i came across a charity shop haul on youtube (which isn’t widely popular in Asia, where i am from) and was amazed by all the selections you have in England (or the UK in general).

My question is are they really for charity? and also how come there are so many different charity shops in town? What is the general perception of it?

please excuse my ignorance. i really want to learn about the culture

Moving to the UK soon and looking to buy an affordable wax heater as mine is not comparable with UK plugs. Any recommendations? 🙏🫶

I’ve been trying to look for the best place to ask this question, and I’m hoping some of you might be able to help me.
I’m in the process of beginning to research and write my next novel. One of my main characters was at university in the UK in 2002. I went to Uni in the last 10 years, so I have that covered, but I’m looking for some insight on what it was like to be studying at university in the late 90s/early 2000s.
Any information, stories, anecdotes or tidbits would be greatly appreciated.
Specifically I’m looking for some context on what the drinking culture, social events & communication/studying was like. What did you use to research for papers, how often did you visit home, what was your student accommodation like?
Tell me anything and everything!
Thank you :)

I’m American and we don’t do that here but it looks so cool and fun in videos of bands playing in the UK.

I recently visited England and became addicted to steak and ale pies found in most pubs. I want to try and recreate it, does anyone want to share their recipe?!?

I'll give you an example - the classic - remote control for the TV. I grew up calling the TV remote the doot-doot. I was in highschool at a friend's house before that illusion shattered.

My big one though, was Snow White Pudding. Never heard of it? That's because it's not a thing. I thought it was. My mum would always serve a roast dinner with a slab of what we called "snow white pudding" - I've never asked why we called it that. It's basically a savoury suet pudding that is fluffy and dense and soaks up your gravy. It's fucking immense.

And I learned in my teen years that that is just not a thing outside of my family. Plus I looked like an absolute numpty asking a friend's mum why we weren't having snow white pudding, then having to explain what the hell I was talking about 😂

N.B. seriously, if you don't believe just how good snow white pudding is on a roast, every person that has ever joined our family for Sunday roast has been converted, and the fact that it's not a staple in the UK by now is, frankly, a travesty.

Edit/additional - some kind soul found a recipe here - https://www.campbellsmeat.com/recipes/suet-pudding - we never used onions in ours, but otherwise it seems about right 👍

From an architecture, nature or vibe perspective.

Firstly, I hope that this is the right sub to ask this question, if not, please direct me to the right place.

Okay, onto my question. So my estranged father lives in the UK (London specifically), he's been there from the time I was around 3-4 years old and he never came back to our home country (Zimbabwe) until I was 14. Since then, he comes in and out of the country every so often, sometimes even multiple times a year. He wasn't born in the UK but I know that his grandfather was British and that's how I believe that my father gained his citizenship.

I am currently 25 and I thought that after 18 there's no chance of gaining citizenship but an English friend of mine said that it's possible that I could still get citizenship. I didn't really believe him, coz he's a knobhead, but he did grow up around immigrants in London so I thought it would be worth looking into.

I enjoy watching his YT vids. How spot on are his reviews?

What part of the UK is he from? His “accent” is fun to listen to.

Since the NFL began playing games in England have you noticed any growth in this sport in the region? Just curious what effect the international games have while watching the Brazil one.

Or do you switch to decaf and herbal sometimes?

After my last post, a lot of replies assumed anyone with a good life in India must be in the "top 0.01%", or that India is basically slums and poverty. I'm not denying poverty. India still has hundreds of millions of poor people, and per-person income is far below the UK's. But that's only part of the picture:

India's economy overtook the UK's in 2022 and is one of the biggest in the world.

It has close to a million dollar millionaires and a middle class in the hundreds of millions. That's several times the UK's entire population, so "top 0.01%" doesn't really add up.

Indian-born CEOs run Google, Microsoft, Adobe and IBM.

Indian companies own Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley.

India was the first country to land near the moon's south pole, in 2023.

It runs the world's biggest real-time digital payments system. People pay for chai with a QR code.

Here in the UK, British Indians are consistently among the highest-earning ethnic groups.

Both things are true at once: huge poverty and a huge, comfortable middle class. Britain has food banks and a City full of millionaires too.

And people move for all sorts of reasons: careers, study, relationships, adventure. They're the same reasons thousands of Brits move to Dubai, Australia or Spain every year, and nobody assumes they were fleeing poverty. Brits abroad get called "expats". Indians here get told they "came for a better life".

So I'm genuinely curious: where does the "India = poor" picture come from? Films? Charity adverts? History lessons that stop in 1947? And why does the "better life" assumption stick to Indians, but not to Americans or Australians moving here?

The sidemen are obviously what comes to mind, but they do more irl content now I suppose. Who are some youtubers who play fifa and that’s like their main content?

I moved to London from Mumbai 8 years ago and it's home now, but I've realised British communication is its own language. I'm warm, expressive and fairly direct, which is normal where I'm from, and small things I say sometimes get taken out of context here.

I'm not trying to become someone else. I just want to understand the unwritten rules better, and help people understand me the way I mean it.

So:
What do non-Brits do that often gets misread, even when it's meant well?

What do Brits say that outsiders almost always take the wrong way?

What actually makes someone easy to click with here?

Would love specific examples, on both sides.

So I often hear people use two terms, quid and pound. Are these two terms interchangable or are they different amounts?

I grew up on Heinz but once I bought branston.. I never looked back. What do you prefer ? And how do you eat your beans?

