American questions for the Brits

[Riff Addict]

I've unfortunately never been to England which is high on my list of vacation destinations so I know very little about the country and have a few questions I'd like to ask the U.K. members. Please answer one or all:

I hear your country referred to as United Kingdom, Great Britain, England. Why so many names?

Do you celebrate Halloween in England?

Are American TV sitcoms popular there? Which are the top shows?

In America we have many TV broadcasting networks but all we hear about in America is the BBC? Is there just the one?

Every town here has its own police force but all I've ever heard about is the "Scotland Yard" in England. Is that like America's "FBI" or is it just the police headquarters for all of England?

Are there many 50's and 60's Classic American cars there? '59 Cadillacs, etc. or Related Car shows? I know Gas is expensive there.

We have "Hollywood" which is the center of the movie industry and is crawling with movie actors and filthy rich movie industry types..does England have a similar city where all the actors live?

What ever happened to Benny Hill? Is he alive?

Our Health Insurance is incredibly, rediculously, expensive and so many Americans can't afford it which is very sad. Is it true that Helath Insurance is free for all in England?

How do those Double Decker buses keep from turning over when making a sharp turn? Do they drive incredibly slow?

[wahwah]

I hear your country referred to as United Kingdom, Great Britain, England. Why so many names?
United Kingdom refers to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England is the old name and Great Britain is prolly just our over-inflated ego's!!
Do you celebrate Halloween in England?
Yeah, and I don't know about the rest of the country but down in the South East, it's getting a bigger festival every year with more money spent whereas Guy Fawkes, or Bonfire Night as it's known (on 5th November) seems to be getting smaller due to the fact that fireworks are let off from about the beginning of October to December!
Are American TV sitcoms popular there? Which are the top shows?
Yep, Friends was always a big pull. I can't really tell you about new shows but Seinfeld and past ones such as Cheers, Frasier, etc are always popular.
In America we have many TV broadcasting networks but all we hear about in America is the BBC? Is there just the one?
No, there are a lot more these days but on 'terrestrial' tv we have BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. On cable there are now a bunch of extra channels from all of these major companies but SKY are prolly getting to be as big as the BBC. The BBC has the honour of being commercial free but we have to pay currently £120 a year for a license whether we watch the Beeb or not. We get the same other cable channels as yourself but as in the Pink Floyd song, '50 channels of shit on the TV' seems to be about right.
Every town here has its own police force but all I've ever heard about is the "Scotland Yard" in England. Is that like America's "FBI" or is it just the police headquarters for all of England?
Scotland Yard is the head of the London area police force. I think we have a bunch of tactical police and security forces but the most famous (ala James Bond) would be MI5 or MI6. We also of course have the SAS, the most organised special tactics team on the planet.
Are there many 50's and 60's Classic American cars there? '59 Cadillacs, etc. or Related Car shows? I know Gas is expensive there.
Not really...popular cars are Ford, Vauxhall, Citreon, Peugoet (both French), BMW, Mercedes. Chevrolet are making a big impact as are Cadillac but not sure how the market will pan out. Fuel is hyper-expensive...currently £0.98 per litre or about £5.00 per gallon ($9!)
We have "Hollywood" which is the center of the movie industry and is crawling with movie actors and filthy rich movie industry types..does England have a similar city where all the actors live?
Areas of London are crawling with actors; Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove, Chiswick. The two main studios in the past were Pinewood and Shepperton.
What ever happened to Benny Hill? Is he alive?
No he popped it about 10 years ago.
Our Health Insurance is incredibly, rediculously, expensive and so many Americans can't afford it which is very sad. Is it true that Helath Insurance is free for all in England?
Yes BUT it's creaking and badly in need of reform. The Government throw money at it and the hospitals spend it on Managers and expensive art instead of Nurses and drugs.
How do those Double Decker buses keep from turning over when making a sharp turn? Do they drive incredibly slow?
Well most are in the London area (well, the Routemaster ones that are famous) and the traffic is DOG slow! We still get about one accident a month where a driver forgets he's in one and wedges it under a low bridge!

[Riff Addict]

Wow, thanks Chris...I'm glad to finally know all that. I might think of a few more to ask later...anyone else have related questions?

[Skydirt]

Ive wondered on some of those things too. I hope I have the opportunity to go there. Heres a question.

I know you guys like different sports than the US, but do you even get the NFL or MLB over there. Is it popular if you do.

[Riff Addict]

Chris I'm thinking you've been to American a time or two right? If so, what was your experience, was it a good visit, or bad?

I think driving on a different side of the road would be very hard to get used to?

