Read the results here. Image source, EPA. Scots 'more optimistic about future' Ten things we learned about Scottishness What lies beneath England's allegiances and rivalries? Image source, Hulton Deutsch. The Queen visits the Rothes Colliery in Fife in The house you lived in was probably publicly owned. You might like to read - Scotland's Decision, by Allan Little which was published on 4 September, - 14 days before the Scottish independence referendum.
I think the survey results chime with that impression. Scottish identity holds up very well. Image source, Getty Images. Scottish identity was strong across the board and there's little difference between those who voted Leave and those who voted Remain in the EU referendum. Are we more or less optimistic? Related Topics. The incredible rainbows that follow, however, are totally worth it. Unripe, imported avocados and a general lack of Mexican immigrants means that Mexican food in Scotland leaves a lot to be desired.
I will always remember the sad day when I tried to make my own Guacamole, and the avocados I had bought were so hard that I couldn't mash them up. The two Mexican restaurants in St Andrews aren't great, and students from Texas usually don't even step foot in them for fear of horrible disappointment.
This is an important one. Terms for basic items often change when you cross the Atlantic, and you might not know until it's too late. In Scotland, pants are referred to as trousers, and the word pants actually means underwear.
When an American friend of mine responded to a compliment on a dress she was wearing by saying "thanks, I just didn't feel like wearing pants today," it was no wonder that the surrounding Brits gave her disgusted looks. It's definitely convenient. You can come out of your local Tesco with toothpaste, Vodka and tomatoes: no separate trip to the liquor store is required.
And you probably won't be judged, either. This infuriates me. Why, in one of the dampest and coldest countries in the world, would you build houses without clothing dryers? No dryer and lots of humidity in the air means that you can't expect to wear that sweatshirt you washed until 5 days later. And when you do put it on, it will be stiff, prickly, and will probably smell like mold.
You can imagine my confusion when some friends said that they were going to have Chinese food for their "tea. Some famous Scots sharing a cup of tea. If they're not meeting for pints at the pub, people will often get together to drink tea in the afternoon. And crumpets are real too. Besides the fact that Scots drive on the left side of the road just like their English counterparts, they also love to have giant roundabouts with 3 or 4 separate lanes.
They look horrible and confusing, and that's one of the reasons that I never want to drive over there. In the dead of Scottish winter, the sun rises at around 9 a. The short, dark days certainly take some getting used to: when it's rainy which is often it sometimes feels like the sun hasn't risen at all.
But long days in the spring and summer--when the sun rises around 4 a. One big thing I've learned from living abroad and being married to someone who didn't grow up in the US is that overt, casual patriotism is a very American thing. Most people in the US wouldn't bat an eyelash if you flew an American flag outside your home or showed up for a lunch date in a red, white, and blue baseball cap.
Plus, popular music in the US often features lyrics that proclaim pride in being American, and many cars are plastered with patriotic bumper stickers. Patriotism is different in the UK, at least in the more urban areas where I've lived. In my experience, donning a patriotic T-shirt as everyday wear or flying or a Scottish flag on your front lawn would be unusual.
You might wave a Scottish flag at a rugby game, but my partner and I have noticed that people in the UK aren't as fixated on "doing" patriotism, as many Americans are. In the US, blow-drying your hair or charging your electric toothbrush in the bathroom is no big deal.
But in the UK, for safety reasons, you're not allowed to have power sockets in your bathroom unless they're a certain distance away from the bathtub or shower, which isn't always possible in small spaces. Despite the UK's prohibition on power outlets or light switches in bathrooms, it's common to have an electric shower unit right in the shower stall. These units heat the water with electricity, which means you'll have hot water in the shower even if your boiler breaks.
You push a button to turn them on, and they usually feature an attached shower head and temperature dials. In the US, throwing out your own trash and returning your tray when in a casual cafe or fast food restaurant is normal — and leaving a mess behind for staff to clean up is usually frowned upon.
In the UK, it seems to be more acceptable for diners to leave their food wrappers, beverage cups, and trays at their table for employees to collect. Though picking up after yourself is appreciated no matter where you are, my husband admits to feeling much more social pressure to clear his own table when we're visiting the US. I grew up with the impression that brewed drip coffee — the kind many Americans make in a machine in a kitchen or break room — is the standard, baseline type of coffee.
In the US, it may be, but that's not so in the UK. My husband considers espresso-based coffee drinks to be the norm. Ask for "just coffee" in a UK restaurant or cafe, and you'll likely be asked what kind of coffee you mean. In fact, most places I've dined in the UK don't even prepare drip or filter coffee. If you ask for black coffee, you'll usually be served an americano , which is a shot of espresso in hot water.
Similar beverage confusion has happened when we've visited the US and my husband asks for "regular tea. Ask for tea in the UK, you'll be asked whether you'd like milk or sugar. In the US, you'll likely be asked what kind of tea you'd prefer. These are thin, papery pancakes that can be sweet or savory, depending on how they're prepared. If you want a stack of fluffy, pillowy pancakes , you'll have to ask for "American" ones.
Interestingly, I've also seen UK grocery stores sell packages of miniature, precooked American-style pancakes that are sometimes pre-soaked with syrup. Even after living in the UK for years, it's still a little unsettling to walk by shelves of unrefrigerated eggs in a grocery store on a hot summer day. In the US, eggs are often washed and this process removes a protective outer coating called the cuticle, which is thought to help prevent bacterial contamination.
The eggs are then refrigerated to better keep them from becoming contaminated with harmful bacteria. Eggs in the UK are sold at room temperature because they aren't washed before sale. Brown eggs are also much more common than white in the UK. My husband initially assumed US grocery stores only sold white eggs because those are the kind he always sees used in American television shows and movies.
For the first time since the s, the UK now uses more electricity from renewable sources than from fossil fuels. Considering this environmental victory, I'm always shocked to see how much excess plastic packaging is still used in UK food stores. In the UK, it's not uncommon to see plastic wrapping around individual pieces of produce, such as bananas, heads of lettuce, and single apples.
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