I watch a great many bloggers and vloggers online who are mostly from the UK. Many of them have a standard schtick if you will, that allows them to showcase the various differences between the areas. I can't say "countries" because the UK is a collection of countries and the USA is a collection of states. There, that in itself is a HUGE difference. I tend to watch Scottish vloggers if I'm honest. I do watch Laurence Brown, who is from Grimsby, England. He has a channel called "Lost in the Pond" where he routinely goes over so many varied differences between the UK and the US. He's been ("bean" that's how they say been in the UK) living in the U.S. for over 14 years. Currently, he's in Chicago. His idea of the US may or may not be complete. I don't think you can know America until you've lived in the South.
I watch Shaun Alexander, his channel is Shaun Vlog; and he's from Edinburgh, Scotland. Shaun moves around a bit. He's lived in Brazil, in London, and just outside of the City Centre of Edinburgh in a beachfront area called Portobello. It's gorgeous! You should go. Shaun and Laurence keep me laughing over their discoveries and their experiences with America and Americans. Shaun has made it to the U.S. a few times, and his favorite hangout is Texas. Shaun gets it. You have to be in the mix, in the trenches if you want to know who the Americans really are. You don't want to use Northerners as your prime example. Just sayin'.
One of the new favorites is a guy called Tony Broonford. He's the Chief of Clan Broonfood and you too can join and be part of us! We're a highly sought after Clan you know. Tony takes us on YouTube journeys not only through and around Edinburgh, but all over Scotland really. His unique and fun traveling experiences have been heralded by a lot of exploring tourists who literally come to Scotland, go to Edinburgh, try to find Tony, and tell him he is the reason they decided to come to Scotland! Wow! That's really cool if you ask me. You can join any of these vloggers through Patreon. Each of their Instagrams and/or YouTube sites will have links where you can go and share your good fortune with them so they can continue to share their good lives and experiences with us! It's a win-win.
In all honesty, I love to listen to a Scottish accent far far more than I do an English accent. I know, I'll have so many people disagree with me on this one, but it's true. I find the rustic and robust sound of a Scotsman to be sexy, while I find the prim and proper elite sounds coming from a Londoner to be rather boring. The UK, just like the US, has so many varied accents and yes, it is geographical. You'll find hicks there just like you'll find hicks here. What I find hilarious is that when the Brits sing they tend to lose their accent altogether. I'm surprised and pleased really, when I listen to my favorite singer-songwriter Steph Macleod (also of Edinburgh), as he doesn't lose or cover his thick Scottish accent. He'll sound Scottish when he's singing and when he's talking. Yes, I prefer that. Call me crazy!
Today, I discovered a few more differences in etiquette really, and I thought I would share them with you. As you may already know, Americans are blunt, and we say and pretty much do what we're going to say and pretty much do with or without the oversight approval, or permission of another. Maybe that trait is born into us, but try to remember that more than 30,000,000 of us come from Scottish ancestry, and more than 46,000,000 of us (some overlapping) come from British blood, and you guessed it - - we came from those that left Britain to start the New World. We're a bit on the rebel side to start with you know. We just do it. Nike loves us. Maybe Nike's entire "Just do it" campaign was directed at the slower-to-act Brits. (could be)
Americans typically enter a restaurant and wait to be seated. That doesn't happen in the UK. I've waited. I know. I've been stared at. I've been laughed at. I've even been asked to sit down because I was making a fool of myself. OK, the flip side of that is when the Brits come here and just wander into a cafe they may or may not be seen by the waitstaff. They may or may not be served. It's a trade-off. I was also shocked to the core of my gut when I saw the tiny portions being served and the cost of the experience. I had to keep saying over and over to myself "We're not in Kansas anymore". Some of you will get that.
