American Reacts 10 Reasons Why The UK is The Best Country in the World

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  • čas přidán 15. 09. 2022
  • In this video I react to 10 reasons why the UK is the best country in the world! I must say, as an American I wasn't disappointed, maybe a little jealous. The reasons shown in this video made me realize just how much I didn't know about the United Kingdom. It's awesome.
    The scenery is beautiful, the history is amazing, crime is low, the climate is great, healthcare is free and you even have four unique countries to explore under the UK flag. Wow! It takes a lot to truly be the best, but I wouldn't blame the British people for claiming that the UK is the best country in the world. There is no doubt in my mind it has to be one of the greatest.
    Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this reaction please give it a thumbs up, feel free to comment your thoughts and click the subscribe button to join me on my journey to discover the UK.

Komentáře • 1,3K

  • @kittyperry
    @kittyperry Před rokem +104

    I felt that with all my heart. I grew up in Sri Lanka, but the very first time I visited the UK, I felt I had come home. And I am so glad I moved here - I've been in England now for 17 years, and having visited as much of the UK as possible in that time, this is the right place for me.

    • @cathyrussell7157
      @cathyrussell7157 Před rokem +3

      kittyperry - 😘🥰😍

    • @sadiebeanz
      @sadiebeanz Před rokem +6

      Welcome honorary Brit 🖤

    • @neilgilbert6798
      @neilgilbert6798 Před rokem +4

      Welcome home 🇬🇧

    • @Lee_303
      @Lee_303 Před 11 měsíci +1

      The problem with the UK "feeling at home" is.... it could be so much better. I'm not trying to rain on anyones parade here. But is the glass half full, or half empty? Our politicians are far worse than they've ever been & they take this out on the UK. It might 'feel' better than other countries, but really you need to look at what's in front of you, look at the bigger picture. Things here aren't getting better. Though I'd never move anywhere else. Mostly because I couldn't afford to.

    • @tommyden4165
      @tommyden4165 Před 9 měsíci +1

      🇬🇧 ❤🇺🇸👍🏻🙏🏻🌟

  • @GanjaLady
    @GanjaLady Před rokem +26

    I am so proud to be BRITISH ❤

  • @penname5766
    @penname5766 Před rokem +95

    Those tiny old churches in the middle of villages surrounded by green fields and hills are absolutely everywhere in the U.K., so you’ll be in your element if you visit.

    • @cdkmonkey2699
      @cdkmonkey2699 Před rokem +2

      No church is a hamlet ,

    • @richard6440
      @richard6440 Před rokem +1

      @@cdkmonkey2699 Dammit , the mild cigar , found under benches and hedges :)

    • @TheWebcrafter
      @TheWebcrafter Před rokem +1

      @@richard6440 Hey there, @cdkmonkey you're showing your age with the Benson & Hedges ad quote. Next you'll be singing, 'Everyone's a fruit and nutcase.' 😃

    • @TheWebcrafter
      @TheWebcrafter Před rokem

      @@cdkmonkey2699 you're showing your age with the Benson & Hedges ad quote. Next you'll be singing, 'Everyone's a fruit and nutcase.'

    • @richard6440
      @richard6440 Před rokem +2

      @@TheWebcrafter Do the shake and vac, and put the freshness back :)

  • @marybarnes8698
    @marybarnes8698 Před rokem +25

    If you want to live in a safe country with a temperate climate full of beautiful landscapes and places to explore you can't go wrong coming here

  • @davidskelhorn9711
    @davidskelhorn9711 Před rokem +53

    I spent 30 years in the USA and became a citizen. I have chosen to retire in the UK for many reasons independent of my origins as I've been all over the globe in my working career. The weather is variable but never extreme. Gorgeous places are close and the beaches never far away. I walk my dog daily in various "country or coastal walks. My Hip replacement coat me £0.00 and was awesome, but I had to wait in line for it. Cost of living (salaries are lower here also!) is much lower so my US$ goes further. On balance, this is as close to paradise (outside big cities) as you can get. Now, for an American - you would have to undergo major lifestyle issues - smaller cars narrow, often 1-lane roads, smaller houses etc. but the struggles are part of the charm. The pace of life is very different so don't come here expecting it to be a mini-USA it's not. You must merge to enjoy!

    • @conversemackem8653
      @conversemackem8653 Před rokem

      You retired here to get your free hip replacement on the National Health Service which would have cost you a fortune in America., never paying any contributions for 30 years but returning for your freebie hip. Your kind make a mockery of it all. Parasite!

  • @stevewallace1387
    @stevewallace1387 Před rokem +5

    There is no hatred I'm English and all the Irish Welsh and Scottish people that I have met have been lovely people

  • @penname5766
    @penname5766 Před rokem +53

    We don’t have a “Central Park” in London, we have loads of huge parks and then hundreds and hundreds of smaller green spaces. It’s one of the greenest cities in the world. We also have some very, very large parks a bit outside of the centre in Greater London. Most of them used to be royal hunting grounds and to this day, some of them have herds of roaming wild deer.

    • @vhc6600
      @vhc6600 Před rokem +6

      Greater London is almost 50% open space in terms of land

    • @jeanlind7540
      @jeanlind7540 Před rokem +1

      Particularly love Greenwich Park.

    • @Felix-Sited
      @Felix-Sited Před rokem

      London is actually classified as a forest.

    • @MichaelLynch1
      @MichaelLynch1 Před 9 měsíci

      That was Hyde Park in Central London, we don't have much rain in London from May to September

  • @douglasmcclelland
    @douglasmcclelland Před rokem +136

    For such a small country the UK has achieved so much throughout its history!

    • @rachelbarber8814
      @rachelbarber8814 Před rokem +8

      Haven't we just!

    • @jacobkayadoe7851
      @jacobkayadoe7851 Před rokem +4

      Indeed

    • @kaydod3190
      @kaydod3190 Před rokem +2

      No it didn’t anything

    • @syttt7925
      @syttt7925 Před rokem +4

      @@kaydod3190 The UK has done a lot but it had a lot of help though colonialism and slavery

    • @marklaverty5999
      @marklaverty5999 Před rokem +16

      @@syttt7925 colonialism yes, slavery not so much. Yes it was a thing but nothing like Portugal etc. UK was one of the first countries to outlaw slavery and it was the British anti-slavery crusade that forcibly ended the slave trade for the rest of the world.

  • @CEP73
    @CEP73 Před rokem +110

    Even in my family we had so many accents. Mum was Welsh, her dad was Scottish. My dad was Cornish, his dad was from Bristol. Ive been brought up in southern England. My brother lives in Devon and has a strong Devon accent. Back in the day when we all got together, it was accent chaos!!

    • @gavinhall6040
      @gavinhall6040 Před rokem +10

      Jam first 😉

    • @CEP73
      @CEP73 Před rokem +3

      @@gavinhall6040 Yep!! Definitely 😂

    • @extint3407
      @extint3407 Před rokem +2

      Same... My dad was Northern Irish.. my mom was English but born in Birmingham yet had more of a RP accent, Me and my siblings were born in Birmingham...my 3 eleat siblings have a different mom but was brought up in the same area yet they have a brummie accent whereas me and my 3 other siblings don't...its really weird because its the same for the entire area they either have a brummie accent or more of a RP accent

    • @daviel6595
      @daviel6595 Před rokem +4

      Scotland gods country

    • @joangordon3376
      @joangordon3376 Před rokem +3

      @@gavinhall6040 butter first - then it doesn't matter 😄 not here in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 anyway 🤣🤣🤣

  • @bunjitsu7046
    @bunjitsu7046 Před rokem +108

    There are actually 73 countries with higher annual rainfall than the UK, its just that ours is little and often rather than having a rainy season. We can go weeks without rain at times and our summers can be very bright and dry. We get very long sun hours in summer (5.30am till 10pm in places!) but small and light showers are a fairly common occurrence. Its not torrential downpours all the time like the stereotype would imply.

