How the United States is Perceived in Britain

Me and ‪@TheBeesleys99‬ trade stories on how we, as Brits, perceived the United States - before our eyes were opened.
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[@sevensongs]

Funniest thing as an American visiting the UK was seeing a fancy commercial with an American accent voiceover. I lost it laughing and the BandB hostess explained that the American accent was used to indicate wealth and upper class access instead of any Brit accent. I said, in America, it's the other way around!

[@leannjent51]

So funny cuz it’s true! lol

[@KayentaRojo]

Hahah NO WAY I have always wondered if they did this! That’s very interesting, because it really is the complete opposite here in the U.S.

[@Spabsa]

Wow that’s sad. Why use the most boring version of the English accent?

[@Primitarian]

What fools the Brits are, keep your accent, here in America it sounds like a million dollars.

[@wvt5825]

Ah...get Larry the Cable Guy and their sales would skyrocket

[@Bad_Wolf_Media]

Just to add a little American context, on the discussion of high schools, my wife was SHOCKED at my high school, because it's all indoors. She's from southern California, and their "hallways" are all outside, like you see in a lot of movies, with lockers and everything under overhangs but open-air. Here in the Midwest, that would just be a terrible idea. So even within the country, if you don't know anything outside of your own experience, it's a drastic change from region to region.

[@JudgeJulieLit]

All indoors on the US East Coast.

[@briandavis6898]

I grew up in the Rockies and I remember going to southern California where I now live and was amazed at escalators being outside

[@Maggies87]

@Bad Wolf Media Yep, I attended SoCal schools with outdoor covered walkways, and was surprised when I passed multi-level indoor schools in Minnesota while visiting relatives. Had no idea our schools were not “normal” compared to most of the U.S.

[@wendimooreart]

I grew up in the 80s, in Alabama. I would watch teenage movies set in California and wonder if their high schools actually had outdoor picnic tables where everyone ate lunch. I thought that was so strange. At my high school and every high school in my area, the only things happening outside involved PE classes and sports. All the hallways were indoors too.

[@joeriveracomedy]

Norcal is all outdoors. Dodging rain from class to class is a constant memory.

[@SeldimSeen1]

I am an American and my neighbors were a couple from Ireland and France. We had one of those typical severe summer thunderstorm that pop up suddenly in the summer here in North Carolina. The next day the wife said, " Back home we would see the hard rain squalls in American films but thought they were fake. It could never rain that hard. Now I know they are real!" I responded, "Yeah, wait till you see a hurricane blow through and you will see rain going sideways."

[@seanfager8063]

I've been through a bunch of hurricanes, and my favorite were in Carolina tobacco country. Always impressive, but I rarely felt actually threatened, unlike the ones in Florida (floodland) or Virginia (treefalls)

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

FWIW: I have been living in N.E. North Carolina since 1995, but I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. I lived in Dade County, Florida from 1988 to 1995, so I got to experience HURRICANE ANDREW. We first lived in southern Dade County, but moved to the northern part of the county about three-and-a-half months before ANDREW hit. That was probably the MOST FORTUITOUS MOVE we ever made. Hurricane Andrew PULVERIZED Southern Dade County.

[@Janice4th]

@@joeybob4077no. It’s a hurricane thing. Or really strong rainstorms.

[@doofinator4285]

@@seanfager8063Serious question, where are you in NC that you don’t have to worry about flash floods or tree falls? Floyd had catastrophic flooding many hours inland. The one-two punch of Bertha and then Fran flooded and knocked over trees causing over $1.3B of damage. We lost so many trees that it took us a week to chainsaw out of our driveway. Matthew washed out so many roads that towns were isolated for weeks and caused over $10B of damage. I say all that to ask, do you perhaps live or did you live in the mountains where you’re incredibly far from the Atlantic or were you only in NC for a brief period?

[@CEOofWasrael]

I thought monsoons were everywhere lol

[@CrankyBeach]

About the accents.... Back in 1978, a fellow Californian and I were bumming around London, riding the tube. One day we happened to sit next to a group of students from Georgia. We chatted a bit--and then an Englishwoman nearby piped up and said she just loved listening to our accent. One accent. She could not tell the difference between California and a full-on southern accent.

[@jimgreen5788]

CrankyBeach, I often embarrass myself by not being able to accurately identify an English-speaker from another country simply by using their accent as the determining factor, even though I've been to all of the UK (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales), Australia, New Zealand and S. Africa. Then, one evening at a youth hostel in the LA area (I'm from IL), I happened to be in the common room, and heard people talking with each other, and they were from all these different countries. I couldn't believe how different they sounded. By the way, I'm still lousy at correctly identifying an accent on the first try.🤨

[@LegendStormcrow]

And they could tell what street they live on in their country based off of accents. I bet the Southerners were P-ed

[@shannon4386]

I spent a month in England doing a study abroad thing. I got to be friends with a guy from Liverpool. One day he asked me to imitate his accent, so I did (horribly lol) and we were keeling over laughing. Then I asked him to imitate mine, and he proceeded to talk with a VERY thick southern accent. I should probably add that I'm from Maine. Definitely not southern lol. I was like, "wait, do you think I talk like that? I don't have a southern accent." He said he heard one. I then asked other English people I knew if they thought I sounded southern and they all said yeah, all American accents kind of sounded the same to them. It blew my mind.

[@LegendStormcrow]

@@shannon4386 And here there is about 4 or 5 regions of the US I can't understand, due to their accents. Meanwhile they call us all Yankees, say we all sound Southern, yet can claim they can tell what block a Londoner lives on based on accent.

[@dylanmurphy9389]

@@shannon4386I’m from Liverpool, you must have had a hard time understanding anyone 😂

[@lalida6432]

My cousin from Thailand came to visit when I was in high school, so I asked my teachers if I could bring her along for a day. She was just walking around bug-eyed. When I asked her how it was, she said, ‘It’s just like ‘Grease’!’

[@GeorgeSemel]

I hope you said Grease is the word!!! Great Broad Way Musical and a legendary Movie version too.

[@inconnu4961]

LOL

[@thekat4493]

That is so adorable!! What a cool experience.

[@elbolsillo]

That’s cool they let you bring her along

[@DugrozReports]

Did you and your classmates occasionally burst into song?

[@signalfire15]

To clarify about Friends - Monica was only able to afford her apartment because it was rent controlled due to her illegally subletting the apartment from her grandmother. There is no way she would have been able to afford the apartment if it was at market value. They had an episode explaining that she was living there illegally. Chandler and Joey’s apartment is a smaller, more standard NYC apartment and Chandler would have been able to afford it relatively easily because he was a manager at his corporate job, which pays very well in NYC.

[@kristenheuer5676]

I've always wondered that about Monica's apartment. Thanks for explaining.

[@DrewFeille]

I imagine they wanted the apartments to be large and open so they could better film the set in front of a studio audience. A smaller apartment wouldn't allow for much stage movement, and things would probably get obscured as furniture and rooms would be more cramped.

[@Dreded100]

That and Friends was filmed in the 90s. Even in the Midwest a house my parents bought in 1991 for 40k is worth nearly 200k now.

[@mnpipi3329]

@@Dreded100 Febbie also was subletting her rent controlled apartment under her grandmother's name after she died. For those who don't understand rent control, you can basically live at an apartment for as long as you want with no increase in rent (or extremely minor increases). Monica's grandmother had that apartment and passed it on to her, so the cost would be similar to the price from 40 years ago.

[@maxbennett5412]

@@Dreded100 Thanks Blackrock!

[@kellykrug8056]

It was really nice to hear that people from other countries have some positive things to say about America and Americans. Thank you !

[@hackman669]

True enough, US media sucks!!!

[@meedwards5]

Interesting that Tara is treated so well in the UK. I lived in Barnes for one month when I was 18 and was treated horribly by people my age. It was very specifically America itself that they disliked. They ruthlessly mocked the US, even down to terribly ridiculing the name Washington DC (my hometown). When I visited anywhere outside of the London area I was treated normally, so perhaps it's just a London thing.

