My UK Culture Shock Experience

My culture shock experience in the UK from the point of view of a Danish international student!
These were the things that surprised me in England over the last 1½ years - let me know what you think in the comments! x
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f o l l o w m e ! x
Instagram @mathilde_klitgaard
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timestamps
00:00 intro
00:35 the religion of tea
01:31 politeness to the max
2:00 karen as a coffee lady
2:48 types of sorry
3:17 being straightforward is a nono
3:58 polite does not equal proper?
4:36 weird words
6:13 "it's leviOsa not levioSA"
6:32 self-checkouts
7:39 the sheer dedication to the club
8:20 full english breakfasts
8:35 gavin & stacey
8.53 a sad note
8:59 pineapple intermission
9:18 sorry I had to censor this
9:57 outro

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b u s i n e s s e n q u i r i e s

[RogersRamblings]

Many people unfamiliar with British ways think that when we say "sorry" we're apologising. Not always true, it can simply mean, "I didn't hear you properly, can you repeat that please?" Alternatively it can mean, "Who the **** do you think you're talking to sunshine?", or even "Are you looking for a slap"? It's all in the tone of voice and the inflexion.

[JohnSmith-oeci]

Ah yes the old passive aggressive "politeness" - plus weaponised sarcasm are the judo & karate of ancient English martial arts

[johndodd]

We use ultra-politeness as an alternative to a smack in the gob. But we can do that if you aren't polite.

[briwire]

Regarding the coffee incident, your English is so good, she probably thought you were English. If you had more of a foreign accent she would have given you some leeway.

[parallax_]

The luch dinner tea debate tends to be a north south thing, however no one even knows where the north ends and south begins lol

[svennie]

The quirks of us British are many.
Tea, if you like tea, don't tell anyone how you make it unless asked by a person you know well, because no matter how you make tea, it'll be different to the way the person asking makes it and your way will be wrong. Lol.

[frogletx]

I've never watched Gavin and Stacey either and I feel no temptation to do so.

[SteveRGash]

Dinner is your main meal of the day whatever time it is

[James-pnbm]

Refreshing to see someone's view on England outside of London! London in no way reflects what real England is!

[nicedog]

I sympathise with you regarding the nuances of our culture. We can be accused of being rude for the tiniest thing which I often am because although I’m from London, I’m sick of having to tip toe around everyone in order not to cause offence.

[nickgrazier]

I’m 70 and brought up in the 50s and 60s. My family was “working class” in the Black Country (just South West of Birmingham, look for Dudley. The meals were always Breakfast, Dinner then Tea.

[michael-pnpo]

Hi Mathilde - Dinner/;Lunch and Tea/Dinner/Supper are regional memes. In Manchester where you are the locals will refer to Dinner as the midday meal and Tea as the evening meal. Most of the examples you give I can relate to (having lived and worked in Greater Manchester for the majority of my life.) However, a lot of your experience appears to reflect big city life - in the suburbs and the rural areas there is less crime risk and fewer self checkouts! Keep well.

[noelfrancis]

I did enjoy your take on British ways, please make more

[bensteel]

Your English is incredible. You should be very proud. Did you know that Wellington's horse at the Battle Of Waterloo in 1851 was called Copenhagen? Just a fun fact. Great video.

[colingregory]

The words thing is because we were invaded by a lot of different people in the distant past and then many of the words have morphed over time, especially town and city names. Many of the names are regional, so some areas tend towards Norse origins, some French, German and Irish are the main ones.

[rebeccavalentine]

I once went out at Christmas for my friends birthday and one of my friends wore a cocktail dress and heels in 3 inch snow

[Paldasan]

The dropping of letters in place names is a matter of convenience. Think about how you first signed your name, maybe it was really precise with each letter clearly drawn or maybe it had lots of flourishes. Once you've done a few more orbits around the sun you'll notice that unless you really focus on doing it properly it becomes more of a squiggly line and maybe a quarter of the letters are recognisable, especially if you have to do it a lot for work or business. You'll keep a few identifying traits so you know it's yours but not at the expensive of saving time or effort. Place names are the same. The Shire of Worcester is now just woostersheer.
The dinner/tea thing is like a lot of the internal cultural struggles in the UK in that it is class based and has its roots in events like the Norman invasion. When those of French persuasion ruled the natives of wealth who wanted to keep that wealth adopted the language and mannerisms of their new rulers as did anyone who wanted to move up the social ranks. This isn't universal though because the British contrarian nature means some things were stubbornly held on to by the rich which meant the poor would adopt the French in order to be contrary to the rich. The further north you go the less influenced the society tends to be as the French wished to stay close to "civilisation".

[tantuce]

What would you say about the magnolia paint that seem to be a standard colour for interior walls in Britain? Surely, this is different in Denmark.
I noticed your background. Mine's the same, lol

[carldarbyshire]

The dinner, tea thing is a north/south thing but also a class thing. Upper class people are more likely to use lunch and dinner, but a northern working class guy like myself will say dinner instead of lunch and tea instead of dinner.
Good reaction by the way and pretty accurate 😉

[RpattoYT]

I think your experience is characterized by living in the city. There's quite the difference between the largest UK cities and more rural areas. The culture in cities is a lot more intense, magnified even and thus there is increased pressure to conform to their cultural standards. The rest of the country is more liberty minded and has a relaxed laissez-faire attitude to life and others; in fact you might say this characterizes the majority of the country. Also city folk act polite but are actually bastards, the rest of the country keeps up appearances as far politeness goes, but are generally more blunt, while genuinely being nicer.