4 Mistakes I Made Living in the UK
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2022
- As an expat in the UK, I've made a LOT of mistakes (and I still do!). Check out these 4 common mistakes expats make when living in the UK - I hope these tips can help you avoid these problems and have a wonderful time in the UK!
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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
One reason making friends with Brits may be hard is because they assume you will only be around for a few months before returning to your own country, especially if you are young. Also, it's more work to befriend someone from a different culture, and more risk of awkwardness or offence, so a lot of people won't even try. If you have a hobby, try to find people with a similar hobby, as that's a great way to cross cultural divides.
I like how you've matched your watch to your t-shirt.
"Or am I"? Lol. The look on your face! Lolll
I've just realised I have been watching your videos for six years! Not continuously I should point out.
Nice video and wise advice. I'm a Brit and unlikely at my age to consider moving abroad but hearing of your experiences makes me think more about some of the overseas visitors I get to meet. Their experiences may be similar to yours so I feel better equipped to help them settle in and feel accepted.
In South Africa in the early 80s Rhodesian expats were known as "Wenwees" because every sentence they spoke began "When we were in Rhodesia..."
How dare you call us "wonderful"?! There, just in case you were missing the internet indignation after being so nice. Thank you.
I can’t quite imagine how overwhelming it must be to live in a foreign country and I greatly admire those brave enough to do so, especially when they make mistakes and keep going when I would never have the courage to move in the first place and while I would like to think Canada and England are alike enough to make it easier than other countries the only person I know who moved to Canada didn’t even last a month and he was joining the Olympic wheelchair racing team so he was being looked after more than most people would be. Thank you for the video I hope you have a great weekend
Thank you!!
Lots of great advice here. Thanks!
It took me almost one year to stop comparing things in my head, especially the cost of things. It was a conscious effort to stop, but an essential step in accepting my new normal.
There's another reason not to compare things in Britain: you'll have people remembering that annoying yet catchy series of "Go Compare" adverts!
One good reason to say "yes" to something is that there may come a time when you'll have to say "no," and at that time you might wish you had said "yes" when you had the chance and it was still possible.
Budgeting is all the more vital when living abroad, because the cost of any given thing at home could turn out to be relatively higher abroad. You could turn it into a slogan: "work it out, or do without!"
As for the friendship advice: I was on a work trip to France years ago, and I was invited to a gathering that included various French-speaking Canadians. After days of endless French, it was a relief to be able to converse in English... but I found myself switching to French as the groups mixed and mingled, and so did the Canadians. It taught me that there's value in making friends from as broad a base as possible.
"Without further ado, let's go! Hold on..." *sips coffee* 😂
😂
Alanna I'd give anything to have your 'morning look' ANY time of the day!! 💕
Living abroad is expensive even on the day to day level. As a newcomer you simply won't know where to go for bargains and best value. Add in a few currency conversion mistakes and budgets don't go as far as you might hope.
Enjoyed the video some very useful tips
Having anxiety, I can imagine it's hugely overwhelming, and intermediating face so many new things and people. Overloaded 😵😱. Wow. So glad you didn't give up and move back when you were suffering. Well done for coping so well and pushing through. YAY 😀
I am glad that you are still here and trying Alanna. You are so interesting and funny ❤️
As usual cheeky face, another good video. you were Talking straight from the heart . Thank you so much..
I'm really glad to have your videos since I'm currently looking for a job off the home offices sponsors list 😩 so long lol. I appreciate all the info 🙏
Thanks Alanna, more good advice & experiences for those in need! 🙏🙏
Thank you!
The one about trying new things is great advice for everyone. I recently checked out a park in my area that I'd never been to and it was amazing.
Hey that's awesome!!
It's not just expats who feel that way. At the last job I had, I really struggled to fit in with my colleagues (we don't call them co-workers!) as I'm very shy. Eventually, they accepted me and my differences and some of them became good friends.
Good advice! I was thinking about saying yes to things this week. Even if you aren't moving to someplace new, it can make things feel new if you decide to be open to change.
Totally!! I hope you can try something new soon!
I have had people move into our workplace from a similar position who make that first mistake. “At my old job we used to do this” or “we never had this problem because we did ….”. While new ideas can be helpful being constantly critical and comparing different situations doesn’t help.
You're totally right!