[@stevethepocket]

Probably because all the obnoxious tourists go to London, so Londoners are used to Americans being like that.

[@tylersweckard9707]

It’s probably akin to someone from the Midwest visiting Portland 😅

[@meedwards5]

@@tylersweckard9707 except that Washington DC is a major international city 😉

[@desapole]

Are you sure it wasn't just 'banter'? It's not uncommon for outsiders to not realise British people are just teasing and not actually insulting them. I remember talking to a Canadian who studied in Brighton and she said she would almost cry because people were so mean and wouldn't hold back when they insulted her. She eventually adjusted and realised that nothing anyone says is meant to be taken seriously. As a rule of thumb, excessive insults actually indicate a level of affection or fondness.

[@meedwards5]

@@desapole oh yes, quite sure in this case. Definitely not banter. I think just drunk pretentious arrogant kids

[@infoscholar5221]

When I was in college (i'm fromt he US) I had an English friend, Dominic, and his parents came over to visit (Alabama). After a couple days, they came around to his dorm, I was visiting him, and I asked them, "What are your plans for the next few days?" The mother said to me, "Oh, we thought we'd pop over to the Grand Canyon." After a minute, I said, "Ma'am, that's almost three thousand miles from here." The parents looked at each other. "Is the US so big?" The father asked rhetorically.

[@xaviotesharris891]

It is sweet to learn that Brits in Britain can have a thing for an American accent. I just always assumed you made fun of us.

[@LimegreenSnowstorm]

My British friend visited us once and came to church and the way her face *lit up* when she heard a guy speaking with a very rural accent just made my month!

[@Just999Me]

i think it's more they find the Midwestern or Southern accents (anything that is not the usual accent/more rural) more endearing or unique compared to the standard East/West Coast accents.

[@xaviotesharris891]

@@Just999Me When I was teaching English to non-native speakers of it, I learned there's a thing called Standard North American non-Accented pronunciation. Thankfully, having that non-accent looked good on my resume. But what you say makes perfect sense.

[@ScootsFromNewCastle]

I just want to know which accent they think is nice because some of the ones we have here is not something I would like to put out to the world lol

[@Just999Me]

@@ScootsFromNewCastle from some British youtubers I watch, they tend to point out Southern, Midwestern or very specific region accents like Boston or NYC ones.

[@kari8187]

I lived in England for 3 years. Funny story, the little kids playing pretend, they use an American accent to give the toys a voice😂 it was so startling

[@virginiarobbins7539]

My granddaughter does English accent from watching Peppa Pig.. 😆

[@nonconsensualopinion]

@@virginiarobbins7539 My American children started getting Australian accents from watching "Bluey". My six year old came up to me lying on the couch, slapped me on the shoulder and say "get up, mate".

[@willhooke]

@@nonconsensualopinion fair dinkum?!

[@dreadcthulhu5]

@@nonconsensualopinion One of my nieces has started doing that too.

[@MLFreese]

As an American, I'm so used to seeing other countries in Europe and Asia being exoticized. I forget that people in other countries do the same for us 🙂

[@baddbabylon]

Wait til they learn we have Amish people, they true American exotic creature

[@arlenec3983]

Or Cajun Louisiana, where there’s still a few people in parts of the state that still speak French 😊

[@MW_Asura]

@@baddbabylon Where do you think the Amish came from? 🤦‍♂

[@jadapinkett1656]

​@@MW_Asura The US was a British colony.

[@maxbennett5412]

@@arlenec3983 Language is strange in America. Our main language is English while our second is Spanish and we only border two countries. Canada also has English as it's main and French as a second. Mexico has English as a second and Spanish as a main.

[@andrewwarren8474]

I really love how positive and educational your content is about America! Especially since I lived in Europe for years and I feel like the attitudes are so negative and rooted in silly stereotypes these days. Most online content capitalizes on that to get easy views and likes by piling on the America-hate, so this is very refreshing and I hope it opens some people’s eyes.

[@TickleMeElmo55]

What's sad is that Americans and non-Americans alike allow it. Ironically, of all the "you're ignorant" statements Americans get, there's so much ignorance by non-Americans that it exceeds an insular American.

[@andrewwarren8474]

@@TickleMeElmo55 Exactly! It is sad that so many Americans have such contempt for their own country that they enthusiastically join in on it, or they do so for the social credit they get from non-Americans. The assumption that Americans are ignorant and Europeans aren’t discourages Europeans from taking a look at their own ignorance and actually challenging their prejudices about America.

[@jamesslick4790]

I find more "America hate" from "Americans" than I do from people "overseas". My American self got much love for the US from Canada, Australia and the UK Aright, those are kind of expected...But.... WAIT FOR IT.....Viet Nam!! I get much more "self-loathing" from my "fellow" Americans. It's NOT healthy!

[@gaylekenyon4693]

I can relate to what you're saying. I lived in South America for a couple years and the same thing there. I was surprised at some of the things that people just seemed to assume as fact from watching movies and TV shows. I suppose it is a learning experience on both sides, as I learned a lot about the Latin culture as well.

[@TickleMeElmo55]

@@andrewwarren8474 It's a double standard also on cultural differences. You see the "ugh Americans have X and Y backwards!" on "Things That Are Uniquely/Only Happen in America" reaction vids. An amusing observation I noticed is that when Europeans think the US is exceptionally unhealthy despite smoking, for both men and woman, being more of a social norm in Western and Central Europe alongside drinking weekly (it's rarely ever brought up of the alcoholism that pervades Europe by laymen Europeans, but these same people cease to fail to bring up the obesity issue in the US).

[@beverlyweber4122]

I have British friends...and they have no idea how BIG America really is. One of my KZbinr friends (in his youth and with his buddies) attempted to hitchhike across the desert from California to Arizona. Keyword: "attempted". It did not go well and they were rescued midway by a follower of their channel and never made it to Arizona. Yeah, that's a big, hot and miserable stretch of highway, mate!

[@alansmithee8831]

@Beverly Weber. It is a long trip if from the UK on the Greyhound. I have done it. I also know how it felt to get stuck in a broken down van coming back across the desert, though in Western Texas in my case.

[@christinebutler7630]

God, they could've died. People who dont know the hazards of desert heat...

[@suedenim]

Not to mention that it's been decades since Americans routinely picked up hitchhikers. Nowadays it's pretty much assumed all hitchhikers are axe murderers. Or that people who pick up innocent hitchhikers are themselves axe murderers.

[@lisacrews3060]

I'm from Phoenix, AZ and what they did was incredibly dangerous. So glad someone rescued them.

[@alansmithee8831]

@Lisa Crews. Our good Samaritans in Texas were an old couple, who drove us to the next town for a recovery vehicle. He had been in USAAF in WW2 and said what he saw made him a devout Christian. It was like something from Highway to Heaven, thinking of Laurence's reference to US TV shown in UK.

[@sarakajira]

One of the things, I think is interesting as someone from Portland, Oregon, is how much foreigners seem to identify "America" as being New York City, and Los Angeles. When in reality there's a lot of places like the Pacific Northwest that are very forested, and full of mountains, and rivers and things like that. And the culture in the places with a lot of nature, is often very different than in the kind of urban sprawl places like Los Angeles or New York City. One of the best things about living in America, in my opinion, is our National Parks, which have some just stunning world treasures of nature. And I don't always understand why people who visit here want to visit the biggest cities all the time. I mean from my perspective there are big cities all over the world, but how often are you going to see some place like Crater Lake, or the Grand Canyon, or Yellowstone? And to me, it's places like those that are really what makes America special. And I feel that way about other countries, too. Cities and shopping and culture are all fun and all, but it's the beauty of the nature in those places that are really magical to me.

[@vicroc4]

There's a lot of places in the US that would consider it a severe insult to be considered anything like LA or New York City.

