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Differences between Britain, Canada, and USA

TSE

TSE

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 25, 2007
4,105
3,747
St. Paul, Minnesota
Just curious. I am Minnesotan at the moment, and am going to be a Junior, but trying to do foreign exchange my Senior year. My top three choices were:

1. Germany - I am taking a class to learn German, and this interests me the most because I will learn another language, and it is probably the biggest change in culture. It is also the most expensive, though, and will probably take some adjusting too.

2. Britain - I love the accents, and I would most likely go to London. London has a lot of history, and I could possibly try to get into one of their Universities from there after living in there for a year. This was the middle of the line cost, and I wouldn't learn a new language.

3. Canada - This would be the cheapest, but I've never been there and a change in scenery is the main point of why I want to do foreign exchange in the first place.

I am just wondering what some differences between living in the USA, Canada, and Britain is. I haven't left the USA, not even the Midwest, I've only ever gone to Wisconsin, North Dakota, Iowa, and I live in Minnesota and my family doesn't like traveling so that's why I want to do foreign exchange, change in scenery, and just have some fun while working hard in school. :D
 
Well, if you live in a fairly rural area, then going to the suburbs of Canada will definitely be a change. As well as the urban area.

But overall, I find that the U.S is much more greener than Canada, unless of course if you live on/around farms, then Canada is greener.
 
I think you should reconsider your costs depending on where IN the country you're planning.

For example, regardless of which school, cost of living in London is going to run out MUCH, much more expensive than say, Berlin. By an order of magnitude.
 
TSE said:
1. Germany - I am taking a class to learn German, and this interests me the most because I will learn another language, and it is probably the biggest change in culture. It is also the most expensive, though, and will probably take some adjusting too.
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I'd imagine the Germans at University will almost all be fluent in English, though socially German will be useful.

TSE said:
2. Britain - I love the accents, and I would most likely go to London. London has a lot of history, and I could possibly try to get into one of their Universities from there after living in there for a year. This was the middle of the line cost, and I wouldn't learn a new language.
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FWIW London is more expensive than almost anywhere else in the UK. Accents aren't a reason to come though ;).
 
steveza said:
I think you'll find that the left side of the road is right :)
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Historically, yup.
I can't tell you what to do but I'd like to spend a few months working in the US. I don't think I'd like to stay there. I'd give Canada a shot (given the chance). But I'd probably just stay here (used to the climate!). I could never live in London either, it's too... London-y.
 
Canada or The U.K, London would be very expensive though. If you were to go to Canada may I recommend either

A: British Columbia especially near Jasper Park:

kanada-fairmont-jasper-park.jpg


B) Saskactchewan:

wheat-country-saskatchewan_288.jpg


800px-CypressHills1.JPG


C) Prince Edward Islands:

pei3.jpg


And of coarse cold Nunvat:

winter-scenery_729.jpg
 
Being Canadian, I am of course biased towards going to school in Canada.

I would check your costs out. I can't speak for Germany, but I know that in London everything was pretty close to the same price as Vancouver, except in Pounds not Dollars..... so it was twice as expensive. Except hotel rooms that were 4 to 5 times more expensive. Just for fun we looked at some realtor listings... :eek:

Research your accommodation costs in London, and Berlin.

If want something familiar to the midwest, try Universities in Manitoba or Sasktchewan. If you like outdoor activities, try Vancouver. If you want a new language and culture, go to francophone Quebec. McGill is a world class institution, teaches in English, but is in a functionally bilingual city. You will learn to love cafe au laits....

For night life and culture, try Montreal or Toronto.

There are some good universities on the east coast, but I'm not familiar with them.

Macleans, our national news magazine does an annual ranking of universities. See Macleans

You do know that you will need a visa to go to school here, and I'm sure in the UK and Germany too?

Good Luck....
 
Yeah, I am aware of that.

Researching a little bit more, I am actually kind of drifting away from London if I go to Britain and more towards an urban area, or possibly Yorkshire.
 
TSE said:
Yeah, I am aware of that.

Researching a little bit more, I am actually kind of drifting away from London if I go to Britain and more towards an urban area, or possibly Yorkshire.
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Don't go to Yorkshire. You'll be disappointed.
 
