I am English but now live in holland.ive lived in 4 EU countries all different good and bad things. Embrace the differences and get on with life. Just adapt and be accepted or you will hate your life
The separation of church and state in the USA seems only nominal - it's unthinkable that you'd have an atheist president and very, very doubtful that a non-christian could get in. In contrast, in the UK we have currently have a Hindu Prime Mister. Tony Blair made it explicit - his chief press secretary and political strategist/advisor, Alistair Campbell, famously said "We don't do God". That the Church of England has a role in the state, alongside the royal family, is totally irrelevant to most people's lives.
I can't recall ever having pizza served without either a sharp knife, or, more normally, a pizza cutter? It allows you to choose the slices you want. And you certainly can buy pizza in the UK by the pre-cut slice. Take out pizza is always pre-cut.
One thing that people forget when complaining about litter, especially in London, is the effect of the IRA bombing campaigns. They were planting devices in the litter bins. So the bins were removed in perceived target areas. There were bins mounted on the walls along the underground platforms, they seem to have never returned. So some people got lazy. Then the whole composition of London changed and it got even worse. Unfortunately the bad habits have spread throughout the country, along with the proliferation of fast food outlets.
Actually, we don't vote for parties; we vote for individuals who usually belong to a political party. The Prime Minister is appointed by the King, although in practice, the PM is the person who has the most support in the Commons. Since most MPs are actually a member of a party, even though they are elected as individuals, the leader of the largest party is almost always (and always during most people's lifetime), will become PM. Parties can and do change leader, either because the old leader dies, resigns voluntarily, or is forced out by their party. Hence the PM changes without a general election. For example, Winston Churchill resigned though ill health in 1955 and was replaced by Anthony Eden; Eden resigned in 1957 after the Suez crisis and Harold MacMillan took over; MacMillan resigned in 1963 and Alec Douglas Home took over; Harold Wilson resigned in 1976 and James Callaghan took over; Margaret Thatcher resigned in 1990 and John Major took over. Similarly, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were replaced. In each case, the House of Commons did not change.
@@davidjackson2580 Would you agree that people usually pick the person they vote for by the party they represent? I'd argue we do elect parties, primarily. Even voting for an independent is a choice not to vote for any party.
@@joannegriffiths1400 that’s unfair - Kristin’s reporting what she sees; it’s just she’s not been living here very long so limited experiences - but her comments about litter are absolutely true.
The no plugs in the bathroom thing is because UK sockets are 230-240 volts, twice as powerful as US ones! If you get a shock here, you'll know all about it, though it will certainly cure your depression 😆
A full English breakfast is a total myth as a morning breakfast, 99% of Uk citizens don’t have time to make and eat this meal and don’t want a heart attack. Most folks just have cereal or toast, fruit, porridge or nothing. This is a just a stereotype myth same way as we all play cricket, eat scones and drink tea in our gardens overlooking a castle. I’ve had one this year so far and that was at a hotel when I stayed away for a wedding event....
Understandable, although I see it on most restaurant menus. People do seem to drink a lot of tea and eat scones and pastries too... but that's just my perception.
Not totally, few will make one during the week, but more will as a weekend treat. There are plenty of cafes that do a good trade in making them for early bird workers and it's expected to be offered in hotels and, of course, B&Bs.
I think people have it occasionally as a treat or at the weekend, as you have more time to cook and prepare. I'm pretty health conscious and an enjoy an avocado for breakfast but all also enjoy an full English, which can be cooked more healthily with good ingredients. Defo lose the black pudding though. I think you would be surprised how popular it still is. M
Having a full English (or full Welsh, or full Scottish), is a real treat when going on holiday. It's one of the highlights of a holiday in the UK. I do sometimes have one at home, although not always at breakfast, but not regularly. It's great to find a pub or cafe which does an all day breakfast, and I will quite often go for that option when available.
The most egregious and perplexing thing about UK vs US healthcare is the fact that the US spends more per person on healthcare than the UK but Americans receive less care or can't access it and can still go into bankruptcy paying hospital and healthcare bills. So where does all that money go? Not on patients it seems.
pizza is not pre-cut in italy, whenever i've had it there (and from my dodgy memory). I believe it's not intended to be picked up in slices as that's hot and messy, but is eaten as a meal with a knife and fork. So I assume this is why it's not cut into slices when you've had it in the UK. Although I think usually it's in slices in the UK, but certainly not always
Hi Kristin, America might say they have separation of church and state, but I'm willing to bet, no politician who didn't claim to be a god fearing christian would ever get elected. In the UK we care about their policies, not what imaginary being they worship.
Kristen Synema in the Arizona Senate is an atheist and a lesbian who swore her oath on the Constitution. This made the Republicans furious but they haven't said a word now she is voting for pro-corporate bills, helping them cut Medicaid and also helped them cut down a national minimum wage increase recently....
@@donfatale The House of Lords has the ability to hold up legislation temporarily, but it can't write it's own. The only reason it hasn't been abolished is, we like tradition. The UK is far more secular than the US, A confirmed atheist has zero chance of being elected in the US, whereas, in the UK, no one cares, and it's highly unlikely to be brought up in an election campaign.
Before we lost our heavy industries in the 1970s a "full English" was essential to provide the energy you'd need for a day's hard physical work. The wife would most probably not go to work and she'd cook the breakfast, probably getting up first and preparing it while the husband was getting ready. And unless the children were very young, they'd walk or cycle to school on their own or with friends while Mum stayed home, washed the dishes and did the housework or food shopping. The working man might get a 1/2 hour break for lunch, but that would probably be just a sandwich. Nowadays, I doubt anyone has a full English. It's something you'd more likely have as brunch at a cafe if you're out for the day. In the UK, we don't eat pizza as a handheld food - we use a knife & fork. I have never seen two mail delivery people together - and I've lived in 7several different parts of England over a period of more than 30 years. If you think all houses in England look the same, try visiting the Cotswolds, then a Cornish mining village or small coastal port, then a mining town in Wales or a mill town in the North West. All those places that look the same are suburban areas, built either in the 1930s or since the 1980s. Our head of state is also the head of the church but I don't know where you're getting your information that religion is spoken about all the time in the news, etc. In fact, no one in the UK gives a damn what religion anyone is, or even if they're an atheist. It seems to me that religion is a much bigger deal in the US, especially when it comes to politics. Our head of state is the monarch, who we don't get to vote for. We have a General Election which is supposed to happen every 5 years. We don't get to elect the Prime Minister directly. By tradition, that is the leader of whichever party wins a majority of the seats in parliament in the election. (Or more accurately, someone who can claim the support of the majority to be able to form a functioning government). Who the party leader is at any time is an internal matter for the party, not the electorate. In the last year or so, we have had an extremely unusual situation within the Conservative (Tory) Party with far more changes than would be usual.
I've also never seen two postmen together, but I wonder if it's a similar situation to some taxi drivers I spoke to. They said if they were called to some of the rougher estates (they mentioned Moss Side) they'd double up for safety and mutual support.
The slot in your door is called a letter box.😊 If you have letters, they’ll be posted through your letter box by a postman. If you order goods from parcel delivery company their man/ lady will usually leave your parcel in a pre-arranged place if you’re not at home.
Having post come in via a letterbox is SO much better than an American mail box in my opinion. Same with having parcels actually delivered TO YOU and not just left outside your house lol. Prevents theft.
Im from Liverpool and litter is a huge problem here too. I find it absolutely infuriating and upsetting. Quite simply there is no excuse for it, and people are just lazy and don't give a s%^t. I cannot begin to understand this mind-set of fouling the place where a person lives. Great content, keep up the good work.
@@TravelingwithKristin it seems a common theme around the UK sadly. Yeah, I watched the livestream of your Liverpool visit, shame about the crappy weather. Hope you enjoyed staying in Liverpool regardless. Really enjoy your content, with a non-native perspective, pointing out some of our unusual British quirks.😊
The American Travel Writer Bill Bryson was disgusted by the litter in Liverpool. He wrote "One weekend I took a train to Liverpool. They were having a festival of litter when I arrived. Citizens had taken time off from their busy activities to add crisp packets, empty cigarette boxes, and carrier bags to the otherwise bland and neglected landscape."
@@andypandy9013 Think Bill Bryson is very fond of Liverpool, maybe being his favourite English City. But his observation about the litter problem, then and now, are sadly very accurate. Maybe we should start a campaign to clean up our major cities of litter and having more civic pride, which i believe would translate into improving other aspects of city life.
I'd suggest the core of an english breakfast is simply egg and bacon. You can choose the type of egg, or bacon - and simply add what you want to that. If you don't want black pudding, or sausage, or beans - you don't have to cook or eat it. It's a meal of choices - and different options can be available in the full English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh - or Ulster Fry. It's been around for many centuries, hence the variations.
In the USA you are voting for a new head of state and commander in chief every four years. We've just changed ours for the first time since 1952. Changing Prime Minister is not the same as changing President.
I did live in the Bay Area of CA for a while and it was always rubbish free, I do remember being a bit stunned by that.... it was in the early 80's , don't know what its like now.
@@flumpah People who litter are vermin. Those nice pople who pick up litter in their spare time and put in in those green bags for the council to collect are angels.
