{"id":6510,"date":"2020-02-02T14:01:46","date_gmt":"2020-02-02T14:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/?p=6510"},"modified":"2020-02-03T15:09:37","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T15:09:37","slug":"what-surprised-me-about-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/information\/what-surprised-me-about-england.php","title":{"rendered":"What surprised me about England"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6550\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/london.jpg\" alt=\"Sunset over London\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" \/>Hi, my name is Dennis and I have lived in England for 4 months now. I am from Germany, and want to give you an insight into what has surprised me during my stay. While some of these surprises might seem to be rather small and insignificant, I think that these small things contribute to your experience and give you the perfect immersion in a country. Plus, they are always a great start for a conversation!<\/p>\n<p>This is a list of all the things that baffled me, made me happy, or even a bit mad. Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Roadwork ahead? I sure hope it does!<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6548\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/traffic-light.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" \/>One of the major differences between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/en\/learn\/english\/england.php\">England<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/en\/learn\/german\/germany.php\">Germany<\/a> almost cost me my head on the first day. I am talking about road lanes. In theory, you know that the lanes are the opposite to European lanes, but in the moment you don\u2019t think it through \u2013 at least, I didn\u2019t. This resulted in me looking left (instead of right, where a car was coming) and almost crossing the road. Luckily, I heard the car before I moved forward and looked right \u2013 still thinking in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/en\/learn\/german.php\">German<\/a>, I didn\u2019t expect there to be a car about to hit me! \u2013 and was quite surprised as it passed me.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019d think I learned my lesson, right? Not really. It took me weeks to really understand how the roads worked. I had to ignore what I\u2019d learned and practised for over 20 years, but after a month or two I knew where to look. In this time frame I was checking both lanes at least 3 times before I crossed the street.<\/p>\n<p>Another road-related revelation was walking when the traffic light is red. A little bit of context here: in Germany, you <em>don\u2019t<\/em> cross the street if the traffic right is red. The chance to get shamed by others is always there \u2013 especially if there are children around, when you\u2019re expected to be a good role model. Well, here in England, everybody crosses the road when the pedestrian light is red. Young people, parents with children, the elderly \u2013 whoever you are, it doesn\u2019t really matter: if there is no car coming, why wait for the green man to appear? One of the \u2018am I an actual alien?\u2019 moments I had was when everybody crossed on the red light except me. Luckily, I have adapted this and now proudly live the English way!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"420\" class=\"img-fluid aligncenter wp-image-6546 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/street.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/street.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/street-768x358.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/street-640x299.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Strange trains<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6549\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/train.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" \/>Speaking of transport, one thing I have noticed is that going by train is not the most favourite way to travel in England. For one, the tickets are quite expensive (in comparison to the bus, for example). Also, it can be a bit confusing, especially for a foreigner. I\u2019m living close to where I work here, so I don\u2019t take the train a lot. On the times I did, I found it hard to tell what train I needed!<\/p>\n<p>Many of the trains don\u2019t have any numbers or names like they do in Germany. In the UK, the final stop is normally shown on the front of the driver\u2019s carriage \u2013 especially on main routes \u2013 but for regional trains often there is no label displaying where the train is going. Also, if you arrive on the platform when the train is waiting and can\u2019t see the front, there might not be anything on the side to tell you the route! In larger stations, there is usually an electronic board on each platform showing the stops of the next train, and maybe even an announcement on the tannoy, but in smaller stations it can be very confusing. Sure, it\u2019s the right platform and the right time, but there is still no obvious indicator that this is the train for your trip. British trains are notoriously late. It takes a bit of getting used to!<\/p>\n<p>If you want to take the train and are under 25, you can save some money by buying a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-25railcard.co.uk\/\">Young Person\u2019s Railcard<\/a>. This costs \u00a330 per year and you will get a third off the ticket price. There are other railcards you can buy, as well as transport passes like the Oyster Card in London, which are useful if you travel a lot by train.<\/p>\n<h3>Retail in England<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6547\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Tesco-Extra.