Reply to I'm living abroad in the UK and I hate it.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, let me give you a different perspective which is in line with much of what you say.

I am British and moved to the US several decades ago after being given an offer that I could not refuse! I was supposed to stay for just a couple of years but my employer said they would help me get a green card, retained an immigration lawyer on my behalf and after a couple of years I was given a green card and subsequently became a citizen.

The different perspective I referred to above: the culture shock I went through was just how service oriented businesses are in the US, how polite people are especially at department stores and restaurants and just about any type of business. I found Americans I worked with to be friendly and had no hesitation in inviting me to a bbq at their house, etc. It really was quite amazing how welcoming they were. One thing that may have helped me is that Americans generally are Anglophiles and my very English accent went down well - though today my accent is probably a mix of American and English. When I visit England I am told I have an American accent and over here they tell me that I have a British accent. But a British accent really has helped me both at work and socially though - unlike many of my compatriots - I never go on about how great life was in the UK, because quite frankly, I enjoy a far higher standard of living here than I did there. This higher standard of living applies to so many facets of life some of them you have named: a/c, central heating, the cost of  living, etc.

My final comment pertains to health care. I am entirely familiar with the NHS and I will tell you that for someone who does not have any insurance or has inadequate insurance, there is nothing better than the NHS but for those who do have good insurance in the US, the overall standard of medical care especially if you are hospitalized is way better here.It is still the norm in much of the UK under NHS to end up in a ward if you are hospitalized - as opposed to a private or semi-private room here! I can give you specific instances of relatives who went through endless waits for relatively routine procedures eg knee replacements and pretty much any elective surgery. But the point that will best illustrate the NHS scene is that the most sought after employee benefit in the UK is private insurance - which would hardly be the case if the NHS was all that it was made out to be by some over there and here. This is not to say that health care here does not need reform because it does.

So, I am one grateful person and my decision to emigrate and settle down in the US is one of the best decisions that I ever made. BTW, when I was looking at moving here permanently relatives and friends were horrified and the disparaging comments about the US and Americans were relentless. To this day when I tell people there about how life in the US is good, there is an attitude of disbelief but then the British generally react disparagingly about other nationalities as well with the French and Germans getting the brunt of the criticism - though not nearly as much as Americans.[/quote]

This is all a wonderful read and so elucidating and helpful.  Thank you so much for giving your perspective, which seems much more informed than most of the posters here.  It was really interesting to read.

I was wondering... [b]do you have any idea why the British have more dislike for Americans over other nationalities? [/b] It does seem strange to me since most Americans, as you said, quite like the British. [/quote]

I really don't know the reason for this. I think the British know that Americans enjoy a far higher standard of living generally and so they try and knock them for lacking culture, being boorish, the gun culture, being overly materialistic and now, of course, they have Trump as a reason and before Trump there was GWB! But what I do know is that among my British compatriots - some of whom came here for employment reasons and others who married Americans - they happily live here even though they go on about how great life was in the UK. I know of only one person who actually went back and that was after spending several decades in the US. [/quote]

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