Preparing for London

I am going to London this summer and wanted to research their culture before attending. In order to respect another Country's culture, it is important to research before attending. Although the United Kingdoms main spoken language is English, this island is home to many other languages such as Punjabi, Bengali and Gujarati. These are followed by Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese and French. Unlike the United States, the UK's government is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy meaning ran by a royal family. A few fun fact things that are seen as taboo in the UK are

• Do not rest your elbows on the table.

• Do not stare.

• Do not be overly familiar with people you do not know well.

• Do not ask personal questions such as how much someone earns, who they voted for etc.

• Do not speak too loudly or cut into a conversation.

These questions are all seen as bad luck.

I explained to some family members of mine that I would be studying abroad in London. That being their hometown they expressed excitement and told me that many ask the question "Are you okay?" rather than "How are you?". I found this interesting because usually in America people do not ask if you are okay unless you do not look okay. I was grateful to learn about this common question because I would have possibly been confused or wrote the wrong answer!