I moved to England a year ago — there are three key differences I love | Travel News | Travel

A year ago, I made the decision to leave the quiet shores of New Zealand and fly across the world to one of the biggest cities on the planet: London. In that year, I have learned a lot about England, its customs and the quirks of the people here — but as wonderful as my life in England is, there are still a few things about my home country I miss.

Although there are things I miss about New Zealand, I love my life in England. Whenever I tell people where I moved from, the first question they always ask is ‘Why?!’ but my only answer is ‘Why not?’. It’s gorgeous here, there are so many opportunities to experience things I could never see in New Zealand and I don’t see myself moving back any time soon. Even though I might feel homesick sometimes, England is home too now. And there’s plenty to love.

Pubs

My favourite thing about England is the pub culture. It’s been said before a million times over but it’s so true. I love that pubs here aren’t just seen as a place to go and get drunk. In New Zealand, if you’re going out for drinks, your primary objective is drinking – there’s no culture of community when drinking in New Zealand, it truly is every man for themselves.

Buying rounds does not exist – you drink at your own pace and everyone buys for themselves. While buying rounds took me a minute to get used to, I absolutely love it now. Even though I know it’s not any cheaper (especially with London pint prices) it really feels like a buy one get one free policy and there’s a sense of satisfaction that comes with buying a round for the table and knowing you won’t have to go back up to the bar for the next one. I also love that pubs are seen as community spaces: kids and adults are equally welcome and everyone has a local watering hole they favour. 

Speech quirks

When I first moved over here, I was absolutely baffled by the phrase ‘You alright?’. I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to reply or what the person asking me actually wanted to know. This led to a number of utterly pointless conversations where I told people who truly didn’t care about the minutiae of my day.

Now, a year in, not only have I learned to reply ‘Yeah, you?’ but I have even started using it myself. As soon as I could successfully deploy this greeting, I felt like I had properly assimilated and now I love it. It’s the perfect non-commital phrase for friends, family and the guy behind the desk at the cornershop.

Similarly, I’ve learned to love ‘Is it?’, the most versatile phrase in the world. ‘Is it?’ can be used as a question, a comment, or simply to fill a silence. When you don’t know how to reply to someone’s story simply drop an ‘Oh, is it?’ and the ball is right back in their court. Truly a perfect string of words, utterly meaningless and yet somehow coherent. 

Politeness

People will say this is hard to come by in London, but in my opinion they would be wrong. It’s built into the British consciousness and even the hustle and bustle of the big city can’t banish it. You people love a queue, you love a chance to defer to someone else and you absolutely love helping others – even at the detriment of your own wellbeing.

I have had people drop their plans and help me find a tube station, even going as far as to walk me to it themselves when my data wouldn’t work. I have had people help me carry suitcases up stairs, even though they were so heavy they might as well have been filled with rocks. As for the queuing, it is relentless. Trains, buses, bars, supermarkets — if there are more than two people in them, they will automatically form a queue. You’re a nation of delightful ant people and I love you.  

Things I miss

However, there is one thing about life in England that makes me miss the green grass of New Zealand: if I tried to go barefoot here, I would likely be sectioned. In Aotearoa no one looks twice if you nip to the shop sans shoes and there will probably be at least ten other people doing the same thing.

Although in the British winter this hasn’t been a problem I’ve needed to consider yet, the sun is beginning to creep out again and I desperately miss the feeling of grass between my toes. Although I do still take my shoes off at every opportunity, much to my boyfriend’s embarrassment, I miss just casually wandering barefoot to the shops.

I would never, ever do this in London, not only because people would think I was strange but because the pavements here likely harbour diseases for which there are no names, but if there’s a sun-soaked grass field around you better believe the shoes are coming off. There’s no better feeling than running barefoot through grass and if you get the chance, I highly recommend it.

I also desperately miss some niche New Zealand food, for example, a good steak and cheese pie that doesn’t collapse into beef soup when you bite into it. All the pies I have tried in England have lacked structural integrity. You should be able to eat it with one hand while driving with the other, and not risk third degree burns or gravy stains. I also miss proper chicken sushi – the one you can get from Sainsbury’s is a pale imitation of the stuff we get in New Zealand and although it’ll do in a pinch it doesn’t compare to the myriad of options we have in NZ – from chicken, to pineapple we will sushi literally anything and all of it bangs.