7 cliches...a German students view of being British!

One of our students, Juri, here from Germany and carrying out a work placement at Mid Devon Advertiser was asked to write a piece for a German newspaper about 7 Cliches about the British. Once we heard about this it seemed like a great idea to ask him to translate it into English and let us publish it on our Blog...the results are great! I hope you enjoy reading about his views on 'being British'. 

Cliché 1: Politeness is almost everything in the UK

‘You sound still quite German sometimes’, an editor from my newspaper said to me after my first weeks in the United Kingdom. My strange accent was not the only evidence of my origin. ‘You should say more things like thank you and please’, he added. However, I had tried to use these phrases as much as I can up to a point. Britons definitely do that much more often than Germans. 

In a tiny store three people whispered ‘sorry’ to me in only ten seconds. We didn’t bump, nothing like that. We had just to shuffle around each other a very little bit. I went on walking, confused wondering about the reason for the apologies. What had happened?

If somebody says ‘after you’, it’s fine to thank and walk trough the door. But it is more polite to reciprocate the offer. It happened to me once that three people wanted to leave the room to the same time. Who should offer to go first? Well, I guess, that is a situation for advanced door crossers only.

So, it’s true: British people are very polite.

Cliché 2: English food is a nightmare

Traditional British home cooking is similar to the German one. It’s savory and solid - not everybody’s taste, but no bad food. Especially in the last twenty years, Italian or Indian influences brought new flavors into English kitchens. The main meal is dinner. For lunch most people just grab a salad or a sandwich. British People really love their sandwiches. In Torquay there are more Subway stores than McDonald’s and Burger Kings added together.

The cupcake business is booming as well. You can find easily small bakeries all most everywhere.

So, don’t worry. You don’t have to starve here. 

Cliché 3: British people know how to party hard

I was in a pub in Torquay on a Saturday afternoon around 2pm. I needed a fancy photograph to illustrate an article for a German newspaper. Some guys were standing around the bar, obviously celebrating a stag party. One lad was dressed with a blond girlie wig and a chain with a heavy cement ball around his belly. I asked them if I would be allowed to take a photo of them. ‘You may want to take a photo of this’, one of the guys said, dropped his pants and started wiggling his bare bottom, standing in the middle of the pub. Well, that escalated quickly. Later in the day he jumped completely naked across the bar - and into the very cold seawater harbour. Several of his friends, men at least in their 40s, did the same and used the pub as a locker room after their little swim. They also started a nice little concert, using a chair as a stage. With a horrible German folk song I took place in this contest, too. After that, I was a full member of the group. Britons love people who make a fool of themselves.

Sure, not every party in this country is like this. But, it is definitely true: They know how to party on that island.

Cliché 4: Queues are everywhere in Great Britain

It’s not an issue about a shortage of goods, but it is another politeness thing. The rule ‘first in time, first in line’ is really important over here. In other countries you see people sometimes scramble in a knot on a bus stop. You don’t see that in England. Once a day, I was just standing around a bus stop, looking at the timetable, and I noticed a person right behind me. A women thought I was ‘the queue’ and she didn’t want to push to the front - although there was no bus anywhere around.

As you see: Minding the Queue is indeed very important.

Cliché 5: 5 pm: Tea Time!

The traditional Tea Time belongs to history. But Britons are still very into their hot drinks. They sip it all day long, like other nations coffee. Tea in Great Britain normally means black tea with milk. Tea is still Britain's favorite drink. A very yummy combination is called Cream Tea. A scone, coated with cream and strawberry jam is giving this ritual its name. There are regional variations as to how a cream tea should preferably be eaten. The Devonshire (or Devon) method is to split the scone in two, cover each half with clotted cream, and then add strawberry jam on top. 

You can have it with milk, sugar or just black [but it's better with a scone!].

Cliché 6: Britons love their Queen

Official Polls say the majority of the British people are still happy to have a Queen. Well, in personal chats it was very hard to find a keen monarchist. ‘The royals are the world’s worst family’, said a young man. In his point of view the Kings and Queens did cruel things in the past to get a lot of money and land. ‘In fact the Queen owns a whole language - and English is the language of the world! That’s too much power’, he said.

Cliché 7: It’s always raining in the United Kingdom

Yeah, it rains a lot in this country. But the region around Torquay is an exception. People call the area quite rightly ‘the English Riviera’. It’s sunny down here, temperatures fall hardly below zero. However, Britons love to talk about the weather. It’s a good icebreaker for a conversation. By the way: In many travel books and English guides you can find the idiom ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’ to describe a heavy rain. I’ve never heard a native speaker using that expression. Much more common is the phrase ‘It’s bucketing down’ or ‘it’s tipping down’. [Editors Note: But not here in SUNNY TORBAY!, well not often anyway!]

About the author:

Juri Auel is 23 years old and lives near to Kassel, Germany. He already completed his training at a German local paper. Actually a student of politics and history, but this summer he is a visiting reporter at the Mid-Devon Advertiser – to improve his English and learn something about the British way of journalism.