    • @s1lkyxo
      @s1lkyxo Před rokem +6

      I remember once I was working with someone who was from Romania, and we went outside for a cigarette, it was about 2am in the summer (cleaning kitchen at end of shift) and he was looking in the sky and he pointed at the horizon saying “what is that light in the sky there” and I looked and said “Oh it’s the sun” and he was shocked, saying “In Romania you never see the sun light at this time, that is amazing” so I explained that because we were further north than Romania that in summer the sun sets around 11 (though where I live in Scotland it can be near midnight before it’s dark) and that the sun just kind of hovers below the horizon still giving off some light rather than fully setting.
      It’s funny the stuff about here that other people notice that you don’t really think about because it just is. Like he was absolutely amazed by it.

    • @rachelbarber8814
      @rachelbarber8814 Před rokem +7

      I'd qualify that by saying the further North you go the longer the summer day. It's not unheard of to be reasonably light at 11pm in the borders.

    • @lookoutleo
      @lookoutleo Před rokem +1

      Think western Highlands of Scotland have most rain in Europe , 3500mm rain year. Certainly I live their and it feels like it

    • @margaretr5701
      @margaretr5701 Před rokem

      The south/east coast has the least rainfall in the UK

    • @nigelfoster6151
      @nigelfoster6151 Před rokem

      By some counts, Essex would qualify as a desert. But the rainfall is spread across the year. I remember this comment from school.

  • @penname5766
    @penname5766 Před rokem +21

    The point is, no matter how much we pay in taxes for the NHS, no one here goes bankrupt to pay medical bills. Ever.

    • @michaelafrancis1361
      @michaelafrancis1361 Před rokem +3

      or pay several hundreds of dollars every month to avaricious insurance companies for health insurance.

    • @superspecky4eyes
      @superspecky4eyes Před rokem

      But your Gran does die while waiting 4 hours for an ambulance..

    • @philiprice7875
      @philiprice7875 Před 6 měsíci

      and you will never hear an amercian say " just had my six months maternity leave still got 6 months left"

  • @rhilou32
    @rhilou32 Před rokem +79

    OK, so this is gonna be another long one from me!
    You're correct in your assumption that was an old passport at the start there. Our new passports (since leaving the EU) are a dark blue colour, and obviously don't contain the European Union name. We'll be having a new passport update in coming months/years, with a change to the internal wording to reflect there now being a King instead of a Queen.
    The islands you mention are mostly part of countries within the UK, and therefore belong to the UK. The Shetland Islands are part of Scotland; as are the Hebrides and the Orkney Islands. The Isle of Man (between England and Northern Ireland on the maps there) is a self-governing British Crown Dependency (as are Jersey and Guernsey which are located in the Channel Islands), and a bit of an interesting situation. It is not part of the United Kingdom itself, however it is part of the wider "British Isles" (the overall collection of islands in the area, including Great Britain, Ireland, etc), but the UK government are responsible for its defence and foreign affairs.
    That clock tower is what most people know as Big Ben, however its actual name is the Elizabeth Tower. The name "Big Ben" refers to the bell found within the tower, rather than the tower itself.
    As for the weather.... It does rain a fair amount, but its not like we suffer from rain 365 days of the year! We've been getting increasingly hot weather during our summers, with highs this year reaching 40C (104F) in some places! How I usually explain the British weather to Americans is: "Imagine Seattle was a country" - we share a lot of similar weather with the PNW!
    10. Accents - We can usually find a completely different accent within a 20-30 minute drive. I'm from "The Midlands" in the UK, and there's a huge variety just within a 30 minute drive of my house! You have to remember that the UK is tiny compared to the US - imagine scaling the US down to the size of Alabama, but still keeping the variety of accents you guys have, and you're about there!
    9. Scenery - Obviously, not everywhere in the UK is *that* beautiful, but we have such a wide variety of beautiful areas! If you want to check out some stunning landscapes within the UK/Ireland, look at the Lake District, The Jurassic Coast, The Yorkshire Dales, The Scottish Lochs, The Giant's Causeway, The Cotswolds....
    8. Different Countries - Its definitely a sibling rivalry! We have our issues with each other, but its mostly just gentle ribbing, with some exceptions!
    7. London - One thing I will say, is that London isn't representative of the UK as a whole. A lot of people, when they come over here to visit, just visit London. And whilst London is a great place to explore as a tourist, you wont get the full UK experience! Its very much an international city!
    Sports - definitely Rugby, Football (Soccer), Cricket, Cheese Rolling.... OK, that last one is definitely more of a niche, jokey suggestion, but you can check out a video (CHEESE ROLLING COMPILATION 2018HD - BESTOP) to discover the hilarity that is the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling!
    6. Safety/Climate/Wildlife - The fact we have basically no deadly animals in the UK always seems to be one of the most shocking discoveries to our friends across the pond! We have one venomous snake that's native to the UK, but bites are not common enough to consider it that deadly! We're more likely to get charged by a bull in a field whilst out walking, that encounter anything deadly!
    As I mentioned above, we're a very similar climate to the PNW.
    5. NHS - As someone with a chronic illness, and many surgeries under my belt, the NHS has saved my life more times than I can count. I don't have a video recommendation to hand, to answer your question on how much in taxes does the NHS cost each of us, but if you do find a video explaining it, just remember that whilst our tax costs could seem high to you, we *don't* pay out $100s each month in health insurance on top of that. Everything is all included within those taxes. One video that might be of interest to you, but isn't specifically about the NHS, but rather taxes in general, is (How Does UK Tax Work? | Income Tax Explained | PAYE - Joe Georgekutty), maybe not for a reaction, but for just personal information.
    Dental is a little different. It's not specifically included in the "free healthcare" (free at point of use, paid for by taxes) system of the NHS, neither is opticians/glasses etc. With Dental, we have both NHS and Private available, but even NHS treatment still costs, its just heavily subsidised. People under a certain age, or with certain health conditions, or on certain benefits, still get free Dental and eyecare, but for everyone else there is a subsidised cost.
    4. Education - yeah, he pretty much covered everything on this one, not much to add other than Oxford and Cambridge are very heavily rooted in tradition, and whilst they are the most recognisable names, I wouldn't call them the "be all and end all" of university education in the UK.
    3. Castles/Ruins - honestly, the ruins are everywhere, and there's large stately homes and castles set up as tourist attractions and landmarks throughout the UK. Edinburgh Castle is a fun visit if you ever find yourself up in Scotland!
    2/1. Not much to say on either of those really!
    Stonehenge is in Salisbury, Wiltshire - the South of England. Its about a 2-3 hour train ride from London, if I remember rightly.
    One thing to note, with regards to your comment about how people feel like they're home, when they visit the places their ancestors lived.... Most British people find it extremely weird when Americans say "Oh, I'm Irish/Scottish/etc", when what they actually mean is "my great-great-great-great-grandfather was Irish/Scottish/etc". I know its a very typically American way to refer to oneself, but if you don't want weird looks if you eventually do come over to visit, I'd stick with "I have Irish/Scottish/etc ancestry" 😂
    Another fantastic video!

