Random Interesting British Things

An uncomprehensive list of some random things I've noticed about British life. 

-Vacation time: Lots more of it. Like 25 days a year minimum. WTF. I know. America is sad with their vacation policies. I would be happier if I had 25 days off a year.

Free tea, crackers, and jam at the Crabtree and Evelyn in York! 

AND Prosecco and mince pies. Wow! 

Yes. I did spend a half hour pretending to shop so I could get some free snacks. Hey. Free prosecco? This Italian can't pass it up! 

-Christmas: The British are obsessed with it. And HECK NO none of this namby-pamby holiday parties and non-denominational celebrations. NO WAY. Heaven forbid. Let's please not acknowledge that some people must not give a fig's toot about the made-up day Jesus was born. Nope, it's gotta be Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, in all situations and all occasions, even for the cute little Muslim kid in my mentoring group, from November 1st onward. Apparently British people think we're obsessed with Christmas in America. Ha. That's funny. 

This York's German Christmas store on the right side of the picture.

 I made this ornament at Friends International. It was surprisingly fun because I usually hate crafts.

I made this Christmas Card in Girls' Group, one of the groups I volunteer with through the Island. I ended up giving it to O, a cutie who likes hanging out with me during group time.

-Tea: Super important. Black tea with milk. A staple. Called "a cuppa" non-ironically by the vast majority of people here. Everyone always has a container of milk in their fridge and tea bags in their cupboard. And I've yet to visit ANYWHERE - a hotel room, a pub, a house, a church, even a straight-up BAR - that doesn't have a tea kettle. Whereas in the USA we'd specify that we were serving you black tea, which contains caffeine, that's not a thing here. Black tea is like the status quo tea and everything else has the adjective to describe the type of tea it is (Herbal teas and green tea are available just less commonly drunk. Drunken? Drank? Had.)

Hot chocolate - my drink when I want to splurge!

Plain tea, no milk

-Bunting: This random but cute decorative thing that everyone seems to love here. My roommate Emily's very artistic mom made this for us.

-Tons of packaging on produce. I don't know of any grocery store that sells many loose veggies and fruits. It's super annoying. But the Shambles Market does sell unpackaged stuff.

-But more solar panels: I see lots of houses and buildings with solar panels, more so than in the States. I've even seen solar panels on council housing! (Which is like government funded housing for lower-income folks.)

-British words: For the first few weeks I was here, I had a list of words that were British that I'd only ever heard on TV or used sarcastically/funnily by Americans who put on British accents when they said them. It included things like mate, cheers, ta, bollocks, bloody, brilliant, rubbish, Mum, etc. I used the word bollocks (said in a British accent) in place of my favorite gentle expletives "darn" or "drat" for a few weeks, thinking it was hilariously amusing every time I did so. Until my roommate kindly told me that it's actually a super bad word. And that I needed to stop.