What's it like?

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phoenix2frequent

Since you placed this Q in the London section, I'm assuming that's where you'd plan to come and work...
So you're in the US on the East Coast now.
The first differences you'd notice would be:
The size of the place -- friends from NY put it interestingly when they said that London feels big to them, but Britain feels tiny!
Climate (milder, both in winter and summer)
Plus a whole array of stuff like driving on the left, accents (very mixed: London's extremely cosmopolitan) and its tangle of streets (go look on multimap.com if you want to make your eyes water!)

That last fact is because London is a very ancient place. Stuff gets built on other stuff. So for example, in the City of London (the capital's important -- it refers to the 'Square Mile' which is now the financial centre but overlies the medieval city) -- you'll find high-rise offices , Victorian buildings and 17th-century churches (look up Christopher Wren on wikipedia) -- all on a medieval street layout.

People. Well, we're a mixture of the whole world! The nice thing about London is that you can get a feeling of 'belonging' really quickly -- it's not like a village or a midwest town where your family could have been there for five generations and still be outsiders. Equally, it's a big city: you need to be a little bit outgoing at least so you get to know people -- otherwise it could be terribly lonely.

If you want to know more specifics, come back and add a note to your Q.

But in the meantime, can I just say that no-one I know of, in London or any city or town in the UK, leaves their doors unlocked. In villages, perhaps. (That's just a response to Tanda...)

Cari

OMG did Tanda come here in the 1920s? Who the hell leaves their door unlocked - most people have three locks on each door!!! Not many stoplights - actually there are shitloads, it's just that people ignore them and drive on through!!! Oh and we have KFC here - Tennessee Fried Chicked is *totally* different.

Razzle

Nice in places...wet in others...hard living in some....racist in others....just like most countries really.
Londons fun...but so is most major town or city.

Carrie S

England varies depending on where you want to visit. London is cosmopolitan, expensive, ethnically diverse, busy etc. It has high crime in some areas including gun and drug crime. On the other hand, the countryside has quiet, people with wellies and dogs (it rains a lot), farming, little shops and pubs and no public transport. England is part of the UK which includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. (a lot of people from overseas say "England" when they mean Britain or the UK). I suggest you have a holiday here before you take a job to see if you like it.

Angel

Beautiful Country England.
Vist the countryside, Moors, Coastlines,
Vist the great cities, London, York, Bath, Manchester, Leeds, Chester, Oxford, Cambridge, etc, etc,

Place's to vist,
Lake District,
Cotswold's,
Peak District,
Yorkshire Dales,
Northumberland,
Great Yorkshire Moors,
The South West, Cornwall, Devon.
New Forest.

Our History, Buildings, Art, Music, Concerts, Theatre etc,

shawn

just want to respond to Ali, Im british and i have never,never,never heard such crap in my whole life, where the hell did you get that crap from.
London is a great place to live apart from it being over priced, wet, busy (just like any other major city).
I love living in london and the only city it reminds me of is Chicago (one hell of a place i love it).
So come to London you will have a great time does not matter if your black, white, indian, asian, gay, straight,bi etc etc etc

Just want to respond to Ali: England isn't racist.
It's a great place, and loads of fun. Probably not for people with a chip on their shoulder, though, because no one cares what colour you are. It's one of the most multi-racial places in the world!!

Alex

England is quite racist. But the good thing about London is there's hardly any English left, so you don't need to worry about meeting too many of them :-)

Tanda

Beautiful but 100% different. In England KFC (Tennassee Fried Chicken over there) and McDonalds are the main fast foods you'll find. Not many stop lights, mostly round-abouts. Driving on the other side of the road obviously. Houses/ Flats are small and made of brick. Cars are what you'll see mostly because the roads are more narrow than ours. The roads between town are more like taking a country drive than a straight shot and very scenic. The landscape is hilly and green everywhere. People still believe in leaving their doors unlocked and milk is still delivered to your doorstep in glass bottles if you like. Technology is feels like it's a bit behind ours. The people however in our experience were.........friendly, outgoing, and more ready to laugh. We had a blast!

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