American Habits Surprising to Brits

As I heat up leftovers ...

I am not 100 percent sure that a Brit would find it odd, but many non-Americans find it strange that we "must" eat turkey on Thanksgiving -- that is, a fowl that nobody seems to like enough to buy at any other time of the year. And the whole thing with cranberry sauce -- again, no one really seems to like it -- no one seems to buy cranberries to eat (by themselves! no less) at any other time of the year, yet it is a "must-have" at Thanksgiving.

ole idea of thanksgiving is far more odd than eating turkey on it. 'Hey, lets celebrate being saved by the natives just before we like totally stole the country from them...' to give a glib rendition, along with 'celebrating' memorial day and the relentlessly positive take on every holiday. But on a more trivial note here is some stuff I blogged just after moving here

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I walk into a outlet that sells guns and has an in-store taxidermist, but can't get a 9-inch Nails CD because "it's satanic." So I can get a weapon, kill something and bring it in here to be immortalised but the management find a music CD too scary to stock?
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All in all it's bizarre how similar most English speaking countries are. I pack my bags, move in and start work. But it's the little differences I notice, at least at the beginning. Here are my 10 little things Americans do that are odd--well, at least to my eyes. Meant merely as a observation of quirks--hand, feeding, bite etc. Of course I have only lived in one small town for less than a week--your mileage may vary.

1) Drinking tomato juice. Heat it up and call it a soup already.
2) Heathrow prints the boarding time on your boarding pass--Newark prints the departure time. Meaning that is you turn up at that time you get to wave the plane goodbye but not much more.
3) Imperial units rule. Miles, quarts and as far as I know pecks. No wonder they lost the Mars Lander.
4) No big hanging lights in the middle of the bedroom or living room. So if you are fool enough to rent an unfurnished apartment, books must be read in the bathroom.
5) The prices don't include tax. I mean what would be the point of having a ticket price that was actually what you want the customer to pay?
6) Pennies and dollar notes are taking over the world. Now I understand why most of the Western world moved to one and two dollar coins. I have a roll of notes that make me look like a highroller but will barely cover the cost of a sandwich and coffee. And of course the bills are just a little bit longer than Brit notes, rendering my wallet obsolete.
7) The money is all the same size and colour making it easy to give a $100 tip not the dollar you intended.
8) What's with tipping anyway-why not just pay a decent minimum wage? On the up side I am getting pretty good at mentally multiplying by 0.2.
9) I love that everyone in shops says please, thank-you and you're welcome--but most of them are staring into the middle distance as they do it. It may just be the 100 degree temperatures but it's a bit like buying groceries from pod people. Of course if I would doing that job I probably wouldn't manage to say it at all....
10) The only people who know about bus stops and services are bus drivers and people waiting at bus stops. Most people seem surprised at the very thought of using a bus. Bus drivers, however, are very helpful. So far most of the people at the bus stop have been lovely but not English speaking. Amazing what can be done with gestures.

Just to show I am not a trivia-obsessed grinch--apartment lovely, people friendly, cost of living low... life much better now I have the internet again--roll on cable. I only get chanel 18 at the moment and the appeal is wearing thin.

I came to Calgary, Canada from Britain. There are many differences but I'm darned if I can think of more than one right now. If I think of otheres, I'll come back.

I lived in many areas of Britain before I came here, so I was suspicious of 'friendly strangers' at first. In this city, people talk to you. At the bus stop, in a line up (queue) anywhere, the person next to you will start a conversation. Quite often, others around will join in so waiting around at banks or stores is not boring. People who pass you on the street will often smile and say 'Hi' or wish you a 'good day'.

BTW, although I mentioned Canada specifically, I've travelled through the US several times and found the same friendliness there.

veinglory said:

8) What's with tipping anyway-why not just pay a decent minimum wage? On the up side I am getting pretty good at mentally multiplying by 0.2.

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To show appreciation to a service industry person for providing you with adequate to great service. Depending on the size of the tip, of course.

There are other factors (mostly in my case) which includes if it's a place where a family member works (cause I don't want to appear to be the 'cheap' one in the family when I make twice what he does!)

Or to show my complete lack of appreciation for being ignored for an hour and then getting attitude when I mention such. I've only NOT tipped a waiter/waitress deliberately two or three times in my life and every time the service was so horrible not only did I NOT tip, but I have not returned to that place again (and in the case of one restaurant, I refuse to go to ANY store in that chain!)

