Coffee and tea

Today I was involved in a discussion about coffee culture in the Northern European countries and there is a clear difference between the UK and the Nordics in that respect. In the UK instant coffee is considered OK and many people prefer tea. On top of that, they put milk in everything, whereas many Nordics drink their coffee or tea black, no sugar. In the Nordics, instant coffee is a last resort - it is for hiking or if you don't have electricity in your summer place. It is not considered real coffee.

In Scandinavia we say to our friends: "let's meet up for coffee". It doesn't matter what you actually drink when you then meet, it is just a phrase. It is a deeply engrained in our culture and a part of most Nordics routine, comparable to showering every day. Actually, the Nordic countries occupy the top most coffee-consuming countries per capita together with the Netherlands. The UK come in as no. 47.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_coffee_consumption_per_capita

Of top tea consumers, the UK is only overtaken by Turkey and the first sign of the Scandies is Norway as no. 17

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tea_consumption_per_capita

Personally, I started drinking coffee when I was about 16 and still much prefer it to tea.

Uniform vs conform

School uniforms was one of the strangest things I ever saw, when I first came to the UK. In Denmark, uniforms have bad connotations, you associate them with war and suppression. Granted, scouts use uniforms and so do soldiers even in peace times but when I was involved in FDF many members refused to call our 'member shirt' a uniform.
On the other hand, it is fun to see the way grown ups dress in a much more individualised way over here, compared to in Denmark. Perhaps it is caused by the fact that Englishmen throughout their childhood were forced to wear uniforms and perhaps they always dreamed of expressing themselves through their clothes and then whenever they have the chance they really go for it.
In Denmark (as well as Norway and Sweden) people tend to try and conform much more in choices of fashion. One time I went back to visit, all the girls were wearing dresses and wellies so it isn't necessarily unoriginal. However, it does get boring if everyone is always wearing the same.

Alrite luv?

When I first moved to Lancaster, I was a bit suspicious towards people calling me 'luv' - it was often busdrivers, people in shops and randoms on the street. After a while I realised they didn't seem to want to achieve anything by using these terms of endearment and I could just smile and walk away.

In Denmark only close friends and family use words like "kære", "søde", "skat" and "ven". If you hear it from a stranger, they are either being condescending or sleazy.

If you go to the West country, you will also hear 'dove' and 'my lover'. In London, you hear 'darling', 'sweetheart' and 'lovely' more. My impression is that it is mainly used for people you know and not so much amongst strangers.

However, people seem to call each other 'mate' in all sorts of situations. The Danish equivalent would be 'kammerat' - you would usually hear it when someone is misbehaving and being told of though - but it is a bit old school.

Common Phrases in Icelandic Language : Simple Greetings in Icelandic Lan...

How are you?

A few years ago, I worked in Denmark with a Mexican guy. He told me that people were boring him to death with stories about their gardens, dogs and family visits of the previous weekend. He explained that when he asked "how are you?", he just wanted to know if people were OK and then move on. Danish people, however, are less used to this question and misinterpret it as an opportunity to chat.
I had never thought about it before, but when he mentioned it, I remembered that as a kid, my parents taught me to always answer the question with "fine" whenever someone asked me in English. I thought it was strange but accepted it, because it was easier than actually constructing sentences in a foreign language at the time.