How to: Public Spaces in Britain

Living in a different country for a month has proven to be - different. What a surprise! I have noticed that the biggest contrast in British and American culture is how people conduct themselves in public. So, after reading Kate Fox's "Watching the English" as well as from what I have gathered from my experiences thus far in London, I have comprised a How To Guide for Public Spaces in Britain.

Part 1: The Tube

Silence is something Americans are definitely not as used to in comparison to British people. During your time in the tube, you want to stay as quiet as possible in order to blend in. Listening to music with headphones in can be one way to look like a Londoner, but one thing you definitely should avoid is eye contact. Fox specifically states that they "try to avoid acknowledging that we are among a scary crowd of strangers, and to maintain as much privacy as possible, by pretending that they do not exist – and, much of the time, pretending that we do not exist either. The denial rule requires us to avoid talking to strangers, or even making eye contact with them, or indeed acknowledging their presence in any way unless absolutely necessary. At the same time, the rule imposes an obligation to avoid drawing attention to oneself and to mind one’s own business."

From personal experience, talking too much on the Tube can make you feel alienated and a little bit crazy. If you are paying attention to the people around you when you make conversation, you realize that a lot of people tend to look at you funny. I imagine them saying to themselves "ugh, Americans". As time has gone on, I have really appreciated the fact that no one talks on the tube. As someone who grew up feeling that all silence is awkward, it is nice to be put in a situation where it is the complete opposite.

Part 2: Bumping and (maybe) saying Sorry

Before coming to London, I was told by a professor that Brits very rarely apologize for bumping into each other or accidentally touching you. I heard that since British people rarely want to acknowledge that there are people around them, they usually do not want to take it a step further and apologize when they bump into someone because it only makes the situation worse. From my experience thus far, this holds true.

Kate Fox did a little experiment, though, where she bumped into a ton of different people to see whether or not they would apologize. She admitted that when she first started out, she tended to say sorry first out of habit which I can definitely relate to. It is possible that no one has apologized to me yet because I am always the first to apologize even if it isn't my fault. Fox stated though, that she found that Brits had more of a "reflex-apology" in the same way that I, and I am assuming many other Americans, do. She found that "about 80 per cent of my victims said ‘sorry’ when I lurched into them" even though the bumping was her fault.

Overall, I think observing your surroundings carefully can be the best way of learning how to blend in. I personally know of some American students who act the same abroad as they do at home which is fine, but they tend to be oblivious to how locals judge them. My goal by the end of the semester is to blend in as much as possible, and I have learned that staying quiet on the tube and apologizing to strangers are two ways to blend in better in London.