Immigration in Scotland

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

Actually, I wrote my piece late last night. Rereading it, I sound pretty gloomy.

I shouldn't have sounded so discouraging since the cultural differences between English speaking nations isn't as drastic as moving between countries with real cultural differences (e.g., Belgium, China, Nigeria, etc.) The real difficulty is in getting citizenship in the UK, not cultural. There are enough cultural influences between the US and UK these days that the change doesn't need to be drastic.

For example, you can get BBC radio via internet. Loads of British TV out there as well. The music isn't that different, especially if you listen to something like Radio 1.

Conversely, don't be surprised if someone in a pub asks you about NASCAR. I remember how popular "Dallas" was in the late-70s. William Hill (a "turf accountant") was taking bets on who shot J.R. Also, I was visiting my mother in Glasgow and the cabbie asked me if I was there to see "Frankie", as Frank Sinatra was in town at the time.

The point I wanted to make was that you may not get to live where you want. As I said, I would love to live in London, but various factors keep me from doing that. So, I keep the London in my heart, which is tough as I miss the culture (Theatre, Music, restaurants, etc.).

Ultimately, you may have to work on changing your current living situation, and I can agree with you about SUVs. On the other hand, you might get upset when you see SUVs driving down a British (inclusive of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland) street.

You also live on the East Coast, which is a lot closer to Europe in feel than Southern California.

Whatever happens, I wish you well and am willing to act as a resource for you.