I decided to interview Kim, my boss at Demarquette for my assignment because he isn't a British citizen, but he's lived here long enough to fool someone who wouldn't know otherwise! He was born in Germany and served in the German Army as a compulsory deed for young men. I asked him a few questions to see what it would help me learn about British culture.
I asked Kim what his attitudes were on marriage and divorce. He said: "I am a firm believer in marriage but think nowadays for many it is a decision taken too lightly in the fleet of the moment. It is after all a commitment for life, however with divorce no longer being taboo and in some instances seen as ‘cool’ or ‘normal’ (celebrities, royals etc.), I think a lot of people just get married without the thought of ‘growing old together’. With divorce also being a process that seems to be quite easy, marital problems often do not get worked through in order to save a marriage, with divorce being seen as the simplest option. And don’t get me started on marriages of convenience (work visas, tax reasons, etc.). Marriage should be for only one reason: love." I definitely agreed with this statement, but was a bit surprised just because most Brits seem extremely lax about marriage, so I wasn't expecting that response.
After discussing the riots and the public's opinion on thinking it is parents' fault, I was interested to see what he would have to say about the pressures placed on parents and kids in the UK. He said: "I believe in Britain we live in a ‘class’ society with each having differing pressures, however some that all have in common would be the pressure to outperform each other not in terms of education, but in having the best clothes, coolest gadgets, etc. And more scarily, a pressure to be a celebrity or live a celebrity lifestyle all because of, I think, ‘Fly on the wall’ and Talent competition programmes like Big Brother, Popstars, I’m a Celebrity get me out of here…. Etc. Children strive for it and I believe are spoilt and parents play a big role in spoiling them to out-do each other." This is something else that I would totally agree with, and think it is the same thing happening in the US. Children in school are always trying to impress each other, and parents don't want their kids to feel left out. It seems they end up being torn between trying to decide what "good parenting" is and when they're actually just trying to keep their kids happy.
From what I've observed as far as religion in the UK, it seems to be an afterthought most of the time. I've been to Hillsong a few times and all the people there are amazing, but that's the only place that I've seen people in London that are overly religious and share it publicly. Kim's response surprised me when he said that he thinks Britain is such a multi-cultural and therefore multi-denominational nation, and religion plays a big role in British life. "Above all tolerance and acceptance of different religions that ‘live and work’ alongside each other is one that Britain does well,"he said. Sometimes I would argue, though, people are almost too lax about religion and they end up sacrificing their beliefs to keep others happy or to stay out of an argument. I may be wrong, but I know I've felt that way more than once since I've been here. Even having to do with political beliefs of Londoners, I try to stay out of things because most of the time I don't agree with what they're saying.
These are just a few of the responses he gave, but I felt they both affirmed and contrasted my beliefs about the UK. It also made me realize that there are a lot of things that the US has in common with people here that you may not realize if you don't get to know someone that lives here.
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