I am excited about having a white Christmas - it's going to be fun.

In some ways Christmas is much the same...

When we first arrived in the US it was 41C - so hot the road melted - and now it's freezing with the grass covered in snow and ice. We've built a snowman outside, and there's a big hill somewhere for sledging but I haven't found it yet.

On Christmas Day we'll probably mess around inside as there's meant to be eight inches of snow. We might go out and have a snowball fight, but we won't go far. In some ways the snow makes it feel more like Christmas, but I'm used to having relatives around - they won't take the 12-hour flight just for one day.

... but in other ways, it's completely different

Me and my family - four kids, two adults - lived in a small village called Oakley in Bedfordshire and now we live in a smaller one in Kansas called Hugoton.

Hugoton is flat, with no trees and just tumbleweed everywhere. We live in the middle of nowhere off Highway 54; it's one of those towns that you can just drive through in two minutes. Mum really misses being close to a main town - when she sees three shops in a row she gets all excited.

Click here to listen to Daniel on the language barrier with Americans

We moved here because Dad, who works for a pig farming company, got sick of leaving for work so early and getting home so late.

EX-BRITAIN

Kansas is about 4,700 miles from Bedfordshire What Daniel misses most is fish and chips

Click here for more expats' stories

Last November he called us all down from our rooms and said he'd started job interviews to move to another country, and in June we packed up and left.

We spend more time together now. Dad gets home from work much earlier, and Mum can't work because of the visa she's on so she tidies the house and messes about on the internet. I've got a sister called Rebecca - she's 10 - who loves animals, a little sister called Scarlet who's six and whinges when Mum does her hair wrong, and an older brother called Andrew. He winds me up sometimes.

Gun drill

Life's different here. Our house has got a basement to shelter from tornados - we don't have basements in England, or tornados.

Tornados are not uncommon in Kansas

Just the other day we had a drive-by shooting drill at school - we had to jump to the ground as if someone with a machine gun had started shooting. I didn't like that much because I was on the swing and I'd just got really high.

And I think there's a language barrier because everyone says things like "y'all". At school, I have to slow down how I talk so people can understand it. My friends try to talk like me but just sound like the Queen.

School is much better than in England, but I hate saying the pledge of allegiance. Every day before school, and at every club we go to, we have to say it. In England we don't sing God Save the Queen every morning.

The Allums get to grips with the new landscape

And everyone here likes Country and Western. I like Eminem and Linkin Park, but if I went to school singing them I'd probably get put in suspension.

I do wish football was more popular here - no-one knows what I'm on about. Last week there was meant to be an Arsenal game on TV but instead it got changed to Oklahoma football. American football stinks - it's just wimpy rugby.

But I really like living here. The people are really nice, and I don't get car sick anymore as the roads are so long and straight.

Every Tuesday we bring you the story of a Briton who has upped sticks and moved abroad. Do you live far from home? Tell us your experiences, using the form below.

I'm 10 and I moved to England 3 years ago. At first I could not understand people here but once I got used to it, I understood. I miss baseball, basketball, snow, really hot weather, American restaurants, sidewalks that are big and safe to ride on, and my grandma and aunt and my old friends. This is what I like about England: football, HOT curries, lots of forests, no tornadoes, no guns, new friends. But I don't like the small windy roads where people drive on the left, school uniforms, and having a lot of rain. I wish it would at least snow on Christmas, as in Indiana we got lots.
Brett Bell, Hampshire (ex-US)

My three children go to school here in the US but they do not say pledge of allegiance. They stand and show respect but do not recite the words. The principal and teachers all accept that it would be wrong for my non-American children to take part.
June Simpson, US (ex-UK)

Unfortunately there are only two sports in Kansas - American footie and basketball. If your family has Fox Sports World it does carry plenty of English Premier League and the occassional FA Cup match. As for fish n' chips, there are a couple of places in Wichita that have mediocre offerings, such as the Scottish Tea Room.
Mike, Kansas

We love the fact that before lunch we can do all our Christmas visiting via the web or phone and then after lunch drive for 20mins to the nearest ski slope and burn off the turkey. A little more fun than falling asleep in front of the tele on Christmas night.
Chantelle Jones, Vancouver (ex-UK)

Yesterday we bought a christmas tree - $55 for a 7ft one!! That seems like a lot to me. Everyone really is mad on animated reindeer in their front garden. Americans don't really go for turkey, I guess because Thanksgiving was less than a month ago. They have no idea what crackers, mince pies or Christmas pudding are. Also, they leave milk and cookies out for Santa and not sherry and a mince pie. But it'll be good (sob)...
Nick Atkins, California

