So my plane just landed in Heathrow...

[Evil_Noodles]

This thread made me smile no end. The queen and queen reference is legendary!

 

[triggrhappy94]

I thought I'd also post some observations, like that its really hard not to kind of laugh at your guys accent.

You haven't been to Birmingham yet...

As a Brummie I can really vouch for that. we sound so uneducated...but we're ok with it.

That's funny because we have a Birmingham in Alabama, and Alabama isn't known for education.

 

[SckizoBoy]

- Some of them do, but you should remember that London is fucking old. It's older than any city in the USA. Therefore, there are bound to be a lot of things that no longer do anything.

Sudden thought:

American tourist in the UK: 'This place is amazing, is it pre-War?'
Curator: 'Madam, this place is pre-America...'

 

[Redingold]

Samosas are basically potatoes, onions, peas and various lentils and spices, wrapped in pastry. A lamb samosa, unsurprisingly, contains lamb. Cornish pasties are amazing, they're potato, swede, onion and beef wrapped in pastry.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

I'm kind of hoping the opening post is satirical. >.>;; I can't travel anywhere before doing research on the place.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Well, that's not neccesarily true, it landed yesterday around noon. This is my first chance to post this and that was the best title could come up with.
For all the British Escapists out there, you should know Heathrow is a large airport in London. I flew internationally from SFO (San Fransisco's airport), its was an over 10 hour flight. Now I'm sitting in bed in the flat we rented hoping your gaint outlets don't fry my laptop and aclomating to 8 hour time difference between here and California.
Its been very interesting trying to adjust, because this is my first time in London and really being outside of the US or US territories.

I thought I'd also post some observations, like that its really hard not to kind of laugh at your guys accent.
It seems like you guys only really have two TV channels here, Dave and BBC; who is this Dave guy? Do your door knobs on your front doors do anything, or are there just there? I've already locked myself out of the once while trying to figure out the front door. I'm starting to notice all of those foods Yahtzee always talks about in the super market, like Marmite and Maltesers. You guys also have different flavors of Dorritos here too, and I guess Lay's are "Walkers". Do your chimneys actually work, because they all look pretty old? I have never seen so many brick buildings too. I found a Mexican resturant while I was walking around, I can't wait to eat there.

EDIT:
Why do you guys have shows called "Shameless USA" and "One Every Minute USA" (something like that)? I also feel like we're always about to hit on coming traffic whenever we drive any where, because you guys drive on the wrong side (as opposed to the right side). I want to try the Mexican food just to see how Mexican it realy is.
Oh yeah, I'm taller than the bathroom.
What's in a lamb samosa (I think that's what its called), and a cornish pasty? I had a lamb samosa last night and it was really weird, and I was thinking about gettng a cornish pasty.
Your soda cans are smaller.
What's a Cowboy Trap? It seems like a bad thing.

-BBC and all its channels are pretty great, Dave pretty mch re-runs all of the BBCs comedy/motoring shows, hoever if you want choice you're probably gonna have to pay for a better channel packge from sky or virgin
-we have different flavours of alot of stuff, like ben + jerrys, i guess they think some things would/wouldnt sell here that would/wouldnt sell in america, also Walkers is a british company, Lays is what they call themselves elsewhere
-we use lots of brick because thats whats available, its easy to make and works very effectively in our climate,im not sure if plaster or whatever american houses are made of was even available when half the houses in the UK were made
-i went to a mexican restaurant called chiquitos te other day, it was frikkin awesome.. not sure how it stands up to actual mexican mexican food though
-we have shameless usa etc because these were originally british shows (usually from channel 4 or bbc) that have been subsequently butchered for american audiences with laughable remakes
-You'll get used to driving on our side of the road, which is obviously the correct side
-how tall are you? im 6ft2, and in alot of old buildings im as tall as the ceiling... because we have so many old buildings here, you can actually see how the average height has risen over even just the past 100 years, very interesting but i imagine also annoying if you havto live with it.
-You should get a cornish pasty, they're awesome.. never had a samosa
-you'll probably find alot of food stuffs are smaller here unfortunatly

also, you should learn sarcasm, for if you're spending any amount of time here, you're sure to witnes alot of it
we also like to take the piss out of ourselves and each other, so its okay to join in aslo as you dont get really personal

