Foreigner's HONEST Opinion After 7 Years in the UK
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- Опубліковано 24 вер 2024
- As a foreigner living in England for the last 7 YEARS, here's my honest opinion about my experience! It's been an absolute wild ride learning about British culture first-hand and what it means to live in the UK - and I wouldn't change it for a single thing.
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Hey! I'm Alanna - a twenty-something documenting my life as a Canadian living in England.
I share the ups and downs of an expat living abroad and what it's really like living in the UK. It's not always easy, but there's been so many wonderful experiences, too. I post a UA-cam video every Tuesday & Friday plus an additional video every Saturday on my Patreon account. I also livestream every Wednesday and Sunday at 5:30pm GMT/BST on Twitch.
Alanna x
My American husband really struggled when he first moved here. He hated it, and despite wanting to move back to the States, he stuck it out. After 6 months or so, he realised that he quite liked it here and wanted to stay because it’s home. When we’ve gone to visit family in the US he’s always been very happy to see them, but at the time, looking forward to coming home again. If you’re moving over here, give it a chance because there’s a whole new way of life to get used to.
I totally get it!! It’s possible to love and feel at home in both places 😉
You are always a "little ray of sunshine" in all of our lives Alanna.
Us Brits...love your videos. ❤️
Thank you!! 🙏🏻
I totally agree make my day every time I watched your videos
Oh Alanna - you are just as British as any of us here. You really are! You are such a wonderful person. I want you to know that. I think it's incredibly brave to just jump in with both feet and wade your way through our weird and crazy country and manage to survive! Whatever you do in the future - thank you so much for sharing aspects your discovery of the UK with us. Believe me, Brits are still doing that as well!
We will be forever grateful that you chose England to spend your life and to share it with us on UA-cam. ❤
As a Canadian, you have always been an honorary British person, you have just got a little more British since living here :)
🥳
You've been influenced by the South of the Canadian border, you're a Brit you just dont realise it sweetheart. X
Ahhhhh a Canadian, an intelligent American as they say........
Totally agree!
🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
When my girlfriend and I went from England to Japan to work, at first I was like a kid in a sweet shop. Everything was exciting and new. The food, the people, the mind blowing neon cities. I loved it.
However my girlfriend was overwhelmed. Couldn't handle the language barrier, the strange customs the fast pace of life. She really struggled.
A few months down the line, I felt frustrated by the conformity, prejudice against foreigners, we were blamed for any crime and often dismissed for not fitting in. The girlfriend found her feet had a group of friends who were very supportive. She insisted on visiting all of the wonderful temples and beautiful Japanese gardens, we both learned a little Japanese.
The point of all this is everyone has their own personal experience, and after a while we both got on as though we had lived there all our lives.
Yeah, but Japan is actually very different from England. Canda from England not that much, is just England with US urban development style. Even the language is the same.
@@juangomezfuentes8825 True, I just used my personal experience as an example of how people deal with the culture shock of any life changing experience. Yes the language is the same in the UK as the States but hearing from Americans coming to England it's not another country, but another planet.
You’ve seen us at our worst and remained positive. Just like everyone who comes to live here, you enrich us culturally and contribute as part of our society in our shared home. Thank you for what you’ve given us
Thank you!! ☺️
Hi Alanna, as a seventy year old who has avoided making crucial decisions all his life, I am in awe of your life choices, made at such an early age. I can't really comprehend the courage it must have taken at twenty-two years of age, to leave behind everything you had grown up with and make the move you did. Of course there have been hard times and mistakes, but you seem to have come through them wonderfully well and always with that beautiful smile on your face. I'm glad you will be staying with us and imparting your hybrid take on these strange little islands and their inhabitants and always done with a smile. Take care and stay safe !!! 😎😎😎
We love you no matter what. You're an asset to the UK.
