The three hardest things about living in the UK for Hong Kong people

Having lived on and off in the countryside of the North West of England for nearly two years, the following three things are the most difficult for me to adapt to:

Water is expensive

Drinking water for flushing toilets in the UK is difficult to save on water bills. The first time I received a water bill, the silver code scared me. It was even more difficult to accept that the data showed that the water consumption of my family of two exceeded the average water consumption of an average British family of four, and was close to the standard of a family of five. In addition to the flesh, I have to admit that I am a water ghost, a double blow.

After thinking about the pain, I implemented the following four water saving strategies: 1. Do not flush the toilet for the small solution, or flush the toilet twice before storing it. , Even if it is close-fitting clothing, such as T-shirts, bottoming shirts or shirts, etc., all of them need to be worn several times before washing. Compared with Hong Kong, the weather in the UK is cold and dry, and there is little sweating, ok; three, the same reason, I don’t insist on showering every day. On days when I don’t go out, I only shower the next day. Washing your hair every day is even more redundant, the weather is dry, the hair is not too fluffy, and it is easy to take care of, and it is no problem to wash your hair every four or five days (the scalp will adapt to the number of times you wash your hair, people who are used to washing your hair every day, only every other day at first The hair will feel very oily after washing, and after a week or two, the scalp will automatically reduce oil secretion); Fourth, use the dishwasher, only open it once a day.

After the implementation of the four major measures, the next phase of the water bill has dropped significantly, but the water consumption is still close to that of a three-person home, which is not up to the standard. Really curious to know how Standard Britons use their water? Shower once a week?

day short night long or day long night short

Don't think that it is difficult to adapt to the short days and long nights in winter. In fact, it feels too magical to be dark at ten o'clock in summer. I remember that in the first November, it started to get dark every day at three or four o’clock. When it got dark, I felt that the day was coming to an end. I should have finished work and started preparing dinner. As a result, the time for work and writing was shortened every day. When I found out about this rudeness, I immediately reminded myself to ignore the weather. Four o'clock was actually afternoon, not evening. It was not too late to cook dinner at six o'clock. The problem of short working hours was quickly resolved.

On the contrary, it is difficult for me to adapt to the long days and short nights in summer. At nine o'clock every night, I have finished dinner, washed the dishes, and finished everything. The sky is still like daytime, and I feel very uncomfortable. We should go out to play during the day, but what can we do in the countryside? In winter, when it gets dark early in the morning, it feels peaceful. And I don't mind going to bed late, but I really mind going to bed at dawn. When I work or surf the Internet at night, I accidentally arrive at three o’clock in the morning. If it’s June, and I can see that the sky has faded, I will feel that I am very useless and undisciplined. In short, I don’t like going to bed until dawn, and it’s blurred for two days. feeling between.

Solution? Look at the clock as a human being, and don't look at the sky.

There is no lazy bag, everything depends on yourself

Living in Hong Kong, many people serve you. I don’t mean domestic helpers, but all major institutions in Hong Kong will invite frontline customer service. Whatever you want to do, go to the store, and someone will always help you. Not so in the UK. British labor is high, and there are very few customer service personnel in all walks of life. British people are used to doing everything online, and the whole process is handled by the customer. I buy insurance here, get broadband, and do mortgages all through the Internet or by phone, and I keep talking to customer service staff with different accents on the phone (India, Scotland, Eastern Europe have everything, but there is no RP that is the most understandable) Dealing with, constantly saying that his native language is not English, asking him to repeat repeat repeat, slower slower slower. Once I wanted to get a mortgage, thinking it was such a big deal, and I went to the downtown bank branch and someone would always pay attention to me, right? No, the branch staff only gave me a phone number, and mortgage matters can only be done through phone banking.

Of course, I am not a big customer, and the total asset value is negligible. If it is a big customer, the service will definitely be different.

The above three points are what I think is the most difficult to adapt to moving to the UK. Others, such as diet, language, entertainment and weather, are trivial.