Things We DON'T LIKE Since Moving To Belfast, Northern Ireland / Europe 

As someone from Northern Ireland I'm surprised that the bomb scares, violent paramilitaries and all the lingering tensions of post-troubles Northern Ireland didn't make your list

Under what circumstances would you ever move from north american to belfast

You guys just got a new subscriber! Too many RU-vidrs only talk about the positive of places but in reality, it's important to find out the negatives! Thank you!

Truly informative, thank you!

Mate, the water in Belfast comes from some of the purist sources on earth. The water fountains you’re looking for is the faucet

glad you liked northen ireland i'm currently living in here and just completley ignoring the past troubles and sectarian shit im loving it and the people are definatley the most politest in the whole uk , i find most people who critisise northen ireland have never been here

Great job dude! The only thing I’d say is that I watched the video on 1.25 x speed.

Manual cars are more fuel efficient than automatics and give you greater control over the car. They are also alot more fun to drive but to each their own. You can buy better dryers that will dry your clothes faster. Easily fixed.

As a Belfast native, I watched this video expecting to be offended, but I pretty much agree (except for the manual/auto transmission issue)

With regard to the slow service at restaurants. Remember that in the UK, waiters are paid the minimum wage, while in the US the only way to get a decent pay is being tipped. So, that's why waiters in the US are so fast and always so obliging. Here they're not paid enough of course, but the basic pay is far better than the average American restaurant

I agree with all your observations except the last one. I think smoking is part of European culture full-stop. Having said that, I think you were incredibly respectful in this video. My apologies for some of my ill-bred countrymen being rude about it. Clearly they have a chip on their shoulder. I hope you were able to visit places in Belfast that were polite and well-bred.

Hello! :) I'm from California and I'm sitting here giggling and shaking my head and saying "YESSS!!!!!" to each thing you mention. I agree 100%! Especially the dryer situation! Or faux dryer. It'll shrink your clothes but it's still damp... I'm like why? I appreciate your videos!! It's nice to know I'm not alone & not crazy!

Hello, currently torn for both Vancouver and Belfast. Where do you think should I choose to work and live?Thank you

The Plastic Packageing thing is basic Hygiene in the UK And the reason there are no Water Fountains is because there is really no need for them its abit like Air Conditioning you will only need it on Very Hot days which are very rare the best thing to do is to bring 2 or 3 Cheap Reuseable bottles with you and if you run out then there are is mostly likely a Pub that you can call into to get a Drink of Water there is a Saying that in a Belfast your never more than 5 minutes walk from a Pub

Ok mate I’ve lived in Belfast my whole life and clearly your “dryer” is just shite their is good ones here you just have a bad one. Your just fussy on your waitresses to be fair lad I could give u an explanation as to why things are the way they are here but I’d be here all day. But long story short you’d be seen as a “snob” here cus people are more laid back here and don’t really care

I went to the Tim Hortons just down from the Welcome Belfast centre. Have you tried their coffee? I am a tea drinker myself so I have no idea whether its the same as back home.

I swear I thought I was gonna get riled up by you complaining about my wee country but you made some extremely good points about here that I also agree with eg the unnecessary packaging of fruit and veg and the smoking/vaping issues we have

When I lived in Spain, we hung our clothes to dry. It was nice.

I just stumbled upon this channel, and I have to say thank you. As a young gay man about to move to Belfast, myself - and from Montreal, no less... I greatly appreciate this insight coming from both of you. Cheers, gentlemen!

I live in Northern Ireland and I’ve got to agree with the smoking point you made

Just a question do you live near somewhere called shore crescent? I live in that estate and its really good fun

I thought I was going to disagree but I actually agree with everything you said.

Did you make any mates down in Belfast? If ya did what differences did you find there?

welcome to Northern Ireland i live on the north coast 1hr from belfast its beautiful here

When u live in Northern Ireland almost every child smoke and takes drugs

I visited Belfast last year and I am moving there in 12 days and cannot wait. Very different way of living there but I loved it there! And I have to disagree the costa lattes are amazing there!!! And the grocery stores are very different lol and yes in my fiance's flat no dryer he uses the radiator and drys the clothes pretty fast.

I hope you could provide cost of living as well.

Moved from Belfast to Australia. Mostly automatic here. I love it. also our hospitals here are paperless

I live in Belfast!! Whoop!!

Dad was from belfast and I grew up in the US and the whole restaurant issue I agree with. My dad took forever in a restaurant and couldn't figure out why until we went to belfast and then I was like"ooohhh" lol I get it now. Americans eat and get out.And the wait staff are "overly"nice because they need you tip because that's how they make a living is off your tips. The eating out in belfast was confusing at first. But other than that we enjoyed ourselves.

