9 Unexpected ways I've become British (after 9 years living in the UK)

Hi everyone, it's me. My name is Alana and I'm a Canadian, but I have been living here in the UK for the last nine years. Yes. To be completely honest, it has not sunk in that I have been here in the UK, in England, in Kent for the last nine years. Um, time. What is it? But I have been reflecting on all of the ways that I as a person have changed and a lot of the British isms or the British habits that I have now absorbed for myself because it's one of those things where I don't notice the changes in myself immediately. It's only when you actually stop and pause and like, look back and you're like, Oh, I've changed a lot. Anyway, that's the concept for this video. Hope you're doing well. Grab a seat, get cozy and put your feet up. And without further ado, let's go. Okay. So first up we need to talk about word choice and this is a big one. There are so many British words that I now default to. I now say cheers instead of thank you. My default greeting is hiya instead of hey. I say I'm knackered instead of saying I'm exhausted. I use the word rubbish instead of garbage. And then I've got two more. So I now say fussy like, Oh, someone's being fussy, but I don't actually know what the like North American version of that would be. Can you hear that dog? What was I saying? I now say fussy. Um, like someone's being fussy, but I don't know what the equivalent with that, that would be. And I also say cheeky, which is obviously very British. And I don't know what the equivalent of that would be. So, um, anybody watching, hi, how's it going? What would you say is like the North American equivalent of fussy? Like, Oh, someone's being a bit fussy or cheeky. Like, let's go out and have a cheeky pint because I actually don't know if a close alternative even exists. But those British words are now part of my everyday vocabulary. I remember very early on. So I've been on YouTube a long time, not nine years, but a long time. And if you've been with me for however long months, years, the entire time I've been on YouTube, honestly, thank you very much. You may remember, or if not, I'm going to tell you right now. I did a video very early on where I was kind of at this, like, what's the word? Talking about words that I can't think of the word that I want. I was at like a crossroads. I was struggling. And basically I was struggling with the fact, so I worked in an office and I was the only Canadian in the office, at least our little office. And I didn't know if I should be using the British word when I spoke or the word that would come naturally to me, like the North American word. And I say North American instead of Canadian because there's very little difference between Canadian English and American English. It's, it's really the same. So for instance, um, I worked at a college, so, um, we had elevators and sometimes a student would ask me something and I'd have to say like, yeah, if you go down to the elevators and then you turn left. And in my mind I was like, should I be saying lift? Because on one hand saying the North American word felt very, um, rude. It felt very rude to me because I felt like I'm like rubbing it in their faces that I'm foreign and I'm not going to say your weird words, but saying lift was so unnatural to me. So I was kind of like, what do I do? Do I force the unnatural word to assimilate better? Or do I just speak normally and hope for the best? And ultimately I did choose just to talk. Um, if you start sort of like internalizing what you're going to say a lot, it's just not nice. So I was like, you know what, I'm just going to talk and over time I'm sure I'll figure it out. And now nine years later, I largely default to the British version, not by forcing it, not by like trying too hard. It's just become natural. And that is very weird when you actually sit down and think about it. It's weird. And with that, this is also going to be part of number one because I have nine points. Get it? Cause I've been here for nine years. This is like 1A, uh, phrases, British phrases that I now say. So somebody says something to me and I'll say, Oh, you're taking the piss. Or my partner asks me, do you want to get a Chinese tonight? And I go, Oh, go on then. Or someone says, Hey, do you want to try this new ale? And I say, Oh, that's really not my cup of tea. Or someone is being fussy. Um, which again, still don't know what the equivalent of that would be. Someone's being fussy and I go, Ooh, someone's got the ump then. Or I might say to my partner, I'm popping out to the shops. Do you need anything? Or it's Tuesday night. Can you put the rubbish out? Or if you put the rubbish out, I'll do the washing up. When it comes to words and phrases, it's something that really happens over time. And if there are any foreigners watching, I know it's a very small proportion of viewers. Hi, how's it going? Hope you're doing well. My advice would be just be yourself. Just speak normally. Don't stress out about it too much. And over time, if you are going to stay in the UK for however long it happens to be, over time you will start to just naturally say the British words and phrases. And it is really weird when I sort of sit down and think about it, of how much my word choice and my slang and my phrases have changed. It's kind of had a little bit of an identity crisis. Number two, this one is so niche and that is petting dogs. In