It doesn't really feel like Christmas as it's so warm here. What I will miss most about Dublin is Grafton Street on Christmas Eve, meeting the gang for drinks in Davy Byrnes beside the fire and the streetsellers forcing wrapping paper at you on every corner. Theres something very unique about an Irish Christmas but it's BBQ prawns on the beach for me this year - can't really complain can I?
Judi Dockery, Sydney (ex-Ireland)

I am Danish and am now on my 4th year in the UK. I miss celebrating Christmas on the 24th in the evening. After a nice meal, we would light the real candles on the Christmas tree, dance around it singing and then open presents. It's not quite the same on Christmas morning in your pyjamas.
Henriette, Bedfordshire

We now reside in Wellington as permanent residents, this being our first summer Christmas. We're undecided as to a traditional feast or a beach barbeque.
Clive Felix, New Zealand

I love Christmas in the UK - most traditions make more sense in winter than in summer. I'm excited that we may just get a white Christmas. I also love carols, decorations which sparkle in the faint winter light, and the food traditions which are much more apparent than in Australia. The only thing I miss about Christmas in Australia is my family - and I do miss them an awful lot!
Alison, Cambridge (ex-Canberra)

Christmas is taken too seriously here. As early as November, the fever has started. Where I come from, Christmas is a time to retreat to the rural areas and enjoy the African sun with a lot of beef roasting.
Dynah Solani, Norwich (ex-Botswana)

When I was 12 we moved from Maidenhead to Minnesota. I too had to slow my speech and watch my slang. Everyone asked I lived in a castle, wore long dresses and what language we spoke in England. Years later we're all spread out, but it made our lives more interesting.
Catherine Bird, Boston MA

I enjoy walking around in short-sleeves in December, and if I miss the snow I can drive up into the mountains behind my house. The only negative thing is the assumption that UK cuisine is bland - an assumption I've made it my personal crusade to disprove. So far I've addicted my friends to spotted dick and custard, Christmas pudding, sausage rolls, real mead and cider, British candy and Welsh traditional dishes. In return, they've addicted me to Starbucks coffee, In-N-Out burgers, Mexican cuisine and baked potatoes the size of footballs (American football, that is...)
Peter Paddon, Los Angeles

I'm spending my 5th Christmas in America having moved from England. Houses are so covered in lights and decorations that you can get around your house with the lights from outside brightening the rooms. Soccer (as I now call it) is big where I live, so support for English teams is impressive. I do still miss the Boxing Day results but listen to English radio online to keep up.
Anna Girdwood, Montclair, NJ, USA

Don't worry Anna, I'm only down the road in Wayne. There are plenty of bars in the city that broadcast live footie via satellite and if you go to the one I use, they even go to the trouble of getting English radio commentary from the likes of Motty.
Lee Cummins, Wayne, New Jersey

My wife and I just moved to England, after many years in Brazil. We are originally from southern California. The English are among the nicest people I have ever met, and very accepting of our US accents. I don't miss the US or Brazil at all and am quite happy to be here, although I wish I understood cricket.
Dan Everett, Manchester

When I left for Texas 21 years ago, my father remarked that I was going to live on "another planet". It's not quite that extreme, but life is very different from West Sussex. I'll never get used to seeing people toss their trees out on the afternoon of Christmas Day! Because they put their decorations up directly after Thanksgiving, I suppose they are sick of them by the time the present-giving is over.
Jane Fatino, Austin, Texas

My switch is exactly opposite - I moved to Oxford last July to study theology, and I live and work in The Kilns, CS Lewis's former home. I spent a year in Cambridge four years ago, so had met fish & chips and scones etc before. I miss American football. And snow. And "y'all"!
Jodi Johnson, Oxford (ex-Missouri)

This will be my second Xmas in Italy since we moved from north London. There are many things I miss at this time of year when people seem to hibernate here - simple things like classic Xmas specials on TV, pantomimes, shopping along Oxford St, carol singing etc.
Silvana Laurenzi, Rome

Since leaving Swindon my life has improved more than I could ever have hoped for. I've fallen in love with a beautiful Taiwanese woman, I've experienced earthquakes (including a 6.8 on the Richter scale) and typhoons. I've learned to barter with street traders in Chinese and eat things that would scare most Westerners. I'll be visiting the UK for the first time since I left this winter and taking my girlfriend to see my parents.
Alexander Sharp, Taiwan

I migrated here 5 years ago this week with my Australian partner Darren under the de facto, same-sex migration programme. I miss all the Christmas things in London - Selfridges window, the tree in Trafalgar Square, the Queen's message at 3pm. The only saving grace to Xmas Day here is that the Christmas TOTPs is on before the UK.
David Barnett, Brisbane, Australia

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