Hi Alanna, I don't think I can describe how much I enjoy your videos. I have literally NOTHING in common with you but I just so love your presentational style and your content. Many thanks.
Thank you so much!!
Another great video Alanna. I think the making friends advice is helpful for everybody. I've been thinking of joining an evening art class to help widen my friend group.
That's a great idea!
The second one, saying no, is interesting. It applies when you move to any new area. Its difficult, but if you keep saying no, they stop asking.
If you do have to decline, it can help to say why and they'll understand.
That's a great point
Great video Alanna, good advice on budgeting and making friends. Jobs are a good way of making friends but the mother lode coming from getting involved locally in clubs, associations or even volunteering. You live in such a lovely county too.
Invite someone to ride the coast path from Folkestone to Dungeness - beautiful day for it today!
I always feel a little seen when Alanna talks about budgeting. I am what I would call a "soft" budgeter and when I've got to create a spreadsheet for anything, my brain tries to do that TV snow thing. Then I remember that Alanna loves to budget, and I dig into it.
Thanks for being the conscience in my shoulder! 🤣
Ahh I love to hear it!!
What you said about making comparisons a lot is good idea! I think if I moved to another country I would make comparisons a lot, but learning to accept your new country is a good idea! And making friends with people who aren’t expats is a good idea too! Your tips for moving abroad are always so helpful!
Thanks pal!!
Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
Great video, wonderful advice. I've never thought about working abroad full time, wouldn't want to leave friends and family.
This is yet another really good video Alanna, what you said early on about not comparing everything with how it's done back home, I remember my stepmother telling about an Italian woman at work who was always saying how much better things were done in Italy, luckily for her the coworkers complained to their representative and she had a word with her and things did improve for a while but she eventually left and went back to Italy, I now see that in a very different way because of what you said just now, I can understand how horrible it must be, I'm a painfully shy person and I either say nothing or if I do manage to speak I just gable and can't stop, I know that's not the same, but I know that loneliness, thank you. Take care :)
The comparisons bit is so interesting, especially if it's an expat thing. I always knew I was big on patterns and matching things to make life easier, but it was like a sensory overload moving to a new country and trying to compare every single thing to something back home just so you know how to interact with it. I remember desperately trying to find something like Walmart and honestly there isn't one (maybe if ASDA and B&M had a baby...) and I just had to get used to all these new things. But I think comparisons are definitely a coping mechanism.
Friday 5 pm. Hold the phone. Turn off tv. Lock the door. Get comfortable. It's Alanna time 🎇😀. Great idea for a video. I can certainly relate to the ' talk about your old ' country too much . Now I barely remember where that is 😂
Thanks for another entertaining video girl !👍👌
Ahh thank you pal, I really appreciate it!! ☺️
All good advice.
Thanks for watching!
Hi Alanna
I think they are very good tips even for us non-expats as well. I’m the only one in my family who never lived abroad (until now) and your tips make a lot of sense to me❤👍🙂
Thanks for sharing!!
Another great video & I feel some of these could be applied to natives to a country along with expats. Particularly the saying yes to more things. Always been one to overthink & put things off but got to a point now where I've realized that's doing me no good & going to start seeing more things because I can. Got a trip planned out in November to Madrid & now looking into Vienna next year by myself. Oh & of course budgeting is very useful
You're totally right - just trying new things in everyday life makes a big difference. I hope you have a great time abroad!!
My Canadian wife and I always said yes to every possible opportunity - some of which looked potentially dodgy.
Our Canadian teachers brother and sister in law were steadfast in their regular smug disapproval.
We ended up very successful after making some very big mistakes.
They hated for getting there in the end. They just played golf.
Wise words indeed.....but work Xmas parties are NEVER worth going to!!!
I will say something though: British people (from 'the vein') they don't necessarily wants to make friends with foreigners.... they get easily annoyed if your English sucks - that's clearly not your case being Canadian, but it happens a lot if your level is weak, or even medium... They dismiss you really fast, trust me
Love that T-shirt, we have a partial solar eclipse on 25th Oct, starting at 10am and finishing at about 11.45am, sadly not a total more a mini nibble!
Wise words sweetheart. All the best to you and yours. Rab
The first point isn't exclusive to being a foreigner. Nothing worse when you work in a job and someone comes in from another company or another area of the same company, and keeps going on about how they do things where they come from.
