by Vi Burgess, executive editor
England is most famous for three things: the monarchy, Harry Potter, and imperialism (hallo there, colonies). But there’s so much more to a country where most buildings date way, way, way back, accents are so strong you can’t understand them and drinking tea is a constant thing.
Some things you just don’t know until you’re in England:
1. There are a lot of things you see in the rural areas that cease to be special after six days of hiking. This includes black sheep, 26 mph wind/rain combos, and cow poop that looks like stones (fun fact: I stepped in it). But it’s also really pretty, in a weird Hobbit-Hogwarts-Wuthering Heights combination.
2. It’s not socially acceptable to walk around in shorts and flip flops with a huge camera. It is socially acceptable to walk around wearing sunglasses (when it’s cloudy, mind you) and trench coats in the summer.
3. The London Underground is cool if you like overheating, expensive fare even with an Oyster card, climbing up 193 stairs (the equivalent of a 15-story building, located in the Covent Garden stop), and being really squished next to tall people during rush hour. On the plus side, it’s fast and there are stops pretty much everywhere.
4. People drive on the left. They also walk on the left. This is hard to understand if you’ve had WALK ON THE RIGHT drilled into you since middle school. When in doubt, stand awkwardly on the left and copy what everyone else is doing. Also, don’t trip over cobblestones.
5. America isn’t the only place with racism. It’s very real in rural areas when the Roma people (Gypsies) congregate. Businesses and restaurants will close their doors and refuse to talk to and serve them. It’s regarded as a rational, acceptable mindset, and it’s terrible.
6. However, London especially is very multicultural. Chinatown has the best Asian food I have ever eaten, but there are little enclaves of different ethnicities all over the city with really delicious authentic food, from Greek to Indian.
7. Central London is actually the best. Highlights include shows in the West End (they sell discounted tickets at the end of the day), platform 9 & ¾ (even though it’s not actually between platforms 9 and 10), the Tate Modern (it’s an art museum) and the Globe Theater.
8. The monarchy isn’t actually a huge thing. People only care when the find out that renovations to Kensington Palace to make it habitable for royals cost them £4 million (around $6 million), all paid for by hard-earned taxpayer money.
9. Football (soccer) is basically a cult for whatever team you happen to love (in my family, we shout COYI). Respect the culture and go to a game, if you can, because it’s so much more intense than it looks (and they sell hot tea at the stadium, for some reason. Go England.)
Visiting the United Kingdom sometime? Want more tips? Contact Vi at the.roar.burgess@gmail.com.
