American Culture Shock in UK - Funny things I've noticed living in England  

I haven’t asked this before, but PLEASE SHARE this video if you can. Thanks so much! I hope you are amused by my quirky observations of life in Britain. Cheers XX Dara

Nothing wrong with grated cheese. Make America Grate Again.

Wouldn't it be boring if every country had the same culture and traditions.

I always enjoy our annual "SNOWPOCALYPSE!!!", which just means anything over half an inch of snowfall 😂😂

Let's not forget that every winter "its going to be the coldest winter in living memory" 😂😂

All actual fire escape doors must open outwards for quickness in the event of a fire and they are always very well signposted

Great start Dara, talking about the weather never disappoints us Brits, lol!

The doorknob thing - you'll generally only see those high-up-&-in-the-middle ones on REALLY old doors. It's not actually a handle, it's what they used to knock the head of their canes against in the olden days before doorbells and as an alternative to door-knockers. If you see them on more recent doors it's just a twee affectation. Yeah, the absence of a grid pattern is because of the age of our cities. Yours are so young that you were able to effectively design them from scratch. Ours developed more organically over a couple of thousands of years as villages grew and spread into each other.

doors are always "push" to enter a room/building in the UK. that way you will not hit someone walking past in the hallway or pavement. but all "fire exit doors" are push to exit a building. as for high door knobs. it is because they are just decorative. as the actual lock (usually Yale) is the opening latch and you push the door to open. general stores or as up Brits call them "corner shops" use to rent a small area of their shop to the Post Office, a bit like how they sometimes have a Pharmacy in a store. but over time, the Post office took over the stores when the shopkeeper sold up. they kept selling basic food items and newspapers, magazines and comics. the reason for grated cheese in sandwiches is because it takes up more volume. so it looks more filling than a flat slice. also grated cheese tastes better than sliced, as it is aerated. as you said, the reason our roads come at you from all angles is because of age. back in the day, everything would be focused on the town market and local church. so you would have a dirt track/road from your (then) country cottage to these destinations. so as more buildings got built, they connected their track/road to the nearest one. much in the way your American farmers did with your tracks from one city to another back in the wild west.

Door handles high up and in the middle of the door are generally found on houses that were built when they had servants to open the door from the inside when you knocked.

The Politeness was what struck me, lol. I was running very much late and sick running through Heathrow, about to pass out from Pneumonia or a cold, and I had things packed terribly wrong (every liquid has to be bagged), and this security lady took great care in repacking my shampoo and soap, while apologizing for the inconvenience, while rubbing that bomb powder roller around my backpack, hahaha. Then she wishes me luck because she “knows I’m under pressure to make my Norwegian connection flight.” An officer nearby says, jump on young lad! I’ll getya there by-the-clockswing! And off we go on a kart to my gate- in time. We US Southerners who are heavily English Butter bread like crazy too!😂❤️

The door handle in the middle of a Victorian door isn’t for opening, it’s for you to grab with the other hand, or both hands if necessary, to firmly close it. To announce a death, or at Christmas, a wreath would be placed over it. Sometimes people would use it to rap on with a cane, though a bell pull was usually set in the wall next to the door, but this might be wet or home to a spider. Underneath would be a boot scraper. Later on, a letter box was added to the door, often with the word “letters” written on it, so people understood what it was for. Doors in larger buildings tend not to open outwards for safety reasons, in case someone outside blocks the exit.

We in the UK are very lucky with our weather - surrounded by water and also receiving the Gulf Stream, means it is much milder here than it should really be. All of Great Britain is further north than the most northerly point in the contiguous lower 48 states of the US and GB is also roughly at the same latitude as the Kamchatka peninsula in Siberia.

We probably grated the cheese because of frugality since the 50s when the country was recovering from the war, and most of tea shops would serve sandwiches to go with the tea. Cutting up the cheese means we use less.. It has a better texture as well compared to a flat cheese slice..