Canada, it is perfectly acceptable to stop someone on the street to pet their dog. It's almost expected. In Kent, I would say it's actually quite rude to stop a stranger in the middle of the street and start petting their dog. So I don't do it. And I'm sure it may be in your part of the UK is different. I know the Northerners are typing right away. Oh, you can pet anyone's dog in the North. Love that for you. You don't do it down here. And that's kind of become second nature. I love dogs. I am desperate to have a dog, but we have to move first. We can't have a dog in here. It's a long story. It doesn't matter. So I actively, every time I see someone with a dog, I'm like, Oh my God, I wish I could pet that dog, but I'm not going to. And it's become second nature. The dogs here don't even pull towards strangers. Like if you go to Canada, Ontario, my hometown, maybe that's a bit weird, but if you find yourself there, the dogs will actively pull to strangers because they know that a stranger is going to pet them. Here, the British dogs, they don't even look at you because they just know that they're not going to get pet. Anyway, this is like a strange Britishism that I really noticed, but, um, it's most noticeable when my mom is here. So, um, my mom's about to get here for our little sort of Christmas, early Christmas tradition. Um, she comes and stays for a week and, uh, it, yeah, it's one of those things where I have to remind her like we can't stop and pet everybody's dog just cause you do it back home. Mom, if you're watching, remember just cause you do it back home, you can't do it here. People think it's weird. It's kind of like stopping and like touching someone's baby. Do you know what I mean? It's like very quite invasive. Another unexpected way I have become British. We have to talk about the cues and my God, Brits know how to cue. I know this is a very common stereotype, but it is one of those ones. It's just true. They're really good at it. Brits are natural cuers. They will form a cue. Even if there is no designated spot for a cue, the Brits just know what to do and they do it well. Maybe you're buying a sausage roll from a food truck or you're queuing up at a ticket office and there's no like designated cue or you're waiting for the bus and there's no like formal cue. The Brits will just naturally and in an unspoken way form an orderly cue and I love it. It's very orderly. It's very automatic. You don't even need a designated spot. The Brits just know where best to form a cue and I love it. However, with that number three, another way I've become unexpectedly British and that is tutting. God forbid someone doesn't respect the cue, all right, and they cut in for whatever reason. First off, go to jail. Oftentimes, at least down here in Kent, maybe your part of the UK is different. Most British people won't necessarily want to confront them. That's a bit rude. It's a bit too much, but they will tut at the back of your head and honestly, I think that is worse. I was at a museum recently. I've been doing a solo adventure series on my channel if you're into that kind of thing. So I went to a museum and I was by myself and of course, there's lots of tourists, lots of kids and like foreigners and stuff at museums and we were all queued up to buy lunch and these people cut the cue and immediately were like, we're getting served and every British person, me included, all tutted at the back of their head and you kind of look around and you're like, did you see that? But you don't say that. It's all nonverbal. You just kind of look around and just like disgusted. So God forbid you come here and you don't respect the cue. Sometimes it may not be super obvious where the cue is. You know, if you're not paying attention or maybe there's not a lot of people and you inadvertently do something against the cue, just know you likely won't be confronted, but you will be tutted at and if you've ever been tutted at, it's one of the worst things ever. Number five, let's talk about the art of small talk. It always makes me smile when I come upon a stranger and they say something like, a bit chilly out or oh, those clouds don't look good and now I do that. I never really enjoy small talk. I don't know. Do people enjoy small talk normally? I don't personally, but if I'm ever in a situation that calls for it, my default, which is very British, my default topic of conversation is the weather. I'd also say as part of this point in Canada, I find largely speaking, Canadians are very outgoing and they're very sociable. And, um, there's lots of times when I go back home and I'm kind of surprised at how outgoing people are. And it's very common to be in a queue and you strike up a full blown deep conversation with a stranger. Like that I think is very commonplace. Whereas here again in Kent, I know the Northerners would tell me it's different. In Kent, I find it's more common. I think the Brits down here are very, um, polite, bit reserved, maybe a bit standoffish, but I do think largely that is because they don't want to annoy people. And so like petting a dog could be seen as annoying or talking to a stranger and having a full blown conversation could be very annoying, could be very like not polite. So I don't think it's because Brits are mean down here. I think is they're so aware of not wanting to be annoying, but yes, this art of small talk, if you don't know what to say, you need to say something, nothing