I moved to Eastbourne almost five months ago to start my internship at Cobb PR. As a foreigner (I’m originally from the Netherlands) I have to admit that I had to get used to some things –First of all the amount of tea everyone drinks here, including the milk everyone pours in it.
Sure, in the Netherlands we drink tea as well, but it is more of a once a day/twice a day drink that you have during a break or with your breakfast. We have all kinds of different flavoured tea in teabags with strings attached to it, which we, as real Dutchmen, use for more than one cup. The only things we pour into our tea are sugar, honey or a sweetener; the one time some of the Dutch put milk in their tea is when they are feeling sick. You can imagine that one of the first things I learned at Cobb PR was how to make a proper English cup of tea.
Another thing I had to get used to was the driving on other side of the road. Not that I have ever driven here myself, I don’t dare to, but it is quite a change when you want to cross a road. The amount of times I almost got hit by a bus because I was looking in the wrong direction is unbelievable. Getting into a car is just like that. Because everything in the car is the other way around, the only thing I can do is walk very slowly and hope that the person I am driving along with walks faster so I don’t end up at the drivers’ side of the car.
Of course there are also differences in the way the Brits and the Dutch do business. I think business is done with a lot more of a personal vibe over here and more relaxed. Here they create more of a bond with their clients; each time I overhear a telephone conversation at Cobb PR, they make time for a bit of chitchat, even when they are busy. This might be part of the British politeness, but somehow it always feels like they are truly interested.
People take more time to come together here as well. Not only for business meetings or lunch meetings, but also for networking events. In theNetherlands, networking events aren’t as popular as they are here. I think that is a bad thing since it’s a good way to meet new people. It could benefit your company because you can discuss what you are looking for straight away and see if someone fits to that outlook or not. Luckily the amount of networking events is starting to rise in theNetherlandsthese days, so maybe someday it will be just as popular as it is over here.
My internship here is nearly done and I will go back to the Netherlands. I will probably then have to get used to looking to my left first when crossing the street.

Image from http://featherquiills.tumblr.com/post/10105660432