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Questions from an American

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dancealot13 | 15:37 Mon 27th Mar 2006 | Body & Soul
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I've never been to the UK and I thought I would inguire more about it.


Do you have commercials in your movie theaters? In America we have commercials and advertisements that play before you watch the movie. It's terribly annoying, and just ridiculous. We don't have any laws or limitations with advertising, and it's completely out of hand. This just started about 4 years ago.


Is health care free? Everyone know's America has the worst health care program.


Is tuition for college free if you're a resident? We only have a few states that pay for tuition if you've been a resident for two years. But the price for college in the USA ranges from $10,000 a year (and that is dirt cheap) to $40,000 a yr. The average cost for though is $25,000 a yr.


Do you have to recycle, and if so to what extent?


If there is anything else you would like to share, it would be much appreciated.


thank you

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Hi


1- yes we do, but they not on for long.


2- yes it is, though the waiting list for certain surgeries may be a while.


3- Yes


4- We don't have to, but it's encouraged and we are provided seperate boxes and bins by the council to place these items into.


Looking at you points and mine makes me appreciate being British all that much more!


You hoping to visit? Or to emigrate here? if so, good luck- don't expect much from our weather though- heh!

Commercials in movies - Last couple of times I have been, I havent noticed many adverts... mostly trailers for upcoming films if memory serves. I do remember advertising b4 movies from days of yore... rubbish they were too :)

Health Care is free at the point of care for UK residents, with some caveats... I dont know what the situation is for immigrants. You do have to pay a prescription charge, You will be very lucky if you can find a dentist that takes on NHS patients, and you will have to pay for spectacles / eye tests etc.

University education etc is free ( i think) for scottish residents, but english residents there is a tuition fee, probably around the same average cost you have already quoted.

recycling - think a lot of this is done at a local council level initiative, so some areas may be keener than others.
In my area, we have general household waste, garden/organic waste and wastepaper/bottle waste containers with regular weekly pickups. Large items or large volumes of rubbish you take to the local municipal tip, where it is sorted broadly into the same areas, although they do have more specialised division of the waste... you can dump computers / mobile phones / inkjet cartridges etc into different areas.

Might have a few of these bits slightly skewed, cos its not something I have particularly thought about b4 seeing your post :)
We have commercials at the start of movies, yes. We used to have an 'interval' years ago when some cheesy music would play and you could buy ice creams etc. Not seen this for a long time though.

Health care is 'free' for everyone. It's called the NHS (National Health Service). I say 'free' because it comes out of the taxes we pay. There is also private health care which means you can skip waiting lists and get better food, but obviously you pay extra for it.

Not been in the education system for a few years now, but we're going down the same route as America. They're called Tuition Fees over here. Government does subsidise a lot of it (but for how much longer?). People leaving Uni whinge about having debts more than �8k.

We don't have to recycle (not round my way anyway). We are given recycling bins, but it's up to us if we use them. Oh, and we get taxed heavily for the priviledge of them giving us these special bins.
Question Author
thats too bad about the price of tuition going up. It is incredibly difficult being in your twentys just getting out of school with no health care, because once you're no longer a student you loose it, and being in debt from college loans. It makes life unbarable sometimes.-Thanks for the responses.

Health care in the UK is critisesd but it is free,and speaking from experience is superb, My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer on a wednesday and operated on the next monday, the back up treatment has also been great, you can recycle everything here but it isn't widely advertised, but we are getting better


your country is a great place to visit, the service in shops and restaurants in general is better than here and i find the people really friendly. hope we are being a help to you. cheers Ray

Dancealot- come and visit!!!!


I will be waiting here with a nice cup of tea and some scones.

here a great site to look at , it will answer all questions and many mnay more .http://talk.uk-yankee.com/
I just turn up late to miss the adverts.

Question Author

Thanks Scarlett!! Cheers to u ;)


Great Website Blyss thats exactly what Im looking for.

Your very welcome

There is a difference in approach between the US and UK (and to a large extent Europe in general)


In the US you tend to have low taxes and very limited public services. We tend to have the reverse.


So we get healthcare that's free at the point of need for all, tiny (or non existant) tuition charges and fairly unlimited social security if you're unable to work.


However the taxation we pay is quite high by your standards. - Here we pay 25% and 40% on earnings above the equivilent of about $58,000. Then there's what you'd call purchase tax of 17.5% on most items no matter where you buy them and a load of other taxes.


So you pay in both countries - but over here you won't get turned away from a hospital because you can't get insurance.


We do also have a lot of controls about what companies can and can't advertise and what they can say so the ads are much more low key - you'll not see white coated actors urging you to ask your doctor if Drug-X is right for you!


But come and make your own mind up

Healthcare is not free! People who work hard pay copious amounts of tax towards it. For others however....we pay for them too!

Unfortunately though dancealot13 we do have more than our fair share of whingers!

Question Author

;) Whats a whinger? lol


Im slowly learning some of the slang from reading through this site, but I obviously have a ways to go. :)

You might like this then


http://www.effingpot.com/


An American's guide to speaking British


Jake the Peg you are my Hero of the day. Kid goes to International School on the edge of London.I often have other parents bemused by the use of vernacular. I wish I could give you a big gold star.

Come for a holiday - but come in summer!
What day are we having summer this year?. lol

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