Driving a manual is definitely a car person thing, but also manuals are far sturdier than an automatic due to the nature of their construction. That being said as a car person, I despise H-shifters (what you think of when you think manual). I learned how to shift gears on a motorcycle which have what is called a sequential shift (move lever one way for upshift, and the opposite for downshift). Being an efficiency minded as well, this makes more sense to me as using a sequential shifter is probably the only way you’ll ever shift faster than a modern automatic.

greetings from cardiff, south, wales uk.. this seems quite nice.. doesn't sound any different to here (or, by yer should i say?) am wondering about possibly moving to n. ireland at some point.. glad you mentioned packaging there is way way too much of it, it's a big problem.. but in all the supermarkets i go to, Sainsbury, Morrisons, coop, m and s and Tesco they all sell unwrapped which is good because i can buy exactly how much i want just for me.. thankyou for sharing this.. coming to wales? 🙂 x

I think if these are your only dislikes/annoyances - you’re doing ok :)

Maybe I am biased because my people are from Belfast because I love Ireland, however, I couldn't find paper napkins when I visited Belfast and it drove me nuts, but I went and got my Irish passport anywaywhen I returned to the US. I am disabled, and awheelchair user. I found the Irish people to be extremely helpful and kind and I plan on moving to Belfast soon.

Don't you put your clothes on the radiator to dry?

What make is your dryer mate?

Race cars are never automatic this is because manual shifting gives you much better control of the car and the use of it's power. Auto are fine for normal driving. Also cars with automatic transmission are very expensive to replace / repair if damaged

Manual cars make driving more fun because theres not alot of scenery in northern ireland and when you driving automatic your just staring at a road, aswell as not being able to rev out the car and drifting it aha

Some of these very much depend on where you live in NI. Like, parking is fine where I am, we have a tumble dryer etc I personally prefer NI service because I HATE how often the waiters check on you in North America. It’s so frustrating, I’m eating, leave me be. I don’t know of any paid toilets in NI tbh. I’ve tried coffee in both places, I honestly don’t taste a difference. I like the instant crema. Fair point on the plastic, we don’t have the luxury of zero waste options for the most part, I guess we are just too small. Veggies and fruits can be easily found plastic free, though. Also fair point on water fountains, but you just need to ask in a cafe if they’ll fill your bottle up or, you know, just fill it up at home. It’s free, sooo. I don’t know anyone who often gets bottled water, that’s an American thing in my opinion. There are a few bits of dog poo but it’s pretty rare in my area. Very fair point on the smoking and vaping, it’s super annoying. I pass maybe 20 or more smokers on my way to uni every day. It isn’t widely accepted, but it is a big thing, if that makes sense. It is a European thing, but even more common in mainland Europe, especially France and Spain.

It is very interesting to see someone who’s from North America experience Northern Ireland for the first time, many people will think that it’s a complete war zone and that the country is divided based on religion, it is now a thing of the past and we have gotten better as a country, there are someone things that annoy about Northern Ireland and I’ve lived here all my life, the overall traffic annoys so much especially when I go to Belfast but also in my hometown where it has some worst traffic I’ve ever seen which is even worse than Belfast it’s a city, also sometimes people can be really rude sometimes, not all people in Northern Ireland are but some are

sorry for the rude people in the comments! Everyone notices things they don't like or are not used to in another country and I think its important to know these to see if we can improve. i really enjoy hearing a foreigners perspective on what they do and don't like as I've lived in different countries for 7 years and I've noticed so many different things in each of them. 'm from Belfast and I'm moving back again soon so thanks for sharing! Manual cars - i've always driven manual, and living in Aus and NZ they mostly drive automatic and I get why! Automatic is way better but I guess N.I and UK in general aren't that fussed about it. I used to think you're not really driving if you drive an automatic (which is N.Ireland/UK mentality) but since having driven them there are way handier - especially in traffic! Hopefully automatic cards become the norm. It would be way difficult if you have always driven auto then have to drive manual. Dryer - you just got a really bad one, washer/driers are renound for being awful and not working so great. If you had a seperate one it wouldn't take as long :) Water fountains - yes! what is that about? so unnecessary and I feel they do it in airport just to make money which is really unfair as water is free from the tap! Also in cafes most places give you a bottle of tap water for free but in Belfast you don't, you have to buy it. Smoking/vaping - i feel ya dog poo - so bad :( Coffee - i FEEL YA!! - I wasn't a serious coffee drinker and drank instant back home, but now I've had a taste of REAL coffee and i couldn't go back! Coffee is bad back home and when you're a coffee fiend what to do?! please let me know the good coffee places if there are any! NHS - I 'm not sure about NHS but in I have found UK systems and processes to be a bit backward in general eg money not automatically coming off your bank account balance (usually takes a few days yet with other banks in other countries it comes out straight away) and we still use cheques and postal orders?? crazy since no one even uses cash these days. Thanks for your insights and I'll watch the other vids now! Hope you are still enjoying Belfast :)

Well that’s not all dryers here that can be like just the one in ur apartment thing

On your bike

Belfast City Centre at night, it is downright dangerous and I was born and bred here. Water fountains is the least of your worries in Belfast.

