British culture differences or just personal experiences?

Flew into London yesterday from Texas. So far I love it. The only thing I’ve noticed is people are a bit gloomier here.

I know people say Americans are just overly nice and “fake” but I didn’t think it would be this much of a culture shock. Small talk doesn’t seem as common. Customer service seems a little more laid back. People just don’t seem as nice.

I’ve had one encounter with a person who seemed to have a lot to talk about, she was curious about where we were from, told us about her day, etc. Turned out her parents live in America.

We also seem to get a lot of stares. Is that normal? We try to dress as “normal” as possible and use our inside voices.

I was just wondering if this is all normal behavior here of if we’re doing something wrong.

Edit: Spelling