When I stayed in Scotland for a minute I stayed in Inverkeithing with a friend. Inverkeithing is in a council called "Fife", which is also a Kingdom! It is located just above the city of Edinburgh. You take a bus or a train to ride into the City Centre. You can get there in about 16-18 minutes by train, and in about 30 minutes by bus. Buses are cheaper obviously, but I prefer the train. There were so many many things to observe from the point of view of a person who literally drives herself any and everywhere. I don't walk even half a mile in Oklahoma if I want to get from Point A to Point B. I will walk in Scotland. I'll walk an entire mile, even two if the weather is good. I also overbuy so that I'm not stuck without passage. That would be embarrassing.
We don't really have passenger trains in Oklahoma. We have a train really, just one in the city and it only goes about 100 miles south, then maybe over to Ft. Worth, but it doesn't take you from too many Point As to too many Point Bs. There's not a system like there is in the UK. I am only familiar with the trains and buses in Scotland, not the rest of the UK, so my experiences are limited. I did think to myself that it would be really hard to take the dog to the vet if you only had a bus or train to rely on to get you where you needed to go. I mean, sure, there are Ubers, taxis, etc., but that's expensive. You can drive too. Sure, you can drive. LOL...I'm not doing that, but you can if you want to. I like living. (They drive on the other side of the road, and from what I saw, they don't always do that so well.)
In Inverkeithing, and all over Scotland, and more than likely the entire UK, people pay their utilities through their council. They pay a certain amount based on the value of their home in 1991. I find that odd, really odd. What if your house wasn't built at that time? I'm sure they have that covered. You pay XX for energy usage; not by the kilowatt that you personally use in your personal home. That's just weird to me. I've mentioned the no-screen thing before. They don't have screens on their damn windows, so if you do open the windows to allow for cooler air, you'll likely have uninvited (or did they consider the opening of the window an invitation) guests in your home. I wonder if they'll laugh too hard if I bring screens with me when I do move there on a more permanent basis. At least you'll know where I live. "Yeah, she's the American. You can tell; she has screens on her windows and she's flying her flag off the balcony." Oh, well, that's not really a flag there sir, it's a flower pot that has the American flag colors around the base....and yes, I do have one.
My friends from the UK and from other foreign countries (Sweden, Germany, and Spain mostly) will comment on how many American flags they see when they come to the United States. We don't think about it really, we just fly them. I do have one outside my house. I counted and 18 neighbors in my complex that has 83 homes have flags flying outside their homes. That's less than I think it should be. I have an American flag decal on my car. I have clothes that have the flag of course, and even my oven mit has stars and stripes. If you look in my closet you'll find six hoodies with the word "Oklahoma" or "Sooners" too - - we do that. Proud people. Nothing wrong with that. I do think it's more prevalent in the South than it is up North, but I could be wrong. (I'm not wrong, but it has happened a time or two.)
Today is November 18, 2022. It's a Friday evening. In the South that means it's Friday Night Lights. Our high school teams are playing tonight, and it may be the beginning of the State playoffs. I'm not a teacher, and I don't have any kids in high school so I don't know, but what I do know is that hundreds of thousands of parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends will fight the cold (and it is freezing) and they'll wrap up in the colors of their favorite team(s) and sit out on those stone, brick or metal bleachers for hours tonight watching and waiting for their sons and/or daughters to make a splash in the newspapers tomorrow! It's a thang. You don't see that in the UK. You don't and won't see the Brits going to college sporting events to cheer on their families. Here, it's not only expected, it is a matter of family pride and dignity. You have a kid in sports, you go!
Some of the differences I've seen have been enormous. Some of them are quite small really, but they are there. We say "boy" and they say "lad". We say "dog" and they say "dug" so that's just a sound thing. In all fairness, I probably say "dawg". I've seen the word written out as dug as well. I wasn't about to correct the person who did it. It could Scots, which is a real language, and I don't want to insult - - look at me being a Brit and not being a forceful and obnoxious American!! Woot!! Slowly, slowly, I will acclimate. (or, as they say in the UK "acclimatize".) Weird.
Photo Credit: PetTimes.Net
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