Sometimes I’m just an animal and just grab a fork and eat the beans out of the tin… other times I’m sophisticated and microwave it and put it in my toast.. and if I’m really fancy, ill make mash and fish and have it as a side.. though i do love mushy peas too.

Edit: I believe the mods should update the sub photo from Heinz to branston 😋😜

I've been living in the UK for over a decade now and I've managed to get a handle on most of the formalities, but I've clearly missed something fundamentally vital about the process for donating to a charity shop. Every time I've made a donation, I've been treated with blatant suspicion and mistrust by the staff. As this has happened at four different shop across two different cities, I am the obvious common denominator.

The procedure I was familiar with back in the USA was

1. Go to the back of the charity shop
2. Ring the bell
3. A staff member would appear
4. I would present them the bags full of items that I had brought to donate
5. The staff member would start taking the bags into their storage area. To be polite, I would offer to help carry the bags, but they would usually say that I wasn't allowed in the storage area
6. The staff member would ask if I wanted a receipt, which I would decline, because I'm not deducting four pairs of corduroy pants from my taxes
7. I go home

None of the charity shops I've visited have had a collections center at the rear, so things have generally gone as follows.

1. Fill multiple reusable grocery sacks with items to donate
2. Bring the items in through the front door
3. Wait until there is no line at the register, so as not to block other customers
4. Approach the register and mention that I have some items I would like to donate, gesturing towards the bags I am holding
5. The volunteer glares at me and make a comment along the lines of "You know we won't pay for any of this stuff, right?"
6. I confirm that I'm aware of the concept of a charity shop and do not expect to get paid
7. I'm told to follow the employee as they stomp their way to the store's storage area
8. Inside the storage area, my bags are inspected as though they might contain an improvised explosive device
9. Eventually, I am asked if I want a receipt
10. I decline the receipt, which prompts a second comment confirming that I will not be paid
11. The staff member returns to the register without further comment.
12. I briefly look around the shop before remembering that this entire process was meant to be about *decluttering*. During this time, the staff vigilantly confirm that I am not shoplifting.
13. I leave the store

Given how consistently I have upset the staff, I know that I'm violating some form of donation etiquette, but everyone has been too polite to mention my faux pas. To head off the first two obvious concerns, I'm usually dressed for the office as I do these drop-offs, so I wouldn't think that I should appear *too* suspicious, and the items I am donating are of equal to slightly greater quality than the items in the shop, so I'm not just unloading rubbish. Perhaps most importantly, I'm only treated with this skepticism on the visits where I make donations, but not when I only stop in to buy things.

I have a few bags of items that I would like to recycle next week, but I want to make sure that I do it properly this time. What is the proper process?

I'm from Australia so when I think of Scotland or the UK, I think cold, wet Island in Northern Europe, not a place I would imagine wearing a kilt would make sense.

In cold environments people traditionally wear more clothes, typically its thick, made of animal skin and covers the body fully.

But the kilt is basically a skirt, exposes the legs. So If the kilt was worn regularly in the past (which I'm not sure if it was) did it even fit the environment? Why was it even developed culturally?

In places on the equator which are hot, people wear less clothing. In many african countries like in South Africa some people didn't even wear shirts, just a piece of cloth covering the genitals.

Why did Scottish people even develop this as a cultural clothing?

Family and friends keep me here in Pennsylvania USA but I’ve been in love with the UK since 1985.

Just from a general mood standpoint, are Brits kind of mad at us Americans for what’s going on over here?

How do Brits generally feel about Americans moving across the pond to live permanently?

Im sure theres an outlier or two who doesnt, but like... does 98% of britain just enjoy the franchise and shows? Like it seems to me to just be a universal must, like its required to be viewed and enjoyed or you will face a penalty.

Hi everyone,

I hope you’re all well. I’ll cut to the chase- I’m considering moving to the UK on an UK ancestry work visa and I’m wondering if I’m “grass is greening” the situation.

I’m currently 30 years old living in Toronto Canada with my fiance. My grandparents were English, and I visited many times and always loved it. I love Toronto (best city in the world, fight me) but I’ve always felt culturally closer to the UK. I even prefer the weather. I’m happiest when it’s grey and drizzling. I love the football and the pub. My best friend is English and as adults we’ve travelled to his home in York many a time; I’ve always felt at home and at peace on your little green island.

Beyond that, I want to live in more of the world before I die. And I feel like im still young enough to really absorb a move. I spoke with a firm who deals with these sort of things and they said I obviously pass the simple hereditary requirements for the Visa, but would also fly through the financial/job requirements.

What I’m here for is a reality check- in currently looking at London. I realize it’s expensive- Toronto is too, but on the same scale? Currently I’m a strategic account director in saas, I won’t say my account name or industry for privacy reasons, and I clear about 200k cad per year. I would be aiming for a similar job in the UK. From my search, there are certainly jobs that I meet requirements for, that pay a little less. But the pound goes further than the dollar.

So that’s it. My questions are really- what’s shitty about the UK I’m not considering? Are my career/salary expectations ridiculous? And importantly, should I broaden my search out of London? Also for fun- tell me what’s great about it.

Thanks in advance.

I'm a nomad of sorts in my country, always have been and always will be. I plan on visiting the UK next year for the first time ever to get a fresher perspective. But I feel like I've been stuck in a bubble for much of my life in my home country. I need a break.

I've talked with many Brits, even been approached by a British producer in the past.. and I've studied up on etiquette and different social cues.

Not trying to blend in entirely, I just don't want to look like a moron out in public.

And I do still very much love the culture, despite how horrid recent years have been in the social-climate scheme of things.