People get confused but it's really very simple...

Got it? Good we can move on then! I'll just address some misconceptions about the UK.

Languages
We have a reputation for being monolingual. Not true, we have several languages in the UK, including:

English, Welsh, Scots, Scots Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Cornish, and BSL (British Sign Language).

Yn ni'n gallu siarad myw na un iaith, t'mod. ;) (Welsh for "We can speak more than one language, you know"). Unfortunately languages are not taught well in the UK, so our reputation is not entirely unfounded...

British Cuisine
...also has a terrible reputation, but in fact we have loads of delicious food, and our strength is our openness to other cuisines. We love all world cuisines and adopt many aspects into our own cooking. Almost all British households regularly cook curries, stir-fries, and pastas (particularly Spaghetti Bolognese), as well as more traditional British cooking. Did you know the Balti was created in the UK? We don't see British food as something static but very dynamic.

We got a bad reputation thanks to rationing during the war where Brits had to do their best with powdered egg and spam, but really...it's time to move on guys. Our specialities include:

Pies of all kinds, including Cornish pasties and Melton Mowbray pork pies
Sausages - every town has its own type and they're all awesome
Cheeses - including Cheddar, Wensleydale, and Stilton
Welsh Lamb
Scotch Whisky
Beer / Real Ale - almost infinite numbers of awesome beers (Badger Brewery is my favourite)
Mead and yes, we have good wines too (some of our land is on a level with wine growing regions in France)
Sunday Roasts
Fish and Chips (yeah, every country thinks they do these best...I know!)
Full English Breakfast
Cream teas: tea with scones, Cornish cream and home-made jam:

And so on. We also invented almost all the classic biscuits. We are a little bit biscuit obsessed. Why? Why else? They go great with Tea!

(They're also incredibly cheap over here)

Enough! We have a duck race to get to.

Eccentric Traditions
In short, we have them.

What to do this weekend...race a rubber duck?

Join in with a Pancake race that dates back to 1445?

Wang a welly?

Or just chase a cheese down a hill.

I suppose you think that looks easy. Just remember that this is the hill:

(I wonder if that house at the bottom has insurance against cheese-related damage?)

Safer to stick to a morris dance.

The most common misconception of all though is that all of the UK is London.

The UK is Not Just London

London is cool, but the UK has so much more, especially regarding scenery. People think of us as a crowded little island with a metropolitan feel. We have some amazing historic towns and cool cities, but our beautiful landscape is underrated by other countries who think we don't have any.

You might know already how breathtaking Scotland is:

But did you know about Northern Ireland?

(Did you know that we have about 1,000 stone circles and 80 stone henges in Britain and Ireland?)

And what about the mountains, valleys, castles and music of Wales? The Welsh for Wales is Cymru:

And of course, from the moors, dales and lakes to the beaches, forests and flatlands, England:

Still think we're all just London? :)

I could go on, but it's time for tea...