Photo Friday!! - Cardiff



Here is a view of Cardiff from nearly fifteen stories up on a clear, sunny day. You can see Queen Street and just make out the Millenium Stadium on the left.

Quick Word!

To avoid burnout, I'll try to be a bit more brief with my posts, but continue sharing out differences that I discover or that occur to me over time. Today's realization: Americans prefer the word "almost" over "nearly". For British people it would appear the opposite is true.

Quick tip #1

If you happen to be looking for a Radio Shack equivalent in the UK, look up Maplins. They have all the wires and parts you might expect to find.

News Article

Found an interesting article on the subject of accents that I thought I'd share with you all.

Click here for the article.

Photo Friday!! - Royal Mail Letterbox

This is what the post boxes look like in Great Britain. If you're wondering what in the world the huge E II R is in the middle, It stands for Elizabeth Regina (Queen in Latin) II (because she is Elizabeth the second). This is tradition for the Royal Mail. They put the Latin initials of the reigning monarch on the post box once it is erected. Unlike the US Postal service, you can't leave mail in your mailbox and raise the flag for the postman to pick it up. You have to either drop your postaged letter in one of these or go to a post office.


- An American in the UK

Money Talks

Let's you and I talk a little about dosh, quid, and booty! What in the world am I talking about? Cash, of course. There are some major differences in the coinage and the look of the paper (notes, as their called here) money is much different in look and texture. There are nine different denominations of coins: penny, two-pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, pound, and two pound.

Remember back in the late 90's when they were pushing those Sacagawea dollar coins? They actually stuck here in Britain (although they definitely don't have a Native American on the front.. more like.. the Queen). They've done away completely with one pound notes (or bills). It's nice not to have a ton of one dollar bills around, right?

Let's talk about size and value. The British penny is practically identical in size and color to the American penny, it's also worth the same amount 1/100 of the pound (of course this is totally ignoring the current exchange rate with the dollar, but bear with me, it's easier for me to explain it this way..). The two-pence is the size of a quarter and is made of copper, just like the penny and is worth.. you guessed it, two pennies or 2/100 of the pound (I'm just going to stop telling you what it's worth now, you get the idea.) The 5 pence coin looks much like the American dime. It's the same size and color, however, unlike what your brain is telling you, it's not worth 10 pence. The ten pence piece looks very much like the American quarter. It's the same size and color and has the course edging on it. The twenty pence piece is about the size of the American nickle, but it is hexagonal in shape, it's also silver. The fifty pence piece is about the size of an American half-dollar, but it is also hexagonal in shape, and weighs much less than a half-dollar. I will include a picture below of the British coins next to their American counterparts in value order.

Because of the size similarities, but the value difference in coins, it is difficult at first when you're trying to pay with coins. After a while though, you get the hang of it. Next up is the pound notes. I don't have a lot of money to flash around so I can't tell you every denomination that they have in Britain, but the notes that I have encountered are: 5 pound notes, 10 pound notes, 20 pound notes, and 50 pound notes. For demonstration purposes in sizes, I will show you a twenty dollar bill next to a twenty pound note. Each note has a different size and color. The 5 pound note is much smaller than the twenty pound note.

As of today the British Pound is worth 1.6246 USD. That means that your money doesn't go that far when you come here from the States.

I hope this has been helpful and look forward to our next discussion.

- An American in the UK

ps. Thanks to Tom for reminding me about the two pound coin.

Photo Friday!! - London Metropolitan Police Constable

This is what your typical constable looks like in London. There are regular officers who wear bright yellow jackets (like highway workers) and checkered hats and there are also community support officers who are somewhat like our college cops, but they get cooler uniforms. Most law enforcement officers are unarmed in the UK, unless they're in train stations or airports. They are usually packing a sub-machine gun when they are in public transport hubs.

Do you have a picture request? If so, email it to USAmericanintheUK@gmail.com and I'll do my best to get it for you.


-An American in the UK