The road navigation thing....I'm Ameican (Pennsylvania). The roads in the north east of the US are similar because the towns/cities are much older than the rest of the country. The roads were built around existing buildings. If you drive around Boston, for example it's the same. Lots of one-way streets, round-a-bouts, narrow streets in many places.

Love that all your ‘culture shocks’ were unusual!! Great job Dara!!

Measurement. Back in the 70's we got half-way through the change to metric measurements then stopped because of public resistance, so we have a mixture. Streets. These are not in a grid because 500/1000 years ago it was impossibly difficult to remove trees, bolders etc. so roads had to go around them.

Now you're a true Brit - weather as the first subject 🤣🤣

This was a fun video, made me smile☺👍 I do feel you missed a Biggie... Corner shops in residential areas 😂 no need to drive out of town to buy milk. Cheers...

So, on post offices that sell sandwiches etc. I think this is often the fruit of a relatively recent problem and solution. 'Proper' post offices are traditionally what you would expect, mail, finance, counter service, associated consumables. In recent years Post Offices have been increasingly in crisis, in that they arent profitable, with so much stuff taking place online. So they have been shutting down at quite a rate. This can be devastating for smaller communities, or older people who rely on them. So they have been forming partnerships with local general stores or newsagents who open up post office functions inside their pre-existing stores... that sell sandwiches and the like.

Up until around 10 years ago, post offices were just where you sent parcels from, collected your old age pension, bought stamps, envelopes and other stationery. They usually opened between 9am to 5pm. Then they closed the small post offices down and located them in established small stores or mini markets. That's why food is available to buy in a post office now. It was a food store before a post office counter was relocated there. It's not changed for the better as I found the small traditional post offices more friendlier.

Grated cheese in a sandwich makes sense - it's more consistent for mass production, the same weight of cheese goes further thus saving production cost & the increased surface area means it'll be more flavourful, which can help compensate for cheaper, less matured cheese or it being cold from refrigeration.

The parking situation, in general in the UK, is usually a bit of a nightmare! Great video, Dara...loved all your observations!

The cup measuring system is a volume system. If you are following a cup, doesn't matter what size the cup is, as long as you use the same cup.

I have to say that it seems really strange to me, as an American, that British doors open in… I have never been to Britain, but I’m sure when I get there I will be perpetually pushing when I’m supposed to pull, and vice versa! 🤣. We loved the video and are going to share it now! 🤘🥳

Funny to see that "the same" things can be so different. Nice breakdown! 😄👍

Fun Fact - There's only one street in Bournemouth, Orchard Street. Everything else is road, avenue, crescent, lane or whatever. And it's a cul-de-sac with no houses on it!

Most post offices in towns are usually just small shops with a post office inside which is why they sell lots of different stuff.

Exterior doors tend to open inwards . For the door to open outwards, the hinge mechanism would be located on the outside of the home. However, any hinges located outside pose a big risk to your home's security.

I was raised in Gloucester 9 miles from Cheltenham. High or central door knobs are only peculiar to expensive upper-middleclass houses, and are reminiscent of the age when the owner had servants. Try a thousand houses in Gloucester and, apart from the occasional old house, door handles will be in the same place as you will find them in the USA.

The great thing about British weather is that it is so variable and makes it easier to start a conversation. Generally we don't get extreme weather, so highs or lows, hot or cold, dry or wet there's always a topic for discussion, especially when it is at the 'wrong' time. Boots and Coats, Shorts and Sun Screen on standby 🌧🌦⛅☀️👍

Very nicely done on cultural observations. Interesting video and well presented. Enjoy it with our morning coffee! Have a great Sunday and regards to Ian. 😊👍

For us moving to the United States, the pull/push on doors in stores and other public buildings was so confusing. We still get caught out with that, lol!

This made me giggle thanks. To shed light on the grated cheese point: most cheese, at least in Europe, is (at least historically) made in wheels and sold in large segments of the wheels. Making sandwich-sized slices would be much harder and you just don't get slices much until recently. You traditionally had to grate the segments to get something quickly and easily to fit!