[@leahmollytheblindcatnordee3586]

Totally agree with you. I live in Michigan, no big mountains, but beautiful woods, rivers, lakes and all sort of outdoorsy type things. Have traveled west some and loved the Rockies, the Tetons and Garden of the Gods. Such beauty. To me cities are interesting, but not what I would want to see.

[@maryperry1773]

So true. I live a couple hours away from NYC, but I never go there. It’s disgusting. I feel sorry for tourists that go to that stinky place. The crime, and the traffic.

[@dreadcthulhu5]

@@vicroc4 Such cities are so overrated, but they sure do think a lot of themselves compared to the rest of us.

[@user-kz5cw2gj3w]

America is a huge country geographically and extremely diverse culturally. NY and Hollywood don't represent the country, only that part of it they are in.

[@noahbawdy3395]

I was homeless in Hawaii for about six months. It was a horrible experience but at least I didn't need to worry about freezing to death.

[@jakeryan152]

Damn well thankfully you’re not homeless anymore

[@davarosmith1334]

If I was in Hawaii for six months I wouldn't come back!

[@sharpaycutie2]

I heard the rain is miserable tho 😢

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

@@davarosmith1334 I regret leaving. I never should have left

[@KaizuoSilva]

Yea the priced out of paradise and the houseing crisis, is real bad here, (in Hawaii)I dont even have enough hawaiian to qualify for hawaiian homestead, acctually very few people still qualify and they're mostly of the older generation

[@stardust949]

My youngest son, in his late 20s now, (We're American) just two weeks ago took a notion into his head that he was Going To the U.K. for a week! He had booked it, flight to London---and then a side trip to Cromer, where among other things that he did, watched the England vs. France World Cup tournament in a pub there. He struck up a conversation with another young man, native to Cromer----and then got invited for Sunday dinner at the guy's home! I believe my son got the "Hollywood" treatment there---as well as made some new friends...and the Brit guy's family made a fabulous and traditional English supper with roast beef and a 'pudding', so what a wonderful thing it is, travel. He got to tell them all about what he's been up to in the various places he's lived here, as well as quiz them about their area and interests.

[@sarahgilbert8036]

"a pudding"? With roast beef it had to be yorkshire pudding, lol.

[@Glamrockqueen]

An English supper is not a Roast Beef dinner. That is a full blown meal, be it Dinner or Tea. The pudding was either a Yorkie Pud, or something yummy like Crumble and custard or similar.

[@protorhinocerator142]

To be fair, it's ridiculously easy for Americans to hang out with Hollywood stars. Just spend 40 bucks and go to a Comic-Con nearly anywhere in the country. The one I go to usually has movie stars, TV stars, and pro-wrestlers. Plus a million useless toys and other merch for sale. I love it when there's someone famous who, for no apparent reason, doesn't have a line of people to see them. Last time I went there was no line at all to see Morgan Fairchild, so I just hung out with her for about 15 minutes chatting. Just BS about whatever. I also got to meet the guy who was operating Jabba the Hut's arm in Return of the Jedi. That was random. These people tell fun stories.

[@suehuff8065]

Another good place to meet famous people is in southern California 12 step meetings...you just can't talk about it afterwards...

[@michellemiller1067]

Growing up in the 80s with English synth-wave, U2, Tears for Fears; English art films; Europe pre- and -post-Berlin Wall...you better believe 17-year-old me in Ohio romanticized the hell out of the UK and all of Europe!

[@krisspychissp]

Ah hell nah man ohio, are you okay?!

[@theonlyonestanding8079]

We certainly did here in San Francisco California enjoyed the synth-wave in the 80s and punk rock like Joy division and Suouxie and the Banshees And The Cure and The Clash etc etc.

[@RaulDuke773]

Me Three

[@Margar02]

@@krisspychissp I'm in Ohio and doing fine. Cold AF but fine!

[@alansmithee8831]

@Michelle Miller. It felt strange in UK to see US TV shows with kids talking about New Wave and films like Pretty in Pink, but the scene here moved quicker on terms of promotion as you can drive across the country in a day, not like the 3 months it took me to get round the US. By the time you would be into this kids here were ready to discover House Music. We then had Manchester bands like Stone Roses who were only massive here whilst, as I found when in US, you had Grunge. I was ill with flu at the my last school year, so did not get onto my university exchange to Toledo, not having the exam grades, but the first friend I made at university went on to be a UK government minister. We saw Back to The Future at the cinema and I often wonder what I would say to our younger selves now if I had that DeLoreon.

[@annecunningham1151]

Last time I was in the USA I flew to San Francisco, spent some time there then flew to New York. That was a shock. In the time it took to do that second flight, had I been in the UK I’d have been way past Greece. Yet here I was was, still in the same country.

[@inconnu4961]

They dont call it 'Flyover Country' for nothin!

[@thepsychicspoon5984]

and to think the USA is only the fourth largest in the world.

[@MrSloika]

I know some people who live in Los Angeles. One year they hosted visitors from the UK. Their UK guests wanted to drive from LA to San Francisco and were positively stunned when they were informed that such a drive takes on average 10 hours.

[@filanfyretracker]

the scale of this country is why many Americans do not do more international travel, And the location of it does require expensive flights for anything not Canada or Mexico. On the last two locations you also have the fact that for many going to either of those countries barely qualifies for international travel "Its just Canada or Mexico, I can drive there". Some of this perception is heavily due to the fact that pre 9/11 you could just cross into either country with only your driving license and no passport or other international travel type card required.

[@kingk1336]

@@thepsychicspoon5984 third

[@jsharp3165]

I had a reverse of Millie's experience, having an English exchange teacher when I was in high school in the 1980s. He was from Newcastle and he taught American History. It was really great hearing his perspective on historic events that involved the UK and the US. We became very well-acquainted and shared a hobby, amateur photography. In fact, he influenced me to give Ilford film and print papers a try to obtain a different effect than with Kodak and Fuji products. I interviewed him for our school newspaper even met his family once. His little boy was totally fascinated with American football and he called it "spaceball" because he thought they were wearing astronaut helmets.

[@silver-fd3cv]

😂 astronaut helmets !😂 Yeah, they kinda do look like that ...🤔

[@creative2716]

I love that story! And I've never heard of foreign exchange teachers before (love that the most, well and the spaceball).

[@dreadcthulhu5]

If you're livin' in a bubble and you haven't got a care Well, you're gonna be in trouble 'cause we're gonna steal your air 'Cause what you got is what we need and all we do is dirty deeds We're the Spaceballs! Watch out, 'cause we're the Spaceballs We're the masters of space Hey, don't mess around with the Spaceballs Uh!

[@yeshayaamichai1512]

My goodness, I'm an American living in the UK and I wish that people "glorified" my accent. Lol Most of the time I feel that people just take the piss and make fun of it. I noticed a marked difference between the way people reacted to it in the UK vs. Ireland. Brits always remark while Irish either smile or couldn't care less. Bliss 😂🇺🇸

[@JFH-te4lu]

Bless their hearts....

[@taylorlibby7642]

Yeah, I had pretty much that exact experience. I lived in London for a couple of years and got nothing but continual unending shite for my Alabama accent...and then to add insult to injury they'd tell me I was from Texas, or worse call me a Yank!! ; ) It's frankly colored my view of the English ever since. But the Irish, Scots and Welsh were never that way.

[@scottbrower9052]

@@JFH-te4lu I know what that phrase *really* means 😏

[@TheMormonPower]

I'm an American, who went to a British Public School for a year. I got nothing but shit for a year for being American, but made friends despite the general negativity.

[@kkpenney444]

@@TheMormonPower I can't think of a single instance where an English person would get any degree of hate in the US. It's such a shame and pretty maddening.

[@andreamills5852]

I adore y'all's accents and could listen to it all day. I am from NC USA and I have a strong southern accent. A family followed my husband and myself at a zoo we were at and they stopped us and apologized for following us but they said they just loved our accent. We found it so funny and pleasant at the same time. Love both of your channels!🇬🇧🇺🇸👍😅😂

[@edwardmclaughlin719]

Nothing more wholesome than being followed in a zoo.

