Aussie expat lists down 4 strange British customs in London that she now finds 'completely normal'
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When you move to a new country, it's inevitable that you'll encounter some cultural quirks that seem strange at first.
For Amie Elizabeth, an Australian who relocated to London for work, there were four British customs that initially baffled her.
However, after a year of living in the UK, these previously peculiar habits have now become a part of her daily life.
Amie shared her experiences in a video that quickly went viral, garnering over 200,000 views in less than 24 hours.
Below are the four British customs Amie talked about:
The Art of Queueing
The first British custom that struck Amie as odd was the nation's love for queueing.
From waiting in line for a Subway sandwich to queuing up at the petrol station, the Brits seem to have a queue for everything.
Initially, Amie found this perplexing, but she has since embraced the practice and jokingly said: ' 'I'm comfortable with the fact that I probably spend 12 out of my 24 hours in a day queueing.'
This revelation sparked a lively debate among her followers, with many Brits expressing confusion over how other countries manage without queues.
One viewer commented, 'I don’t understand how people are shocked about queueing, what do other countries do barge people out the way?'
While another asked: 'I really don’t understand what the alternative to queuing is. What do other countries do?'
'Why do people think we “love” to queue? We don’t have a choice,' a third said.
Parking in Either Direction
The second British quirk that Amie highlighted was the practice of parking cars facing either direction on the road.
'When I first got here, I was really shocked that you…parked either direction on the road, and I was like, why is that car parked backwards?' Amie wondered.
But now, she says, 'If I see a parking spot in London, that is mine, do not care how I have to get into it.'
The Drinking Culture
The UK's drinking culture was another aspect that initially surprised Amie.
She was taken aback by how packed the pubs were every day after work, a stark contrast to Australia, where pubs are typically busy only on Friday or Saturday nights.
'Literally every day after work, pubs are just full of people who go for after-work drinks.'
She also noted that her company in the UK regularly holds after-work drinks, which is uncommon in Australia.
Now, she's fully embraced the British pub culture, joking, 'It's like 4:30, and I'm like, okay, who wants to get to the pub for a drink?'
British Customer Service
Finally, Amie was initially taken aback by the British approach to customer service.
She found it strange that shopkeepers didn't greet customers upon entry and that customer service representatives could be quite detached.
'No one says hi to you when you first walk into a shop, people will literally just ignore you customer service-wise.'
However, she's now accustomed to this and even appreciates the minimal interaction, saying, 'Just do your thing and I'll do my thing, we're all fine.'
Amie's observations sparked a lively discussion among her followers, with some Brits insisting that the 'detached' customer service is primarily a Southern thing.
'Customer service is only bad down South. Up North we're really friendly I promise,' one commented.
However, Amie disagreed, stating that she first encountered this in the Midlands.
'I moved to the midlands first and this interaction was there! Shocked me so much the first time it happened.'
You can watch Amie’s full video below:
Video source: TikTok/@amieelizabeth95.
If you, or someone you know, are an expat, we'd love to hear about the cultural quirks you've encountered in your new homes. Share them with us in the comments below!
For Amie Elizabeth, an Australian who relocated to London for work, there were four British customs that initially baffled her.
However, after a year of living in the UK, these previously peculiar habits have now become a part of her daily life.
Amie shared her experiences in a video that quickly went viral, garnering over 200,000 views in less than 24 hours.
Below are the four British customs Amie talked about:
An Aussie expat discusses the four things that initially baffled her when she moved to the UK. Image source: TikTok/@amieelizabeth95.
The Art of Queueing
The first British custom that struck Amie as odd was the nation's love for queueing.
From waiting in line for a Subway sandwich to queuing up at the petrol station, the Brits seem to have a queue for everything.
Initially, Amie found this perplexing, but she has since embraced the practice and jokingly said: ' 'I'm comfortable with the fact that I probably spend 12 out of my 24 hours in a day queueing.'
This revelation sparked a lively debate among her followers, with many Brits expressing confusion over how other countries manage without queues.
One viewer commented, 'I don’t understand how people are shocked about queueing, what do other countries do barge people out the way?'
While another asked: 'I really don’t understand what the alternative to queuing is. What do other countries do?'
'Why do people think we “love” to queue? We don’t have a choice,' a third said.
Parking in Either Direction
The second British quirk that Amie highlighted was the practice of parking cars facing either direction on the road.
'When I first got here, I was really shocked that you…parked either direction on the road, and I was like, why is that car parked backwards?' Amie wondered.
But now, she says, 'If I see a parking spot in London, that is mine, do not care how I have to get into it.'
The Drinking Culture
The UK's drinking culture was another aspect that initially surprised Amie.
She was taken aback by how packed the pubs were every day after work, a stark contrast to Australia, where pubs are typically busy only on Friday or Saturday nights.
'Literally every day after work, pubs are just full of people who go for after-work drinks.'
She also noted that her company in the UK regularly holds after-work drinks, which is uncommon in Australia.
Now, she's fully embraced the British pub culture, joking, 'It's like 4:30, and I'm like, okay, who wants to get to the pub for a drink?'
British Customer Service
Finally, Amie was initially taken aback by the British approach to customer service.
She found it strange that shopkeepers didn't greet customers upon entry and that customer service representatives could be quite detached.
'No one says hi to you when you first walk into a shop, people will literally just ignore you customer service-wise.'
However, she's now accustomed to this and even appreciates the minimal interaction, saying, 'Just do your thing and I'll do my thing, we're all fine.'
Amie's observations sparked a lively discussion among her followers, with some Brits insisting that the 'detached' customer service is primarily a Southern thing.
'Customer service is only bad down South. Up North we're really friendly I promise,' one commented.
However, Amie disagreed, stating that she first encountered this in the Midlands.
'I moved to the midlands first and this interaction was there! Shocked me so much the first time it happened.'
You can watch Amie’s full video below:
Video source: TikTok/@amieelizabeth95.
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