And you literally have a whole sandwich
and the filling are French fries. I mean, does it get better than that?
No, it does not.
Hey, guys, welcome back to another Girl Gone London video. If you're new here,
my name is Kalyn.
I'm an American who's lived in the UK for almost 10 years.
And today I'm finally admitting things
that the Brits do better than the Americans.
OK, so in my last video,
which I felt was pretty neutral and just pointing out the differences between
the U.K. and the U.S., I got some comments of people saying,
clearly, you don't like the U.K., you don't want to be here.
And I get that a lot.
And I think part of it comes down to people not understanding that I'm being
light hearted about how I'm reacting to things in the U.K. So I'm just sharing
my experiences as an American, reacting to certain things.
And so obviously that is going to come with some jokes.
Sometimes I'm being serious.
I do think a US road trip is more fun than a UK road trip.
So if we disagree, we disagree.
But for the most part, it's lighthearted.
I don't think that either country is actually better than the other.
I think it's a very gray area.
And so I wanted to create these videos where I'm just going to list some
of the things that I really feel like they do better here in the UK than in the US.
Just so everybody knows that I do not hate the UK.
However, I am also going to do a video
of things that the US does better than the UK.
So we can argue when we get to that video.
Hey guys, briefly interjecting here
because I forgot to mention today's question.
And today's question is, what is your favorite part about the U.K.?
What is your favorite part about living here?
Maybe you're a Brit, maybe you are someone who is an expat here.
Maybe you're just a visitor and you really like the UK.
Comment below and tell me your favorite part about living here.
So the first thing and I've done a whole video about this is the NHS.
The idea here is that medical care is for all, regardless of your ability to pay.
And it's not a privilege,
but a right is one hundred percent better than the state of affairs in the U.S.,
which works for people who do have the means to pay for health care but does
not work for a lot of people who fall in different areas.
The idea here that you have a child and you walk out
of the hospital without paying a bill is really astounding to a lot of Americans.
And after moving here and living
with the NHS and getting accustomed that way of life,
you know, obviously paying for it in other areas and your taxes and things.
But the idea that I don't have to worry about how much the ambulance is going
to cost me is a 100 percent something that the UK does much better than the US.
OK, the next thing is the cost of food in the supermarket slash grocery store.
So if you've ever traveled to the US as
a Brit, you probably, if you stepped foot in a grocery store,
would be shocked by the food prices here in the UK.
Food in the grocery store in particular is so much less expensive than
in the U.S., something that in the US would cost like two to three dollars
for a loaf of bread or something would be like fifty P to maybe a pound here.
So when Americans are coming over and thinking about their budget for food
in the UK, usually we spend a lot less than you would in the US.
We spend about two hundred pounds per
month on food for two people and sometimes we do spend less than that in the US.
I really don't think that would get you
a month's worth of food for two people just because of the prices.
So in that way, I definitely think the UK is better than the US.
OK, the next thing on my list may seem
a little bit trivial, but for somebody who loves French fries
chips, yes, I know they're not the same thing.
British people I do understand.
But as an American, we would call anything that is a fried potato, a French fry.
We wouldn't differentiate between.
We don't have another word.
We would just call it like thick cut French fries maybe.
Anyway,
here in the UK, I feel like they pair French fries chips with so many things
that we wouldn't in the US, which I am a total fan of.
So for instance, what they would call a chip buddy
translated into American would be a French fry sandwich.
They've got thick cut French fries on a sandwich and they eat it with ketchup
or with salt or someone told me the other day, like vinegar and you literally have
a whole sandwich and the filling our French fries.
I mean, does it get better than that? No, it does not.
Another thing they tend to pair fries with here that I've noticed is they will
have pizza and fries as one meal pizza and chips, they would call it.
That's not really a combo that we do in the US.
We would maybe have like maybe. Maybe you would.
Pizza and garlic bread,
so we do get like the double carbs in there, but pizza and fries would just
see it's just seen as like a weird combination, but it's the best combination
because what could possibly be better than eating an entire meal of pizza and fries?
So I feel like the US should really get on board with this.
I'm not saying people don't do it.
I'm just saying it's definitely not
a popular combination that people automatically go to.