Nearly ALL European housing is built in brick to last hundreds of years. In the US the cheapest building material is timber, and they just tear the property down and rebuild. If you look at Eastern US housing pre-1945, they are multi storey and made with bricks. They are still standing today, because they are build to last. Nearly ALL UK housing has pitched roofs because of rain and snow, that is why they all look the same. There was a fad in the 70's to have flat roofs. But they just leaked and were quickly re-roofed with a pitch and tiles. Flat roofs do not suit our climate.
There are cities in the world with lots of wooden pre-1945 housing. Sometimes wood is the sensible choice. You can have a variety of housing and a pitched roof. I think it is because many estates are built by the one builder. Where in other countries they sell each plot and then the owner chooses their own builder.
There are probably only about seven or eight big, national house-builders in the UK. They are mostly building much more to cost levels than selling to aesthetic standards, because housing is so expensive.
You note the socialized medicine which is different from the US, the only western nation without it. The US seems far more focused on the individual than the community. Prime example is health care. The rest of the world sees a collective healthy country as as a benefit. We in Canada learned this after WWI, thanks to Tommy Douglas. You also note UK with a parliamentary system can have leaders for long periods and short. The system lends itself to this. But note that there isn't endless political chatter and "news" about it. When the election is done, people move on with their lives. US drowns in political discussion all year, every year. Have you noticed any impact from Brexit in Manchester, or the daily lives of those around you? You note that having a baby is "free", but also note the time allowed for maternity and paternity leave. The UK and Canada both value mothers bonding with babies. The US wants you back to work in weeks. Just different values. The US won't tolerate higher taxes to pay for socialized medicine, and there is no problem with those without insurance being financially ruined by a serious medical issue.
02:20 The equivelant of American bacon in the UK is called streaky bacon. UK streaky bacon comes from the pork belly same as in America, whereas UK back bacon (aka bacon) comes from the pork loin.
How to eat pizza? I tend to think you should do it the way I have seen in Italy- if you are in a proper restaurant and drinking wide, you use a knife and fork, you only pick up slices in a fast food place or when the pizza is cold.
My mum picks up litter like you, she enjoys meeting new people and making the place look like it should, people these days just drop rubbish like it’s nothing it’s so sad, you keep picking it up love, I wish more people living in England had that mentality ❤
@@tenniskinsella7768 I lived there for 10 years, no, there really isn't. They take better care of their environment, no smashed bus stops or phone boxes too
Kristin: Thank you for some interesting insights: so much to unpack here! Firstly, the full English breakfast is now a bit of a myth, because most working people don't have time for all that; it tends to be more of a treat at weekends or when we're in a hotel, and somebody else has to cook it. The reason housing looks uniform is that it's always been very rare for people to build their own houses in the UK. Most are built by developers, and in the past many were erected either by councils or by businesses to house their workers, so they tend to conform to three or four basic designs. As for the turnover of PMs, you must remember that we don't vote directly for them, we vote for political parties who choose their leader, and they can replace them at any time if they lose confidence in them. If you watch Prime Minister's Question Time in Parliament, you can see how ruthlessly our PMs are attacked when they have to face their critics once a week across the despatch box. No US President gets roasted on a weekly basis, and you might like to contrast the fates of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, two compulsive liars, one of whom left office in disgrace with his career in ruins, while the other is running for re-election! There is an answer to the Uber fares -it's called Metrolink!
I don't know anybody who eats a 'full English breakfast' at home. Its mainly for hotels, cafes etc. The closest I come to a full English is sometimes to have a similar food for lunch, on rare occasions at the weekend
Regarding having babies, I have had two grandchildren born this year. The first was disgnosed with a thyroid problem was put immediately onto thyroid treatment, and was monitored every week until the thyroid dosage was seen to be correct. All for free. The second was diagniosed in the womb with a non functioning kidney, and was delivered early by having a c-section. The baby and its mother are regularly checked, and everything, including the operation, and all drugs are completely free. The baby will continue to be monitored for free and if the time comes for intervention any operation will be free. At the same time the baby's father contracted cellulitis, and was rushed to hospital, and had ten days of intravenous antibiotics for two hours each day, and now is on antibiotics taken orally for another ten days. All the hospital treatment was free, and he was discharged with ten day's worth of anitbiotics, again all for free. I have NO QUALMS, as is the case for most people in the UK, about a moderate proportion of my taxes funding the NHS.
22:09. The frequent fast change of Prime Ministers recently is not something that happens in typical normal circumstances. It's just happened in recent years, because the UK has/still is sadly undergoing a significant of unnecessary political upheaval and turmoil, much more significant than usual. Recently the 2 major political parties of the UK have focused more of their efforts on destroying themselves from within, rather than running the country.
@@TravelingwithKristin Although our political system may have seemed chaotic recently, it actually showed that the Westminster system works well. When Boris told one lie too many and had to resign, the next party leader Liz Truss showed that she and her Chancellor weren't up to the job. So her political party rapidly got rid of her, albeit not before she had done £3 billion's worth of damage to the economy. Whereas you get stuck with leaders you can't get rid of until the next election, no matter how much damage they do!
To be honest the litter issues seems to be largely a Salford thing (in particular). I have a front garden facing the street and every day there is new trash in there. The council however seem to be very good. If you spot something "fly tipped" (dumped illegally) you just fill in an online form and it's usually been picked up within a day. The smaller stuff seems to just be kids that haven't been brought up well 😠
The pizza is Italian food and it is not cut in Italy either. The reason is that it is correct manners to eat your food with a knife and fork, whereas it is very ignorant and ill mannered to eat your food with your fingers in public, especially when seated at a table, unless you are doing it at home, on your own. So you probably need to learn British and European table manners.
Typically the van carries more than a postie can carry all the way from a depot and will intercept posties on their route dropping off bundles directly or into drop off boxes so you will see the handovers and i suppose you will get two together when one is learning the route.
You've not understood what the Prime Minister is, but so do more than a few Brits. We elect our constituency MPs, often because they belong to a political party we support. Once they're elected it is up to them to form the government by whoever can get the support of most other MPs. The King acts as umpire, the PM is traditionally acting as his proxy. In practice it'll be the leader of the party with the most MPs wo's invited to form the government. There's no constitutional process for appointing party leaders, it's down each party to set their own rules. We've seen it all in action lately: Boris Johnson was Conservative Party Leader & then won a majority of seats in 2019. He managed to lose the support of enough Conservative MPs to be forced to resign instead of been voted out by them and MPs from the opposition parties who'd have outnumbered the Tories still loyal to him. As the Tories still had a majority, Conservative Party members got to elect a new party leader, Liz Truss who got invited by the Queen to be the next PM days before she died - no public vote was required. The still living Liz'[s first budget was so disastrous, she too got her marching order from the other Tory MPs and things had got so farcical the runner up from the party leader contest was given the gig by them to avoid any more Drama. All above board, as in the final analysis, we elect individual MPs to represent our constituency in the House of Commons who decide laws & who gets to govern by majority vote.
Americans definitely have a different sense of humour. They can be offended easily and even a gentle 'slagging' can upset them and they will take it personally.
The Full English used to be a workmans breakfast. It used to be mainly available in the many cafes serving tradesman and manual labourers to set them up with lots of bread and tea on the side. Most household have cereal or toast as a breakfast. Recently celebrated as a "British" thing hence the hype but really only a few times a year as a treat and often as a weekend brunch
To save money I don't use boiler at all. The shower heats itself. I wear more clothes in winter and a woolly hat. Do not need heating at all. House is insulated.
".. have a baby for free" is such a discombobulating phrase. For A Briton, it's like hearing a foreign language. We say, "have a baby". The idea that "for free" would be added is just weird.
The US had 18 Presidents in the 20th Century. The UK had 19 Prime Ministers in the 20th Century. The last seven years has seen five PMs, but it has been a very unusually turbulent political period.
The " full English" is usually only eaten maybe on a Sunday or on a special occasion. The mail thing, houses here are incredibly close, in towns much housing is Victorian, conjoined without front space for a mailbox.if you want you can buy and fit one and your postman will use it!
PS a single bed is 3 feet wide a double is 4 ft 6 inches , king size 5 feet wide, if bigger it's a super king, so just measure the width . ( there is a 4 ft bed but that's rare and bedding can be hard to get! )
I hate litter! I do the same and pick up litter here in Nottingham. We don’t have sockets in bathrooms as our electricity is 240v AC- more than enough to stop your heart, and we don’t have waste disposals as they’re banned for environmental reasons.
I remember enjoying the Full English breakfast when I went last year although I only got it once due to how large it was. The other mornings I would usually eat light. I believe you are right too that us Americans tend to not think of visiting any of the Europeans cities and regions beyond the most famous ones (London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, etc.) compared to anyone over in Europe. For example, I went to both Belgrade, Serbia last October for several days followed by a 3-day visit to Rome. When I was telling friends and family here at home about my trip, their interests were piqued about Rome and not Belgrade which was disappointing because Belgrade was quite enjoyable. Anyway, I also remembered the off/on switches on the power outlets in the Airbnb I stayed at in Holmfirth, England last year. I agree that we need those here too! I really enjoyed this one Kristin!