Here here we’ll said sir
What does asset mean
All credit to for you trying hard to adapt and fit into the British way of life. Best thing I can say is welcome home Alana! 🙏
Thank you for sticking with us.... Great to have you here 🙂
Thank you!! 🙏🏻
I moved here to England 3 months ago; I'm 18, still last week I was playing for my university and had a sudden realization I couldn't have ever even imagined playing this sport back home but now I'm seriously here not only playing but improving my game. This comment isn't about the sport it's about the unreal feeling that it represents; its truly something else
Playing what!
@@BobbierocksBuster1415 a lot of things actually😅
I'm in the uni's cricket club, ultimate frisbee club, fencing club.......
Glad to have you Aaryan.
@@eddyd8745 💙🙌
I don't know what you do for a living per se, but you are a natural presenter for sure, always engaging, natural, great videos, impressive!!
Your videos show so many wonderful things over there in the UK. I am Maltese (from an ex colony of Britain) with actually British relatives and love my visits to the southeast (North Kent and London). I am privileged that my country still has some things remaining from the time we were a colony like the electrical system and outlets and the ease of having most people speak ENglish as a second language.
I love Malta, there in August, taking my family back after two holidays as a kid. Slugs bay after forty years, so incredible.
Another UA-camr I watch (girl gone London) recently did a video talking about her struggles first living here, I salute you both for your bravery & honesty in talking about the hard times.
Thanks so much! 🙏🏻
I also follow GGL. Both of you are inspiring. I’m an expat Scot (from Glasgow) and I moved here in April 15th. 1985. It was a transfer to an office in Slough. Never regretted it.
I suppose in a sense you're saying you feel enriched as a result of living here but of course no country is perfect and you understand that. Well I'd just like to say that your vids are enriching to me and I feel many more of your viewers would agree. It's fascinating to see the UK as viewed from a foreigner's point of view... really makes me consider the country in a different light. Your insights are always entertaining so please keep doing what you do and I'll keep watching. Hope your mum enjoys her time here... I'm sure your Christmas is gonna be an absolute blast!
I remember thinking those Yorkshire puddings were the best i've ever seen and thinking wow that girl's talented!!! I've really enjoyed your journey over the years lass and hope to enjoy years more!
Thanks so much!!!
After 7 years you are 'one of us' - OK one of us that talks funny, but still part of the family! :) PS A quarter of your life has been here - it's a lot! :)
Every video i watch now, seen all your videos or vlogs, im going to start a campaign lol.
Mr Naps, needs to get a ring on your finger, 7 years, whats he waiting
Lets make you a british girl.
Who agrees, with this wonderful girl and her content.
We need to keep her as a national treasure,
MR Naps, we are watching....and waiting
Happy new hair do!
Oh and 7 years of you inproving the net enjoyment of us Brits!
Congrats on your 7 year anniversary in England 🥳 Thank you for sharing your experiences with us and taking us along for the ride. Good luck in all your future endeavours and I hope your mum enjoys her stay. Here’s to the next 7 years 🍻
Thank you!! ☺️
7 years! That's a quarter of your whole life, more like a third of your 'sentient' life.
If nothing else, you've become a great ambassador for both Canada as well as Britain. It's been a joy to watch along with you. Well done, you, there's no doubt I'll be hanging on to see where we go next. Best wishes to you and Mr Naps (ex-butler), and here's hoping a load of Goldfish arrives with your mom.
Congratulations on your 7th anniversary of moving to the UK. It's been a honour and a pleasure to be allowed to share in your journey over that time and see you grow into the Alanna we know today, Thank you. Here's to many more UK adventures (& Naps) in the years to come, who knows what the future will hold. ☺
Thank you so much!!! ☺️
I'm a Brit and my best friend and flatmate is Canadian; we've been housemates for 15 years now. Our first year in the UK she'd be struggling with something ask me 'but why is it like *this*' I'd look at her blankly or as if she were mad and then after a long pause say something like, "well, when Queen Victora was visiting Cardiff in 1867, she met a miner who..."
I also have an existential crisis. I was born in the Czech Republic and went to school there until 5th grade. It is difficult to feel Czech anymore, although I can read and speak the language. We moved to the states, and eventually I became a naturalised American. I lived there for 30 years. Now I am living in the UK for 4.5 years (and LOVING it) and am trying to decide whether to go for my 3d citizenship in another 1.5 years.
