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12 Differences Between America and the UK

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I've been back in the U.S. 10 months and it recently hit me: I am re-assimilating. I had never heard anyone speak of this concept. When I moved to Connecticut in 2001, Mom introduced me to the concept of assimilation in the guise of a printed sheet from some psychological thinktank. According to this, it takes a year to assimilate within a new culture, but some never manage to assimilate at all. Now that I am back in Connecticut, I realize that I was yanked away from London just months after I had assimilated. It wasn't so much about spellings and such - I wrote my dissertation (yah!) in British English! - but the smaller, subtle everyday things. Missing London this morning, I felt I should enumerate: 1. Americans are louder. I don't care what anyone says. It's true. I ride public transpotation, where it appears to be a national disease. I never once heard Londoners shriek on the tube. People quietly study their mobile phones or yes, books, or speak in civil tones wi