US grid- pattern streets are the worst, especially as they are often laid out in a N-S, E-W direction, which means the houses either receive virtually no sunlight on one side of the house, and too much on the other.

Re weather/forecasting - presumably in the US your weather patterns must emanate from a single area/direction, thus allowing greater certainty in both forecast and the reality. Here in the UK the wind/pressure areas may emanate from the Atlantic, the Arctic, Northern Europe, or the Mediterranean. What comes from the Atlantic (usually via the Jetstream) may be drawn north away from us, which is likely to produce warm, summery weather, or south, leading to more rainy, stormy fronts. The interactions between all of the above forces are so changeable as to make accurate forecasting very difficult - this was always true, but the effects of climate change are creating even more variability and strength of outcomes, eg storms, sudden heatwaves, etc.

Great video Dara, wouldn't be British without talking about the weather lol As for the streets, the only place I know where it's very much like America is Milton Keynes, it's very much grid referenced and full of roundabouts 😂 As for the grated cheese, Kay thinks cafes and shops use it in sandwiches as you don't need to use as much to make it look like you have a lot. We never use grated at home to make our sandwiches.

Fire exit doors open out in UK, but shop doors especially glass doors open inwards so they don't open out onto the street which would be even more dangerous

Always in a hurry Always in a rush Pushing hard on doors marked Pull And pulling doors marked Push The Meteorological Office does quite well at weather forecasts but as we are a small island subject to a myriad of weather systems and ocean currents forecasting for all parts of the country is a very tricky business. I will finish with another little poem: Whether the weather is cold Or whether the weather is hot We must weather the weather Whatever the weather Whether we like it or not.

To simplify the weather here. It's very changeable. We have 2 seasons, a wet season and a cold wet season. Anything over 20C (68F) or less than 0C (32F) is apocalyptic. The easiest way to predict the weather is to say, tomorrow it will be the same as today. It's probably safer for doors to open outward. It's better for shops if they can trap you inside more easily. Not all shop bought cheese sandwiches use grated cheese. Butter is used to hold the fillings in and add taste. A sandwich without butter sounds as though it ought to be made a criminal offence. Youngsters (under 40) use metric. 50+ uses both metric and imperial. Often both e.g. 8x4 (feet) by 9 (mm). US pints are 80% of real pints. Presumably gallons of petrol are too. Towns follow the contours of the land, normally close to rivers as they began centuries ago. The art of giving way (yielding) to oncoming traffic is second nature to any Brit over the age of 17. And wo betide anyone not acknowledging the yielder's sacrifice by waving.

Thanks Dara. Really interesting comparison vlog. In fact, I think yours are the best - probably because you’ve travelled and stayed here so often. And as a Brit - you learn a lot about your own country from observations by others from abroad. And I’m the same going to America. I love holidaying there. And the differences are what I also like. One thing, with the grated cheese and sweet pickle - is it basically tastes nicer. The sweet pickle and cheese mix and combine to give a better flavour and texture. And, yes, you’re right. US and UK gallons are different. You’re also right about not trying to convert American and European measurements. As for the weather forecasts - I never thought about that - but you are spot on. I follow’d one app forecast - and people complained that it was limited to a 4 hour time period. The app had to change and do it for the hour. And as a Brit - that’s what I also expect too 😂

You've spotted a great (or is that grate lol?) Catering trick. Grated cheese looks more generous than it actually is!

The grated cheese is a manufacturing thing. A lot of shop sandwiches are made by hand. An experienced sandwich maker deals out bread and fillings like cards, at an incredible rate, doing 5,000 or more sandwiches in a shift. Getting real cheese slices to stay in one piece during this process is really difficult and slow, so grated is used instead.

When you only visit as a tourist, you may think things are odd. Once you actually live here over an extended period, you will find they make perfect sense. Most of our towns and villages date back hundreds of years or more, long before vehicles existed. They have had to be made accessible, and at the same time, preserve historic streets and buildings from modern traffic damage.

