American woman living in UK startled by British kids' morning school routine

29 August 2023 , 14:22

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In the UK kids are encouraged to walk to school (stock image) (Image: Getty Images)

We may have the same language as our neighbours across the pond, but it turns out there are much bigger culture differences than our accents. It can be quite amusing for Brits to hear certain things that confuses Americans about the UK - such as the concept of beans on toast. But one American has been shocked by the number of differences between the two countries - and one has particularly disturbed her. TikTok user Iniki, who is an American living in Peterborough in the UK, often shares the differences she comes up against in day-to-day life.

Recently, the influencer, who has over 65,600 followers on the platform, shared that one of the things that shocked her most about moving to England was that children walk to school. She explained: "When I moved to the UK three years ago I was shocked by a lot of things, and one of them was that kids have to walk to school."

She explained that she grew up in a "rich and affluent town in Connecticut", which was "super safe" but even she wasn't allowed to walk to school at the age of 16. She added: "And the school was just a mile away. My mum picked us up and dropped us off from school every day. There were also the big yellow school buses. [But it was] very common for kids to drive their Audis and their Lexus, their BMWs [to school]."

In the UK, children are encouraged to walk to school as part of the push to promote the health and environmental benefits for those aged five to 11 and their families. There's even a Back to School Week, which is an annual celebration of walking to school, and this year it took place in May.

Another thing that perplexed Iniki was the frequency of buses in general. She said: "I was completely shocked that buses are everywhere. I'm not used to seeing buses in the US unless you're in a city like New York or Boston. It's common to see a bus rolling down a neighbourhood or in a town or village here."

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She also noted that she was warned that there would be a lot of differences when it came to food. She said: "Everyone warned me that it was bad. It wasn't necessarily bad it's just that it's very different from American food. There are a lot of ingredients that are banned here that are popular in the US. So they infuse foods in America with these ingredients and that makes them taste better. A lot of foods here are just natural."

She also noted that the police officers here "seem so approachable" compared to the ones in the US.

Ariane Sohrabi-Shiraz