An American woman living in Yorkshire has revealed several British quirks that sometimes leave her lying awake at night because she can’t stop thinking about them
While the two cultures share much in common, an American woman living in the UK has revealed several British quirks she claims “sometimes keep her awake at night”.
Maxine Berry, known on TikTok as @yorkshireyank, has lived in the UK for the past 23 years. However, there are still some aspects of British culture that she finds perplexing. Some of the “wild” differences she has pointed out to her 15K followers include the British postcode system, the UK’s unusual laws around swans, and some of the nation’s quirkier dishes.
In a clip recently shared to her channel, Maxine, who lives in York but is originally from South Dakota, said: ‘As an American living in the UK, I thought I’d got used to the quirks living here.”
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She continued: “But these sometimes keep me awake at night. Sometimes not but sometimes they do.”
First off, she stated that she was “pretty sure the NHS is using shows like Homes Under The Hammer and Come Dine With Me as medicine”. She explained that she’d come to this conclusion as these two particular shows are always on the TV in hospital waiting rooms,” as reported by Daily Mail.
She continued: “It doesn’t matter which hospital you go to, the waiting room always has this tuned in. You know it’s true.”
The TikTokker then went on to claim that the British have “an utter obsession with carpets”, and wondered why they couldn’t opt for “nice tiles” on their floor instead as “it would be so much easier”. Though, she did admit that the UK has cold weather.
Continuing her catalogue of observations, Maxine took a jab at some of the UK’s “centuries-old laws” that are still in place and enforceable. For example, she cited the historical law around the protection of swans in the UK.
Since the 12 century, all “unmarked mute swans swimming in open waters” in the country have belonged to The Crown, while subsequent wildlife preservation laws prohibit anyone from disturbing or harming swans, including their eggs.
Maxine found this rather perplexing. She said: “I mean, I’m not technically allowed to eat a swan because it belongs to the King, but who’d want to do that anyways? I mean, does the King eat swans? I’m just asking.’
In fact, it is illegal to kill, eat or keep swans in the UK. Until 1998, it was even considered an act of treason to kill or injure a swan.
Other ‘Britishism’s Maxine pointed out included the postcode system, which she described as “pretty cool”. She enthused: “It literally finds a front door, can pinpoint you with satellite accuracy.”
Although, Royal Mail’s response to when the system fails has left Maxine bemused. “The Royal Mail will send you a card and say, ‘Sorry we can’t find you, the nearest depot is 45 miles away,'” she said.
Finally, British cuisine took a hit, as Maxine described the names of popular pub dishes as “quite wild”. She highlighted ‘toad in the hole’ and ‘bubble and squeak’ as being particularly quirky.