    • @reactingtomyroots
      @reactingtomyroots  Před rokem +30

      Wow. Thanks for taking the time to answer all those questions I had throughout the video. Comments like yours have truly helped me learn even more after the videos than before. Cheese rolling as a sport? LOL Yes, I'll have to check that out. As for calling myself English, Irish, etc, I tend to agree. I wouldn't call myself Irish or British over there. LOL That would be weird. If someone asked what ancestry I had, then it would make sense to answer Irish, British, etc. I'm going to have to read over your post maybe 3 times so I can better absorb the information you've shared. Thanks again.

    • @ellesee7079
      @ellesee7079 Před rokem +14

      @@reactingtomyroots Just a little to add about Big Ben. It was cast in the same foundry as The Liberty Bell - I'm sorry yours cracked! 🥺

    • @grahamsmith9541
      @grahamsmith9541 Před rokem +7

      @@ellesee7079 It is the crack in Big Ben that gives it it's unique sound.

    • @cnnungo9598
      @cnnungo9598 Před rokem +7

      Cheese rolling is just self harm not a sport 🤣😂

    • @lawrenceglaister4364
      @lawrenceglaister4364 Před rokem +1

      @@reactingtomyroots like is said above the UK is the size of Alabama but instead of 5m people there is 67m people here hence the size of cars , housing and the bloody price of them . Anyway welcome to a long but exciting history lesson but beware as a lot of Americans have found out that the American education is somewhat shall we say economical with the truth , but no worries you'll enjoy yourself and if you have a sort of British humour there are plenty of television series to look at ie " would I lie to you ". ". Gimme gimme. ". ". Inbetweeners. ". , etc etc etc

  • @marycarver1542
    @marycarver1542 Před 9 měsíci +3

    It rains LESS in London than it does in New York! We are no. 17 in countries in the world for rain !
    Because the UK is an Island, in the Atlantic, we are subject to weather from all directions. Eastern England
    for instance is very dry and sunny in the summer, The South has mild weather but the West, where most of the
    rain comes in, is wet, as is the North of England. It is a blessing that we have the rain we do, the country is
    beautiful as a result of what we do get !

  • @DylRicho
    @DylRicho Před 11 měsíci +3

    13:12
    That's Hyde Park, located near the Natural History Museum. Kensington Palace is located within the park. It's roughly 1.8 x 0.8 miles in size. There are plenty of parks like this around London, but Hyde Park is probably the most iconic.

  • @normanswindon518
    @normanswindon518 Před rokem +42

    Britain was voted the most beautiful island in the world by the travel magazine Lonely Planet, for what it's worth.

    • @paultrussy4243
      @paultrussy4243 Před rokem

      Is that in recent years?

    • @pepelemoko2820
      @pepelemoko2820 Před rokem +2

      Lonely Planet declared "Scotland" as the most beautiful place in the world.

    • @kaydod3190
      @kaydod3190 Před rokem +3

      The most beautiful island? Who the heck did those votings? 😂 😂

    • @kaydod3190
      @kaydod3190 Před rokem +2

      @@pepelemoko2820 lonely planet is bogus for that

    • @pepelemoko2820
      @pepelemoko2820 Před rokem

      @@kaydod3190 It was a genuine thing, however, it wasn't exlusively Scotland, there were many polls for other places. The claims were out of context but of course as a Scot and biased, I was happy to leave out the context hahaha.

  • @VNOMALII
    @VNOMALII Před rokem +41

    its not just countries and a few borders that separate our accents; it's literally city to city, sometimes even town to town within a single city. for example, i live in birmingham, i can drive 20-30 minutes away from my front door to a place called walsall, and everyone will sound completely different to me; with their own unique words for greetings, departures, and even insults. a simple "you alright? how you doing?" in birmingham, will translate in walsall to "yam orloit duck? ow' yam doing?" lol.

    • @khanashley8606
      @khanashley8606 Před rokem +1

      😂 so true then I live in Lichfield which is seen and posh brumy by everyone that’s not around midlands

    • @angelavara4097
      @angelavara4097 Před rokem +1

      I live in Wolverhampton and my neighbour is from Dudley just down the road and she speaks different to me but I am from Featherstone near Stafford.

    • @cheman579
      @cheman579 Před 11 měsíci +1

      yeah here in west yorkshire i don't know many people who don't say "yoreyt pal? harr you duin mush?"

    • @philiprice7875
      @philiprice7875 Před 6 měsíci +1

      i could tell the difference between EAST and WEST Belfast accents and in some places your talking yards away

  • @Kimellis0
    @Kimellis0 Před rokem +64

    The only dangerous animal I've come across was a crazy Seagull divebombing me for my Chips (fries) 🤣and yes, so many Accents , I've changed my accent so many times through out my life time, this was because I moved around alot when I was younger.

    • @sharonalexander4327
      @sharonalexander4327 Před rokem +4

      I'm from Scotland and my relatives are English, we used to visit them many years ago, it was guaranteed following my weeks break I'd return home with an English twang many confused looks from my schoolmates 😆

    • @ASUTASTUD
      @ASUTASTUD Před rokem +3

      We have the Adder snake but I think only around 4 people in the last 20 years have actually been bitten by them

    • @Soulvex
      @Soulvex Před rokem +1

      plenty of shark about if that counts.

    • @Soulvex
      @Soulvex Před rokem

      @@John-nc4bl Alrighty then.

    • @marybarnes8698
      @marybarnes8698 Před rokem +1

      @@ASUTASTUD I saw one once only briefly as a child in a car we were driving through the new forest in hampshire and it just seemed to whiz across the road almost as if it didn't touch the ground and it was fast

  • @puressenceuk35
    @puressenceuk35 Před rokem +161

    That's not Big Ben, that's The Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben is the name of the bell inside, not the tower itself

    • @margaretflounders8510
      @margaretflounders8510 Před rokem +12

      You beat me to it!...

    • @Markus117d
      @Markus117d Před rokem +17

      Lots of people do call it that though.. lol.

    • @happydays3678
      @happydays3678 Před rokem +19

      Yeah we know that it's the bell , but it's affectionately known as Big Ben by many people.

    • @thegroovetube3247
      @thegroovetube3247 Před rokem +18

      Who cares? I know that but still call it Big Ben as do most people.

    • @elemar5
      @elemar5 Před rokem

      @@thegroovetube3247 May I call you Tarquin Pillowbiter?

  • @louisemiller3784
    @louisemiller3784 Před rokem +18

    Thing is if we didn’t have that amount of rain we wouldn’t have the countryside we have

    • @reactingtomyroots
      @reactingtomyroots  Před rokem +4

      Absolutely. One of the first things that pop into my head when I think of the British Isles are lush green fields. I love it.

  • @tommyden4165
    @tommyden4165 Před 9 měsíci +1

    Your be loved in the uk 🇬🇧 brother 🇺🇸 ❤ big respect go were your heart takes u god bless 🙏🏻🌟

  • @annrabie7988
    @annrabie7988 Před rokem +4

    I was 8 when my folks left the UK for South Africa and although it was a great country to grow up in and the people are great, I never really felt at home there. I only got the opportunity to come back to the UK at the end of last year once I'd reached retirement (60 at the company I worked for) in South Africa. Now I feel like I'm home. I'm loving the cooler weather, as well as being able to walk on my own or with my dogs and still feel safe doing so. I can't wait to wander round old graveyards too. There are also a few stone circles that I want to explore. So... growing up outside of this beautiful country, I'm learning some things along with you. Great videos. 😊
    I was devastated when the Queen died and I'm not ashamed to say that I cried all the way through her funeral. May she RIP.
    My mom also told me when we were watching the funeral, that her uncle used to be a Coldstream Guard so I'd like to find out more about my family tree/history, which will be easier to do now that I'm here.