Very nicely done an interesting culture shock review video. Love the dramatic weather headlines. 😂

Hi Dara. Grated cheese. I think in the trade grated cheese is user for making sandwiches because It can be added to a sandwich quicker and easier. No slicing or sharp knives just a handful sprinkled on the bread. Butter has to be softened to spread so more often than not mayo is used as its quicker and can be used straight out of the fridge. In my last 10 years in work I had a job as a BT engineer that even as I worked indoors it was unlikely I would be anywhere with a canteen or close to a shop. Buttering sliced bread at 7:30 to make a sarnie with butter out of the fridge was hard going. I ruined loads of butter using the microwave to soften it. I soon got used to other spreads as they were easier.

we have a British friend in L.A. who always joked (poking fun at British weather headlines) “it’s a scorcher!”

Haha these are such fun, lovable quirks, and I've noticed them too!

Love your cultural observations! *The weather:* Of course, if you insist on reading the Daily Express, all you can expect is over-dramatised weather reports. It's the newspaper's bread and butter! I've lost count of the number of times the newspaper has, in the autumn, dramatically predicted 'big freeze winters', dressing its front page with snow images, only for the forecast to come to nothing! But you're correct, Brits can't help talking about the weather - it's so changeable! *Sandwiches:* Grated cheese is so much fun. You spend your eating time trying to catch every sliver. It's a bit of a competition with fellow cheese sandwich eaters, just seeing who can catch the most! Oh, and the grated cheese is normally 'real' Cheddar with a real taste (as opposed to a slice of plasticised processed 'cheese' with no taste). 😁😁😁

I remember our first time in London and saw the doorknobs in the middle of the door also. We asked our host why that was and he said that it was just purely aesthetics. Not the most practical lol. Grated cheese is an interesting one. We never noticed. We'll be sure to pay attention next time.

I think people associate cheese slices with fake processed cheese. Grated shows the cheese is real cheese from a block of cheese.

The thing about the doors: I noticed this for the first time in Norway. The doors on the outside of buildings open outwards, but there's usually a door that opens inwards inside that. Very cold winters, I expect.

The imperial gallon, which we use in the UK, is 4.55 litres and is roughly 20% larger than the US gallon at 3.79 litres. Each contains 8 pints, hence the Imperial pint is 20% bigger than the US pint.

Great video Dara! Ha The Post offices….our 3 months through Europe we searched high and low in most every country looking to mail our post cards. They all seemed to be hiding in shops etc. Just thinking of driving in the UK gives me anxiety, I can’t imagine trying to park! 🤣! Hope you have A/C there in your home. 😊~Cara

The door knob in the middle of of the door is so cool! I think I did get the door open and shut thing mixed up too when I was there!!!!

1) The weather forecasting in the UK used to be better, but climate change has destroyed all our models 2) the reason most exit does don't open outwards, is that we have a lot of exit doors that are directly on the street. Due to not having huge amounts of space on the "side walks" , or indeed space in the stores, we cannot mandate exit doors to open outwards. It would cause a lot of accidents. 3) Post Offices were a public service, there was a mandate to have them in all towns and villages. So they took on other public services. But what you are seeing is is the fact that to keep this service going, but not having a local post office, is that they moved into local shops and shopkeepers (the general store), took the business on for extra income and short fall 4) Grated cheese is more airy and UK cheese is generally not soft (the stuff we put in sandwiches) 5) The imperial pint has 20 fl oz in it, not 16 fl oz. Hence a cup being 10 fl oz. An Imperial gallon is 4.4 litres where as a US gallon is 3.78 litres 6) Most Towns, cities and villages have grown over the past centuries. If you want a grid city, go over to Milton Keynes, that was built in the 1960ss. Because of this, the roads follow the landscape 7) Yes, you are totally right, most of our roads predate cars. I lived in a village where most roads, if you park on both sides of the road (because there is no off road parking), then the entire road is taken up by the cars, you might get a bike between them. As such people also have to park on the pavements. The bigger roads in the village would allow people to park on both sides, and at least let one lane of traffic through. This is why councils now mandate off road car parking for all new houses, and in cities houses with off road car parking or even the luxury of a garage are premium properties. Also the USA has just so much more space than the UK, we're something like 5 times more populated per square kilometer

A large proportion of our streets and roads were in place before any kind of motor vehicle was invented or ever conceived. Many streets / roads just used to be paths or trails that people built next to over time, then as more buildings appeared, and more horse, cart, wagon traffic built up eventually they became roads. Town planning wasn’t invented until most of our towns were already hundreds if not thousands of years old.

