british culture

Yesterday we brought you the first in a series exploring the things that international students find strange about the UK. From the food, to the politicians, to the pedestrian crossings, there was plenty of British weirdness on show.

Well, you lucky people haven't had to wait long for part two of this series- in fact, here it is now! Today, we're looking at all those questions that foreign students have about Britain and British students, but have never dared ask.

As with yesterday, the students we spoke to come from around the world but have all studied at both American colleges and British universities. Thanks again go to Tessa who led the discussions, as she came up with some real gems.

And here is where you can get involved. Below is a list of all the questions our students came up with. We want you to vote for your favourite ones (or even come up with your own) over the next few weeks. We'll then answer the most popular questions. Comment below the article with your favourites or let us know on our Facebook page. 

With many of you arriving in the UK for the first time in the next few weeks, you'll probably be wondering quite what to expect. Inevitably there are going to be things you find strange and unusual about Britain that are completely different to your home country.

To help you realise you're not alone we have a series of blog posts from the perspective of international students who have already spent time in Britain. We will be taking a light-hearted look at what they find weird about Britain, the British and their fellow students.

To start us off, creator of IntProblems.com, and ForeignStudents.com regular Tessa, spoke to a group of students. All the students have experienced both American colleges and British universities so are in the perfect position to answer the question:

On a wet Saturday afternoon this weekend I caught the train out of London, away from the traffic and bustle of the city. My destination was the annual beer festival at a small country village called Penn Street. I grew up nearby, but I'd never been to the festival before, and so decided what better way to spend a weekend than drinking fine beers.

Beer is one of the great British drinks, and beer festivals are one of the great British traditions. There are hundreds of breweries up and down the country, each proud of their particular beer. At a festival, you can forget the watery, fizzy lagers of bars, and instead indulge in ales, bitters and porters.

As part of our Cricket Fortnight, we are releasing a number of blog posts about the great English sport. Cricket is one of the most the most misunderstood sports in the world, with a set of rules so complicated even experts struggle. However, the basics are not all that difficult to understand. We have created this basic guide to the rules of cricket for anyone who says it is too complicated to understand.

Don't forget to also enter our brilliant competition for your chance to win four tickets to watch the England cricket team play at Lord's. Enter here.

What is British Culture? The term is unclear but what is clear, is that there are many social values often frowned upon by international students. Altogether, an experience to learn from.

Some may term the culture as unacceptable whilst, others may learn to love and adopt it. I believe this is one of the main issues which many international students face- holding on to their culture in the UK during their stay or adopting that of the country so as to be better accepted. I will comment on what I found to be international students' view of the British culture.

The Shocks

Often what many international students find shocking is the ‘going Dutch' culture. This means that everyone pays for themselves. This has often been a source of laughter or snide comments. International students tend to come from societies where they are used to one person paying for the whole table, and each person would have their opportunity to pay for the bill on different occasions.