  • @tedroper9195
    @tedroper9195 Před rokem +39

    What sport you described sounds like Croquet. Three most traditionally popular field sports are - Football (Soccer), Rugby & Cricket

    • @alanaw27
      @alanaw27 Před rokem +1

      Quite a lot of croquet is played in Britain.

    • @DraconimLt
      @DraconimLt Před rokem +4

      @@alanaw27 yeah, but he described croquet, mallets etc, but called the sport cricket lol. 😄

    • @joel4285
      @joel4285 Před rokem +1

      @@alanaw27 lol no it’s not

    • @avpmobi
      @avpmobi Před rokem

      Think you need to check up cricket as it is quoted as the worlds 2nd most popular sport behind football (soccer). What you describe is croquet not cricket. The biggest cricket stadium in the world holds 132,000.

    • @Lily_The_Pink972
      @Lily_The_Pink972 Před rokem +1

      It's important to remember there are two main rugby codes, league and union. As a proud northerner, rugby league is by far the best 😊

  • @michael_177
    @michael_177 Před rokem +43

    Another stereotype, it does not rain every other day in the UK. It rains about the same as it does on mainland Europe. Most eastern states in the USA get more rainfall. In fact, we just went through the most intense heatwave in a long time. My garden went from lush green to almost dead brown :( Although, thankfully it seems to be recovering now, and we've started to get a bit more rainfall thank goodness. In fairness I live in the south east where it tends to get a bit hotter and drier, but I think its still applicable

    • @Gerishnakov
      @Gerishnakov Před rokem

      Thank you, global warming.

    • @TheWebcrafter
      @TheWebcrafter Před rokem

      You're correct. It does not rain excessively in the UK more than anywhere else specifically, we just moan about the rain more than others.

    • @countesscable
      @countesscable Před rokem +1

      The east and south east of Britain are warmer and drier. The west is WET!!

    • @superspecky4eyes
      @superspecky4eyes Před rokem

      @@TheWebcrafter We love to moan though :)

  • @MrMagic-
    @MrMagic- Před rokem +27

    You're damn right, the UK is, was and always will be the Greatest Country In The World!!!!

    • @marycarver1542
      @marycarver1542 Před rokem +1

      We dont even have poisonous spiders ! no poisonous snakes, no dangerous wild animals !
      1

    • @blackvulcan100
      @blackvulcan100 Před rokem +2

      @Bert Clarke Name a better country to live ? ps I have travelled all over the world but not New Zealand or Australia

    • @kaydod3190
      @kaydod3190 Před rokem +2

      UK is not, was not, and never will be the greatest country in the world

    • @kaydod3190
      @kaydod3190 Před rokem +1

      @@marycarver1542 so what? Stay out of their way then dummy

    • @blackvulcan100
      @blackvulcan100 Před rokem

      @@kaydod3190 Please name a better one ?

  • @sarahealey1780
    @sarahealey1780 Před rokem +6

    In the UK we pay about 26% of our earnings in tax but that is only if you earn over 12k a year, low income don't pay tax, in the US when you include all the services we get for our tax it would work out at 46% of your salary, so our nhs is far more affordable than yours. It astounds me that you pay for medical in your tax then through insurance then pay copays and also pay for for your medical procedures and then extortionate prices for medication. In the UK any medication perscription costs £9.35 that's it, if you are unemployed, elderly, under 18 or in full time education your medication is free, if your have a condition that is considered terminal ie Diabetes because you die without insulin again all medication is free.

    • @lizzieburgess674
      @lizzieburgess674 Před rokem

      Only in England do we get charged for prescriptions - and even then it is, as you say, at a flat rate, no matter how expensve the drug. If we are in England and must pay, we can buy a 3 or 12 month prescription pre-payment certificate (PPC) which covers all prescriptions for that period, no matter how many. It is worth getting an annual PPC if you need 12 or more prescriptions in a year, or a 3 month one if you are going to need more than 4 in 3 months.

  • @gavinhall6040
    @gavinhall6040 Před rokem +40

    The commonwealth has grown because a couple of old French colonies asked to join, nobody objected and they met the requirements, so we have 56 nations now.

    • @danielw5850
      @danielw5850 Před rokem +4

      Plus Mozambique (former Portuguese colony) and Rwanda (former German colony).

  • @jessicat3649
    @jessicat3649 Před rokem +2

    It's definitely true that the accents vary hugely within a small area. Remember that it's around 12 hours to drive from the south west of England into Scotland so logic sictates that if there are many different accents (and there are) they must be within close proximity to each other. I don't think it's comparable to America in that way. They say the accent changes every 12 miles. I can't say that's definitely true, and as an American you probably wouldn't notice such subtle differences, but I'd say that doesn't sound particularly incorrect.

  • @paulwalker1793
    @paulwalker1793 Před 5 měsíci +2

    I have to say proud to be British 🇬🇧

  • @demonbarber101
    @demonbarber101 Před rokem +9

    you should visit Norfolk. lots of nature reserves, very old buildings, churches, cathedrals and castles.

  • @PerryCJamesUK
    @PerryCJamesUK Před rokem +13

    London has an estimated 3000 parks or green areas. Some are huge.

    • @bunjitsu7046
      @bunjitsu7046 Před rokem +5

      Yeah, we definitely don't only have one haha I love all our green spaces

    • @reactingtomyroots
      @reactingtomyroots  Před rokem +3

      Wow, That's awesome!

    • @grahamsmith9541
      @grahamsmith9541 Před rokem +3

      @@reactingtomyroots Greater London is 21% covered in trees. Which by the United Nations definition makes it officially a Forrest.

  • @elizabethbarnes7963
    @elizabethbarnes7963 Před rokem +12

    I have watched a few of your videos and enjoy your enthusiasm and your quest to understand your roots. The U.K. is indeed a wonderful country in which to live, it’s not perfect but the which country is. Although England is the most densely populated area in Europe there is still wonderful countryside to explore. One way to explore is via public footpaths. These are ancient paths, away from main roads, across farms, hills through tiny villages . It’s a great way to appreciate the rural country, no cars, just walkers, doves, the odd horse riders, sheep and cattle in the field. You will discover prehistoric barrows( burial ground), Roman remains, Norman ruins, tiny hamlets and church with a glorious stain glass window, ancient grave stone watched over by a 4000 year old Yew Tree. It gives you a sense of total freedom I have not found elsewhere. There are many long distance routes such as The Pennine Way, The Thames Path etc. but also thousands of miles of paths joining village to village all far from the madding crowd.

  • @hewitt7615
    @hewitt7615 Před 8 měsíci

    This guy deserves a sub, love from uk 🇬🇧

  • @dale897
    @dale897 Před rokem +16

    This guy understates the amount of accents and dialects in the uk in the video, its more like you can go 5-10 miles in the uk and get a different accents, england alone has 29 dialects of english which is the country with the most dialects of english in the world and thats not including accents which is a different thing than dialects.

    • @howardgrice6682
      @howardgrice6682 Před rokem +3

      Your absolutely right Dale where I live they speak differently 8 miles away

    • @dale897
      @dale897 Před rokem +2

      @@howardgrice6682 obviously there are slight differences in accent too within short distances that only locals realy realise. I live over the otherside of the river mersey from liverpool and we sound scouse to anyone who isn't from merseyside but a scouser would be able to tell im not a scouser and I can tell they are a scouser and it's only a 0.5 mile distance over the river. Don't tell a scouser we sound similar though, they tend to think we are trying to be like them because we sound similar, scousers tend to have complex. when far away from merseyside people don't know the place we are from and ask if we are scousers and we say we are from just outside of liverpool or we might just go along with it because it's simpler than explaining where we are from lol.

