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I lived in England for a month, in Cambridge exactly. I thought the place was full of wankers. I had some English friends explain to me that that is because Cambridge is in fact full of wankers. From a Yankee's perspective, the pros and cons of England / Britain: Good things: 1.) Pretty much every British person I've met is sociable and friendly, more so than Americans or Canadians. At least, they're very very outgoing and talkative, there not as cliquish or snobby as Americans can be. 2.) A nice accent – North Americans view the British accent as being quaint, sophisticated, and more intelligent than the Yankee one. 3.) Good beer – some of the best ale in the world, bar none. 4.) History – castles, manors, cathedrals, Shakespeare, all that crap. 5.) Culture – not just Byron and Dickens, but also great music, from the Rolling Stones and David Bowie on down to Jarvis Cocker and Radiohead. Great cinema, "Young British Art", a thriving literary scene. British people, particularly young people, are much better educated (seemingly) than their American counterparts, due to the national curriculum they have there. Bad things: 1.) Expensive like no place else on Earth. Everything costs an arm and a leg. 2.) The people are sarcastic, they have this nasty sense of humor that can get old after awhile. (Not everyone, but still) 3.) It seems like rich people there tend to be meaner and more openly disrespectful to the poor than in the States, that was just my impression, though. 4.) Some of the British accents just seem to be unrecognizable, and it seems like there is more of a regional and class-based variance in how people speak there. In the USA, people pretty much talk like in the movies and on TV, the accents are not as pronounced, except for maybe in the South.
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