Don't Move to England If...

Ever wondered what it takes to move to England? This week I cover some important personality traits and mindsets that I think are crucial to have if you want to be a successful expat or immigrant in England. Don't move to England if any of these apply to you!

FOLLOW THE ADVENTURE

Music: Youtube Audio Library

Hey! I'm Alanna - a twenty-something documenting my life as a Canadian living in England.

I share the ups and downs of an expat living abroad and what it's really like living in the UK. It's not always easy, but there's been so many wonderful experiences, too. I post a Youtube video every Tuesday and an additional video every Saturday on my Patreon account. I also livestream every Wednesday and Sunday at 6:30pm GMT on Twitch.

Alanna x

[xmassent]

Don't ask a British person where the subway is because you will end up in a sandwich shop instead of the underground 🤣

[petebradley]

My wife found it hard to cope with the sarcasm/taking the piss humour in Britain, but after 25 years of living here, she’s slowly coming around to it .

[zhd-net]

I emigrated to Canada from England 34 years ago. At my first job I kept saying, "Well, back in England we did this..." Finally someone said, "You're not in England now." It was politely stated, but the message was clear.

[lifeoftamika]

“Don’t move to leave your problems”. My family is my problem, USA is my problem. I’m definitely running 🤣 but I’ve always wanted to live in London since I was little.

[stretfordender]

I suffered badly from anxiety and my move to London helped me massively. I think the busy place constantly helps.

[nicktankard]

Regarding mental health things moving to a different country might actually help. Definitely helped me. There are a lot of external things(and people) that can contribute to your unhappiness.
So changing your environment might help. I still have anxiety and stuff but at least i don't hate the place and people that surround me. It's a big help.

[jamesguitar]

As a Scot I have to envy those long, sunny English winters .

[fractalbroccoli]

I'm an immigrant myself ( not in England) and I feel you always have to be twice as happy, twice as friendly, and help twice as readily. No one likes a grumpy foreigner

[shlibbermacshlibber]

Was at college with an Aussi, "why do you always talk abou the weather? Its boring, weather isnt interesting" within 2 weeks he was talking about the weather

[FreeBeerNoBingo]

I am from the US, but have lived in England for over 20 years. I cried a lot my first year here. My thoughts before I came were "how different could it be? They speak English! It's just a different accent!" And I'd watched some British TV, so I thought I'd be fine with any dialect differences. I arrived in Yorkshire and the only person I could easily understand were my husband and MIL - and I know now that they were going out of their way so that I could understand. But I did a lot of nodding and agreeing that first year because it was like learning a new language - and it wasn't just English, or Yorkshire, but all of the dialects that belonged to everyone my husband knew. The difficulties communicating, the cultural differences, the dry humour, the new traditions, new weather, and being so far from my US family just overwhelmed me. The first year was especially hard as I was shy and introverted - I was afraid to admit I didn't understand. But it did help me come out of my shell and I did learn to laugh and say, "I have no idea what that means." Most people will be understanding and some even think it's cute that even after 20 years I'm still learning!

[jeffgraham]

Alanna...'I'll never be British or English'...pours a cup of Yorkshire Tea, starts talking about the weather whilst checking out of the corner of her eye the dwindling stock of cider behind the TV....🤣🤣🤣

[nrgspike]

Alanna: "...I'm never going to be British"
Also Alanna: "Yes, I'm going to talk about the weather again."

[jcasillas]

Thanks for mentioning the importance of learning to do things solo. It's a good life skill to have in general, and I feel like a lot of people struggle with it. It might even make a good topic for a future video!

[scar_face]

Makes total sense. You can’t go to another country, and expect them to abide by your country’s standards. You have to learn the culture, and interact as the locals do.

[oliveradams]

So what you're saying is that you moved to the UK and you didn't expect the whole of the UK to change to suit you. Wow, that's refreshing. Thank you! You're most welcome here.

[jno]

You forgot a sense of humour; because we take the piss out of everything, everyone & ourselves.

[jamesdowling]

It’s great to see you’re closing in on 100, 000 subscribers 😊 I remember your channel at 25, 000. Keep up 👍🏻

[geoffpoole]

The key point to bear in mind when moving anywhere is that things are very likely to be different to what one's used to. Better? perhaps. Worse? Maybe. Different, certainly. Accepting that makes things a lot easier. Even within the UK things differ. For example the process of buying a house/flat in Scotland is markedly different from the way of doing so in England. Asking about things usually gets a positive reaction.

[brianbonner]

I moved from England to Scotland and the cultural differences took me by surprise. All UK countries are completely different

[perpetualmotionuk]

Alanna, you're a Commonwealth cousin, we love Canadians and we love you being here!!