Interesting perspectives. I live in the UK and am married to am American. Finally I've worked out why she keeps calling a single bed a twin bed! The thing about houses is because as opposed to the US, many more houses are brick built here - to you, they're all the same - Brick Built. When I visit the US, I see all the houses as being the same. They're all made of out wood! Also, re the holidays - they are NOT "federally mandated" LOL! We do not have a federal government
Much of Europe have instant domestic hot water. My house heats with gas boiler that makes radiant hot water in the floor, but also heats domestic hot water tank. House always has warm floors and hot water is always ready. Boiler is 95 percent efficient
That type of water heater is known as a tankless water heater in the USA. Because forced air is not used in Europe, the same heater is also used to heat the radiators. Inside the heater there is a valve that switches between heating circuits, with priority given to the water taps/shower giving you endless hot water. Tank based systems exist too overthere, but are not really common anymore I believe.
If a sitting US president dies the public don't get to choose a replacement, the job goes to the vice president, who will appoint a new vice president. In the UK we vote for a party and the prime minister is the leader of their party, so if a party changes it's leader and that party is in power then the prime minister changes without a full public vote* *Political parties choose their leader differently. The Conservatives select their leader from a vote of it''s members, people who have paid their annual subscription to be a member of the Conservative Party.
Not sure about the bed problem. Single bed is for one adult, double is for two adults, king sized is for two adults but with more space, queen sized is for two adults but with loads of space. You just buy the sheets that match? A king sized fitted sheet is for the mattress, a king sized sheet goes over you. A king sized duvet on top of the sheet. You don't tend to come across many other sizes commonly though I think a three quarter is bigger than a single but not as big as a double. Usually it's just single, double or king.
People don't generally build their own houses in the UK. Mostly people have to be super rich to do that. So big companies build whole housing estates. And they are all the same and pretty standard mainly to save money and make the company more profit. And garbage disposal - thats not usual at all, and would only be in kitchens where people have installed their own kitchen, maybe. Its not regular - again, more likely to be found in houses of more affluent people. Mailboxes are not common and I am guessing it is more to do with not having the same amount of outdoor space around the house that you get with houses in the US.
@@TravelingwithKristin Building costs, particularly the price of land has always been high in the UK. If you go to London and see the lovely stuccoed terrace house in places like Belgravia and South Kensington, they came about because the price of land was so high that even rich people could not afford detached houses. So they built upwards, instead of outwards, in streets of terraced houses. Later on in the Victorian age they built housing for the masses following the railway lines. Then you had builders supplying you with a house from a pattern book, as a number of them built a new suburb. These houses are the most numerous in the towns and cities of the UK. They are brick built of similar designs, but still standing after newer buildings have been demolished. In Edwardian times you got larger semi-detached houses for the middle classes further away from the city centres. After the war you got large council estates with hideous concrete tower blocks, most of which have had to be demolished. And for the last few decades you have had a few large building companies buying up land and creating poor quality housing estates. Statistically the worst in Europe, smallest rooms, least insulation etc.
I have a electric waste disposal in my sink but never ever use it. What do you put down it, it seems very dangerous? We don't waste expensive food in this country and are far more eco minded than the USA; we have bins provided by the local authority to recycle any uneaten vegetables, potato peelings etc anyway.
Most countries (Democracies) in the world follow the parliamentary system with a President/King/Queen as Head of State and and the Prime Minister as Head of Government. The Prime Minister is generally selected by the majority/ruling party in the legislature/parliament. In the US, both roles are filled by the President who is elected by the Electoral College, which makes it undemocratic.
Since you asked why Americans call a single bed a "twin," it refers to the practice of putting two single beds next to each other. If you watch some old TV shows, you'll see married couples using twin beds.
Lets face it, the bigger beds fit the "bigger" Americans, that's also why they need the big houses and cars. Most Americans would not fit in a little or medium Asian or European car. Kristin, maybe you dont like the bacon because here we have 2 sorts of it? We have the salty and the sweet lard here, I think in the States they use too much sweeteners in everything and that's why you dont like the food here so much. But as a Belgium guy i have to say English food sucks and i only like the breakfast there.
@@lucarmyfool4800 I doubt she's referring to the taste of bacon, but the cut. American bacon is what we would call a rasher - narrow, rectangular stripes that crisp up beautifully. The bacon served in a full English is what Americans, I think, refer to as Canadian bacon -usually Africa shaped, denser, and much chewier.
@@hughtube5154 Oh, that's another bacon that we have in Belgium as well. that one has to be served very thin and is not crisp at all, indeed it's very salty also.
I don't think normal people ever had twin beds...they were invented by the TV censors coz it was restricted to show a couple..even if married..to share a bed...how scandalous!
The fuel costs are much higher in the uk, there’s also local toll charges related to the environment, that probably explains a percentage of the taxi price. As for parcels, delivery of items in the uk is quite extensive, especially since the pandemic. Some households have all there shopping, including clothes, groceries and medications delivered to the door. Obviously some of that, especially signed for items, require you to answer the door when they knock. But in some cases you can arrange parcels to be left in a safe space or with a neighbour, if you leave details with the carrier.
In the US the president is the nearest thing to royalty. In the UK the Prime Minister is the chief of the government; the Royal Family is something completely different.
Maybe the bed is a three quarter. You just buy double sheets. They won’t fit perfectly but good enough. Places to go - you should check out Conwy and Snowdonia in North Wales. Full of castles, mountains, beautiful scenery and lovely villages. When people tease you it’s like when you were kids and if someone liked you they’d pick on you. If you’re in London, get the tube.
I don't think the on/off switches on electrical sockets are to save electricity! If nothing is plugged in nothing is being used. They are purely for safety (unless anyone knows differently?)
to be fair, you cant really choose ANY doctor in the US either. Do they not have to be on your insurance companys list? and if you change insurance company you gave a different list of GPs that you can use.
I think the little issue is primarily found in Northern England. I've lived in the North, the South and in North Wales. It was quite rare to see litter in Wales and the South, but upon returning to the North, I was shocked by how I had never noticed it.
Town/city councils rely on people picking up litter so they dont have to pay people to do it. The money given to councils by the government was cut so the councils cut services. In my town i have only seen 1 person from the council picking up litter in 2 years
Regarding Prime Ministers, you have to understand that voters select their local Member of Parliament. The formation of a government and appointment of a Prime Minister is the privilege of the political party that can command a majority of MPs. Sometimes no one party can muster sufficient numbers for an outright majority, in which case a negotiated settlement between two rival parties can occur. Between elections, the governing party can swap leaders and thus the Prime Minister can change without having to win an election.
Great video! Thanks so much for sharing. I currently reside in Batumi, Georgia and I really love it, but there is a lot more litter than I'm used to, so I simply pick it up and throw it in the trash. The elderly always smile wide when they see me, and that's nice. I swear,I could listen to you talk for hours and hours. Your voice is so incredibly relaxing.
Garbage disposals just deposit waste into the environment. Better to compost. Get your boiler sorted and you can more or less forget it. It’s an efficient way of heating. Over summer with no heat, my gas bills are about £10 a month….. more money for gin.. yay! 🍸🍸
Always a pleasure to have a video from you! We're seeing the on-demand water heaters in Canada among people who want to save money with the increased efficiency they offer.
So a 6 inch high pile of pancakes smothered in Maple Syrup is more appealing to you than a "Full English"! Yuk! I know which I prefer. BTW very few people in this country eat a "Full English" regularly, my wife and I might have one 2 or 3 times a year and most people I know are very similar, and with regard to central heating boilers, They are mostly combination boilers with hot water on tap. These are very efficient compared to American systems which generally are much less efficient. Finally houses in the UK were generally designed and built during the Industrial Revolution and millions of these are still standing so the planners don't like major disrution of new designs, if your proposed house plans are materially different from what exists in your street, even if they are 80 years old you may find it hard to get planning approval, keep up the good videos Kristin.
the full English is a treat on the weekend or a hangover or if your starting at a hotel. We have normal breakfast yoghurt, toast, cereal maybe crepes or pancakes etc etc
A lot of boiler systems will give you the choice about how hot water is supplied as many have a smaller tank that is continually kept hot and is there to be supplied to the tap immediately while the following water is heated so you don't wait for hot water to come through the the tap. It can usually be switched off to save heating cost.
Land is expensive in the UK, and release of agricultural land is strictly controlled. This is quite deliberate, the UK is small and there is a regulatory effort to minimisee urban sprawl. The upside is that within a hundred miles of you in Manchester, there are many lovely rural areas that are much the same in character as they were hundreds of years ago. The downside is that houses are smaller and the regulatory hurdles that you face building a unique, detached, property are much higher than in the USA. My son and his American wife, like everyone else, bought a plot of land on a gated community then had a house built on the land. That is the way it is done in much of the USA, but it is an extremely expensive way of getting a home in the UK. Architectural and regulatory approval fees are amortised across a number of houses, along with building supplies and other services.That is the main reason that houses tend to look the same. An indirect benefit of the American system is that my son is legally obliged to keep the immediate area around the house tidy and free from litter. Houses have to be durable and have a long service life to get a mortgage, you will find that new houses in the UK share similarities with new building stock in other European countries with similar restrictions, like Switzerland, The Netherlands and Denmark. My daughter-in-law's mother had a lovely home in Myrtle Beach, but it was 40 years old which made it a liability and worth less than a new build, even though new builds in her area are much inferior living spaces in communities that are less in harmony with the surroundings. That seemed very strange to me, a beautiful, spacious, serviceable home was barely worth retaining as a structure after forty years. In comparison, my house is 650 years old and contains panelling and decoration that came from a structure originally constructed around 1246. Of course, that is unusual even for the UK, but we generally expect houses to have a long service life. Another consequence of UK building controls is that communities are designed to facilitate immediate access to most essential services. There is lots of talk of 'fifteen minute cities' as if it were a new concept, but that is exactly how most rural towns have been constructed in the UK and much of Europe since the middle ages. I rarely drive more than ten minutes, even more rarely take a taxi, have never taken an uber in the UK, because there is no need. If I want to go to some other part of the country, my first option is to take a train, faiiling that I will drive or take a plane if it is a location in Scotland. In my son's home in South Carolina there isn't a single service or shop within a 15 minute walk, not even the shared recreation facilties of the gated community. In fact, there aren't any sidewalks, so the only option is to drive to the school, the supermarket, the medical clinic, the restaurant .....
