Culture Shock in the United Kingdom

Expats moving to the United Kingdom will have very few problems adjusting to the culture. The large city centres, like London, are incredibly diverse with a multitude of cultures staking out claim to various neighbourhoods and streets. Every type of cuisine, obscure grocery item and cultural accessory is freely available.

Expats from the former colonies of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand number over one million, and there are sizeable and well established communities of Asians, Jamaicans, Africans and East Europeans.

Expats moving outside of cosmopolitan locations will experience more of traditional middle-class Britain, with its fairly standard set of values and traditions, familiar to anyone coming from a Western background.

English is spoken widely although strong regional accents may convince you otherwise.

Traditionally the British are polite, reticent and circumspect – although such is the diversity of classes and cultures that few stereotypes hold up very well to personal experience. Better to think of the UK as a whole world in one island and adopt an accordingly open mind.