Hmm (gets out wooden spoon and starts stirring), I heard an interview with a Brazilian woman whose name was America. She was very indignant that the United States had hogged the name America although they only occupy part of the continent. Personally, I call them United Statespeople.

Glyn - as already mentioned - There is no country of "America".

"I was simply pointing out a basic fact about the UK - which is almost always forgotten by all Americans. It's a simple fact . . . . . That is if your mature enough to do so."

How pompous can you get . . . . .

And if someone asked about moving to "America" we most definitely WOULD ask WHERE? California? New Jersey? North Dakota?

Same thing for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland -- If someone is asking about the UK, our first response usually would be Where?

I thought they were subjects and not citizens ?

www.americanexpats.co.uk has great information on the message boards. There is always someone around to answer your questions and they plan get togethers in various cities.

I live in Northern Ireland, and we know better than anyone about the whole UK/Great Britain/Britian/England thing. But sounds like thinkpink is moving to England, so take it easy.

I am an American expat myself, and moving abroad can be a great thing. It can also be a disaster if you are doing it for the wrong reasons or do not prepare properly.

All non-natives make mistakes about foreign countries. How many times to I have to hear people here in the UK call Elvis' home "Gracelands" and the big park in Florida "Disneyland" and think Knickerbocker Glory is a traditional dessert in the United States? I've given up saying "United States" or "US" over here. They only respond to "America".

Yes, quite one can understand what you are trying to say with regard to the whole England/UK/Britain dilema, however one has to realise that the UK is quite a lot smaller than the United States of America, so asking what part of Britain wouldn't really be of much benefit if your talking about moving to the country. The general culture, weather and all else that varies so much in the United States of America stays so similar in Britain.

And finally, the United States of America is quite a mouthful (and judging by recent news reports from your country, l'd say your country was far from United). This is why most people refer to the United States of America as simply America or the US. This is correct. When calling Britain or the UK England is very incorrect. They both mean completly different things, and l believe that this is something which many people have difficulty in grasping.

>however one has to realise that the UK is quite a lot smaller than the United States of America<

This IS news. Alert the media.

She wasn't referring to Britain or the UK in general. She specifically said "England" because she wants to move to England. Dunno what the big deal is.

Glyn -

Really - it's all the same? And would the people in London, Edinburgh and Belfast agree with that? Perhaps she said England because that's what she meant.

And America is not at all correct for the USA. America comprises two entire continents - which as some know is even bigger than the US.

>>This is why most people refer to the United States of America as simply America or the US. This is correct<<

Really? Geezz...I'll have to alert the Canadians, Mexicans, Columbians, etc...that they are not in America... This is too funny, it's not correct to refer to England as England, but you are so adamant that calling the U.S.A, as America is the correct way, period!

By the way, the way the citizens of the U.S.A show their UNITY is by not all thinking the same. We are VERY united in our rights to argue and fight for each of our own way of thinking!

Glyn seems to have a very large bee in his bonnet about this - it's certainly not the first time he's waxed wrath on the subject, to no useful purpose whatever. His problem probably stems from the lingering resentment felt by the Welsh over the defeat of their primitive ancestors by the marginally less primitive Anglo-Saxons. I'm just thankful that my English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish ancestors left it all behind them a couple of hundred years ago and escaped this sort of crap. To the rest of us it matters not one whit, and I suspect that it doesn't matter to most residents of the UK either. I see nothing wrong with using "England" generically, as in "Cardiff, England".

Hi thinkpinkpop As an expat Brit living in Australia for the past 20 years having emigrated to NZ and lived there for 20 years I will only suggest that you think about the culture shock. (assuming you are American). Altho Oz has great weather it is a desert when it comes to culture/history & altho the same things may not apply to you it will be a shock to find that the Brits, for instance, are perhaps less "laid back" than Americans. In the south of England I do know that house prices are ridiculously high, in 2003 for 150,000 pnds my niece puchased a tiny 2 bed terraced house which needs gutting to make habitable. (The house being 35 miles away from London in Bucks.) I live in a large house on 9 acres of land with a wonderful view, however I would swap it for a small unit nr London, It shows how much the ties to your homeland can mean.I suggest that you lok on the web for info re real estate in UK. Good luck tho whatever you decide.

A sad note from settlers.

Some people cope well with the experience of moving to a new country, and many are energised by the experience. Others are by nature incapable of making the necessary mental shift. They while away their days lamenting the loss of their "real home", which in their minds takes on more lustre with each passing year, and berate their host country for its perceived shortcomings. In this case, the victim is marooned in an imagined cultural desert, but I have heard a British immigrant damn Australia because she couldn't find a Marks & Spencers. The real reasons for her unhappiness, of course, lie within her.

Poor old settlers must have burnt his or her bridges; thinkpinkpop should be able to organise things better than than.

Q: How can you pick which arriving aircraft is the one loaded with British immigrants?
A: It's the one that doesn't stop whining after the engines are switched off.

Infomania:

Where did you get this claptrap about "subjects"? It's a myth invented by anti-monarchist fantasists.

