What do you miss most about the UK?

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

I'm applying for a CR1 (just had NOA1 so early in the process) and moving to the US to be with my wife, am curious about the UK things people miss (and maybe don't miss!) about the UK once they have moved.

[fcat 79]

I'm stocking up on HP sauce, Cadbury's Dairy Milk, crumpets, Ambrosia rice pudding, Ambrosia custard, jam roly poly from M&S, all the essential things,lol i wont miss the weather and the price of petrol.

This was my suitcase the last time i went over to the US 8 weeks ago,lol

[rjm_cmyk 75]

The stuff I have to take over with me includes Chunky Kit Kats, Branston Pickle , PG Tips and Curly Wurlys and for me Marmite of course. That said it's not difficult to get some of this on the West Coast.

[markonline1 11]

Seriously, apart from the obvious like friends and family, the only thing I miss is sky sports.

[Boiler 43,433]

Quite a bit of stuff you can get on Mazon, HP Sauce and PG Tips to name a few.

The Cadburys here is not the same.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

He craves Branston Pickle and HP Sauce. We manage to get that from the international food aisle of a local Kroger Store. He misses decent bacon, which we can't get here. But he's not allowed it anymore, so it's just as well.

He misses TV without commercials. Sidewalks. Cheap books. Election cycles that don't last 18 months. Magazines with DVD's etc in them.

The NHS.

[Krikit 1,163]

I'm stocking up on HP sauce, Cadbury's Dairy Milk, crumpets, Ambrosia rice pudding, Ambrosia custard, jam roly poly from M&S, all the essential things,lol i wont miss the weather and the price of petrol.

I see you're moving to Woodbridge, which is not far from me. I can get all those items, except for the jam roly poly, from my local Wegmans. I've also seen many of those items at the other grocery stores, plus tons more at the World Market.

Quite a bit of stuff you can get on Mazon, HP Sauce and PG Tips to name a few.

The Cadburys here is not the same.

You have to check the back of the Cadbury's. If it says Hershey's then it's not the British Cadbury's. The price will be the first thing to give it away. lol The real thing is available in the shops I mentioned above.

He craves Branston Pickle and HP Sauce. We manage to get that from the international food aisle of a local Kroger Store. He misses decent bacon, which we can't get here. But he's not allowed it anymore, so it's just as well.

Amber tells me she's seen the bacon at the Whole Foods close to her, so I'm going to check the next time I'm there.

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

I love the suitcase full of British food! The supermarket near my wife's house has a small British food section that includes chocolate digestives, PG Tips and even Ambrosia.When I'm in the US for any length of time I really miss cider (although Woodchuck cider is not bad it's not like scrumpy) crumbly fudge, clotted cream and pasties. Can you tell where in the UK I'm from lol.

[fcat 79]

I see you're moving to Woodbridge, which is not far from me. I can get all those items, except for the jam roly poly, from my local Wegmans. I've also seen many of those items at the other grocery stores, plus tons more at the World Market.

You have to check the back of the Cadbury's. If it says Hershey's then it's not the British Cadbury's. The price will be the first thing to give it away. lol The real thing is available in the shops I mentioned above.

Amber tells me she's seen the bacon at the Whole Foods close to her, so I'm going to check the next time I'm there.

I love Wegmans and yeh a lot is available i just hate paying 5 bucks for a small bottle of HP! their crumpets are ok but not the same.

[fcat 79]

I love the suitcase full of British food! The supermarket near my wife's house has a small British food section that includes chocolate digestives, PG Tips and even Ambrosia.When I'm in the US for any length of time I really miss cider (although Woodchuck cider is not bad it's not like scrumpy) crumbly fudge, clotted cream and pasties. Can you tell where in the UK I'm from lol.

Try Angry Orchard (the crisp version) cider knocks the spots off many of our our English ciders its becoming hugely popular in the US too, i remember a couple of years ago and Cider just wasn't around at all in the US! i managed to find clotted cream once, they serve it at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in DC with their afternoon tea:)

[JoannaV 173]

I love the suitcase full of British food! The supermarket near my wife's house has a small British food section that includes chocolate digestives, PG Tips and even Ambrosia.When I'm in the US for any length of time I really miss cider (although Woodchuck cider is not bad it's not like scrumpy) crumbly fudge, clotted cream and pasties. Can you tell where in the UK I'm from lol.

YES.

yes yes yes. Ah.

Meh I am too cheap to acquire the clotted cream. I need to come up with an epic plan first, like a well-planned menu of desserts lol. Else I'd just be sat there eating it out of the jar and then be sad all over again next time an apple pie or something came along.