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

I'm also from NC. I was somewhat surprised when we went to Boston a few years ago. Many people said they loved our accent. I had thought they might be standoffish or reserved, but quite the opposite. They were quite friendly and helpful. Lesson learned- don't assume how people who are different than you will be. Also the encounters in NYC were much nicer than I expected. 😀

[@JenniferBarrier1]

OMG I'm from NC too and went to a bar in Florida and got a free soda because the bartender loved my accent. I didnt think I had one. I was under 21 so couldn't drink. I had a blast tho.

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

@@JenniferBarrier1 It's funny that Florida has so many Yankees that they think a southern accent is out of the ordinary. 😂

[@AdeleiTeillana]

My mom's from NC and we moved there when I was an older kid so I say I'm half from NC. I intentionally lost my southern accent when I was about seven or eight (I had a Georgia southern bell type accent, like I walked straight out of Gone With the Wind). I listened to people on TV and copied their accent. Now I live up in NJ, commuting into NYC, and my mom spends a little over half the year with me. As soon as she opens her mouth, people ask her where she's from. She doesn't even have that strong of an accent - I've known plenty of people who had a stronger or more country accent than her. It really has embarrassed her at times, to the point where she doesn't even want to talk and wants me to do the talking if we're out. No one's ever been mean to her though, they just think it's cute, but for some reason it sometimes makes her feel stupid.

[@TheMoonEcat]

My cultural shock from being in Germany was how much they walk even tho they have a good transportation system and how small the houses were (from the Southern states).

[@earthlingsartist]

As a teenager in America in the mid 2000s, I also desperately wished my high school was cool like the movies lol

[@shinichi6235]

Mid 2000s nigga u did

[@rtyria]

My parents had driven from the east coast to the west coast in about a week back in the 80's. They did it by driving at night in order to avoid rush hour traffic. They didn't stop for anything, or go to see any sights. Dad had a job open up in California and had to be there by the beginning of the next week. They made it in time. It wasn't fun.

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

I've done it in three days, one person driving, one person sleeping in the passenger seat, nearly nonstop, along I-40 the entire way.

[@rtyria]

@@thegardenofeatin5965 My folks probably would have done that as well, except they had 3 kids in tow ranging from 11 to 3 years old. With the middle child (me) frequently getting car sick. The joys.

[@AmyEugene]

That's what I think of when I hear someone talk about driving across the U.S. in a week. I'm like, that sounds like an awful way to spend a vacation, why would you want to do that to yourself?!?! Then I realize that they think it would be pleasant, like taking 7 days to drive from Eugene, Oregon to San Francisco and I realize, oh, that's a serious misjudgment of distance.

[@wtk6069]

It's not coast-to-coast, but I still want to do the Route 66 thing, purely for the fading history of it all.

[@bishop51807]

​@@wtk6069it's West Coast to Canada

[@ElainetheGARugrat8815]

I think it goes both ways. As an American, television had me romanticizing Europe and living in Europe. 🤣💕

[@jeanetteshawredden5643]

As an American with a southern accent (Texas) - I watch 2 or 3 British you tube channels. To me the British accent is so soothing & beautiful, that I replay the you tube video again and again just to hear the British accent of the speaker (doesn't matter what is the subject or topic).

[@creative2716]

Same (Texan).

[@leeholden13]

Great commentary! We went to live in Australia and the girls loved our 15-year old son's American accent. Five years later back in America the girls loved his Australian accent! I would hasten to point out that most of the homelessness and crime is in big cities like New York City, Chicago, Detroit, etc. rural and suburban areas are relatively free of both. Even in those cities, it is not the whole city but small areas that get a lot of media attention.

[@George_M_]

Lol people within the US believe that about cities and crime too - the couple blocks worth of homeless in SF being claimed to be everywhere for example.

[@StochasticUniverse]

Suburban areas definitely have had a big uptick in homeless since the opioid epidemic struck. It's a whole new world out there in many places, now. EDIT: And by "big uptick", I mean it went from zero to non-zero, haha -- technically an infinite percentage increase! :P In a town of 50,000 people, you're still only talking about a few dozen, though. It's just so striking because a few decades ago, it was completely unheard of, and now it's not, so in qualitative terms, it's a seismic shift. The difference between possibility and impossibility is all the difference there is.

[@Geekabibble]

Oh this is so funny to me. I grew up as an American romanticizing the UK! The castles and gorgeous accents and beautiful scenery! I wanted to visit the UK more than anywhere else! And, I did get to in '95 or '96! We actually won the trip from a local bank and flew into Glasgow, drove up through Loch Lomand and to Drumnadrochit and Inverness, then all around Scotland! Then down to the Lake District and around England a bit. Then a day to Wales. Then down to the Cotswolds and Bath. Finally to London for 4 days. It's my favorite vacation ever!

[@psalm91rdwlkfpgrl]

yeah, the weather is a definite thing here in America. i live in tornado country, and we have wild extremes with the cold being 20° F or below and the heat being 100° F or higher. people from even other areas of America are often really shocked their first full year in these states. I'm glad you guys had the reality check without dealing with the ice storms and tornadoes in person.

[@kristinatellefson4149]

Where I live it can be a heat index of 120F to a wind chill of -20F or lower and sometimes wind gusts of at least 80 mph without any storms. It makes us tougher I guess.

[@alonespirit9923]

My parents are from Missouri; I grew up bouncing around both west and east coastal areas while Dad was in the USN; and now I have lived several different places in Missouri for the last couple decades. Yep, tornadoes and ice storms are each what one might call, a bit of an adventure.

[@corinnepmorrison1854]

@@kristinatellefson4149 Where do you live? I live on a mountaintop in Buford/Laramie, Wyoming... First home that doesn’t need air conditioning...

[@Laura-mi3nv]

I'm in Raleigh, NC, our low Saturday was 12f/-11c and our high this coming Saturday is 70f/21c and rainy. It's always ridiculous here.

[@jLutraveling]

Good video you all need to brush up on how to say Maryland.

[@jackhackett80]

I lived in England a while and got asked often about why we all 'need' cars. If you live here, you would quickly understand...

[@Wimpleman]

I'm guessing you lived in London, because that's the only place where any significant amount of people would say they don't need a car

[@jackhackett80]

Not London. My point is public transport is way better than the states@@Wimpleman

[@Wimpleman]

@@jackhackett80 fair enough Jack, as far as I am concerned we are pretty car reliant here as well, but perhaps a notch down from Americans. I am surprised you were asked that much.

[@susanorr8348]

As an American i was so thrilled to be able to see so much of Britain in a shorter span of time than the USA

[@Daniel-ct3np]

You guys should collab more. This was a very enjoyable video to watch

[@TXRBL]

My folks are from the Port Appin area of Scotland. They can always spot an American in Scotland because they wear kilts all the time. I was mistaken for a tour guide in Edinburg because I was wearing Highland attire. I went with the flow and gave about 30 Asians a great tour of the castle LOL!

[@EvelynElaineSmith]

The only time I was in Scotland I bought a blue woolen sweater (jumper) with a Fair Isle pattern, but I don't believe anyone in my family bought anything else characteristically Scottish.

[@kaluca]

😂

[@EvelynElaineSmith]

@@kaluca ~ I need to go back to Scotland. That sweater had moth holes in it 25 years ago, & besides, I've since learned where all my ancestors' bodies were buried (primarily Mull & Skye).

[@mattm1119]

I truly enjoy this channel. The topics covered are realistic and very well-presented. Being American and having traveled a bit, I've almost grown to expect very negative stereotypes and criticisms.... Hearing things presented in pleasant and realistic manner is very refreshing! Thank you!

[@sooz9433]

Before retirement I was a cashier in a big grocery store here in Missouri. There was a homeless man with a beautiful German Shepherd dog who panhandled near our store and he spent some of his money on ready to eat foods there. He was as weathered as an old tree but joyous everyday! Homelessness has always touched my heart and hunger too. I see a lot of both where I live and I'll never get used to it. Thank you Laurence and thank you to the Beesleys too!✨️❤️

[@lever0811]

I lived in Europe way back in the olden days. One thing that hasn't changed even when I recently revisited is that whatever is American in Europe is kinda cool and whatever is European in America is kinda cool.

