Why do they British have to do everything differently? They drive on the wrong side of the road, they use pounds instead of euros for currency, and they spell words wrong by putting a u in them. Colour, Flavour, Honour, Neighbour,Rumour...etc. :) OK, maybe and just maybe Americans are responsible for the change in spelling. If you believe Wikipedia definitions then believe this. The British say if the word is of Latin origin then it should be spelled -or and if it is of french origin it should be -our. Noah Webster in 1828 (creator of Webster dictionary) wanted to simplify the American English to make it more phonetic and easier to learn.
It is going to take some getting used to jumping around between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. In both places I still don't know how to use the currency (maybe that's cause I lost my wallet and I'm living on borrowed money!), but I keep getting put in awkward situations. In England they use the GBP or Great British Pound. It is made up of 100 pence (not cents, people get mad when you say that here). There are so many coins. 1 penny, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 1 pound, and finally 2 pounds. People use terminology like 6 pence, one shilling, and have a crown....and by doing this I'm ultimately confused. Is it rude just to hand the store clerk all of my change just so they can figure it out for me? I had to pay 2 pounds for some nuts that I fancied...and I gave the bartender 2 pence and he just looked at me like I was nuts. I paid the 2 pounds and nibbled on my fancy nuts.
20 Euros= $27.15 USD
20 Pounds = $31.56 USD
Rather than doing the conversions every time I take the easy way out and just say..."oh, so it just costs a little bit more in dollars", so I don't have to do the math :)
Tipping in Europe is also somewhat bazaar. In the Netherlands, you just don't do it. No tips for waitors, taxi drivers, hotel staff. The service industry here receives a higher salary and don't depend on tips for their income. Of course, tips I assume would be always welcomed by them; as a matter of fact they love to serve Americans because we generally tip anyway. It's part of our culture and it feels wrong NOT doing it. Here in England though, tipping is more common.
NIBBLE ON THAT! HA
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