Prime Ministers: Yes, we have had a lot recently, four in the last 7 years but keep in mind that in the UK we do not vote for our Prime Ministers. They are the Leaders of the party that forms the Government (or head of the largest party in a Coalition). If that party gets rid of its Leader or they resign then whoever becomes the new Leader automatically becomes the new Prime Minister. I should point out though that whereas a US President can only serve for a maximum of two terms (8 years), a UK Prime Minister does not have those confines. Margaret Thatcher was P.M. for 11 years (1979 to 1990) and Tony Blair served for 10 years (1997 to 2007). Our longest serving PM was the younger William Pitt who was in office for over 17 years (1783 to 1801) and the first "De facto" PM (the title of Prime Minister did not exist back then) was Robert Walpole whose tenure from 1721 to 1742 lasted nearly 21 years. In the USA and many other countries you have an elected President as Head of State with various political powers. Here in the UK our Head of State is the Monarch, currently King Charles III. The UK Monarchy is what is known as a Constitutional Monarchy as against an Executive Monarchy. Whilst they hold the office of Head of State in reality they now have virtually no political powers left. In theory they do have some residual ones but if they chose to exercise them there would be a constitutional crisis and, in any case, Parliament would legislate to specifically remove those powers from them. Hence they don't use them and, frankly, I don't think that they want to anyway. 🙂 UK Plugs: Watch this: ruclips.net/video/139Q61ty4C0/видео.html 👍
A boiler is simply a hot water heater. It may be used to provide hot water for washing and may also be used as part of the hot water heating system. Central heating is rare in most of Europe; most heating is done by hot water. One of the reasons for this is due to the dominance of brick construction in Europe; which makes it inconvenient to pass large diameter air ducts throughout a building.
Do you have a clothes dryer? Many European homes don't have one as they either dry their clothes outside or hang them up inside! Some also have a combined washer/dryer; something you just don't see in North America. This is mostly due to the relative size of the houses.
- Electrical outlets are called "plug sockets". The third prong on plugs is an earth wire, which makes the whole thing a lot safer. - Garbage disposal units are not a thing in the UK. I've never seen one, nor have I known anyone who has one. - Your boiler seems weird. Most modern accommodations in the UK have a "combi" boiler that you don't need to ever interact with, it'll just instantly give you hot water / heating whenever you need it. - Some bed sheet manufacturers are stingy, meaning they make them as small as possible. I'd recommend paying a bit more, or just buying the next size up if you're buying cheap sheets. - Religion isn't really a thing in the UK anymore. It's more just ceremonial (e.g. God Save The King). Most people say they're C of E but very few people go to church etc. - In the UK we don't vote for a prime minister, we vote for an MP. Who the winning party elects as their leader is not our choice, because the PM has very little power by themselves anyway. It's not like the USA where the President has a LOT of individual power. Also, the situation with Liz Truss was VERY unusual and not representative of UK politics as a whole. Hope this helps! :)
Interesting comments on religion in the UK. Although we have an established church here we are probably one of the least religious countries in the world. I had callers at the door the other day. Two of them. As soon as I heard the Yank accent I realised they were here to convert us heathen Europeans. Of course they had bugger all luck with me!
Some think the fact that U.K. has an established state religion contributes to British peoples religious apathy. Cos there isn’t a sense of choice there when people are told they are Anglican because that’s the state religion. Countries like the US that don’t have a state religion have that sense of choice. And as humans we like to exercise choice. Also British people probably tend to be less religious because they aren’t a new country like the US. They have a long history where wars have been linked to religion which Color’s their view more. The US haven’t been part of that history so it isn’t going to color their view. Still, personally I keep an open mind on these things even though I am British because as far as Im concerned everything in nature shows design. It’s way too intricate to be random. There’s just no way it would be
Believe me, the 'full English' is not really very popular anymore. As for littering, it's a national shame. Children and adults throw rubbish into my front yard every day. It's disgusting. I don't understand it. I would never stoop so low. My dad's street has trash blowing all over the place. Visiting family and friends in the US and Greece I was astonished at how clean the streets were.
We had a new kitchen 21 years ago and we had a waste disposal fitted. It was powerful enough to tackle chicken bones (and they in turn sharpened the blades). However for the past 4 years the dustbin men (garbage disposal men) collect food waste in a separate bin so we don't use the waste disposal unit much.
My Wife is a Born and Bred Yorshire Lass* I am from Cleveland Ohio. I notice that the British are very Polite* And Fish and Chips at Whitby are phenominal *
My regular breakfast is a cup of coffee and a bowl of Shreddies. However when I am on holiday I usually have a full English. (this can be in the UK or overseas).
The healthcare system in the UK is not free, It is paid for through taxes. The healthcare system was developed during the first world war when it was discovered that many eligible men were not medically fit enough to go into the military.
Great vid,Kristin,but such an amazing bizarre and wrong take on Religion(20:25) : In the USA,you had this abnormal political entity known as the Christian evangelical Right (Falwell,Graham,Robertson,etc.) with immense [ and so far,very damaging] political clout since the Reagan admin.,even though constitutionally church and state are explicitly separate. In the UK,it is officially the other way round,but over the centuries and misc. conflicts(ie Cromwell,etc.),both have evolved to understand their boundaries ! 🙄
Littering is a scourge in this country When I was child there was a campaign called Keep Britain Tidy, it seemed to go well, as I remember, they should bring it back, I expect its too expensive. Most people regard regard a English as a treat and don't have it very often The mail comes from a hub, so they have to travel by van to the local areas. A garbage disposal is a uniquely US thing, in the Europe they are banned because of the extra filtering and the environmental issues. Planning regulation is strict here, so new estates tend to have similar houses Taxis etc cost so much because fuel is a lot more expensive than in the US
![How I See the UK as an American Abroad [CULTURE SHOCK]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qaZmoCPLCs8/mqdefault.jpg)
![How I See the UK as an American Abroad [CULTURE SHOCK]](/img/tr.png)
What stands out to you about British culture? Do you have more context about these British customs? 🇬🇧
What!! You do not like the full english breakfast! Sacrilege!!!
I am English but now live in holland.ive lived in 4 EU countries all different good and bad things. Embrace the differences and get on with life. Just adapt and be accepted or you will hate your life
The separation of church and state in the USA seems only nominal - it's unthinkable that you'd have an atheist president and very, very doubtful that a non-christian could get in. In contrast, in the UK we have currently have a Hindu Prime Mister. Tony Blair made it explicit - his chief press secretary and political strategist/advisor, Alistair Campbell, famously said "We don't do God". That the Church of England has a role in the state, alongside the royal family, is totally irrelevant to most people's lives.
@@geoffbeattie3160Agreed, may I presume that you could have added, ' or just stay home '?
I can't recall ever having pizza served without either a sharp knife, or, more normally, a pizza cutter? It allows you to choose the slices you want. And you certainly can buy pizza in the UK by the pre-cut slice. Take out pizza is always pre-cut.
One thing that people forget when complaining about litter, especially in London, is the effect of the IRA bombing campaigns. They were planting devices in the litter bins. So the bins were removed in perceived target areas. There were bins mounted on the walls along the underground platforms, they seem to have never returned. So some people got lazy. Then the whole composition of London changed and it got even worse. Unfortunately the bad habits have spread throughout the country, along with the proliferation of fast food outlets.
We don’t vote for Prime Ministers in the UK - we vote for parties. The US votes for Presidents. It’s a different system.
Who's gonna tell him?
Actually, we don't vote for parties; we vote for individuals who usually belong to a political party. The Prime Minister is appointed by the King, although in practice, the PM is the person who has the most support in the Commons. Since most MPs are actually a member of a party, even though they are elected as individuals, the leader of the largest party is almost always (and always during most people's lifetime), will become PM. Parties can and do change leader, either because the old leader dies, resigns voluntarily, or is forced out by their party. Hence the PM changes without a general election.
For example, Winston Churchill resigned though ill health in 1955 and was replaced by Anthony Eden; Eden resigned in 1957 after the Suez crisis and Harold MacMillan took over; MacMillan resigned in 1963 and Alec Douglas Home took over; Harold Wilson resigned in 1976 and James Callaghan took over; Margaret Thatcher resigned in 1990 and John Major took over. Similarly, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were replaced.
In each case, the House of Commons did not change.
@@davidjackson2580 Would you agree that people usually pick the person they vote for by the party they represent? I'd argue we do elect parties, primarily. Even voting for an independent is a choice not to vote for any party.
@@joannegriffiths1400 that’s unfair - Kristin’s reporting what she sees; it’s just she’s not been living here very long so limited experiences - but her comments about litter are absolutely true.
@@joannegriffiths1400 The litter is almost ankle deep where I live.
