Auszuege (und es sind wirklich nur Auszuege) aus einem ziemlich gut gemachtem Handbuch fuer London interns von CAPA, Centers for Academic Programs Abroad in Irvine, California. Bloody brilliant:
Eating and Drinking
Fast food is the same in the UK as everywhere else, with McDonalds dotting the country at regular intervals. Fish and chips are a dish that can be found almost anywhere and is the equivalent in price and popularity of the American hamburger. One good option for eating and drinking is the pub. There are more pubs in England than McDonald's restaurants and they bear only a vague similarity to American bars.
Sport
The British, (particularly British men) love their sport. They will talk about it endlessly, particularly if we do badly at something. International Soccer: First and foremost, it's called football in England and calling it anything else is frowned upon. There are 4 national sides (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and most of the time they disappoint. Cricket: Don't go there. Obscure game that takes five days to play with no guarantee of a result at the end of it. Much weird technical terminology and very, very boring. It would take a lifetime to understand it. Internationally, only Zimbabwe is officially worse than England, which about sums it up.
The Weather
Yes, it's true; the British do talk about the weather all the time. This is because it is constantly changing. This is the country where it can rain, snow, blow a gale, hail, have thunder and lightning and be gloriously sunny all in one afternoon. Whatever the weather outside, you can guarantee people inside will be complaining about it.
Vocabulary
An awful lot of British place names are unpronounceable. This is a simple fact that seems to be obvious to everyone but the British themselves and for some strange reason they can get highly irritated by a simple mispronunciation.
History
The Brits and the Americans tend to have the same take on most things historical but not always. Take 1776 for instance: to the Brits it's no big deal. As a nation that once ruled a quarter of the globe, the loss of a few colonies here and there is fairly unimportant.
Language
George Bernard Shaw probably said it best: America and Britain are two nations divided by a common language. You may think you understand what we are saying, but don't bet on it. The unwary American negotiating the nuances of Brit-speak in the workplace is treading a minefield of innuendo, double entendre, sarcasm and irony.
Reading & Current Affairs
By American standards, the British read lots (lots and lots), and by British standards Londoners read even more. Take the tube in the rush hour and you can almost guarantee that anyone seen either talking and/or not reading something is a visitor. Almost everyone in the UK reads some sort of newspaper.
Getting to Work
Londoners moan about two things above all else: the weather, because it is generally lousy, unpredictable and can ruin your day, and the Tube, because it is generally lousy, unpredictable and can ruin your day. If everyone at your site gets in on time, it's usually cause to crack open a bottle of something special and declare a day's holiday.
Profanity
Many American students are often surprised by British attitudes to swearing. It's a gross generalization, but as a rule swearing in the workplace is more common and more acceptable. While it isn't necessarily encouraged, no one tends to take particular offence. There are always exceptions, however, so don't arrive at your site "effing and blinding" (as the British say.)
Space
By US standards most things in Britain are smaller. The cars they drive, the food portions they eat and the houses they live in all appear tiny to most Americans. The same is true of office space.
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