An American Perspective: What It Feels Like To Live In England

If you've been reading my blog for a while,

you know I LOVE living in this country

It is so beautiful and so interesting

- filled with history and culture galore -

But what does it feel like to live here?

via Wikipedia

It has taken a while to get a visceral sense

of the size and population of England

England is roughly the size of Louisiana,

and one would need five Englands to fill the state of Texas

This shows the whole UK, not just England
via Sarmonster

It takes appropriately 45 hours to drive the US from coast to coast

In Europe, you cannot drive 45 hours in a straight line and still be on the same continent

Starting from the closest European point to England (Calais, France)

you could be in Beirut, Lebanon in 45 driving hours

Moscow is only a 26 hour drive from Calais

(only 19 more hours to go for the equivalent of the US drive)

via GoogleMaps

In contrast, I can be almost anywhere in England within 5 or 6 hours
(if traffic cooperates)

Anyway, you get my point

But not so fast...

Fill up Louisiana with all the people in California (the most populated state),

and then fill it with half those people again

You've almost reached the 1,054 person per square mile in England

This leads to an intricate web of roads to maneuver daily
and a large infrastructure in place to serve the population

Not only is the population more dense in England,
but the things to do and see is fantastically dense too

So this feels different than America

Population per square kilometer (2006 data)
via Wikipedia 

Generally speaking, the English can visit their families by car or train

It is easier to see childhood friends when they are just a drive away

In contrast, many Americans fly to visit friends and family

which makes reunions less frequent

And because we live on an island,
every time we fly, we are traveling to a foreign country

Flying to a foreign country entails border control lines upon arrival
followed by passport, visa, and paperwork checks when we return to the UK

It can feel like we live on a cultural island from the rest of Europe as well,

as English is the official language only in the UK and Ireland

Mainstream film, television and music
generally come from within the country and the US,
not from Europe

Although the UK is part of the European Union,
they retain their own currency

So it feels like we live on an island in a number of ways

Languages in Europe
via Wikipedia

Stick with me for a few more observations :) ...

American news has an equal dose of local and national headlines

while English media tends to cover more nationwide stories than local tidbits
As a result, I don't feel I really know what's going on in my local community

And while American epicenters for politics, finance, fashion and entertainment
are spread between Washington DC, New York and Los Angeles,

London is the heartbeat of the country in all of these industries
(making it such an AMAZING city!)

And when I say 'country',
I may be referring to England or the United Kingdom

(for England is a country within a country)

Another oddity is
there are two governing bodies at work here:
the United Kingdom and the European Union

Living in a country with a constitutional monarchy has been interesting
It actually seems quite efficient to share
the dance of international relations between the Queen and Prime Minister

The Queen is the face of good public relations for the UK;
meanwhile, the Prime Minister tackles the hard political issues at home and abroad

I can't avoid mentioning that taxes and the cost of living are very high,

making it harder to save money here than in the US

With higher taxes comes a larger government presence
which provides health care for all and generous welfare for many

The government design still feels very foreign to me,
and I admit I still find it confusing as to how it works legislatively

Interactive map shows US with 35% marginal tax rate and UK with 50%
See more via TurboTax

Of course I knew about England's famous wet weather before we moved here
And to be honest, it hasn't been that bad
(although this year has been breaking records)

There are so many different types of rain to experience
that it doesn't get monotonous
- fine and misty, scattered showers with 'sunny spells', occasional hard downpour -

Thunder and lightening rarely occur

England averages only 33 inches of annual rainfall
while Scotland & Wales receive much more (mostly in blue)
 via MetOffice

The English have an expression
'Just get on with it'
which goes hand in hand with a rainy life

Most events carry on, regardless of rain or shine
In fact, you plan for rain
with a backup plan if it is sunny and warm

But it was the winter darkness I had not prepared for mentally
Sharing the same latitude with Kiev (Ukraine) and Krakow (Poland),
the sun rises late (8:06 am)
and sets so early (3:51 pm) in the winter

But the reward is very sweet with
LLLOOOONNNGGG days of daylight in the summer
(over 16.5 hours)

