British Habits I Can't Stop Doing

I wanted to share some very ~British~ moments in my life lately - so get comfy and let's have a chat! After living in the UK for the last 6 years, sometimes I don't always notice British culture moments because they seem so normal to me now - but it's fun when they stand out! I never would have had these experiences living in Canada.

0:00 british culture in real life
0:39 bacon butty pls
2:49 browsing what??
6:36 learning about british culture
8:57 bowl in the sink lol
11:44 british funerals
15:53 cheers love x
19:13 the art of the bum bag

FOLLOW THE ADVENTURE

Hey! I'm Alanna - a twenty-something documenting my life as a Canadian living in England.

I share the ups and downs of an expat living abroad and what it's really like living in the UK. It's not always easy, but there's been so many wonderful experiences, too. I post a Youtube video every Tuesday & Friday plus an additional video every Saturday on my Patreon account. I also livestream every Wednesday and Sunday at 5:30pm GMT/BST on Twitch.

Alanna x

[charlestaylor]

I knew someone with terminal cancer. He decided that 3 weeks before he died that he would hold a wake. He invited friends. his father and his kids. Everybody knew he was dying but we had a great night, telling stories and reminiscing.

[ozelhassan]

I’m in my 50s now but when I was a kid I loved walking down the high street on a Sunday when all the shops were closed, I must admit I miss this

[JosephHaig]

The 'browsing time' is to extend the reduced shopping hours on Sunday. Technically they are not trading so they can add the extra time to the end of the day and since it is normally going to take some time for shoppers to get to the tills they might as well keep them closed for an hour.
There is nothing offensive about saying that you feel like the Queen reminded you of your grandma. I think that is precisely one reason why so many people feel such affection for her.

[dprid]

The plastic bowl also reduces the amount of hot water you use, which saves money. Bear in mind that back in the day many people got their hot water by boiling a kettle, or maybe from a small hotwater tank if they actually had a heating system rather than just a fire, but either way hot water was not freely freely available so people used it sparingly. My mum had a combi-boiler for the last 15 years so instant hot water, but she still had a bowl in the sink and used as little as she could, and criticised anyone she regarded as using too much.

[cathrynbagley]

A bowl in the sink uses less water and keeps the water hotter for longer - and if you have a pan soaking you can pour the dirty water away down the sink.

[gutinstinct]

I think the ' Bowl ' came about when women used to go outside and scrub the doorstep, it was used to carry wet washing to the washing line in the garden too, and it just stuck with us i suppose =-)

[lulib]

Yes I use a bowl in the sink. The bowl also gets used for taking water to places where you need a bit of water, it is smaller than a bucket and right there in the sink. We might use the bowl to take water out to water the plants when there is a bit of a shortage, it is useful to have the bowl if you need to clear the sink quickly to do something which is pretty useful for hand washing, if someone needs the sink just take the bowl out. The bowl gets used for things like defrosting the freezer, my mum also uses hers for warming plates in hot water. I only realised how many times the bowl got used when I didn't have one.

[eze]

Thanks Alanna, yes, it's a big learning curve. Crisp sandwiches alone are an art in themselves! 🙏

[paulknox]

a plastic bowl to wash dishes has many advantages but for me the water stays hotter for longer, doesnt make as much noise

[primalengland]

I was born in 1954, so remember shops closed on Sunday and also Wednesday afternoon. Yep….. Wednesday afternoon.

[golach]

Regarding funerals... I bought a very expensive bottle of Brora whisky for my Dad as a birthday present. We'd ask him all the time for a dram, but he kept saying to keep it for his wake. Well, he had the last laugh. He passed over 12 years ago. We cracked the wax and poured everyone a nip and it was bloody awful. I'm sure he knew.

[davebirch]

I think the bowl in the sink thing might come from many years ago when kitchen sinks were used for multiple jobs like hand washing clothes and washing other various things, so people might have thought it seemed more hygienic to wash the pots in a bowl to prevent any contamination.

[morganetches]

I’m British and I’ve never noticed the browsing hour thing! I don’t think I’ve ever been up early enough on a Sunday to have this experience

[janrogers]

Sunday trading laws only allow the stores to trade (i.e., take money) for 6 hours. However, to maximise sales, customers are able to start filling baskets ready for when the tills open.
Using a washing up bowl allowed you to use less water in a very large sink, it also meant you could throw the water on the garden. We were saving water back when it wasn't as important as it is now.

[bikesandcats]

We have a bowl in the sink. I think it comes from people having Belfast sinks which were far too large to fill with water for washing up.

[lottie]

The shop thing, it's the law for larger shops on Sundays, they can't sell anything before 10am, but they open so people can go around and get their stuff ready to check out at 10am if they want to. I remember when all shops were shut on a Sunday. It was so nice to walk through a deserted city on a Sunday.

[BritishBeachcomber]

The main reason we go to the pub after a funeral is so we can meet family we've not seen for ages. Just to remind ourselves why we've been avoiding them for decades.

[davidjones]

I think the washing-up bowl goes back to the days when most houses had a "Belfast" sink (which you can still buy). These are huge, and were used for washing clothes, and for bathing children in the days before most houses had bathrooms. Hot water would have to be boiled on a coal fire, or later drawn from a gas-fired geyser, and had to be used sparingly, so because it takes a lot of water to fill a huge Belfast sink, the bowl made a lot of sense. It also protected crockery against being broken through contact with a hard ceramic surface.

[oaktreeman]

My old dad, who was born in 1924, still remembers the old days, when everything was shut on Sundays. After the church service was over, the women headed home to put the Sunday roast on, while the men headed to the pubs. Pubs did good business on Sundays in those days!

[angelique_cs]

We never had the bowl in the sink ever in my experience here in California. Until about 6 years ago, that is. Because water conservation is such a crucial thing here, it helps me save some water and creates a "double sink" for rinsing.
So, I like it now!
Excellent video as always 😊