the_gneech (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_gneech) wrote2004-12-05 10:45 am
the_gneech) wrote2004-12-05 10:45 am
Hey, Yankee Anglophiles! (Or Anglo Yankophiles, For That Matter...)
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tr_wolf asks...Gneech, my boyfriend and I are going to Florida on holiday/vacation next October, and Im trying to find a guide to American customs etc that UK Tourists might want to know before visiting etc, any ideas where I could find one? Or any advice yourself? :)
You can see my answer below, but if anyone else out there has input, feel free to jump in!
My first suggestion on where to find a guide would be W.H. Smith's, or amazon.co.uk. ;) Does Britain have public libraries? (Something I've never heard, actually ... does it?)
For my own tips, let's see...
First, don't get anywhere near Miami. (Actually, I would suggest avoiding Florida all together; there are lots of much nicer places to go in the U.S. But I'm probably biased. I've been there many times when I didn't have a choice -- now that I have a choice, I'm not going back again.)
Hmm, what else?
For the most part, Yanks love Brits, and even any faux pas you make will be seen as adorable. Especially in the south ... the cliché is that every woman in the south believes herself to be secretly descended from Mary, Queen of Scots. All you need to do is speak poetic nonsense at most people and they'll be eating out of your hand.
However, there are the occasional yahoos who think anyone who speaks with a British accent (even if it's one that would be "dead common" back home) is some kind of snob, and will get all huffy about you putting on airs. Alas, there's nothing that can be done about said yahoos, except to avoid them if at all possible.
Yanks who are not anglophiles don't know the subtleties of "British" vs. "English" vs. "the U.K." so don't get stroppy about them. (I don't know if you would, but I've met a few who did.) FWIW, in Florida, you might get similar grief about "Yank" vs. "American," although that's a lot less common than it used to be. (In the south, "yankee" referred to Union types during the Civil War, and there are extremely small pockets in the south where they're still trying to fight it.)
Drive on the right side of the road. ;) Watch speed limits -- they tend to be slower here than they are there, and they can be vigorously enforced. Also, if you're renting a car, you'll probably get an automatic rather than a stick unless you specifically ask for one.
Remember that everything in the U.S. is Very Far Away from everything else in the U.S. You won't be making any day trips to see the Grand Canyon, for instance. ;)
Don't snigger when somebody asks you if you like their pants. ;)
You'll have a tough time finding any decent tea, but if you can cultivate a taste for iced tea with sugar and lemon, you'll be in great shape.
Keep your eyes open and ask lots of questions, particularly of hotel concierges and restaurant managers. If you have any local friends, pump them for information. :) If you get what seems like a condescending tone in response, don't take it personally -- when explaining the everyday business of life, most people revert to "teach a child" mode out of habit. They don't think you're stupid, they're just trying to keep things simple.
I can't think of anything else off the top of my head, but if you have any more specific questions, I'll be glad to answer 'em as best I can!
-The Gneech
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This, unfortunately, is true -- especially in "deep south" states like Florida. (Up in the New England north/northeast, tea is a little more common, though still far from being the daily staple of life that it is in England.) While you can get hot tea in most restaraunts and hotels down in Florida (well, most of the better ones, anyway), rarely will it be anything other than Lipton, which is to tea what Folgers is to coffee -- i.e. a dishwater-like substance of last resort, barely fit for human consumption, which is onlt just barely tolerable if you're absolutely desperate for a cup and nothing better is available within 100 miles of your current location. :)
Other potential pitfalls to be careful of, in terms of customs and such:
* Smoking is subject to a lot of restrictions here, particularly in public places.
* Americans tend to get on a first-name basis with new acquaintances more quickly than you do. We're just friendly that way. :) We also tend not to use titles such as "Sir" or "Madam", for the most part.
* The "default" manner of greeting someone, especially someone you're just meeting in person for the first time, is a handshake -- although if you're a man greeting a woman, it's best to let her offer her hand first. Greetings which involve closer physical contact, such as hugging, are generally reserved for romantically-involved couples or people who have known each other for a long time.
* If you are invited someplace for a meal, particularly to a restaraunt or other public establishment, it is important to arrive on time. For cocktail parties, though, it is usually acceptable to be up to thirty minutes late. (Probably more of a business-etiquette thing, but a lot of Americans like to be punctual. Also, many restaraunts will refuse to seat incomplete parties, and a dining party kept waiting too long by tardy members could lose their table reservation.)
* Another note about restaraunts: in the UK, dining out is a much more leisurely affair than it is here. It's not uncommon for a dining party on your side of the pond to linger for a couple of hours, over coffee and conversation, after the conclusion of a meal (which itself might take an hour or more), and the waiter will be in no hurry to bring the check until you ask for it. Over here, most restaraunts expect to have your main course in front of you within a half-hour of your party being seated, that a dining party will be finished with thier meal and ready to leave within 30 to 45 minutes of the main course's arrival, and the waiter will bring your check as soon as he notices most of the party is done eating. (Unless, of course, you order overpriced desserts or drinks after your meal, in which case they won't expect you to leave for another 15 minutes or so.) There are, of course, exceptions to this, but they tend to be very expensive "black-tie" places. Also note that many restaraunts wish to close up by 10 or 11PM (though on Fridays or Saturdays some may stay open later).
* Generally, one does not sit up front with the cab driver unless you are a party of three or more and can't all fit into the back seat.
* Tipping the bartender by offering to buy him a drink isn't a common practice over here; generally, they take their tips directly in cash, the same as waiters, cab drivers, porters, etc.
* Politics is rarely a safe topic of conversation here, and doubly so if you're not from this country. :) We get a little touchy when people from outside the U.S. start criticizing our politics and politicians -- even if we might happen to agree with your stated opinion that Politician X is an idiot, he or she is still our idiot, damn it. :) Religion is also a topic best avoided, usually.
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We dont smoke, so that's good.
Your "American Greetings" are the same as over here, lol, handshakes etc etc.
We call people by first name pretty quick over here now, but I noticed last time that in the US, "sir" and "ma'am" is used a lot more than over here ("ma'am" is never used here, and "madam" is rarely).
The meal thing is a bit weird, but as long as they dont rush you WHILE you're eating, thats okay :)
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I was just going by what I remember, which was that the English seemed a bit more formal in their introductions -- giving both first and last name immediately upon meeting, for example, whereas Americans often don't volunteer their last names unless specifically asked for it -- and tended to be a bit more class-conscious with the use of "Sir", "Madam", etc.
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