BTW...many service personal over here can get away with being paid less than the minimum wage because of the 'tip income' they are supposed to earn. Back when I worked a slot attendant job (where I sat up watching people with no lives playing a small bank of slot machines from 10pm to 6am) I was automatically taxed for $40 a week in tips, whether I earned that much in tips or not. Of course, if I earned more than that in tips (I laugh I do!) then I got taxed on that as well.

So, yeah, tips are a good thing and can really help me determine the quality of a restaurant. Such as one place in New York (no I shall not *cough*phebes*cough* mention the name of the *cough*phebes*cough* place *cough*phebes*cough*!) where I shall not go back to when the waitress demaned more in tips because we had not given her enough - two years in a stinking row! That was quite enough of that thank you.

Sorry...I'm ranting so I don't stare at blank screen.

Rabe...

Yeah tipping is a big thing. We don't tip many people and I find it difficult when I'm in the US to get used to it. I'm just back from a visit to the US so here are a few thoughts.
The TV ads are very different. US ads are very direct and in your face,
The way people eat is different. We use knife in our right hand, fork in our left simultaneously. Most US people don't and they stare when we do it.
Big advertising boards all over the place, particularly along major roads, we have far fewer.
The TV news has far less foreign news than ours, same with the newsapapers.

One thing I noticed when visiting the US: people rarely walk, and will always take the car, even if only going a short distance. There seems to be some sort of stigma in North America attached to going by foot. I live in the UK, and it is common for people to walk short distances, and people don't usually bother to go by car if it is only a fifteen or twenty minute walk. For this sort of distance you would only get the car out if a) you had mobility problems b) had something heavy to carry.

In North America people euphemistically talk about going to "the bathroom" or "the restroom", whereas in the UK, the bathroom is the room with the bath in it, and a restroom doesn't exist. In that respect people, (in Europe, and Japan), can be quite blunt about where they are going, and even about what they are going to do when they get there!

electric.avenue said:

One thing I noticed when visiting the US: people rarely walk, and will always take the car, even if only going a short distance. There seems to be some sort of stigma in North America attached to going by foot.

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Have you seen the movie L.A. Story? (I think that's it - Steve Martin gets in the car in front of his house and with the door open and one leg hanging out, drives to his next door neighbor's house - 30 feet away. )

There's no stigma associated with walking - at least not where I am (suburb, not a big city) - it's just that we like our cars and are obsessive about the abstracts we associate with said cars. Cars are for getting somewhere, walking is for enjoyment or exercise or the dog... FWIW, I think part of it comes from this business of cities separating commercial and residential so much - it would take hours to walk anywhere other than another person's house from my house... (which stems from another difference - we like our space here...)

However, I suspect this is becoming more regional (i.e. walking places is becoming more common in some areas where more cities are trying to build areas they refer to as "down town" where you would ride public transport or drive and park somewhere (around the edges of said area) and then walk around "down town", like in the old days (don't know if their idea of the old days is correct, but that seems to be what they're going for)).

When I talk to friends who live in and visit New York City or Washington, D.C., walking and using public transport are fairly common, but when you get outside said big cities, there's rarely decent public transport and things are too far away from where you live to walk there.

(Just in case you need an American reaction to the things your character finds surprising.)

Liz

we have bacon strips cooked crispy.

We call it a "fanny pack".

We consider anything before 1776 to be "ancient history".

the word fanny means bottom in America, I think. Its not that in Britain. Its a lady's, uh, flower...

I don't have personal experience, having never been to England, but as I understand it, there are a few things that Brits who have visited here found odd/amusing:

1. Kraft Easy Cheese (the near-liquid cheese product in the aerosol can.) Apparently, the concept of non-block cheese is strange. However, several Brit friends got addicted to the stuff while here and now can't find it back home.

2. Americans wear their shoes indoors all the time (regardless of weather) and then shampoo/steam clean the rugs once or twice a year. Hardly anybody owns galoshes or changes into slippers at the front door or owns any for guests.

3. The sheer SIZE of the average American house, and how many things we own. Even a starter home (for young couples/first-time homeowners) in America is just under 140 square meters (1,500 square feet), and an "average" home is over 186 square meters (about 2,000 square feet.)

4. Americans use detergent for EVERY load of wash. A friend of mine house swapped with a family in London and had never heard of the concept of an "eco-ball." After a week of using one with less than satisfactory results on cleaning, she called home and had her sister ship a bottle of liquid detergent.

Just a few things I've heard commented on.

I'm from New Jersey and while I've never been to Kent, I've lived in London for a long time. Off the top of my head, some things would be:

1. Flags. You can see an American flag hanging on almost every block in my old hometown, something you don't see in England unless it's World Cup time.

