4 Culture Shock Moments I Had After Moving to Scotland
It wouldn’t surprise me if every person who moves to a different country experiences some form of culture shock.
Regardless of whether you speak the language, every country has its own way of doing things. When I moved to Scotland from the US a few years ago, there were a handful of things that immediately stood out to me, and in some cases really made me question why we don’t adopt some of these practices in the US.
Dogs everywhere
I realise not everyone is a dog person, but unless you’ve had some traumatic experience in your past, I don’t understand why.
Scotland has to be one of the most dog friendly places in the world. My first time on a train in Scotland I was pleasantly surprised when a golden retriever in the row in front of me stuck her head between the seat, inviting me to scratch her fluffy ears. My personal motto is “any day is a good day if I got to pet a dog,” so discovering that I’d just moved to dog-lover’s dream destination was fabulous.
Living in Scotland I see dogs in pubs, restaurants, on trains and busses. I don’t have a dog at the moment, but I love nothing more than going for a pint on a Sunday afternoon and rubbing some puppy bellies for my daily dose of seratonin.
I think it might put some people off, especially dogs in restaurants because that’s certainly not something we’re used to in the states, but it’s one of my favorite things about Scotland.
No football colors
If you do a city centre pub crawl on your next trip here, you’ll likely notice signs at the entrances that read “no football colours” or “no colours.” Most pubs, unless they are associated with a football club, do not allow patrons to wear football jerseys or anything with their favorite team’s logo on it.
The reason is that pub owners don’t want any trouble. Football fans are intense and in Glasgow the football team you support is a loaded choice. There are no hard and fast rules about it, but generally speaking if a person supports Rangers, they’re more likely to be Protestant and if they support Celtic, they’re more likely to be Catholic. If you see a pub with a lot of Union Jack flags flying, it’s probably a Rangers pub and many Celtic pubs fly the Irish flag.
Scotland has an unfortunate history of sectarianism and it is still alive and well. Unfortunately it does sometimes lead to violence. After witnessing a brawl a couple years ago after an Old Firm game, I stopped going out altogether when Rangers and Celtic play one another. Admittedly that’s an extreme response. Glasgow is a very safe city and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it’s how I’ve chosen to deal with it.
So pub owners will absolutely turn away customers who show up wearing football jerseys and I’ve seen it happen.
Business hours
I will never forget my first Sunday walking around my neighbourhood in Glasgow and to my surprise, nearly every shop was closed! The pharmacy (or chemist as we call it here), coffee shop, the charity shops, all closed. Of course you’ll still find grocery stores and larger retail chains open on a Sunday, but Scotland is one place where you’re better off googling a business’ operating hours before you visit. Some restaurants aren’t open on Mondays, some shops close at 5 p.m. ( I have many a time raced out of my flat at 4:30 in the afternoon to get to the chemist before they shut).
My first few weeks here, the American in me considered it an inconvenience, but within months I just got used to it. While big retailers in the US are finally questioning whether to keep shops open for Black Friday, ensuring that their employees can’t enjoy Thanksgiving, I think it’s also worth asking whether they really need to be open 24 hours a day.
Cashiers in shops sit
I never really thought about this much, but I hear other Americans talk about it, especially when they come to visit.
Cashiers are not forced to stand on their feet for 8–12 hours a day like their American counterparts. If you go to any grocery store in Scotland, you’ll likely notice that the cashier is seated, and why shouldn’t they be? Anyone who has worked retail or waited tables understands how sore and tired you feel after a long shift on your feet. Even standing desks come with warnings about how long you should stand at them each day, so why do we expect workers to suffer in silence when Kroger could just buy them some chairs?
I hope you enjoyed this article! If you have any questions about Scotland or moving to Scotland, please drop me a comment.
