Moving to England from the US (3-Month Update) | Homesickness + Culture Shocks 

Alanna at Adventures and Naps has been here 5 years it's worth looking at her videos. She covers making friends and homesickness, including what happens when she was sent back to Canada for a while.

To clear up confusion with the title, I am Canadian (I've lived in Canada most of my life), but I lived in the US for 2 years before moving to the UK :)

I’m feeling a bit reassured. I don’t mind rain, and as a native american who has moved away from my home area, I’m used to being an “other”. You can make your own ranch too. I plan on trying to make my own versions of food I might miss. Finally moving to the UK in less than 3 weeks!

Thanks for sharing this video. I think this is a super important video for anyone who is looking to move to another country. Just because it's an English speaking country doesn't mean you will automatically blend in. All the best in your new life adventure!

I go to the pub everyday,might only have 2/3 drinks but great craic 77 years old now,so don't intend to change

I'm moving to England to end the gap with my boyfriend of 4 years sometime next spring. I've had the opportunity to stay a few months with my boyfriend in England before, and all that you explain in this video is exactly how I've felt. I am already preparing myself emotionally and mentally for the inevitable homesickness again and dreading the awful daily weather (lol!), worse since I'm from AZ! So it really helps to see a fellow American share similar experiences.

You have only been here three months; you cannot expect to fit in or sound the same but don't worry sweetheart it will all gel one day and you won't even know when it has happened. Welcome to Our beautiful country we are more than happy to have you here, I hope it all goes well for you and you find whatever it is you are looking for, there will be enough help if you need it also there will be days when you are grateful for the rain.

Your never too old for the British pub culture.

Manchester UK is one of the rainiest towns in the UK. Often called the rainy city. I lived & worked there for a few years. Drier in the east of England (more boring) or the south (more congested). Or parts of North East England & Scotland (colder).

First of all, YES! I would love the post-long-distance video. That is something you never hear about. I needed this video more than you know! I am currently in England with my LDR boyfriend of 6 years and this is the longest I have been here (2 months). We are currently one year away from being done with university, so it is time to start really figuring out our future. Everything you said in this video validated how I have been feeling when I think about living here as an American. Thank you SO much for this video!

I can't remember how did i know about ur channel but all i know that I'm really happy finding it 🌝🌝🤍 Keep it up 😁❤️❤️

don't beat yourself up!.I did the UK move 20 years ago and am still getting used to it here. all the best!

Peeping your SJM books 👀 haha I’m moving to Cambridgeshire in a few months, thanks for your honesty!

If you can master a quick wit you'll do very well here. Fast retorts are always appreciated. Our humour maybe dark, sarcastic and cutting, but it is many joyous things too. Above all it can be very very funny.

Love this video! The bookshelves in the background are everything 😍

Very interesting video! I instantly had to imagine you faking a british accent in a cafe, then suddenly talking to and making friends with a person there and awkwardly having to confess that you're not actually British lol

You can find the Paul Newman Ranch Dressing in Morrisons and most of the bigger supermarkets. We got the taste for it riding Route 66 a few years back.

Glad you are settling in to your new home .Even though we are both English speaking countries there must be a huge difference occasionally.

Love this video! I want more and an update! Also, no shade but I don’t know ANYONE who goes to the pub multiple times a week, and I’ve lived in Manchester since birth. Are you with alcoholics?

Thank you for making this vid. I've been talking to someone from Manchester, Eng and I always thought if it works out, who is going where. Coming from Hawaii, I'm not sure i'll survive going there. It's not just the accent, but the food, culture shock, traditions, weather, etc. Living in Hawaii, were American but even we (local islanders) think of our culture as different from American culture.

Ah! Manchester that explains the rain.

I'm moving to England for school. I leave in 16 days and am just so nervous (as if i haven't already watched 60+ hours over England and the differences and such ). Side note, I love raining weather. I live in Florida and it rains everyday, whether its a pour or a passing rain so I'm hoping the weather there won't affect me too much.

You stumbled on 15th Century castle ruins in a park? We've got that beat where I live, because we've got a Roman wall in the middle of our 21st Century shopping centre! We've just had a summer of almost totally unbroken sunshine, with temperatures reaching 32C and 33C. Even now, in October, southern England has just had more almost unbroken sunshine for a few weeks, with temperatures reaching 23C. Obviously you've only seen our winter since moving here.