 

[NinjaDuckie]

The chimney at my parents' house is fully functioning (although my dad did have to knock out the entirety of the inside in the attic and buy a new liner for it). Most of them appear to be for show, though. I know there's this one bit in my bedroom here in London that would have been where the chimney stretched from the fireplace a long time ago, but it's been renovated out.

Cornish pasties are awesome, though I couldn't say what's in one. Just go to a bakery and ask, seriously. They probably won't mind telling you.

Also, we don't drive on the wrong side. YOU drive on the wrong side, evidenced by a legitimate scientific study I read on the internet that proves tornadoes are caused by driving on the right side of the road.

 

[Amberella]

I remember that airport. :3 My plane went there then to Manchester. Lol. So wish I was there right now. xD Just came back from the UK last month. I love it over there! :3 That and I'm engaged to someone in the UK. ;D So I'll be moving over there eventually. :3

EDIT: I absolutely loved driving over in the UK as opposed to the US. I adapted to it quit quickly. As the boyfriend and I drove to Blackpool on the motorway! It was my first time driving over there! lol.

 

[Griffolion]

- Some of them do, but you should remember that London is fucking old. It's older than any city in the USA. Therefore, there are bound to be a lot of things that no longer do anything.

Sudden thought:

American tourist in the UK: 'This place is amazing, is it pre-War?'
Curator: 'Madam, this place is pre-America...'

Haha! Win

'Murrricans need to learn their damn place!

/britishfaggyelitism

But seriously, is the OP driving?

 

[FuktLogik]

Welcome...

The door knobs where I live work fine, so I don't know what to say about that... Turn the handle and enter the building.

Most houses in England are at least 30 years old.
A large percent (including mine) Stretch up to 100 years old.
So the chimney pots are usually original... most people use central heating so it doesn't matter if they work.

Does America really not have many brick houses?
I can't even begin to think what would happen to a wooden house in British weather.

The Americans build with wood so their homes can burn down during the dry season and then that gives them an excuse to build a new one and import more wood from Canada, since we still have trees up here.

 

[Wicky_42]

Welcome...

The door knobs where I live work fine, so I don't know what to say about that... Turn the handle and enter the building.

Most houses in England are at least 30 years old.
A large percent (including mine) Stretch up to 100 years old.
So the chimney pots are usually original... most people use central heating so it doesn't matter if they work.

Does America really not have many brick houses?
I can't even begin to think what would happen to a wooden house in British weather.

We don't have many wooden houses or brick here, aside from some old east cost cities. Most houses nowadays are... What, dry-wall and plastic/plaster? I don't even know what this crap is. I could put my arm through the wall right now, and, in fact, have done so when I was, like 8.

Fuckin great at insulating, though. Keeps the Alaskan cold out like a god damn champ.

Sounds great for home security English homes are made from hard, heavy stuff - after all, an Englishman's home is his castle
[sub]the presence of a turret on my roof is neither here nor there >.>[/sub]

 

[Simalacrum]

Welcome to England! Most of us here are aware that Heathrow is a big airport

My first reaction was "YOU DON'T HAVE MALTESERS IN AMERICA?! You poor bastards..."

Also, Jaffa Cakes. Get them. As many as you can. They are possibly the single best invention ever created by mankind, and I can't believe you don't have them anywhere else.

Since others have already answered your original questions, I shall answer your added "edit" questions...

