The Way of the Brits

What has given me my biggest thing to ponder about in GB is all the customs that the Britons have. At a pub, there is a so-called 'invisible queue' which is a line of who ordered their drinks first. To get in the queue, you have to rest your elbow on the bar, maybe with some money or the menu in your hand. When the bartender nods at you, you are in the queue. But that is if you are only going to drink. If you want to have dinner there, you can get the bartender's attention and tell him what you want from the menu.

When we have a rugby match against another school, the hosts usually have match tea, or a small dinner after the match to eat and socialize with the other team. But they are usually just when the visitors are coming from far away. For example, I had a match where we had to take a bus from St. Faiths (our school in Cambridge) to a school called Wellingborough, which is in the middle of England. After we lost 21-5 to them, we had match tea in a nice cafeteria (much nicer than at St. Faiths) and had lasagna.

The British are very big about their queuing habits. My dad read a book called "Watching the English" which is about the hidden customs/rules in England. Kate Fox, the author, experimented with how people would react by her cutting in line. She noticed that they looked quite angry, but that they were too polite to say anything about it. From my experiences in America, if you cut someone in line, accidental or not, they will say something like, "Hey, get back there," or whatever.

Overall, the British are much more polite-ish than most Americans, which makes life a lot more different in England.