    • @Paul-hl8yg
      @Paul-hl8yg Před rokem +1

      So true.. There are quite a few Yorkshire dialects forms of English too lol.

  • @nataliewallace
    @nataliewallace Před rokem +13

    The Republic of Ireland was neutral during WW2 but 'neutral on the allies side' There were some men who gave up their Irish nationality so they could fight for the British against Nazi Germany. After the war they couldn't get their pension on retirement because they were no longer Irish citizens. But they did it anyway........ The Irish are wonderful people and have a sense of humour you wouldn't believe.

    • @archiebald4717
      @archiebald4717 Před rokem +2

      Except that Ireland allowed German U boats to shelter in its harbours.

    • @gallowglass2630
      @gallowglass2630 Před rokem +1

      They never had to give up their citizenship.Your thinking of the men who deserted the irish army ,they were deserters and of course they weren't treated well they were deserters they were lucky they weren't shot.Plenty of irish did join the British army and though to be fair they were badly treated by the irish authorities they didn't desert.British commentators don't realise that ireland faced basically 4 threats in the war period possible german invasion,possible british invasion ,possible american invasion ,and last but certainly not least hardline IRA dissidents that any irish soldier would desert our army at that time was inconcionable albeit to fight the nazis.If the nazis did invade ireland we would have been without 10% of our army. What did the british army do with their deserters i think you will find they had them executed

    • @MrBollocks10
      @MrBollocks10 Před 8 měsíci

      ​@@gallowglass2630Nobody in Britain was executed for desertion in WW2.
      The US sentenced 49 to death.... but commuted the executions of 48.
      WW1 was a different story in Britain.
      You

  • @claregallagher8550
    @claregallagher8550 Před rokem +10

    The islands surrounding Scotland, like the Outer Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland, Barra, Islay etc. are all part of the country of Scotland. Scotland is one of the countries that make up the 4 in the UK. There are other islands which are part of the country of England, such as The Isle of Wight and also there are some off the country of Wales, such as Anglesey.
    Also with regard to rain, it does rain a fair amount, but probably a lot less than people think (if that makes sense!).

  • @meditation16161
    @meditation16161 Před rokem +1

    I love the UK, I'm a truck driver. I'm one of 5% of the population that gets to see the UK on a daily basis, like the USA, there are real rough and ready places and just as many beautiful places.

  • @lindylou7853
    @lindylou7853 Před rokem +12

    The little island in the middle is the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man is a self-governing Crown Dependency, like the Channel Islands (near France and occupied by the Germans during WW2). The Isle of Man has been ruled by all sorts of different countries and kings. It was taken over by the King of Northumbria in the 900s. It’s been invaded by Vikings and sold by the King of Norway to the King of Scotland. It’s flitted between Scotland and England for a while before finally becoming under the lordship of England in around 1400. But it’s always had it’s own Parliament - the Tynwald - and the UK is only responsible for its defence, now. It’s also famous for having its own language, Manx, and Manx cats (no tail) and the castle, landscape and the TT motorbike races on the island’s normal roads. Lots of riders have been killed in these TT races. King Charles is the lord of the Isle of Man, technically. Well worth a visit - get there by plane or ferry.
    The Hebrides and Orkneys are Scottish and part of the UK. There are hundreds of Scottish islands. Many have been inhabited for thousands of years. Indeed you can visit the homes of inhabitants from five thousand or more years ago in Skara Brae in the Orkneys. The seas were the motorways of this time and there was a plentiful supply of fish and seafood. Their homes have built in kitchens, cupboards and beds, all made of flat stone slabs. There’s also the Scilly Isles - south of Cornwall - small, warm, lovely, few cars, no traffic, Mediterranean plants and flowers. The Duke of Cambridge and family go there for holidays. All tourists go to London but your eyes will really be opened by the Highlands and Islands and any of the islands off the UK. Lindisfarne - ancient monastery - there’s hundreds of islands!

  • @bunjitsu7046
    @bunjitsu7046 Před rokem +11

    With the NHS, the tax is taken direct from our wages before we even see it - rough average is about £200 a month BUT the NHS covers everyone, employed, unemployed, retired, disabled and everyone inbetween. Its a percentage of your wages, so the more you earn, you will pay more. But considering it covers everyone for pretty much anything, we are happy to pay it. No single person in the UK will ever have to pay a bill for their health care, even someone who has never been able to work or pay into it. Dental is included but is the only thing where there will be (a very small and capped) charge, children and elderly get it totally free though.

    • @sharonalexander4327
      @sharonalexander4327 Před rokem +3

      Thank goodness for the NHS, it's not perfect but it's there when you need it. I certainly don't mind contributing if it means we all get a shot if needed and I'm sure I've even heard that if tourists etc take unwell, the NHS is there for them too, I'm sure they only pay some sorta donation if not free, long may it last.

    • @nickmacdonald9535
      @nickmacdonald9535 Před rokem +2

      That gives the impression that ypu pay £200 simply for healtcare.

    • @bunjitsu7046
      @bunjitsu7046 Před rokem +3

      @@nickmacdonald9535 We do...but because its a universal system, people who earn more will pay more and those who are unable to pay are covered. There are no insurance companies to deal with, no co-pay and no out of pocket expenses. Every man, woman, child wether old or young, working or not, rich or poor will never had to think about ever receiving a bill or being denied treatment. Worth every penny!

  • @-PixieSticks-
    @-PixieSticks- Před rokem +1

    Big Ben is the name of the bell in the tower, The tower is called The Elizabeth Tower as it as renamed to honour her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II but was originally simply called The Clock Tower. As for deadly animals the most dangerous wild animal here is the Adder which is a snake that is poisonous but is not usually fatal to a healthy adult. Stonehenge is near Salisbury in Wiltshire.

  • @douglasmcclelland
    @douglasmcclelland Před rokem +9

    Interesting fact about the UK…no matter where you are in the UK you are never more than 70 miles from the coast! That’s how small we are!!!

  • @tedroper9195
    @tedroper9195 Před rokem +5

    Stonehenge is in the County of Wiltshire, Southwest England

  • @Bustergonad9649
    @Bustergonad9649 Před rokem +5

    The design for Central Park was based on the design of Birkenhead Park near Liverpool. Birkenhead Park was the worlds first publicly funded civic park.

  • @deanunio
    @deanunio Před rokem +1

    I like you Steve. I wish all Americans were like you 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇦🇺

  • @stumilesyt
    @stumilesyt Před rokem +1

    14:17 Took me a moment to realise you're confusing Cricket with Croquet! I was like "Mallet? Surely you'd say it's a bat like in baseball. Hard ball, check, but a horseshoe for the wicket... oh wait he means croquet!" 🤣

  • @chrisvernon2269
    @chrisvernon2269 Před rokem +3

    Here is my list of 10 that you might also like to consider. 1. Getting out and about using the most accurate maps in the world courtesy of the Ordnance Survey. 2. Beside the usual fire and rescue services, if you venture out to sea there is the Royal National Lifeboat Institution which operates 24/7 around our coasts. 3. Britain is small, which is why it is possible to travel from one end to the other and back in a day to watch you favourite Premier League team (if you can get a ticket). 4. Green space. Publicly accessible green space. In London, aside from the Royal Parks in the centre, further out there is Hampstead Heath, Richmond Park, Wimbledon Common and Greenwich Park, to mention a few. 5. Public footpaths. These run throughout the land, over private property, and are well sign-posted. 6. History, say no more, it's all around you. 7. Museums...for just about anything you can imagine. 8. Public transport. Often over stretched, but there are buses, trains and taxis to get you to pretty much anywhere. 9. National Parks and military training grounds. Fantastic unspoilt areas for walking on the wild side. Just check for the red flags when live firing takes place. 10. Charity shops, are in every high street and offer a huge variety of donated clothes and artefacts for knock-down prices. Enjoy.