And thanks to the Gulf Stream,
England is warmer than other countries sitting on the same latitude

With warm-ish summers and mild winters,
temperatures do not fluctuate a lot between seasons
It is almost always sweater weather

The mild wet weather creates the perfect recipe
for the most glorious gardens and greenery you'll find anywhere

A map of public gardens approximately 2 hours from London
via Britain's Finest

While the trees lose their leaves in wintertime,
the grass and hedges stay green all year
which brightens up the dreary days

The mild winters bring early springtime,
and daffodils are starting to bloom now

And that feels very happy :)

The Orient Express & Agatha Christie

A murder mystery lunch on the Orient Express train was

the perfectactivity to kick-off our book club’s latest choice,

‘Murder On The Orient Express’ by Agatha Christie

Each train carriage had its own personality and history

I believe our car was built in 1927

I imagine the Titanic had a similar air of opulence and elegance

Spectacular!

Departing from London Victoria Station

The train traveled in a loop for five hours

through the Kent countryside and

past towns such as Ashford and Whitstable

The food kept coming with first class attention to service and detail 

Whizzing past Kent oast houses

Meanwhile, we had a murder mystery to solve

They informed us that an English aristocrat had been poisoned during a recent dinner party

The dinner guests/suspects of the crime walked through the train

giving clues about themselves and others

We were encouraged to ask questions to help unravel the truth

Two suspects

Our table figured out the who, but not the why

I was tickled by the unexpected twist of the motive

The murder mystery lunch uses the same script for three years

It just so happened our script was retiring after our trip

I was surprised to learn Agatha Christie is

the third most widely published author of all time in any language

Outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare,

the Queen of Crime has sold over a billion copies of books in English

and another billion in 100 foreign languages

Celebrating its 60^thanniversary in London’s West End this year,

Agatha Christie’s ‘Mousetrap’ is the longest running play in history

 

Agatha Christie
via wikipedia

Born in 1890,

Agatha had a ‘happy childhood’ in Torquay, Devon

with her American father, English mother, and siblings

Coming from an upper middle class family,

she was well-traveled

On a trip to South Africa,

Agatha became the first British woman to surf standing up

During World War I, the author and playwright served locally

in the Voluntary Aid Detachments

 where she learned a lot about pharmaceuticals (and poisons)

while caring for the wounded

By 1916, she started writing mysteries partly due to a bet with her sister Madge

She attributed her inspiration to Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories

via Agatha Christie website

The numerous Belgian refugees present in the English countryside during WWI 

led to the creation of Christie’s famous Belgian detective character, Hercule Poirot

On August 6, 1975, Poirot became the only fictional character to have an obituary

in The New York Times due to the character’s death in ‘Curtain: Poirot's Last Case’

The book actually was written in the 1940s but locked away by the author until 1974

Newlands Corner

It is worth mentioning that in 1926,

Agatha Christie became a bit of a mystery herself

when she disappeared after ditching her car at nature reserve, Newlands Corner in Surrey

After a nationwide manhunt,

she was found 10 days later in Harrogate, Yorkshire without an explanation

Then in 1928, Agatha fulfilled one of her lifelong dreams of traveling on the Orient Express

She traveled to Baghdad to an archaeological site at Ur

where she met her second husband on a subsequent visit

Drawn to archaeology, Agatha visited Petra
via Agatha Christie website

‘Murder on the Orient Express’ was written

in the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey in 1934

The ornate hotel was built to host Orient Express passengers

The last public appearance for Agatha Christie was

opening night of the film ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ in 1974

She said it was ‘a good adaptation’ but ‘Poirot’s moustaches weren't luxurious enough’

The film was nominated for six Academy Awards with

Ingrid Bergman winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress

Agatha Christie peacefully passed away in her Oxfordshire home in 1976

- all photos my own unless otherwise noted -

(an unsponsored post)

Related posts: Sherlock Holmes In London

Murder Mystery Lunch: Orient Express (if have a group, ask for discounted rate)

Sources: Official Agatha Christie website, Wikipedia