Immigration in Scotland

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Contact the British Consul in New York City for full details on what is required to establish British residence. Be advised that citizenship may only be applied for after five years continuous, legal residence in the UK. I might add that the cost of living is considerably higher in Europe (including the UK) than it is in the United States. You may also wish to take legal advise concerning the status of your US citizenship should you choose to take up foreign nationality. Finally, it has been my observation that there is a considerable cultural gap between individuals brought up in the USA and those native to the UK, and this often proves to be insurmountable. I will give you one example:

Suppose you are 25 years old and grew up in the United States. You will have missed out on 25 years of grass roots "pop" UK culture. You won't know any of the soap operas, what music was cool, or what teams did what, when. You won't have grown up with kids TV, Top of the Pops, the Beano, or Christmas Pantos. You won't know any of the TV presenters, you won't get most of the jokes. You will have very little in common with your peers. Ultimately you will be a stranger in a strange land. And by-and-large that is how you will be treated.

[beloitpiper]

Suppose you are 25 years old and grew up in the United States. You will have missed out on 25 years of grass roots "pop" UK culture. You won't know any of the soap operas, what music was cool, or what teams did what, when. You won't have grown up with kids TV, Top of the Pops, the Beano, or Christmas Pantos. You won't know any of the TV presenters, you won't get most of the jokes. You will have very little in common with your peers. Ultimately you will be a stranger in a strange land. And by-and-large that is how you will be treated.

Well don't scare the poor guy. Look, while I was living in Ireland, I think I picked up those things pretty quickly. It's all about immersion. If you just hang out with ex-pats, go to ex-pat pubs, watch American sports on TV, and ignore everything around you then yeah, you're going to be a stranger. But you gotta get out there. Ask people what is going on. Be observant. Educate yourself and find out what is popular. Familiarize yourself with the politics and political history.

The only thing I had trouble with was brown sauce. I just never understood it! Give me some good ol' A1, Sweet Baby Ray's, or Heinz 57 any day.

[slohairt]

Contact the British Consul in New York City for full details on what is required to establish British residence. Be advised that citizenship may only be applied for after five years continuous, legal residence in the UK. I might add that the cost of living is considerably higher in Europe (including the UK) than it is in the United States. You may also wish to take legal advise concerning the status of your US citizenship should you choose to take up foreign nationality. Finally, it has been my observation that there is a considerable cultural gap between individuals brought up in the USA and those native to the UK, and this often proves to be insurmountable. I will give you one example:

Suppose you are 25 years old and grew up in the United States. You will have missed out on 25 years of grass roots "pop" UK culture. You won't know any of the soap operas, what music was cool, or what teams did what, when. You won't have grown up with kids TV, Top of the Pops, the Beano, or Christmas Pantos. You won't know any of the TV presenters, you won't get most of the jokes. You will have very little in common with your peers. Ultimately you will be a stranger in a strange land. And by-and-large that is how you will be treated.

It depends greatly on the individual in question. The world is global, especially pop culture. One can easily watch British television anywhere in the world, and UK music has long been popular everywhere. I, for instance, have a very Anglocentric taste in pop music and often found that I knew more about bands and what not than UK nationals. I'll admit that Canada is more 'British' than America, but one could still follow UK culture easily.

My first four years in Ireland (from age 0-4) I barely remember, but my later years spent there (late teens to late twenties) I recall vividly. I also recall that it was really only different in a superficial way. Things are ultimately much the same wherever you go.

During my second tenure there, I had the somewhat unique position of being a native-born 'foreigner', but that wasn't obvious to anybody initially. Except for the few occasional comments from boors, yahoos, and pretentious turds (which can be found everywhere), no one even cared that I was from Canada.

[McClef]

Suppose you are 25 years old and grew up in the United States. You will have missed out on 25 years of grass roots "pop" UK culture. You won't know any of the soap operas, what music was cool, or what teams did what, when. You won't have grown up with kids TV, Top of the Pops, the Beano, or Christmas Pantos. You won't know any of the TV presenters, you won't get most of the jokes. You will have very little in common with your peers. Ultimately you will be a stranger in a strange land. And by-and-large that is how you will be treated.

I try and avoid the soaps like the plague, can't remember the last time I read the Beano or attended a Christmas panto and Top of the Pops died after a long decline. You are guaranteed a fair number of American programmes and plenty of US news (far more than the other way around!) and even many of the ads are done with American accents. We have had a large influx of EC immigrants from Eastern Europe who seem able to fit in, at least once they remember that we drive on the correct side of the road...

I have even chatted with a Pole who lives in Aberdeen and loves kilts.

Assimilation isn't always the problem it's sometimes made out to be.

[Mike1]

You are guaranteed a fair number of American programmes...

My ex-fiancee's sons were big fans of CSI and they were amazed to learn I had actually spent time in Las Vegas. It made the show a bit more 'real' for them, to know the city is more than a television set.