I think you'll find on larger stores and venues the doors will automatically open with the fire alarm, smaller stores and shops don't require them as they wont have the numbers within to warrant it, all internal doors will need to be fire retardant and all dedicated fire escapes will open out. Our streets/pavements are generally too small to allow all doors to open out, it is deemed to be a higher risk hazard than a fire...plus it helps slow down visiting US bank robbers who push the door to escape...

Dara, just found your chanel. I grew up in the catering industry. Grated cheese is used commercially because you can get away with using less cheese so you save money and reduce the fat content. I expect lots of people have told you, our roads are so different to US roads because our roads were often designed for cars, they were designed for horses, carts, carriages and foot traffic

I use cheese slices in sandwiches using margarine (or butter), most people do in the UK, but catering companies use grated cheese because it uses less and is therefore cheaper!?!

Love your comment about doors on public buildings, this makes perfect sense! I think from memory the thing that brought matters to a head in the US was a nightclub fire in the 1970's or early 1980's. As a country so conscious of Health and Safety I can't believe this simple step hasn't been implemented in the UK!

It's actually refreshing to see a US vs UK culture shock video that doesn't cover the same old topics over and over again! I can usually predict most, if not all of what the content will be: No power outlets in the bathroom, separate hot and cold taps, a pull chord to turn on the bathroom light, washing machines in the kitchen, no aircon, no screens on the windows, driving on the "wrong" side of the road...etc., etc. So it was nice to see some more unique differences! As for cups, the only thing we ever measure in cups is tea (of the hot variety). It always baffles us when we hear American recipes call for a cup of this, half a cup of that, we just can't imagine how much that actually is! 😁

Just found this...... 2 points 1, It's the North Atlantic Gulfstream that has a real say in our weather........ you're lucky, living in England, you get 4 seasons. Here in Scotland we only get 3 - - - early winter, late winter and waiting for winter 2, the doors.......... quite simple really, because our streets are narrow there simply isn't enough space for doors to open outwards which may force pedestrians onto the road. All fire exit doors open outwards though and they must (by law) be clearly marked "Fire Exit" and can only be opened from inside a building, there must also be no way to lock them from the outside

Roads are rarely in grid patterns but you're particularly unlucky in Cheltenham. My aunt lives there and she told me that the town was originally designed by a maze/labyrinth creator, so it's unusually confusing. There's always more than one way of getting to another destination. When she has local passengers in her car they always say "Oh, you're going this way are you?" Or " Why don't you go that way, it's quicker?" To which she invariably replies "It's the way I know, be quiet."

That’s so interesting! The things you take for granted that you think are the same everywhere but I guess not! It’s blistering hot out here now at 105 degrees 🤣

Due to heritage laws the roads cant be extended in painswick for example, same with the buildings. Due to age they are all preserved with stricken rules. No red brick buildings are allowed to be built in painswick, it has to be cotswold stone only! The only red brick building in painswick is the original Midwifery house!🥰

Lol, I have seen those unusual door knows, they always made me laugh

Hi Dara, thank you for this, I hate grated cheese sandwiches too as always falls out! I always look out for sliced cheese and I get it in a Ploughman’s baguette in Greggs Bakery, also in their kids sandwiches have sliced cheese sandwiches and also get sliced cheese sandwiches in Sainsburys! The weather - am showing my age but I recall the 1960’s when the weather forecasters did not have fancy equipment and forecasts were always spot on! Like many Brits talk about the weather as so changeable but one day I was serving a Canadian lady in a store and said what weather! She replied, words to the effect of “You Brits are obsessed with the weather but be grateful your not in some countries what with tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes and bush fires!” It made me think and I shut up about the weather after that bit of advice!

