Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Alyallen]

Foreign students in Britain to be schooled in queuing

Mon Sep 24, 7:05 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Foreign students visiting Britain are to be educated in the etiquette of queuing for buses, after local users complained about them not observing the conventions of standing in line.

Southern Vectis, which operates buses on the Isle of Wight, off England's south coast, said it was to contact local language schools following several complaints about the behaviour of young students over the summer months.

"On the Isle of Wight we get lots of foreign language students staying with families," said operations manager March Morgan Huws.

"In their cultures, they do not queue for buses where they live and there is a scrum every time a bus turns up, while in British culture there is a nice orderly queue.

"We have had quite a few complaints from residents who queue up in an orderly fashion then all those foreign students push past them.

"What we have said is that we will work with the language schools to provide some instructions on the etiquette of queuing. We won't be marching the students up and down showing them how to queue, we will just leave it up to the group leaders to pass on the information."

Orderly queuing -- as seen during the recent Northern Rock banking crisis -- is seen as a quintessentially British convention. One social anthropologist believes Britons are even capable of forming one-person queues at bus stops.

But while queue-barging normally leads to tutting, muttered complaints and shuffling to close the gap on anyone looking to barge ahead, most people are too polite to directly confront a transgressor.

http://tinyurl.com/ytqem2

[Big_Bird]

I remember my Chinese friend telling me about how when he first went to England, he had no idea about queuing. One day, the bus came and jumped on (he was first) paid his fare and sat down. All the English walked past him and gave him really foul looks. He was a little upset and couldn't figure out why everyone was so angry with him! It wasn't a pleasant experience. It took another similar situation, and an English girl to point out to him what he'd done wrong.

So, it's not self evident, and teaching it is a very good idea. The idea of queuing is quite novel to many visitors to the UK, despite the fact the British are famed throughout the world for it! I'm sure very few students would want to give offense, and would appreciate the heads up.

[blaseblasphemener]

[Big_Bird]

I remember when I first went ski-ing in Europe, and I couldn't believe all the pushing and shoving getting on the ski lift. I was still a girl, and I couldn't believe that educated adults were pushing me out the way! It took some getting used to. You would think that orderly queuing would be quite logical in any society, but apparently it is not.

[Njord]

[Big_Bird]

[Pluto]

[blaseblasphemener]

[Big_Bird]

[jg]

Yes, all cultures have the queing system, but the problem is getting people to follow it. In China during National Holiday, when more than a quarter billion people are all on vacation at once, there were policeman in the train station controlling the que. I have often seen Chinese yelling at each other about standing in line, and when foreigners are around a lot of Chinese will tend to toe the line (pardon the pun). There have been at least a dozen times that I can recall Chinese people apologizing to me for the rude behavior of others when lines form.

People get away with what they can until the cultural norms catch up to them. Whistling at women and making lewd comments isn't acceptable anywhere in America, is it? Yet I constantly see it.

[Treefarmer]

apparently in iraq fighting to get to the front is a fun social thing like going to the pub

does anyone know if that's true?

[Kuros]

[Juregen]

[Big_Bird]

[Big_Bird]