I was reading my friend’s blog today, How to Play House. She talked about the size of places in England versus the expectations in the US. And it’s so true. They are different.
As we were driving around the Denver/Loveland area, all I could see were tons of newly built McMansions. Huge, fantastical houses…with tiny yards perched right next to each other. I didn’t see the point. Why do you need so much internal space and so little external. I recognize that when I buy my house in London that my yard will be small…but we’re in the midst of a city. These houses were NOT city bound, and yet it was all about the hugeness of their interiors. I can imagine that each has a gigantic kitchen and bedrooms that will be larger than our living room.
And here’s the kicker. It looked wrong. I’m sure in the past I would have hungered for such a house with such rooms. But now, they just hit me in a bad way. My perspective, after living in London for four years, has changed. Big is not beautiful when it comes to houses…I’ll be very happy with the “small one” that we can buy.
There are so many things that hit you when you move between the cultures…what you buy, what you use, how you look at people and things. I definitely buy less clothing now. There isn’t the space for storage in most London flats/homes. I use most of my clothing throughout all the seasons so that I don’t have to put anything away for the winter or summer. Layers rock. I buy better food and cook many more meals than I did in the States. It seems as if the opportunity is stronger and possibilities much more endless. I have less tolerance to waste in all forms now.
It’s not that everything is better in the UK. God no. But I think living here has helped me appreciate what I do have and be okay with what I don’t. What I miss from the US that I don’t have here – better customer service…24 hour shopping (or at least late night during the week…easy to use banks…a connection to people who just ‘get me’ cause we’ve lived in the same culture for our entire lives.
June 4, 2008 at 1:49 pm
That’s the same culture shock we’ve always experienced going from New York to visit our families in the Midwest. It’s impossible for anyone to believe that hard-working, middle-class adults can live in 400 square feet!
June 28, 2008 at 11:15 pm
I know what you mean! Because Melbourne is most comparable to NYC and the space is limited for housing, so unless you can get into the outer burbs (like we did) you have small yards or courtyards, and the house takes up the space of the lot. And similar to London the floorplans are long and stretched out. Not too many two story houses here, like London, so the houses are very “shotgun” like in their designs.
The culture is quite different as well. And I have learned thqat I really don’t need all the things I can get in the US that I can’t get here and that I took for granted. But I have come to enjoy a simpler lifestyle. More relaxing. And I am much more appreciative of what I have here in OZ. It would be difficult for me to live in the rat race again that is the US.
Thanks for your blog.
July 18, 2008 at 10:45 am
This has been one of my favorite aspects of living abroad… I feel so much more appreciation and I’m happy to not acquire more material things.
At times I feel delusional due to growing up in the US, but this is a major advantage of living in another country.