FIRST IMPRESSION & EDUCATIONAL CULTURE SHOCK

    

           Culture is the total way of life of the people everyone has a culture, culture rules virtually every aspect of our lives, culture on the other hand is vital because it enables it's members to function with one another without the need to negotiate it's meaning at every moment. In where i come from Nigeria, it is far different from the way people live here in the United Kingdom.

             In my country Nigeria their a lot of cultures, for example the most complex culture is languages, Nigeria has over 500 languages and over 250 ethnic groups which i doubt United kingdom has because their main language is English.

       This is my first time schooling in England, although i come to England every Summer and sometimes during Easter so i am a bit use to their way of living, but the only difference is that i have never had a schooling experience this is just my first time and it is totally different from home, first of all it is very cold here unlike Nigeria that is always hot, I've noticed also that students smoke everywhere around school , i never saw that kind of thing in my schooling environment in Nigeria and i noticed their three clubs on campus that's awesome though but also a means of distraction .

         The teaching system here is quite different because their a lot of materials, like the moodle helps a lot and also other extra classes like seminars and tutorials . this helps the ability of the students to become more educated in their studies, talking about culture shock the only thing i find different is the way people or rather couples make out in public places , maybe the food too it is a little bit different , anyways my main priority here is to be educated. Education is the key to success. 

First impressions and culture shock - a Norwegians point of view.

Almost a month ago I arrived at the University of Essex to study Economics. This is my first time studying in a foreign country, and in a foreign language. Needless to say – I was excited and a tiny bit worried. I have been to England before, also visited an English university for two weeks, so I had a bit of knowledge about the whole scenario.

The culture in England doesn't differ that much from the culture at home, so the biggest “culture shock” for me might be the food. Although the food here is ok, I do miss Norwegian food, and tastes. For instance, buying minced meet and a pack of taco-spice (from the same brand as the one I use back home), shouldn't be that different in taste. But it is. Disappointingly. The milk on the other hand, is surprisingly similar. I was worried about this part as I have never ever drunken milk in a foreign country before (not even England), and to my satisfaction it is just fine. If it was not, I would have died… Milk is essential!

Living on my own. This part is not new to me. I am 23 and have lived away from my parents for a total of 4 years. But the last six months before I came here, I did live at home, so naturally I miss not having to cook dinner for one, or not having to cook dinner at all. On the other hand, I like the privacy. And I like the feeling of being able to manage on my own. After I am done studying, I am more than ready to move in to my very own house and start my life as a grown-up. I would have been ready now.

So what is my first impression of the University? I have been studying at two universities in Norway as well, but they are smaller in size, have fewer students, and are not as old and established as the University of Essex. But on the other hand, as happens at home, it seems they mess up things – like timetables and rooms – in Essex too. One of my worries before I came was learning in another language. So far it’s going fine. And I hope it will continue to. If I struggle with a word or two, I’ll always have Google. Also, before I came here, I knew that this is a multicultural school. I did, however, expect some more Englishmen than what I have met until this point. And I did definitely NOT expect as many Norwegians! They are literally everywhere…

All in all, I like it here. I do miss home, but I get to go home every term-break if I want to, and that helps a lot. I'm not really shocked by the differences as these are things I already knew about, and because my own country is alike in many ways. I love how polite and friendly people here are though. And even if the British are a little reserved, I feel more than welcome.

I’m excited to see how my life here develops as the months go by

FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND CULTURE SHOCK

I have always wanted to come and study in the United Kingdom universities because I felt in me that it was better place to stay, seeing the great influence of its culture in my nation, Botswana. After I arrived in the University of Essex, the experience of the culture has not been what i expected. I have been shocked by a lot of things concerning the people’s culture, and some as follows.

Smoking habits; people smoke in public like in streets, bus stops and other places. It seems to be personal and they do not care whether others smoke or not, I never thought there was place like that in the world. The student bar is opened every day and students are always there drinking alcohol. I wasn't expecting to see a bar on campus so this was mind blowing.