I am SO with you on the grated cheese! My husband and I are both cheeseheads, we've been known to drive 2.5 hours each way just to go the only farm that sells exactly the right cheese, but I digress. Yes, cheese in sandwiches should be SLICED! Otherwise, men overboard, and that is a crime. We are planning a 'cheese tour' of France, a driving tour place to place based on cheese. We've also stopped off at a famous food market in Madrid in Spain, and carried a triple-wrapped whole cheese like a baby on a train south to Andalusia. That thing, rather like Époisses and Stinking Bishop, smelled like week-old socks and stank the carriage out, but my it was creamy velvety deliciousness. The main question is, what are your top three favourite cheeses?

I think the road layouts are also a good inidictor of how long someones lived in the town. Its the local equivalent of what London cabbies know as the ‘knowledge’.

Oh wow the fire thing and the reason for doors opening out is new to me and makes so much sense

Regarding the cheese and pickle sandwich. You're using processed cheese rather than proper cheese. When you buy a sandwich in a shop they use non processed cheese, and therefore they have to grate it.

It's impossible to arrange anything outdoors in the UK, even on the day, because weather is so very changeable. And yes, that's another moan of ours, the fact that 'they' never get the weather forecast right! 😂

Never come across a door with the handle that high, I’m 54 so would have expected to see some

The high doorknobs are probably vestigial door knockers.

Love your channel content , as a Brit who lived in Los Angeles for 28 years and is now back in the UK (Cumbria and soon Dorset) , i agree with most of what you say , i always have a smile on my face with your observations

I am fascinated by the differences between countries. I wasn’t aware of doors or grated cheese. The post office has been turned into a multipurpose store as the old style post office was becoming unviable. As for my own experiences visiting the USA, the main difference is that everything is BIG! Big cars (well, used to be), big buildings, big streets, big tomatoes, big food portions, big cities, a very big country all the way across, much further than Liverpool to Hull. Big people as well!

So many interesting observations in this video, Dara. Great job!! Not only do I read a lot of Brit books (especially mysteries), but I watch LOTS of Brit shows, so I have observed some of these same, er, oddities, and wondered the same things you have. Those narrow country roads, one lane, how in the world are there not more car accidents? Do people just drive really slow? They seem to drive pretty fast on the shows I've watched. Scary stuff; you and Ian are brave! And then your comments about the weather reminded me of a character on the old show "As Time Goes By". She was the housekeeper of a relative, and she was simply obsessed with yes, that famous BBC broadcast, "The Shipping Forecast". And I know a lot of people listen to it just for the entertainment, not really needing to know how strong the winds are in the English Channel at that moment! Thanks again, Dara, and safe travels home later this month!!

Very interesting about the weather reports!! Love the post offices, I dread going to the post office in the states if they were like this I would love it!!

My post office sells raw dog food it's a pet shop 😂😂

In Ireland, when they go grocery shopping they say they are going for postage

Hi Dara re-doors on comercial buildings. You will find that emergency exits do indeed open outwards, main in/out doors will more likely open inwards, this is because outside there is probably a narrow pavement that may be thronged with people and opening a door into that is not a good idea. If you want to see outward opening doors look for the emergency exits at the cinema etc.

Post Offices. Small shops get paid by the Post Office to house a Sub-Post Office to service the local community. This can be a god-send as it helps keep small rural shops afloat. It gives them much needed revenue and also drives footfall so they can sell people other items. Shops with Sub-Post offices contained are often the only (or last) retail premises to survive in rural locations. They may be the only places the elderly can get to to do some shopping. In recent years the Post Office has competed for contracts to offer more services for Government bodies and private companies. By increasing the services the Post office provides, they increase their relevance and increase their chances of survival in this era of de-regulated mail and parcel delivery.

