What do other nationalities think of the British

[Baggingarea]

For non UK MNers, what are your general impressions of the British?

I was watching a documentary recently and a Spanish man said our houses are all dirty. I'd never heard that before but can see why someone might think that with muddy weather etc etc.

What do you think about us? Promise I won't be offended (no racism/sexism/general bigotry though please). Can't vouch for others though.

@Blueberries0112

"Would it be the same level of care if they were poor but had say cancer?"

People with cancer usually start out with their own private insurance but when the conditions worsen, they could either go on their spouse insurance and/or apply for disability/SSDI / SSI that comes with Medicaid/medicare.

If they were approved for the Medicaid as they were deemed to meet the criteria financially, would they still get access to the sane hospital facilities etc?

Or do they have a separate hospital that isn’t as, shall see say, comfortable? It would be great if they get access to the top one

I find English people very thoughtful, gentle and kind. I agree with most of the stereotypes actually but it's not a negative thing, it's just a view how we all live differently. The country I come from also has negative stereotypes but it doesn't mean I'm like them although I have merged all the good bits from both cultures. It's sometimes good to be able to compare. Also about the cleanliness about houses, there are extremes to both ends where some houses are absolute filth and other houses so clean that it looks clinical. I've watched too many episodes of come dine with me with dog/cat hairs coming out the food or animals licking the bowl and have been to friends houses where I felt sick to even drink tea from a mug that contained dog hair in it but I was being polite (being British) not to mention or hurt her feelings. I don't mind carpets as I don't wear shoes indoors myself but the pets roaming around on the kitchen counter is just a no or the pets being outside and then going into my bed is a big no.

I don't understand the housing in this country, in my home country most people live in new build apartments with private pools and gyms and spacious indoor space and lovely balconies. Most people are able to afford this and I don't come from a rich country. Houses are so small in this country and so expensive. Why do people need to live in houses? I moved to an apartment last year and it is the best thing I have done. The new apartment is heat insulated, sound proofed, more space and open space, brand new appliances and I just felt alive again after living in a tiny mid terraced house with rodents in wall cavities and a tiny patio which now when I compare, my balcony is even bigger. The living room and dining room was tiny, the kitchen was tiny, the toilet was tiny. My bedroom in my new apartment feels like a hotel room itself, it has a corridor, en-suite, walk in wardrobe. I'm not showing off btw, the apartment cost less than my shitty terraced house but I'm living in much better condition.

Acappella

I know you were just explaining class-based language to another poster, but I can quite see why non-Brits find the kind of usage you outline so baffling.

Did Nancy M really mean to say these distinctions matter, or was she writing tongue in cheek?

@clarisee

I find English people very thoughtful, gentle and kind. I agree with most of the stereotypes actually but it's not a negative thing, it's just a view how we all live differently. The country I come from also has negative stereotypes but it doesn't mean I'm like them although I have merged all the good bits from both cultures. It's sometimes good to be able to compare. Also about the cleanliness about houses, there are extremes to both ends where some houses are absolute filth and other houses so clean that it looks clinical. I've watched too many episodes of come dine with me with dog/cat hairs coming out the food or animals licking the bowl and have been to friends houses where I felt sick to even drink tea from a mug that contained dog hair in it but I was being polite (being British) not to mention or hurt her feelings. I don't mind carpets as I don't wear shoes indoors myself but the pets roaming around on the kitchen counter is just a no or the pets being outside and then going into my bed is a big no.

I don't understand the housing in this country, in my home country most people live in new build apartments with private pools and gyms and spacious indoor space and lovely balconies. Most people are able to afford this and I don't come from a rich country. Houses are so small in this country and so expensive. Why do people need to live in houses? I moved to an apartment last year and it is the best thing I have done. The new apartment is heat insulated, sound proofed, more space and open space, brand new appliances and I just felt alive again after living in a tiny mid terraced house with rodents in wall cavities and a tiny patio which now when I compare, my balcony is even bigger. The living room and dining room was tiny, the kitchen was tiny, the toilet was tiny. My bedroom in my new apartment feels like a hotel room itself, it has a corridor, en-suite, walk in wardrobe. I'm not showing off btw, the apartment cost less than my shitty terraced house but I'm living in much better condition.

Because there not enough housing for the sheer number of people that inhabit this tiny island.

House prices just keep going up due to (no) supply and demand.

Don’t look at the price you’d have to pay for a 2 bed flat/apartment in London- your eyes will water I promise!!!

"If they were approved for the Medicaid as they were deemed to meet the criteria financially, would they still get access to the sane hospital facilities etc? "

All hospitals here are run by private companies. And they usually accept and sometimes require to accept Medicaid/Medicare

Gosh.

The only government run hospitals and clinics I know of is VA hospitals (veteran affairs)

Although there are health dept. but most of them are private companies who accept Medicaid

@Mintychoc1

It’s interesting that Britain and the British are perceived in such a negative light , yet people risk their lives to get here. I wonder why, if it’s such an awful place to live and the people are so dislikable. I mean, why not stop in France? It’s a beautiful country, great food, lots of culture, and if mumsnet is to be believed it has probably the best healthcare system in the universe.

This kind of comment I think is exactly the kind of stereotype Irish people have about the English! made me laugh

France has better health outcomes than the UK. Their health system is excellent, “NHS exceptionalism” does not in any way match outcomes!!

People risk their lives to get it England because (a) it speaks a language many of them know and (b) it’s easy to get well-paging work and mainly (c) they’re fleeing poverty or war or hunger.

