I think what they missed from Hugh Grant’s character is that those kind of British men are far too shy to do much about anything. They are happy to wait in a queue and are in bed before 10pm. You won’t see them in bars, let alone go up to anyone unless they’ve known them for at least a year. 😂
Interesting post! Thanks for sharing. From my experience, “going for a pint” is embedded in U.K. culture everywhere you look. Especially on tv. A pint then chips on the way home was the working class image I grew up seeing. A post-war ‘hangover’ that got out of hand.
I don’t understand dry January either! And I tend to recieve the question, “are you ok?” If I say I’m not drinking at a social event. So there’s a shame attached to it as well.
Thank you for the birthday wishes! - And totally agree with you on the Hugh Grant type not being around pubs, ahaha. Generally speaking (although there are of course exceptions) my experience is that British men are far quieter than their Mediterranean counterparts and that too came as a shock in the early days. Which is not a bad thing, except that as you point out (and this is true for both men and women) they usually only ever talk to people they have known for years, so making friends as a foreigner with the locals is quite challenging. Joking aside, going for a pint is a nice way of getting embedded into the culture and understanding it better. In fact, I was speaking to a British colleague before Christmas and we both confessed that we did miss a bit going to the pub now that we mostly work for home and aren't in the office so often, so our new year's resolution for the team is to have a monthly date in the diary for a good old pint : )
That’s a great idea! I too work from home and it’s difficult to socialise properly. Luckily I recently got to go to Madrid with work so I got to experience some of the other, more social aspects of meeting colleagues that you mentioned in your newsletter. I learned (and ate) a lot 😅
I prefer working from home but I admit it has had an impact on spontaneity and opportunities to be around others. Hope you enjoyed Madrid (and the food) and that my fellow countrymen behaved and didn't prove me wrong 😂
I'm a Russian living in Prague, and when I saw it somewhere that cultures can be split in groups where being seen absolutely sloshed is either OK or yikes, I realized that Czechs manage to belong to the latter group, together with the peoples of the Mediterranean, despite guys casually downing 8 beers (so, 4 litres) on a Wednesday, food not necessarily present. And sometimes even lining it with some shots (which always blows my mind but there you have it). And then you see British stag (and hen) parties embarrassing themselves all over the place and obviously raising eyebrows. Which is to say, it's funny how it doesn't even have to correlate with the volume of drinks. And Czechs won't say no to a beer at lunch (but then again, they have proper lunches, not meagre sandwiches). So, there must be something else at play, I just can't point my finger at it.
And your post also got me thinking that maybe the prevalence of Hugh Grant types in British romcoms is just another fantasy, to soothe the sadness of looking at your average, pissed at 5pm on a Tuesday, Dave? :D
I think what they missed from Hugh Grant’s character is that those kind of British men are far too shy to do much about anything. They are happy to wait in a queue and are in bed before 10pm. You won’t see them in bars, let alone go up to anyone unless they’ve known them for at least a year. 😂
Interesting post! Thanks for sharing. From my experience, “going for a pint” is embedded in U.K. culture everywhere you look. Especially on tv. A pint then chips on the way home was the working class image I grew up seeing. A post-war ‘hangover’ that got out of hand.
I don’t understand dry January either! And I tend to recieve the question, “are you ok?” If I say I’m not drinking at a social event. So there’s a shame attached to it as well.
Happy birthday for this month!
Thank you for the birthday wishes! - And totally agree with you on the Hugh Grant type not being around pubs, ahaha. Generally speaking (although there are of course exceptions) my experience is that British men are far quieter than their Mediterranean counterparts and that too came as a shock in the early days. Which is not a bad thing, except that as you point out (and this is true for both men and women) they usually only ever talk to people they have known for years, so making friends as a foreigner with the locals is quite challenging. Joking aside, going for a pint is a nice way of getting embedded into the culture and understanding it better. In fact, I was speaking to a British colleague before Christmas and we both confessed that we did miss a bit going to the pub now that we mostly work for home and aren't in the office so often, so our new year's resolution for the team is to have a monthly date in the diary for a good old pint : )
That’s a great idea! I too work from home and it’s difficult to socialise properly. Luckily I recently got to go to Madrid with work so I got to experience some of the other, more social aspects of meeting colleagues that you mentioned in your newsletter. I learned (and ate) a lot 😅
I prefer working from home but I admit it has had an impact on spontaneity and opportunities to be around others. Hope you enjoyed Madrid (and the food) and that my fellow countrymen behaved and didn't prove me wrong 😂
Thanks for making me laugh, multiple times!
That was the intention so it was my pleasure :)
I'm a Russian living in Prague, and when I saw it somewhere that cultures can be split in groups where being seen absolutely sloshed is either OK or yikes, I realized that Czechs manage to belong to the latter group, together with the peoples of the Mediterranean, despite guys casually downing 8 beers (so, 4 litres) on a Wednesday, food not necessarily present. And sometimes even lining it with some shots (which always blows my mind but there you have it). And then you see British stag (and hen) parties embarrassing themselves all over the place and obviously raising eyebrows. Which is to say, it's funny how it doesn't even have to correlate with the volume of drinks. And Czechs won't say no to a beer at lunch (but then again, they have proper lunches, not meagre sandwiches). So, there must be something else at play, I just can't point my finger at it.
And your post also got me thinking that maybe the prevalence of Hugh Grant types in British romcoms is just another fantasy, to soothe the sadness of looking at your average, pissed at 5pm on a Tuesday, Dave? :D