too personal, just talk about the weather. And now that is my default. Even in situations where like I go to the gym and you walk past like reception and they say like, hi, are you all right? And then you just like say like, looks like it's going to rain out there, right? And they're like, oh yeah, those clouds don't trust them. But it's definitely something that's become very default, very natural to me now. And next up we are at number six. Let's talk about food preferences. Now I love to eat and I'm not going to apologize. I love doing taste tests. I love trying food here in the UK. I have a whole series on my channel about taste testing British food and weird stuff. I love it. And I never thought about Canada's food in a negative light necessarily. It was just food. It's just what was available. So I ate it. Never thought twice about it. But now after living in the UK for the last nine years, I can say the food quality here is superior. The ingredient lists on items and on products in the UK is so much shorter. I don't know if that's due to preferences or legislation like laws around ingredients in food or labeling laws. I don't know. All I can say is the lists of ingredients on food here in the UK is so much shorter than its counterpart in Canada. And most of the stuff on the ingredient list, I don't know what it is and I can't pronounce it. Food in the UK also tends to be a lot less sweet, which I definitely prefer. So for instance, bread is a big one. I had a look online at Walmart, which is where I would shop. Walmart, I'd say is like as the, you know, like Tesco. It's just a regular supermarket. It's massive and it's everywhere in Canada. So I had a look at Walmart's own bread. So they have like their own brand. And I looked at the ingredient list and now we're just going to look at the first, what? Four items. Enriched wheat flour, water, sugar, and yeast. So then I went on to Tesco and I was looking at the Tesco farmhouse, which is like my favorite, like white bread. I love it. The first four ingredients on that are flour, water, yeast, vegetable oils. And I thought, okay, maybe that's not a good comparison. So I found Tesco's own white bread. Let's have a look at that. Wheat flour, water, yeast, and salt. So neither of the white bread versions in the UK have sugar. Not only that high up in the ingredients list, but they don't have it at all. Another thing real quick, cheese. Any experts in the chat, leave a comment down below. Tell me if I'm wrong, but this seems weird to me. On Tesco, you want, how about their Tesco own mature cheddar? All right. It's a nice cheese. Great cheese. Had a very few cheeses in the UK that I didn't like. I'll tell you that. But if you scroll down to the ingredients, it just says 100% British milk. And that's it. If we want to be a little fancy, my like fancier cheese that I really like is the David Stout classic mature Cornish cheddar. I like that 12 month one. The 24 month is good. It's a little bit too much if you're just having it on its own. Personal favorite is the 12 month. Now, if we scroll down to the ingredients, it says local cow's milk, bespoke starter culture, vegetarian rennet, salt, and thyme. Okay. Seems reasonable. Sounds like cheese. If we go to walmart.ca, their great value old cheddar. So great value is the Walmart brand. If we scroll down to the ingredients, milk, modified milk ingredients, cream, salt, bacterial culture, microbial enzyme, annatto, calcium chloride. Kind of a mouthful. Now I don't know if differences is in labeling. Like maybe the UK, if it's like a small enough percentage, you don't have to include it on the label where Canada you do. I did not Google this. I did not research it. It's just something that came to mind. So any experts in the chat, you leave a comment down below. Why is that? Number seven, another way I've unexpectedly become British is I can't accept something on the first offer. As part of British manners, I find Brits largely will not accept something the first time you offer it. You have to offer it again. It's like this little British manners dance. You have to go back and forth. So for instance, say someone has a tin of biscuits. Also the biscuits here are so good. That's a separate topic. Someone has a tin of biscuits and they're like, would you like a biscuit? And you say, Oh no, thank you. And they say, are you sure? And then you go, Oh, go on then. Some people will repeat the exchange before accepting. Like they offer you say no, they offer you say, Oh no, I shouldn't. And then they offer and you say, Oh, okay. I think it kind of depends on the situation. For me personally, I will just reject it once because let me tell you, I want a biscuit and I don't want them to walk away thinking that I don't want a biscuit. So I'll reject the first time because that's what you're supposed to do, but you offer it to me again. Hell yeah, I'd like a biscuit. This was particularly rough when I worked in the first office, first office job I had here in the UK. I felt like people brought in biscuits like every day. So I learned this one real fast and now it is very much part of my own personality. Number eight, another unexpected way I become British. I now use X in text messages. This was something that was really weird to me and it did not feel natural for many years, but it's now part of who I am. So basically in the UK, I have found, I guess it depends who you're speaking to. It depends