Good for you!
You are great fun to be with on your channel. It always makes me smile.
Thank you!!
Some of those screenshots from your earliest vids....seems like yesterday, ah, the nostalgia! Thanks for sharing a lot more than you probably ever intended.
😂 Crazy that some of them are so old!!
You are such a positive person. You are so welcome and we hope you will stay forever.
Alana, on the posts I've watched, I find you to be an honest, straightforward and positive person.
You don't do click bait and we appreciated it.
You're nearly British, but as you say, you'll never not be Canadian.
Glad you stuck with us and settled, it must be awful otherwise.
Keep posting!
congratulations ,,,,,,on your 7th year loved your video ,,i found it a bit emotional to but loved it ,,,heres to many more years i hope
Hi Alannah, another great vid. Glad you are liking home.
A little tip to remember which lines go where.
Latitude LA = Lines Around.
Longitude LO = Lines Over.
"A Spot of TV" - Still not quite there, but that's what makes it fun!
I live in a single bedroom flat; I have a sofa bed for when my sister visits me, you can get one from Ikea pretty cheeply.
What a great video, thank you for persevering and I hope your mom enjoys her visit.
Thank you!! Me, too!! 🤞🏻
Mum 😂
Two points:
1 The Medway towns can be very miserable in winter.
2 Those Yorkshire Puddings are beyond sensational.
Congratulations. I moved to Canada from Britain in 1966. I am now 84 but can still remember all the things you mention in those early days. Glad to hear you have not been totally assimilated, I noticed you said vacuum instead of hoover. Looking forward to the next 7 years.
My friend in our village says " If you don't feel like talking to anyone, never stand in a bus shelter in Wolverhampton".
Hay Alana . I love your videos , they brighten up my day . I moved to Folkestone , not too far from you , with my wife and our two young children from Ireland . We loved Folkestone , the town , its people , and the surrounding countryside but we were very homesick . We moved back home after a few years but even after nearly thirty years we still miss England and the good friends we mare there . Great to see you settling in . Stay happy , you're a wee ray of sunshine .
Here’s looking forward to at least 7 more years of your excellent company
I don't think I've ever noticed your finger nails before, but the deep red polish suits you - I think that, through your videos, you have enriched British culture in a small way, so it is great to know that England has enriched you culturally also.
I love watching you, with your funny quirks and amusing anecdotes. Keep it up and don't forget you are now an honorary Brit X
Thanks so much!
Only realising as you point out it’s 7 years that I must have been watching you since you first started! It’s been a long journey.
I was so glad to hear you talk about how amazing it is to “pop out to the shops“ and be able to walk to do all your shopping. It is so life-changing! And yes, something I will never do here in Texas.
Congratulations- I left England 7 years ago, and moved to Australia same time, ish - and I found your channel - thanks for the good times
Congratulations, Alanna! You have embraced the best of both countries & I really admire that! 🇬🇧🇨🇦
Thank you so much!! ☺️
Glad you're still enjoying being here always enjoy watching
Congrats on 7 years here, Alanna 🥳 I hope you continue to live here 😊
I just moved to UK, i’m from Malaysia. watching your videos are really an eye opening. I feel positive & excited to experience everything in the future. Thank you, keep on making great contents 👏🏻
As someone who's a bit fed up with the place, I'm glad you enjoy living in England/ UK, and I wish I could be as enthusiastic as you. Thanks!
Canadian living in the US for 14 years now...can relate to so much of this. Thanks for the validation...sometimes you just need to know you're not the only one!🥰🥰🥰🥰
Love you Alanna, you’re simply the best!!!! ❤.
You're too kind!!
just got to say, as a woman from Yorkshire, well done on those yorkshire puddings lass! 😁👍
Love having you here luv. Thanks for sharing your life with us, it’s been great viewing & fun.