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" \/>The biggest game-changer for me was retail. Not as dangerous or important as traffic, but even more different to what I am used to in Germany. Where do I begin? One of the weirdest things for me was the fact that almost every store is open on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>I arrived in the UK on a Saturday and my roommate told me casually that I can get some groceries tomorrow. I thought she had forgotten which day it was. As I arrived at the nearest store, I checked the opening times and \u2013 good lord, they really are open on Sunday! The unthinkable has come true \u2026 If you ask yourself who shops for groceries on a Sunday \u2013 everybody does. It\u2019s actually quite busy. But besides that, most supermarkets are open until 10pm Monday to Saturday, and some are open 24 hours. Sure, these shops also exist in Germany, but they are in bigger cities and they mostly open from Monday to Friday. Even these big stores in key cities are all closed on Sundays.<\/p>\n<p>The upper end of the supermarket food chain here is Tesco, by far*. Tescos can be huge \u2013 no, <em>gigantic<\/em> \u2013 and most are open from 6am to 12pm. You can buy everything there and, most importantly: they are everywhere. I was blown away by the size and selection of these things. Need medicine? Tesco. Want to buy videogames? Tesco. New clothes? Tesco. The Holy Grail? Probably Tesco. And if you think you\u2019ve found the biggest Tesco in town, someone will tell you about \u2018the Big Tesco\u2019. There is always a bigger fish.<\/p>\n<p><em>*N.B. from the other staff at Apple Languages: Tesco is not a high-end supermarket. It\u2019s a perfectly normal British supermarket, but you can buy lots of things there. There are several types, and the \u2018gigantic\u2019 one Dennis refers to is a \u2018Tesco Extra\u2019, which has a large homeware section. We\u2019ve had some interesting cross-cultural conversations in the office about English vs. European supermarkets! \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Cash or card?<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6538\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cashier.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" \/>Retail here lives in the year 3020 while Germany is stuck somewhere in the early 2000s. You can pay with card everywhere. Literally <em>everywhere<\/em>. Small example: in many German restaurants or smaller shops, card payment is unthinkable \u2013 it\u2019s cash or nothing (and don\u2019t even dare to ask to pay by smartphone). Even in bigger cities, this phenomenon will occur. In Germany, cash is king. In England, you can eat at the shabbiest burger van on the side of the road and they will gladly accept card payment. Some people I\u2019ve met just don\u2019t use cash anymore, and I can\u2019t blame them. Actually, most card machines accept Apple Pay or a similar smartphone app, so you don\u2019t even need your card these days.<\/p>\n<p>Here is something to be aware of if you tend to be socially awkward. In most shops, the cashier will ask, \u201cHow are you?\u201d when they first see you, which caught me off guard in the beginning. I was so confused. Is that a rhetorical question? Does the person in front of me want a real answer? This fight within me resulted in a weird silence. After a while, I learned it seems to be fine to just answer with, \u201cGood, thanks,\u201d or \u201cAlright?\u201d \u2013 or even just, \u201cHi\u201d. \u2018How are you?\u2019 is more of a general greeting in English, the same as \u2018Hello\u2019 and \u2018Alright?\u2019 \u2013 which doesn\u2019t actually mean, \u201cI\u2019m alright,\u201d but is more like, \u201cAre you alright?\u201d. And in England, even if you\u2019re not alright, you\u2019re supposed to say, \u201cyes\u201d. Baffling!<\/p>\n<h3>A note on English shops<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/dennisbackpack.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"318\" \/>A really weird thing in England is the high number of hairdressers in towns and cities. They are <em>everywhere<\/em>. It feels like every street has its own hairdresser, which seems to be ridiculous. The market is surely saturated \u2013 it\u2019s not good economics! There is some kind of conspiracy, I\u2019m sure. They all seem to do well enough to stay in business, however, so I may have to surrender to this riddle.<\/p>\n<p>A type of shop I have enjoyed visiting is English charity shops. These are second-hand stores where the proceeds go to charities, and there are lots of different kinds. Smaller shops usually sell clothes and \u2018knick-knacks\u2019, which is a weird English word that means household items and generally low-value decorations. Bigger shops sell furniture like sofas and dressers, and larger decorations like mirrors or wall art. We don\u2019t have this kind of store in Germany \u2013 we have second-hand shops, but not shops where the money goes to a good cause, which I liked the idea of. The best thing, though, is that you can often find really great hidden gems for an awesome price. I bought my rucksack for \u00a32! Yes, \u00a32!!<\/p>\n<h3>Consumables<\/h3>\n<p>In England, you will have the opportunity to try many different biscuits with your tea, because they love biscuits and tea here. You really should try the different kinds, but beware one kind of biscuit: the Ginger Nut. The name gives it away already: this biscuit contains ginger. By god, it is devastating.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6543\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ginger-nuts.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While English people swear on the tastiness of a Ginger Nut, foreigners have a second opinion on that. My first interaction with this biscuit was on my second weekend, as I went into the local Lidl. To be fair, I just read that they cost 25 pence and decided to buy them without even looking at the name. I thought I would eat a mild and slightly sweet biscuit like others I had tasted here. I bit into it, only to feel burning spiciness on my tongue. At first, I thought the problem was me, but as I read the packaging, I realised that people in England put ginger in their biscuits and they take pride in it! Strange.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6544\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/lemsip.