And I really feel like this is one
of the best things the UK has done for the world.
OK, the next thing that is much better in the UK than in the US is public
transportation or what they would call public transport for a short you can get
around almost the whole of the UK by trains, boats, busses.
You don't have to have a car, obviously, in the more rural areas.
It is definitely much more convenient to have a car.
Tons of people drive and not just rely on public transportation.
But the point remains that if you lived in a lot of places in the States and you
didn't have a car, you would have almost no options.
Here in the UK, you can live and a lot of places without a car.
And I'm not just talking about London, I'm not just talking about cities.
You could live in a more suburban area and have plenty
of busses that are going to connect you to your town and to surrounding towns
that are relatively low on time on schedule in the US.
I'm used to bus transportation where I'm from in Florida, basically nonexistent.
And if it is existent, it's just not something that people take.
It's not necessarily reliable here.
Public transportation is often used as popular, is reliable,
and obviously it's easier to link a smaller country than all of America.
But it is what it is in the UK wins for that one.
The next thing that's better in the UK than in the US is
the type of roofs that they have on their homes only because in the US we are used
to needing to replace our roof like every 10 to 15 years.
I think it is particularly the area where I'm from in Florida.
This is a common way to do roofs in the UK.
They don't like you don't necessarily think about replacing your roof.
I've never no one's ever brought that up.
And like the house buying process of this
roof will need to be replaced or anything like that.
So I'm not entirely sure the differences between the roofs.
I know here they have like much thicker,
like blocks that they use on the roof.
Whereas in the US we kind of use like like this flimsy roof tiles.
It could also be they're not exposed to,
you know, the same amount of extreme weather as in the US.
I know in Florida we have to contend
with like hurricanes and the heat and things like that.
It's a bit more mild here in the UK.
So maybe that plays into it.
But overall, your roof is not going to be
like a huge expense that you have to shell out for as soon as you buy your house
and you don't really have to factor that into your budget.
So it's a very specific thing, but it is something that's better here in the UK.
OK, the next thing that's better in the UK is work life balance.
So in America we definitely have a go
getter culture, which I do like in some ways.
But when it comes to the work life balance, it's not good or whatsoever.
We have you know, we don't have federal
required vacation time or holiday time, as they would say here in the UK.
A lots of companies will have like an allocated number of sick days.
And after you reach the end of your sick days, then you have to start using your
vacation time or you basically don't get paid.
Here in the UK, most companies like if you're sick, you're sick.
Obviously, if it's an ongoing problem, they'll work with you.
But you're not freaking out that you're going to use up all of your time.
In fact, there is a rule, I believe, that if you are on holiday,
if you're using holiday time and you get sick or ill, as I say here,
because getting sick in the UK is like throwing up.
But Americans say getting sick.
I mean, getting ill.
If you get ill during vacation time or
holiday time, I'm pretty sure you can lay claim back part of those holiday days
and use your sick days and just take it as a sick day instead.
But in general, there's not this hustle culture of you need to, you know,
like dedicate your entire life to your job.
I think people here recognize that there is more to life than work.
And I mean, obviously the cultures play into it and what we prioritize and what we
see as important in life and important qualities to have as a person.
But definitely in the UK, you're not always worried that you're
going to lose your job because of something stupid.
It's pretty.
Difficult to actually fire somebody here after they've worked here for a long time
and you just have a better work life balance overall in many areas.
And the last difference I came up with,
again, might seem more trivial, but it has to do with a UK plug.
So a UK plug.
One minute I will show you
if you're an American, this is what a UK plug looks like.
So it actually has this third bit.
So you can kind of see one, two and three.
A USB plug only has to
plug in things like the official term.
So plugs here tend to stay in the wall
a lot better than in the US where it can be a problem for them,
a falling out if they're pretty loose or get knocked by something.
A UK plug is like not falling out of whatever it's plugged into.
And again, it's a small thing,
but something that I have noticed and I do think is better in the UK than in the US.
OK, so that brings me to the end of my video.
Definitely comment below and let me know your favorite part about the UK.
I know not everyone will have other countries to compare with.
So just tell me, what is it that you love the most about the UK,
whether it is whether you are British or whether you are just a visitor.
Thank you guys for watching and I'll see you next time.