Many many years ago I was on a management training program for Pizza Hut delivery. I had worked for the company for several years starting out as a basic grunt and worked my way up.
Part of the management program was that once a month you would go away for a week to do training sessions as a group. So there would be 20 to 30 people from up and down the country all doing the same training as you, getting together to train on specific areas of the business and gave you a chance to network with other people to share experiences or help each other during the process. Most of the people would all be internal promotions like myself, but you would also get people who came from other companies and were going straight in at management level.
We had this one guy who had been a deputy manager at McDonalds and all he kept doing was saying "at McDonalds we did this" "at McDonalds we did that".
After much griping between us guys who were all internal promotions, one day I just had enough and said "Look dude, if you wanna keep going on about McDonalds, why don't you go back there? We really do not care how they do things there because we don't work there. Please stop going on about it."
He never spoke about McDonalds again, and we still stayed on good speaking terms.
Some people just do not realise that when you go somewhere else, those people there do not want to hear about where you worked before.
And same goes for transferring from one store in the same company to another. In another retail job I had to pull a manager aside who transferred from another store and tell her to stop constantly talking about her old store as the colleagues are starting to get the feeling you do not want to be here, and you are losing their respect.
So yeah, I can understand why talking about your home country all the time is not a great thing to do in a workplace.
As an ex-pat you speak English quite well.
At least I do know what languages are used in Canada and know where in the world it is, unlike some people from USA shown on some videos.
There comes a point at which you realise that the mistakes you have made are not mistakes; they are part of living and growing naturally in a human society - you take your environment with you, no matter where you go. It just changes and grows as you change and grow. Then they meld.
Good rules for living at home too. Thanks!
"Go with the flow rather than fight the current" must surely go along with "You do You" and "Just say yes" as wrap around sayings of Alanna on your merch Mugs if you ever decide to do them...I'd buy it!!
😂 I better write that down!
Hey Alanna, great video as always. One of the ways you forgot to mention for expats to meet new friends is to meet up with people who like talking about true crimes and murders. 😀
😂 so true!!
My girlfriend is from Brazil. She loves the UK. She says she’ll never go back to her country.
Thank goodness Alanna tried Yorkshire Tea...☕🇬🇧
Thank goodness! Nearly Tea-Season, too! ❄️
@Adventures and Naps now, now Alanna, don't you know yet that "tea season" in Britain is all year round!
Well, I think you've mostly managed to avoid going out of your way to compare things between the UK and Canada. Can you imagine if you'd made a whole UA-cam channel for that very purpose?! lol.
Joking of course btw.
Wise words. First 2 Work with new jobs too. "At xx we used to do it this way" "Well you're not at xx now........." etc.👍
These are great suggestions for anyone, not just ex-pats. So many people miss out on so much by just sticking to their old regime. Excellent video. If more people listened to - and followed - the advice in here, I'm sure they'd have happier lives. Not everything is about money, but having an idea beforehand how much things cost is always important. Debts don't lead to a happy life.
thank you
Wise words grasshopper. 👍😊
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Thank you
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I find it IMPOSSIBLE to believe our Alanna finds it hard to make friends.
OK, moving to another country is, I imagine, quite a challenge. But I have to say moving from anywhere to another place even within a country, I doubt is much different. When I moved from 'up-north' to 'down south' for work, that was pretty challenging too.
That said as a ‘typical northerner’ I will talk to anyone at the drop of a hat. Go to any northern town and stand at a bus stop and a local WILL talk to you. Sure, you have to be wary of some who may have dubious motives, but just be sensible and don’t go with anyone to a place you don’t know. If they invite you somewhere make sure it’s during the day and very public; Only go if there are going to be other friends and associates of theirs present;- etc.
But I feel safe in saying that by far the vast majority who will strike-up a conversation with you, are just being genuinely friendly and if you are a foreigner, they are generally very welcoming and want to be helpful. Ask them anything and, if they know, they will point you in the right direction. Want to get your bearings in a new place and make friends? - they’ll probably have loads of great suggestions.
Sadly (generally speaking) the closer you get to London the less openly-friendly people tend to be, which was somewhat unsettling for me when I first moved down from my hometown of Wigan to Dartford in Kent. But I am very much a community-orientated person. I like helping people and getting involved in local stuff, so soon found my feet and now know quite a few people, including some in rather important places.
