What I Learned About Americans by Living in England

Spoiler Alert: We’re the Uptight Ones

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I moved to England soon after graduating from college. Living and working in Manchester for a couple of years, I learned a few things about the British, but more importantly, I learned a few things about us Americans.

Disclaimer: This doesn’t apply to all Americans, of course, just as it doesn’t apply to all British people. The cultural differences, however, were prevalent enough to identify some recurring tendencies. Without further ado, here are my observations.

Americans are uptight about nudity

This one surprised me. I grew up thinking the British were the uptight ones, what with their specific pieces of furniture and elaborate tea rituals, but the truth is the average American is much easier to offend than the average Briton.

I was shocked to open up a tabloid newspaper (I plead the 5th as to why I was reading a tabloid newspaper) to Page 3 to be confronted with a topless woman in full, airbrushed splendor. As a young man, I was no stranger to female nudity in magazines, but there was a place and time for it, for crying out loud! Anyone — even kids — could pick up a tabloid paper at the newsstand!