Call it ignorance or cultural differences – whatever you like. Here are a few of the things that dumbfounded me two years ago. Yeah, I know right – two years already!!
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Stones
Lots of people in England actually still measure their body weight in stones, with one stone being 14lbs. It’s very confusing, especially if your mental math is lousy.
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Don’t call a mobile phone from a landline or phone booth
I’m sure this varies from plan to plan, but it costs way more to phone a mobile from a landline or phone booth than it does from another mobile. Also, landlines usually have a set number of minutes that you can use each month (although recently ‘unlimited’ minutes is becoming popular). There’s no such thing as “long distance” within the UK, so you can call anyone in any area code and it’s the same price.
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VAT
Tax on things you buy is called VAT (equivalent of GST, in Canada). It’s 17.5% and the nice thing is that it’s included in the ticketed price of things you buy. So if you see something that’s £10, you walk in and hand them £10. Good times.
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School lingo
School goes from age 5-16 (“Year 1″ – “Year 11″), followed by GCSE exams which mark the completion of compulsory education. The next two years (“Sixth Form”) are optional and lead up to “A-Levels” which are tests you take prior to University. Coincidentally, private schools are referred to as “public schools”. Also, “school” isn’t used as an umbrella term here, so if you use it when referring to university, people will correct you. Oh and school busses don’t seem to exist (at least not in my area), so everyone drives their bloody kids to school. How I love half term!
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Sink within a sink
Many British people have a plastic tub that fits neatly inside their kitchen sink, in which they place dirty dishes to soak. This seems weird to me as the sink could do the exact same thing and it has a drain, too! I don’t know. I guess it’s because the tubs are portable and sinks aren’t.
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Tipping
You aren’t expected to tip in a bar or pub, even if they bring the food / drinks to you. Bar and restaurant staff make normal minimum wage (as opposed to below minimum wage in Canada) so they don’t depend on tips to survive. Someone told me once that you only tip on the food in restaurants, but I’m not entirely sure on the accuracy of that. Also, the typical tipping rate is 10-15%.
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Speeding
Instead of using police officers and speed traps, they use speed cameras to catch you speeding in the UK. They have cameras that track your speed using some lines painted on the road and if you’re speeding, they send you a ticket in the mail. Sneaky, eh?