I know this is an old video but how did u cope with moving away from grandparents and how do you plan to manage when/ if you decide to have kids so they get equal time with your parents and his? My partner is English and I’m American struggling on deciding where to live

How did you just decide to move? What visa pathway did you use?

If u get a bright light box, buy a big one, the small ones don’t work very well.

New York gets more rain then we do

While I don't live in the UK. I did visit for about 3 months. I didn't really experience much culture shock. As for the weather. I happen to live the rain so it all was good to me lol

Having been to Canada when in the forces,it was Alberta,British Army Training Camp unit,Suffield,Batus training area too,it was early in the year and was white with snow,temp low but it changed very quickly.On a nightout we went to Medicine Hat for some drinks but the beer was very weak,then we went to a large hall to get some drinks but I was stopped because I looked too young and everyone was looking at me too.Lucky me you have to carry ID at all times except swimming so I produced it which showed D.O.B. then with a look still thinking I'm still too young but looked at the card again and must have seen my D.O.B so he let me stay, beer again was weak.I have never ever been to a training area so empty of trees or small bushes just small hills BUT we did stop for a break and saw one tree,everyone was taking pictures of it,we were in the 1042.476 square miles of training area,weather very hot,many Mosquitoes,a few snakes which I never saw,gophers everywhere and they were quick to hide.

If you don't like the rain you need to move. Manchester is very wet by UK standards. The eastern side of both England and Scotland are much drier. Also puzzled by comments about pubs and food. Virtually all pubs serve food.

I've seen and bought ranch dressing in Tesco

Can I apply USA through UK visit visa

she looks like that other canadian, the one in south of england adventures and naps thats the girl she looks like and sounds like lol alana her name is

Getting a dog is the very best thing you could ever do if you want people to get to know you and for you to get to know them.

Has your BF considered moving with you to Canada or the US? You might be happier there.

Most of your complaints apply to anybody moving to any foreign country.

Rain is my favorite type of weather so I guess I belong there.❤ …..and I love British humor.

Manchester is also known as rainchester and I lived there for 2 years and as someone coming from a sunny place (Sicily) I totally get your low mood. You'll soon fall in love with Mcr though. I miss it every day now that I'm back home.

I was born and raised in a pub and hardly go into one now, probably only 3 times a year. As I live in a rural area there are no pubs that don't do a good selection of food, only in towns and city's is there enough trade to only do drinks and bar snacks. As for the rain wait until the summer and you will be complaining about the heat like a British person or until you mention air conditioning.

Don't worry about the accent. Us Brits get the same thing if we are out of our 'accent area'. I'm a Brummie living in Devon and local Devon people pick up on it all the time.

i'm also yankee (male) but i lived in manchester with an english gf fer 2 1/2 years (could never afford london even then). in my experience american females seem to fit in over there alot more easily than american males. as i remember it the vast majority of american expats living in england (not sure about the rest of the u.k.) are women. i think it mostly comes down to machismo. i first of all lived in a not terrible but not great area that was 3 doors down from a local pub and i often (not always but enough to be noticeable) found that in interactions with english males yer accent alone can often be perceived as some sort of challenge (i don't drink, btw, so we're not talking about machismo in pubs). to that end i often found the english talked over me and interrupted me when i was trying to have conversations with them and at least 4 spearate times somebody wanted to fight me simply because of my nationality. i don't think american females face these same challenges hence why they seem to fit in better. and btw, as far as bad tourists i think the british in spain make americans in mexico look like sweethearts.

I grew up with an American culture. Currently here in England and indeed im struggling to fit in culturally. I don’t see people looking though wondering about your accent. In England there are so many accents. Based on experience, people aren’t really giving you some weird looks coz of your accent as they’re aware that there are many accents in England.

