• Blog
• Advice
• Thursday the 5^th of September, 2019

13 fun things to know before moving to the UK

For anyone thinking about studying in the UK, this guide will help to ease you into local life as soon as you arrive.

1. People love to talk about the weather

If you’d like to get to know the locals, strike up a conversation about the beautiful sunshine or the relentless rain. Most people will be happy to complain about whatever weather conditions they’re currently experiencing.

2. Everyone loves a cup of tea. Everyone.

Tea is the answer to everything here. If you’re feeling sad, if your train is delayed, if it’s blazing sunshine outside – someone will always offer you a cup of tea. Tea is definitely our national drink. You’re guaranteed to find many places to go for a cup of tea with your university friends, in any city.

3. Stand on the right

This is a standard rule across the country, but is essential information if you’re using the London underground. Never, ever stand on the left when travelling on an escalator. If you wish to stand still and take the journey at ease, always stand on the right as people in a hurry will be rushing past on the left and do not take kindly to people standing in their way.

4. The meaning of ‘a quick pint’

If someone suggests popping to the nearest pub for what they refer to as ‘a quick pint’, immediately wipe off the rest of the day’s plans. What they’re actually referring to is sitting and drinking many pints of beer, and perhaps enjoying a few packs of crisps (potato chips) along the way.

Just the one, yeah? (Source: GIPHY)

5. The sun shining is practically a national holiday

As soon as the sun comes out, everyone seems to leave their homes and workplaces to flock outdoors. Brits relish the chance to soak up the sun and will flood parks, beer gardens and nearby beaches as soon as the temperature rises above 18 degrees centigrade.

6. There are many ways of saying hello

Outside of London, expect a variety of strange greetings when you meet local people. In Newcastle you’ll hear ‘alright pet’, ‘ey up duck’ is the standard greeting in Derby and ‘hiya’ in an informal greeting used throughout the country.

7. We love a ‘cheeky Nando’s’

This means a spontaneous trip to Nandos restaurant with university friends between seminars. Nandos is one of the most popular places to eat among students. Prepare to allocate a large portion of your funds to this place.

8. Never, ever jump a queue. Ever.

Queues elsewhere in the world can be virtually non existent. In England, we take queuing incredibly seriously. One of the most offensive things that you can do in England is to push into a queue. Remember to stay in your place and don’t push in.

It's in our nature. (Source: GIPHY)

9. England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom all refer to different things

Confusingly, these three terms do not all mean the same thing. ‘England’ refers to the country itself, ‘Great Britain’ includes the mainland of England, Scotland and Wales and the ‘United Kingdom’ includes Northern Ireland under its umbrella.

10. We do a bunch of weird sports

England is famed for its football and cricket, but have you ever heard of some of the more baffling sports practiced in the country? Look up ‘cheese rolling’, ‘black pudding throwing’ or ‘the egg and spoon race’, and prepare to be confused.

11. Not everyone has a posh accent

All across the country, the different regional accents are recognisable with most visitors being able to identify at least Scouse, Geordie and Cockney dialects. Regional accents are incredibly diverse, and two towns merely ten miles apart can have quite different accents.

12. 'Sorry’ isn’t always an apology

The word ‘sorry’ has many meanings in England. It is used in the traditional way to apologise to somebody, but it is also used if someone is barging past and wants you to get out of their way, or when someone hasn’t heard what you said and would like you to repeat your sentence.

13. Some of our favourite foods are a bit weird

For the most part, eating out in England is pretty straight forward with a variety of international cuisines and nice restaurants available. It’s only when you delve into the local delicacies that things get odd. Yorkshire puddings are actually savoury and served with gravy, jellied eels are exactly like they sound and there is actually a dessert named spotted dick (which tastes a lot nicer than it sounds). They’re worth a try! If you’re not feeling it, nothing can beat our classic, national dish: fish and chips.