You just have a shitty dryer. My dryer dries my towels in an hour and i live in belfast, but then again, whats that got to do with anything.

I spent 4 years in Belfast and I love it and love Belfast people but sorry to say that I agree with most of what’s mentioned in the video, especially dog’s 💩

Get a pastie supper son and chill out 👌

Hey Luke or is it Tyler? Those were some interesting observations. Do you know what. Most people who live here would agree with you on a lot of what you are saying! lol I drive a Touraeg automatic and love the ease of driving it. Other people like the crunch of changing gear and the noise factor but for hill starts and junction starts it is automatic every time fo me. Best wishes from Belfast

Washer dryer combos aren't great, you can get very decent automatic tumble dryers that work very well. I have one in my house because it's small, hard to heat anyway and prone to damp.

if u want good coffee order it from baileys, or you can by it in general merchants or have a wee google. tescos is never gonna sell good coffee mate

Go to Bangor it’s a nice town with pretty shops

Wow, this was difficult to watch being Belfast born and bred! But I understand some of your points of view like the inefficiencies of the admin processes of the NHS (which most people benefitting from the NHS will never really observe or take under their notice - the most important thing about the NHS, whilst it is under incredible pressure, for various reasons, is the fact that it is free and therefore I find your criticism of this difficult to accept considering the shortcomings of the Healthcare system in the States). Your critique and comparison of automatic vs manual is hilarious but you do realise you're wrong, right?! Manual is so much more superior. I totally understand that manual and automatic driving are world's apart, especially as manual would be considered a more advanced form of driving (hence why lots of nervous drivers or those who feel overwhelmed when learning how to drive a manual, are sometimes advised to take the automatic route). Your suggestion that our dryers are worthless in terms of function is a dire generalisation - you have merely encountered a rubbish dryer, which I'm sure happens in the States. Making a general conclusion about the failings of ALL dryers in Belfast/NI based on your experience of ONE is a bit silly! Although, to be honest who uses dryers on a regular basis anyway?! Definitely not an economical or environmentally friendly option. I have had the same washer/dryer combo machine for 10 yrs and it's still working like a dream. I agree with your observation on coffee - we don't have a huge coffee culture and it's still developing. However, depending on where you shop, you'll witness a wide range of different types of coffee including locally made varieties. There are also some up and coming local coffee shops that are superb. Again, agreed the issue of plastic packaging is a problem but most certainly not isolated to Belfast - it's a UK wide problem and depending on where you shop, you will see different efforts to minimise this. I noticed that you were shopping in Coop - this is very much at the budget end of the grocery spectrum. I've seen other shopping outlets in Belfast city offering alternatives. There's actually a few businesses that offer supplies with no packaging, where you're expected to refill as you go. If you ask around or investigate (like any city) you will find other alternatives but on the whole I agree that there's much more the UK should and could be doing in this area. Who cares about water fountains?! The dog poo and littering in public in general was a HUGE problem in the UK and has actually improved A LOT. I agree with you that it could be better, but please bare in mind that there has been huge steps to address this. This is very much cultural issue and trying to change behavious and mindsets takes a lot of work and time to bed in. Again, the smoking thing is a huge cultural issue and there has been huge steps in the last 15 yrs to address this. I agree with you that it could be better - but this is something you can't change overnight. Your video was interesting and I agree with some of your points but felt that some of your generalisation and lack of understanding in terms of cultural influences and the efforts which have already been put in place to address these, would have added more balance to your content.

I live in Belfast

Paid toilets are something we're not big fans of either. Big culture shock when coming from Australia.

Can confirm the drier you have is just a shit one, mine takes 40 minutes for everything to be dry in the same country

Manual transmission is cheaper to fix.

Ha ha, you're right about the dog poop! But, nothing compared to Paris!

Moving to belfast this year. Didn’t know that automatic cars were not that available

I don't have a dryer purely because they cost so much to run, I suppose there's also the environmental impact so I assume the EU has rules on how powerful they can be.

