<p>Thank you SO much for all your advise. My kid will be thrilled.</p>
<p>College shopping - you also asked about body shape. In my experience, the classic English body shape is more hour-glass, with clearly defined waists and hips. Clothes in British stores will often be cut to fit this shape. One of my friends is much more of a ‘column’ and she prefers the US stores that have opened here (Anthropologie, Banana, etc) because she says the clothes fit her better… YMMV </p>
<p>Most white British people descend from Saxons (Germans) and Celts. People in the US come from a variety of different places, often all mixed into together. Hence the US people are more interesting looking, I find. Coupled with the grooming and more focus on working out, plus less of a drinking culture (in some cases) and this might be why people look better</p>
<p>Young Londoners (aged 22-40 ish) are pretty sporty; you will see them out jogging round Clapham Common, or doing British Military Fitness sessions, and the number of people cycling to work in London over the past 10 years has grown by something ridiculous like 100%! However, that toned, ‘cut’ look is not really what people are aiming for… Of course, all of this work is then undone by all the time spent in the pub!</p>
<p>College shopping - please, please do speak to your daughter about alcohol before she leaves for the UK. Drinking is a part of British student life (and life in general) in a way that Americans may not be used to…</p>
<p>Other cultural differences: I find the UK much, much more INformal than the US. I know that those of you who love Downton and Upstairs/Downstairs will find this surprising, but the British are very informal; there is no Ma’am or Sir in the stores, little use of ‘Mr X’. Growing up in the South, we NEVER called any adult by their first name, but here it is normal. Bad language is also much more readily accepted unfortunately. The American colleague I mentioned before still is not used to the F bomb being dropped in the office quite routinely and is always horrified! The British are still very reserved though, they will not be your best friend within 2 minutes (unless they are drinking, in which case, all bets are off!)</p>
<p>Can you expand on the drinking aspect of your post? My D will drink a glass a wine at dinner with us (allowed in Texas) but otherwise is not a “drinker” on a daily basis. She does not seem to like beer, but will drink a mixed drink of the girly kind. I know she will be legal to drink in the UK and I think she likes this, as one reason she is more reserved in the drinking scene at school is fear of getting a ticket for minor in possession. So I suspect she will drink when she is abroad, and I am fully aware of the pit falls of alcohol in the US (binge drinking, drink contamination, etc) is there anything UK based that I should be aware of?</p>
<p>People here, and students especially, drink a lot. Most socializing is done with alcohol, even school events include glasses of wine e.g. a guest lecture may have wine and snacks afterwards, or the orientation session may include a pub crawl. Even members of the university Christian groups would drink beer or wine in the pub, although I rarely saw any of them drunk. </p>
<p>Socially, students will drink at home and then continue to bars/clubs. Alcohol can be bought from supermarkets and corner shops very cheaply and this contributes to the drinking before going out. Most universities have a Student Union which will have a bar (or several) and drinks here may be subsidized. A major issue was raised a couple of years ago about athletic teams and initiation drinking with new joiners. Athletics here are more like US college club teams. </p>
<p>If you said your daughter had never drunk and did not wish to, then I might be worried. But if she has drunk alcohol before and isn’t averse to others drinking then she should be fine. But the usual advice applies: know how many drinks you’ve had, avoid ‘shots’, drink water between drinks, don’t put your drink down or accept something off a stranger that you haven’t seen the bar tender make. Glasses of wine in bars here are dangerous in that they are HUGE and can amount to almost half a bottle - always ask for a small would be my advice. Also please eat something before drinking! And try to ignore peer pressure to drink more, or ‘down’ a drink or whatever. Remember they’re the ones with the issue, not you :)</p>
<p>There will always be people who drink little or not at all, but these people are in the minority on a UK campus. I’m convinced, though, that no one really cares - one of my closest friends when I did grad school in the UK was a teetotaller and she was very popular and had loads of friends - we were on the girls’ soccer team and would have a ‘three legged’ pub crawl with men from the men’s teams as our initiation… this girl would join in, but just drink Coke, and no one had a problem with it</p>