LIFE IN BRITAIN

Life in Britain is very different from the life in Czech Republic. There is a lot of things that are typical only for Great Britain. I don’t mean only the double-deckers, red phone boxes and driving on left, there is a lot of differences in mentality, too.

PEOPLE. For example, the British are very polite and have good manners. They are known for their sense of humour. It’s very dry, sometimes black, a little ironic, but I like it. British like spending their leisure time at home with the family, they enjoy their breakfasts and their 5 o’clock tea.

WEATHER. Britain is known for its weather. It has bad reputation and people say that there is always raining, but actually the weather is quite good. The summers are not too hot and winters are relatively mild. But it is very changeable and unpredictable, because it’s affected by North Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean and also hot winds from Africa.

HOUSING. I would like to say something about housing in Britain. Most of the houses in Britain are owned by people who live in them. Buildings are usually made of red bricks or stone. A british house has 2 floors and 4 to 6 rooms. On the ground floor there are a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a hall. Upstairs there are a bathroom, a toilet and bedrooms for parents and children. There can also be a guestroom. The British have 2 gardens – one of them is in front of the house, it’s quite small and actually only for decoration, that’s why there are a lot of flowers. Back gardens are much bigger, there are trees and it’s good for having parties or barbecue.

HOBBIES. The British have a lot of interesting hobbies and I will tell you something about each of them.

GARDENING. One of the most popular British hobbies is gardening, it has been popular since Roman times. Most people have a garden on their property. Many people in Britain are proud of their houses and gardens and they want their houses and gardens to look nice.

SPORT. Sport is also a popular hobby. England’s unofficial national sport is cricket, but football is their most popular sport. Some of England‘s football teams are world famous, like Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. Other popular sports are rugby, tennis, golf and horseracing.

PUBS. The British like to encounter their friends – often in pubs. Without pubs, Britain would be a less sociable country. The pub is the only indoor place where the average person can comfortably meet others, ever strangers. Nevertheless, pubs have retained their special charakter. One of teir notable aspects is that there is no waiter service. If customers want something, they have to go and ask for it at the bar. Another point is their appeal to traditions. For example, each pub has its own name, which is on a sign hanging outside. There are also the traditions of closing time. A few minutes before the closing time the barman shouts „Time, ladies and gentlemen, please“ and rings the bell. Customers do not have to leave immediately, they still have drinking-up time.

1. The most common leisure activity in the UK is watching television. The average viewing time is 25 hours per person per week. The main channel in the UK is the British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC. It was founded in 1922 and is nowadays the world’s largest TV. It broadcasts in English and other 36 languages. We can watch news, educational, cultural, and entertainment programmes. BBC broadcasts for example a world famous TV show Doctor Who, that I and my brother really like.

MUSIC. Very popular is British music. In the 1960s, a wave of musicians helped to popularise rock and roll. Since then, the United Kingdom has produced a lot of world popular songs from heavy metal to folk music The United Kingdom has had an influence on modern music all over the world. A lot of famous bands come from Great Britain, for example The Beatles, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols, Queen, Oasis, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Muse, Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay. I’d like to tell you something more about the Beatles, because I think it is the most famous band ever. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool formed in 1960. The band consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). They released 13 albums during their active career and their most popular songs are Yesterday, Let It Be, Strawberry Fields Forever, Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds, Michelle Ma Belle etc. Beatles broke up in 1970 and John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in 1980 in New York.

PRESS. The British also like reading – not only books, but also newspapers. There are two kinds of newspaper. One is large in size and has many detailed articles about national and international events. There newspapers are called the serious papers or the quality papers. The oldest quality newspaper is The Times. Other famous newspapers are The Guardian and Daily telegraph. The other kind, called the tabloids are smaller in size, have more pictures and shorter articles, often about less important events or about private lives of well-known people. Although many people critize the tabloids, people buy them more than the serious newspapers. The Sun, for example, which is the tabloid, is the biggest-selling newspaper in Britain. Other tabloids are for exaple Daily Mirror, Daily Express or Daily Mail.

Althougt there is a lot of nice habits in Britain, I’m glad that I live in the Czech Republic, because in my opinion there are also nice habits – and it’s possible, that even nicer.