How do people live in Britain? Review of a Russian woman in 7 years of life

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Olga is just a citizen of the world: a girl was born in Moscow, traveled a lot with her parents since childhood, lived a little both in Finland and Hungary, and then married a Frenchman and moved to Great Britain, where she has been living for the last seven years. Olga, as you know, can tell a lot about the differences between countries.

WHY ENGLAND

My future husband persuaded me to move to England. He is French and at that time he lived in Switzerland, and his work was connected in Russia, so we met either in Russia or somewhere else. Actually, a year later he offered to come to Great Britain. England was in his plans, and by the time I moved, he had already lived here and got a job. And I also had a plan to get additional education, and, of course, it was interesting to get an international one. Which I did. So I ended up in England thanks to my husband, and at the same time received another education.

FIRST IMPRESSION

My first impression was very positive.

It was very easy to get used to it. Because, firstly, everything is in English. But there is not so much British English, because there are a lot of foreigners here, you hear different English - and that's great!

I also really liked the attitude of the people. The culture here is so cosmopolitan that people very easily accept visitors. It's very easy to get involved in life and make acquaintances. With friends, of course, when the relationship is warmer and longer, it is more difficult, because the British are very closed.

Also - since I moved in September, and this is just the end of the lavender season - my first impression is associated with the scent of lavender. I was delighted, I loved to walk and breathe in the aromas of these flowers.

ASTONISHMENT

I was surprised by the style of clothing in the UK. Since it is not customary here to point fingers at each other, like we do, people dress in absolutely anything. As it surprised me in the beginning, it still surprises me. I just can't get used to it. In terms of clothing, two aspects should be noted here: firstly, it is style. There are fewer stylish people here than in Moscow. And here they are concentrated in certain areas, for example, in the city, where there are many banks, or on Canary Wharf, where there are also banks and the headquarters of well-known companies. There people are dressed stylishly, in a business-like manner, with taste, and in the rest of London - absolutely whatever you like. I saw people in slippers and a dressing gown. Once I saw a girl who was dressed in tights, boots and a jacket on top - that's all.

In addition to how tasteful or tasteless people can dress, I am a little (or even "a lot") surprised by "neatness." For example, the fact that a girl can prick her hair with a pen or pencil, and this is normal, no one will point a finger. And if we compare Moscow with London, then in Moscow more girls watch their appearance (in St. Petersburg too), and in London people are more relaxed in terms of appearance.

The feeling of cold surprises me even more. That is, how people dress in relation to the weather. Firstly, as soon as the sun came out, then everyone immediately believes that it is already summer, and even if it is +5 degrees outside, they can go outside in shorts, a T-shirt and slippers. They are guided not by degrees, but by sunny / non-sunny. This is mainly due to the fact that they save on heating. It is expensive, so they also try to maintain a fairly low temperature in houses, 18-19 degrees. It is also surprising how they dress the children. Since I am a mother myself, I just cannot understand how a mother can go in a coat with a scarf, and put a child in a blouse. Just a blouse. Moreover, it is +5 on the street in winter. This applies to toddlers, infants and schoolchildren. But schoolchildren are at least active and constantly running, but babies are not. My heart always squeezes when I see such undressed children. I will probably never get used to this.

I was also surprised that there are foxes in London. For example, a fox came to the fence near our house for the whole month every day and howled in an almost human voice, it was even scary. In general, this is the norm in London. I often heard from my acquaintances who live in private houses that foxes enter the territory to them, rummage in the garbage, they can even get into the house if there is a cat's hole. This is not uncommon.

DIFFERENCES

The first thing that comes to mind is the features of social behavior. First, a well-known thing: it is not accepted here, as in Russia, for a man to pay for a woman. In principle, this is sometimes done, the British are very gallant, they can invite a woman and pay for dinner, but this is not a matter of course. Not in 100% of cases a man will pay for a woman.

Hygiene

It is not customary here to run from the doorway and wash your hands. This also applies to the owners and guests who come to the house. For example, when we had a baby, visiting nurses who came to check if everything was fine with us never washed our hands. I always had to ask to do it. They could walk from the doorway in dirty shoes without undressing, without taking off their shoes, without going into the bathroom, directly to the child, inspecting, feeling, and so on. I'm talking about a newborn baby. Any medical staff, electricians and anyone else come directly to the house with their shoes on and no one washes their hands.

In terms of hygiene, everything is different here. Many times I noticed how people, unable to find a place for themselves on the train, can sit right on the floor in the aisle. In addition, train stations do not have as many seats in waiting areas as we do, and people, again, sit on the floor. This is not considered abnormal.

Noise

Even in terms of behavior, I clearly noticed that the noise level on British trains is simply off scale. If in Russia some noisy company rides on the train, everyone immediately starts turning around, looking, whispering. This is the norm here. Especially on Friday night: people are driving home drunk, the train is staggering, everyone is laughing, screaming, drinking right on the train - even small bottles of wine are sold there. Such noise on the train is quite common.

Traditions

Christmas. Each time I have to explain that the Russians are Orthodox and that our Christmas is on January 7, not December 25, but we coincide with the New Year. Every year everyone is surprised.