Anyway, what I miss is walking places.

We'll have to start making pasties ourselves. Decades ago they were the quick and simple standby. BUT I would still miss having them as a fast food option. Someone needs to start a MacPasty chain.

When we visit the UK my husband is more obsessed with eating a sufficient number of pasties than I am haha.

ANYWAY. Walking places. Midwifery care as the standard. People knowing how to merge properly. A certain kind of British humour.

[rjm_cmyk 75]

I think technological developments have changed the transition conditions for many coming from say Europe. If I compare how it will be for me in 2013 (hopefully) and 1996 when my partner first moved to the the US .

1) Internet provision is now generally inexpensive and widely available.

2) Internet speeds and bandwidth provide he means for VOIP and video. ( I can remember having to rely on IRC and trying video on 64K IDSN links )

3) Phone charges (certainly UK to US) are can be so cheap that you're not counting the minutes when calling and VOIP has changed the landscape completely

4) It is easy to buy many of the UK/Euro brands albeit at inflated prices

5) Getting back to Europe while not cheap is easy if you need or want to.

6) I can get all the UK tv I need , OK by the use of proxy companies but it's not rocket science

Like most Brits what I am going to miss first and foremost is the NHS. I'm not a great user of it fortunately but it's good to have it there.

[Krikit 1,163]

Yay Cornwall!! I'm still upset with the movers for losing my Polperro painting.

I love Wegmans and yeh a lot is available i just hate paying 5 bucks for a small bottle of HP! their crumpets are ok but not the same.

I hear you about the price! I wait until I am going to Canada or someone comes visiting. lol

If you ever get desperate there's always the British Pantry over in Aldie:

http://www.thebritishpantry.us/

Try Angry Orchard (the crisp version) cider knocks the spots off many of our our English ciders its becoming hugely popular in the US too, i remember a couple of years ago and Cider just wasn't around at all in the US! i managed to find clotted cream once, they serve it at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in DC with their afternoon tea:)

Wegmans has clotted cream also!

ANYWAY. Walking places. Midwifery care as the standard. People knowing how to merge properly. A certain kind of British humour.

We're lucky to live in an area with great walking areas, but I know what you mean. When we were living in FL we had to drive to find somewhere to walk. I, too, miss the British humour the most. I love when I go to Canada and sit in the pub and hear the British and Scottish accents. That's when I can take a deep breath and relax. It's like coming home.

Like most Brits what I am going to miss first and foremost is the NHS. I'm not a great user of it fortunately but it's good to have it there.

I love the American healthcare, but the process was mind-boggling at first. I'm starting to get the hang of it now, but I still find it confusing. When you take the provider process out of the equation, the actual care that you receive is second to none. But I imagine that if you don't have excellent insurance ymmv. They do tend to throw a lot of drugs at you, which took some getting used to.

[civilservant 42]

NHS.

Football.

People that actually understand a dry sarcastic sense of humor without having to explain that I'm trying to be funny.

Black Humor, it just dosen't exist here.

Driving on the right side of the road.

Not having to say 'sir' & 'Ma'am' every time (that's the South for you!)

BBC News and it's independence

Proper chocolate and buiscuits

Edited June 15, 2013 by civilservant

[lost_at_sea 995]

Probably all of the above, except I don't drive at the moment and I suspect I'm going to have to (although SF is one of the few cities in the US with some semblance of public transport). That's less of a "miss" and more of a "ffs, really? come on!". Can I hold out for a self-driving car? Maybe. SF is also hipster enough to have good craft beer and proper cheese, so it's not a total loss, and I gain the ability to get tex mex and better burritos.

What else? Oh, heinz salad cream - I don't have it often, but when I do I remember I really like it and I'll be bummed to not be able to just pick some up on a whim. I can bake quite a lot of things I like a lot (like scones and proper sponge cakes) except crumpets that I haven't tried making yet. If I can get them down, I should be good. The lack of choice in regular cream there is terrible (surely Americans would LOVE full fat clotted cream? should start a cottage industry) and butter just isn't the same, too.

I really love London, so I'm mostly just going to miss this city - that's quite specific to me, though. I will cry when we leave.

Oh, and although now a Londoner, I'm actually Cornish - so I miss pasties no matter where I go! And I get Rodda's clotted cream from Selfridge's, because I'm a snob and why would I have non-cornish clotted cream?

Edited June 15, 2013 by lost_at_sea