AprilBaby|1404507308|3706864 said:If I were not American I would vote but not say a word. Too many Americans on here who might flame them.
Btw, how can i see the result of the poll if I don't vote?
Rhea|1404592052|3707424 said:I voted a 7 for much the same reasons as given here. I'd give it a 6.5 if I could. I think mochiko42 summed it up quite well.
I'm an American living in England. I miss my family sometimes but cannot imagine moving back there. My English husband might have considered moving there years ago but not at this point. Our main reasons are lack of health care, high taxes for few services, lack of work and life balance, unawareness of what's happening outside their own country, and environmental and waste concerns. I tease my friend about his 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom house with full basement and attic. He's a single person! To be honest, the idea that a lot of Americans seem to hold that their country is the best in the world makes me uneasy as well. I have trouble holding a conversation with several members of my family who just flat out think the US is THE.BEST.COUNTRY.EVER. Who teaches people this stuff? I have pride that I'm an American but it's not an all or nothing thing. I've never meant a non-American who thinks that way to such an extent.
As mochiko mentioned the two biggest things I miss are the friendliness of strangers and the convenience of getting things in the middle of the night.
On balance, I feel like England suits me better and I'd give it an 8. I don't feel that one country is any better than the other, and the idea of it being that black and white is odd to me, but I do prefer the UK. I like that the news on public TV includes important world news rather than the pothole patrol or endless hours on a very-important-but-not-the-only-thing-happening missing aircraft. I like that when I had a health problem I had no health bills and work had to give me my post-surgery time off at full pay while I recovered. I like that I have 6 weeks of paid vacation and that working more than 40 hours a week is considered to be unacceptable by my employer. I run around the US buying cheap stuff and fully taking advantage of 24 hour stores when I'm there once a year so I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I think I'll struggle most if and when we have children. I can't imagine raising a child in the US education system but I wouldn't want to raise a child away from my family.
justginger|1404605611|3707496 said:Rhea|1404592052|3707424 said:I voted a 7 for much the same reasons as given here. I'd give it a 6.5 if I could. I think mochiko42 summed it up quite well.
I'm an American living in England. I miss my family sometimes but cannot imagine moving back there. My English husband might have considered moving there years ago but not at this point. Our main reasons are lack of health care, high taxes for few services, lack of work and life balance, unawareness of what's happening outside their own country, and environmental and waste concerns. I tease my friend about his 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom house with full basement and attic. He's a single person! To be honest, the idea that a lot of Americans seem to hold that their country is the best in the world makes me uneasy as well. I have trouble holding a conversation with several members of my family who just flat out think the US is THE.BEST.COUNTRY.EVER. Who teaches people this stuff? I have pride that I'm an American but it's not an all or nothing thing. I've never meant a non-American who thinks that way to such an extent.
As mochiko mentioned the two biggest things I miss are the friendliness of strangers and the convenience of getting things in the middle of the night.
On balance, I feel like England suits me better and I'd give it an 8. I don't feel that one country is any better than the other, and the idea of it being that black and white is odd to me, but I do prefer the UK. I like that the news on public TV includes important world news rather than the pothole patrol or endless hours on a very-important-but-not-the-only-thing-happening missing aircraft. I like that when I had a health problem I had no health bills and work had to give me my post-surgery time off at full pay while I recovered. I like that I have 6 weeks of paid vacation and that working more than 40 hours a week is considered to be unacceptable by my employer. I run around the US buying cheap stuff and fully taking advantage of 24 hour stores when I'm there once a year so I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I think I'll struggle most if and when we have children. I can't imagine raising a child in the US education system but I wouldn't want to raise a child away from my family.
The only dark mark on my future as an expat - having children. There are things about my childhood that I loved and will be sad to see my kids miss out on, because there simply isn't an Australian counterpart to them. High school sports, with early Saturday morning bus rides to the away team's home, full of iced windows, gas station cappuccinos, giggling girls, singalongs. Themed weeks, pep rallies, a school fight song played by the marching band. Cheerleading, being able to dress freely, school dances rife with angst and ecstasy, as only experienced by teenagers. Not to mention what happens AFTER high school - namely, leaving home, moving on a college campus, and discovering how to fend for yourself, making amazing memories and thriving.
These things don't happen here. This subject is the only thing that still gives me a pit in my stomach, a knot of homesickness. There isn't a relatively young person I've met here who hasn't asked what high school and college are like in the States, and wistfully said, 'I wish I had all those things!' One day it will be my kids saying that. I can only hope they understand that Friday night football games are amazing, but not as amazing as going to school with no risk of a classmate pulling a gun.
justginger|1404605611|3707496 said:There are things about my childhood that I loved and will be sad to see my kids miss out on, because there simply isn't an Australian counterpart to them. High school sports, with early Saturday morning bus rides to the away team's home, full of iced windows, gas station cappuccinos, giggling girls, singalongs. Themed weeks, pep rallies, a school fight song played by the marching band. Cheerleading, being able to dress freely, school dances rife with angst and ecstasy, as only experienced by teenagers. Not to mention what happens AFTER high school - namely, leaving home, moving on a college campus, and discovering how to fend for yourself, making amazing memories and thriving.
arkieb1|1404606554|3707501 said:justginger|1404605611|3707496 said:Rhea|1404592052|3707424 said:I voted a 7 for much the same reasons as given here. I'd give it a 6.5 if I could. I think mochiko42 summed it up quite well.
