8 things that surprised me about moving from the US to the UK

Prior to moving to the UK, I rented apartments in and around Boston.

Sharing an unfurnished, four-bedroom home with friends just outside the major city cost me about $800 per month, plus about $100 per month in utilities.

If I'd wanted to move a few subway stops closer to downtown, I could've expected to pay upwards of $1,200 or $1,300 per month in rent for a single bedroom in a shared home.

In contrast, I was able to rent an entire one-bedroom flat in a 200-year-old building within 20 minutes walking distance to the center of Edinburgh for £700, or approximately $880, per month.

My husband and I currently rent a two-bedroom flat in a historic neighborhood in Edinburgh for about £1,300, or $1,600, per month.

The same type of accommodation in a major US city, like Boston or New York, would easily cost two to three times that amount.

I can count the number of times I've seen a pickup truck in the UK on one hand. Granted, I live in a city, but they seem to be largely missing from UK motorways as well.

The higher fuel prices here are definitely a factor in the preference for smaller cars.

According to CNN Money, the average gasoline price in the UK is $5.79 per gallon, which is much higher than prices throughout the US.

The narrow, sometimes cobbled roads of many towns and cities are also easier to navigate with a more nimble vehicle.

Americans are often happy to line up in certain situations, like waiting for entry to a nightclub or to a public restroom. But I've found that British people have a preternatural ability to form a line, or "queue."

People here tend to form lines in situations that I wouldn't expect to find one. I've stood in queues for vending machines, queues to read fast-food menus, and queues to walk around large puddles.

I once stood in a queue of four people waiting to look at the bananas in a supermarket.

It's baffling and beautiful.

I've found that the people I meet in the UK seem to take many more vacations and have traveled far more extensively than my friends back in the US.

In fact, in the UK, many workers are entitled by law to at least 5.6 weeks paid vacation time per year, not including sick time. That's about 28 working days. And that's a minimum — many jobs offer more.

In contrast, US employees aren't entitled to a single day of paid vacation time.

I'm a huge fan of cheesy popcorn, but sadly I've yet to spot a single kernel of the stuff for sale in the UK. Ditto for lobster rolls and canned cranberry sauce.

Meanwhile, supermarket shelves in the UK are bristling with prawn-cocktail-flavored chips ("crisps") and premade chocolate chip waffles wrapped in cellophane. Both of these are snacks I'd never seen in the US.

I've also seen some interesting sandwiches, like a "chip butty," which is what you call a pile of french fries between two slices of bread. I've also seen bacon rolls, which consists of a few strips of bacon on a hamburger bun, no condiments strictly necessary.

Where I grew up in the US, most major grocery stores follow a similar floor plan. The produce section is usually near the entrance, the dry goods and pantry items are in aisles in the middle, and the deli, dairy, and frozen sections are located around the perimeter.

Grocery stores in the UK are much less predictable, at least to my American intuition.

Dairy, meat, and even frozen food might be stocked right in the middle of the store in refrigerated aisles. The produce section is sometimes in the back of the store or even running through the middle.

Bread might be stocked in several different locations, depending on whether it was baked fresh by the store that day, is gluten-free, or is just the sliced and prepackaged kind.

Since eggs are unrefrigerated in the UK, I've found they could be located anywhere in the store, from the baking aisle to the canned-goods section.

Additionally, US supermarkets usually have produce stacked in appealing piles and arranged neatly on shelves. In the UK, fruits and vegetables are often displayed in the plastic crates they were shipped in.

Back in America, I don't consider myself to be a particularly extroverted person. But by UK social standards, I can sometimes feel almost obnoxiously over-the-top.

Smiling at passing strangers seems natural and friendly to me, but flashing a toothy grin at someone on a UK street seems almost unsettling.

Small talk while in line at the grocery store or waiting for a bus is similarly scandalous, in my experience.

Though much of this social reserve seems to evaporate once you're in the company of friends, I've also found that friendships tend to develop more slowly here.

In the US, I'd think nothing of talking to a new acquaintance about everything from workplace drama to future plans. In the UK, sharing more intimate personal details might only happen after you've known the other person for a while.

Without a doubt, experiencing the medical system in Scotland has been the most eye-opening part of living in the UK.

Scotland offers universal healthcare through the National Health Service (NHS). It's funded through taxes and it provides free medical care to all UK residents.

Everything from annual checkups to childbirth is covered.

Private hospitals are also available and usually offer a slightly cushier medical experience (think tea and cookies in the waiting room), but they are often staffed by the same doctors who work in the NHS hospitals.

In addition, all prescription medication in Scotland is free, meaning a signature is all that's needed at the pharmacy.

As someone who once considered co-pays and spending thousands of dollars on health insurance a fact of life, the surreal feeling of having no healthcare costs can't be overstated.

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