The no plugs in the bathroom thing is because UK sockets are 230-240 volts, twice as powerful as US ones! If you get a shock here, you'll know all about it, though it will certainly cure your depression 😆
A full English breakfast is a total myth as a morning breakfast, 99% of Uk citizens don’t have time to make and eat this meal and don’t want a heart attack. Most folks just have cereal or toast, fruit, porridge or nothing. This is a just a stereotype myth same way as we all play cricket, eat scones and drink tea in our gardens overlooking a castle. I’ve had one this year so far and that was at a hotel when I stayed away for a wedding event....
Understandable, although I see it on most restaurant menus. People do seem to drink a lot of tea and eat scones and pastries too... but that's just my perception.
Not totally, few will make one during the week, but more will as a weekend treat. There are plenty of cafes that do a good trade in making them for early bird workers and it's expected to be offered in hotels and, of course, B&Bs.
I think people have it occasionally as a treat or at the weekend, as you have more time to cook and prepare. I'm pretty health conscious and an enjoy an avocado for breakfast but all also enjoy an full English, which can be cooked more healthily with good ingredients. Defo lose the black pudding though. I think you would be surprised how popular it still is. M
A restaurant menu is very different to what you would eat at home. Most people eat breakfast at home.
Having a full English (or full Welsh, or full Scottish), is a real treat when going on holiday. It's one of the highlights of a holiday in the UK. I do sometimes have one at home, although not always at breakfast, but not regularly. It's great to find a pub or cafe which does an all day breakfast, and I will quite often go for that option when available.
The most egregious and perplexing thing about UK vs US healthcare is the fact that the US spends more per person on healthcare than the UK but Americans receive less care or can't access it and can still go into bankruptcy paying hospital and healthcare bills. So where does all that money go? Not on patients it seems.
pizza is not pre-cut in italy, whenever i've had it there (and from my dodgy memory). I believe it's not intended to be picked up in slices as that's hot and messy, but is eaten as a meal with a knife and fork. So I assume this is why it's not cut into slices when you've had it in the UK. Although I think usually it's in slices in the UK, but certainly not always
Hi Kristin, America might say they have separation of church and state, but I'm willing to bet, no politician who didn't claim to be a god fearing christian would ever get elected. In the UK we care about their policies, not what imaginary being they worship.
Sunak is a Hindu.
Kristen Synema in the Arizona Senate is an atheist and a lesbian who swore her oath on the Constitution. This made the Republicans furious but they haven't said a word now she is voting for pro-corporate bills, helping them cut Medicaid and also helped them cut down a national minimum wage increase recently....
@@Poliss95Who cares?.
There are only 2 countries in the world with religious post holders permanently fixed in government.
One is Iran....
... the other is the UK!
@@donfatale The House of Lords has the ability to hold up legislation temporarily, but it can't write it's own. The only reason it hasn't been abolished is, we like tradition. The UK is far more secular than the US, A confirmed atheist has zero chance of being elected in the US, whereas, in the UK, no one cares, and it's highly unlikely to be brought up in an election campaign.
Before we lost our heavy industries in the 1970s a "full English" was essential to provide the energy you'd need for a day's hard physical work. The wife would most probably not go to work and she'd cook the breakfast, probably getting up first and preparing it while the husband was getting ready. And unless the children were very young, they'd walk or cycle to school on their own or with friends while Mum stayed home, washed the dishes and did the housework or food shopping.
The working man might get a 1/2 hour break for lunch, but that would probably be just a sandwich. Nowadays, I doubt anyone has a full English. It's something you'd more likely have as brunch at a cafe if you're out for the day.
In the UK, we don't eat pizza as a handheld food - we use a knife & fork.
I have never seen two mail delivery people together - and I've lived in 7several different parts of England over a period of more than 30 years.
If you think all houses in England look the same, try visiting the Cotswolds, then a Cornish mining village or small coastal port, then a mining town in Wales or a mill town in the North West. All those places that look the same are suburban areas, built either in the 1930s or since the 1980s.
Our head of state is also the head of the church but I don't know where you're getting your information that religion is spoken about all the time in the news, etc. In fact, no one in the UK gives a damn what religion anyone is, or even if they're an atheist. It seems to me that religion is a much bigger deal in the US, especially when it comes to politics.
Our head of state is the monarch, who we don't get to vote for. We have a General Election which is supposed to happen every 5 years. We don't get to elect the Prime Minister directly. By tradition, that is the leader of whichever party wins a majority of the seats in parliament in the election. (Or more accurately, someone who can claim the support of the majority to be able to form a functioning government). Who the party leader is at any time is an internal matter for the party, not the electorate. In the last year or so, we have had an extremely unusual situation within the Conservative (Tory) Party with far more changes than would be usual.
I've also never seen two postmen together, but I wonder if it's a similar situation to some taxi drivers I spoke to. They said if they were called to some of the rougher estates (they mentioned Moss Side) they'd double up for safety and mutual support.
Thank you for clearing that up! That’s so interesting.
The slot in your door is called a letter box.😊 If you have letters, they’ll be posted through your letter box by a postman. If you order goods from parcel delivery company their man/ lady will usually leave your parcel in a pre-arranged place if you’re not at home.
Or post it through your porch window ...
Having post come in via a letterbox is SO much better than an American mail box in my opinion. Same with having parcels actually delivered TO YOU and not just left outside your house lol. Prevents theft.
Im from Liverpool and litter is a huge problem here too. I find it absolutely infuriating and upsetting. Quite simply there is no excuse for it, and people are just lazy and don't give a s%^t. I cannot begin to understand this mind-set of fouling the place where a person lives. Great content, keep up the good work.
Hi Paul, sorry to hear that it seems like it's a problem around the country. Glad you enjoyed the video either way! I was just in Liverpool last week
@@TravelingwithKristin it seems a common theme around the UK sadly. Yeah, I watched the livestream of your Liverpool visit, shame about the crappy weather. Hope you enjoyed staying in Liverpool regardless. Really enjoy your content, with a non-native perspective, pointing out some of our unusual British quirks.😊
Not much of a problem in my town in Sussex, but drives me nuts when I see it.
The American Travel Writer Bill Bryson was disgusted by the litter in Liverpool.
He wrote "One weekend I took a train to Liverpool. They were having a festival of litter when I arrived.
Citizens had taken time off from their busy activities to add crisp packets, empty cigarette boxes, and carrier bags to the otherwise bland and neglected landscape."
@@andypandy9013 Think Bill Bryson is very fond of Liverpool, maybe being his favourite English City. But his observation about the litter problem, then and now, are sadly very accurate. Maybe we should start a campaign to clean up our major cities of litter and having more civic pride, which i believe would translate into improving other aspects of city life.
You can have whatever you want for breakfast - a full English is mainly in restaurants, cafes or hotels
I'd suggest the core of an english breakfast is simply egg and bacon. You can choose the type of egg, or bacon - and simply add what you want to that. If you don't want black pudding, or sausage, or beans - you don't have to cook or eat it. It's a meal of choices - and different options can be available in the full English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh - or Ulster Fry. It's been around for many centuries, hence the variations.
In the USA you are voting for a new head of state and commander in chief every four years. We've just changed ours for the first time since 1952. Changing Prime Minister is not the same as changing President.
We don't have our pizza cut up for us because we're not three years old and we know how to use a knife and fork! 😂
Very smart, I was shocked to hear you get it cut in the US
It's easier to handle in slices and the portions are equal as we usually share one pie.
I hate litter too and don't do it !
I know... it's awful...
I did live in the Bay Area of CA for a while and it was always rubbish free, I do remember being a bit stunned by that.... it was in the early 80's , don't know what its like now.
@@flumpah People who litter are vermin. Those nice pople who pick up litter in their spare time and put in in those green bags for the council to collect are angels.
Nearly ALL European housing is built in brick to last hundreds of years.
In the US the cheapest building material is timber, and they just tear the property down and rebuild.
If you look at Eastern US housing pre-1945, they are multi storey and made with bricks. They are still standing today, because they are build to last.
Nearly ALL UK housing has pitched roofs because of rain and snow, that is why they all look the same. There was a fad in the 70's to have flat roofs. But they just leaked and were quickly re-roofed with a pitch and tiles. Flat roofs do not suit our climate.
There are cities in the world with lots of wooden pre-1945 housing. Sometimes wood is the sensible choice. You can have a variety of housing and a pitched roof. I think it is because many estates are built by the one builder. Where in other countries they sell each plot and then the owner chooses their own builder.
Believe it or not, pizza originates in Italy, not the USA. Italians do not slice pizza when served in a restaurant.
😂😂😂
There are probably only about seven or eight big, national house-builders in the UK. They are mostly building much more to cost levels than selling to aesthetic standards, because housing is so expensive.
You note the socialized medicine which is different from the US, the only western nation without it. The US seems far more focused on the individual than the community. Prime example is health care. The rest of the world sees a collective healthy country as as a benefit. We in Canada learned this after WWI, thanks to Tommy Douglas. You also note UK with a parliamentary system can have leaders for long periods and short. The system lends itself to this. But note that there isn't endless political chatter and "news" about it. When the election is done, people move on with their lives. US drowns in political discussion all year, every year. Have you noticed any impact from Brexit in Manchester, or the daily lives of those around you? You note that having a baby is "free", but also note the time allowed for maternity and paternity leave. The UK and Canada both value mothers bonding with babies. The US wants you back to work in weeks. Just different values. The US won't tolerate higher taxes to pay for socialized medicine, and there is no problem with those without insurance being financially ruined by a serious medical issue.
