I’m from the US, and a rural area at that, so to me “rural” means “I can’t see any evidence of people no matter how hard I look and it’s a long drive to the nearest supermarket.”

As I discovered in the UK, areas classified as “rural” in the minds of the British are totally different than I expected or considered.

I was riding in a co-worker’s car and we were passing what looked to me like a pretty standard semi-suburban area – not that dense, but with a few dwellings and businesses around and off in the distance.

My co-worker commented something like, “It’s hard to find anything out in these rural areas.”

I looked around, but didn’t say anything. I could see a dozen houses, a pub, a restaurant and a hardware store. Where I am from, that’s a town!

But in the UK, it is “rural.”

Strange these differences that you’d never even begin to think about if you don’t experience them in person, even in two cultures similar in so many ways.