March 2 - Talking Meme
Mar. 2nd, 2015 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seren_ccdMarch 2nd ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hiddencait: What's it like living as an American abroad/expat/however you categorize yourself?
Oh, I have thoughts on this!
To be honest, I don’t really consider myself an ex-pat, really more of just…living abroad. Looking back, it all seemed to happen so quickly and it was never really a conscious decision to ‘move away from the States’ as it was ‘hey, let’s live in this cool place with the green hills and your folks nearby and the lovely seaside!’
And honestly, it hasn’t been too difficult being an American abroad. I work in admin and really, one admin job is much like another and I’ve been very, very lucky to have gotten the positions I have. Most people are very accepting and don’t seem to have any issues. My husband has had a harder time of it due to him being more in academia and the sciences. They tend to be more picky about who they accept and aren’t always very impressed with Americans. They tend to think we’re large, loud and over-opinionated. We moved over when Bush was in office and sadly, he has stayed in people’s memories and not in a good way. So, there have been some moments where you feel like people might be laughing at you or not taking you very seriously.
As for actually living here, it’s the little things that are sometimes hard to remember or deal with. Great Britain and the US are separated by a common language. I’ve actually had someone correct my pronunciation of tomato. And not in a fun, Gershwin, ironic sort of way. The other day people at my office burst into giggles when I said yoghurt. (I say ‘yo –gurt’, with a long ‘o’ and they say ‘yog-urt’, which rhymes with ‘jog’.)
It’s also more expensive and very few people actually own a house. We’ve never even considered it, it’s too expensive. We don’t have a car, which has been nice, due to the decent public transport.
Also, and I really can’t stress this enough, people do, and should, complain about the National Health Service, but the fact that if I’m in an accident and am badly injured and need surgery, I won’t come out of the hospital bankrupt. I can receive care. My family can receive care and we don’t have to pay for it for the rest of our lives. If you live in Scotland or Wales, you get your prescriptions for free. This is a good thing. I’m not saying that there aren’t issues and that the NHS doesn’t have MASSIVE room for improvement, but it’s something and it’s something I’m grateful for. /steps off soap-box
All in all, I’ve enjoyed my time over here. I LOVED Wales and Scotland and will hopefully make it to Ireland one of these days. But I’m very appreciative that I’m in a position to take advantage of being over here.
I still have days available, so if there's anything you'd like me to talk about, let me know!
hiddencait: What's it like living as an American abroad/expat/however you categorize yourself?Oh, I have thoughts on this!
To be honest, I don’t really consider myself an ex-pat, really more of just…living abroad. Looking back, it all seemed to happen so quickly and it was never really a conscious decision to ‘move away from the States’ as it was ‘hey, let’s live in this cool place with the green hills and your folks nearby and the lovely seaside!’
And honestly, it hasn’t been too difficult being an American abroad. I work in admin and really, one admin job is much like another and I’ve been very, very lucky to have gotten the positions I have. Most people are very accepting and don’t seem to have any issues. My husband has had a harder time of it due to him being more in academia and the sciences. They tend to be more picky about who they accept and aren’t always very impressed with Americans. They tend to think we’re large, loud and over-opinionated. We moved over when Bush was in office and sadly, he has stayed in people’s memories and not in a good way. So, there have been some moments where you feel like people might be laughing at you or not taking you very seriously.
As for actually living here, it’s the little things that are sometimes hard to remember or deal with. Great Britain and the US are separated by a common language. I’ve actually had someone correct my pronunciation of tomato. And not in a fun, Gershwin, ironic sort of way. The other day people at my office burst into giggles when I said yoghurt. (I say ‘yo –gurt’, with a long ‘o’ and they say ‘yog-urt’, which rhymes with ‘jog’.)
It’s also more expensive and very few people actually own a house. We’ve never even considered it, it’s too expensive. We don’t have a car, which has been nice, due to the decent public transport.
Also, and I really can’t stress this enough, people do, and should, complain about the National Health Service, but the fact that if I’m in an accident and am badly injured and need surgery, I won’t come out of the hospital bankrupt. I can receive care. My family can receive care and we don’t have to pay for it for the rest of our lives. If you live in Scotland or Wales, you get your prescriptions for free. This is a good thing. I’m not saying that there aren’t issues and that the NHS doesn’t have MASSIVE room for improvement, but it’s something and it’s something I’m grateful for. /steps off soap-box
All in all, I’ve enjoyed my time over here. I LOVED Wales and Scotland and will hopefully make it to Ireland one of these days. But I’m very appreciative that I’m in a position to take advantage of being over here.
I still have days available, so if there's anything you'd like me to talk about, let me know!