Please stay with us & keep sharing👍👍
Our son lives in the South of England & his home doesn’t have a spare Bedroom, big houses are so expensive compared to here in Scotland. My wife & I usually get a cheap nearby hotel or AirBnB.
Love to your family & hope they enjoy the UK when over👍👍
Hugs & kisses Dick Puller❤️
Great video Alanna! Congratulations on 7 yesrs in England. I hope you are in an even more positive place in 7 years' time.
Thank you!!
At 13.16 was confirmation that you are settled, congratulations.
People who come to England and embrace our way of life will always be welcome. Hopefully you will be staying with us
Wonderful smile on a wonderful woman, all the best.
Hiya Alanna, I hope you've enjoy your time in England, all the medival castles, architecture that sort of thing, were I live is a Georgian town Whitehaven was the third biggest port in Great Britain, behind Liverpool and London, keep up the good content, Alanna, this is Choppy in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England
Hi Alanna! You've aged? You're looking good girl!!!
Yes, I know the feeling of not belonging, having an identity crisis and trying to adjust when we emigrated to Tronno and returned all those years ago as a 9/10 year old. This was all in only 1 year! Didn't know if I was coming or going but what an experience to be had! (...and yes, I did start to have a Canadian accent like yours but lost it again :) )
Seven years and still going strong and we're happy to have you here. Keep up the good work with your excellent and funny videos.
Everyone slumps in the winter ,have your family and your Mum have a good time and be safe xx
so glad you came and then we got adventures and naps on UA-cam which is still the best.
Thank you!!
This is excellent- I recently my 34th anniversary of moving to the UK from Canada and all of your points are right on and I agree with all you've said. Well done on your journey.
Alanna is from Canada which is part of the British Commonwealth. It's surprising to me that she has a British partner who should shepherd her through the adaptation to British life but has been so difficult for her. But, bless her heart, she informs, entertains, amuses, and clarifies how to live in Great Britain. She's terrific!
Well - I think that was your best video yet. You talked a lot of sense (not saying that’s unusual) and I’m so glad you feel at home here. We’re privileged to have you. I wouldn’t expect you to discuss it here on YT but I think some considerable contribution has been from your partner. I’m sure he’s helped you through some of the rough times and ,he too deserves our thanks. I hope your Mom has a great time here when she arrives.
British ex-pat here. I first moved to Spain, then the US. I feel at home in the UK and Spain, but not in the US. I think it is the general European way of life. In Spain they say, "Americans live to work. We work to live." There is truth to that...
Belated congratulations on your 7 years, I moved from London to Liverpool 7 years ago
Getting over finding Piccalilli in your cupboards in your first vids gave you the strength for everything else!
I've been watching since then, thanks for all the laughs, cries, sweating, rumbly stomachs, locations, moves & burps along the way Alanna! 🙏🙏
Glad you stuck around.
Cheers pal!🙏🏻
Looking good with the 'money piece' hair colouring there Alanna ☺️
7 years bless you! x Merry Christmas x
I just discovered that they don't have blackcurrants in North America for some agricultural legislative reason.
I have been going to Canada for nearly fifty years and I never noticed.
My favourite jam too.
I have been in Germany for 12 years and trust me, I feel your pain. Plus the added bonus of a foreign language.
Fun times
Congratulations on your 7th anniversary .. I've enjoyed watching your observations of living in the UK, and I consider you an honorary Brit .. Here's to the next 7 years ..😄
Thank you!!
Nice honest video - well done for persevering . ‘They’ say that things that are hard to do, often give greater reward
Thanks pal!!
I always appreciate your nuanced explanations of things, Alanna.
Has it really been that long. I remember watching your first 'What's in my Kitchen' and that feels like it was only two years ago. The first time I visited England, flying back to Australia I wanted to tell them to turn the thing around because I want to go back home. At 71 I am in no position to do what you have done and I envy it so much there aren't words to explain it. I never miss any of you vlogs and never will. Thank you for everything you have done and please do not stop. Cheers
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that!! ☺️
25 years as an expat myself. The guilt will pass, eventually Love watching your videos
Well done - keep going
Here's to the next 7 Alanna. As previously stated, I'm so delighted you stuck around.
