{"id":23805,"date":"2019-09-04T14:57:04","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T21:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=23805"},"modified":"2019-09-04T15:01:22","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T22:01:22","slug":"the-shocking-truth-about-brits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-shocking-truth-about-brits\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shocking Truth About Brits!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Three takeaways from two travel guidebooks: Culture Shock! London<\/em> by Orin Hargraves<\/a> and Culture Shock! Great Britain<\/em> by Terry Tan<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The subtle and not-so-subtle differences between English and “the other English” language<\/li>\n
  2. Being polite goes a long way<\/li>\n
  3. Watch the cues and stay in the queue!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Language:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Travel guides are always a great way to prepare for travel. It helps a person learn about cultural norms (do\u2019s and don\u2019ts) before going from their home country to another. I happen to appreciate travel and language guides. Maybe it\u2019s a throwback from the language and cultural training my family endured prior to moving to three different continents outside of the US. My first language was not just one, but two. I don\u2019t speak the non-English language as well anymore, but that part of my brain is still awake and kicks in as needed.<\/p>\n

    One of the things I always try to do before crossing the pond is to learn the language of the country, even if just a few polite phrases. There was a little relief when realizing that the other English utilises the Latin alphabet. However, I was struck by the numerous words and phrases that would not transfer well to the other English. This goes beyond \u201csoda\u201d or \u201cpop.\u201d This is the difference between \u201cloo\u201d and \u201ctoilet.\u201d I would have to learn a new language! But and this is a BIG but, at least there is no need to memorize Cyrillic or calligraphy characters. Whew!<\/p>\n

    And then I read the part about most Londoners not speaking English. Oh great! Back to well-appropriated sign language. I use this term gently. I learned my lesson the hard way that not all hand or finger gestures transfer well from one culture to another. When teaching my Korean cousins how to play card games, and none of us spoke the other\u2019s language, we used hand gestures. This was appropriate at the time. However, if I were in Italy, I wouldn\u2019t dare use the backhand to my chin, even if I had an itch. One hand gesture that I have recently learned is the Korean \u201cFinger Heart\u201d. It is an expression of love, affection, and friendship. You will see me in a few Facebook pictures using this gesture but only when I\u2019m with my hapa family.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Being polite goes a long way<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I grew up as a Third Culture Kid (TCK)<\/a> with a Korean mother who speaks seven languages. There is a certain ease, in my DNA, to learning languages. One language that speaks volumes in any culture is politeness. No matter how polite one can be, there is also a need to learn cultural mores. There is a cultural difference and depth to what politeness means in different cultures. In Korea, one would bow to show honor and respect. This is considered being polite. In the US, if I were to bow to a stranger on the street, they would find me a bit odd.<\/p>\n

    I grew up learning to respect the \u201cno shoes in the house\u201d rule. The main reason for this is that most Koreans have a different relationship with their floor. They live in much smaller quarters then many Americans and their bedroom multitasks as the living room during the day. There are no beds, not even a murphy bed. Removing your shoes is a sign of respect. As a guest, this is also defined as politeness.<\/p>\n

    It seems that in Britain, tea is a social event that requires some etiquette and politeness. The concept of not clanking the spoon and milk first, then sugar is part of this. Will someone think less of you if you don\u2019t put the sugar last? Maybe not, but it\u2019s important to them, so why shouldn\u2019t it be important to me as I enter into their space?<\/p>\n

    Also, what is normal in Korea and the US (sitting on the floor) is not acceptable behavior in the UK. This reminds me of a time when I was in Russia. There weren\u2019t enough chairs for our rather large group, so we all opted to sit in a circle on the floor. The Russians were just shy of being horrified by this. A Russian would never sit on the floor. It\u2019s not proper etiquette. Did it border on not being impolite? In certain situations, it would be.<\/p>\n

    I believe the main clue is paying attention to the host(ess). Whatever they do is what I do.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    That leads me to the third concept: Watch the cues and stay in the queue!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This is not a far-fetched attitude of Americans. Queues are respected, in most cases. Where I have found this to bring a level of anxiety is when I have traveled to some countries that do not observe this. I happen to like order, so I\u2019m thankful that the Brits have adopted this as imperative behavior. In fact, I remember one of my trips to Russia. The queue through customs can be very, very long. I witnessed a babushka (grandmother) being ushered to the front of the line. Suddenly, I heard an Englishman say quite loudly, \u201cWhat is happening here?!\u201d I chuckled because he was only stating what I was thinking. That being said, when sharing this later to a Russian friend, she explained, it is because age is respected. Ah. The same is true in Korea.<\/p>\n

    What fascinates me is the reason that the English value order \u2013 to protect one\u2019s privacy. I had to stop and reflect on my own reasons. I am an incredibly private person. I will not \u201cspill the tea\u201d about others or myself unless I feel safe and trusted. Is the real reason that I value order really because I want to protect my privacy? I\u2019m still reflecting upon this.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Three takeaways from two travel guidebooks: Culture Shock! London by Orin Hargraves and Culture Shock! Great Britain by Terry Tan The subtle and not-so-subtle differences between English and “the other English” language Being polite goes a long way Watch the cues and stay in the queue! Language: Travel guides are always a great way to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[501,1303,919,204,1564,1581,1582,297,1580],"class_list":["post-23805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cross-cultural","tag-great-britain","tag-language","tag-london","tag-london-oxford-advance-2019","tag-politeness","tag-queues","tag-travel","tag-united-kingdom","cohort-lgp10"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23805"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23810,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23805\/revisions\/23810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}