Even here in the UK,I heard of Tommy Douglas,former father-in-law of Donald Sutherland and grandfather of Kiefer Sutherland.👌👍
02:20 The equivelant of American bacon in the UK is called streaky bacon. UK streaky bacon comes from the pork belly same as in America, whereas UK back bacon (aka bacon) comes from the pork loin.
Thanks Andy
How to eat pizza? I tend to think you should do it the way I have seen in Italy- if you are in a proper restaurant and drinking wide, you use a knife and fork, you only pick up slices in a fast food place or when the pizza is cold.
My mum picks up litter like you, she enjoys meeting new people and making the place look like it should, people these days just drop rubbish like it’s nothing it’s so sad, you keep picking it up love, I wish more people living in England had that mentality ❤
Sure there's litter in america
Littering is more common in cities than rural areas.
@@tenniskinsella7768 I lived there for 10 years, no, there really isn't. They take better care of their environment, no smashed bus stops or phone boxes too
Kristin: Thank you for some interesting insights: so much to unpack here! Firstly, the full English breakfast is now a bit of a myth, because most working people don't have time for all that; it tends to be more of a treat at weekends or when we're in a hotel, and somebody else has to cook it. The reason housing looks uniform is that it's always been very rare for people to build their own houses in the UK. Most are built by developers, and in the past many were erected either by councils or by businesses to house their workers, so they tend to conform to three or four basic designs. As for the turnover of PMs, you must remember that we don't vote directly for them, we vote for political parties who choose their leader, and they can replace them at any time if they lose confidence in them. If you watch Prime Minister's Question Time in Parliament, you can see how ruthlessly our PMs are attacked when they have to face their critics once a week across the despatch box. No US President gets roasted on a weekly basis, and you might like to contrast the fates of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, two compulsive liars, one of whom left office in disgrace with his career in ruins, while the other is running for re-election! There is an answer to the Uber fares -it's called Metrolink!
I don't know anybody who eats a 'full English breakfast' at home. Its mainly for hotels, cafes etc. The closest I come to a full English is sometimes to have a similar food for lunch, on rare occasions at the weekend
I made a full English for our tea last night, but I never make it for breakfast, your right it's usually if your out early or staying at a hotel
with regards Prime Ministers - its pretty unprecedented how the UK has recently chopped and changed PMs recently - so that is not that normal!!
In the 1950s we had Attlee until 1951, then Churchill 1951-5, Eden 55-6 and then Macmillan 56-63. So in the mid fifties we had three pms in two years.
Regarding having babies, I have had two grandchildren born this year. The first was disgnosed with a thyroid problem was put immediately onto thyroid treatment, and was monitored every week until the thyroid dosage was seen to be correct. All for free. The second was diagniosed in the womb with a non functioning kidney, and was delivered early by having a c-section. The baby and its mother are regularly checked, and everything, including the operation, and all drugs are completely free. The baby will continue to be monitored for free and if the time comes for intervention any operation will be free. At the same time the baby's father contracted cellulitis, and was rushed to hospital, and had ten days of intravenous antibiotics for two hours each day, and now is on antibiotics taken orally for another ten days. All the hospital treatment was free, and he was discharged with ten day's worth of anitbiotics, again all for free. I have NO QUALMS, as is the case for most people in the UK, about a moderate proportion of my taxes funding the NHS.
22:09. The frequent fast change of Prime Ministers recently is not something that happens in typical normal circumstances. It's just happened in recent years, because the UK has/still is sadly undergoing a significant of unnecessary political upheaval and turmoil, much more significant than usual. Recently the 2 major political parties of the UK have focused more of their efforts on destroying themselves from within, rather than running the country.
😕
@@TravelingwithKristin Although our political system may have seemed chaotic recently, it actually showed that the Westminster system works well. When Boris told one lie too many and had to resign, the next party leader Liz Truss showed that she and her Chancellor weren't up to the job. So her political party rapidly got rid of her, albeit not before she had done £3 billion's worth of damage to the economy. Whereas you get stuck with leaders you can't get rid of until the next election, no matter how much damage they do!
As an Australian, US politics seem awash with religion where the UK doesn't.
The U.K. exported its religious nut jobs to the U.S. the crims were exported to Aus 😂
To be honest the litter issues seems to be largely a Salford thing (in particular). I have a front garden facing the street and every day there is new trash in there. The council however seem to be very good. If you spot something "fly tipped" (dumped illegally) you just fill in an online form and it's usually been picked up within a day. The smaller stuff seems to just be kids that haven't been brought up well 😠
Or the wind blowing it about as we usually have to put out waste at bed time because they collect it at 5.45 am onwards.
The pizza is Italian food and it is not cut in Italy either. The reason is that it is correct manners to eat your food with a knife and fork, whereas it is very ignorant and ill mannered to eat your food with your fingers in public, especially when seated at a table, unless you are doing it at home, on your own. So you probably need to learn British and European table manners.
"Cold? Put a jumper on!"
I'v lived in the UK all my life (64Years) and I have never seen or had two people delivering my post.
Typically the van carries more than a postie can carry all the way from a depot and will intercept posties on their route dropping off bundles directly or into drop off boxes so you will see the handovers and i suppose you will get two together when one is learning the route.
I often see two or three posties arriving in a van and then doing their individual rounds on foot.
They don't cut your steak or vegetables or burgers for you either... because you're not a child!
You've not understood what the Prime Minister is, but so do more than a few Brits. We elect our constituency MPs, often because they belong to a political party we support. Once they're elected it is up to them to form the government by whoever can get the support of most other MPs. The King acts as umpire, the PM is traditionally acting as his proxy.
In practice it'll be the leader of the party with the most MPs wo's invited to form the government. There's no constitutional process for appointing party leaders, it's down each party to set their own rules.
We've seen it all in action lately: Boris Johnson was Conservative Party Leader & then won a majority of seats in 2019.
He managed to lose the support of enough Conservative MPs to be forced to resign instead of been voted out by them and MPs from the opposition parties who'd have outnumbered the Tories still loyal to him. As the Tories still had a majority, Conservative Party members got to elect a new party leader, Liz Truss who got invited by the Queen to be the next PM days before she died - no public vote was required. The still living Liz'[s first budget was so disastrous, she too got her marching order from the other Tory MPs and things had got so farcical the runner up from the party leader contest was given the gig by them to avoid any more Drama. All above board, as in the final analysis, we elect individual MPs to represent our constituency in the House of Commons who decide laws & who gets to govern by majority vote.
We do a lot of foreign trade because of the Commonwealth and the fact that Europe is on our doorstep.
This is Europe 🙄
Americans definitely have a different sense of humour. They can be offended easily and even a gentle 'slagging' can upset them and they will take it personally.
Yes much different
The Full English used to be a workmans breakfast. It used to be mainly available in the many cafes serving tradesman and manual labourers to set them up with lots of bread and tea on the side. Most household have cereal or toast as a breakfast. Recently celebrated as a "British" thing hence the hype but really only a few times a year as a treat and often as a weekend brunch
One thing that weirds me out is having pancakes for breakfast.
To save money I don't use boiler at all. The shower heats itself. I wear more clothes in winter and a woolly hat. Do not need heating at all. House is insulated.
Thank you for sharing your thought, Fiona. 😊
".. have a baby for free" is such a discombobulating phrase. For A Briton, it's like hearing a foreign language. We say, "have a baby". The idea that "for free" would be added is just weird.
In Europe generally you don t eat pizza with your hands that is why they serve it with forks and knives.
The US had 18 Presidents in the 20th Century. The UK had 19 Prime Ministers in the 20th Century. The last seven years has seen five PMs, but it has been a very unusually turbulent political period.
The " full English" is usually only eaten maybe on a Sunday or on a special occasion. The mail thing, houses here are incredibly close, in towns much housing is Victorian, conjoined without front space for a mailbox.if you want you can buy and fit one and your postman will use it!
PS a single bed is 3 feet wide a double is 4 ft 6 inches , king size 5 feet wide, if bigger it's a super king, so just measure the width . ( there is a 4 ft bed but that's rare and bedding can be hard to get! )
If you have a weird sized bed in the UK it’s probably an IKEA bed, so check them out for bedding that fits. (So dumb….thanks Sweden 🙄)
I hate litter! I do the same and pick up litter here in Nottingham.
We don’t have sockets in bathrooms as our electricity is 240v AC- more than enough to stop your heart, and we don’t have waste disposals as they’re banned for environmental reasons.
We should organize a local cleanup! thanks for the local insights as well
I remember enjoying the Full English breakfast when I went last year although I only got it once due to how large it was. The other mornings I would usually eat light. I believe you are right too that us Americans tend to not think of visiting any of the Europeans cities and regions beyond the most famous ones (London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, etc.) compared to anyone over in Europe. For example, I went to both Belgrade, Serbia last October for several days followed by a 3-day visit to Rome. When I was telling friends and family here at home about my trip, their interests were piqued about Rome and not Belgrade which was disappointing because Belgrade was quite enjoyable. Anyway, I also remembered the off/on switches on the power outlets in the Airbnb I stayed at in Holmfirth, England last year. I agree that we need those here too! I really enjoyed this one Kristin!
So glad you liked this one, Scott! I want to go back to Belgrade soon. People underrate it!
