Blog detail
A Brit Out Of Water
http://www.britoutofwater.com
- Author: Dylan
- Listed in: Personal Travel
- Tags: Culture London new york brooklyn expat emigrating
- Added on: Oct 26th, 2007
- Country: United States
- Language: English
When one man packs his bags and moves from London to New York to start a new life, there's bound to be one hell of a culture shock. This blog details the process of coming to terms with the shift between two countries divided by a common language.
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Lord knows I can’t change
You might know me as the mild mannered janitor of this esteemed property, but I have a secret. A secret dark enough that it only speaks its name to a select few. A secret that I only shared with The Special One a few months before our wedding, for fe...
Spot the difference
July 2007 A man walks into a doctor’s surgery in South West London, under extreme pressure from his wife-to-be, to get his allegedly high blood pressure looked at. The surgery smells like all doctors the length and breadth of the UK – a heady mix...
Expect the unexpected
Like Drew Barrymore and her endless ability to score the lead roles in sappy rom-coms, A Brit Out Of Water would be nothing without a stereotype. Don’t get me wrong, I like to tell it as I see it, but sometimes you just have to fall back on goo...
Help me if you can
I was back in the commuting saddle today, scuttling into the city with the rest of the ants. After a week in the sun, I don’t mind admitting that the experience was particularly painful. Almost as painful as a torturous opening sentence that mi...
Getting away from it all
I’ve been away for a week, sunning myself in the south of France and taking advantage of the lack of broadband to take an impromptu blog break. Fortunately, the presence of a The Special One, good friends, a big swimming pool, great food and pl...
Comments & Reviews
This blog is currently rated a 9.50 out of a possible 10 based on 8 comments.
M E R Said:
Brit:
Nice looking blog! And it's great to read a blog that's not afraid to go longform, stretching out a bit on a single topic. Well-written and wise and funny. I lived in New York some years ago, moving there from Colorado, and that sense of culture shock you're experiencing remains an indelible memory. You're not sure if it's the New World you've moved to or the New World you're leaving behind.
Anyway, I'll check it out from time to time as you make your way in the Apple.
If the spirit moves you, have a gander at my blog, CULCHAVOX, a grab bag of various doings in the American world.
All best.
BT Cassidy Said:
Good fun blog that highlights the differences between the US and England, worth reading and enjoyably well written.
Butch Berry Said:
After having lived in Britain for a few years and still having family ties there, I totally understand your "insights" in reverse and they are hilarious!
Tania Tyler Said:
Welcome to the US. Great blog. Even though I've lived here all my life, I still relate. If you ever get to Mystic, CT... we've got some great pubs!
~Tania
Kathleen Maher Said:
Thanks for finding me; I'm glad to meet you and hope to get to know you better. Your efforts to adopt USA's idioms are charming, but to many NYer ears--you should know this, because you can experiment and see how you want to play it--the British words sound even more charming and suggest a pleasant if slight exotic note. Then, too, those who respond positively might be BBC fans, Brit-lit admirers, or full-fledged travelers.
I know people who come to this country and quickly shed their Hebrew, Indian, or Asian accent. (Meanwhile,I can't even shake my midwestern ugly, flat vowels.) I've yet to meet a British person, male or female, in residence here sometimes as long as 20 years who hasn't held on tightly to their British voice and often vocabulary. It's not as if people don't understand you. And over here, Britons sound way posh.
Barbara A. Clark Said:
I love your blog and sense of humor! I love the idea of your blog, too, as it's fun to read along as you go through the process of cultural adjustment to life in a foreign country. I know the key to a great adjustment is the sense of humor, which you are not lacking one bit. I will definitely keep reading.