  • @amyw6808
    @amyw6808 Před rokem +5

    The accent thing is true. When we moved to Worcestershire, we lived in south Worcestershire and the accent was entirely different- ENTIRELY- to northern Worcestershire. We live in Lincolnshire right now. The Lincoln accent is different to the fenn accent and we are an hour from the cities of Hull, Leicester and Nottingham and all of them have entirely different accents.
    London is full of big parks. They used to be Royal hunting grounds back in the day.

  • @vernonallen3370
    @vernonallen3370 Před rokem +1

    NHS dentistry is subsidised, there are 3 bands of treatment ( this is for England, the rest of the U.K. I believe has different arrangements)
    Band 1 initial check up , treatment plan, x-ray & clean £23.80 this is usually scheduled every six months
    Band 2 , includes everything in band 1 plus fillings, root canal and extractions £65.20
    Band 3 includes everything in 1&2 plus crowns, dentures and bridges.£282.80
    Also prescriptions are £9.35 each in England or you can purchase a year long exemption for £108.10 which covers limitless prescriptions ( free for all in Scotland)
    Over 60’s get free prescriptions and those with long term chronic life threatening conditions.
    However dentistry carried out in NHS hospitals is free
    Under 18’s and under 19’s in full education receive free treatment
    Also if you are pregnant and up to a year after giving birth
    On low income or some benefits

  • @annrabie7988
    @annrabie7988 Před rokem

    I'm totally on the same page with you there with regard to old cemeteries... I love walking around them and looking at the really old tombstones. I feel at peace when I'm doing that. 😌

  • @elemar5
    @elemar5 Před rokem +3

    We don't know if it rains a lot because we grew up in this climate. We are used to whatever comes. We are islands and the weather changes often.

  • @headron66
    @headron66 Před rokem +16

    Most of the little islands surrounding Britain are Scottish and each one is more beautiful than the next, my favourites are Skye and Islay( where I have family) where they make fabulous Whiskey from the peat on the land.Yes as I said before in a comment you can actually go from village to village and the accent and dialect is different. It’s wonderful.

    • @KeithWilliamMacHendry
      @KeithWilliamMacHendry Před rokem +5

      Scotch whisky has no e 🙏🏻

    • @headron66
      @headron66 Před rokem +2

      @@KeithWilliamMacHendry Oh hell I know that. It’s the Irish spelling 🤷‍♀️. That’s because I’m half and half😂. Thanks for telling me👍

  • @jasonward6723
    @jasonward6723 Před rokem +2

    england and the uk was a patchwork quilt of different tribes originally each with their own cultures and accent, over time we melded together the cultures merged as one mostly but the accents remain the same as they was we have a love-hate of each other but we stand together if threatened like any family

  • @glennpeters7133
    @glennpeters7133 Před 11 měsíci

    Hi Steve I hope you're doing well...I've been watching you for a while now,and I know that you would love it here...forget the weather and our crazy politicians, there is so much to see and do,and we have a lot of history too,keep up the great work that you are doing,I'm enjoying it

  • @whattiler5102
    @whattiler5102 Před rokem +4

    Stonehenge is on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire; in the south of England about 85 miles southwest of London.
    They should have also mentioned that we have pretty good public transport; you can get anywhere by train, bus, tram, plane, etc!

  • @ratowey
    @ratowey Před rokem +9

    I expect someone has mentioned this before but the furthest distance you can go from the sea in the UK is 70 miles. Football (Soccer), Rugby, Tennis and Cricket are some of the biggest sports here but we have hundreds of others and we have invented most of them but my Favourite is Formula 1. Stonehenge is in the county of Wiltshire and is roughly halfway between the cities of Salisbury and Bath ( Its actually closer to Salisbury, but if you look for these two cities on a map it will be easier to find).

  • @jokepy4230
    @jokepy4230 Před rokem

    Nice view of Oban near the end of the video.

  • @janebeard3411
    @janebeard3411 Před rokem +1

    London is jam packed with parks. What you were seeing was 3 different ones, Green, St James and Hyde.

  • @markjones127
    @markjones127 Před rokem +6

    I live on the North Wales coast in the rain shadow of a large mountain range called Snowdonia, so even though Snowdonia gets very high rainfall being mountainous, we get slightly less rain than the UK average, I also camp a lot up in the mountains and have seen the odd Adder, which is our only venomous snake, there's about 100 Adder bites reported each year but dying from one is extremely rare and there hasn't been one death reported in the last 20 years, but there are 4 deaths from cow attack each year!

    • @reactingtomyroots
      @reactingtomyroots  Před rokem +6

      It's crazy that cows are the most dangerous animal, but it would be refreshing to have less worry about dangerous animals in nature.

  • @terencecarroll1812
    @terencecarroll1812 Před rokem +4

    It's really not as rainy as people think, we are a small island surrounded by various currents and weather systems so weather is never the same from hour to hour.

  • @akeel_1701
    @akeel_1701 Před rokem +2

    @14.28 what you're describing there sounds like Croquet where you use a mallet to hit the balls through the hoops. Cricket is where a bowler throws a ball at a series of wickets and the batter has to hit the ball to deflect it and then run. So in a way it's kinda sorta like baseball, but also different in a way

  • @sadiebeanz
    @sadiebeanz Před rokem

    We get rain, but it's not all the time. I love rainy days. There is nothing better than an afternoon nap with the sound of the rain on the window. It also keeps everything lush and green here.

  • @mathiasosiriswoodhal
    @mathiasosiriswoodhal Před rokem +6

    Your central park was designed and a larger copy of the park in birkenhead near Liverpool

  • @frankparsons1629
    @frankparsons1629 Před rokem +3

    Big Ben is actually the name of the Great Bell in the tower, which strikes the hours. The clock tower was renamed the Elizabeth Tower to commemorated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

  • @lynnworthington8262
    @lynnworthington8262 Před rokem +2

    As accents go. I live in a town called St Helens. It is around 7 miles from Wigan, 11 miles from Liverpool and 18 miles from Manchester and we all have our own accents. That is how much accents vary from town to town. I love all our accents.

  • @stephenwellstead
    @stephenwellstead Před rokem

    Hi there loved your reaction to Uk British army .. myself from UK OXFORD

  • @gavinhall6040
    @gavinhall6040 Před rokem +4

    We in invented most sports, including "America's pastime", football/soccer, Rugby Union & Rugby League which are similar, and Cricket are the main big sports, plenty of others which you can play indoor like darts, snooker.

  • @vaudevillian7
    @vaudevillian7 Před rokem +8

    The way zoning and green belt building laws work we don’t have the urban sprawl in the same way you get in the US , you’re never far from the countryside - combined with the ancient rights of access we have we can walk through pretty much all of it including through private property

    • @paultrussy4243
      @paultrussy4243 Před rokem +1

      That's a very good point about Rights of Way. I have only recently properly understood just how unusual and peculiar to England these ancient rights of access are, despite my advancing years (63) and being bred/born English over generations. I have solo walked the length and breadth of this island (GB) a number of times; route planning north of the border is strangely harder but in theory easier because of Open Access in Scottish Law; one look at the coloured dotted lines (depicting RoWs on Ordnance Survey maps) stopping abruptly at the border illustrates this perfectly. England really is an oddity in this regard.