EDIT:
Why do you guys have shows called "Shameless USA" and "One Every Minute USA" (something like that)? I also feel like we're always about to hit on coming traffic whenever we drive any where, because you guys drive on the wrong side (as opposed to the right side). I want to try the Mexican food just to see how Mexican it realy is.
Oh yeah, I'm taller than the bathroom.
What's in a lamb samosa (I think that's what its called), and a cornish pasty? I had a lamb samosa last night and it was really weird, and I was thinking about gettng a cornish pasty.
Your soda cans are smaller.
What's a Cowboy Trap? It seems like a bad thing.

- America is the world's super power, and we're their closest ally/counterpart in Europe. Needless to say you bunch are a fascinating topic for us (well, some of us. Personally I couldn't give a smaller shit, no offence ). It was probably the same for the rest of the world during the Empire; everyone was curious about what Britain is.
- Mexican food is probably awful here. Try the Indian stuff instead. While it doesn't taste much like Indian food (apparently), ever since we conquered the place, Indian cuisine has been one of the staples of British food (since India was the British equivalent of Greece for the Roman Empire; our prize jewel). You haven't tried British food until you've eaten at an Indian restaurant (confusing, I know ).
- Samosa is one of those India-inspired foods, good stuff. Cornish pasty is awesome, with thicker pastry than samosa and it tastes pretty different. Generally consists of beef, potato, pepper, and some other unrecognisable bits and bobs. XD
- Our 'soda' cans aren't smaller; American fizzy drinks are just big
- I honestly don't know what a Cowboy Trap is, but I'd avoid it.

Also, http://www.effingpot.com/ That should help!

 

[DSQ]

It seems like you guys only really have two TV channels here, Dave and BBC; who is this Dave guy?

We have many more channels than that but the free ones are BBC (1,2,3,4 and HD) ITV (1,2,3 and 4) Channel 4 (inclding there sister channels E4, More 4 and 4 Music) and Channel 5 (including there sister channels 5 USA and others I can't remember).

Do your door knobs on your front doors do anything, or are there just there? I've already locked myself out of the once while trying to figure out the front door.

Nope the ones I think you are talking about don't turn but are there just for pulling the door open.

I'm starting to notice all of those foods Yahtzee always talks about in the super market, like Marmite and Maltesers. You guys also have different flavors of Dorritos here too, and I guess Lay's are "Walkers".

I think you will find your Walkers are Lays. Lays were created during WWII and Walkers were created in 1880.

You don't have different flavers of dorritos? How do you live?

Do your chimneys actually work, because they all look pretty old?

They can work if you want them to, but some people block them up to place gas fires instead. Which don't need chimneys.

I have never seen so many brick buildings too.

Go to Chicago, I hear alot of there buildings are brick to. But you will find that brick bulidings arn't popular all over britain. Where I live, aberdeen and edinburgh, the builders prefered granate and stone. There is not alot of natural building material near london so that is why brick is so popular.

Why do you guys have shows called "Shameless USA" and "One Every Minute USA" (something like that)

Well they are the american remakes of popular brttish shows. So we add USA to the end so people don't get confused when viewing the TV schdual and think that the orginal is on.

Oh yeah, I'm taller than the bathroom.

Wow you must be staying in a really old house. People have gotten taller over the last 300 years so the really old houses tend to have low celings and the fairly old houses have really high ones.

What's in a lamb samosa (I think that's what its called), and a cornish pasty? I had a lamb samosa last night and it was really weird, and I was thinking about gettng a cornish pasty.

A somosa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samosa#Anglophone_world And a pasty: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_pasty#Recipes_and_ingredients

[/quote]

 

[HooterNanny]

For anyone who doesn't know Dave, the channel, is named after Dave Lister, the main character of the comedy sci-fi series Red Dwarf. It is basically the saviour and almighty god of daytime TV.

Also, I'm fairly sure that you have maltesers in US, buy they're called Milk Duds

Anyway, most of the things you've said have been answered, so, have a great time in th UK!

 

[triggrhappy94]

I'm starting to notice all of those foods Yahtzee always talks about in the super market, like Marmite and Maltesers. You guys also have different flavors of Dorritos here too, and I guess Lay's are "Walkers".