We have a wonderful Romanian Nanny who is also my carer. When she first joined us she opely said how surprised she was that we werent like English people (or so she thought). We spoke to her like normal people would at home, give her home cooked food that doesn't come from packets and dont live on chips (presumably her expectations). She is shocked by how much coffee my son and i drink and doesn't understand why englsh people drink tea and coffee at all.she cannot understand why we are always cold either. She said this week she has now concluded English people are far nicer than she thought they were going to be and thinks she would like an english boyfriend which we both thought was really sweet,she said she finds us asa nation generally very respectful and considerate compared to
people in romania and also germany where she previously lived and is yreated more equally which is a good thing to hear.

@TableFlowerss I am in London 😊 it's just in my home country the housing department buys unfit houses, knocks them and builds new apartments which will accommodate the whole neighbourhood and also have flats that people want to buy from other areas. As I mentioned in my post, I lived in a mid-terraced (also eye watering price wise especially in London) and it was the best I could afford for a crooked, old and small house that had ongoing rodent issues which has nothing to do with my cleanliness, it was a problem for my neighbours too. The upkeep of that house cost a lot, from problematic roof to poorly insulated and everything I dared to touch (decorate) fell a part. A 120 year old house isn't fit at all, anything that was built before the blitz that is still standing today is unfit in imo. The bus would drive past my house and I would feel it shake. Anything that isn't a landmark should be gone imo. but I guess there would be riots :) There is no one is supplying housing unfortunately. Thank god a few new blocks of flats are popping up here in there in but obviously still isn't enough.

Whoever wrote that etiquette school post on pudding/dessert/sweet needs to spend a few more years studying English.

Pudding is an upper crusty term. Dessert is MC.

I should mention , people with Medicare have access to the same hospital as someone who is very wealthy. We share the same hospital/clinics. There are clinics who don't accept Medicare (but it is very rare) but hospitals for surgeries and emergencies, we use the same hospitals

Cases like Trump where he had his own medical staffs is very rare. To have something like that , you will have to be VIP

Blueberries0112
Q "If they were approved for the Medicaid as they were deemed to meet the criteria financially, would they still get access to the sane hospital facilities etc? "

A All hospitals here are run by private companies. And they usually accept and sometimes require to accept Medicaid/Medicare

SistemaAddict
Gosh.

Blueberries0112
The only government run hospitals and clinics I know of is VA hospitals (veteran affairs)

Although there are health dept. but most of them are private companies who accept Medicaid

Just to clarify...

Counties run their own public health systems. The public health care system (such as it is) is not run by the federal government, unlike the VA system.

There are approximately 3,140 counties in the US, and about 700 of them do not run their own hospital, though they may run clinics. In addition, many counties also run their own psychiatric hospitals or facilities. Rural areas tend to be underserved in all categories of hospital or facility.

Private hospitals mostly accept Medicaid, and there is a separate program for pregnant women and babies, administered (like Medicaid) be each individual state.

In addition to private, for profit hospitals, there are university hospitals. These sometimes turn a profit but their mission is different from private healthcare corporations. There are also hospitals run by religious orders and other charitable organisations. These are generally not 'for profit' either.

I never heard of public hospitals here in the us, I have heard of not for profit, state run hospitals but they are usually for long term care, like you mentioned. And hospital like UVA (university of Virginia) I had my cochlear implant done there and I still spend $$$ on it at the time with insurance.

County hospitals are an old, old institution in the US, part of the fabric of society back when society was a word that had meaning and resonance, before the advent of 'greed is good'.

In years past many counties ran TB sanatoriums too.

An example is the venerable Cook County Hospital, now named John H. Stroger Hospital after a former president of the Cook County Board. It has been in existence for 180 years, serving the citizens of Chicago and other residents of Cook County, Illinois.

It is also a major teaching hospital, which is unusual for a public hospital, but it's located in a major metropolitan area.
cookcountyhealth.org/

Catawba Hospital is another. I have many friends who work there but they are talking about shutting it down. They don't want state run hospitals anymore

My question are they free? I consider public if they are free. Like public school

I'm British but live abroad. What comes to mind (on MN) is how resistant people are to wearing masks. Such petulance and self-righteousness!

@PrincessFiorimonde

Acappella

I know you were just explaining class-based language to another poster, but I can quite see why non-Brits find the kind of usage you outline so baffling.

Did Nancy M really mean to say these distinctions matter, or was she writing tongue in cheek?

Oh, I’m not British either, but lived in various parts of England for over 20 years, have some UC friends, and you just absorb a recognition of class markers.

Nancy M said she was going to include ‘volleys of teases’ in her U/non-U article, but her biographer thinks that while she was being funny about, for instance, the ‘silence’ she says is the only possible U response to someone saying ‘Cheers!’ before drinking, she was actually perfectly serious about class, and the ways in which language usage marks you out as either ‘one of us’ or not.

It’s definitely still not dead even if some of the vocabulary has become anachronistic — look at the spiteful media mockery of Carole ‘Doors to Manual’ Middleton for being ‘common’ and supposedly asking for the ‘toilet’ at Buckingham Palace.

My question are they free? I consider public if they are free. Like public school

Public school is the opposite of free. They are called public schools because of the technicality that they offer scholarships to a handful of deserving students who wouldn't have a chance of attending otherwise, every year.

Yes, county hospitals are free. You need to show documentation of your insurance status if you go for treatment, whether that is Medicaid or insurance you receive through an employer, because your doctor will bill either Medicaid or the private insurance company.

Catawba is part of the MH system in VA, right?
Not a county hospital then, or part of a county system. It's a Commonwealth institution.

Public school in the US is free of course. Apart from registration fees and sports fees and the like.

But not in the UK

Any private hospital in the UK would be like a hotel DS used to work for a private ambulance company and I can assure you that not all private hospitals are equal. Some of the big London ones are like the Ritz - our local one is more Premier Inn 😁