[@flamingpieherman9822]

I live in Florida years ago I had an acquaintance from England come over showed him the sites here and Central Florida. And his question to me was can we go to Hollywood as well? He really had no clue that Hollywood was half a world away. I think this was a very realistic look at America

[@SCGMLB]

When a British relative visiting New York was asked one day what place he wanted to go see first, he responded “The Grand Canyon”.

[@alansmithee8831]

@Flamingpie Herman. Years back my friend and I arrived in Texas on the Greyhound and we were asked if we came all the way from England on the bus.

[@edennis8578]

@@SCGMLB I had a similar experience when an English friend was in the country. He said he was going to hop on over to see me, but when he actually looked into it and found out that it would be several days' round trip, he changed his mind. He thought it would be a couple of hours.

[@y2ksurvivor]

Should have taken him to Hollywood, Florida 😅

[@flamingpieherman9822]

@@y2ksurvivor yeah even that is 5 hours away!

[@kyledabearsfan]

As a Midwesterner, things are incredibly different everywhere here. I'd say if you are going to the US, try and travel and experience different places. You might really like one area, but not others.

[@zachrobinson8357]

4:41 Yes! This is something that we as Americans take for granted. I live in Ohio, so I get some wacky weather. It was -8° F the other day with d blizzard conditions, but it will be 60° and sunny on new years (4 days from now) we get all different types of weather here. It’s one of the more interesting parts of American life that most people out of the nation don’t ever know about.

[@chazmichaelmichaels88]

Can confirm, same type of stuff here in Ohio.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

I guess this is the closest we're going to get to Laurence reacting to all the Brit reactors who react to him.

[@jenlovesjesus]

🤔

[@JustMe-dc6ks]

He’s posted reactions or maybe shout outs to at least three of them.

[@socalgal714]

React to the reactors reacting? 🤔😂

[@johnalden5821]

That's because he does original content and most of them are just reactors.

[@nightowl5395]

Haha....yes! I was just thinking that I have watched so many videos of Lawrence but realising they have ALL been Reactors reacting to him...and that it was about time I subscribed to 'Lost in the Pond' as I do love his presentation style 👍

[@pmfg875]

You have made me feel better with the info in this video about letting go of my massive concern of offending my British colleagues. As an American I’m always self conscious of how loud and annoying we are considered worldwide. So I am nearly mute during social and work activities, now I’m a bit more confident.

[@LA_HA]

Awesome. It's stressful having to live down a negative stereotype. Which is why I try to explain to people who rag about the size of Our drinks and food servings that oftentimes, it's not for a single serving, even if some people eat it as such. Hence, The doggy bag. Large servings of food is meant to take home a portion to eat the next day or give to someone to eat. And the large drinks with free refills is for slow drinking. You drink some while eating, and then refill to take with you to sip as you drive around, run, errands, and spend time doing things. It's not to drink in one gulp. We Americans drive all over the place, so that's the purpose of having that drink. Again, some do take it all down quickly. But, that's not been the intent for previous generations who had these things without the weight issues equated with them today. It's all from media as the source. Ha

[@virginiarobbins7539]

Always be yourself.. ppl will either like you or not but be true to you first.

[@helRAEzzzer]

We take our ice cream very seriously in New England! If you're ever in Boston again, go up to Dracut, Massachusetts and get ice-cream from Shaw Farm, that's a working dairy farm. Dracut is a cow town about a 45 minute - 1hr drive or 45 min train ride (to Lowell and maybe 15 min drive into Dracut) north of Boston. It's my hometown, and we have some of the best ice-cream because of the multiple working dairy farms. No one goes to Dracut unless they live there, lived there, have loved ones there, or are just passing through, but I'm telling you the ice-cream at Shaw Farm specifically is worth the stop!

[@nancyengland6359]

I love my southern draw and slang. Makes me who I am and it is filled with love . That helps me to appreciate British speech. Makes life interesting.

[@davidtravis1384]

My story about my American accent is something I didn't expect. When I was younger I used to visit London quite a bit. No matter where I was around London, when I would first start talking to people they would ask me "are you Canadian?" I know the American and Canadian accents are similar, but if I was a British person in London and I heard an American accent I would assume I was talking to an American (since there are about 10 Americans for every one Canadian). But I heard that question over and over and over and I still get a chuckle when I think about it.

[@kenbrown2808]

keep in mind a lot of US Americans pretend to be Canadian overseas.

[@anonygent]

My guess is that you had picked up just enough of a British accent to not sound stereotypically American, so Canadian was their best guess.

[@kate4781]

Usually, when that happens to me and I say I am from the US, it is followed by, "Oh, I thought you may be, but I didn't want to offend you by asking." My accent may be drifting, though, because I have had several people confidently mistake me for being Irish recently. - An American in England

[@nimue325]

I don’t know how long ago this was, David, but there have been a couple of times in my life when younger Americans traveling overseas (edited to acknowledge Ken: particularly often added) Canadian pins to their backpack or otherwise pretended to be Canadian because of American politics. I don’t know whether Brits politely pretended to go along with it or truly believed they were in a boom time of Canadian youth tourism, but perhaps you coincided with one of those periods?

[@camouldsn]

@@kate4781 I go into voice chats and people just think I'm Irish. I mean my family is of Irish decent, but I'm not Irish myself. I'm from US and generally sound Irish if I'm skipping syllables because I'm talking fast. Only found that out when I was watching Irish KZbinrs and going, "hey that's how I say thing!"

[@barrycohen311]

First time I visited the UK, I noticed the rubbish bin (did I say that right in UK speak?) in my hotel room bathroom, was about the same size as a 7-11 Big Gulp drink cup.

[@pacmanc8103]

Seriously!😂

[@st.bernadetteparish2540]

When it comes to appreciating the size of the country, I had the opposite experience in my first trip to England. I drove from Norfolk to visit a friend in Truro -- and it was a long drive! Like eight hours? I had just assumed that between two points in England couldn't be all that long! Then about accents, on my first trip to Australia I was asked two different times what my accent was. I had just assumed that my accent screamed "American," so I asked the person where he guessed I was from. Both times they said, "I don't know. England?" They thought I had an English accent!? When I was a kid in the 1960s with all the British Invasion music and culture, I thought being English was just the coolest thing. The grass is always greener...

[@jennie9]

I worked at a youth hostel when I was younger and I remember chatting with a couple of guys from a small town in England. They'd rented a car in Vancouver and were traveling to all the ski resorts in southern BC before driving north through the Yukon into Alaska and then back to Vancouver. They'd been a bit overwhelmed by the distances at the beginning of their trip but had gotten used to it by the time I met them. Then they mentioned that they'd only be able to visit each other about once a year when they got back home because one of them was starting a new job in a city about 3 hours away and it was just too far to travel!

[@katnisseverdeen5466]

I don't think being unable to tell English-speaking accents apart is unique to any place - when my family visited Florida, my dad, who has a very sort of standard south england accent, was asked if he was from New Zealand or South Africa. I think unless you consume media from all the different English-speaking countries, it's hard to tell accents apart.

[@barbaramatthews4735]

I'm an American and have traveled a lot. The first English speaking country other than Canada I visited was Australia. (Actually, it was Jamaica but I didn't have to speak to stand out. In Australia I blended in until I spoke. ) It was funny in Australia because whatever I said, I was asked to "Say it again in American. " That was strange. People genuinely wanted to talk with me and were curious. I suppose not a lot of Americans visit the part of Australia that I did. I went to Cairns, Queensland. I got to see the Great Barrier Reef. I also went to a nature preserve and saw some animals native to Australia. It was a lot of fun. Most of my foreign travel was Asian countries in the South Pacific. I was in the Navy so, I got to go places. I never got a chance to go to Europe. That is on my bucket list. I want to go to England and Spain. Maybe a few places in between.