Admittedly though making close reliable friends is hard wherever you go when you are a newcomer, and it is something I am trying to address by developing a community project around the issue with the help of other local agencies, to hopefully make feeling somewhat lost and isolated in a new town or city easier to cope with.
When I moved from Britain to Australia I did those things the first year I was here, constantly converting currency which is a totally meaningless thing.
Trying to figure out how (especially) department stores and supermarkets sat in relationship to each other.
I wish I knew better lol don't we all 😃 intrigued to find out just what this is about something very amusing I'm sure 🥳
I hope so!
If you'd put your budget videos in their own playlist that'd be super helpful! Thanks!
Going on about anything too much can be cringe I suppose. So well done for fesing up😉. I think you have probably saved some expat newbies. And good for you about your honisty about mental health. 👌👍. Good vid gurl 😀👏
'' CringeI! " WTF predictive text 🤣
Good advice, and it works both ways around. I remember always having to catch myself before saying, "in England we ..." too often".
One more subtle thing to watch for is when you're walking towards someone on a path or supermarket aisle: it isn't a hard and fast rule, but in the USA people tend to move to the right, same as on the road. It took me a while to notice that I was instinctively moving to the left, same as in the UK, and too often ended up doing that little left/right dance
A British tradition that I did stick to was buying rounds in the pub. My friends found it a bit odd, but after a while it caught on. It's a sort of commitment that you're going to be hanging around with a group of people long enough that the cost of a round evens out between everyone (and the whole group can help out a friend who might be a bit short on cash without it being a big deal).
Ahh you're totally right about the left/right thing - I never noticed that before!
@@AdventuresAndNaps I have to be honest, I only really noticed when my Mum visited me and I saw it happen to someone else.
@@strayling1 I'm a Brit living in a right country, wife from another right country so I'm reminded of this daily.
@@strayling1 Wish I'd had your strength to stick to the rounds.
If you bump into Alanna on the street, the conversation will go like,
“O my gawd you Briddish! Did you ever have tea with the Queen!”
Making friends as an adult is ridiculously hard.
It doesn't matter if you moved from Canada or just to the other end of the country.
6:49 "Try new drink"
I feel Alanna had to really push herself to follow this advice.
I try not to do any work events just want to go home.
Hiya Alanna, this vlog is very informative, and very true, is life in Canada allot different to Britain? I always imagine that Canada is like Victorian times in Britain (but maybe not, I'm just being silly) I've been watching allot of vlogs on Toronto and Vancouver, and found them interesting, does every Canadian city have an Queen Victoria street or road? If your from United States or Canada, Weatherspoon's isn't all that cracked up to be, always go to a genuine Fish and Chips take out, the quality is so much better, btw Alanna I like your glasses, this is Choppy in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England
How dare you say we are truly wonderful ! 😄
Budgeting is a life skill everybody should acquire, expat or not. Especially when your energy bills increase by 50% more or less overnight.
Ah "just say yes" (to socialising with you colleges)! Ha, as my work college said to me once, I have to see these people because I'm paid to, but I'm damned if I'm going to spend my own time with them. Lol
Hey, they're opening a Tim Horton's in Watford (about 4 miles from me) so I'll be able to see what it is you and your compatriots like about it! (Wrong side of London for you to go there, but it's a start!)
I find, if you say no to most things, you can't tell the difference.
ENEMEDE, If you say no to most things, you are not living you are just existing in your own wee bubble. All the very best to you and yours. Rab
1, putting the butter on before the jam. 2, putting the jam on before the butter. 3, putting the cream on before the jam and 4, putting the jam on before the butter
I’m a child of the 80s and was always told JUST SAY NO! But I’m going to adopt the Alanna philosophy and JUST SAY YES from now on...until this gets me into trouble 😅 Some great advice, Alanna. Thanks for sharing with us!
😂 I cannot be held responsible!!
Zammo and Roland will be coming for you. Watch out for flying sausages. You've been warned. 😁
In the 90s it was "say no, never go!" I was part of the "never, never club" 😂
😂
@@Elwaves2925 Rolaaaand! 😂 I actually used to see Ted Fisk (never with Mauler mind you) all the time because he was a local DJ. Never saw him with a fork and sausage though, thankfully 🥵
As someone who recently moved to Taiwan from the UK, point 1 has been HUGE for me. I need to stop comparing, like right now.