  • @johnchristmas7522
    @johnchristmas7522 Před rokem +1

    Nice to hear-you'd be welcome! Like most places, there are down sides too, expensive housing for one but then after a few visits to the pub it all that seems to disappear!

  • @carolineskipper6976
    @carolineskipper6976 Před rokem +1

    We do get a certain amount of rain- but the biggest 'issue' with the weather for most people is that it is cloudy on a lot of days, and during the winter months there are very few daylight hours - in December only 9 hours 10 minutes in London - the shortest day being about 7.30 am to 4.30pm, with the highlands of Scotland it beng more like 9am to 3.30 pm. Our number of days with rainfall are pretty even all year round, which means more rain in summer than other places might get.

  • @SNMG7664
    @SNMG7664 Před rokem +7

    Dental stuff is covered by the NHS if you're under 18, disabled, poor, or old. Even when things are not covered fully they're MASSIVELY cheaper compared to the USA. For example a root canal in the UK costs about £300 at most, I believe.
    Prescription medication is also cheaper in the UK. It's either completely free if you're long term ill, low income, or in Scotland, or is £9 if you do have to pay for it for whatever reason. That compared to the hundreds or even thousands people have to pay in the US for medications even after their insurance is wild!

    • @Brookspirit
      @Brookspirit Před rokem +4

      I have an NHS Pre-Payment certificate, £108 a year for as many prescriptions as you need. If you have multiple regular prescriptions it saves a fortune.

  • @kdog4587
    @kdog4587 Před rokem +3

    I remember moving from my home town in the Midlands, when I was 11 to our new house, 15 minutes away and getting picked on mercilessly at my new school because I had a very different accent. Even neighbouring counties like Warwickshire and Leicestershire, where I previously and now live, have very different accents and they're 15/20 minutes away. Its wild how different accents are when you're only a few miles away!

  • @artemisfowl66
    @artemisfowl66 Před rokem +1

    That Park was Hyde Park but it is not the only Park in London. There are many parks, from huge to tiny. It's a very green city

  • @marvinc9994
    @marvinc9994 Před rokem +2

    Re London Parks:
    There are, in fact, 3000 'parks' in London - of varying sizes. But the 'best' ones tend to be the Royal Parks - including Hyde Park, Richmond and Greenwich Parks, St James etc etc. Quite beautiful - especially if you love animals !

  • @catherinewilkins2760
    @catherinewilkins2760 Před rokem +3

    There are a few islands around the UK most are, fully part of UK. Some like the one in the Irish Sea are Crown Dependency. They are self governing, but dependant on aspects like security. The one in the Irish Sea is the Isle of Man, an interesting place that is famous for the TT racing. The deadly animal in the UK is human. As you talk about weather, well so do we, it is so variable. Our obsession with weather goes so far back in time, you could almost say Stonehenge is a tribute to it. As an island we have been subject to vagaries but infrequently extremes.

  • @CEP73
    @CEP73 Před rokem +7

    I'm sure you'll adore the UK. Even I haven't travelled far in my own country. Furthest up I've been is York. The most spectacular city!! Only go to London if you've got plenty of money...so expensive!!

  • @donaldhooper3064
    @donaldhooper3064 Před 10 měsíci

    I agree with you. Been to London 3 times and love it there. Walking around there is like walking thru a history book. So much history, pageantry and tradition. We only think that things are old here in the USA. Over there, buildings are hundreds and hundreds of years old. Keep up the good work. Don H Ocala Fl

  • @HappyHammer69
    @HappyHammer69 Před rokem +2

    The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.

  • @philipcochran1972
    @philipcochran1972 Před rokem +7

    The 13.5 ton hour bell is named Big Ben. The tower was named The Elizabeth Tower in about 2011. But many people refer to the whole thing as Big Ben. Accents in the UK change from town to town. Take a look at the Cotswolds; villages frozen in time from the 1700s. Britain does have the Adder, a snake whose poison can kill you but the chance of meeting one is about zero.

    • @paultrussy4243
      @paultrussy4243 Před rokem +1

      I walked solo from Lowestoft to Land's End in spring 2016 and despite keeping eyes peeled most of the 560 miles I never saw one, not even in the only place I have ever seen Adder warning notices (Stithians, Cornwall). I guess they don't like my socks! ;)

    • @kennethrollo7891
      @kennethrollo7891 Před rokem

      I actually stood on one thinking it was a stick, it got as big a scare as I did and slid into the heather, that was up lochnagar in scotland.

  • @lyndaansell4226
    @lyndaansell4226 Před rokem +4

    I live just north west of Aberdeen in North East Scotland. We're lucky to have some fantastic countryside on our doorstep and we're very close to the coast too. I'm a big fan of castles and I love visiting them, although I get a few complaints from my kids (and husband) if I drag them along, 😆. Craigievar is a very striking pink castle about a half hour drive away. It's said to have inspired Walt Disney's Cinderella Castle. South of Aberdeen is Dunottar which is in ruins but still imposing, set out into the North Sea on a rocky peninsula. The Shetland Islands are part of Scotland. I've never been there but have been to the closer Orkney Islands. If you want to find stone circles, you can take your pick up there! Where I live now, the Doric dialect of Scots is spoken. I grew up familiar with Lowland Scots (or Lallans) and when I move 40 miles away to Aberdeen for college I couldn't understand what people were saying to me. My husband is English and a security person at his work used to speak to him before every shift at work and he just nodded and smiled as he had no idea what they were saying.

    • @reactingtomyroots
      @reactingtomyroots  Před rokem +1

      Aberdeen looked beautiful from the little I've seen. Definitely like to get up that way on a visit. When I come to visit the UK I want to spend time truly exploring, which is why I'm going to have to wait until we can spend at least a month, if not more over there. As for the castles I have a feeling for me it would be the opposite, I would probably have to drag my wife to tour the castles. Don't get me wrong she would find the first one interesting, but I would be far more interested in discovering many. That's hilarious that he just nods, I think sometimes people from the North east have probably done that to me. My southern accent isn't always the clearest to some of our more proper english speakers. LOL

    • @lyndaansell4226
      @lyndaansell4226 Před rokem

      @@reactingtomyroots Aberdeen isn't generally on the tourist radar but it definitely has it's plus points. It used to have the nickname 'Athens of the North' as it's situated on 7 hills. Having been to Athens, I can assure you that we don't have the Greek weather though, lol. It can be pretty miserable in the rain but in the sunshine the buildings can sparkle as the main building material of the Victorians who constructed much of the older parts of the city used granite as building material. It boasts the second largest granite building in the world. Our public transport is quite good but if you want to go off the beaten track or get places quicker, I would say you definitely need a car. For being so small, the UK is very diverse. England's landscape and geology is distinctly different to Scotland's and the South of England can be much much warmer at times. Parts of England I would go back to again and again are Devon and Cornwall as their coastline is gorgeous and the Lake District in the North of England is stunning to drive through.

  • @adrienne3261
    @adrienne3261 Před rokem

    The mallet & hoop game is Croquet. Cricket is a team of 11 men with innings. Batsmen have a long squarish bat and run between 2 ends. A bit like Baseball.

