'One difference between US and UK has cost me £1,000 and I keep doing it'
Kirsten says there are a lot of differences between the two countries and one has been very expensive for her
An American woman living in the UK has revealed the top reasons she finds Brits “weird” and says she keeps making one mistake which has so far cost her £1,000. Kristen Howell-Brear moved to the UK to do a masters degree in archeology and ended up staying.
The 27-year-old, who has been here for five years, classes herself as an “honorary Brit”, but says there are a few differences that have left her confused.
LANGUAGE
The terminology and phrases we use are completely different; and often have different meanings. Kristen was caught out when a girl in her university study group asked for a rubber - and the social media manager, who lives in Brighton, thought she wanted a condom.
‘Y’all why do British terminology have to be so confusing,” Kristen said. “In the UK, they call a backyard a garden – but what do they actually call a garden?
“In America, we have backyards and you can have a garden in your backyard where you plant [...] carrots or mint. But here, they just call it a garden even there’s not – what I would consider – a garden in it.
“The Brits always get really annoyed when I talk about terminology differences.”
Kirsten also questions the terms ‘sidewalk’ and ‘pavement’ and says that Americans have got it right. She said: “There’s pavement everywhere. You’re not supposed to be walking where the cars drive on, that’s dangerous. But you should be walking on the pavement on the side – the sidewalk – that makes the most logical sense.
“I also learned the hard way that when a British person asks: ‘Are you alright?’ that’s more of a passing hello and they don’t actually want you to be like: ‘Oh, I’m having a good day.’ But when do you know if they actually want to know if you’re alright?”
TIME AND DATE
Kristen says this is one of the biggest things she struggled with when moving here. She said: “It does make more logical sense if you think about it. But having to adjust and use it and understand [military time] is really difficult.
“I’ve booked things at the wrong time and got the timing wrong when making plans.”
Kristen also can’t understand the format of how we write the date, month and year. She added: “I have struggled to adapt to that so much. When it comes to filling out paperwork, I have to go back and redo it because I’ve written the date wrong.”
She urges people to “really pay attention” when travelling here to save any “heartbreak, confusion and disappointment” – as noted in her own experience.
FOOD
Kristen said: “The next British person that tells me that biscuits are the same thing as scones – I’m going to scream. While scones and biscuits look the same, they’re completely different. Biscuits are really fluffy and have a lot of layers, whereas scones are like a pastry.
“It’s like a dinner roll and scones are more hard. And not as good.”
She added: “I don’t know why I assumed that Chinese food in the UK would taste almost exactly the same as it does in America. But it tastes completely different. They just don’t compare at all.”
CLOTHES SIZING
Kristen’s most expensive mistake has come from buying clothes. She said: “I keep making the same mistake at least three or four times a year. It’s probably cost me at least £1,000 at this point.
“I end up ordering clothes that are way too small for me because I order my US size, not my UK size. I [have] a bunch of clothes that aren’t my size. I give them to my friends or try to sell them.
“It’s the most frustrating thing ever.”