LIST: Things about The UK you wish you had known

I apologize now if this is OT or belongs elsewhere but...its my husband's bday on Friday and this topic has got me thinking...
when I first moved here I thought it was weird that you have to bring in cake/cakes to the office if its your birthday. I thought, shoudn't everone else make cakes for you? Why does the celebrant get the responsibility? One of those wacky UK customs I have gotten used to!

Don't know, but it's cheaper the UK way!

That someone you love could die unexpectedly, when you thought you had more time (even than six months) and you'd be an ocean away without having seen her/him alive one last time.

That someone you love could die unexpectedly, when you thought you had more time (even than six months) and you'd be an ocean away without having seen her/him alive one last time.

Or have your usual support network there to grieve with you.   That one is very hard. :\\\'(

I apologize now if this is OT or belongs elsewhere but...its my husband's bday on Friday and this topic has got me thinking...
when I first moved here I thought it was weird that you have to bring in cake/cakes to the office if its your birthday. I thought, shoudn't everone else make cakes for you? Why does the celebrant get the responsibility? One of those wacky UK customs I have gotten used to!

Interesting, we always had to bring in treats for our own birthday at my jobs in the U.S.  In fact, the only reason a calendar of birthdays was kept was so people could be harassed if they didn't bring in treats.  Bagels were definitely the most popular birthday treat...oh how I miss them!

This was actually with visiting, not living in the UK: I wish I'd known not to drink the water.

LOL it's such a cliche, but it's true: don't drink the water.  Every single day, I was making protein shakes that I needed for my diet and didn't even think about how much tap water I was drinking. It resulted in something along these lines:

boyfriend *in a very VERY proper voice*: are you ill?
me: uh.... *covers mouth, starts throwing up*
boyfriend: *very shocked, absolutely hilarious look, still very proper* oh dear, we should get out of here....
me: *realizes that one kleenex isn't going to cover for this one, takes off trench coat, freezes ass off despite the fact that it's summer, stumbles back to the train station, gets annoyed that you have to PAY to use the bathroom here, rinses clothes off in sink, throws up again multiple more times on the train*  Huh, so that's why I'm not supposed to drink the water.  *spends the rest of the day in bed drinking ginger ale and sleeping.  There's an expensive vacation well spent.*

That brings me to another point: paying to use public restrooms.  I had a funny moment when I was standing outside the bathrooms in the Princes Street Mall ranting about "It's not that I can't figure out which one is a 20p coin, it's the principle of the whole thing!" and then a complete stranger hands me a coin to use the bathroom (or to get me to shut up).

This was actually with visiting, not living in the UK: I wish I'd known not to drink the water.

LOL it's such a cliche, but it's true: don't drink the water.  Every single day, I was making protein shakes that I needed for my diet and didn't even think about how much tap water I was drinking.

you must have been ill from something else... it can't have been the water.

I have lived in Glasgow and West Lothian/Edinburgh area for a total of about 15 years, and i drink tap water every day of my life... gallons of the stuff.   It is beautiful, clear and tasty water, and it's never made me ill.   Everyone I know drinks the tap water here!

Yeah, it *must* have been something else!  Maybe the protein shake stuff?  Maybe you were already getting a stomach flu or something.

Tap water here is perfectly safe to drink.  The only exception is if there's been some sort of contamination or other similar problem, in which case the local utilities are pretty good at going around the neighborhood to make everyone aware of the fact (e.g. cards through the doors of affected houses). 

For many years British tourists have been wary of drinking tap water in many Continental European countries though, especially those to the south.   

It might have been the water, since different places use different levels of chemicals to disinfect some people are just more sentitive to changes like that.  Most probably it was something else, but it all depends on your body. 

It probably was a normally harmless difference in chemicals, knowing the way I react to stuff.  Either that or I assumed it was the water just because everyone in America said "don't drink the water if you're in Europe" and I did it anyways because I was like, "they're all stupid.  This tastes fine", but it was really something else.  LOL  funny how the brain works like that.

I also have a pretty bad immune system though, and I remember similar problems when I traveled to Alaska.  Probably all the germs on the plane?

In that case, my advice is to not have a shitty immune system.

In that case, my advice is to not have a shitty immune system.

that's better   

I agree I don't think it was the water. Especially in the UK. Water is strictly monitored and they are extremely quick to warn if there are problems.

I would drink tap water from any of the major European countries (France, Spain, Germany Sweden et al)
There may have been problems a loooong loooong time ago.

More likely to have picked a bug up on the plane or the airport. Or the milk. Or any number of other things.

I am glad I have an iron gut. But even that can get abused. I have drank the tap water in Burma. That will really test your immune system. I don't care to ever test that again.

I agree having to spend a penny is so not right. I have given someone 10p here and there if they seem not to have change. I have been on that side of the fence and was given a coin once when I was arguing with the attendant that I didn't have any money. Felt bad afterwards for arguing with someone that has to sit in a loo all day. ALL DAY.

So anyway you back to being healthy again?

everyone in America said "don't drink the water if you're in Europe"

I think that's the confusing point -- British water always used to be considered much better quality than that supplied in much of Continental Europe, so wasn't really included in the "don't drink it" advice.

As Bob says though, I think the quality has improved in a lot of places in recent years.  I would certainly drink tap water in France without a second thought (and have), which is more than was being recommended 30 years ago.

While it is true that tap water is perfectly fine most of the time, remember that it's not generally true on trains and often not in public restrooms.  Usually they have a sign up if it's not technically drinkable (I presume it has more to do with mineral content than bacteria) but I wouldn't fill up your water bottle in the train bathroom!