Spin-off: American and British/Irish culture Q&A thread.

[fla4fun]

I usually reserve a table for 7.30/8, so similar. Anything before 7 pm should be afternoon/nursery tea.

I know some cultures eat later than others. However, I generally eat dinner/supper around 5:00-5:30pm, so it has time to digest before going to bed. I am curious . . . what time do people go to bed if they are arriving at restaurants at 8:00pm? I try to allow at least three hours between my meal and bedtime, or it just sits like a lump of lead in my stomach. I am assuming maybe people don’t have to be at work very early the next day?

 

[Jangles]

How’s life going in the UK and Ireland this week?

I am in Pembrokeshire visiting my daughter. It is regatta season. Not the big showy regattas you see in some places. Lots of coastal hamlets have family friendly regatta, children and adults participate in fun races with rowing boats, kayaks, rafts etc., across the bay swims, sandcastle competitions etc. Also, I am feasting on local crabs, lobsters, wild seabass and sewin. The sun is shining…. paradise.
Lots of American tourists around.

 

[Jangles]

I know some cultures eat later than others. However, I generally eat dinner/supper around 5:00-5:30pm, so it has time to digest before going to bed. I am curious . . . what time do people go to bed if they are arriving at restaurants at 8:00pm? I try to allow at least three hours between my meal and bedtime, or it just sits like a lump of lead in my stomach. I am assuming maybe people don’t have to be at work very early the next day?

Standard office/work hours are 9 to 5/6, and clock watching is discouraged so many people work late. Then by the time people commute home, freshen up and prepare food, it is already 7.30 ish. I am usually in bed before midnight and up again around 6am.

At WDW I have an afternoon nap, to balance rope drop and late nights.

 

[fla4fun]

Standard office/work hours are 9 to 5/6, and clock watching is discouraged so many people work late. Then by the time people commute home, freshen up and prepare food, it is already 7.30 ish. I am usually in bed before midnight and up again around 6am.

At WDW I have an afternoon nap, to balance rope drop and late nights.

I need a solid 9-10 hours of sleep to function well. I usually go to bed around 9:00pm and get up around 7:00am. I admire your stamina!

 

[Buzz Rules]

How’s life in the UK and Ireland everyone?

 

[Buzz Rules]

People of the UK, are A-Levels equivalent to the SAT/ACT or are they a completely different factor getting into university (USA’s college version of the word)?

 

[Jangles]

How’s life in the UK and Ireland everyone?

Some things are a bit of a mess, but, here at least the sun is shining. Lots of Americans walking the Pembrokeshire coastal path, and swimming in the sea.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Government is a bit of a mess, but, here at least the sun is shining. Lots of Americans walking the Pembrokeshire coastal path, and swimming in the sea.

When is it not for most of our countries?

 

[NotUrsula]

People of the UK, are A-Levels equivalent to the SAT/ACT or are they a completely different factor getting into university (USA’s college version of the word)?

Timely question, today being Results Day. (TV coverage: https://news.sky.com/story/a-levels...sity-as-thousands-await-exam-results-12675608)

Completely different exam model than the US exams, and MUCH more high-stakes. For example, there is only one re-take allowed per year, and if you want to do a re-take, you also have to re-enroll in classwork of some kind to be eligible, so unless someone had a really unusual situation on the original exam date that caused a meltdown scenario, doing a re-take is pretty rare. (You can appeal results, though; some of the scoring is subjective, and they will review for possible score changes.) The entire country takes the exams on the same day, and get results on the same day, so Results Day is an official Big Deal.

The UCAS system determines university admissions throughout the UK, and most of the premier schools will not place you without a certain A-level score in your preferred field of study. (For US applicants, they normally require a certain minimum score on the SAT, plus scores of 4+ on at least 3 AP exams; you are only eligible for a "place" in one of the AP subjects.) UCAS: https://www.ucas.com/ Alternatively, 36+ final score in the Intl. Baccalaureate Diploma program is also good for this purpose. (My understanding is that the ACT is not used for equivalency by UK schools.)

 

[sdk1231]

Timely question, today being Results Day. (TV coverage: https://news.sky.com/story/a-levels...sity-as-thousands-await-exam-results-12675608)

Completely different exam model than the US exams, and MUCH more high-stakes. For example, there is only one re-take allowed per year, and if you want to do a re-take, you also have to re-enroll in classwork of some kind to be eligible, so unless someone had a really unusual situation on the original exam date that caused a meltdown scenario, doing a re-take is pretty rare. (You can appeal results, though; some of the scoring is subjective, and they will review for possible score changes.) The entire country takes the exams on the same day, and get results on the same day, so Results Day is an official Big Deal.

The UCAS system determines university admissions throughout the UK, and most of the premier schools will not place you without a certain A-level score in your preferred field of study. (For US applicants, they normally require a certain minimum score on the SAT, plus scores of 4+ on at least 3 AP exams; you are only eligible for a "place" in one of the AP subjects.) UCAS: https://www.ucas.com/

A score of 4+ on at least 3 AP exams? Holy cow (as we say here in Chicagoland). Sounds like your "premier schools" are similar to our "Ivy League" schools.

 

[NotUrsula]

A score of 4+ on at least 3 AP exams? Holy cow (as we say here in Chicagoland). Sounds like your "premier schools" are similar to our "Ivy League" schools.

I'm an American, actually, but I'm from a large international family, and I've got over 20 cousins my age who live in the UK; most of their kids have been doing exams recently, so I've learned how it works.