Speaking of traditions, one cannot but mention the pubs. This is the place where they go on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and in principle during the whole week. Interestingly, people tend to grab a pint of beer and go outside. You can see pubs covered with people, especially if the weather is good. People just stand near the entrance with a glass in hand and talk. Already from five o'clock in the evening it can be observed. If it's Friday or weekend, then by 10 pm you can see slightly drunk people, because pubs close at 12 sharp, so people are trying to have time to get in shape before that time.

Another tradition - what we consider to be a classic of the genre - is that in England there are separate taps for cold and hot water. This stereotype is partially false. Indeed, in old houses with old sewerage systems or in old pubs, this is still preserved, but more and more modern housing is being built with ordinary European taps, so everything is absolutely like ours in Russia. But yes, there are still such taps. I would say that I have met 50/50 of these. But if you go to some famous old pub, there will be two taps. It is also difficult to get used to this, because I still do not understand how you can wash your hands there when ice water flows from one tap and boiling water flows from the other; how to wash your hands in such conditions is not clear.

About housing

The British prefer to live in houses. Moreover, the older the house, the more history in it, the better. A colleague once told me how they were looking for a home. As a result, they found a rather old one that required repair, but there were two more couples with them on the screening, and it was necessary to decide in 10 minutes whether they were buying it or not, because the next in line also really wanted this house. So the British are ready to fight for such a house. And you can't drag them into the apartment. The house can be absolutely tiny, it can even be one tiny living room downstairs and one bedroom upstairs, and a small garden, but its own. This is a classic of the genre. In new apartment buildings now there are even such apartments, which, apparently, were specially made for the British in order to recreate the atmosphere of a house for them, with two floors and with small balconies-gardens on the ground floor.

Personal space

Another interesting thing from a social point of view is that even during rush hours, people in the subway won't push each other and crowded together. Here, a person's private space is respected, and this is more pronounced. Even at rush hour, you can see half-empty carriages, because people huddle at the door. People just won't get on the train because it seems like there is no room for them. And I am from Moscow and clearly see that in the center the carriage is just free, there is a lot of space, but it is not customary to push and shout “go through” there.

Naturally, the culture of communication in stores. They immediately pay attention to the buyer and ask on the machine how they can help. In Moscow, they have also begun to do this recently, but in Moscow it is done with soul, but here it is rather cool and neutral.

Etiquette

It seems that the British are absorbing the culture of communication with their mother's milk. They seem to have a prepared answer or phrase for absolutely any situation. When I find myself in an awkward situation, I wonder how I should react, how can I express condolences or react to a speech addressed to me, but they are not. It is from the point of view of social behavior that the feeling is created that the British are taught in kindergarten and at school how to communicate, they already have ready-made expression formulas. But at the same time, some distance is felt. That is, Russian people at first seem cold and unapproachable, but as soon as you spoke to them and broke this ice - everything, friends, warm relations, but here everything is neutral. They will welcome you with a smile, they will talk to you, pour coffee or tea, but it will take a very long time before you become friends.

About tea

The British do drink a lot of tea (although they also drink a lot of coffee), traditionally with milk, and not only black, but also green. If the cafe does not say that milk is not needed, then milk will be brought by default.

Planning

An interesting thing: how people plan their time. It is customary here to plan everything in advance. I'm already starting to make appointments for October. By meetings, I mean going on a visit, gathering with friends. In Russia, it would be just crazy for me, because there even business meetings are scheduled a day in advance, or even on the same day, but here it is customary to do everything in advance. Incidentally, this applies to both France and England. For example, we planned our wedding three months in advance, and I could not order a wedding cake anywhere, because everyone told me that the cake should be ordered six months in advance. Naturally, I was shocked, because "what can you do with a cake for six months?" On the other hand, when I come to Russia, I breathe out, because I know that if I feel the urge to do something at the last moment, I can do it, because everything is possible in Russia.

The medicine

It is very difficult to get to a specialist here. The first instance where everyone should go is the General Practitioner - a general practitioner, like our therapist. If you have a specific problem and he cannot help, he must refer you to a specialist. And here's the catch. It is very difficult to get to them. Even if I need a private doctor, for whom I myself will pay, it is very difficult to get a referral, because the state is trying to stop all this and tighten the screws. Even with very unpleasant things, people are sent home to wait for it to pass by itself. This also applies to back pain, abdominal pain, flu, any cold. Recently I heard that the child's leg hurt, but he was sent home, "maybe it will pass by itself." A friend went to the doctor with a rash, and, firstly, she was given a referral with a specialist after a month and a half, because she had not been there before. And secondly, when she did manage to get to the doctor, the doctor googled pictures of this rash, and made a diagnosis from the photographs.

Very often, regardless of whether I come about my health or my child, I was sent to the pharmacy, saying: “Why did you come here, go to the pharmacists at the pharmacy, they are qualified, they can give you advice. Why come to us here? So doctors are trying in every possible way to limit the number of people who come to the therapist. There are posters or screens in the waiting rooms that say: if you have a headache, back or stomach pain, flu or cold, you don't need to be here, stay at home, drink tea and take paracetamol. This is the kind of medicine.

I still come to Moscow and immediately run to the doctors. I know that many of my compatriots do this: they simply do not trust local medicine and go home to be treated and simply checked. By the way, diagnostics are not done here, there are no medical examinations, no one is examined "just in case", they go to doctors only if there is a problem.