That must be such a big culture change! Hope you're settling in OK
@@AdventuresAndNaps It has been and I am thank you :)
Cool video Alanna! Do you think introverts typically find it harder to settle abroad - I thinking about the difficulty makng friends in the foreign country aspect.
It must be so hard not to compare especially when you've lived all your life in another country, and then you get here and everything's kinda the same but also weirdly different, and yet categorically better, so I empathise with the expats! 🌚
😂
@@AdventuresAndNaps I've lived in 5 countries and this is basically all I talk about.
My fav band shirt, L Eclipse
Hey I get it. It's sort of charmimg to say Wow .... that's so weird coz it's not like this at home in ....Canada for instance. It's fine. Obviously you want a slice of home; (in this case Canada;) but part of the whole purpose of visiting other countries is to see other cultures and ways of doing things.
Having a nice English cup or pot of tea at five O'clock is something that has probably fallen out of fashion with us ol' stiff ass Brits but it's one of life's simple pleasures. Also if you're not in to cups of tea, maybe try a drink down the pub.
Ha ha yes!!! Back in blah blah blah we did it like this or we have this... When I first moved to Asia I worked at a company with Pilots from all over the world, We had English, Scotts, Indians, Aussies, Japanese, Portuguese, Kiwis, Canadians, South Africans and me the lone American and on days where a lot of us happened to be in the office we would all end up comparing how each of us was used to doing whatever...
Tetley's make tea bags make tea.
Ahh. I think you're very English. You said, "I'm SAT here in the kitchen". Which is past tense instead of, "I'm SITTING here in the kitchen". I've noticed Brits say it that way and it always throws me off a bit.
i work with a debt charity, wearing that hat! BUDGET, wherever you live, however long you have been there, weather you plan living there weeks or decades BUDGET and SAVE a little every payday for rainy days, breakdowns and disasters, most people need 3 months of income in savings
I’ve never lived in another country and I get annoyed when Tesco changes the layout. It’s just, why? Just when I had my shopping trip streamlined, I am back to “where the hell is the bacon now? WHERE IS THE BACON!?!?!?!”
😂 My Tesco just changed and I was so confused!!
Apparently supermarkets change where things are to make customers look for stuff and in doing so see things they don't really want or need, but end up buying anyway.
Basically, it's a sales ploy.
(and bloody annoying at the same time!)
That's incredible and makes so much sense 😩
@@AdventuresAndNaps Oh yes, there is a very good reason why Tescos make billions of pounds profit every year (yes, billions!)
Maybe it's a sign from above to eat less bacon.
First , good morning . Second , thank you but l doubt l will move again , the move from Norway to America was enough for one lifetime.
Do you have a specific type of software you use for budgeting eg. Mint?.....or perhaps you just use a custom made Exel spreadsheet?
I would like to know what brand of FRESH coffee you drink. Do you buy the same coffee that you had in Canada? If so do you have to import it, and how does the price compare? I would like to try it myself.
Do you find this happens in reverse when you go home now? Like to you compare things to the uk
We're British but, I have a friend who used to budget for everything.
His plan was to retire by 55 and he was doing really well according to his projections.
I convinced him to buy a motorcycle.
He will now be working until he dies 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@Wayne Kent so unkind, but as funny as f**k!👍
Supermarkets are always changing the layout and that bugs me too! They must get bored and try and find a new thing to irritate us for a laugh. Lol.
😂
They change the layout so that while you are looking for your item, you have to walk past other stuff. So you therefore may purchase other items you had not intended to. It’s all very calculated. This is my opinion. Plus yeah, it’s fun to piss us off. 😅
Can you make video on Northern Ireland
Bed head nah not like your Bering seen by 1,000's of people you will meet face to face 😁 wise words, the spreadsheet helped me pay back the banks and survive.
Supermarkets do it to annoy their regular customer base 😂
( it's a sales thing actually)
Regret saying no at one job.
This is a great video to watch while the focus of the UK media is on the Queen.
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Thanks for sharing added my full support as well 🤝🎁👍stay connected love and greetings frem USA pour 🇺🇲❤️like *
Woooo! 😉
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@@AdventuresAndNaps 😁
"I wish I knew better"... Erm ..I wish I'd known better...?
Tesco's again LOL
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