[mewisemagic]

Cool thread Riff

[KC_ArtRocker]

Tell me about your weekly work schedule. I am about to pack up and head over to Europe because I hear that some countries have 2 hour lunch breaks and workers get 4 or more weeks of vacation per year. How many hours per week is considered a regular work week?

Most people here in US get only an average of 2 weeks vacation per year and the regular work week is 40 hours (but many end up working more than that).

I am sick of working most of my life away and want to move somewhere that would allow more time off. I don't mind working, and I believe it important for society that all people work a set amount, but I would almost rather live somewhere that I didn't have to work my life away.

[serpant]

I hear your country referred to as United Kingdom, Great Britain, England. Why so many names?
United kingdom goes back to when we had the colonys, other countrys made up the UNITED KINGDOM, like India, Australia, Hong Kong.
Great Britain is the Island in the north atlantic.
England is a part of the Island (like an American state)

Do you celebrate Halloween in England?
Its not as popular as in the states (we have a damp squip of a celebration)

Are American TV sitcoms popular there? Which are the top shows?
Will and Grace, Friends, loads of American shows

In America we have many TV broadcasting networks but all we hear about in America is the BBC? Is there just the one?
We also have 'cable'

Every town here has its own police force but all I've ever heard about is the "Scotland Yard" in England. Is that like America's "FBI" or is it just the police headquarters for all of England?
Wah wah said all I can say on this

Are there many 50's and 60's Classic American cars there? '59 Cadillacs, etc. or Related Car shows? I know Gas is expensive there.
America can make cars that go in straight lines, thats about it, your cars are not suited to our roads, they require an amount of decent handling ( american cars cant cut the grade) LOL. and 'Gas' is as expensive as Gold

We have "Hollywood" which is the center of the movie industry and is crawling with movie actors and filthy rich movie industry types..does England have a similar city where all the actors live?
Yes we also call that area Hollywood and it's in the state of California LOL


What ever happened to Benny Hill? Is he alive?
He DEAD! and our humour has moved on in leaps and bownds!

Our Health Insurance is incredibly, ridiculously, expensive and so many Americans can't afford it which is very sad. Is it true that Health Insurance is free for all in England?
Nothing is free we pay tax

How do those Double Decker buses keep from turning over when making a sharp turn? Do they drive incredibly slow?
I often wonder????


i personally work 36 hrs a week, i get 1 hr for lunch and a half hour for a break.
The hotter countrys have 'siesta' in the afternoon that lasts about 4 hrs but they work later into the night

[Riff Addict]

For a long time I thought most British men looked like this:

[Mondy]

Just thought I'd chime in with my own answers...

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

I hear your country referred to as United Kingdom, Great Britain, England. Why so many names?

As wahwah says, United Kingdom encompasses England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. England just refers to our country up to Hadrian's wall, that was built to keep the Scots in, and Wales, that you have to pay to drive into if you go over the Severn bridge, which is ludicrous. I mean, I'd gladly pay to get OUT of Wales, but paying to get in ???

Great Britain is just used because separately, we are shite at Sports, but when we unite as Great Britain, we tend to win more things.

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

Do you celebrate Halloween in England?

Yes, it involves either staying in doors and not answering the door to kids who don't even bother to dress up or indeed say anything when you answer the door, yet still expect a treat. Or you can go out and not be disturned by the doorbell every 5 minutes. Unfortunately, they are not that receptive to tricks anymore...



It is getting bigger down here with more events and more money being splashed out on firework displays.

Guy Forkes night has lost it's novelty, due to the fact that bangers go off from August to January, so you're sick to death of the sound of fireworks by then, especially if you live in a house that hasn't got double glazing yet !

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

Are American TV sitcoms popular there? Which are the top shows?

Friends was massive over here. Will & Grace seems to be fairly popular. Lost is doing really well at the moment. It either comes onto Sky first and then onto Terrestial TV if it is popular enough.

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

In America we have many TV broadcasting networks but all we hear about in America is the BBC? Is there just the one?

BBC seems to reach worldwide through it's Worldwide broadcasting service, but we do have BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5. These channels are extended if you get Sky (sattellite dish) or Cable through BBC3, etc, ITV2, E4, etc. etc. plus the Sky channels (Star Trek & Simpsons) and Sky Sports.

Sky is getting a lot more popular these days, but if you get Sky with all the channels, you pretty much get 600 odd channels and there are still times when there is fuck all on the TV !

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

Every town here has its own police force but all I've ever heard about is the "Scotland Yard" in England. Is that like America's "FBI" or is it just the police headquarters for all of England?

wahwah answered this perfectly...

