# How different is England from the rest of Europe? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101 "2009-07-24T08:55:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101/21 "2009-07-26T19:38:39Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > …one MP showed off the single room he rented in a small high-rise flat. The amount he was paying would get you a very nice three-bedroomed house around here. Once I stayed with an MP in his London apartment; it was in a crappy area (Whitechapel?) and the flat was small, old and the gas heater required putting coins in to function! I had never seen such a contraption! His weekly rent there was more than my monthly rent, and my apartment was in a nice section of Berlin! I am sure England is the same as the US or Germany - the further away from center of town, the cheaper things get. Still - I have lived in Berlin, NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles and now Las Vegas - and as far as cost of living, my impression is that London just seemed to be the priciest for the least creature comforts. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101/22 "2009-07-26T20:34:44Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I am sure England is the same as the US or Germany - the further away from center of town, the cheaper things get. Still - I have lived in Berlin, NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles and now Las Vegas - and as far as cost of living, my impression is that London just seemed to be the priciest for the least creature comforts. I’m sure it is. My point is that London isn’t the whole of the UK – or even England. Living in London isn’t just expensive in comparison to cities in other countries, it’s expensive compared to living in cities in the _same_ country – and by a significant margin. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101/23 "2009-07-26T21:22:09Z")
The UK’s a lot more racially diverse than other European countries. Not that other countries are completely full of white natives, but they’re nothing like the UK. And the TV here is way, way better. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101/24 "2009-07-26T22:32:53Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > The similarities are usually understated, in part I guess because the insular Brits like to believe they’re very unique and exceptional. This is not to say that they’re not - it’s just that the UK is as different from e.g. the Netherlands as Germany or Belgium are. Maybe this is an ‘island culture’ thing; the Japanese are known for this trait as well. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101/25 "2009-07-27T05:05:25Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I personally don’t find England overall as scenic as continental Europe. While there are certainly some very nice parts, there are too many dreary towns and too much nondescript countryside. France, Spain, Germany etc. all have spectacular scenery in places, that we just can’t match. I’m from Spain and found both Yorkshire and the Highlands very pretty, with the occasional breathtaking spot. You also have a lot more Gothic and pseudo-Gothic than the rest of Europe, including a large amount of civilian buildings. One difference is that many people who are bilingual will be broken-bilingual, having a “home language” and English rather than a second language they’ve learned at school. Their level of, say, Spanish, won’t be much different from that of someone who’s had a few years of bad teachers but the mistakes will be different ones. Of course, this doesn’t make much difference to the OP. One of my coworkers in Scotland claimed that she hadn’t seen anybody who looked like an immigrant, she’d been expecting to see a much more “colorful” population. I had to point out that, for example, her neighbor whose lastname ends in -poulos is of Greek extraction and the guy at the 24h store was clearly from the Indian subcontinent. The lass may not be colorblind, but she isn’t very good at facial features 😛 There’s a lot more ethnic variation and a lot more ethnic restaurant and stores than in most of Europe. In other countries you’re unlikely to find an Indian or Japanese restaurant in places with less than a million inhabitants; in the UK you have Indian takeaway holes-in-the-wall in places with several thousand inhabitants. Please note that this definition of ethnic doesn’t include Italian, as those are everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101/26 "2009-07-27T12:26:41Z")
:But is it really true that the bakeries aren’t as yummy and omnipresent as in the rest of Europe? That would be tragic, if true. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101/27 "2009-07-27T12:34:11Z")
> [@autz](#): > > :But is it really true that the bakeries aren’t as yummy and omnipresent as in the rest of Europe? > > That would be tragic, if true. Yes, it’s true. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101/28 "2009-07-27T12:40:56Z")
The rest of Europe is fully of Johnny Foreigners. England is …oh wait ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101/29 "2009-07-27T13:35:26Z")
Will you feel better if I tell you that the bread sold by Morrison’s is as good as that found in decent Spanish bakeries? Which still puts it at one star as opposed to the five stars of French bakeries (the only country where I actually found myself looking forward to bread), but oh well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-different-is-england-from-the-rest-of-europe/504101.md?page=1)