Scotland: Cultural Differences Part 1

After nearly two years in Scotland, the cultural differences have become normal to us. But as I contemplate the American visitors who are coming to see us in this, our last summer in Scotland, I think about all the things that will seem very foreign to them. I tried to make a list of all the "cultural differences" topics that I talk about when people ask how things are different in America. It's definitely too long for one blog post. So, here is Cultural Differences, Part 1, not necessarily in order of "importance" but in order of how I thought of them, which is generally how I experience them in everday life, too! 

1. Cultural norms are different
This takes lots of forms.  The most obvious examples I've run into concern customer service, tidyness, supermarket layout, and the house/garden distinction.

Customer service, in the UK, is generally minimal. And it's not just me. British people agree with me on this one. This is true for corporations - one of Paul's favorite stories about our move is that when he called to set up Internet service, British Telecom (BT) told him it would take 3 weeks. He said something along the lines of "I'm going to call your competitor! (Sky) and the agent replied, "Go ahead, they use the same technicians we do, so your Internet is still going to take 3 weeks." Customer service in shops and restaurants also tends to be very low-key. Part of this (especially in restaurants) is likley because tipping is uncommon.  A 10% tip would be generous. This may be more Scotland than other parts of the U.K. (Scots do have a reputation for penny-pinching).  On the flip side, however, you can get very personal service because the U.K. is a small place (well, maybe except for London). People know you. So I've received a personal call from a local librarian to tell me that a book I ordered is in. Also a call (probably from that same librarian) to tell me my 5-year-old forgot her kittycat stuffed toy at the library. I've also watched the owner of a small post office/corner store come out from behind the counter and help a woman with mild dementia do her shopping, while 6 or 7 people waited patiently in line while he helped her.
  
The supermarket layout in the U.K. is mystifying.  It totally reminds you that you are not in the U.S. Two particularly puzzling examples are pancake syrup and straws. In the U.S., the syrup would be in the baking aisle, near the pancake mix, and the straws would be in the paper products aisle, near paper cups and napkins. But in the U.K., pancake syrup is in the dessert aisle (because pancakes are generally a dessert/sweet treat) and straws are with the party stuff (because, why would you have a straw if you weren't having a party?) Also, tissues. Again, with the paper products in the U.S., OR you could buy them in a drug store. Makes sense, right - you have a cold, you go to get cold medicine, and tissues. Not so in the U.K. No tissues to be had in the drug store. Drugs, yes. Feminine hygieine products, yes. Hair products, yes. But no tissues. The upside was that during my fruitless search for tissues, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while.  She didn't seem to mind my runny nose.

Tisseus finally purchased at the supermarket, Tesco

Which brings me to...cleaning up after yourself, and your dog. I'm not saying that people in the U.K. are untidy. It's just aparently not as much of a cultural norm to pick up after yourself as it is in the U.S.  It starts early - I think Audrey is the only kid in her (first grade)  class who throws things into the trash bin in the schoolyard. It's just not expected.  If you go to a cafe, you leave your teacup and trash on the table. Someone will come clean it up. Audrey's school employs a janitor to pick up ofter the kids. And the local city government employs people to pick up the streets as well. You see them walking up and down the streets, wheeling along a trash bin and picking up everything that's left on the street. Except dog poo. Of which there is more than there should be. In the middle of highly traveled sidewalks. Big poo, small poo, what I have come to call "dog-a-rhea" for obvious reasons. Some people do pick up their dog's poo.  There are small bins for that purpose stuck to posts at regular intervals, and signs or stickers on the bins/posts to remind people that it's actually the law to pick up your dog poo in Scotland, but it doesn't seem to be changing anyone's mind. So watch where you step.
 
Speaking of stepping, you have to watch your step in people's houses, too, although not quite as literally.  In the U.S., if you invite someone to your home, it is likely that you will give them a tour of the house, especially if they have not visited you before. In Scotland this would be unheard of. If someone invites you to their home, you are expected to stay downstairs, probably in the kitchen, dining room, and living room. The only possible exceptions are if their only bathroom is upstairs (in which case you are allowed to visit it) and if they have kids (in which case the kids, if they are old enough not to destroy everything in their path, can go upstairs, but you should still ask before going to collect them from upstairs- it is likely that the Scottish person will bring them down rather than let you go up.)  Gardens, on the other hand, are a point of national pride.  You may be asked to visit a friend's garden and tour it, and you should be appropriately complimentary, as they have likely spent a lot of time getting it to its current lovely state.

Pond in my friend Frances' garden

2. Language is different
If you read this blog regularly you will have already read a lot about language, butI'll  just give it a few more words here, because it really is one of the big differences you notice as a foreigner.

First, British English has different words for almost everything.  And there are certain words that can lead to serious embarassment when used incorrectly.  Foremost among these words are pants and pumping.  If you are American, you're probably thinking...Pants. Pumping. Those words aren't very embarassing. One is something you wear when it's chilly outside, to keep your legs warm, and the other has multiple meanings - you can pump gas, or pump your legs on the swing to keep swinging higher and higher, especially if you're seven. But in the U.K., pants are underpants, so if you slip and say "I bought some new pants" people will titter.  This was absolutely the first language change made by the 5-year-old. "Mom, don't say pants! Say trousers!" Pumping in the U.K. means farting. So pumping on the swing takes on a whole new meaning (thank you to my three Scottish readers who are laughing right now).
 
Second, Scotland has accents in abundence.  I have written about this before but it's inescapable on the the ground. Once you start hearing the differences, you can detect Edinburgh (the mildest of the Scottish accents, at least among the educated Edinburgh folk I know. Sounds nearly English, but shhh, don't tell them, they'll be offended). Aberdeen sounds a bit like Scrooge McDuck (again, this is not a compliment, sorry people from Aberdeen).  Glaswegian is distinct from Dundonian, and then there's the Highland accent which is slightly more intelligible than the outlying islands, where the accent and the vocabulary are fairly different from anything you hear "on the mainland."  Plus throw in people who still retain and English accent or an Irish one after living in Scotland for some time. Everyone may have some common "Scots" dialect like saying "wee" for anything small, and (on the east coast) "bairns" for kids (there's a different word for the West coast but since I don't live there, I don't know what it is!)  But back to where I began this post; I just asked Paul to describe the Glaswegian accent, and he said "I don't know - whe we first got here I could hear it, but now I don't anymore." It's just normal.

This poster, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, is probably one of the most common memes in Britain, When I Googled Scottish Accents to look for a good image, I got "Keep Calm and Love Scottish Accents" and "Keep Calm and Fake a Scottish Accent"