Foreign Flubs #1

When you're visiting or settling into a new country, running into small challenges in form of cultural differences is inevitable. I know I'll get used to them over time and they'll become second nature. Lots of them are things that I knew before heading over here or I experienced in the past, but I thought it'd be fun to list them all out and hopefully be able to look back on them in the future and laugh at how awkward I was trying to merge with the Brits. This post is definitely inspired thanks to Sara over at Bristol in My Pocket (AKA my lifesaver and reason I made it over here without multiple meltdowns), who has a series of posts titled "Thoughts from Abroad", which you should definitely check out as well!

1. British money is real heavy. Pound coins are weighty and the 2 pence coin is massive (am I ever going to use it?). The super friendly/talkative guy who helped set up my UK phone said that it was because the government wanted us to jingle as we walked by homeless people, which seconds later made his face turn red and immediately say that it was a bad joke.

2. Something is fuzzy with the phrase "How are you". In the states it's an expected and normal greeting. Here, everyone says "You alright?" to which I respond with "Yes great thank you how are you?" and without fail, the corners of people's mouths twist up in amusement and they stare blankly for a few seconds.

3. I would like to call a city-wide meeting and discuss which side of the sidewalk to walk on. It's a complete free-for-all and when you're trying to adapt to a new culture, fearful of offending someone at any moment, you really don't want to bump into someone.

4. In London, they have tourist-proofed the roads at crosswalks with "LOOK RIGHT" painted in all caps. Here, they do not. They also color-code the street lines differently, so I can't tell what is a one-way street or a two-way street, meaning I definitely don't know where to look. One flattened Texan, coming right up.

5. British children in their school uniforms are the definition of adorable and I look like a complete creep every time I see one.

6. It hasn't rained yet (jinx).

Once again, apologies for the lack of photos, but I'm a girl on a mission right now. Today flew by as I spent my morning and afternoon popping around the shops around Cabot Circus as well as Park Street getting different bits and bobs (the lingo, y'all) as well as all the groceries I could carry. My room now has some bedding, a few pictures + postcards on the wall my handbag has a snazzy UK phone, and I finally had all the necessary ingredients for a SHOWER!

My second flatmate from China arrived and she surprised me at my door with homemade Chinese-style potatoes, chopsticks and all. Even though I had a small pizza for dinner (#AMERICA), I knew it would be good for me to eat more due to the fact I had once again hardly eaten today. My appetite is slowly but surely adjusting to the timezone. It was so sweet and thoughtful! She only arrived here today and was able to make a meal from scratch, certainly puts my arrival day to shame. She also showed me how she holds chopsticks, as my skills are pretty lackluster and I end up using the sticks as a spear most of the time.

I really love all the shops here and after I give my bank account time to settle down from buying loads of necessities, I can't wait to dive in to some fun shopping.