They sell ranch dressing in the salad section of Sainsbury's

Every pub around me, and there a quite a few, are all "gastro-pubs" and make more money selling food than beer. Even the big pub chains, like Wetherspoons, all sell hot food. Pub culture is central to the British psyche, and it a community social meeting place, but it is hardly the only place to go out. If the pandemic ever ends, many many more choices will open up. Banter and "piss-taking" is part of our culture, you will adapt but it will take years, and don't try to pretend to be something you are not to "fit in" it won't work, and will not go down well. Check you boyfriend also wants a dog, and is not just saying yes to please you before getting one, and if you do get a dog, get an adult rescue dog of a sensible breed like a labrador or similar. It does not rain every day in England, and is drier than say New York for example. The big problem with the UK is not the weather, but the long winter nights when the days get shorter, and there is no sunshine, but grey over cast days everyday. The SAD lamps and vitamin D pills for the winter months is a good idea. Moving to a totally different culture, is hard and takes time and effort, and not everyone can make the adjustment. Pandemic allowing, travelling across the UK and around the rest of Europe is extremely cheap. Get out and about and explore the whole of the UK. Do you have a car of your own, and is your drivers license transferable or are you going to need to pass a UK test in a years time?

The weather is better down south

Rain yes you are in Manchester! Move South !

You live in the rain belt of the UK. you need to move away from that area to have less rain

Manchester is known in the U.K for the amount of rain that falls :-/

3:41 Really? Never experienced that, I also have American accent. In England there are so many accents. Based on experience, people aren’t really giving you some weird looks coz of your accent as they’re aware that there are many accents in England. Manchester’s accent is also different from the RP. big cities like london, birmingham and manchester, are multicultural. Especially london and birmingham, people coming from different backgrounds, various asians, various africans, other europeans.etc. And they have different accents when speaking in English. So locals are used to it already.

In fairness.. you did move to Manchester, it's like the rainiest place in the UK lol

Adventures and Naps is your friend... www.youtube.com/@AdventuresAndNaps

i'm a brit and that thing about fitting in ...blah ....forget it , don't waste time trying to fit in and just be yourself don't be one of the sheep , you don't need to follow the crowd ANY CROWD be unique and just be you ! so many lose themselves trying to be something they are not

Make homemade ranch! I'm sure it's not difficult :)

Patterson will pay !!!!

Don't talk too loud in the UK. Nobody would notice your accent if you speak in a normal tone.

Wow, if you are Canadian and not an American, your culture and humour should be much closer to ours, then say somebody born and raised in Texas.

Sorry but yes,you are in the worst city in the. UK for rain but when the sun shines it's great .

Plenty pubs do food and toby cravey, plenty take aways which do kebabs

You'll soon get used to us and our weird ways, the first 10 years are the worst! About our humour, remember, we only tease the people we like, everyone else we ignore. To sum up the cultural differences between us.............over here, we think that 100 miles is a long way whereas, in the US, you think 100 years is a long time. Chin up, no-one ever died of gloomy weather............................................the ancient Englishman.

Probably harder to make friends when all you do is moan. 😀

And when your visa expires, if it already hasn.t I assume you will be going home. Even if you marry him that won't get you the right to stay.

Funny you feel this way as a Western white woman.. I am constantly asked “where are you from, you look so exotic” (ugh) even before I open my mouth..

That may have been the case , when Canada was more close to England, but since you've more Americanised. I'd be very surprised if you get , negative remarks if no I'm CANADIAN. NOT FROM MY GENERATION, WE HAVE NOTHING BUT RESPECT FOR CANADIANS ...

Firstly and most importantly do not compare , America is 40 times bigger so gawed knows how much bigger Canada is , GB is smaller and so are other things and there are reasons why it's so , just ask why something is done a certain way ( Google / Wikipedia etc as well ) it seems you are like a lot of North America people and just haven't done any research at all ( which is shameful in the days of internet ) otherwise you would know that during the empire days GB was working a plant for clothes but to do so it had to be done in e " damp " area and yes Manchester was the best place hence all it's world renown manufacturing !!! You mentioned " friends " , the trouble is some north Americans think if you hug someone they are now your " friend " , not so in the GB , as here people like to get to know you first before you're a " friend " , they'll talk , chat etc etc before they think of you as a " friend" but never never want your life history in the first 10 minutes of meeting you.

OLD!!!!You think your old, goodness girl, you need to get on with your life. I’m OLD and could give you 50 years. Just enjoy this country.

Ah, u have discovered British sarcasm, many of my US friends struggled with this too. Sorry, it’s us, don’t take offence, it’s part of our humour (think Rikky Gervais). Sorry about the 'turning heads’ with your accent. We have probabably become less accepting of the USA since Trump, those that have not traveled there alot, may think that all American’s are ‘MAGAs’ and as awful as he is. Finally, if you lived in Louisiana or even Florida, you might thik the UK is quite a dry place ;-). But then we dont have hurricanes or earthquakes - so thats an advantage! Enjoy your time here.