2. God. A lot more Americans go to church regularly than the English and in northern New Jersey, at least, usually means Catholic (with a sprinkling of various Protestant denominations). Americans are also more prone to talk about Him in conversation.

3. Beer. Most American beer is cold, watery and tasteless but it's amazingly cheap, especially compared to what you see over here. Not only can you buy enough to get thoroughly pissed, you'll ALSO have enough left over to wash your car with.

4. Food. I hate to add to the "All Americans are morbidly obese" stereotype but you get a lot more food for your money in the states. Portions in restaurants are bigger and with the weaker dollar, the sky's the limit. Stacks of waffles. Enough steak to feed a family of four. Hamburgers bigger than your skull. You name it, you can get it.

5. Public transportation in New Jersey isn't bad for the states - there's good bus service connecting most towns - but yeah, the days of walking everywhere are long gone.

Oh yes, portion size. I got a huge salad and was very happy with my meal, then realised we hadn't even started eating dinner yet. And calling the main course an entree--which means appetiser.

britwrit said:

3. Beer. Most American beer is cold, watery and tasteless but it's amazingly cheap, especially compared to what you see over here. Not only can you buy enough to get thoroughly pissed, you'll ALSO have enough left over to wash your car with.

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I certainly agree about the cold thing. But if you're comparing prices in bars, in my recent experience American beer is the same/more expensive (or maybe that was just the bar at WFC)

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Brits have peanut butter, and they have jelly (jam), but they would never dream of putting them together.

I noticed the flag thing and mentioned it, my American friend denied it. So as we drive back from lunch I said 'flag' every time I saw an American flag. She got tired of it before I did (more than one a second LOL)

5KidsMom said:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Brits have peanut butter, and they have jelly (jam), but they would never dream of putting them together.

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Really? That's very funny!

I do know that the concept of a stovetop kettle (which most Americans consider standard) is laughably antiquated to an Englishman (one of them anyway.) I was asked if we'd cottoned on the the notion of indoor plumbing and that contraption called 'the wheel' yet. Apparently, you're nobody if you ain't got an electric kettle.

Which I now do. It's terrific. And they're much cheaper in the UK. I paid $70 for mine and endured another lecture.

I do know that the concept of a stovetop kettle (which most Americans consider standard) is laughably antiquated

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I'd presume that we Americans still buy the stovetop ones because it's used so seldom. We're more coffee drinkers than tea drinkers, as a whole. I don't think you'll probably find the sheer quantity of coffee-brewing/steaming/pressing appliances that are common here, in the UK.

Pssst, Cathy - don't defend it. It only gets them riled up.

(must retain stiff upper lip. its all we have.)

Well if that's all there is, I'd have to venture that Americans are better kissers. But I do agree with the slippers in the house thing - and slippers for guests? Yay!

Size!

Culture shock! America was more foreign than France.

Size of everything. The bags of sugar, the houses, the vastness of the country. The big roads and cars. Everything was so darned large.

Winter cold! Sub zero temperatures are an appalling shock to the system.

Inside heat. The temps in houses in winter was so hot and uncomfortable. You had to put on thermal underwear, and lots of warm clothes to go out but inside it was 80 F. I kept my heating down to a reasonable 60F and visitors always asked if the furnace had broken down.

Darned tipping!

Getting to used to watching people eat using only a fork and using it, as my mother would have said, 'like a shovel'. Having been used to formal European style eating I found American eating habits very sloppy. Oh and the habit of lime or lemon or orange gelatine 'salads' on the same plate as one's meat! I'd never met gelatine salads like these before.

greglondon said:

we have bacon strips cooked crispy.

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Oh, yes! My husband is forever complaining about American bacon -- naturally fattier/less meaty, he says, and then cooked to an unfortunate degree of crispness.

He loves nothing more than a good ole British "fry up" (isn't that what it's called?) for breakfast.

As an American, by the way, I found the "fried slice" (greasy fried piece of toast) a very odd addition to the morning menu.

smallthunder said:

He loves nothing more than a good ole British "fry up" (isn't that what it's called?) for breakfast.

As an American, by the way, I found the "fried slice" (greasy fried piece of toast) a very odd addition to the morning menu.

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The 'full English' - sausages, bacon, eggs, fried slice, grilled tomato, and mushrooms maybe (add black and white pudding in Ireland). Accompanied by toast and marmalade.

The fried slice is not toasted though, just bread fried crisp.