The woman said she was initially puzzled by this aspect of British culture
The American woman experienced a culture shock moving to the UK(Image: Raylipscombe via Getty Images)
Settling into a new country can be quite the culture shock. Each location has its own style of doing the everyday things we take for granted, from food culture to work ethic, and acclimatising can prove difficult. An American woman now living in the UK has shared her observations about something she initially found unusual when she met her British partner – though she’s grown to appreciate it during her time in Britain.
Mandy regularly offers insights into her experiences as an American in the UK through her YouTube channel The Hickson Diaries, and has recently posted a video comparing the rhythm of life between the two countries. She said: “One of the culture shocks that really has stayed with me since I’ve lived here, and I even struggle with and fall prey to, is the pace of life here in the UK.”
She added: “It’s not that you don’t have hustle culture, you definitely have hustle and bustle, especially in the cities like London, Liverpool, Birmingham. Even on a Saturday afternoon in town or lunchtime in town, there’s hustle and bustle, definitely. It’s just different.”
The American woman said Britain still has a ‘hustle’ culture, particularly in London, but Brits are better at slowing down(Image: krblokhin via Getty Images)
Mandy continued: “You’re hustling, but once you get where you gotta go, then you’re cool and you’re calm. That’s the way you go for the rest of the time that you’re there, the hustle’s kind of over. It’s really strange.”
Mandy also added that the British approach to productivity came as a shock. She said: “The other thing that kind of goes along with that pace thing is, you all are ok with doing nothing. Like, you don’t have to have every single minute being productive.”
She continued: “Not gonna lie, when we lived in the United States, I thought my British partner was quite lazy because he would be happy spending the entire Sunday afternoon watching football for like six hours, doing nothing else, and that would be satisfying for him. I used to think what a waste of time, like, you know how much else you could be doing whilst you’re watching football in the background?”
Mandy added: “American culture is so hustle that even when you’re relaxing you have to kind of [be] productive still, you have to move the needle on some level, it’s a really strange concept. But now that we’re here in the UK, I must admit that I find it very much more relaxing. I must admit that I find a quiet joy in just being able to spend a few hours watching a movie all the way through without being distracted, or taking a long walk and enjoying the weather and having a long conversation uninterrupted and undistracted.”
She concluded by saying that the rhythm of life in Britain, even during hectic periods, is “still calmer than the average calm day in America, in my opinion anyway,” , reports the Express.
The comments section generated mixed reactions. One viewer observed: “It’s not doing nothing – it’s simply NOT obsessively hustling for every buck. It’s called LIVING – and for most mentally healthy people, working to pay the bills is just a necessary side-show to our actual life.” Another remarked: “When I was in America, there was a never ending list of stuff to do – you can’t even enjoy food or have a drink (coffee). I still can’t walk and drink a tea or coffee.”
One commenter added: “The most ‘nothing’ thing I do is going for a long country walk (exercise, fresh air, de-stress, long chats with my co-walkees), or just sitting in the sun with a cup of tea for [a] whilst. With a full-time work life all in the digital world, sometimes quite stressed, those ‘nothing’ periods are needed.”
Another contributor noted: “I go out of my way to do nothing. A cup of tea forces you to sit and do nothing whilst you drink it.” Meanwhile, a further commenter added: “I did nothing all weekend and I plan to do next to nothing today.”
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