[@michellecjackson4956]

A lot of Americans have a rather romantic view of life in Britain, as though everywhere is like Miss Marples St Mary Mead village. So it goes both ways.

[@JFH-te4lu]

I am the opposite. I romanticized the UK. I wanted to live in a village like Miss Marple and Agatha Raisin. I was able to enjoy touring with several British people. I learned how to eat differently -- especially smashing peas on the bottom of the fork as well as how to hold forks and knives.

[@cynthiajohnston424]

American here - yes to wanting to live the " Miss Marple village " dream ! Plus , being an equestrian , I've always admired the higher status of horses & dogs in the UK . I do a couple tea breaks a day & informed the owner of the horse farm I managed , at the time of taking the job , of my late afternoon required tea break . 🫖🍵 🙂

[@inconnu4961]

The Young Ones was our favorite show! I am still working on a cure for NOT being an ax-wielding maniac!

[@gmirwin]

The thing about restaurant portions (at least in middle class restaurants) is that they're based on American hospitality traditions. No guest leaves the table hungry, even the gigantic football player/farm boy. You're not expected to eat all of it in one sitting. Taking the leftovers home to get another meal or two is the rule, just like Grandma always sent you home with leftovers, a tin of homemade cookies, or even a frozen casserole or two in the luggage. Rich people restaurants, on the other hand, often have tiny portions of something artfully arranged. I suppose the goal is showing off your wealth and refinement.

[@MsAutie]

One of the most distressing things I often hear from Brits and even others who live north of the Mason Dixon line is the perception or mischaracterization of southern Americans. We seem to be the last group of people that it's ok to speak of in derogatory terms, full of prejudice and misinformation. No one takes them to task. I live in the deep south. My south is full of kind people who still say hello to strangers, would help anyone, accept people no matter their color, race or religion, are educated and well spoken. Bad people are everywhere. Yes, we have our share here too, but no more that anywhere else in this country. Usually those who are the first to throw stones are those who have never been here.

[@AdventistPrepper]

Very true!

[@JustAddRad]

Honestly,meet here, I barely ever hear it, when I do, it's very light hearted joking. I think everyone seems to think we're the most prejudiced,

[@JustAddRad]

Meant to say Midwesterner not meet, stupid auto correct

[@MsAutie]

@@JustAddRad Hi! I was a mid-westerner for 25 years before moving here. The comments I received and STILL receive about moving south were unbelievable. All usually from people who have never been here. One of my educated friends in St. Louis actually asked me where I would be going to the doctor since there was no decent medical care down here. Light hearted joking or not, I'm pretty sensitive to it as we see and hear so much of it. On a good note, as long as others think that way they will all stay up north and we can keep the south to ourselves. Thank you for your comments.

[@inconnu4961]

@@JustAddRad Sure! you're gonna blame it on the autocorrect, eh! LOL

[@carlycrafts]

When I was in England the first time ( lived there twice) back in 1991~1992 I was a teenager. Kids then weren’t enamored with me in fact the reverse. I was a quiet kid who did their work. I was actually bullied and badly. But I got married Tia Welshman and the second time was much different.

[@chrisnurczyk8239]

As a US citizen, my biggest takeaway here is the awesome ability of media and the internet to transfer large amounts of misinformation & obfuscation. You really have to be careful in what you view and the import you give it - good sources and good analysis are key here.

[@wtk6069]

Good post. The last few years exemplify what you describe, unfortunately.

[@bishop51807]

It speaks to the ability of America as a soft power. Usually countries that can export their culture or the most well known like with France with its fashion, Korea with its K-pop, and Japan with animation and Samurai movies. Although freedom of expression has to play a big part too. Otherwise end up like China trying to push it s movies and film industry with but heavily controlled under the CCP.

[@pinktastic6159]

In the early 70s, as a little girl, I realized that the media was a bunch of lies.

[@chasbodaniels1744]

Murdoch has polluted millions of minds in England as well as Australia and the US.

[@chrisnurczyk8239]

@@chasbodaniels1744 Entirely agree - Murdoch is the grand promoter of modern feudalism, trying to further separate rich & poor, and make us all serfs.

[@markmcmillan8676]

My first trip to the UK I was carrying with me my preconceived notions about what the UK was based upon the outstanding music and cultural history that we hero worship here (truth be told most Americans highly respect the UK). Now every time I return I feel like it’s like going to my grandparents home. For many of us our families emigrated from there a couple of centuries back. Having spent a fair amount of time there now I think the US and the UK are definitely like a parent and it’s child (same can be said for Canada, Australia and New Zealand).

[@jackfrost7307]

In the north perhaps but her down in the south some don't particularly care for them

[@rssvss]

😅😅😅 . Those visiting the rural south or midwest need a course on manners. Whether or not foreign or domestic.

[@karenmorgan624]

I lived in England, the Cotswalds, in the 70s, hubby was Airforce. Lived next door to a nice family. But i would describe the father as an English Archie Bunker. He had strong opinions of America, not always kind ones. I laughed out loud when he said once, "i know what America is like, i watch Happy Days." One time, my hubby was in a pub and was asked, "Does it snow in America?" Once a young girl was asked where she would want to visit some day. She said London! It was only about 80 miles away! We would go there just to get McDonalds! We lived in 3 different towns in 3 years. It was very nice and beautiful scenery. My son was born in Oxford. We visited Scotland the scenery was gorgeous (i was missing my mountains) and the people were very nice. Thank you for your positive opinions on my country. Love all 3 of you!

[@jeankrewl6006]

Hi Lawrence & Merry Boxing Day! About the accent one, I was visiting a friend who lived in Bury St. Edmonds. He took me to meet his friends, neighbors, OMG, when I started talking you would have thought that I was speaking in a foreign language! 😂 It was so much fun being attended to..like a someone special! From Wisconsin by the way!😉

[@inconnu4961]

Im glad you enjoyed your trip! We in America would NEVER treat someone from Wisconsin as being special! LOL

[@stratman2348]

As a child of the 80’s, many if not most of the bands i listened to came out of the UK.

[@robertreaves4503]

Homeless issue: a number of university social science surveys and lab investigations have been conducted and there are so many conclusions for so many variables it is hard to pin down THE key issues. However, drugs, mental health issues, poor education and just plain old bad life choices seem to be common themes. Now in the last few years it appears the root could be political. Some government programs and a lack of common public discipline have exacerbated the problems. If you pay someone not to work and you decriminalize crime and don’t incarcerate perpetrators for their illegal activities don’t be surprised when it gets out of control. Let’s see how the toothpaste gets put back into the tube.

[@mnpipi3329]

In America, we have general assistance welfare for individuals who are homeless, including vouchers to stay in hotels and food stamps and restaurant food coupons. We also have many free shelters for homeless. Back in the 70s I worked during a summer at general assistance in Hennepin county as an eligibility technician. I would give out medicaid cards (free medical), cash, food stamps, etc. Then, at the end of the day as I walked to the bus to go home, I would see my clients drunk on the lawn of the library. I am sure that their money for the hotel was gone. I don't want to talk bad about the homeless, but the truth is that many of them use their resources to support a habit. If they use up their money, they can still go to the shelters, but they do not allow alcohol in the shelters and many would prefer to be homeless rather than give up their drugs and alcohol. Again, my sympathies to the homeless, I am not judging them, just explaining that it is a complex problem. There are many homeless that do go to shelters and do not drink or do drugs. Those individuals usually are not homeless long and you will not see them sleeping on the street. Also, without visiting London, how can you compare. I have been to London and I did see homeless people, especially by the tower bridge where our boat was docked for 4 days.

[@darlenefrancis5380]

My brother in law is a Brit and he was amazed at the size of warehouse stores. They live in. England but I love how amazed they are at the store size

[@wessexdruid7598]

The reverse is that, when my FIL worked in the US in the 1950s, he had to get a US driving licence. The examiner took one look at his car (an MG Midget - tiny sports car) and just wrote him a pass. He refused to even get in the thing..