Interesting perspectives. I live in the UK and am married to am American. Finally I've worked out why she keeps calling a single bed a twin bed! The thing about houses is because as opposed to the US, many more houses are brick built here - to you, they're all the same - Brick Built. When I visit the US, I see all the houses as being the same. They're all made of out wood!
Also, re the holidays - they are NOT "federally mandated" LOL! We do not have a federal government
Much of Europe have instant domestic hot water. My house heats with gas boiler that makes radiant hot water in the floor, but also heats domestic hot water tank. House always has warm floors and hot water is always ready. Boiler is 95 percent efficient
That type of water heater is known as a tankless water heater in the USA. Because forced air is not used in Europe, the same heater is also used to heat the radiators. Inside the heater there is a valve that switches between heating circuits, with priority given to the water taps/shower giving you endless hot water. Tank based systems exist too overthere, but are not really common anymore I believe.
Heat pumps are used in Europe but less common.
If a sitting US president dies the public don't get to choose a replacement, the job goes to the vice president, who will appoint a new vice president. In the UK we vote for a party and the prime minister is the leader of their party, so if a party changes it's leader and that party is in power then the prime minister changes without a full public vote*
*Political parties choose their leader differently. The Conservatives select their leader from a vote of it''s members, people who have paid their annual subscription to be a member of the Conservative Party.
Not sure about the bed problem. Single bed is for one adult, double is for two adults, king sized is for two adults but with more space, queen sized is for two adults but with loads of space. You just buy the sheets that match? A king sized fitted sheet is for the mattress, a king sized sheet goes over you. A king sized duvet on top of the sheet.
You don't tend to come across many other sizes commonly though I think a three quarter is bigger than a single but not as big as a double. Usually it's just single, double or king.
People don't generally build their own houses in the UK. Mostly people have to be super rich to do that. So big companies build whole housing estates. And they are all the same and pretty standard mainly to save money and make the company more profit. And garbage disposal - thats not usual at all, and would only be in kitchens where people have installed their own kitchen, maybe. Its not regular - again, more likely to be found in houses of more affluent people. Mailboxes are not common and I am guessing it is more to do with not having the same amount of outdoor space around the house that you get with houses in the US.
Thanks for the tips. I will look into building costs here (I used to work in real estate)
@@TravelingwithKristin Building costs, particularly the price of land has always been high in the UK. If you go to London and see the lovely stuccoed terrace house in places like Belgravia and South Kensington, they came about because the price of land was so high that even rich people could not afford detached houses. So they built upwards, instead of outwards, in streets of terraced houses. Later on in the Victorian age they built housing for the masses following the railway lines. Then you had builders supplying you with a house from a pattern book, as a number of them built a new suburb. These houses are the most numerous in the towns and cities of the UK. They are brick built of similar designs, but still standing after newer buildings have been demolished. In Edwardian times you got larger semi-detached houses for the middle classes further away from the city centres. After the war you got large council estates with hideous concrete tower blocks, most of which have had to be demolished. And for the last few decades you have had a few large building companies buying up land and creating poor quality housing estates. Statistically the worst in Europe, smallest rooms, least insulation etc.
I have a electric waste disposal in my sink but never ever use it. What do you put down it, it seems very dangerous? We don't waste expensive food in this country and are far more eco minded than the USA; we have bins provided by the local authority to recycle any uneaten vegetables, potato peelings etc anyway.
Most countries (Democracies) in the world follow the parliamentary system with a President/King/Queen as Head of State and and the Prime Minister as Head of Government. The Prime Minister is generally selected by the majority/ruling party in the legislature/parliament. In the US, both roles are filled by the President who is elected by the Electoral College, which makes it undemocratic.
Since you asked why Americans call a single bed a "twin," it refers to the practice of putting two single beds next to each other. If you watch some old TV shows, you'll see married couples using twin beds.
A la I Love Lucy :)
Lets face it, the bigger beds fit the "bigger" Americans, that's also why they need the big houses and cars. Most Americans would not fit in a little or medium Asian or European car. Kristin, maybe you dont like the bacon because here we have 2 sorts of it? We have the salty and the sweet lard here, I think in the States they use too much sweeteners in everything and that's why you dont like the food here so much. But as a Belgium guy i have to say English food sucks and i only like the breakfast there.
@@lucarmyfool4800 I doubt she's referring to the taste of bacon, but the cut. American bacon is what we would call a rasher - narrow, rectangular stripes that crisp up beautifully. The bacon served in a full English is what Americans, I think, refer to as Canadian bacon -usually Africa shaped, denser, and much chewier.
@@hughtube5154 Oh, that's another bacon that we have in Belgium as well. that one has to be served very thin and is not crisp at all, indeed it's very salty also.
I don't think normal people ever had twin beds...they were invented by the TV censors coz it was restricted to show a couple..even if married..to share a bed...how scandalous!
The fuel costs are much higher in the uk, there’s also local toll charges related to the environment, that probably explains a percentage of the taxi price.
As for parcels, delivery of items in the uk is quite extensive, especially since the pandemic. Some households have all there shopping, including clothes, groceries and medications delivered to the door. Obviously some of that, especially signed for items, require you to answer the door when they knock.
But in some cases you can arrange parcels to be left in a safe space or with a neighbour, if you leave details with the carrier.
We never say vacation. It is holiday only.
I noticed that. 😊
In the US the president is the nearest thing to royalty. In the UK the Prime Minister is the chief of the government; the Royal Family is something completely different.
Full English Breakfast is a working class or on holiday thing nowadays.Cutting pizza yourself means you can vary the size of slice🎩
Maybe the bed is a three quarter. You just buy double sheets. They won’t fit perfectly but good enough. Places to go - you should check out Conwy and Snowdonia in North Wales. Full of castles, mountains, beautiful scenery and lovely villages. When people tease you it’s like when you were kids and if someone liked you they’d pick on you. If you’re in London, get the tube.
Only time I have the full works is when I stay in a B&B, as for the Black Pudding, bloody lovely, nice with scallops
I don't think the on/off switches on electrical sockets are to save electricity! If nothing is plugged in nothing is being used. They are purely for safety (unless anyone knows differently?)
it saves pulling plugs out
to be fair, you cant really choose ANY doctor in the US either. Do they not have to be on your insurance companys list? and if you change insurance company you gave a different list of GPs that you can use.
Stop general random comments about UK not correct...just living in Salford 😅
I think the little issue is primarily found in Northern England. I've lived in the North, the South and in North Wales. It was quite rare to see litter in Wales and the South, but upon returning to the North, I was shocked by how I had never noticed it.
We don't compost. We put rubbish in rubbish bin and recycling in the green bin.
You need a good British friend to bring you along and to answer your questions.
Town/city councils rely on people picking up litter so they dont have to pay people to do it. The money given to councils by the government was cut so the councils cut services. In my town i have only seen 1 person from the council picking up litter in 2 years
Regarding Prime Ministers, you have to understand that voters select their local Member of Parliament. The formation of a government and appointment of a Prime Minister is the privilege of the political party that can command a majority of MPs. Sometimes no one party can muster sufficient numbers for an outright majority, in which case a negotiated settlement between two rival parties can occur. Between elections, the governing party can swap leaders and thus the Prime Minister can change without having to win an election.
Right; it's impressive how that works here. Fascinating.
I have never been brought "a butter knife" with a pizza; mostly they are in fact cut up but if they aren't a pizza wheel is provided.
Great video! Thanks so much for sharing. I currently reside in Batumi, Georgia and I really love it, but there is a lot more litter than I'm used to, so I simply pick it up and throw it in the trash. The elderly always smile wide when they see me, and that's nice. I swear,I could listen to you talk for hours and hours. Your voice is so incredibly relaxing.
Garbage disposals just deposit waste into the environment. Better to compost. Get your boiler sorted and you can more or less forget it. It’s an efficient way of heating. Over summer with no heat, my gas bills are about £10 a month….. more money for gin.. yay! 🍸🍸
I love composting! The boiler is mint as well ;)
Always a pleasure to have a video from you! We're seeing the on-demand water heaters in Canada among people who want to save money with the increased efficiency they offer.
So a 6 inch high pile of pancakes smothered in Maple Syrup is more appealing to you than a "Full English"! Yuk! I know which I prefer. BTW very few people in this country eat a "Full English" regularly, my wife and I might have one 2 or 3 times a year and most people I know are very similar, and with regard to central heating boilers, They are mostly combination boilers with hot water on tap. These are very efficient compared to American systems which generally are much less efficient. Finally houses in the UK were generally designed and built during the Industrial Revolution and millions of these are still standing so the planners don't like major disrution of new designs, if your proposed house plans are materially different from what exists in your street, even if they are 80 years old you may find it hard to get planning approval, keep up the good videos Kristin.
the full English is a treat on the weekend or a hangover or if your starting at a hotel. We have normal breakfast yoghurt, toast, cereal maybe crepes or pancakes etc etc
Garbage disposals are very handy. It prevents stopped pipes.
A lot of boiler systems will give you the choice about how hot water is supplied as many have a smaller tank that is continually kept hot and is there to be supplied to the tap immediately while the following water is heated so you don't wait for hot water to come through the the tap. It can usually be switched off to save heating cost.
Good video really enjoyed your take on our country!
