Lin Xi went to Britain six months ago. When she came back , she wrote an article about Britain for the school newspaper . The f o llo wing are parts of her article : Personal Space British people like a lot of space around them . They don't like to make ph ysical contact ( 接触 ) with strangers . One example of it is that people do not often shake hands with one an other at all . Also , they don't like others stand ing too close to them. Making Polite Requests British peop l e li ke to use very indirect language to make polite requests . Amita , an Indian student said , “ Br itish people never get to the point . They go around this way and that way , using twenty words where three would do . It's really hard to communicate with them . “ David , a British high school official , said , " Peo p le from oth er countries are not ve ry polite ; they just say “ I want this ” --- no smiles , nor a " please" , nor a " thank you" . But the British are really polite . " Smiling Some students say that British people smile a lot , often for no special reason . The British smile as a greeting , smile when asking for something , smile on receiving i t. King , a Korean student once said . " The British are so insincere ( 不诚恳的 ) . They smile even when they are not happy . One girl smiled at me every time we passed each other and I thought she really liked me . So I asked her to have dinner with me and she refused . She just t u rn ed me down . " Well , maybe he did not realize that she was smiling just out of politeness an d probably smiled at everyone . But it is easy to see how this could be misinterpreted by someone who smiles to show real warmth . But still many students say that they do not find British people in shops , banks , an d at reception desks , smile enough to make them feel we lcome.