Just seen this Moco - Yeah I know I'm like an Ikran's tail - always behind! Hehehe.

Anyway if you do end up coming over to England, don't be a stranger. We can always have mini meet up with some UK Avatar fans.

As for the weather over here. Well there are no great fluctuations in temperature like you can get over your way. Winter time -5C (23F) at the worst usually, up to 12C (53F). Spring 6C (42F) to 16 C (60F). Summer 16C (60F) to 25C (77F). Mostly damp in winter, spring...errr...and summer too! Hehehe. Oh forgot autumn, which you know as fall...well...damp! Although it seems to change from year to year. But it's not all that wet really....unless you go to Manchester! Sorry, bit of an in house joke really.

Crime rates? Well, as you can probably guess it is worse in the cities, but I feel pretty safe the places I go, which includes cities, like Birmingham. Knife crime seems to be the main thing rather than guns...coz guns are basically banded - even the police in the UK don't carry guns (although there are armed response units). If you get lost you can always ask a policeman (also know as 'bobbies' over here...amongst other names!).

Public Transport: Although it is not as good as it is in mainland Europe, you will find there is copious amounts of it. London is certainly well catered for with a very comprehensive bus, rail and underground (that's not a terrorist organisation! - just our name for what you will know as the subway) There are even trams in some places like Croydon (south London).

Outside of London the public transport is still pretty good. You can live in the UK without needing a car...well I do!

Although the rail network was slashed in the 60s, there is still a comprehensive network that covers the whole country. A number of cities have tram networks and there a generally buses everywhere. The only downside to the public transport in the UK is that it is mega expensive! In fact any transport in the UK is - Meh! However, booking in advance really does cheapen things and the other thing you will benefit from is getting things like a student rail card, which gives you a 1/3 of fares. There are other student cards too. If you know what you want to do, I can find out further information for you if needed.

Other stuff? Errr...You may find we are quite a compact country compared to the US. Cities and towns are close together. I live between two cities each of which are only 8 miles away, yet if I walk for ten minutes I'm in the countryside. Our cities are not 'tall' unless you go to the business area of London.

The only real 'wilderness' in the UK you will find is in the north and west of Scotland - bascially like the places you see the Hogwarts train pass through in the Harry Potter films.

Maybe something you might find a little quirky about the UK, especially in England, is how the accents change every few tens of miles, which might bring a smile to your face as you try to understand someone saying "Ey up mi duck" or "Wey ey pet" or "Yor roit, yoth" - all different ways folks say hello over here - (East midlands, North East and the West Midlands respectively).

Oh, we are a bit mixed up in our units, in terms of imperial vs metric. Distance is still miles, but most other things are metric, like mass (kg) (1 kg = 2.2 lbs), volume (litres or millilitres). Inches, feet and yards are still common and well understood, although most things are measured in millimeters, centimeters or meters.

Currency wise we have a few more coin to choose from than you have in the US. They are also all different sizes and metal to help recognise them. As you will know we have 'pence' and 'pounds'. Coins come in 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2. Notes are different colours and sizes again and come in £5, £10, £20...and £50 - but if you have one of these, people will think you robbed a bank! Hahahaha.

Ohh...when crossing the road (and you can cross anywhere - unless it's like a motorway or dual carriage way - we don't have J-walking laws) remember to look right first as we drive on the left.

Names for things is fun too: We say chips, you say fries. We say crisps, you say chips! You say pants, we say "It's not that bad" Hahahah....sorry I mean trousers. I could go on but it would spoil the fun you will have

Errr...not sure if that is what you were after in your first post, but hope it was useful and you enjoy your time in the UK. As I say, if you do make it over, don't be a stranger.

Alan

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