On the other hand the people are so friendly and nice. I remember when one of my friends lost his £500 phone, we called it with my phone and we were told by the girl who found it to collect it. I was shocked, in my country if such an incident was to occur we would have never seen it unless the police intervened.

I have been surprised by the different foods which I have seen students cooking and those that are sold in the restaurants. I wondered how I would survive eating these kinds of food for my whole degree but luckily I found people from my country who directed me to get food similar to ours back home. As a child I remember that one of my Chinese friends told me that her favorite relish is a dog and I remember laughing my lungs out thinking that it was a joke. To my surprise during one of the fellowship sessions I had with my flat mates, one of our colleagues who are from China said the same thing about the dog as a delicious relish. This time I didn't laugh I was shocked because she was serious.

In spite of the culture shock am experiencing, am enjoying every moment I have in the university.

My First Impression

            My First Impressions Of A New University Life

First impressions are honestly not what people tend to think they are. For example, although I have schooled in the UK for a number of years now, one cannot begin to imagine the formidable life challenges I have begun to face, having been away from Nigeria, family and home for so long. Asides from the culture, being the cuisine, sarcasm and ultimately the behaviour of the Brits themselves, Life in University if not as it was in college.

Life is so much harder, as you have to take care of yourself. By that, I mean that people cannot spoon feed you information, not only in lectures but also on when one has to go for extra seminars or even functions, such as commitments made to different societies one has signed up for.

In my personal point of view, I have definitely noticed that the rumour of the amount of work being abundant is certainly true and far from a fib. The environment is certainly different as I now get used to sleeping less, due to the large amounts of “nights out” and special events such as the “Sneakbo” concerts and other concerts the Chris Essence group has in store for us students. The university also has a vast amount of people from different nationalities and this of course can truly be overwhelming, as it’s not something you get in a college, even at a private level.

Despite there being a lot of parties, not all of them are as great as they are cracked up to be. For instance, my views on partying were that it would be wild, fun and full of drunken people everywhere, this is not what it looks like. The fights, however, do live up to the expectations, having seen up to a possible amount of four fights in one night. Of course university is dangerous, due to the fact that we are now on our own and getting prepared for our lives of our own, it still doesn’t match the feeling of excitement it brings especially when meeting new people.

                                                                                                Tunde Ogundare

FIRST IMPRESSION & EDUCATION CULTURE SHOCK

I left my country to come and study in the United Kingdom three weeks ago. I obviously expected to find a lot of different things since I was coming to a foreign country. I was coming to a different level of education which is university having just finished my high school level a few months ago in Uganda so the excitement was quite high.

One of the things I first noticed that gave me a bit of a shock was the self drive that the students had at University. People were not forced to go for classes and surprisingly they were doing it at there own will with no extra push unlike back in high school where we were at times forced to go for classes. So I believe the self drive is just part of growing up since I have also quickly adjusted to this. The university does have a good reading environment though so am forced to believe that contributes to the self drive people have for going for lessons.

Talking about culture shock I found most things normal, ranging from food,style of dressing, way of life etc. The way of life is normal routine I guess. People wake up go to there places of work and return home late in the evenings. Being a student you wake up go study come back home late in the evenings at times.

I must talk about the music here. Its quite different compared to the one back home. Its in fact difficult to dance to. Happened 2 experience that on the one occasion I went for a night out. I believe that’s my biggest culture shock.

Generally that’s it Essex and the United Kingdom at large is a nice place to live.

Patrick Magero

BLOG 1 – FIRST IMPRESSIONS (& EDUCATIONAL CULTURE SHOCK)

The subject of our first blog is first impressions (& educational culture shock). Please take time to think about what differences you have noticed between the academic environment here at Essex University at the environment of the school or college etc. where you have just come from. Please plan your thoughts in Word first so you can check you spelling, grammar, punctuation, style etc. before posting. Please feel free to make (respectful and thoughtful) comments on others’ posts. These posts can only be read by myself and the other students in your academic skills class. N.B. Please refrain from insulting or offensive language. I will have to remove it and it may constitute an academic offence.