[@chrisjohnson1599]

If you miss the weather in the U.K., visit the state of Washington in the northwestern part of the country, particularly northern Washington; open spaces, damp weather about half of the time, but a lot more trees!

[@junjunjamore7735]

I'd say Oregon too.

[@drewpiestopsign]

Something i love about this channel. Its just appreciative. Like no one is poking fun at anyone. Its just like yeah we're different. There's lots of "the grass is greener" situations. Its just shows that when the world opens up we all kinda start to see we're not very different.

[@socalgal714]

For me, a British accent is comforting. Both my birth and adopted mothers were pretty messed up people. As a young girl, I was taken in by a woman from England. She died young, before I knew enough to learn more about that side of my family. So hearing that accent is soothing to me.

[@LaughingOwlKiller]

In terms of Friends their apartments were not as far fetched as people think. Chandler and Joey shared an APT but Chandler had a decent job as an analyst and could make up the difference but that apt was rather small. Ross was a published Paleontologist working at the biggest museum in NYC and later a tenured professor...he could afford his apt. Monica's was by far the biggest and nicest but you find out it was her grandmothers and it was rent controlled (basically the rent was the same since the grandmother moved in) but Monica never informed them the Grandmother died..she just moved in.

[@lizlee6290]

For an inside look at NYC housing, check out youtuber Cash Jordan. Jordan is a real estate agent there, who specializes in rentals. He takes the viewers to apartments for rent, and also shows the neighborhoods where they're located. It's fascinating and mind-boggling as far as the sizes and the prices!

[@wittsullivan8130]

When we went to NYC on a school trip back in 2010, our tour guide told us she lived in gentrified Harlem in a rent controlled 2 bedroom apartment with three other people. The couple got one of the bedrooms and the others traded between the couch, a cot, and the other room. I can't remember what her main job was but guiding tours was one of her part time jobs. Even with rent control, the rent was $3000. Where we live near Tupelo, MS, there still aren't ANY apartments that cost that much. I'm talking brand new two story townhouses or condos. The most sought after, high dollar apartments in historic downtown within walking distance of anything you need, especially for the high end banking executives were $1500 a month, at most and they're still not that high. Even today, $3000 a month would be a house payment on a decent house. I lost about ten pounds during the trip because we walked everywhere and food was expensive, so I couldn't afford snacks and coffee every day and there were no convenience stores(or bodegas) near our hotel.

[@machinist7230]

@@wittsullivan8130 Today, the median two bedroom in Manhattan is very close to 5 grand a month - _ Studios_ are approacing 3k a month on average...

[@machinist7230]

As a lifelong NYer, both of their apartments, particularly the girls, are HUGE by NYC standards. Chandlers is easily 7 grand a month, the girls? I could easily believe 10. Dont think so? Cash Jorden has a year or two ago, "the cheapest apartment in Manhattan" - it was a converted broom closet that totaled something like 120 square feet, with a rent of $1500. 😨

[@LaughingOwlKiller]

@@machinist7230 I explained Monica's. Its massive but was rent controlled because her grandmother lived there. But she died and Monica moved in but didn't tell the landlord so she was still paying her grandmothers price

[@benjohnson1633]

Interesting about the accents. Had no clue that The British were just as enamored with our American accents, as we are with theirs. I once spent a week in London, and interacted with a lot of people. But I never noticed anyone raising their eyebrows when I spoke. And nobody commented on my accent. At least not to my face. And I’m from New York originally!😆

[@wessexdruid7598]

It's probably the rareness..

[@yuppers1]

Same. I thought the British accent was cool, but had no idea our accent had any appeal.

[@zengseng1234]

The problem is you were in London. If you go to Manchester, you’ll get a lot of curiosity about your accent

[@richardgelber2740]

I'm from New York originally and still, and I've made a lot of trips to the U.K., most of which had a significant London component. My New York accent is slight (according to me), but has never been an issue in London because they encounter a lot of Americans there.

[@mahatmarandy5977]

I visited Wiggan for about a week in the 1980s, and everyone up there was fascinated by my accent. When I was in London, though, where there's a lot of American tourists and long-term businessmen, it wasn't as exotic, and nobody cared.

[@alistairhudson8163]

Greetings from Nottingham, UK, Lawrence.

[@tammyclark6615]

Hello Lawrence and merry Christmas! I’m learning more about the United States through you than I’ve learned living here all of my life! I love your perspectives and you have great ideas about which subjects to focus on. Happy 2023! 🎉

[@Snoodlehootberry]

The best way to think about the United States is not as a country, but as 50 individual countries working together in some ways and railing against each other in others

[@StochasticUniverse]

Three countries: the Union, the Confederacy, and Westland. The North's eternal penance for burning the South during the Civil War is that we are now stuck for eternity with Texans for countrymen.

[@jimjackson5544]

I love that you collaborated with The Beesleys since thy do use a LOT of your video's for their reaction video's.

[@user-qi9hs8rk2y]

Lawrence. I love your channel! I was unaware of the Beesleys until you introduced us to them. I will look them up. I’m 72, born in Louisiana but now dwelling in Washington state. From early childhood until present I’ve felt as though I incarnated in the wrong country, identifying more with Ireland and the UK than with anywhere else. In that sense we are perhaps opposites. A psychiatrist once told me I have a “European” personality. Looks like I’m stuck here but were I ever to travel again I’d love to share dinner with you and your wife. You are such an interesting person, and I intuitively suspect you have more depth than you display in your very entertaining and informative videos. Sincerely, Elic Llewellyn

[@daveogarf]

The Beesleys are a wonderful couple! I hope that we might see them again.

[@mikeyoung9810]

I spent 2 years living near Oxford England and I loved it, and loved the people. They were very friendly and I was living on a very tight budget being a young married in the Air Force (and not supposed to have my wife over). Most thought we were rich while we lived in Middle Barton off base in a converted stable with 1 tiny fireplace and heated the bungalow with a tiny bucket of coal. Many Brits asked about cowboys and Dorothy and toto. But this was in the 70's. Things I noticed were small shops where employees got you what you wanted off a shelf behind the counter. Phone booths. Having a doctor named Mr Cope and nurses called "sister" (I thought they were all nuns) where my 3 kids were born in Oxford. "Petrol" stations with 7 levels of gasoline to pay much more than I did on base (where it was rationed). Lots of slower 2 lane roads and people flashing their headlights instead of honking a horn. Police spot checks for "safety". Lots of teens standing around booted out of school at 16 (this was 1977). My base "Upper Heyford" is now long gone. I think all people should get out of their country and go visit the rest of the world (something many Americans dont do) while most Brits never missed their "holiday".

[@wessexdruid7598]

Any doctor called 'Mr' is a surgeon. 🙂 The 1970s was another world, both in the UK - and the USA.

[@daffers2345]

I wish I COULD travel outside the US as you have said! I'd love to, but it's too expensive for me to travel overseas. I think it is expensive for a lot of those in the United States. :/

[@happycook6737]

If Americans had 1 month paid leave annually like many do in the UK, I think we'd travel more

[@GUITARTIME2024]

You experienced probably the poorest time in postwar UK.

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@GUITARTIME2024 The late 40s into the 50s, surely.

[@ArizonaGunsDave]

1st off I am a new subscriber! As an American it's very nice to hear people actually appreciate the United States. I will say we certainly are not all like what you see in the movies. I'm not rich at all but I will say the same thing about Britain because of the Beetles and even later the wave of British heavy metal bands that surfaced in the 80's that I grew up with. Geez, some of the best bands of all time came from your neck of the woods and one of my favorite bands was Iron Maiden. I loved Iron Maiden and still do and as a kid I always wanted to go to the UK because of the British influence in the music I liked. I always loved the look and feel of your country. A lot of the buildings are very old and nostalgic in the way they look and feel. Your pubs are classy looking at least from what I know. Now, I have been all over Europe but never got a chance to go to the UK. Someday I would love to go there! Your country is cool and something to be proud of too!

