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thedifferencesofBritishandAmericancultureTheBritishare,insomeways,lessconservativethanAmericans-thedrinkingageis18,not21,homosexualcivilunionsarelegal,andabortionhasn'tbeenaseriouspoliticalissueinyears.MixingreligionandpoliticsisextremelyrareintheUK.Ontheotherhand,therearestrictercontrolsonsomethings-it'smuchhardertogetadrivinglicence,andtheagerequirementishigherthaninmoststates,therearespeedcameraseverwhere,CCTVcamerasinmanypublicplaces(althoughtheymayormaynotbeworking),andcarryingweaponsorotherobjectsforselfdefenceisillegal(inparticular,notethatpeppersprayisillegal).Gettingintoadebateabouttherighttobeararmswillbeverytimeconsuming,andmayalsoleadpeopletothinkthatyou'reagun-nutbeforethey'vegottoknowyouproperly.Smokinginenclosedpublicplacesisillegalthatincludespubs,theunderground,trainstations...moreorlessanynon-residentialbuildingactually...(similartoNewYork,sonotsomuchofaculturaldifferencethere).TheBritishapparentlyhaveawidervocabularyofswearwordsthanAmericans.WhilemostBritonswillusethemfairlyfreelyinasocialsetting,thingsarealotmorereservedinformalsettings&talkingtostrangers.I'venotyetencounteredanAmericanpubwhichbearsmorethanapassingresemblancetoatypicalBritishpub.Peoplemightgotoapubjusttodrinkandsocialise,haveapublunch,oraspartofanattempttogetalchoholpoisioning(otherwiseknowasapubcrawl),aswellastowatchsportingfixtures(whichseemstobethemainpurposeinAmerica).Goingtothepubdoesnotusuallyimplygettingdrunk.Althoughthedrinkingageis18,bartendersaresupposedtoIDanyonewholooksunder21.ThoughIdoubtyourfriendwilldomuchdriving,heshouldbeawareofthefollowingthings:MostcarsintheUKhavemanualtransmission.Carsaresmallerandmoreefficient,petrolismoreexpensive.Speedlimitsarehigher,butenforcedmorerigourously.DrivinginLondonisnotworthit.CentralLondonhasacongestioncharge,andisverycongested,andthemajormotorwaysaroundLondonarethickwithtrafficatpeaktimes.Roundabouts(trafficcircles)areverycommonandareusedatmotorwayjunctions.Inruralareas,it'snotuncommontodrivedownnarrowsingletrackroadswithtallhedgesoneitherside.TheUKeducationsystemworksdifferently,ashe'sprobablyaware.AskingpeopleabouttheirHighSchoolGPAMajororMinorwillmakepeoplethinkheassumesthatthingsworkthesameintheUKasintheUS.IntheUK,HighSchoolisroughlyequivalenttosecondaryschoolandcollege(collegeisnotusedtomeanuniversity).ImportantexamsareGCSEsandAlevels,whicharegradedwithlettersandrelatedtospecificsubjects.TherearenomajorsandminorsintheUKuniversitysystem-there'sjustwhateverdegreeyou'restudying.