Kings and
queens, princes and princesses, knights in shining armor (more often tarnished
than not), crumpets, fox-hunting, and boarding schools; such are the icons of
British culture. While England and its traditions are romanticized and
idealized, especially in literature, folklore, movies, and songs, “Brits” are
stereotyped as having bland food, bad teeth, and being extremely prim and
proper. The truth, however, is probably more fascinating than fiction, as told
by Donald “Carrington” (last name changed for privacy), an English immigrant to
the United States.
Donald was born
and raised in England, a country about the size of Louisiana; although the
whole “English Empire” was so far-reaching that it was said the sun never sets
on it. He never met the Queen, breakfasted on crumpets, or went fox hunting,
but he did attend a boarding school for most of his growing years.
Additionally, Donald has good teeth, warm humor, and—although very gracious—is
far from being stuffy, thus disproving common stereotypes.
I met Donald
after he started coming to our church. Quiet, reserved, and unobtrusive, he sat
toward the back of the room. I hardly knew he was there until one Sunday as I
walked into the chapel, I heard someone speaking with a British accent.
Immediately my interest was piqued and I came over to introduce myself. Before
too long, Donald was sharing his talents on a regular basis by playing keyboards
on the worship team for the songs sung by the congregation. The more I got to
know Donald, the more I became familiar with a culture that was much like my
own in many respects, and yet very different in others.
Take, for
example, our common heritage. Before becoming the United States of America,
this country was part of the British Commonwealth, colonized by Englishmen and
women who came to America under the banner of the English flag and the rule of
King George. We shared a Christian worldview, a love for exploring new
horizons, ingenuity and independence, and a desire for principled education.
As the decades
and centuries passed, our cultures diverged greatly in language, dress,
economy, government, religion, and education. England’s terrain is much like
the temperament of its people: steady, consistent, connected, and unchanging.
Green rolling hills, smooth arable farmlands, continual rain that falls in a
drizzles most days characterizes the countryside. To a local, a short road trip
is considered 30 miles and a long trip is 100 miles.
This is vastly
dissimilar from America’s cultural temperament and landscape. In the United
States, the people are diverse in language, nationalities, religious beliefs,
and political views. In similar fashion, the terrain differs from mountains to deserts
and forests to beaches, with temperatures at both extremes; about 128 degrees
in Death Valley, California in July; and -4 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska in
January (Accuweather.com). With three thousand miles separating the west coast
from the east, we can find every kind of weather event from hurricanes, to
tornados, to blizzards, to heat waves. Whereas in Great Britain we find pretty
much the same consistency in terrain and climate from one end of England’s 600
mile stretch to the other.
In between the
distance from Land’s End to John o’Groats lays an interesting culture, people,
and educational system. British education differs from schools in the United
States. England has boarding schools for those who can afford it. The boarding
schools of today are much more advanced than the typical one Donald attended
many decades ago. In the past, boarding schools were known for their “extreme
discipline, inedible food, and poor uninspiring teaching” (Phillips, 2005). Children
lived at the school for 11 months of the year.
At age 13,
Donald left his all-male boarding school, having received what is known as a
“classic education.” His parents made quite a financial sacrifice to send him
there. Unfortunately, his experience did incredible damage personally. Donald
lamented that when a young boy of 13 years of age is sick he wants nothing more
than his “mum” at his side. He missed his home, his parents, and the nurturing
he should have received as a young, impressionable boy. However, like the
majority of young men coming out of boarding schools, Donald learned to “keep a
stiff upper lip” and was able to cope with problems better than his American
counterparts.
Fortunately,
boarding schools are now half the cost of what they used to be, successful at
controlling bullying, promote self-confidence and independence, and students can go
home on the weekends. While boarding schools are a centuries-old tradition,
only seven percent of British schoolchildren attend them. An increasing number of parents with boarding
school backgrounds are choosing to keep their young children at home, or at
least delaying enrollment until their
children are 13 (Sloane, 1996).
According to
Donald, the public schools in England are much like the schools in the United
States in terms of education, but they are different in other significant ways.
For example, elementary and middle school students usually wear uniforms. Class
size is much larger and less money is spent per student in Great Britain.
Donald once taught in a high school there where the room was the size of a
large American closet. High schools here, he reports, seem like palaces
compared to the school where he attended.
Another
difference is that getting a high school diploma here in the United States
carries more weight and social status than it does in England. Here, there are
big celebrations over high school graduation, while there the celebrations come
after college graduation. Students can leave school at age 16 if they choose,
with no stigma attached.
The stigma
associated with religion in public schools here in the United States doesn’t
exist in England. Schools there put on performances, concerts, plays, and
musicals with overtly Christian themes taken right from the Bible. Most of the
students in Donald’s high school musical, called “The Apostle Paul,” were
Christians who held prayer meetings between performances. Some students who
were Satanists held séances against the musical at the same time! None of that
would have been allowed in a public school in America.
