LIST: Things that the Brits think we're nuts for..

Which side do you walk on in hallways, pavements and stairs?

I've lived in the UK on and off since the early 70's and still go through the right hand door, and down the right side of the pavement or stairs.

Funny enough I did the opposite last time I was in the US.

Got the same strange look both sides of the Atlantic.

Larry
Bedford

I always walk on the right side but I find (in general) people don't want on either side. They just walk wherever!  

  Two words:  Peanutbutter & Jelly!

Two words:  Peanutbutter & Jelly

Aww.. noo.. it's fantastic.  I just had one the other day.  I mean, you have jam sandwiches here.. not SO different.

Aww.. noo.. it's fantastic.  I just had one the other day.  I mean, you have jam sandwiches here.. not SO different.

Gotta tell you...I had to have a PBJ the last time I was back home. Sooo good. The thing was I hadn't had one in 10 years...I've only been living abroad for five!

Ok, i know this is strange, but since i haven't been to the UK yet, and the first time i will ever be there, I'll literally be living there....I've only got a few things to say..
Karl and I were together here when he was on holiday visiting me, and i noticed the "eating with the fork upsidedown" thing right off, he said the way we americans eat with our forks just makes us lazy pigs...well...so be it, I'm a slob and I'm lazy then, for shoveling it in, because no way am I gonna try to practice eating with chopsticks to please anyone...
Yeah I'll try to adjust to the new customs etc, but he's so used to the way that we americans do things now, from living with me for a few weeks here and there, that he knows I'm set in my ways and how things are conducted around the household is as it will be 
Karl is ok with that, so long as i don't embarass him in public...he had said the doggie bags are a big no no, but good news to report is, whenever he's washed dishes here, he's rinsed them!!! YAY!!!!

Welcome, Aacchoo (and bless you, by the way!)!  You eat exactly how you want to when you arrive here!  You'll find that we Brits are not as unattuned to the American way of eating as you might think - we see enough American films and TV programmes.  [The only thing that slightly niggles us is when our American cousins mention that we are odd for using knife and fork simultaneously:  after all, of all the knife & fork using nations of the world, it is only the Americans* who do the right-handed upside-down fork thing, so it is not we who are odd in this respect!]

*Actually, I am not sure about the Canadians - Morgana?  Help?!

LOL. I know about the rinsing dishes thing, aacchhoo - I've finally broken the DF of the habit of not rinsing but it took me a year to do it!

I was never a doggie bag sort of girl, but I've had friends come to visit who are very put off at the idea that they're not asked for!

As for the fork, I'm afraid that I sometimes do use it with the knife and upside down now - not always, and I've actually never had my American way of doing it poked fun of (yet!) 

Here's something that nobody has yet mentioned, so let me know what you think.

I've had many Brits comment to me about how perplexed they are at the American obsession of decorating for all holidays.  Not just Christmas, which is viewed as OTT and distasteful, but Easter, Thanksgiving and Halloween!  They don't get it.

My husband has become used to me and my decorating.  I especially decorate at Halloween.  The neighbors in my small village must have been horrified the first year we were here when monster silhouettes and jokey "gravestones" appeared.  I suppose they eventually got used to it.  Or maybe not!  But the kids in the village ALWAYS know to come to our house trick or treating!

You say Brits??? I've been corrected many times that he is English...not British...then I got a Geography lesson...now what is Great Britain again??? I was chatting with my fiance yesterday (I am still in the U.S.) and we've had many laughs....he did not understand what a weedeater was - slow dancing is called "smooching" which is kissing here...a vicious cycle!  And he actually went out and bought some ice to put in his pop to show his allegiance to my American ways!!! I love the limey all the same!  They really don't wash dishes? Ooooo!

yankeegirl, my boyfriend does the same thing. He wants to be called English not British.
My boyfriend comes and stays with me here in the states for a few months at a time. One of the things he cant stand is how Americans always assume that if you're from England, you must be from London.
The funniest thing happened the other day. This is his first summer here in the states, and we were walking through the park one warm night last week, when he suddenly got this TERRIFIED look on his face and pointing, asked me, "What on earth is THAT?!?"
I look to where he is pointing, and don't see anything but some grass. He says, "All those flashing lights, what are they?" I realize he is seeing the lightning bugs (fireflies), and that he had never seen them before. He was even further amazed when I actually went and caught one, explaining there is rarely a kid in the states who doesnt spend at least one night in the summer catching them. Needless to say, it was really funny. Makes me realize the things I take for granted, I never would have given the "flashing lights" a second thought!

Hilarious! He would be mortified to know as a child I used to pull off their lights and wear them as diamonds on my fingers!! Don't report me!
How long have you been dating? Any chance of you moving over there or has he considered moving here? Interested to know.  Thanks
Amy

yankeegirl, dont worry about the lightning bug ring thing. While I never did that, my mom apparently used to make bracelets!!
I am moving to England next year, I hope! The more I learn about it, the harder it seems to be...all the visas/legalities/etc are starting to overwhelm me, but I am sure it will work out somehow. I have always dreamed of moving to Europe. At first it was Serbia to be with my family and friends there, but now it is England because of my boyfriend, not to mention living in Serbia would be a much more difficult process and adjustment. I realize now it is better as a vacation, not a home. England, however, has captured my heart. I absolutely love being there, and now since my boyfriend is there, I have even more reason to live there. We have been together for almost 2 years now.

Dh thinks I am a nutter because I put mayo on my butties (sandwich) and not butter. Also, finially gave up on me for rinsing the dishes. There are so many things that he looks at me strangely for.

Okay, I experienced the noon/12:00 pm thing.  Yesterday I was trying to make an appointment  to meet up with someone and he said he was going to be busy in the evening so could we meet in the morning.  I said fine but what time...thinking he would say 9 am....and he said 12:00! 

Is 12:00 pm morning in the UK??

If 12:00 pm is morning, when does the afternoon start here?

Do Brits use the terms noon and afternoon?

And...why do I seem to have job interviews at 12:00 pm?  When do Brits eat lunch?

people usually say midday rather than noon but I can't explain why someone would think 12pm was the morning, maybe he gets up late?