Adjusting to a new life in the UK from the US

A

Ameriscot

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By request from a member... :D

I moved to Scotland in 2000 to marry a man I met online in 1999. I had two adult sons and he had an adult daughter. I didn't become a grandmother until I'd been here 5 years.

I wish I'd started a blog when I first moved here. In 2007 I finally wrote a brief blog about just a few of the differences:
http://cultureshock-annie.blogspot.co.uk/ (the comment about junk food is no longer my opinion).

I had never left the US (except for Canada) until 1998 when I took a trip to Ireland. The following year I took a trip to England and Wales. I met up with (future) husband in London, and several times in the US before we got married. I had never been to Scotland so had never seen my future home.

I felt at home almost immediately. I did have trouble with accents and new words. I'd never heard of the lowlands Scots dialect so was constantly asking my new husband about the meanings of words new to my midwestern ear.

I am often asked if I get homesick. The only time in the last 14 years that I got homesick for the US was on 911 and for the few months afterward. Otherwise, no. People ask me if I often go 'home' and I have to tell them I visit my family in the US annually, but 'home' is right here.

I often forget that I don't sound like everyone else and my ear is tuned to the various Scottish accents I hear. I am reminded that I a have a different accent when someone gives me a double take and asks if I'm from Canada or the US. My vocabulary has changed, but at the age of 48 I was far too old for my accent to change!

I became a dual citizen by choice, not necessity - US/UK.

Where I live:
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I love Scotland for many reasons:
Friendly and very funny people who often don't take themselves too seriously.
Gorgeous country.
The evidence of its history everywhere - historic buildings.
Ancient sites like standing stones, cairns, etc.
Zero crime in my immediate area, low crime in other areas near us.
Free bus for all over 60's throughout Scotland.
'Free' prescriptions.
The NHS.

The only negatives for me:
The climate could use some...ahem....improvement.
My granddaughters are 4,000 miles away.
 
Fab AS.... I just read your blog...made me laugh out loud about asking someone if they'd like a Ride.. :D I'm very au fait with Scottish English, as well as American English so I pretty much know the differences between words and spellings but it always makes me laugh to see the look of shock on American folks faces when they hear words they have absolutely no understanding of..LOL..

Just as an aside...when you wrote that blog you say there was no late night openings in shops...but of course most shops are open until 10pm and the biggest ones are 24 hours as are petrol stations ..were you talking about little local grocery stores?
 
hollydolly said:
Fab AS.... I just read your blog...made me laugh out loud about asking someone if they'd like a Ride.. :D I'm very au fait with Scottish English, as well as American English so I pretty much know the differences between words and spellings but it always makes me laugh to see the look of shock on American folks faces when they hear words they have absolutely no understanding of..LOL..

Just as an aside...when you wrote that blog you say there was no late night openings in shops...but of course most shops are open until 10pm and the biggest ones are 24 hours as are petrol stations ..were you talking about little local grocery stores?
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I must have been talking about the shops in our closest town. Even many in Glasgow close at 5 or 6. And I was only talking about Scotland, not England. There are 24 hour supermarkets, but certainly not in our wee toon.
 
OH yes I realise you were talking about Scotland ( my home country) although I've lived in England and other countries now for many years. All my family are still in Glasgow tho' ...but it's as I suspected you were talking about your little town...Imcidentally that's a stunning view you have there, where do you live...say the closest town if you don't want to give your exact location
 
My sister gets annoyed for some reason on my annual visits to the US because I still use the words I use here. No matter how much I explain it, she just can't believe that because I spoke 'American English' for 48 years that my vocabulary could change after years abroad. She's got in in her head that I use British or uniquely Scottish words on purpose when here so I'll be understood, so should automatically revert back to the American words when I'm over there.

The only time I have to think about which word to use is when I'm visiting the US. I guess immigration at the airport should wave a magic wand over me so I'll start saying cellphone, gas station, pants, trunk, garbage, trash, etc. :playful:

I have firmly implanted in my brain petrol, mobile, trousers, garij (garage), wee, motorway, bin, cooker, etc etc etc.
 
hollydolly said:
OH yes I realise you were talking about Scotland ( my home country) although I've lived in England and other countries now for many years. All my family are still in Glasgow tho' ...but it's as I suspected you were talking about your little town...Imcidentally that's a stunning view you have there, where do you live...say the closest town if you don't want to give your exact location
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The town closest to me is Dunoon. An extremely convenient place to live in retirement. I can get to Glasgow in less than 1 1/2 hours.