You are in the wrong part of the country, Manchester is known for its rain.

I personally dislike living in the uk and am myself a self employed person living in a seaside resort in the north of England but a lot of uk people have different opinions depending upon there experiences and situation eg a person living in the city who has a good job and too preoccupied with it might think differently or the wealthy like the politicians and the royals . But personally I feel the only real positives about living here are the royal family , free nhs (which we have to pay for in our taxes anyways ) , and the economy, employment and education even though where I live there isn’t much of that . But for most it’s getting generally very hard for the young to find cheap housing , education is very expensive as your paying over £40k in student loans for a degree ,food prices and inflation are rising rapidly, a government who is full of promises who’s hardly delivering and isn’t really focused on the people but keeping themselves in power and concentrating on legally lining there own pockets and there’s a lot of inter party conflicts and dismissal , cost of renting has gone sky high , a lot of people can be quite unsociable if your a stranger and a lot of people are weary of each other and there are a lot of social and health issues , isolation and depression - overburdened nhs and long waiting times . The crime rate is fairly high in some parts . Some of the place looks gloomy - rundown shops and old houses , factories , warehouses and a lot of pollution including the air, water and all the chemicals in our overprocessed food - we are one of the most unhealthiest countries in Europe. Loads of homeless and people living in poverty looking to food banks , immigrants - brexit was supposed to have helped but it hardly hasn’t which was about the only distinctive thing the conservatives managed to achieve for us in the last 30 odd years and where I live there are large hotels housing these immigrants whilst the local council ignores the English homeless and druggies and prostitutes and other groups on the fringes of society that are living on the streets just outside . We also aren’t in with the euro like the rest of Europe so it costs more to go on holidays and the hassle of conversion and other problems it brings such as having to pay extra on buying goods from abroad as well as the problems this caused our businesses . Yeah we have the freedom to criticise the government at least which we do a lot of but we wouldn’t have to criticise the government in the first place if we had a good one . But a lot of it for me is the weather- most of the time in England the weather is crap especially in the north where I live - I work from home so because I don’t have loads of friends and family I like to go outdoors a lot to exercise and get fresh air to reduce the boredom of being inside but most the time the weather is gloomy eg it’s like I wanted to go for a long walk the other day and it was p***** it down all day for two days in a row and it’s mid summer - then we get tons of windy cloudy miserable days were it’s hard to motivate yourself to even leave the house - the weathers so unpredictable in the uk as well and you never know how it’s going to behave from one moment to another and that’s just summer - then there’s winter - freezing , raining, windy , Ice, cloudy , and where I live it starts geting dark very early and in mid winter it starts getting dark by 1pm and it can be dark as early as 3pm- and it’s almost as bad as this for almost half the year and it’s so depressing . And then when you eventually get a good day but because you’ve been so depressed having been stuck inside because of the bad weather you find it hard to motivate yourself to go outside and you’ll find you need a car a lot of the time especially in winter but it is a bit warmer in the south if your lucky enough to live there or can afford to live there but it’s not much warmer there either and there can be flooding in some parts . Then there’s all the heating bills you have to pay just to keep your house warm most of the year . Then when you do go outside your breathing in all the crap air full of pollutants so your probably doing yourself more harm than good and especially a lot of the beaches are polluted and the water is freezing and a lot of the food is highly processed and a lot of people are in poor health . I hate the UK- it’s just a small crappy post industrial island . I mean there are worst places in the world and other countries have there own problems but it wouldn’t be a bad place if the weather was better and the days were longer in winter as our economy is quite good and there are some interesting places to visit and there are things to do eg night clubs , bars, theatres , theme parks, cinema , beaches, countryside, large city centres and shopping , parks etc but when the weathers bad they are not that appealing . I personally wouldn’t recommend people come to live here if they have good weather and standard of living in there own country unless they are from a poor country with little prospects and not even for a holiday unless you want to visit a few of places worth visiting that have some cultural heritage like London inc Westminster or oxford or a warmer seaside resort like Cornwall - don’t bother with the rest . That’s why a lot of people move abroad from here which is what am going to do soon and am sure I’ll never look back .

Chao toxica