  • @tracy3364
    @tracy3364 Před rokem

    I think where ever your ancesters are from there's always a pull to that country and Culture hope you visit soon you will enjoy it

  • @mathiasosiriswoodhal
    @mathiasosiriswoodhal Před rokem +3

    That's Elizabeth Tower big Ben is the bell inside bud 😉

  • @michael_177
    @michael_177 Před rokem +14

    When it comes to diversity and multiple cultures, you'll mostly see that in very large areas, such as the big cities. For example, London, Birmingham, Manchester. Of course that's not to say that you wont find all different folk up and down the country, but I think if you were to look at statistics and population data, it would mostly be in large cities and towns.
    Really enjoying your channel, man. Especially because you seem to have a genuine interest and you read comments, etc etc. There's so much cool stuff out there for you to check out, too. Have a good one bro

    • @reactingtomyroots
      @reactingtomyroots  Před rokem +8

      Thanks so much Michael. Yea, I'm really enjoying this journey. It took me looking into my ancestry to realize that while I am an American, my genetics, family history and blood are connected to the people of the British Isles. It's crazy to think I have cousins in a part of the world I knew nothing about. While my paternal line has been in America for a very long time, for my maternal side the last British grandma was still alive in 1900. That's a little of why I'm so driven to learn about Britain, I want a connection to that part of myself.
      I love the comments man. They have helped me learn so much more than even the videos themselves have. I've been trying to respond to as many comments as possible, but it's becoming impossible to respond to everyone at this point. LOL There are so many it would take hours. But, I really do appreciate the comments so I'm committed to spending at least some time every day reading as many as I can get to and trying to respond when I can. Thanks again for the kind words.

    • @Westcountrynordic
      @Westcountrynordic Před rokem +2

      @@reactingtomyroots With the diversity its most diverse in the big southern cities. I grew up in the West country part of England and in my area its was nearly 100% white. Don't really know why there are areas that have a more diverse community than others

  • @davepoul8483
    @davepoul8483 Před rokem

    Hi Steve... great channel... big Ben is the bell in the tower. Its the one that does the BONG,BONG.. on the hours... so you have the chime bells then the bong.. IE Big ben.... The official name of the tower in which Big Ben is located was originally the Clock Tower, but it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012..
    Glad to help..
    Davey P. UK

  • @vernonallen3370
    @vernonallen3370 Před rokem +2

    London has 5 royal parks and many large open heaths, commons and several areas of ancient woodlands as well as hundreds of smaller parks and green spaces

  • @matthewjamison
    @matthewjamison Před rokem +5

    In Britain, people's accent changes every 15 miles.

  • @terencecarroll1812
    @terencecarroll1812 Před rokem +3

    Lots of people think London is UK all over but if you leave London and go in any direction you will be surprised at how beautiful our little island is.

    • @gailcrowe727
      @gailcrowe727 Před rokem +1

      My mother suffered from rheumatism and said that Britain was a damp little island, but she wouldn’t live
      anywhere else!🥴

    • @terencecarroll1812
      @terencecarroll1812 Před rokem +1

      It's really not as bad as people think weather wise, yes it can be damp and dreary but as a ratio we probably have the same amount of rainy days as sunny but we have a lot more dry days than we have rainy

  • @laguna3fase4
    @laguna3fase4 Před rokem

    Big Ben is the name of the bell in the tower, which is called the Elizabeth Tower , which is part of the Palace of Westminster, where the Houses of Parliament are.
    There are several parks in the centre of London the photo was Hyde Park . It is part of the Crown estate.

  • @sandrabeaumont9161
    @sandrabeaumont9161 Před rokem

    The game with the mallet and hoops is called croquet (pronounced (Cro-kay). Cricket is played on a field with a central oblong strip 22 yards long. It has two 'Wickets'. Made up of 3 pointed sticks with a groove at the other end. These are 'Stumps'. The grooves hold two more pieces of round wood called 'Bales'.

  • @sandramorris893
    @sandramorris893 Před rokem +6

    Well, that's the most hilarious description of Cricket I've ever heard, I lost it at Mallet 😂 I live in rural South Wales but born and bred in York, North Yorkshire so from a Welsh point of view I would say Rugby is the most popular sport. Being in rural S. Wales means I have superb views, lovely fresh air and 6 castles within a 10 mile radius of me and we have a hosepipe ban on at the moment because of not enough rainfall since March. Wouldn't live anywhere else.

    • @margaretflounders8510
      @margaretflounders8510 Před rokem +5

      Me too! I just about died!

    • @sandramorris893
      @sandramorris893 Před rokem +6

      @@margaretflounders8510 I think he's got Cricket and Croquet mixed up 😂

    • @margaretr5701
      @margaretr5701 Před rokem +1

      It sounded as if he qaa describing Croquet, a game often seen in British films, especially of certain era's.

  • @richardjohnson2026
    @richardjohnson2026 Před rokem +3

    Yes dental care is included. It's not from our taxes, it's from a tax called National insurance NI and i believe its the same amount for all here as even students pay it as it covers GP, ambulance dental and hospital

    • @Gerishnakov
      @Gerishnakov Před rokem

      Nope, National Insurance is just another income tax on top of the regular income tax. The money the government collects via NI just goes into general spending the same as income tax. It's a massive con.

  • @Oh_ItsClips_ItsClips
    @Oh_ItsClips_ItsClips Před 24 dny

    You would love Lancashire England then. Full of scenic views, old buildings, forests, streams, villages etc. The Lake District England is beautiful too. Yes, it does rain alot here but I love the rain 😊😊😊

  • @susanoneil8786
    @susanoneil8786 Před rokem

    I would suggest that you visit the Cotswolds, this area is full of quaint villages I really think you'd love it.

  • @tigertiger6376
    @tigertiger6376 Před rokem +4

    I'm loving watching your reactions to the UK. As for the NHS, you're right to question dentisty. In theory, it's part of the NHS, but the reality is that it's only subsidised a bit by the NHS - if you need dental work you're gonna pay, and private dental insurance is more necessary than ever if you want to be assured of dental care. The NHS has long waiting lists for a lot of care in general. In an emergency sitaution though, you have no worries about getting free care. Overall I would buy private health care cover in this country if I could afford it, to cover non-emergency needs.

  • @gavinhall6040
    @gavinhall6040 Před rokem +7

    In the UK you can cross a river and the accents can change.

    • @markscouler2534
      @markscouler2534 Před rokem

      Yeah look as us up here newcastle cross the Tyne and you have Sunderland

  • @CptnKremmen
    @CptnKremmen Před rokem

    Big Ben is the bell in the clock that is in the Elizabeth Tower (formally St. Stephen's Tower); there is also the Victoria Tower which prompted the rename of the main clock tower to Elizabeth.

  • @kaelritia
    @kaelritia Před rokem +1

    If you enjoy the pastoral, beatific countryside part of England you might enjoy watching a TV show called Midsomer Murders. Always loved seeing the beautiful countryside and pace of life in these small idyllic villages portrayed but with the entrigue and excitement of murder mysteries. Great show!

  • @emmahowells8334
    @emmahowells8334 Před rokem +4

    You should check out Snowdonia, Tenby & Aberystwyth in Wales.😎👌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

  • @joyridgway6398
    @joyridgway6398 Před rokem +3

    When I went for a job interview I was asked about my accent, would people understand me. I just said I would change my accent. The job was in a town about 8 miles from my home.

    • @reactingtomyroots
      @reactingtomyroots  Před rokem +1

      Wow. I can't imagine the accents changing so much in such a short distance.

  • @Rokurokubi83
    @Rokurokubi83 Před rokem +1

    Big Ben is the name of the bell in the clock tower, but is accepted as the name of the tower itself

  • @elisamcgowan4774
    @elisamcgowan4774 Před 8 měsíci

    You would be VERY welcome here Steve, to visit AND live!.