Before coming to this school, I figured I would probably meet people from other parts of the world, however I was under the impression that the majority of the people I would meet would be British. Man, was I wrong. I attended a International Student Welcome Talk on Tuesday to meet some people and hopefully understand this foreign grading system. (Apparently you need a 40 to pass a class. But 40 out of what? 40%?! In my mind, that is below an F!!). So clearly I needed some clarification. While I still don't understand most of their grading system, I did find out that the University of Essex is 15th in the WORLD for international students. Think about how many Universities there are in the world... that is pretty insane. I also found out that this school is 50% international and 50% British. That just blew my mind. This school was a melting pot of cultures and then I realized I was living in my own little melting pot! I live in a flat with 4 Spaniards, 3 Canadians, 2 Japanese, 1 French, 1 German, 1 British, 1 Chez, 1 Romanian, and myself the American. That is NINE different cultures, view points, ways of life, all living together on one floor for a year. My favorite part about being surrounded by so many cultures has been realizing how similar we all are. Most of these people look like any other person I would see in the states, yet we have been raised so differently. The Spanish girls love to teach me phrases in Spanish, mostly because they like to laugh at how I can't pronounce anything correctly, and because I cannot for the life of me role my R's. What I have been realizing though is that even though all of us speak English, we all speak a different version of it, and our mannerisms when we speak are very different. You wouldn't think there would be a language barrier with English people but there definitely is. Below is a list of the words they use differently than I do: Que = line. As in "Que up" Wankered/Pissed = To be foolishly drunk Crisp = Chips Chips = Fries Ranch = Cream sauce Bomb = any type of mixed shot Cloak room = Coat check Toilet/Lou = Bathroom/Restroom Peng = good/great/hot "Thats so peng!" Bullocks = balls Are you okay? = How are you today *There are others but thats all I could think of off the top of my head* Overall being with this incredible group has made miss familiarity, but has also made me appreciate our differences and adapt to my surroundings. Now I really just need to get adapt to the cold weather! *Below photo is all of the nationalities that came to study abroad at Essex this year*
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MadeleineMy name is Madeleine Sarner, and I am an American student living in Britain's oldest recorded town, Colchester. After many months of saving, extensive planning, and a few break downs along the way, I have finally started my journey of living abroad. On this blog you can keep up with my adventures, my culture shock, and my new and exciting experiences! Archives
December 2017
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