interesting article in this weekend’s financial times on the experience of the american immigrant to the u.k. – several people from my expat forum were interviewed for the piece. (the full article requires subscription, so i’ll quote it liberally here.)

In 2004, the latest year for which figures are available, the 4,120 Americans given indefinite leave to remain in the UK easily outnumbered the 3,115 Bangladeshis granted permanent residence, even though Bangladesh has long been seen as one of the biggest sources of immigration to Britain. Americans also outnumbered the 3,825 Somalis, the 3,240 Australians, the 2,930 Jamaicans, the 2,315 Chinese, the 1,725 Iranians and the 1,720 Iraqis.

According to an analysis of the latest available census data by the Institute for Public Policy Research, a London-based think-tank, there were about 155,000 US-born people living in Britain in 2001, outnumbering all other migrant groups except those from the Irish Republic, India, Pakistan, Germany and the Caribbean…

…Yet the surprise, surely, is that any Americans move to Britain at all. While American brides may have a long tradition of settling with British husbands – Nancy Astor, Wallis Simpson and Madonna, to name a few – why would other Americans want to leave the land of plenty for a grim, drab and relatively poor little island with leaden skies, high prices and appalling food?

…But Americans who choose to settle in the UK have very different reasons for staying. They like the schools, the long holidays and the multiculturalism. They like Britain’s proximity to other countries and the sense of being connected with the rest of the world. Some even like the weather (but not the food – “bland, tasteless and boiled or fried to death”). And, at least for those outside London, one of Britain’s biggest attractions turns out to be the National Health Service.

…Still, expensive as London may be, census figures show that London’s American-born population shot up by 37 per cent to nearly 45,000 in the 10 years to 2001…

…What of those who settle in Britain for reasons other than marriage? Some, you might say, are political refugees. Paula Higgins, a noted musicologist, gave up a tenured professorship at the University of Notre Dame to take a chair in music and become head of department at Nottingham University. An avowed feminist and far-left liberal, she says a big factor in her decision to move was “the almost intolerable political climate in the US, as well as the increasingly oppressive infiltration of rightwing conservatism into the university I was working at, which was at one time a citadel of left-wing concerns with social justice issues”.

Others, however, simply weigh up the American way of life against the British way and decide they prefer the British one.

“I think people have a misconception about what it’s like to live in America,” says Tracy Abrusci, a nurse and single mother from Chicago who now lives and works in Birmingham. “People think the streets are paved with gold and everybody lives in these big houses and drives these big cars and nobody has any worries, when the reality is a lot of people are struggling.”

She says people work far harder in the US – more hours per week and more weeks a year, plus they have a heavier workload. And life is much more precarious. “If you lose your job, there is nothing to fall back on. If you’re a relatively healthy, middle-aged man, you’re not going to get any benefit at all. They just give you a list of shelters.”

…Meta Jamison, who moved with her husband Brian from Orlando, Florida, to Southampton, Hampshire, where they both work at the university, says: “I think the way of life here is a bit more real; not quite as work-driven and consumerism-driven. In the US I felt like my whole life centred around working, working, working, knowing that if I worked at the same job for one year I may get a week off, whereas here there’s more of a sense that work is not everything.”

this is all very interesting for me. many of the expats i know moved here to be with their brit spouses, and i think it makes for a much different experience to have that built in safety net of family when the going gets tough (as it invariably does). as a single person who moved over just for the hell of it, i learned a whole lot about the meaning of self-reliance when things got really difficult. truthfully, i’m still not quite sure how i did it sometimes except through sheer stubbornness. but i do know that it made me a stronger person for it. still – sometimes i find it hard to identify with other expats because of that difference. if i’m honest, a tiny part of me is bitter that they had it easier than i did. and a little part of me is also proud of having made it on my own. it’s very true though, that when i first arrived everyone did seem flummoxed that i would have electively moved here of my own accord. they were genuinely surprised that i might think the grass to be greener on this side of the pond. and if my only real knowledge of america came from what i saw on the telly, i might wonder the same. but it was an odd sensation to feel that i had to defend my choices or substantiate my rationale for wanting to live somewhere outside the borders of the good ol’ u. s. of a.

but i’ve found that most of the sentiments of the article really ring true for me – some of the things that i find most gratifying about living here have to do with the political climate, the social benefits, and the work-life balance. i still find it incredibly refreshing that when i go to the doctor, i can walk in and out without ever once opening my wallet. i love being able to go from country to country the way i used to travel from state to state. i love the fact that politicians are continually held to a higher level of scrutiny and accountability. i like working to live, rather than living to work. for example, i could never make the kind of trip i’m getting ready to embark upon if i were still living in the u.s. The idea that i could just drop out of work and society to take six months off and go sightseeing is nearly unheard of in the states.

the u.k. is by no means a utopia – but it ain’t too shabby, either.

in any case, it’s nice to know that i’m no longer as alone as i once was. i only hope we don’t ruin the place.

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