London is a city exploding with life. Grand, diverse and unique are all words regularly used to describe the British capital and its vibrant culture...

Today a work colleague made a rather funny comment when talking about the location of London. "I mean we are basically in the centre of the UK". Theo...

Why do you whinge when it's cold, but then whinge when it's hot? Why are you only really most comfortable when it's raining? How come it's completely normal for you southerners to use the word 'c**t' as a term of endearment? These are things that quite frankly, after ten years I still don't get.

According to the British Heart Foundation each of us has on average up to six regrets and spend roughly five days a year dwelling on them.

The afternoon is also like a scene out of Love Actually with charades, bad board games and general silliness. I remember trying to play the 'traditional charades' as per the Brit tv show with Frenchies. They just didn't get the whole four words, first word, two syllables thing. They wanted to act out the whole film. I ended up looking like a Pernickety Brit.

After the Olympics, the British are patriotic but pessimistic, it seems. A recent survey and report undertaken at the University of Huddersfield found that six out of ten people would like to emigrate but want to move to a country that shares a sense of Britishness and its values.

We are close in geography yet in so many respects utterly miles apart. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier settling in Beijing. It is as if France is yin to the Brit yang. Strong espresso for them and milky tea for us. Civilised bistrots versus our pub 'culcha'.

They say that no one understands a good cup of tea quite like the British. Well I can certainly vouch for that as I love a good cuppa. I never start my day without one, I dunk a biscuit into one as the perfect antidote when I'm feeling down, I warm my hands on one on a cold Winter's day, and when I wake up with a hangover on a Sunday morning, my only cure is to make one.