10 little differences between Brits and Canadians

So, I’m Canadian and I’ve been living in Birmingham for 6 months, whilst attending UoB. I’ve noticed some little things that are different between Canadians and English people and I’d like to share them with you. 

Service people at the grocery store or gas station don’t say “May I help you?”, instead they say, “Ya alright?”

The first time this happened to me, I thought the girl was just being nice, that I looked tired or something, and she was asking me if I was ok. I responded with an “Um yes, I’m fine…can I buy this?” which I later found out was not the appropriate response.

 The obsession with glitter

Ok, so this one might be a bit more specific to UoB but I have never seen so many girls with so much glitter. Actually, it seems like more of a dress code for going out. If you don’t have glitter all over your face, you’re not allowed in the club.

There are insane parties every night

I lived in Montreal, and I would say that there were crazy parties going on every night of the week, but no one went to all of them. I live in Selly Oak and I do have to appreciate the amount of parties that happen every single night, and the die-hard partiers that are there.

Words are completely different

So, I guess we all know that Canadians and Brits talk differently. Canadians say ‘hot flashes’, Brits say ‘hot flushes’, Canadians say ‘washroom’, Brits say ‘toilets’. Canadians say ‘pre-drinking parties’, Brits say ‘pres’ (this one is great because its so short). Canadians call this punctuation: “.” a period, whereas it’s called a fullstop in the UK.

Sports are still huge here, just different ones

As you probably know, Canadians are huge on winter sports like hockey, curling, ice skating and so on. While these things are still moderately popular here, rugby and lacrosse are everywhere. I see more people walking around Selly Oak with lacrosse sticks at 9am than I see people in my 9am lectures combined. You guys are beasts.

TV shows

Canada might not have tons of TV shows being produced, but we have some classics like the ‘Rick Mercer Report’, and ‘Heartland’ both of which are pretty heartfelt and very PG. What in the actual fuck is ‘Naked Attraction’? What a great idea: “Let’s make couples sign up for dates completely based on penis size.” Its hilarious.

Everybody Ubers everywhere

I’m not sure how universal this is but kudos to Selly Oak for overusing this service for everything. It has become so popular that I feel it has become more expensive than normal taxis (always Uber XL). In Canada we take public transportation to get smashed even when it is -30 degrees outside. What’s your excuse?

So many tea choices… but every Brit picks ‘English Breakfast’

M&S has a huge assortment of teas, and Britain is known for its tea drinkers worldwide. That being said, you guys aren’t very original. If I ask for a tea in Montreal, the server will probably ask me, “What tea would you like?”. Here in Britain, English Breakfast automatically comes with every meal.

Drive on the right and keep right on the stairs

This one gets me in so much trouble on campus. Every time I walk down the stairs on the wrong side, I annoy two people before I switch to the left side to go down.

Nobody prepares for the weather, ever

I have no idea how you guys do this but I saw a girl the other day in flip-flops…in February.

This is how Brits do winter

No one ever brings an umbrella when it’s raining, which is equally sad and strange to see.

There you have it. These are just a couple of examples of differences that I’ve found since moving here. We do, after all, have the queen on our money.