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Another thing about the world of food in England: they don\u2019t have brown bread. Not <em>real<\/em> brown bread, anyway. In Germany, our bread is firm and made with rye flour; we call it \u2018black bread\u2019 for its dark colour. The only bread you seem to find in England is toasting bread, or plain white slices. There are many different brands of bread but in the end it\u2019s toasting bread, and you better toast it. Even their brown bread isn\u2019t right \u2013 it\u2019s too soft! If you like it that way, the local supermarkets will serve you fine, but if you want something firm to bite, you are almost lost. It took me weeks to find something equally good as German black bread. Try to come to terms with that fact. (Guess where I found the best bread? Tesco.)<\/p>\n<p>If you get sick during your time in England, you might get offered a Lemsip. This is a concept I haven\u2019t seen before: lemon-flavoured paracetamol powder that you put in hot water to drink. It works just fine and will make you feel better, don\u2019t worry. But there is a trade-off: its taste can be quite overwhelming. The first Lemsip I tried was bitter \u2013 like, <em>bitter<\/em>. It gave me goosebumps and made me cringe with every sip. But, in the end, my cold was gone, so this might be a necessary evil!<\/p>\n<h3>National dishes<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6545\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/savoury-pie.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" \/>England\u2019s food can be also quite amazing. As a German, I had no clue about savoury pies, for example, which is actually a really key meal here. Sure, I have seen them in movies, but this is just not a thing in Germany, where pies are sweet and eaten as dessert. At a local \u2018pie night\u2019 (a sort of self-service restaurant serving pies and sides near our office), I had the chance to taste this popular dish and I was amazed!<\/p>\n<p>Pies have many different fillings \u2013 choose from meat, fish, vegetarian, or even vegan ones. In combination with mashed potatoes and vegetables like carrots and greens, this becomes a true rollercoaster of flavour. For a truly English experience, put gravy on your pie! If you have the chance to get your hands on a savoury pie during your time in the UK, do so; you really won\u2019t regret your choice.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6539 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/chippie.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can also visit a \u2018chip shop\u2019 in England. Yes, there are whole shops (locally called \u2018chippies\u2019) dedicated to one of the most popular side dishes ever created. This is because chips aren\u2019t just a side dish here; they can be a meal in themselves, such as the \u2018cone of chips\u2019, which is portion of chips in a paper cone.<\/p>\n<p>Chips in England usually form part of fish and chips, which is one of the national dishes of England. Whitefish is fried in batter and served with chips which are way thicker than the average fry, making the meal very filling. The whole thing is served with salt and vinegar and \u2013 depending on where you come from \u2013 curry sauce, mushy peas, or gravy.<\/p>\n<p>It turns out that curry sauce is more popular in the South, mushy peas in the Midlands, and gravy in the North. Some people feel very strongly about this choice! For the real English experience, get yourself chips in a bun \u2013 or a \u2018chip butty\u2019. Sounds weird, but it\u2019s actually really common.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"495\" class=\"img-fluid aligncenter wp-image-6541 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/fishchips.jpg\" alt=\"fish and chips\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/fishchips.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/fishchips-768x422.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/fishchips-640x352.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>My experience<\/h3>\n<p>Learning a language at high school or by yourself versus speaking the language surrounded by native speakers is the best example of the major difference between theory and practise. While this may sound scary at first, it is one of the most beneficial experiences you can have. Especially in terms of pronunciation, it\u2019s a true revelation \u2013 at least for me. Getting to know new aspects of English while simultaneously discovering different parts of the culture is a whole new level of language learning. Taking this even further and travelling to England to learn English in a specialist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/en\/learn\/english\/england.php\">language school<\/a> is certainly the best way to make the most progress.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" class=\"img-fluid aligncenter wp-image-5692\" src=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Portsmouth-School.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Portsmouth-School.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Portsmouth-School-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Portsmouth-School-640x427.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One thing to keep in mind if you\u2019re thinking about an immersive experience: trust yourself. Even if it feels like you just completely forgot every word of the language, you can speak better than you think! Learning from the people who speak the language gives you a better understanding of how the words fit together, how the grammar works, and \u2013 especially in the case of English \u2013 how to pronounce those words that don\u2019t seem to make any sense, like \u2018yacht\u2019 (it\u2019s \u201cyot\u201d). Crazy English \u2026<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was written by Dennis, February 2020<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi, my name is Dennis and I have lived in England for 4 months now. I am from Germany, and want to give you an insight into what has surprised me during my stay. While some of these surprises might seem to be rather small and insignificant, I think that these small things contribute to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[117,120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-england","category-information"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What surprised me about England - Apple Languages<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hi, my name is Dennis and I have lived in England for 4 months now. 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