A year ago I decided to leave New Zealand's quiet coast, fly all over the world to London, one of the biggest cities on the planet. That year I learned a lot about the UK, its habits, and the quirks of the people here, but as great as my life in the UK, there are still some things about my home country.
I have missed out on New Zealand, but I love my life in the UK. 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 many opportunities to experience things you would never see in New Zealand, and you won't see them return anytime soon. I may feel homesick from time to time, but I am still home in England. And there are so many things to love.
Pub
My favorite in England is pub culture. That's been said a million times ago, and that's very true. I love that the pubs here are not considered places to go and get drunk. In New Zealand, if you go out for a drink, your main purpose is to drink – when drinking in New Zealand, there is no community culture, it is truly everyone for themselves.
Buying a round does not exist – you drink at your own pace, and everyone buys for yourself. It took me a while to get used to buying the rounds, but I absolutely love it now. I know it's not cheaper (especially at the London pint price), but it really feels like a purchase to get one free policy, and there is the satisfaction that comes with buying a round for the table, and the satisfaction that comes with knowing you don't have to go back to the bar for the next one. I also love how pubs are seen as community spaces. Children and adults are equally welcome, and everyone has local watering holes that they like.
Speech habits
When I first moved here, I was absolutely baffled by the phrase “Are you okay?” I couldn't understand what I should reply to, what the person asking me actually wanted to know. This led to many totally pointless conversations I told people who really didn't care about the smallest details of my day.
Now I've not only learned to reply, “Yeah, you?” But I started using it myself. As soon as I could successfully unfold this greeting, I felt like I properly assimilated, and now I love it. This is the perfect non-committal phrase for friends, family and guys behind the desk in the corner shop.
Similarly, I have learned to love “What?” “Is that?” can be used to question, comment, or simply fill in silence. When you don't know how to reply to someone's story, simply say, “Oh, is that?” and the ball is back on their court. It's a truly perfect set of words, meaningless at all, but somehow it's consistent.
Courtesy
People will say this is difficult for them to come in London, but in my opinion they would be wrong. It is embedded in the consciousness of the British, and the busts of the metropolitan cities cannot expel it. Your people love the queue, you love the chance to postpone to someone else, and you absolutely love helping others, even in harming your own happiness.
I'd have people drop plans and help me find a tube station until I let myself walk around me when my data wasn't working. I had people help me carry my suitcases down the stairs. There is no mercy when it comes to queuing. Trains, buses, bars, supermarkets – if there are more than two people, they automatically form a queue. You are a country of fun Ali people and I love you.
Things I miss
But there's one thing about living in the UK that makes New Zealand's green grass escape. If I tried to barefoot here, I would probably be a section. At aotearoa, if you have your shoes in sans, no one will look twice. Perhaps at least 10 others are doing the same thing.
In the winter of England, this was not a problem I still need to consider, but the sun is beginning to creep up again, desperately missing out on the sense of grass between my toes. I still take my shoes off at every opportunity, and although I take them off a lot of my boyfriend's embarrassment, I just miss the casual wandering around the shop barefoot.
You will never do this in London. Not only is it people find me strange, but it's likely that the pavement here has an unnamed disease. There's nothing better than running through the grass barefoot. If I get the chance, I highly recommend it.
You also desperately miss out on New Zealand's niche food. For example, there are good steak and cheese pie that won't break down into the beef soup even after chewing. Every pie I tried in the UK had no structural integrity. You should be able to eat it with one hand while driving with other hands, and you cannot risk third-degree burns or smudges. I too miss the right chicken sushi – all you can get from Sainsbury is a pale imitation of what we get in New Zealand. It doesn't compare to the countless options we have in NZ, from chicken to pineapple to literally sushi, but in a pinch we do that, but it makes everything sushi and everything about it sushi.
