British habits

Alright mate? Cheers! I am a British robot again.

Instead of coffee I have a black tea with milk and loads of sugar in the mornings. I eat crisps for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And sometimes in between. I order Caffè Latte at the Café Nero counter and although I know there are mostly South Americans or Europeans behind the counter I pronounce "Latte" in the way the English think Italian sounds... although I know it does not.

I always take my umbrella and my sunglasses with me because I know it will rain and then be sunny later.

If I run into people, yes, even if I just slightly touch their bags when I hurry past them, I excuse myself. Sorry all day. 24 hours. I say sorry when there is not gluten free dish on the menu. I say sorry when I have the feeling my German guests are not saying sorry enough. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

I queue no matter how long the queue and no matter what reason for queuing. I know that unlike in Germany old retired people will not overtake me and queuing really is the fastet way to everywhere.

I read the free metro newspaper on the train. I am used to tubes being late or being out of order due to people on the tracks. My mind immediately keeps figuring out an alternative route to where I am going. Tfl's journey planner is in my head. And it is actually working properly without mixing up postcodes all the time.

My bathroom is made of wood and the pipes are so old that the plumber is a regular guest!

I go for after work drinks at 5:30 pm although I know I can only handle one cider without having dinner. And I say yes if somebody wants to get me another one.

I ask my fellow workmates how they are. Every morning and whenever I meet them in the bathroom or elevator. We exchange small talk about our weekends and we do not spare binge drinking stories and at what bar we got beaten black and blue. Or how much money we wasted on drinks and that we should not have gone home with that fat English girl...