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.
No comments:
Post a Comment