in a town where 22 degrees is probably considered 'chilly', and this is admittedly something of an upgrade, but its not really the point.

Being English, or British as we're inclined to be known over there, beholds an identity complete with a set of peculiar traits and quirky virtues that I will always cherish and uphold. If for no other reason than i'm, well, English (British, whatever). Our offbeat charm and dry humour is world famous, whereas our politeness and our apologising and our moaning and, yes, our piss-taking, are all things we're proud of too.

Keep your Cadbury's and your Jaffas and your teabags. This is what I will really miss.

Edited June 13, 2014 by PBJ

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Being English, or British as we're inclined to be known over there, beholds an identity complete with a set of peculiar traits and quirky virtues that I will always cherish and uphold. If for no other reason than i'm, well, English (British, whatever). Our offbeat charm and dry humour is world famous, whereas our politeness and our apologising and our moaning and, yes, our piss-taking, are all things we're proud of too.

This is what I will really miss.

And these are the qualities that will endear you to our American cousins. It's nice to live in a country where we Brits are so popular. I've always felt like a "mini-celebrity" since I've lived here. And I like that. It nurtures the narcissist in me.

[PBJ 60]

Yeah but what about the piss-taking?!

[Pooky 3,786]

Yeah but what about the piss-taking?!

Every day will bring fresh opportunities.

[smoddydana 48]

Yeah but what about the piss-taking?!

Hahah!

. I'm a Scot in USA for 14 years... Totally get the non-good pisstakers hahah. I married another Scot and he is emigrating for me, we can take the piss together, yay!

[Pooky 3,786]

Hahah!

. I'm a Scot in USA for 14 years... Totally get the non-good pisstakers hahah. I married another Scot and he is emigrating for me, we can take the piss together, yay!

I've worked with two Scotsmen for the past four and a half years.

The quizzical looks on some American faces, when we get into an Anglo-Scottish "discussion" is hilarious. Everyone may be speaking the same "language" but most Americans don't have a clue what's being said.

[2ndMessiah 184]

I find it strange when they put subtitles on regional TV programs from the UK.

Don't know why. I understand them perfectly.?

[rjm_cmyk 75]

I'm going back next month for my first visit (been here for six months). Not been homesick in the slightest but really looking forward to seeing family and friends. The "pressure" to visit elderly parents will sadly go at some point but I'm sure we will continue to visit both the UK and mainland Europe where my partner and I have many links.

I'll just try to avoid going in the middle of the summer when flights for four need a second mortgage...

Have to agree with the poster above (PBJ) that what I will miss about the UK and Brits in particular is far more complex than the easy pickings of fish and chips, pubs or heck even Marmite. Home for most people is a unique combination of place, people and shared experience. I have a great life here and wouldn't change it for the world but I would suggest you can't decide where your home is - only your life.

Edited June 24, 2014 by rjm_cmyk

[Kiwinyc 62]

As someone who is living in my third country in a row that isn't the one I grew up in I'd say you never lose or stop identifying with where you grew up. I've have now been away from NZ for longer than I lived there and taken on two additional citizenships but I am still firstly and foremost, a Kiwi.

[nobbie 105]

I know what you mean Kiwi, I am English and whether I stay in the US or not and whether I take US citizenship or not, I will always be English.

At the moment I go back to the UK quite a bit for work so I get my fix of Englishness and things English, I did not go back for the first 5 months and boy did I miss it.