A Note About the Brits

My fellow Americans,

I'm here today to explain a little something about Britain to you. These are things that I have seen and that have been told to me by some Americans that have lived here for a few years now.

One main difference seems to have surfaced between American culture and British culture is their view on law and government. While both think that it is good and necessary, they have different views on what kind of role they should play. A simple example is this: Americans think they can go until some authority figure says stop. British on the other hand stay put until they are told to go. A simple anecdote can demonstrate this.

I was in the cinema looking for our church, which meets in cinema 1, and they way that you get up to it is by using a staircase that has signs beside it saying "DO NOT ENTER please enter cinema by the lift." There was a certain British couple standing looking for the same church. They had been waiting, but would not go up the stairs until they were told they could because the sign said not to. Me being American, I took a look at the sign, looked around to see any authority figures and trotted up the stairs, to the astonishment of the British couple.

If that wasn't a proper example, then you think of one and send it back to me. I say that to say that there is much more government control of things here that we would consider un-constitutional. And they are. It's just that the Constitution doesn't work over here, as much as we might want it to. The government seems to watch you an awful lot.

Another thing is that if you want to come over here, you better have a lot of money. If you work in America and spend in America. It's the same monetarily as if you worked in Britain and spent in Britain. I take that back. Things are slightly cheaper here if you earn the pound, but if you don't it's expensive. A combo meal still cost about 4.99, but in American dollars it's 9.98. So everything is twice as expensive here. One great thing though is that the price you see is the price you pay. The tax is already added to it. the tax is about 17% though. It's outrageous. You pay tax on everything here. You pay rent of course, but you also have to play council tax which might be about 30% of your rent a month. This pays for who-knows-what. You also have to pay a tax on all the televisions that you own and the list goes on and on. Expect to pay for it if you want to live here. You do get to go on better vacations because your money goes a lot farther when converted.

On the policy of work, America has it very backwards. the US thinks that you have to work 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. You might be lucky to get 1-2 weeks vacation when you start a job in the States. Here you start with 4-5 weeks off. So you actually get to spend the money that you make. Here work doesn't seem to be the be-all end-all of life. It as seen as a way to stay alive to enjoy other parts of life.

I really do like it here, despite all of the outrageous taxes and government involvement in every aspect of your life. I like it. I hope this has been somewhat of an insight into life living here in Britain. I'll write about more of adventures soon. I'll have plenty of them next week. My Dad is flying in on Sunday and we are headed to the Northern parts of Scotland and are going to watch some great football matches. So you'll see some cool pictures, in the meantime, I hope you like the ones I've included. Cheers

Ian