American Family Moved to the UK

"...I just compared Florida and according to stats they get around 59 inches of rain per year on average... conversely we in the south of England get quite a lot less at 39 inches, pa .....
It's not the rain one has to compare --- it's the cloudy days. I have a bil in Seattle, Washington. They don't get any more rain than Chicago does, but they have far more days of overcast skies. He's always complaining he has to use a special lamp to get some light over the winter season.
 
Where did he ever get the idea that we don't have sidewalks? Every place I've ever lived in the U.S. had sidewalks. Maybe he is from a very rural area? And I suspect that the very rural parts of Britain don't have sidewalks either; why would they?

When I visited Cornwall, I loved it, but one thing I remember is the very, very, very narrow streets in some of the ancient towns. Wide enough for one car to pass through, though they were two-way streets. Any pedestrian walking there had to flatten himself against a building to let a car pass by, without getting run over. Pretty hair-raising, with or without sidewalks, though admittedly part of the charm.

About the bathroom doors, what he calls a half door I would call a door with a space on the bottom. I don't know why they make them that way, unless it's for the convenience of seeing whether the stall is occupied. But this is hardly a reason pick up your family and move to another country!

Makes me wonder about the validity of this whole video. What we used to call "high class problems!"
 

Retiredtraveler, we lived in the Seattle area for years and loved the weather. It hardly ever rained in the summer at all; the summers and most of the fall were glorious.

Yet, I was always answering that comment that "It rains all the time in Seattle." I once looked up the statistics, and found that their average rainfall is about the same as New York City.
 
The notion from that video, that Indianapolis doesn't have sidewalks is comical.

So .. for the people in Europe who buy into that .. this is Indianapolis:
. c9c61bf82187aa3e93d9e68acf592ffc.jpgDowntown-sidewalk-Indianapolis-Indiana.jpgDSC029351.jpgIndiana-War-Memorial-Plaza-view-Scottish-Rite-Cathedral-American-Legion-Mall-downtown-Indianap...jpgThe-Virginia-B-Fairbanks-Arts-and-Nature-Park-curved-sidewalk-Indianapolis-Indiana.jpg
 
Retiredtraveler, we lived in the Seattle area for years and loved the weather. It hardly ever rained in the summer at all; the summers and most of the fall were glorious. Yet, I was always answering that comment that "It rains all the time in Seattle." I once looked up the statistics, and found that their average rainfall is about the same as New York City. [/QUOTE[
Yes. As I stated, it's the overcast days that make the difference. Seattle has an extra month of days with precip. Same thing for overcast days. As you know, living there, it could be dark for a couple of weeks in a row.


Annual averages for total precipitation by city
DaysCityInchesMillimetres
122New York, New York49.91268
149Seattle, Washington37.7958
 
Britain is not just composed of England you know! As for the weather it is usually the first thing mentioned when one meets up with another person. We have loads of microclimates, one of our daughters lives only six miles from us, her weather an be very different to ours.
Of course but was just referring to England.
 
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It's not the rain one has to compare --- it's the cloudy days. I have a bil in Seattle, Washington. They don't get any more rain than Chicago does, but they have far more days of overcast skies. He's always complaining he has to use a special lamp to get some light over the winter season.
That’s what really got me depressed when I lived in Europe, the cloudy/overcast days!
 
The notion from that video, that Indianapolis doesn't have sidewalks is comical.

So .. for the people in Europe who buy into that .. this is Indianapolis:
. View attachment 88087View attachment 88088View attachment 88089View attachment 88090View attachment 88091
there are locks on our doors too. When you lock the door on the inside there's an indicator on the outside which tells others the loo is occupied.. it prevents people trying to open the door when you're in there... but it's not just the uk, every country I've ever visited has similar locks on their public toilets ...

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I don’t see the need for it but whatever floats your boat, LOL...👍
 
Retiredtraveler, we lived in the Seattle area for years and loved the weather. It hardly ever rained in the summer at all; the summers and most of the fall were glorious.

Yet, I was always answering that comment that "It rains all the time in Seattle." I once looked up the statistics, and found that their average rainfall is about the same as New York City.
My kids moved to Seattle and lasted two months the rain drove them crazy
 
Where I live in the East of England our annual sunshine is approx 1600 hours per annum ...In the area where the young couple in the video live which is far south and on the coast they get more than that...

Here in the south and also in the west (although the latter conversely gets a lot of rain too) we get more sunshine than the rest of the uk... the North of the UK and Ireland generally get the least sun

The UK maybe a small Island but it's weather is hugely diverse...
I’m happy for you, cloudy/overcast days drive me bonkers.
 
A relative moved his family to UK (specifically England) for several years back in 2003 (big job promotion). While there were some things they liked, what they HATED:
Narrow streets
Food <-- (heard this many times from lots of people)
Weather

He and his wife aren't impressed by "royal this and royal that" and don't give a rip what the Queen says or does.
.
As far as rolling green hills, we have those here in USA, if you go to the right places. A now-deceased uncle had a farm with rolling green hills about 35 miles from where I live.
 
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As far as rolling green hills, we have those here in USA, if you go to the right places. A now-deceased uncle had a farm with rolling green hills about 35 miles from where I live.
I've NEVER seen Green as Green as it is in England and I've been to many places. Never. They got that one for sure.
 
When did this become a contest of whose country is bigger, is more populated, or has better weather? I thought Matthew gave a bunch of pretty lame reasons for loving the UK. He may love living there, but his reasons sound like they were written by a first grader. You can't think of another reason to love the UK , besides- bathrooms?
 
I'll stay in the USA till I die....It's my country.....I've been to other places out of the USA....We don't want to travel anymore....
I would never move to another country...I was born here and will die here.....
My Husband and I are Italian Descent...Our both grandparents came to America from Italy in the early 1900''
 
I've NEVER seen Green as Green as it is in England and I've been to many places. Never. They got that one for sure.
It's a big world out there, lots of hills and lots of greenery.
But I doubt that many people are packing their bags and booking flights to Heathrow just because of some grass on a hill.
 

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