by Tony Payne

Created on: August 22, 2010   Last Updated: August 23, 2010

I returned to my native England a year ago, having spent the last 15 years in the USA.

I don't think that visitors to the USA, or for that matter to any other country, really appreciate the many cultural differences that exist, however once you become a resident of that country, over a period of time you begin to recognize the differences, and it's natural to make comparisons between the country that you are in and your homeland.

I have visited many other countries around the world both on vacation as well as for work, but it's the cultural differences between the UK and the USA that really fascinate me.

Many people think that the biggest difference between the UK and the USA is that in the USA you drive on the right side of the road, and here in England we drive on the left, but the differences between these two countries go way beyond this as you will see. There are a myriad of cultural and social differences that only really become apparent when you spend a significant time in the other country.

There are so many odd differences between the USA and the UK, that I have actually debated whether someone said "Right - we have to be different to everyone else, so let's make everything work differently".  Sounds bizarre I know, but read on and you too might wonder, but I also wonder which came first, the American or the British version...

We all know that electricity in the UK runs on 240 volts, and in Europe and most of the rest of the world on 220 volts. The USA and it's neighbors runs on 110 volts. Why is that? It seems that 220 volts is a lot more stable, but I have no idea why it should be different in the USA, other than the need to be different.

If you are old enough to remember the old rotary phones, did you know that in the USA the dial and numbers went the opposite way around to in the UK?   That must have made making calls even harder than it was back in the days of rotary phones, having to remember which way to turn the dial, but then I don't suppose it affected too many international travellers back then.

One thing that I did find weird in the USA and that took a lot of getting used to is that many locks on doors turn the opposite way in the USA compared to the UK.  Just why is that?   

Light switches also work the other way in the USA.  In the UK you flip the switch down to turn a light on and up for off. In the USA it's the opposite. Taps often turn the opposite way too, which really confused me, and why

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