I've hesitated to post this opinion for several months now. My fear is that I'm insulting entire countries, or sparking unintended anger or resentment. I'm also not even a big fan of 'top 10' lists, but I've been asked the question about 'surprises' and 'learnings' so many times that there does seem to be an interest in it, and I certainly hope this can be read and shared from a positive perspective. Its hard to speak in broad brush generalities, there are always exceptions. The intent here is to start healthy conversations, not cause problems. If nothing else, try to laugh at these, so, here we go...
10. The weather is good.
Yes, its a bit wet and dreary (I didn't say the weather is 'great'), but that helps you learn to appreciate the sun when it inevitably comes out. The weather is good in my humble opinion because the temperature doesn't vary. The highs are lower than I'm used to, and the lows are higher than I'm used to. You can easily predict the temperature for the next 7 days and there's something nice about not being surprisingly frozen or sweaty the instant you step outside. Good luck mentally getting used to Celsius vs Fahrenheit though.
9. The food is good.
Ok, 'good' might be a stretch, I tend to say the food is 'bland as opposed to bad'. The salt and sugar are half what I'm used to, which adds to the blandness, but it sure adds to the healthiness factor. These are major cities, so of course you can find a wide range of food. The curry really is as good as its reputation. Oh, can't forget the major switch from 'pop into a fast food joint anywhere' to 'grab a fresh sandwich made that morning anywhere' - huge difference. Tea and scones really are good when they're done well, and there's no debate about chocolate. If you think we have a lot of cooking shows in the states, you wouldn't believe how many cooking shows there are in the UK, so maybe its a sign of things to come?
8. Castles are alive, but the country shuts down no later than 6 pm (1800).
Did you know that real life people actually live in castles and still maintain them? News to me, I seriously thought they were ruins or tourist traps. You better arrive at castles in the morning though because everything from castles to grocery stores to anything with a front door locks no later than 6pm. People go home and then they're somehow shockingly quiet too. Ok, I exaggerate, a few pubs and restaurants are open later, but you'll feel like you're the only one outside until you're inside the pub - oh, unless its summer, then everyone stands outside by the front door of the pub. I tossed in the 1800 time reference here too, better get used to 24 hour clocks. I'm now a wizard at subtracting 12 from any number.
7. Its not as expensive as you've heard, until you need to dry clean something.
In general, salaries are 25% lower and stuff costs 25% more, so you're dealing with a 50% change. Get over it. But if you've gotten used to $.99 shirt or $9 suit dry cleaning, be mentally prepared for literally at least a 600% price increase. I'm convinced dry cleaning must be a secret expert profession where each thread is cleaned by hand with special dry water and mystical powers. Its honestly almost worth buying new suits versus cleaning them. Petrol (gas), houses, clothes, yeah they're more than you'd like them to be, but dry cleaning is apparently an art. Don't forget cash if you want a shopping cart. You'll need to understand council tax, pay for a licence to watch tv, and your credit card better have a PIN number tied to it if you want to easily spend money.
6. There are doors everywhere, and lots of ancient skeleton keys.
I realise there was a big fire here 350 years ago. The door industry must have won some kind of negotiation because every single room and hallway has a door. I'm not sure how germophobes would handle it. I still often smile when I pull a skeleton out of my pocket, I can't help but think of switching it out for a paperclip and making it a fun puzzle to open the door.
5. Seriously, there's a spider problem.
Listen, I'm not one to jump on a chair when a spider appears, but wow, you literally can't go a day without seeing a spider, let alone walking through a spider web. Such spider diversity too, little flat ones that don't move then scarily completely disappear the next time you look back. Huge 'wolf' spiders that probably eat the mice. Daddy long leg ones that seem to have a mouth and visible teeth. Gotta give it to the spiders though, I've barely seen any ants anywhere at all, even on ice cream laying in the street. And I hear they've scared off the ticks too? Its a big spider dynasty.
4. Every person has their own accent.
Not just in Britain, but I'm beginning to think that every person in the world has their own dialect and accent. I learned that here. In the states you have to travel thousands of miles to hear a noticeably different accent, in the UK you can walk across the hall (and open the door). For the first time, I'm able to 'hear' my own accent, and 'hear' the words I choose. Its enlightening.
3. Roundabouts are way better, until they're way worse.
In a strange twist of the counterintuitive, long straight roads with simple stops are bad. It turns out to be better if you remove all the forced stopping (e.g. lights, signs, intersections, etc.) and just let people get where they're going with a few easy things in the way to keep them awake. Make the roads a little more twisty, put small colourful plants in the middle of the road where multiple roads come together. If everyone goes a bit slower, we seem to find a way to keep moving and get to our destination pretty quickly.
There's a belief here that one lane roads are plenty of room for two way traffic (and parked cars), just make new friends in other silent moving boxes by waving your hands a lot. Thats all good until someone messes it up, I was lucky for about 7 months before I must have been behind some terrible accident. I was so far behind it that I didn't see any remnants of it, but I can tell you that it took me just short of 3 hours to go 10 miles. Ouch, this system is amazing until it breaks, then its horrific. Win a few, lose a few, I guess.
2. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
In other parts of the world, every little area has its most beautiful part. If you're lucky, you're in a little area that happens to have some outstanding beautiful place. Here, you can drive short distances and visit multiple areas that have some of the most beautiful sights in the world. They call them AONB and I had never heard of that before. I'm still overwhelmed by the options and the beauty. I remember the first time I saw purple mountain majesty and the awestruck inspirational motivation that comes with it. There seem to be dozens of places here with pretty similar feelings when you visit. For example, Kynance Cove or Lizard in the south, let alone Wales, Lake District, Ireland, Scotland, man made places, etc., just ridiculously 'how is this possible' type beauty. Even the locals seem to barely know them? Outstanding.
1. Thriving, vibrant culture that already knows you.
Its all about the people, right? I'll be somewhat controversial and say that the British reputation is slow, subtle and passive aggressive. I choose a different perspective and I truly believe it is mature, sophisticated and thoughtful. The statistic is that over 96% of Brits have a passport, more than any other country in the world. They travel a lot, they communicate a lot, I guess as recent as one hundred years ago they 'ruled' most of the land. Even though I find it a bit painful to have to work hard to ask for a bill at a restaurant, there seems to be a genuine kindness pervasive in the culture. I think its an accepted mentality of 'we', as opposed to an 'us' and 'them', which I happen to think is a really nice thing - and exactly what made it somewhat hard to create this list.
Honourable Mentions
There were a few things I couldn't work into the list, such as flipping power outlets on, push buttons on toilets, and the fact that the first floor is the second floor (there's a 'ground floor' which is like floor zero here). 'Post codes' are cool, they get you within about 3 houses of where you want to be, as opposed to zip codes, which I think we use for anything from 5 to 10,000 square mile radiuses? And how can I not mention public transportation, tube, train, bus, taxi, its virtually a flawless system until there's a 'trespasser', which is frighteningly a little too common. I've probably forgotten so many things (e.g sports, visitors, slang, etc.), guess I'll try to keep the daily[ish] blog going :)