What does it say on my passport - and on the other 30 or 40 million UK passports around? British Citizen. So far as I can remember, that's been true of every passport I've ever had.

Just as it says in the passports of all the other democracies where Head of State is a hereditary office - but Head of Government isn't. And, you know, we rather think liberty and democracy is a lot better assured in our system than in those countries where Head of Government is hereditary - or has become so over the past few years.

Neil: we tell exactly the same joke about Qantas planes full of Oz backpackers - presumably the offspring of the whingers we so successfully exported.

Now, having dumped my side-issues here's a plea to the board for rather more answers to Jackie's questions about living in England and rather less focus on whether she really wants to live somewhere else.

A couple of further suggestions, to try to get the positive, helpful ball rolling.

Where to live? You really have to help us here. How to decide between Westminster and West Whittington in the Marsh? Well, are you urban or rural? Does your job force you to live somewhere. If you're involved withn publishing, do you need to be close to a big publisher, or can you telecommute?

Do remember that commuting shortish (20 miles or so) distances can take forever, and seriously damage your quality of life - though some much longer train commutes can work (Brits work slightly shorter hours than Americans - which means longer than in almost any other affluent country - but, especially in SE England, have just about the world's longest average travelling times, which can lead to extraordinary levels of stress)

Your location is key to what comes next. Most young people in London flatshare till they're ready to set up their own household: renting a house would be the most common solution for families on 2/3 year relocations in what's known in the jargon as ROSEland (Rest Of the South East: the area within 100 miles radius of London than isn't London). If you've got the means, and you're determined to live here for a while, you may as well buy now rather than funding a landlord. There's little point going through each of these without some guidance from you.

For living costs you need real data as opposed to anecdotes about the cost of Coke in a convenience store next door to a tourist honeyspot. The EIU's cost of living database is probably best for this (www.enumerate.com, though I think there's still a hard copy too): if you can't finagle access from an HR chum, many Business or Export Information Centres have access. Do remember to cost in the things you don't have to pay for here (like health).

As my final post on the subject..
I can say that Glyns words really do represent the feelings of the majority of Welsh people who are patronised daily by the English media in particular, in many walks of life.
The thing is that unless you are welsh you would never understand this culture.
Its a bit like the protestant catholic thing in Northern Ireland, why is it an issue? I don't fully understand why, but it is a really big issue to them, as history shows its in their culture.We probably can't change it and we probably never will.
Obxgirl, for the reasons mentioned above it is NOT ok to generalise all of the UK as England. We are not England.
Janis, the only question that would be asked is What part of England is Wales in? It has happened believe me.
And Neil I am surprised at you :-( You know the generic name is either UK or GB and that Cardiff will never ever be in England.

OK that's me finished on the subject.

Good luck thinkpinkpop with what ever you decide, just always remember the other UK stakeholders are fiercly patriotic.As you can see.

Muck

;-)

flanneruk - touche, the Devil (in the form of 'settlers' made me do it. I did set out to make a serious point, though - some people are quite unsuited to being emigrants, but may only find that out too late to do anything about it, so it's a good idea to have an escape hatch prepared if possible. I'm sure thinkpinkpop will benefit from your positive information.

Mucky, the Devil made me do that too - I really must attend chapel more often. BTW, I think the root cause of protestant/catholic antipathy in N. Ireland is not theology but the forcible dispossession of the native population by Scots and English settlers. The fact that the natives were Catholic and the immigrants Protestant provided a convenient cultural marker and rallying point for the troubles of the subsequent 300 years.

Hi Neil,

You are forgiven my son..

His holy muckiness mucky

Wonder why thinkpinkpop hasn't come back again...at any rate, I don't see the need to jump all over her because she said England instead of UK. Glyn and Mucky, there have been plenty of posts here by people who said they want to move to Provence or the Dordogne or Tuscany...did you assume in those cases that they didn't know they were hoping to move to France (for P and D) or Italy (for T)? You're jumping to a conclusion based only on your own stereotypes. Maybe she's trying to connive a transfer and if you look at the McGraw Hill web site, its UK offices are all in ENGLAND.
We are moving to ENGLAND ourselves in a couple of months. I usually say we're moving to the UK, but I would be equally correct if I said England, because that's where we're going.
Hmm...considering the kneejerk hostility of some of the UK respondents, maybe on reflection, no wonder jackie hasn't posted again!

Glyn Williams doesn't think there are strict immigration rules? Try being on the reveiving end of them: I'm a Brit by racial background, but can I get in? No way. I think Glyn is maybe confusing the "rules' with the frequency by which many people flout them. For those of us who are mildly law-abiding, that isn't really an option.

I've been doing my best not to get into this debate which is nothing to do with the OP's question.

BUT, Brenda, there is a difference (in my psyche at least) between a region like Provence and the Dordogne and a country like England or Scotland.

I would have to agree with Sheila. There are cultural differences and they are also in my eyes separate countries that make up the UK. To me a Welsh person is different country and culture to a Scottish one and Irish (We are not in the UK folks). |Each has different traditions and historical languages. From the outside it may be the same to a foreigner but not to its inhabitants!