I'm an American living in England. I miss my family sometimes but cannot imagine moving back there. My English husband might have considered moving there years ago but not at this point. Our main reasons are lack of health care, high taxes for few services, lack of work and life balance, unawareness of what's happening outside their own country, and environmental and waste concerns. I tease my friend about his 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom house with full basement and attic. He's a single person! To be honest, the idea that a lot of Americans seem to hold that their country is the best in the world makes me uneasy as well. I have trouble holding a conversation with several members of my family who just flat out think the US is THE.BEST.COUNTRY.EVER. Who teaches people this stuff? I have pride that I'm an American but it's not an all or nothing thing. I've never meant a non-American who thinks that way to such an extent.
As mochiko mentioned the two biggest things I miss are the friendliness of strangers and the convenience of getting things in the middle of the night.
On balance, I feel like England suits me better and I'd give it an 8. I don't feel that one country is any better than the other, and the idea of it being that black and white is odd to me, but I do prefer the UK. I like that the news on public TV includes important world news rather than the pothole patrol or endless hours on a very-important-but-not-the-only-thing-happening missing aircraft. I like that when I had a health problem I had no health bills and work had to give me my post-surgery time off at full pay while I recovered. I like that I have 6 weeks of paid vacation and that working more than 40 hours a week is considered to be unacceptable by my employer. I run around the US buying cheap stuff and fully taking advantage of 24 hour stores when I'm there once a year so I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I think I'll struggle most if and when we have children. I can't imagine raising a child in the US education system but I wouldn't want to raise a child away from my family.
The only dark mark on my future as an expat - having children. There are things about my childhood that I loved and will be sad to see my kids miss out on, because there simply isn't an Australian counterpart to them. High school sports, with early Saturday morning bus rides to the away team's home, full of iced windows, gas station cappuccinos, giggling girls, singalongs. Themed weeks, pep rallies, a school fight song played by the marching band. Cheerleading, being able to dress freely, school dances rife with angst and ecstasy, as only experienced by teenagers. Not to mention what happens AFTER high school - namely, leaving home, moving on a college campus, and discovering how to fend for yourself, making amazing memories and thriving.
These things don't happen here. This subject is the only thing that still gives me a pit in my stomach, a knot of homesickness. There isn't a relatively young person I've met here who hasn't asked what high school and college are like in the States, and wistfully said, 'I wish I had all those things!' One day it will be my kids saying that. I can only hope they understand that Friday night football games are amazing, but not as amazing as going to school with no risk of a classmate pulling a gun.
I am not sure what they do in WA but in QLD we have schools that have cheerleaders and marching girl teams (Frances Whiting a well known Brisbane author wrote a book called to be a Marching Girl....). Public schools in Canberra have free dress. ALL schools have school dances I remember the angst etc when I was a kid. I moved from a rural area to Sydney to go to University (as a large number of country kids do) and experienced all of those things so I agree that the experience is different from the US but we do have many of those things here too...
justginger|1404605611|3707496 said:Rhea|1404592052|3707424 said:I voted a 7 for much the same reasons as given here. I'd give it a 6.5 if I could. I think mochiko42 summed it up quite well.
I'm an American living in England. I miss my family sometimes but cannot imagine moving back there. My English husband might have considered moving there years ago but not at this point. Our main reasons are lack of health care, high taxes for few services, lack of work and life balance, unawareness of what's happening outside their own country, and environmental and waste concerns. I tease my friend about his 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom house with full basement and attic. He's a single person! To be honest, the idea that a lot of Americans seem to hold that their country is the best in the world makes me uneasy as well. I have trouble holding a conversation with several members of my family who just flat out think the US is THE.BEST.COUNTRY.EVER. Who teaches people this stuff? I have pride that I'm an American but it's not an all or nothing thing. I've never meant a non-American who thinks that way to such an extent.
As mochiko mentioned the two biggest things I miss are the friendliness of strangers and the convenience of getting things in the middle of the night.
On balance, I feel like England suits me better and I'd give it an 8. I don't feel that one country is any better than the other, and the idea of it being that black and white is odd to me, but I do prefer the UK. I like that the news on public TV includes important world news rather than the pothole patrol or endless hours on a very-important-but-not-the-only-thing-happening missing aircraft. I like that when I had a health problem I had no health bills and work had to give me my post-surgery time off at full pay while I recovered. I like that I have 6 weeks of paid vacation and that working more than 40 hours a week is considered to be unacceptable by my employer. I run around the US buying cheap stuff and fully taking advantage of 24 hour stores when I'm there once a year so I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I think I'll struggle most if and when we have children. I can't imagine raising a child in the US education system but I wouldn't want to raise a child away from my family.
The only dark mark on my future as an expat - having children. There are things about my childhood that I loved and will be sad to see my kids miss out on, because there simply isn't an Australian counterpart to them. High school sports, with early Saturday morning bus rides to the away team's home, full of iced windows, gas station cappuccinos, giggling girls, singalongs. Themed weeks, pep rallies, a school fight song played by the marching band. Cheerleading, being able to dress freely, school dances rife with angst and ecstasy, as only experienced by teenagers. Not to mention what happens AFTER high school - namely, leaving home, moving on a college campus, and discovering how to fend for yourself, making amazing memories and thriving.
These things don't happen here. This subject is the only thing that still gives me a pit in my stomach, a knot of homesickness. There isn't a relatively young person I've met here who hasn't asked what high school and college are like in the States, and wistfully said, 'I wish I had all those things!' One day it will be my kids saying that. I can only hope they understand that Friday night football games are amazing, but not as amazing as going to school with no risk of a classmate pulling a gun.
...snip...
Trust me, the difference in teenage life experiences between Perth and the States has not been overstated here. There is an entire element of community belonging due to school identification and competitive representation that is missing. No one here will ask how the football team did against Camdenton when you see a neighbour in public, swing by the library, or sit your kid down in the barber's chair, lol.