I think you will find your Walkers are Lays. Lays were created during WWII and Walkers were created in 1880.

You don't have different flavers of dorritos? How do you live?

Why do you guys have shows called "Shameless USA" and "One Every Minute USA" (something like that)

Well they are the american remakes of popular brttish shows. So we add USA to the end so people don't get confused when viewing the TV schdual and think that the orginal is on.

-No you guys don't have Cool Ranch or Nacho Cheese, or at least I didn't seem them
-I haven't heard of either of those shows back home, so I guess its only a British only American remake

Welcome to England! Most of us here are aware that Heathrow is a big airport

My first reaction was "YOU DON'T HAVE MALTESERS IN AMERICA?! You poor bastards..."

Also, Jaffa Cakes. Get them. As many as you can. They are possibly the single best invention ever created by mankind, and I can't believe you don't have them anywhere else.

-Nah we don't have them, we have Whoppers which are the same thing though
-I'll keep an eye out for Jaffa Cakes.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

- Mexican food is probably awful here.

Spoiler: It is. I say that as an American who moved here from Colorado, which has amazing Mexican food. There are a few exceptions, though. There's a Chipotle (which is part of an American chain) on Charing Cross Road across from the main location of Foyles (which is a huge bookstore, and not to be missed by anyone who's visiting).

 

[DSQ]

-I haven't heard of either of those shows back home, so I guess its only a British only American remake,

Nope, Shameless is on Showtime in the US and One born every minuet is on Lifetime. Google is your friend

Most brodcasters here don't really have the money or the inclnation to make a whole show based in the US with an american cast.

 

[Stu35]

A slight side note by the way - London != England. Or the UK for that matter. Try to get yourself to the North (York, Leeds, Newcastle), maybe out to Wales (Cardiff, Swansea) and Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow). We've got a lot to offer outside London - for a start it's not so soul-destroyingly expensive.

 

[Mister Eff]

I live in London myself, not far from Heathrow in student halls. Welcome! Hope you enjoy our city. Have you got any exciting plans? I do like the city, even for all its faults. I'll be happy to recommend stuff for you. What're you interested in doing/seeing?

I also live sometime in a town called Reading (nothing exciting except for a big-ass music festival) which has a Mexican Restaurant called The Mission. If you're from San Fran, I assume you'll get the reference. It's incredible.

If you want good, what is apparently genuine Mexican food, there's a restaurant called Wahaca in Covent Garden which is fucking delicious by the way. Maybe a bit pricey, but worth it.

 

[robot slipper]

I'm starting to notice all of those foods Yahtzee always talks about in the super market, like Marmite and Maltesers. You guys also have different flavors of Dorritos here too, and I guess Lay's are "Walkers".

I think you will find your Walkers are Lays. Lays were created during WWII and Walkers were created in 1880.

You don't have different flavers of dorritos? How do you live?

Why do you guys have shows called "Shameless USA" and "One Every Minute USA" (something like that)

Well they are the american remakes of popular brttish shows. So we add USA to the end so people don't get confused when viewing the TV schdual and think that the orginal is on.

-No you guys don't have Cool Ranch or Nacho Cheese, or at least I didn't seem them
-I haven't heard of either of those shows back home, so I guess its only a British only American remake

Welcome to England! Most of us here are aware that Heathrow is a big airport

My first reaction was "YOU DON'T HAVE MALTESERS IN AMERICA?! You poor bastards..."

Also, Jaffa Cakes. Get them. As many as you can. They are possibly the single best invention ever created by mankind, and I can't believe you don't have them anywhere else.

-Nah we don't have them, we have Whoppers which are the same thing though
-I'll keep an eye out for Jaffa Cakes.

No, no, no, don't just keep an eye out. RUN (don't walk) to the nearest shop and buy some Jaffa Cakes! Also, if you happen to get very drunk, have a kebab. It's an English tradition.