Donald became
very well-versed in Scripture while in school, as the Bible was a compulsory
subject. Even though religion was interwoven into school and life in England,
it was another thing altogether to actually believe in it. Donald said he was
persecuted mercilessly by his peers before reaching high school because he
loved reading the Bible and believed it was truly God’s written word. After the
age of 15 or 16, there was a little more tolerance for those who had religious
convictions.
Over the last
few decades, England has gone from a primarily Christian culture to a
predominantly non-Christian one. In fact, Donald notes there are more Muslims
than there are Methodists and that the biggest mosque in the world is said to
be in London. Religion plays a part of British culture, but more in terms of
tradition than belief;
Britain and America
share a common culture and language, but when it comes to God and
"values," the gap is wider than the ocean… The reason for this huge
discrepancy, according to Heather Wraight of Christian Research, a London
organization, is that most Britons tend to see "Christian" more as
"an expression of Englishness or Britishness" rather than an
expression of faith (Hundly, 2006).
Donald observes
that Christianity is certainly on the decline in England, and it seems to be
the current trend here in the United States as well.
One thing not on the decline in Great Britain is
its love for and fascination with royalty! The Royal Family is as much a part
of British culture as Hollywood’s celebrities are intertwined into American
culture. The people follow every bit of news regarding the “royals:” marriages,
love affairs, and all their comings and goings. They take enormous pride in
having a heritage and tradition of monarchs that goes back for more than a
millennium. Although the monarchy has no political power, the people love
royalty because they boost the country’s morale and give a special sense of
national identity.
Since
immigrating to the United States 18 years ago, Donald has fully integrated
himself into American life and culture. He doesn’t observe the same sense of
national pride and identity among Americans that he did among his fellow
Englishmen back home, but is happy to experience the opportunities and freedoms
that this country affords. His eyes were opened to the fact that Americans are
different than the perception of them overseas. In England they stereotype
Americans as tourists or from Hollywood. Donald has learned firsthand that
people are people are people, whether from Great Britain, the United States,
Mexico, or Brazil, they all are much more complex than the labels we put on
them. He quickly learned that stereotypes are “a pernicious stumbling block to
intercultural communication” (Jandt, 2013, p. 85), and in doing so, was able to
adapt quickly to life in the United States.
Something that
became quickly apparent to Donald was that even though we speak the same
language, there are many words and expressions that differ. He remembers
attending a number of meetings at his new job where he was trying to express
his ideas to his co-workers but was not communicating, and vice versa. Along
the same lines, he noticed that humor is incredibly different. In his words,
“British humor is very cerebral.” He explains that one has to know what is
happening to understand British humor, while American humor is much more “in
your face.”
Americans are
very easy to strike up a conversation with, but more difficult to get to know.
In England it’s the other way around; difficult to make polite conversations,
but easier to get to know someone deeply. It isn’t that people are not polite
in England, only that meeting people is more formal. Culturally, according to
custom, one should be introduced before talking to someone. Here in the United
States, it’s quite common for strangers to converse in a line at the grocery
store, at a ballgame, or just about anywhere and on almost any topic. In
England, one can always talk about the weather to strangers, as the English
love talking about their weather; but some subjects—like politics and
religion—are off-limits.
A popular place
for people to meet and be introduced to one another in England is a pub. Pub is
short for public house and is an important part of British life (Barrow, 2010).
Pubs are not places where people go to get drunk, like Americans frequently do
when they go to bars. Pubs are social places where people, including families
with children, go to relax, meet with friends, eat, drink, and talk.
While different
in important ways, the United States and England share many wonderful cultural
traditions. Both cultures value family, social ties, and a strong work-ethic.
We share the same religious roots and similar political systems. We share a
language and a love for equity and justice. We have more in common than we do
dissimilarities. Both cultures are distinct, yet entwined. There is much to
benefit from our alliance with each other, because in essence Great Britain and
the United States are kindred spirits.
As evidenced by
the survey of Donald Carrington’s life, British culture is complex and
intriguing. While England is no longer governed by royalty or secured by
knights in shining armor, it still has a queen, princes and princesses, and
governmental committees award the honorary title of knighthood twice a year to
deserving individuals. The truth and reality of life in Great Britain is more
fascinating than movies or literature can accurately portray. Getting to know
Donald was like vicariously exploring a new exotic and exciting world.
At the close of
our interview, I finished my last sip of Earl Grey tea and shook Donald’s hand
as he gave me a broad, warm grin with perfect white teeth. His humor—although
dry—was inviting enough to make me want to take a trip “across the pond”
someday to see for myself how our English "cousins" live.
References
AccuWeather.com for the United
States. Retrieved from http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/united-states-weather
Barrow, M. (2010). Project
Britain: British life and culture. Retrieved from http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/index/dailylife.htm
Hundley, T. (2006).
Church of England flock strays far from its pews . Chicago Tribune. Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/420461954?accountid=32521
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