To be sure, there are various things that are completely different between the US and Scotland. Everyone was amazed to see me eating food with a fork. I used the front, or concave side of the fork, whereas they use the back, or convex side. And drinking my coffee and tea with no sugar or cream was another oddity for everyone. Coins drove me crazy. I can spot a £1 or £2 coin in an instant, but the other coins had me confused. It's amazing at how something as simple as reaching in my pocket for 37p could take that long.

But if you allow yourself to be drawn into the culture of wherever you choose to live, then these minor differences will soon go unnoticed.

[sharpdressedscot]

Plus, it's fun to learn about other cultures.

This threads been good help, for a possible future in my head.

[Cynthia]

I've lost track of how many times I've been asked by someone in Europe if life in Texas was really like the show Dallas. I wouldn't know.... I never watched it

Actually, I'm like that to this day because I really don't watch a lot of TV or movies. I hate reality TV and I've never seen an episode of popular shows like American Idol. I have no clue who the popular musicians are these days and don't know a lot of the actors that everyone babbles about.

[Pleater]

Although I have only lived in England and visited Scotland and Wales on holidays, I think it is fairly safe to say that you need to move around and sample different areas before deciding about a country.

Districts only a few miles apart can be very different - very different crime rates, attitudes of people to newcomers/foreigners, safety at night, availability of fast food after midnight, drink sales in supermarkets can be curtailed in city centres (many supermarkets only close from late Saturday to 10am Sunday then 4pm Sunday to Monday mornings. They were selling alcohol all the time, but changed when requested by police.)

It's a bit like the weather, if you don't like what you are having, just wait a few hours and you'll get a change. If you don't like where you are living move ten miles and it will be completely different - though of course in both cases, it might be worse than what you were complaining about.

[BEEDEE]

Finally, it has been my observation that there is a considerable cultural gap between individuals brought up in the USA and those native to the UK, and this often proves to be insurmountable. I will give you one example:

Suppose you are 25 years old and grew up in the United States. You will have missed out on 25 years of grass roots "pop" UK culture. You won't know any of the soap operas, what music was cool, or what teams did what, when. You won't have grown up with kids TV, Top of the Pops, the Beano, or Christmas Pantos. You won't know any of the TV presenters, you won't get most of the jokes. You will have very little in common with your peers. Ultimately you will be a stranger in a strange land. And by-and-large that is how you will be treated.

I beg to disagree on this one. Speaking as someone who has lived out of his home country for 42 years and in that time lived in England(twice), South Africa, France and the USA, the real key to closing any cultural gap is being prepared to meet them at least half way. You can learn an awful lot by asking the right questions and listening to the answers. You can't go and live in another country and enjoy the experience unless you are prepared to assimilate the culture and learn to understand the people. You don't have to have grown up with their 'pop' culture. Some of the best times I ever had were when people took the time and effort to introduce me to an aspect of their culture.

Brian

[SteveB]

Culture is as culture be.
In a six month visit in England many long years ago, I found very little problem operating the shifter with my left hand, popping the bonnet to check the lube, and stowing in the boot. Immersion it was as I was stationed with the R.A.F. Due care was needed in the roundabouts with a full lorrie with a tag along. Although it was over thirty years ago, it all came back to me in 2000, when I visited Ireland. I quickly reverted to the driving on the proper side of the road as soon as my left hand started to move the shifter. The economic difference hit again whilst traveling in Northern Ireland, as the petrol was 82p per litre. While many were griping about the cost of petrol in the U.S. 1.37 USD per US Gallon, that translated to 18p per litre at the time. Ethol was far more dear. I live in Massachusetts where it is alleged to be Taxachusetts. Here has nothing on the Exchecquer in the UK. If you think a state sales tax is bad, wait until you meet VAT. I realize my neighbours in Canada face a good deal of this with HST, GST, PST on darn near everything.
During my teen years, I lived for one full year as an exchange student in Scotland. I found it interesting that my middle class family in the U.S. was far wealthier in terms of standard of living than my well off Scot family. In the U.S. I had a large room of my own, in Scotland I shared with my two "brothers". I have always had a very well rounded American vocabulary. It took me a couple of months to be up to speed in English. I suffered in spelling BTW. Schooling was by far a different world from what I had experienced in the U.S. I am grateful for the opportunity that the year in Scotland brought to me an understanding our differences that make us who we are. Fortunately one of my "brother"s had bet that he would out grade me in school. That was the challenge needed to work on my studies. In the end I just barely squeaked past him at the end of the year. Both of us were listed with honours. (My spelling had improved). On the social side, my "brother" and I went everywhere together, and I was the "foreigner that was with him for the year." I did not mind, as that gave me some in with the other teen neighbours. It took me a long time before I could hold my own in a football match.
When you go, do enjoy the educational work. Then decide what is is you really want. You may wind up back home again.