Final Presentation

What Do You Need to Know Before You Move to the UK?

View more presentations from mereditham.

Housing and Utilities in the UK

UK Yankee talks about housing and utilities in the UK on their website. With housing, they talk about things such as the types of houses, cost, rentals, and buying. Most houses in the UK are brick and are attached at one or both sides to another house. These are the house terms: detached- not attached to any other homes, semi-detached – attached to another home on the side, terraced – attached on both sides like a townhouse, and flat – apartment. Cost varies but homes are typically more expensive in the South and in built up areas such as London. If you are renting a house, be sure to have some written verifiable references with you. According to UK Yankee, “Just as complicated here as it is in the US, you make an offer, arrange financing, go through getting the house valued, an attorney does all the paperwork for you and a couple of months later…you’re moving in” (UK Yankee). You should look around for lenders and beware of so-called independent financial advisors. With Utilities, the website talks about electricity, water, gas, telephones, and the TV license. Local companies offer electricity, water, and gas services, but you have to be aware of the aggressive methods they use to get you to choose their company. The two main sources of heating are storage heaters and central hot water heaters. British Telecom offers telephone service, although other companies are available. You should shop around for a company that fits your needs because costs vary. Most people in the UK have mobile phones, and the rates are fairly cheap compared to the US. Pay as you go plans can cost 8 pounds per month. In the UK, if you watch television you have to pay a license fee. This is sort of a tax to pay for the public channels. There are five basic free channels: BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5. You can get digital TV through satellite, Digital terrestrial television, or cable. If you go the digital route you will need to purchase a set-top box decoder or a TV with one built in.
This website is relevant to my topic because if I plan to move to the UK, I will need to purchase a house and pay for utilities. This website was quite informative and gave me some new insights. I was surprised by how cheap the cell service can be! I probably wouldn’t even get a landline and just use my cell phone. I think the person who wrote the section on the TV license got the part about the basic channels wrong. If I’m correct, ITV is not paid for by the government, but through commercials therefore it wouldn’t be a free public channel. Overall the article was informative and useful.

"Utilities." UK Yankee. UK Yankee, n.d. Web. 21 Apr 2010.
http://www.uk-yankee.com/wiki-manual/index.php/home/utilities.

"Housing." UK Yankee. UK Yankee, n.d. Web. 21 Apr 2010.
http://www.uk-yankee.com/wiki-manual/index.php/home/housing.

Interview With Toni Summers Hargis

I interviewed Toni Summers Hargis, the author of Rules, Britannia, the book that I reviewed. She said that some of the main things you need to know before you move the UK are that there are big differences in how we talk. You think you speak the same language, but actually we use many different words for different things. She said many things are smaller such as the houses and appliances; the food is different from American food, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t as good as American food. She said it is very easy to make mistakes with manners. The British are big with the word please, and they would think it was rude if you didn’t use the word even if you asked nicely. It is very rude to refer to a person standing in the same room as he or she, which is something we don’t even think about doing. She said that Americans are much more conservative than the British. For example the British tell it like it is and typically aren’t as reserved in conversation; another example would be that we go to bed and rise earlier than British people. She said that it is just as hard to immigrate to the UK as it is to the US. You need a reason to be there such as marriage, your job, or some type of exchange program. Her favorite thing about the UK that the US doesn’t have is its history. When asked if education is better in the US or the UK, she said that when she first moved to the US kids learned how to read at age six and in the UK at age four. She thinks that it averages out by the time you finish though. She said the US education program is better in the aspect of picking out what you want your profession to be because in the UK you have to (if you want to go to University) take A-levels (sort of like AP tests) in certain subjects at the age of 16. She said the hardest thing to adjust to would probably be the slower pace of life, and it’s just not what you’re used to in general.
I found this interview to be tremendously helpful. It was nice to get someone’s actual opinion and speak to them in person rather than just reading an article. It was also nice getting advice from someone who grew up in the UK and knows it well, but who has also lived in the US for a while. You could definitely tell that she knew what she was talking about. I found what she said about UK’s history interesting because I never really think about the fact that what we think is old is really not that old at all compared to buildings, houses, etc. in the UK. I really don’t have anything bad to say about the interview, and it was an enjoyable and interesting experience.

Hargis, Toni Summers. Telephone Interview. 5 May 2010.