After being in London for just over a month now, I have experienced so much that this truly global city has to provide, while also experiencing some challenges that have forced myself and my fellow students and interns to adapt and overcome to make the most of our time here. Culturally, I have found London to be far more similar to the United States than one would think, with people in general having similar manners, senses of humor, and more. Nonetheless, the first and most obvious difference would be the far more standoffish British personality. In general, Brits believe in minding your own business to an almost militant level, with making conversation with a stranger being an unusual and sometimes almost rude act. This has been a huge change from home were having full conversations with complete strangers at the grocery store or on the bus is not unusual at all. This has been an interesting adaption to make, as in general Londoners are significantly less friendly than their American counterparts. In growing to understand the culture here, I have learned that it is not that British people are inherently rude or angry when talking to them, but only that they do not like breaking the barrier between peoples and instead prefer to live in anonymity unless there is a reason to exit it.

In my internship, I have found the experience to overall be fascinating and extremely rewarding. All in all, British working culture has few major differences to American, as both have an emphasis on focus and hard work, while also allowing and encouraging socialization in the workplace and allowing employees to take breaks away from their work to regroup and come back reenergized. The largest main difference has to be how common “holidays” are. In the UK, people take significantly more breaks from work and go on far more trips, trips which are allowed and encouraged by the employer. This allows workers to take far more trips in a year than their American counterparts, and through talking with coworkers, is a key function that they believe allows them to get the most out of themselves over the course of the year.

All in all, I have found a number of problems brought up in my time here in London, but have found that in trying to work through, adapt, and overcome them, it is important to take a step back, try to understand why things might be the way that they are, and then work to adapt and accept these differences instead of allowing them to harm my experience here in this wonderful city.