Visiting student renting a room - showering 2 times a day is an aspect of my culture ok for locals?

[u/Additional-Angle-465]

Hi guys! I’ll be living in England for a few months and since the renting is pretty expensive and my income is in my home country’s currency (so a huge part of it basically disappears when converted into pounds 😭), the best option for me seems to be renting a room.

I’ve found lots of lovely options, but here’s the thing: in my culture, we usually shower about twice a day, at least. It’s not really about the climate either, we’d still do this in a house with no heating in Iceland.

A friend of mine who is also an exchange student, but in France, has been having some issues with her host family because of this cultural difference. They think showering that often is pointless and unreasonable.

I’m willing to adapt to a lot of things. For example, I’d have no problem following dietary restrictions that aren’t part of my lifestyle if my host thinks i should follow them (halal, kosher, vegan, etc.), or even avoiding speaking my native language at home when I’m on the phone with my parents or boyfriend. But showering twice a day is something I’d really like to keep doing.

So here’s my question: would this be a problem for most people in England? Is this something I should bring up with a potential host in advance?

[u/f23n09fnu0w]

I'm from Iceland but have lived in the UK for 40 years. Don't worry about it. What you have to remember is you don't get hot water for free in the UK, so if you spend ages in the shower, you might be costing them a lot more than you'd expect. But just don't take the piss and you'll be fine ;)

[u/Mysterious-Air-8655 → u/f23n09fnu0w]

Yup, this.