[@elizabethanthony3916]

😁👍🇬🇧💕

[@lorddeez1385]

As an American, it is really nice to hear all this. I live in the midwest, so not that glamour that you see in the movies at all. My small town has no real crime or homeless problems, we have no cops (the town next over is what we would use), andmost of us even keep our doors unlocked, even when we are not home. We do get some crazy weather here, after years ago with the windchill it was in the -40s F. The next week it was -20s F for the air temp, with a day in the 70s F with tornadic thunderstorms all across the state. It was December, so not very high activity for storms like that around that time. The next day it was right back to the freezing cold. Then in the summer, it gets into the 90s F pretty regularly, breaking the 100s F every so often as well. That and the humidity gets crazy.

[@monkeyboy4746]

You need to lock your doors, you are not locking them against most people, you are locking them for the one criminal in your area that is up to no good.

[@rianaconklin6954]

I found your channel first but I absolutely love when you collab with the Beesleys, I love their channel as well but I enjoy these videos the most, so happy that you guys are able to make videos together, they are awesome 😊 thank you for sharing and all your hard work ❤

[@krononaut1]

I taught ESL in Good Korea with a number of British people. It was a fun time.

[@hackman669]

Luckily both nations like US.

[@SpidermanandJeny]

When talking about how big America is and talking about the middle of the country etc., you must remember that Alaska exists and is roughly half the size of the lower 48 by itself. It's truly massive.

[@ex89thmpbdecagekicker22]

love it. both channels are great!! would love to see more

[@shadownor]

What a treasure we have in the English speaking world.

[@mcseforsale]

Great video everyone! I was in Basingstoke for a week in 2010. We weren't allowed to go to London, so I spent my week there counting sheep in a field behind my hotel. I loved that place (even though everyone that was there made terrible fun of the place) because it reminded me of where I grew up in Ct. I ate lunch at the Queen's Arms, got to drive on the wrong side of the road and generally just thought it would make a great home.

[@lizlee6290]

Weather extremes - The week before Christmas, the temperature in Casper, Wyoming dropped 70 degrees in less than 18 hours. When you add the wind chill to that - yikes!

[@m.s.9744]

Loved this collab! Really good chemistry between the three of you.

[@eileenmuldoon2072]

They go to NYC and only mention the homeless and refills in McDonald’s. What about the magnificent skyscrapers! I’ve seen those buildings all my life and they still impress me!

[@alonespirit9923]

Talking about accents - moved from Georgia to Virginia my junior year of high school & the English teacher had just moved to Virginia from somewhere in New York state. On paper we were both speaking the same language ...

[@anndeecosita3586]

😂 I remember when some NYC firefighters went to South Louisiana for a Katrina relief project. They all felt like they needed an interpreter 😂

[@isaacb725]

I wish I could hear what Brits hear when they say they love our accents, I've been told this in person here in America(I'm American born) from Brits and I don't get it, but I imagine it's like hearing them talk

[@nairbvel]

I'm kind of chuckling about some of the comments because I live in Maryland, in a suburban area with *man* households that include at least one member who works in Washington, DC (or across the Potomac in the part of Virginia that was originally part of DC but was returned to VA in the 1840s, so it kinda-sorta counts). DC is where one goes for some of the nightlife, for the National Zoo, for a ton of different museums, and where you take visitors from out of town to see the monuments. :-) The daily movement of people between DC, Maryland, and Virginia for visiting, shopping, working, doctor/dentist appointments, and all kinds of other things is of such high volume that locals often refer to "living in the DMV" (for "District-Maryland-Virginia). On the other hand, saying "Maryland is close to Washington, DC" is a little like saying "Florida is close to Alabama." It's true if you're in one area, but if you live in the southern part of the state, or out on the Eastern Shore, or in the western "Panhandle" of the state, then DC might was well be New York or Atlanta. :-) As usual, I'm enjoying this channel, thanks to all 3 of you for a really interesting video!

[@HankMeyer]

I stopped in London Heathrow Airport twice in one trip to Germany 8 years ago, and that was my only experience in Britain so far, but I too must admit that I was thoroughly tickled from being surrounded by the British accent. The automated tram voice, announcing the next stop, the lady at the cash register selling drinks. I don't travel much, but if I ever return to the UK, I expect that I can count on being perpetually entertained just by listening to people speak English English, and I also hope to entertain (or maybe even annoy) the locals by obnoxiously exaggerating my own southern accent.

[@yasminesacristan5855]

Homelessness is rampant in the US not just New York. Go to the states that are warm year round and then you will get a better picture of the reality. Merry Christmas Laurence

[@californiahiker9616]

Canada as well. Went to Vancouver awhile back, yikes!

[@yasminesacristan5855]

@@californiahiker9616 it’s a sad situation

[@hackman669]

California is trying to fix homeless situation with great difficulty. Too little too late I say.😐

[@yasminesacristan5855]

@@hackman669 agree

[@13terapyn]

Was in the UK (England/Scotland) in late April. Stayed a couple of weeks. LOVED IT!! Absolutely beautiful place. Rich in history. Clean. Lovely people. Cannot wait to return. Checking into the hotel in Liverpool, the two delightful young women at check in asked where in the US I was from. Told them SoCal and they looked at me and said in unison (totally deadpan) "WHY are you here???". "The Beatles, of course". That did not satisfy their curiosity. They could not believe I would leave CA to come to Liverpool as they could not wait to get out of their town. Both wanting to live in the US.

[@justjoe942]

I enjoyed that; thanks for posting.

[@TomAllenBird]

Absolutely love that two of my favorite channels have made these collaborative videos! Keep ‘‘em up!

[@mshay6190]

Before I went to the UK the first time. I believed all British people were stuffy. That came from watching British shows on PBS. The royal family also helped fuel that perception.

[@TheresaPowers]

pbs is supported by taxpayers but they are fake news liars in favor of democrat criminals.

[@susan3037]

Felt the opposite. Monty Python, Bennie Hill, and the plethora of British comedy shows on PBS. So enjoyed the marvelous humor!

[@mshay6190]

@@susan3037 Susan, I watched those shows too. I guess those shows were guilty pleasures for British viewers. I still had believed the British were more stuffy compared to Americans but that was then. I know now that it is not the case.

[@susanorr8348]

Regarding homelessness and begging, there is a segment of this situation which has developed into an industry whereby a percentage of such people are not as they seem. In north idaho during spring and summer and maybe even fall before the weather turns bad you find people begging in walmart parking lots within walking distance of a mission providing necessities and a degree of comfort. Once the weather deteriorates you dont see anyone doing that. You relocate to Fla during the winter and odds are you may see familiar faces begging on the streets among the palm trees in the sunshine!

[@katebarker1983]

Awesome video!!! I’m going to subscribe! How interesting to hear the perceptions! Thank you!

[@brandonwatson3631]

Love Beesleys and they introduced me to you and now both of y’all’s video are must watch each time you post. Much love from Wadsworth(Akron/Cleveland) Ohio, USA!!

[@loki78731]

You couldn't have had a better video for the South than you did. I live in Austin, TX and i recognized Barton Springs pool. Best Spring fed natural pool in TX. But you were talking about heat, we got up to 40+ Celsius. Last week it was -12 Celsius. So we're kinda a mixed bag in Texas.

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

Ha, my mom's from Dallas and my uncle lived in Austin for YEARS. He took us to Barton Springs once. It was beautiful and so cold I could hardly stay in for 5 minutes! It was in the mid 90s, and was hot AF, but getting in that cold water was worse. My parents met in Austin at a drive-in called The Pig Stand when daddy was stationed there in the early 60s.

[@adamself2463]

Speaking of accents, I swear I heard Mr Beesly say he was amazed at how big the cooks were at McDonalds, they were huge. Then with a bit more repetition and context I realized it was cups.

[@adriannecote5319]

I love all 3 of you. Great video! Smashing!