Shop doors, tend to open into the shop, this is so the door does not hit a passing pedestrian, it also means the door can't be blocked from outside. Theaters etc normally have emergency exits which do open outwards, these are generally not on the main street and usually have warnings to stay clear Many pubs have 2 sets of doors an outer door which opens inwards and an inner door which swings both ways, the outer door is often bolted open when the pub is open. What I find most confusing is, if the door is to be pushed, why does it have a handle?

Until about forty years ago, in most towns we had "Crown Post Offices" which only dealt with postal services, official transactions etc. Now virtually all of these have gone, to be replaced by "Sub Post Offices", which are all private businesses contracted to provide postal services. Because they are paid by the transaction, and in rural areas there isn't much business, it is in their interest to have as many alternative sources of income as possible, hence the wide diversity of services.

Dara, you are so right about streets in Texas and the Midwest, but streets in New England are the same as the UK. Lots of traffic circles…Great video!

A slice of cheese is impossible. You have a slice of tasteless processed stuff. Real cheddar cheese, made in Somerset, is much too crumbly to slice but it tastes wonderful.

Britain is an island with an oceanic climate. The US has a Continental climate.

As a Brit I can say the door thing is kinda strange. Your reason for opening out makes a lot of sense and our doors did open that way in the past. I don't know the reason we changed it either. :/

Dara, you may not know that the Post Office is an English invention in Victoria Times. Also sandwiches. Invented by the Earl of Sandwich. I know Europeans do not put butter on sandwiches but you have to give it to us because we started it.

The weather is so changeable because the hot air from the equator rises and hits the ozone lair and falls, the cold air from the north Pole rises hits the ozone lair and falls. Ground zero is the UK. The cold air is colder it rains the hot air is hotter sunshine. Constant battle results in unpredictably

I was born (on south side of the river) near newcastle-upon-tyne your video on it was brilliant.

You are so right Dara We live in a temperate climate so it never gets extreme Yet we jump up and down, although having worked outside for 43 years in rain,snow ect it is never to hot for me. Post offices are rather the counter to US pharmacies who sell groceries while in the U.K. they never do . Great vlog Dara its the differences that makes us friends as we can entertain eachother with our minor oddities but still deep down have the same values. And thats what really matters All the best Lee & Christine

In Milton Keynes,where i live,it is a New Town,and we have adopted the American Grid System. It`s brilliant. If you miss a turn,it can be rectified in minutes. I have lived in Older cities,that,with no grid pattern,and all the one way streets thrown in,it can take Silly Time,to rectify a missed turning. I am not sure if most new places have that system. It has many advantages,including the laying of cables and pipes,and repairs are much easier,i think. Some of what i say are assumptions,so if i`m wrong,i blame my parents

We call what your talking about- sub post offices that may sell sandwiches even magazines etc. but some don't, only selling the basics as for cheese again some contain grated cheese (which DOESNT tend to fall out) others are thin slices & still more (the kind I like ) are a...mushy puree mix, like the red liecter & onion ones I buy in Sainsbury's. As to no parking areas this is usually because of listed/protected buildings from times when there were no garages or drives, we say "country lanes" because the roads are facaded with hedgerow/trees on both sides.

The weather forecasts here in the UK can't even get the weather right for NOW :)

Grated cheese just tastes better, something to do with getting more of the flavour.

Hiya. Your quirks reminded me of American 'quirks'. I've never gotten the hang of the American grid system where streets are concerned. Something like "42nd and Adams" is totally lost on me. AND I've studied the maps! House numbers threw me, too. The number of my Dad's house in a certain city was 11456 or similar and I couldn't stop thinking, "but there AREN'T 11,000 houses in the STREET!" Not just separated by a common language, eh? Stay safe. All the best to you.

Cheese and pickle sandwiches are my favourite, too, and believe me - I never grate the cheese. Nor does anybody I know lol. The grated cheese thing is to speed up production, I imagine.

Grated cheese is usually used in sandwiches we purchase, pre-made, rather than what we do when making our own. Why? Because grating the cheese is cheaper - more surface area with less cheese. It's a profit thing for sandwich companies. Often, you buy a better quality sandwich, the cheese is sliced, not grated.