After moving from Italy for six months, a woman from Italy has shared the most shocking cultural shocks that she had experienced.
Taking to a thread on the Q&A site Quora, Kiara Bay, 21, from Italy, revealed the elements about British culture that completely stunned her while living in London for six months.
Kiara admitted that she was completely baffled at British culture, from Curry selling electronic gadgets instead of Indian food to pubs closing at 11pm.
She stated that while it was overall a pleasant experience, there were many moments of cultural shock which left her confused and intrigued.
Kiara Bay (21), a 21-year-old Italian woman, has revealed elements of British culture that have completely shocked her since she lived in Britain.
Kiara was baffled about British culture.
Kiara shared her views on some of the strangest elements in British culture.
“It was shocking to discover how many English love going to the pub for a drink, because they are a stereotypical Englishman.
“There are so many bars and restaurants in London. People love to sip a Pimm’s or have a beer.
Elle continued, “Although Londoners enjoy drinking as much as possible, closing time at the bar is 11:00 p.m. It’s 11 p.m. in Italy when the people get ready for their night out.
According to the Italian, she was a British citizen for six months and found it difficult to adjust to the UK’s culture.
She also shared how stunned she was by the way Brits “cross the street”, saying that she noticed traffic not going in the expected direction because they drove on the left side of London. There are so many close calls each day.
Kiara stated that she was confused by the fact that “pants” meant “underwear”, and “trousers” meant “pants.”
She said, “When someone calls something a good shout,” they really mean “good idea.”
Curry is not sold in the store called Currys. They are selling electronics.
Among the things she said which surprised her were how Brits ‘cross the street’, admitting she had ‘many close calls’
“Don’t Google curry after you’ve had a good time at the bar and walk over to Currys hoping to get a dish. You will be very disappointed.”
She said, “As a greeting in the UK, everybody says, “Are you alright?” They simply say “hello” when they do this.
“But I felt sad and upset every time that I heard this. (Very plausible considering my resting b**** face).
‘The term ‘terribly’ can also be translated as’really’. The world awfully’ is another word for’really. It was a wonderful date. Everything went great tonight. It’s a pleasure to know you.
Kiara, who wrote Quora about feeling ‘crushing’ culture shock and described elements of British society as ‘intriguing and confusing’
She added: “British people ‘lie in’ instead of’sleeping inside’. It doesn’t sound big, but this can be confusing.
Others quickly replied to the question. Hanya Bella from Malaysia answered the same question. She explained how she had been confused by many elements of British culture since moving to Britain to study higher education.
She said, “This is more of an amazement. The UK has many functional buildings older than 300 years.” What I found most amazing was that Cambridge is more than Majapahit empire (an old empire in Indonesia, before Europeans came).
She also said: “Cows surrounding Cambridge. This is only Cambridge as a city. I was shocked when I arrived.. there were cows.. right in the middle city.. not far from King’s College.
Some social media users also shared the moment that left them baffled.
Shamim Chowdhury a user also admitted to having suffered from culture shocks in his time living and working in the UK.
He said, “One very important thing to remember when you cross the street – Look right or die.”
“We drive left so that when we cross the road, our eyes are on the right and not our instinctive gaze to the left. This is what you’ve been doing all your life.
He said, “Holding doors open to others – You hold it for them, and they take it over for you. Here, thank you is also helpful.
Meanwhile Petter Brenna Rian said he moved to the UK in 2009, explaining: ‘A big culture shock was the abundance of so-called chavs.
They are all over the place, particularly up North. They are typically young British citizens of lower classes who don tracksuits and have children as teenagers.
“They can also be easily moved. I had seen those on Little Britain, but I had never expected them to be so prevalent.’