Great video Kristin, interesting to hear your comparisons from an American perspective 👍
Glad you enjoyed it! Cheers 🇬🇧
Land is expensive in the UK, and release of agricultural land is strictly controlled. This is quite deliberate, the UK is small and there is a regulatory effort to minimisee urban sprawl. The upside is that within a hundred miles of you in Manchester, there are many lovely rural areas that are much the same in character as they were hundreds of years ago.
The downside is that houses are smaller and the regulatory hurdles that you face building a unique, detached, property are much higher than in the USA. My son and his American wife, like everyone else, bought a plot of land on a gated community then had a house built on the land. That is the way it is done in much of the USA, but it is an extremely expensive way of getting a home in the UK. Architectural and regulatory approval fees are amortised across a number of houses, along with building supplies and other services.That is the main reason that houses tend to look the same.
An indirect benefit of the American system is that my son is legally obliged to keep the immediate area around the house tidy and free from litter.
Houses have to be durable and have a long service life to get a mortgage, you will find that new houses in the UK share similarities with new building stock in other European countries with similar restrictions, like Switzerland, The Netherlands and Denmark.
My daughter-in-law's mother had a lovely home in Myrtle Beach, but it was 40 years old which made it a liability and worth less than a new build, even though new builds in her area are much inferior living spaces in communities that are less in harmony with the surroundings. That seemed very strange to me, a beautiful, spacious, serviceable home was barely worth retaining as a structure after forty years. In comparison, my house is 650 years old and contains panelling and decoration that came from a structure originally constructed around 1246. Of course, that is unusual even for the UK, but we generally expect houses to have a long service life.
Another consequence of UK building controls is that communities are designed to facilitate immediate access to most essential services. There is lots of talk of 'fifteen minute cities' as if it were a new concept, but that is exactly how most rural towns have been constructed in the UK and much of Europe since the middle ages. I rarely drive more than ten minutes, even more rarely take a taxi, have never taken an uber in the UK, because there is no need. If I want to go to some other part of the country, my first option is to take a train, faiiling that I will drive or take a plane if it is a location in Scotland. In my son's home in South Carolina there isn't a single service or shop within a 15 minute walk, not even the shared recreation facilties of the gated community. In fact, there aren't any sidewalks, so the only option is to drive to the school, the supermarket, the medical clinic, the restaurant .....
Prime Ministers:
Yes, we have had a lot recently, four in the last 7 years but keep in mind that in the UK we do not vote for our Prime Ministers. They are the Leaders of the party that forms the Government (or head of the largest party in a Coalition). If that party gets rid of its Leader or they resign then whoever becomes the new Leader automatically becomes the new Prime Minister. I should point out though that whereas a US President can only serve for a maximum of two terms (8 years), a UK Prime Minister does not have those confines. Margaret Thatcher was P.M. for 11 years (1979 to 1990) and Tony Blair served for 10 years (1997 to 2007). Our longest serving PM was the younger William Pitt who was in office for over 17 years (1783 to 1801) and the first "De facto" PM (the title of Prime Minister did not exist back then) was Robert Walpole whose tenure from 1721 to 1742 lasted nearly 21 years.
In the USA and many other countries you have an elected President as Head of State with various political powers. Here in the UK our Head of State is the Monarch, currently King Charles III.
The UK Monarchy is what is known as a Constitutional Monarchy as against an Executive Monarchy. Whilst they hold the office of Head of State in reality they now have virtually no political powers left. In theory they do have some residual ones but if they chose to exercise them there would be a constitutional crisis and, in any case, Parliament would legislate to specifically remove those powers from them. Hence they don't use them and, frankly, I don't think that they want to anyway. 🙂
UK Plugs:
Watch this:
ruclips.net/video/139Q61ty4C0/видео.html 👍
Parliament could not legislate to remove those powers. All legislation needs royal assent to become law.
A boiler is simply a hot water heater. It may be used to provide hot water for washing and may also be used as part of the hot water heating system. Central heating is rare in most of Europe; most heating is done by hot water. One of the reasons for this is due to the dominance of brick construction in Europe; which makes it inconvenient to pass large diameter air ducts throughout a building.
Do you have a clothes dryer? Many European homes don't have one as they either dry their clothes outside or hang them up inside! Some also have a combined washer/dryer; something you just don't see in North America. This is mostly due to the relative size of the houses.
- Electrical outlets are called "plug sockets". The third prong on plugs is an earth wire, which makes the whole thing a lot safer.
- Garbage disposal units are not a thing in the UK. I've never seen one, nor have I known anyone who has one.
- Your boiler seems weird. Most modern accommodations in the UK have a "combi" boiler that you don't need to ever interact with, it'll just instantly give you hot water / heating whenever you need it.
- Some bed sheet manufacturers are stingy, meaning they make them as small as possible. I'd recommend paying a bit more, or just buying the next size up if you're buying cheap sheets.
- Religion isn't really a thing in the UK anymore. It's more just ceremonial (e.g. God Save The King). Most people say they're C of E but very few people go to church etc.
- In the UK we don't vote for a prime minister, we vote for an MP. Who the winning party elects as their leader is not our choice, because the PM has very little power by themselves anyway. It's not like the USA where the President has a LOT of individual power. Also, the situation with Liz Truss was VERY unusual and not representative of UK politics as a whole.
Hope this helps! :)
TAXIS: petrol (gas) is so much more expensive in the UK and Ireland than in the US - and all the other hidden costs - more in the UK.
Yes many hidden costs
a couple of years ago it was no different in US and UK
Interesting comments on religion in the UK. Although we have an established church here we are probably one of the least religious countries in the world.
I had callers at the door the other day. Two of them. As soon as I heard the Yank accent I realised they were here to convert us heathen Europeans.
Of course they had bugger all luck with me!
Some think the fact that U.K. has an established state religion contributes to British peoples religious apathy. Cos there isn’t a sense of choice there when people are told they are Anglican because that’s the state religion. Countries like the US that don’t have a state religion have that sense of choice. And as humans we like to exercise choice. Also British people probably tend to be less religious because they aren’t a new country like the US. They have a long history where wars have been linked to religion which Color’s their view more. The US haven’t been part of that history so it isn’t going to color their view. Still, personally I keep an open mind on these things even though I am British because as far as Im concerned everything in nature shows design. It’s way too intricate to be random. There’s just no way it would be
Richard Dawkins made me an atheist thank god.
Believe me, the 'full English' is not really very popular anymore. As for littering, it's a national shame. Children and adults throw rubbish into my front yard every day. It's disgusting. I don't understand it. I would never stoop so low. My dad's street has trash blowing all over the place. Visiting family and friends in the US and Greece I was astonished at how clean the streets were.
I so agree. Littering is annoying and I simply don't under why people do it. It was so apparent when I came back from a holiday to Japan.
Absolutely! Glad you agree 😄
Pronunciation tip: in Britain, we say "compost" to rhyme with the word "lost". It doesn't rhyme with the word "most".
It difficult to elecute yourself with the plug socket, Tom Scott made a video on British plug and why they are the safest plug in the world.
'elecute'? I can't see how an electrical plug can help one speak better?
@@artmallory970 apologies eleocute yourself
@@jameshumphreys9715 *electrocute, 3rd time's a charm
Traveling in New England, they served us pizza uncut but provided scissors to cut to our desire.liked it so we bought pizza scissors
You’ve been walking down the wrong streets Kristin in terms of housing styles
We had a new kitchen 21 years ago and we had a waste disposal fitted. It was powerful enough to tackle chicken bones (and they in turn sharpened the blades). However for the past 4 years the dustbin men (garbage disposal men) collect food waste in a separate bin so we don't use the waste disposal unit much.
My Wife is a Born and Bred Yorshire Lass* I am from Cleveland Ohio. I notice that the British are very Polite* And Fish and Chips at Whitby are phenominal *
Americans always come across as polite too. I mean look how polite Kristen is. She’s wonderful!
My regular breakfast is a cup of coffee and a bowl of Shreddies. However when I am on holiday I usually have a full English. (this can be in the UK or overseas).
You say that in the USA religion and state are separated - is that why American presidents never, ever call on God to bless the USA?
I'm a Londoner & I've always seen pizza arrive ready cut.
That's good! I haven't ordered delivery but just at restaurants.
The healthcare system in the UK is not free, It is paid for through taxes. The healthcare system was developed during the first world war when it was discovered that many eligible men were not medically fit enough to go into the military.
No, it was'nt!
Great vid,Kristin,but such an amazing bizarre and wrong take on Religion(20:25) : In the USA,you had this abnormal political entity known as the Christian evangelical Right (Falwell,Graham,Robertson,etc.) with immense [ and so far,very damaging] political clout since the Reagan admin.,even though constitutionally church and state are explicitly separate. In the UK,it is officially the other way round,but over the centuries and misc. conflicts(ie Cromwell,etc.),both have evolved to understand their boundaries ! 🙄
Littering is a scourge in this country
When I was child there was a campaign called Keep Britain Tidy, it seemed to go well, as I remember, they should bring it back, I expect its too expensive.
Most people regard regard a English as a treat and don't have it very often
The mail comes from a hub, so they have to travel by van to the local areas.
A garbage disposal is a uniquely US thing, in the Europe they are banned because of the extra filtering and the environmental issues.
Planning regulation is strict here, so new estates tend to have similar houses
Taxis etc cost so much because fuel is a lot more expensive than in the US
I love all of the weird stuff! Getting away from the same old things is one of the best things about travel.