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

Are there many 50's and 60's Classic American cars there? '59 Cadillacs, etc. or Related Car shows? I know Gas is expensive there.

Not that I've seen. There is a guy who drives around in an American Type police car that I see going around here. Like the ones out of the Smokey And The Bandit films, but that is all I've ever really seen. You hear the odd one roar past on the Motorway if you're (un)lucky.

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

We have "Hollywood" which is the center of the movie industry and is crawling with movie actors and filthy rich movie industry types..does England have a similar city where all the actors live?

London's pretty much the place to be, although people tend to have houses all over if they have the money. There's currently a show on Sky called, "It's Grim Up North where various celebrities argue the case for living Up North compared to Down South, so it's just personal preference. However, all the Premiers are generally in London, so that's the place to be. Ish...

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

What ever happened to Benny Hill? Is he alive?

Suffered depression when his show wasn't aired anymore. But no, sadly he is no longer with us...

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

Our Health Insurance is incredibly, rediculously, expensive and so many Americans can't afford it which is very sad. Is it true that Helath Insurance is free for all in England?

Yeah, funded by taxes. There's long waiting lists depending on how serious your needs are.

I have private medical insurance through work, so usually I claim on there to get up the waiting list to see a profressional and then the normal work gets done on the NHS for free.

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

How do those Double Decker buses keep from turning over when making a sharp turn? Do they drive incredibly slow?

Yeah, wahwah's covered this. However, you still do get double deckers in other areas other than London. They're just not red. They do drive fast, as the drivers follow the rule of, "I'm bigger than anything else on the road, so people will get out of the way".

You can usually pass them easily when they pull in to a bus stop...

[Riff Addict]

My favorite comedy show has got to be Monty Python. Occasionally on a late night talk show here we'll see an interview with one of the guys....my question is are there any ongoing Monty Python related TV shows on British TV with some of the original cast members that maybe we don't see in the states? Do you see Cleese and the other comedians regularly on other TV programs?

[serpant]

Python is bigger in the states than it is over in the UK, we have sent it to bed now
Palin does a lot of travel shows, cleese pops up in films now and again, as for the rest i have not seen them since around 1974

[Mondy]

Originally Posted by Skydirt

Ive wondered on some of those things too. I hope I have the opportunity to go there. Heres a question.

I know you guys like different sports than the US, but do you even get the NFL or MLB over there. Is it popular if you do.

You can get NFL over here. However, the popular sport is definitely football. You call it soccer, but we still call it football, cuz you use your foot to control the ball.

Cricket's gone up in popularity mainly because the national football side are playing crap quality and The Premiership isn't as entertaining on the whole this season as everyone plays defensive football.

The national team (England) play tonight, having already qualified for the 2006 World Cup. The only one of the Home Nations to do so. If they win against Poland tonight, they will top their qualifying group and hence be seeded, so will not be drawn against all the other teams who finish top, hence missing these "big guns" until a later stage.

It's unknown how well we will do as we have been playing like pants at the moment.

Then it's back to domestic football on Saturday when The Premiership football returns...

Premiership has gone to Sky, so you can only get the games live by paying an extra premium. However, it's only one or two out of the fixture list that are shown each day.

Match Of The Day summarises it all late at night on Saturday's though, and that's on BBC1.

[serpant]

Americans like big scores 73 to 89 in all there sports, our scores are low 1 to 0, if 'soccer' got 3 points for a home run goal and 2 points for a penalty touch down then soccer would be big in america

[Mondy]

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

Chris I'm thinking you've been to American a time or two right? If so, what was your experience, was it a good visit, or bad?

I think driving on a different side of the road would be very hard to get used to?

I know this was aimed at wahwah, but I weill answer it myself...

I have only been over to The States once. Me and the wife went over to San Francisco and got engaged when we were out there.

Fell in love with the place instantly, but have heard it said that it is the most European of cities.

Stayed near Fisherman's Wharf, and just loved that view of the Golden Gate to the left, Alcatraz right in front of you, and the Bay Bridge to the right.

Then there's the Napa Valley just over the Golden Gate.



The people were more friendlier, and everything is done so much bigger over there. Plus the food comes in monster size portions and is dirt cheap. Me and the wife just used to have breakfast and then didn't need to eat again until about 7pm !!!



We intend to go to New York at some point, but it wiol be when the sprog grows up a bit ! Plus we have to take her to Australia to meet her Auntie at some point, so it's whichever gets the preference.



I never drove over there, so can't comment...