London Behavior vs. America

  In America we are so accustomed to so many different things that when we go to another country, we don't actually realize how different those things are. For example being in London for about a day and a half me quickly learned that American's are very loud. People in London are quiet not in private restraints, but everywhere: on the underground, in cafes, in souvenir shops, in hotels, everywhere. Unless they are a large group of school children, then the volume tends to be loud. Also, I have heard from a lot of locals that American's can be very rude so they don't like us very much. I guess a majority of us don't use simple manors such as 'please', 'thank you', 'no thanks', 'yes please' etc. I don't think I have come across one person in London that wasn't not polite to me. They always used manors and called me ma'am or Miss. I also have noticed that people that might not even know me or have seen me around but don't know my name still are at least polite and say hello. Something as simple as letting us ladies go first is something that is first nature to a lot of people in London. I already knew that a lot of countries have a lot of different cultures, but I feel like a lot of people don't realize how much different those cultures are until they experience them themselves.