Thanks for the continued entertainment, enlightenment and all the other stuff also.
As one of your first (hundred-ish?) subscribers, glad your here 👍
Wow thank you so much!!
Just watching you now & the earlier pictures I think you look great with or without glasses, just thought I'd mention that!! Oh & welcome to this country & a very merry Xmas & New year to you.
Thanks for sharing your journey with us. Here's to the NEXT 7 years🥰
Thank you!! 🥳
Big shout out too Mr Naps ! Alanna partner who`s been a Rock in her stay in the UK.
Hey Alanna. Congrats on 7 years - Britain is all the better for having you in it. So much so, when my grandaughter asked me yesterday how much I liked her hair with a ponytail in it I found myself answering "six out of six my little ponies" so you are definately rubbing off on us. And a cuppa (Yorkshire of course) is much nicer with a sticky bun and an A&N video 😁
Happy anniversary! I swear a year goes past in about 5 months!
That tea look a bit dark! Nothing wrong with milkless tea, but unless you like your tea BRUTALLY strong, that is seriously dark. BTW, we love you lots, and we have seen you progress in your journey. Keep on keeping on, and you're not just a hybrid, but a citizen of the world!
Love from Bob.
Moving to another country without the safety net of a well paid job to move to is an act of great courage in my view. I admire anyone who makes that decision. Always good to see the Yorkshire puddings. Your culinary zenith, that we know of.
I remember when I moved to my current town after leaving my place of birth of 20+ years it took several years before feeling "home" and that was in the same county!
It's crazy how that can happen!! Glad you're feeling at home now though ☺️
I moved from the town I grew up in 7 years ago, after living in the same area for 48 years. It still feels as if I'm just visiting, even after all this time.
@@AdventuresAndNaps We could start a petition? (Not sure how, exactly, but I'm sure someone would know. Xxx
Your growing and learning every day, you can't have everything but you can make the most of what you've got, you can be as happy or sad anywhere in the world. Best Wishes.
Moving to the UK at the end of November was probably a smart move. It means things can only get better.
Quite a few years ago i made a comment on one of your videos that you are not a foreigner, you are a Canadian, and Canadians are family, and i am pleased you feel at home now.
i really admire you for having the courage to get on with making things work.
Alanna, what a wonderful video. So honest and so lovely to see how not only have your settled but truly enjoy being in Britain. I hope you continue to stay and continue to be really happy. You deserve this. Thank you for sharing and being so honest. Beautiful.
The winter is tough for us too and it's not uncommon to feel low during the darker months. It's called Seasonal Effective Disorder and is a recognised condition.
Consider buying a therapy light to prevent SAD. It has transformed January and February for me.
@@rosemarielee7775 I go for walks whenever I can, especially in the daytime, that helps me, all the natural light and fresh air
I love hearing about your experiences as a British person because it reminds me of all the great things that you often overlook in day to day life. Maybe that's why people enjoy being an expat because you see everything without all the baggage.
Cheers Oliver!!
I always love your videos, Alanna.
Your warm smile brings sunshine on drab cold winter days.
Every country has pros and cons; nowhere is perfect.
I spent 14 good years in California. The weather was great, but, compared to the UK, it had very little history.
I love the British landscape and history, but I detest our government and political system.
🤣🤣🤣
Lovely video :). It was a big, bold thing to do, I'm glad it's worked out for you. And thanks for inviting us along.
Thanks so much for watching!
Your stories and experiences reflect a new perspective. I enjoy listening to your point of view.
Congratulations on your 7-yr anniversary there!
Thank you!! ☺️
I love watching your content! So positive and upbeat but also insightful and honest. Us Brits have totally lucked out having you pop over the pond and decide it was worth staying 😀
Hi Alana , what a great video. I’m so pleased that you have found a happy home here in England. Thanks for sticking with us!
It has been a great journey - I've been watching from the beginning - and I am looking forward to many more years. Thank you for all your efforts.
Thank you so much!! ☺️