Studying abroad may sound scary to some people, but to me it was all I could think of since the time I applied to the time I landed at Heathrow Airport in London.
I could not wait to experience the different culture and was hoping to casually bump into a prince if I could.
In the first week I realized many differences between the American and British lifestyle.
Fashion
No matter what time your class at Uni is, you must look put together. That means no sweatpants, no messy bun, and there must be makeup on your face. Even if you are running to the grocery store you should have concealer on, just in case you run into someone you know. You may get dressed up for concerts, but you don’t know dressing up until you go to a concert in London. Dresses, lipstick, heels and statement jewelry are a must. Lesson quickly learned: Always dress to impress.
Conversation
Living with a host family could lead to many mornings of awkward conversation. While making tea I would hear some version of “What a lovely day it is!” or “Hope you have your wellies on…. It’s supposed to rain all day.” Even while at the bus stop or at cafes I would hear people talking about the weather. For living in such an exciting city you would think they would have more to talk about!
School
School, or Uni as it is called in England, is much different than American universities. It felt like I was never in class. We would have one lecture and one seminar each week for each class. On top of that, our only homework was the papers due at the very end of the semester for our final grade. While it puts a lot of pressure on the few papers you write, you have so much free time and the whole semester to prepare for the papers. I got lucky with one of my classes because it took me on field tips around England.
Public Transportation
Of course many cities in America have public transportation, but the only time I’ve used it was when I went to NYC and Chicago and those were only for short vacations. I quickly learned public transportation etiquette and would sometimes even be one of “those” people running to catch a bus, train or tube to get someplace on time. Traveling to other countries is more accessible than I could have imagined. With being so close, plane tickets were a reasonable price giving me an opportunity to travel to Germany, France, Ireland and Scotland, which is something I would never have here in America. I took advantage and tried to cure my wanderlust… I think it only made it worse.
Slang
When getting to a new place you have to quickly pick up on their slang. London is known for their words like keen, gutted, chuffed, massive, and cheeky. Walking around the city you hear these words daily. And of course, there is the one phrase that everybody seems to know, bloody hell. Sitting in a pub during a soccer (or football, if you’re from the UK) you hear this word countless times out of frustration.
Learning these few differences right away made a big impact on my study abroad experience. Coming from a small city you can imagine how impressed my family and friends were when I was talking about public transportation and uni like I’ve been there since I was little. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about London and the best 5 months of my life. Who knows… maybe I’ll be able to move back to my favorite city!