The thing that you have to remember is that in the UK, what we think of as the final two years of high school (equivalent to US Jr and Sr years), are spent studying ONLY the subjects that you plan to test on your A-levels. Normally that is five classes at the outside, and more commonly, only 3. Getting a 4/5 on 3 AP exams would be a lot easier if those were the only classes that you took Jr and Sr year. That said, they do deliberately make it more difficult for foreign students to gain admission; the system is set up to put UK students first unless the foreign candidate is really exceptional.

 

[sdk1231]

I'm an American, actually, but I'm from a large international family, and I've got over 20 cousins my age who live in the UK; most of their kids have been doing exams recently, so I've learned how it works.

The thing that you have to remember is that in the UK, what we think of as the final two years of high school (equivalent to US Jr and Sr years), are spent studying ONLY the subjects that you plan to test on your A-levels. Normally that is five classes at the outside, and more commonly, only 3. Getting a 4/5 on 3 AP exams would be a lot easier if those were the only classes that you took Jr and Sr year. That said, they do deliberately make it more difficult for foreign students to gain admission; the system is set up to put UK students first unless the foreign candidate is really exceptional.

Thank you for sharing. That is extremely interesting! My daughter is in her Senior year and will be taking her first trip to London over the holidays. As such, we've been discussing the UK quite a bit. She recently asked me if I knew how high school/college work there. I had a vague idea, but your post made it very clear. (On a "Disney" note - my older daughter did the Disney College Program where she worked at Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, graduated from college, and is now a full time CM at the Grand Floridian Royal Palm Club).

 

[Jangles]

I

the system is set up to put UK students first unless the foreign candidate is really exceptional.

I am surprised by this, as I understood that U.K. Universities rely quite heavily upon the income earned from overseas students.

 

[NotUrsula]

I am surprised by this, as I understood that U.K. Universities rely quite heavily upon the income earned from overseas students.

They do, but half of them are graduate students, who go through a different admission process. The UK has 2.66M undergraduate students as of last year; of that, just under 300K are from other countries, so while it's a lot, it's still a minority by far. (Tuition differs from school to school, but on average, foreign students pay from 3X-5X what UK residents do, so yes, it's a money-maker.)

Still, most of the foreign students are fairly exceptional, as the majority are being sponsored by their home countries to study there (students from China, India and Nigeria make up over half of the 600K or so total foreign students.) Competition for those sponsorships is fierce, though of course, as with anything, some people use family influence to increase the odds of getting one. (I happen to be acquainted with some Chinese and Indian students who are in the US on sponsorship; they had to work their tails off to get that privilege.) Here's a chart that shows the top 10 represented countries:
https://www.studying-in-uk.org/wp-c...ional-Students-in-The-UK-Top-10-Countries.png
(Also, I can't easily find proof of it, but from the various numbers it appears that quite a lot of the sponsored students don't go through UCAS placement. That would make sense, as those sponsorship agreements are done between the governments and the universities that accept them. They may be setting standards with the sponsoring government and agreeing to take anyone they send.)

 

[Buzz Rules]

British and Irish Disboarders, do you have any questions about American sports? Also, how is the weather where you are?

 

[Buzz Rules]

I don’t know whether you watched the game but as we may play the US and this is a difference in cultures thread….. did you hear the piece that Welsh supporters have made their anthem at football games?

It is relatively modern but addresses the oppression of Wales, our language and culture. It was written in response to Thatcherism, but it also has earlier historical content. It has become mainstream and it is fascinating that it has been adopted by Welsh football fans and Welsh football clubs.

I just wanted to say, if you read about the history of our national anthem, it’s similar to that Welsh song. Our national anthem is based on the Battle of Baltimore, in which the British tried to wipe out one of America’s strongholds during the War of 1812. They thought if they won that battle, America would be conquered and we would all be British subjects once again for good. So if Europeans want to know why Americans are so patriotic about our anthem, that’s why.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I'm an American, actually, but I'm from a large international family, and I've got over 20 cousins my age who live in the UK; most of their kids have been doing exams recently, so I've learned how it works.

The thing that you have to remember is that in the UK, what we think of as the final two years of high school (equivalent to US Jr and Sr years), are spent studying ONLY the subjects that you plan to test on your A-levels. Normally that is five classes at the outside, and more commonly, only 3. Getting a 4/5 on 3 AP exams would be a lot easier if those were the only classes that you took Jr and Sr year. That said, they do deliberately make it more difficult for foreign students to gain admission; the system is set up to put UK students first unless the foreign candidate is really exceptional.

If you choose your subject area so young is there not an issue with not having the right courses in university..
How can people decide their major at age 15?

 

[Jangles]

If you choose your subject area so young is there not an issue with not having the right courses in university..
How can people decide their major at age 15?

Sadly, you are correct, it forces youngsters at 15/16 to choose a path, whether it be science, humanities etc. Easy for those who have a natural leaning towards sciences or arts and a determination to be doctors or journalists, for example, but awful for all rounders. Many public/independent schools are pushing back and offering the IB or Cambridge Pre Us.

 

[Buzz Rules]

It’s the 208th anniversary of the British burning down the White House in 1814. I wonder how many British people actually know that? Also, fun fact, the White House used to be red and was painted white after to hide the burns of the building when it was being rebuilt.

 

[Buzz Rules]

In Britain and Ireland, are sloppy joes popular?