What should I be aware of when moving to the UK from the US?

[rr2157]

Hello,

I am an American who most likely will be moving to the UK with my family as a result of my father's work, and will be spending a great length of time there. I was wondering if anyone can fill me in on different cultural quirks I should be aware of, along with what is drastically different. Thank you!

[→dεαnααα♥]

If your going to London you'll find that its very multicultural in all aspects. It may not seem so friendly but once you get used to it you'll feel at home

[Royal Crumpet]

Half your rights will be gone, and you will be forced into a large welfare state. And depending on where your moving there may be wild mobs of looters bashing everything down. But don't worry America will be the same in a few years as well.

[RR]

You will be welcome as an American. However, don't keep saying USA is better in every way!

You will find us reserved, compared to Americans. It's not that we are unfriendly, we don't talk easily to strangers. Once we get to know you, you will find us very good friends.

We like to make insulting jokes about each other. Once you feel settled, you can join in!

[Kimberly Pejic]

WELL JUST FYI USA ROCKS AND UK SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSS

[Janian]

As others have said, people in the UK tend to be more reserved, so they aren't as 'in your face' as most Americans.
The school system is a bit different. We don't have junior high school or anything.
Normally people go to Primary school (5-11), high school (11-16), college (16-18) and university (18-21).

In the USA you say 'fanny' for a person's butt, here in the UK fanny is a term used for female genitalia....

There are lots of differences, but you will be fine....

[David S]

We are very conservation minded in the U.K. and love our beautiful countryside, which you should
explore to. Most of us don't drive everywhere (I don't drive at all). Most cities have excellent local bus and train networks and sometimes trams. We have a good dense frequent national rail system. The roads are horribly congested and fuel is expensive. We have the best public service broadcasting network in the world, the BBC. Our big cities are very multicultural now; there are sometimes racial problems but mostly the multicultural racial mix makes for vibrant, fascinating places. We are not as extrovert as Americans, but under the surface most of us are warm and friendly. Schools and
healthcare are often of a very low standard here. Choose your doctors, hospitals and kids' schools very carefully, if possible opting for the non state run services

[jd1979]

There's more stuff I can think of than it's usually possible to fit into a Yahoo Answers Answer, but here goes.............

A "Bandaid" is called a "Plaster" or "Sticking Plaster", and the most common big name brand is "Elastoplast".

"Potato Chips" are called "Crisps"

A Car's "Hood" (where the engine goes) is called the "Bonnet", A Car's "Trunk" is called the "Boot".

If you like watching NASCAR, you'll need to subscribe to "SKY DIGITAL" satelite TV service to catch it on "Motors TV" (I think that's the channel it's on)...... SKY DIGITAL is our equivalent of "DirectTV" satelite... with Satelite being more popular here than Cable services.
The most popular Motorsport in the UK is "Formula1" with it's current excellent coverage on the BBC (though for how much longer remains to be seen after a new TV deal splitting the coverage between Sky Sports & the BBC).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NnScMVIuj4

Instead of "Verizon Wireless" cellphone service, we have "Vodafone" - which is the world's biggest, and part owns Verizon Wireless. Cellphones are more commonly known as a "Mobile" or "Mobile Phone".

Instead of "Riteaid" pharmacy or "CVS" pharmacies, we've got "Boots" + "Superdrug" + "Lloyds Pharmacy" + a few others.

Electrical plugs & sockets specifications are these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BS_1363

Police are not routinely armed, though a few are being issued with Tasers. In event of an Armed incident UK Police have "Armed Response Units".

Instead of "911" as the emergency phone number, there's "999" or "112" instead.

Instead of the "Blue Angels", we've got the RAF Red Arrows
http://www.facebook.com/jduck1979#!/vide...0116567435

All Cider in the UK is alcoholic, and just about blows your head off. Legal minimum age to buy Alcohol is 18yrs old (Though can drink at home with parental permission at 16yrs old).

Minimum driving age for a car is 17yrs old......... steering wheel on the right, drive on the left

Quality of the TV shows on the original main channels (pre-digital) of BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel4 & Channel5 are getting bad enough (in the form of Reality shows & soap opera's) to make the Jerry Springer show look classy... with the only exception being TOP GEAR + the F1 coverage on the BBC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t545Prkfqn8
(So the Sky Digital comes in handy for also getting Discovery Channel + Comedy Central, etc).