Timpe- Discovery
Discovery
Since I had never been to England before, all of my perceptions about British culture were formed solely from a variety of British media (TV shows, movies, songs, articles, etc.). While I felt like I had a pretty decent understanding of British culture from the media, I still didn’t really know what being British truly meant and I had a lot to learn. Over the course of three weeks, I have been living as a true “Londoner” and getting the full experience.
From visiting several museums & historical sites to participating in a “pub crawl” in Camden, my preconceived perceptions about British culture & what it means to be British have been both confirmed and denied. Before coming to England, I had always gotten the impression that British people were a bit snobbier than Americans, but I am pleased to say I was very wrong. While everyone here is much quieter & keeps to themselves which can come off as aloof at first, they have proven to be incredibly kind and accepting. Before visiting London, I had no clue they had an underground tube system that I have now come to learn is a major aspect of being a Londoner and has an entirely different set of rules & etiquette associated with it that other British cities may not get to experience. I have always had it in my head that British people are pretty similar to Americans, but I have slowly been learning they are not. In regard to politics, they are much less polarized than Americans are. I had never really thought about it before, but I have learned that huge pressing political issues in America such as abortion and gun control are not political topics here at all, for they have been taken care of and squared away. This reflects a little bit more about what it means to be British, especially in contrast to what it means to be American.
While I have learned a lot about the history of British culture as well as been experiencing it first-hand, I also realized that London may not be the most accurate representation of England as a whole. London definitely showcases the major parts of British culture, but it also showcases many other cultures considering that it is an incredibly diverse world city. Prior to arriving to London, I had the opportunity to visit the city of Bath for a couple of days. Unlike the hustle and bustle of London, Bath is much quieter and slower. You don’t have to take the tube to get to other parts of the city since it is all very central and within a short walking distance. Most shops close around 6pm, further emphasizing the British ideal of leisure and spending time with family & friends outside of a busy work schedule. In addition to visiting Bath, we also visited Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh was a bit different from Bath and London, partly being due to the fact that is in Scotland, thus the culture and history being the smallest bit different. In Edinburgh, there are bag-pipes playing all day on the streets (something that seems very stereotypical but is actually true). It had the business of London but the smaller-city feel of Bath in the way that the major part of the city was very central and easy to walk around.
In all three of these cities, I have started to get the idea that the same values apply, despite them having their differences. They all still value the importance of friends and family, as well as leisure and pub culture, which are some of the perceptions I previously had that have held to be true. In my short time in this country I have learned so much about what it means to be British and what exactly British culture entails, but I feel as if I still cannot make a solid and accurate description of w
Discovery
Since I had never been to England before, all of my perceptions about British culture were formed solely from a variety of British media (TV shows, movies, songs, articles, etc.). While I felt like I had a pretty decent understanding of British culture from the media, I still didn’t really know what being British truly meant and I had a lot to learn. Over the course of three weeks, I have been living as a true “Londoner” and getting the full experience.
From visiting several museums & historical sites to participating in a “pub crawl” in Camden, my preconceived perceptions about British culture & what it means to be British have been both confirmed and denied. Before coming to England, I had always gotten the impression that British people were a bit snobbier than Americans, but I am pleased to say I was very wrong. While everyone here is much quieter & keeps to themselves which can come off as aloof at first, they have proven to be incredibly kind and accepting. Before visiting London, I had no clue they had an underground tube system that I have now come to learn is a major aspect of being a Londoner and has an entirely different set of rules & etiquette associated with it that other British cities may not get to experience. I have always had it in my head that British people are pretty similar to Americans, but I have slowly been learning they are not. In regard to politics, they are much less polarized than Americans are. I had never really thought about it before, but I have learned that huge pressing political issues in America such as abortion and gun control are not political topics here at all, for they have been taken care of and squared away. This reflects a little bit more about what it means to be British, especially in contrast to what it means to be American.
While I have learned a lot about the history of British culture as well as been experiencing it first-hand, I also realized that London may not be the most accurate representation of England as a whole. London definitely showcases the major parts of British culture, but it also showcases many other cultures considering that it is an incredibly diverse world city. Prior to arriving to London, I had the opportunity to visit the city of Bath for a couple of days. Unlike the hustle and bustle of London, Bath is much quieter and slower. You don’t have to take the tube to get to other parts of the city since it is all very central and within a short walking distance. Most shops close around 6pm, further emphasizing the British ideal of leisure and spending time with family & friends outside of a busy work schedule. In addition to visiting Bath, we also visited Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh was a bit different from Bath and London, partly being due to the fact that is in Scotland, thus the culture and history being the smallest bit different. In Edinburgh, there are bag-pipes playing all day on the streets (something that seems very stereotypical but is actually true). It had the business of London but the smaller-city feel of Bath in the way that the major part of the city was very central and easy to walk around.
In all three of these cities, I have started to get the idea that the same values apply, despite them having their differences. They all still value the importance of friends and family, as well as leisure and pub culture, which are some of the perceptions I previously had that have held to be true. In my short time in this country I have learned so much about what it means to be British and what exactly British culture entails, but I feel as if I still cannot make a solid and accurate description of what it means to be British. I am excited to experience my last few days here after this eye-opening trip and hopefully learn more about the people in the culture to contribute to what I think it means to be British.