Other Notable Differences

Floors levels start with the Ground floor (which makes sense but it always threw me off); I was staying on the 3rd floor of the house but in America it would really be the 4th.

Maybe it's just that I am staying in a old place in a old part of town, but the tub part of the shower is a foot off the ground. You have to step up to the shower and my head pretty much hits the ceiling.

Shoe sizes...I could not find a Woman's size 11 shoe. In fact, I don't even think they make it. I was told that some more of the department stores would have that size but I still have yet to find one. Do no Women in the UK have bigger than a size 10?

Plugs, obviously but it was also surprising to me that they appear upside down, with the 3rd prong pointing up.

Left side default. Obviously, they drive on the left side but everything else in on the Left side too, walking direction, escalator placement, etc. What's odd, though, is that the Underground exits (the turns where you have to swipe out) are on the Right which always through me off.

Toilets. They are just...well..different. They flush differently (and might I say rather aggressively). You pay for public use of one. You call refer to it as "using the toilet" rather than "rest room." Some places even have unisex rooms. Oh, and instead of a roll of toilet paper, I was given a box of "toilet tissue" which is basically a box of Kleenex. They do have rolls in most places, but I am only given the box where I'm staying.

People say "sorry" instead of "excuse me."

People are generally nicer. They are not overly friendly, especially just on the street, but overall people seem friendlier. The exception, however, is at restaurants. I felt most people working at the restaurants were less friendly. I think mostly because they have 2 people working in a place and they are serving all tables. Everything takes longer. They will not just bring you your bill when they take your plates. You have to specifically ask for it. Again, I think because they are so busy with all the tables as most places get pretty busy during mealtime that unless you are asking them they’re not thinking about you.

Live by the tap! Most places charge you for water. They offer sparkling or still. I thought I was doing right by ordering still until I realized that meant bottled and usually cost about 3-4 pounds. I learned very quickly to always ask for tap water!

Restaurant prices are fairly expensive, especially with the exchange rate. When Deo and I ate together, we rarely got out of a place without spending 20 pounds (which is $30). However, prices for other items I felt were actually pretty reasonable. If you went to a grocery store you could get normal items without the hike-up and even with the exchange rate were actually pretty comparable to US prices.

At the cinemas (aka movies), if you order popcorn, they ask you if you want sweet or salty. And there is no butter on the salty. And most of the cinemas serve beer.

Take-away (food-to-go) is mostly always cheaper and a lot of places even offer a lot of great deals for take-away orders. My favorite deal was a 16 piece sushi box for 5.99; can’t beat that! And I found out later that if I would have ordered online I could have saved another 5%.