Very nice content and very informative video. Your video made me start to create my own channel. I am making blogs on HOW IS THE LIFE LIVING IN DUBLIN.

I don’t understand the thumbs down ratio. Literally everything stated was 100% true based on my experience...From East Coast USA

Manual transmissions give you greater vehicle control and fuel economy.

Belfast’s beasttt

posted on the 25th of july and no mention of marching season lol.

oh how i love living in norn iron ots a good wee country

Omg this rlly random ok but in w5 right u know what I’m on about there used to be like a lazar dodge to get to a safe and I was so annoyed as a kid when they removed it like OMG I still mad haha

Cant learn to work a gearstick but hes gonna fix the nhs lol hetes s tip, use one of the tons of plastic bottles ur gurning about and use a tap! Hey presto free water without the fountains

I live in northern ireland and i have never seen a water fountain 😂

👍

do you still live in belfast?

*tip* do not I REPEAT do not use Belfast water fountains 😂😂😂

correct about the nhs proces

Number 11: religious tension

If u ever have children make sure they don't become chavy & blasting some bass music from a £50 speaker

i like this shirt!!!!!

Unrelated but do you have a kettle

I have only watched as far as the "drier" complaint..... If all you have to be unhappy over is the fact you are too lazy to drive a manual gearbox, or wait for clothes to dry, relative to ya know Belfast being bombed to high hell (at 38 I remember this too vividly, sad to say) or terrorism you are doing well.... It does in that light come across as a bit priveliged - and before anyone says I am being negative, I would rather folk complain about automatic vs manual gearboxes over bombing campaigns any day of the week!

There's nothing to dislike about Belfast all of us here are cool af

Great video, I loved the editing! I hope you had a good time. We just got back from traveling around Europe and studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland. We've been documenting our travel adventures & would love it if you could check it out!

Hai wee man sir drivin a wee oul Manuel is the best fun you’ll ever have “Windows down revs up kick the clutch and diff like fuck”

NHS socks because it's a government program. Libertarians have been explaining this for centuries.

Very confused by your comments about dryers. I think you need a new one..... we have perfectly normal working dryers that dry your clothes in half an hour mate...

Just what we need. Another pampered American millennial fussing and lecturing his hosts. This is why people roll their eyes at us.

Automatic is more expensive here. More lax attitude here though there is flaws

Why don't you do something about it?

Load of rubbish if that’s all you have to complain about

The waitresses in north America are constantly hovering for one reason, they expect a big tip.

No one follows the law..LAW about picking up dog poo? Yes they do! Looks like you lived just of the Ormeau road of which there are several fruit and veg shops that don't use packaging. Your example video was in the Co-op, which is a corner shop...not a specialty fruit and veg place. We stick to manual gears because we have smaller winding roads, so quicker gear changes are needed. Unlike Canada and the US...we don't need roads the width of a football pitch! Vaping or smoking is not allowed inside, so that's just wrong. You keep saying..'I saw this in London..I saw this in Malta....I saw this in the Canary islands'..mate, they are vastly different counteries. To use an example of a country outside of Northern Ireland and then say that's what you don't like about 'here' ( being Belfast) does not make sense and is not a fair representation of the place. I wouldn't say, "I don't like drivers in Canada , for example, when I was in Russia, people drive very fast!" Your dryer is rubbish...guess what, most people have dryers that work fine here!

The automatics are more expensive here

Oh the old fashioned and wasteful refusal to switch to digital records instead of always wanting paper everything would bug me, and the smoking vaping in restaurants and patios would be a real pisser for sure. I like a little puff here and there, but not in/at restaurants or infringing on others.

Why would you move from a 1st world country to a 4th world country?

I did my bachelors in st thomas university in political science human rights then id id my masters in international human rights law in QUeens University belfast the differences apart fromthe language is very diffferent

Hardly anyone in the whole of Europe will sympathise with the automatic/ manual car comment :) But... when we are all forced to go electric from 2030 manual gears will slowly go the way of the dinosaur (unfortunately). I also have a combi washer and dryer and agree that they are not fit for purpose. A (much) shorter drying time would be welcome.

drive it like you stole it

At least nhs is free

I LOVE BELFAST NOT BECAUSE THE ROITS BUT ITS A NICE PLACE OK

I never heard about paid toilets and I live here...

I hate American waiters. They're too friendly to the point of being aggressive in checking in with you, too many time.

WHY DID YOU MOVE TO BELFAST WHEN YOU COULD HAVE MOVED TO NEW YORK CITY?

Fully understandable issues though I live in Belfast and its appalling compared to more civilised places.