My husband grew up in Glasgow so still has family there. He also lived in London for 18 years.
 
Ameriscot, that's a wonderful story about how you got together with your husband, thanks for sharing. I wish you both the best! The photo is lovely, beautiful country there to be sure, I love the outdoors and beautiful scenery...heavenly!
 
SeaBreeze said:
Ameriscot, that's a wonderful story about how you got together with your husband, thanks for sharing. I wish you both the best! The photo is lovely, beautiful country there to be sure, I love the outdoors and beautiful scenery...heavenly!
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Thanks SB! :)
 
hollydolly said:
I had a feeling you might be.. it's so beautiful around there..but I'm not too keen on the midges :D
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Aye, the midgies. Evil. Pure evil. We're in the middle of midgie hell. In fact, farther down the road the name changes to Midge Lane.
 
Bee said:
Lived in South Africa for 16 months and Hong Kong for 12 months.
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How did you like it? Would you do it again?

We lived in Uganda for two years while dh volunteered to train teachers (VSO). Great experience, but once was enough.

I wouldn't mind a few months a year in France.
 
It was back in 1981 we went to South Africa through my then husbands work, I found South Africa a very complicated country to live in, the Afrikaaners were still fighting the English over the Boer War, the Scots, Welsh and Irish were welcome as far as they were concerned but not the English.....the blacks didn't like the coloureds (mixed race) because as far as they were concerned they were neither one thing or the other

.......my husband as he was then joined the local pigeon club and we had Friday nights there, he made friends with a very nice man who invited him home to look at his pigeons, the invitation extended to myself and three children, while the men were down at the pigeon loft, myself and children were shown into the lounge with his wife and her mother and the whole time we were there they spoke together in Afrikaans while myself and children sat there like idiots

...........there was one night we were at the club and I stood speaking to a man there, I was only drinking wine but I had never before or since been so drunk or been so ill with a hangover, my husband spoke to the chairman of the club about this wondering if it was a bad batch of wine anyway during the course of conversation the consensus was, my drink had been spiked, the man who had been talking to me and buying me a couple of glasses of wine was the son of a Nazi who had fled to South Africa.........I could go on about my experiences

.....the really good thing that I enjoyed about South Africa was the beautiful scenary and no I wouldn't do it again, once was enough.....from there we were transfered to Hong Kong and I absolutely loved it there, got on very well with every nationality living there including the Chinese with no problems from anyone.................a few years ago I would have been interested in going back to Hong Kong just for a visit but not nowadays.

I enjoy France as well, the furthest abroad I would go these days is to visit my youngest son, daughter in law and 17 month old grandson who lives in Belgium.:)
 
Bee, you had quite an adventure! My dh's daughter married an Afrikaner she met here in Scotland and they had the wedding in South Africa. We enjoyed our visit there (2006) although some things made me very nervous like all the razor wire around the houses and the armed security guards, and notices on the motorway about car-hijacking areas. When my dh and I went into shops on our own the clerks would speak to us in Afrikaans and when we said we only spoke English they became very, very nice! That meant we weren't a part of the oppressive white class.

I didn't travel at all until I was 40 and didn't travel internationally until age 46. We travel a lot and I love it.

If anyone is interested I kept a blog during the 2 years we lived in Uganda. http://volunteersabroad.blogspot.co.uk/
 
I have bookmarked that too to read later...just got home from a 12 hour work day...and so when I get the time at the weekend I'll read your Uganda blog too AS..:)


In answer to your question I have lived in several countries. Nothing as exotic as S/Africa or Uganda...but I lived in Germany for a year, Northern Italy for a year...and Southern Spain for 10 years. I still have my home in Spain..but I have long term tenants in there currently. My daughter also lives in Spain but a bit further South.
 
hollydolly said:
I have bookmarked that too to read later...just got home from a 12 hour work day...and so when I get the time at the weekend I'll read your Uganda blog too AS..:)


In answer to your question I have lived in several countries. Nothing as exotic as S/Africa or Uganda...but I lived in Germany for a year, Northern Italy for a year...and Southern Spain for 10 years. I still have my home in Spain..but I have long term tenants in there currently. My daughter also lives in Spain but a bit further South.
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Not a run of the mill life you've had!

My blog is very, very long but a few people have told me they read it all in one go.
 

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