I have been to Germany a number of times (Frankfort, Dusseldorf area) and consider the people there to be very friendly and accommodating. All of Europe is expensive due to the current exchange rates, but I don't find Germany any more expensive than Italy. The UK is not on the Euro, and the exchange rate there is even worse for the USD.

If going to Europe, but best thing to keep in mind is that it is very easy to get around and see other countries (in relative terms). Therefore, you can expose yourself to all sorts of cultures, histories and people, where if you were to go to Canada, you would be exposed to a more US like culture than if you went to Europe.

I would highly recommend the Europe route, but try to stay on "the mainland". You will be more centrally located. If you go to the UK, it will be slightly harder to get around to the other countries.

Good luck with your decision. It will be a wonderful, life-long experience that you will certainly benefit from.
 
Definately go to Europe, then you can travel to different countries, with different languages, cultures and accents as easy as you cross states in the US. I wouldn't go to London though, it is expensive, full of foriegners, and jet like any other capital city.

I would say find a British university you might like to go to, then go to that city. But don't go to London :)

mojohanna said:
I would highly recommend the Europe route, but try to stay on "the mainland". You will be more centrally located. If you go to the UK, it will be slightly harder to get around to the other countries.
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I would say with Eurostar trains and lots of budget airlines it would be just as easy to travel from the UK to anywhere else in Europe. Having an English speaking 'base' to plan these trips might be handy too!
 
dubhe said:
I wouldn't go to London though, it is expensive, full of foriegners, and jet like any other capital city.
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I don't get where people get that idea. I spent a few days in London and found that if I made an effort, I could eat and do things on the cheap. For example, there was a restaurant across the street from my hotel and I was able to get a burger, fries and pint of beer for £5, which is about $8.00. I live in one of the cheapest parts of the US and can't get that sort of deal for 8 bucks, probably looking at $12 minimum.

Now, I admit, I don't know what rent and utility pricing goes for and maybe that's what everyone says is expensive, but for traveling there for short periods of time, it's possible to go to London without breaking the bank.

I loved London, the fact it was "full of foreigners" didn't bother me. Hell, to me, everyone over there was a foreigner, and if trying to experience different cultures is your reasoning for going abroad, then you'll definitely get to do that.
 
mojohanna said:
The UK is not on the Euro, and the exchange rate there is even worse for the USD.
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Not any more. Its much weaker now at $1.64=£1=€1.15.

yg17 said:
Now, I admit, I don't know what rent and utility pricing goes for and maybe that's what everyone says is expensive, but for traveling there for short periods of time, it's possible to go to London without breaking the bank.
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Rent is high in London - if you want to buy a small 2 bedroom flat in an OK part of London it will cost £300 000 ($500 000).
 
Poms (british people) pretty much hate Americans in my experience :p
Oh yea, and drink waaay more than Americans (but less than aussies) :p


My uncle (who weirdly is only 3 or 4 years older than me) does exchange from Australia - Germany and loooves it. He learnt german and is quite fluent.
 
I did mine in Vienna. loved it and wasn't too expensive at the time (2002). Canada isn't really study abroad, let's be honest. Britain could be cool. You probably won't learn much german anyway as they prefer to speak english with you as soon as they realize you aint native. I'd go to Spain
 
yoyo5280 said:
Every single british person I have met (I go to the British School) just lives in the stereo type of Americans being fat and stupid... I just remind them that they live in the most unhealthy country in europe.
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That is hardly an accurate representation of British people.

In my experience of living in the UK for 45 years, I'm not aware of any nation wide hatred of American people.
 
Although Canada might offer a beautiful change in scenery, if you want to experience a different culture, then definitely go to Germany or Britain.

The deciding factor between Germany and Britain may be how well you learn German by your senior year.
You really don't have to be that good, just be able to look at signs and understand what's going on. It makes the experience so much more pleasurable.

Hope you have fun wherever you end up going.
 
OllyW said:
That is hardly an accurate representation of British people.

In my experience of living in the UK for 45 years, I'm not aware of any nation wide hatred of American people.
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the most american friendly countries i found in europe were england and ireland. although as long as you don't act a pompous ass you'll be welcome most anywhere
 
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