on your relationship, whatever. But largely speaking, British people will send an X in a text message as a kiss. It is not a flirty thing. Sometimes it is, but most of the time it's not. In North America, if you texted someone with an X at the end, that feels like real flirty. Like really, really flirty. Like I would not send a message to my grandma with an X on the end. That's weird. XOXO maybe, you know, but just like an X, no. So imagine my surprise. My first job here, I'm getting messages from coworkers, from my boss, and they've got an X on the end. And I was so confused. This is definitely a proper habit that I have now. Sometimes I'm not really sure like how many. Sometimes people will send more than one, depending on the circumstance. I don't really know when it's appropriate to use more than one now, but I certainly use them now. And I definitely probably seemed like standoffish and maybe a bit rude early on because I wasn't using Xs. I didn't understand like when it was appropriate, so I just didn't. So unfortunately, I'd have like a colleague or a friend text me and use an X, and I would just respond with no X. And now looking back on it, I thought, oh god, they probably thought I was like so rude. But it's this kind of like cute little thing British people do. Again, it depends. I know people will leave a comment. I never use Xs, and that's totally fine. A lot of the people I've communicated with, especially women, tend to use an X with each other. It's just a really nice, cute thing, and I like it. And I can't stop doing it. Number nine, another unexpected way I have become British. This one is difficult to explain, but essentially my voice cadence. Along with the change in like word choice, in phrases, I find that the actual cadence of my voice is now British. Or at least a lot more British than when I was in Canada. It's not one of those things that you notice right away, right? Because it's such a slow change. But when I go back home to Ontario and I'm speaking to my family and friends, I notice it. It's so hard to explain. But like the cadence of how I'm speaking is different. I will say though, when I go back home and I notice how weird my voice is, I kind of like default. It's like I roll back the updates, and I roll back to an earlier update, and I speak in like more of a Canadian way to my friends and family because that kind of feels normal. And I'm trying to kind of match how they sound. But when I'm here and I'm just speaking to someone on the street, or randomly, or at a cafe, or a friend, or whatever, I default. I default to this like British cadence. I don't know how else to explain it other than it's just different. Sometimes I'll get comments from viewers or emails or whatever, and they're like, you've been here nine years now, why don't you have a British accent? I don't think I will ever have a British accent. I moved to the UK as an adult. I feel like you only really get a proper accent if you're pretending. Or maybe if you moved when you're younger, maybe that would make a huge difference. But as an adult, I don't think I'm ever going to have a British accent. But my voice is drastically different. It's much more British than I ever thought it would be. And you know, who knows, maybe in the next nine years, it'll be even more. But I don't think I'll ever have a British accent. British accent doesn't exist, but you know what I mean. While I was working on this video and like coming up with my nine points, it was really weird to think about how much I have changed. And the fact that I have now spent more of my adult life in England than in Canada. I moved to the UK when I was 22. And then nine years later, I'm still here. When I moved to the UK, this is off topic. If you're still watching this video, God bless you. Thank you so much for being here. Don't worry if you don't want to watch this part. It's just a side rant. When I first moved to the UK, I was 22. I had no plan. I had no, I wasn't like, I'm going to move here. I'm going to stay here. It wasn't like, I'm going to come here and I'm going to like, no, I literally just, I moved here and I had no intention of anything. So it is wild to look back now, nine years later, how different I am, how different my life would have been if none of this happened. I mean, I probably wouldn't even recognize the life that I would have had in Canada. It's been so long and my adult life has been here. It's just very weird. And do I consider myself British? No. Um, currently yes. I'm not legally allowed to stay here permanently. Not yet. Hopefully next year I will be eligible for indefinite leave to remain so I can stay in the UK indefinitely. Should I want to? Um, not yet. So no, I don't consider myself British. I'm not even allowed to stay here permanently yet. I don't think I'll ever be British, but I definitely have absorbed British qualities. So maybe like half and half. Can we say that? Half, half? I don't know. If you think about it too long, you will get an identity crisis. So anyway, thank you guys so much for watching and thank you so much for being here on this wild journey. Nine years, it hasn't sunken yet. Let me tell you, maybe come the new year, maybe, but I don't know. If you'd like to watch more, which would be totally awesome. How about checking out this one where they don't tell you about being an expat in the UK. But as always, thank you guys so, so much for watching and until next time, bye.