I arrived in England for the very first time last month in October. Obviously as you can image, when you set foot in a country that you have never physically been to, your mind subconsciously goes into overdrive thinking the probable and unexpected cultural shocks you may come across.

Even though I pretty much knew that England may not be quite the same as north America, in terms of life style, foods, attitudes and what not, I still couldn’t help but constantly worrying about the unusual things that would face, but surprisingly enough I have not noticed any extremely outrageous or completely extraordinary behaviours or manners, apart from the fact that people in this country are annoyingly polite and respectful.

To be frank I have been more struggling with new responsibilities and different commitments as opposed to cultural shocks. Since I have literally not lived in a different country on my own, It has taken me a longer time to fully settle down and get round all the activities I need to do such as washing dishes doing laundry, shopping every other and so on.

All in all, I believe as time goes on I will be able to deal with my self better and hopefully I can finally adapt myself to university environment.

My first impression

       I came back to the uni last week, I had my first impression when I noticed the infrastructural development to the uni which was really good. They had made a walkway beside the upward hill buses pass that made it easier and faster for me to get to classes unlike last year that people had to climb the hill which was very stressful indeed. I also noticed that the uni had transformed the muddy region after the keys to a parking lot, very nice indeed. My general assessment was that the uni is developing every year in infrastructure.
        I didn't really have any culture shock because I had uni experience from last year so nothing was new to me but I did notice that most of the lecture rooms for the modules had changed but that's pretty much it.
         
   

FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND CULTURE SHOCK

FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND CULTURE SHOCK

To be honest I was not very shocked by the change from sixth form to the university. I have been leaving in the UK for the past 6 and a half years, so I am used to all of the aspects of British culture. The only difference which I have experienced was that no one chases you for your homework, and you are not spoon-fed like in school. You have to do everything independently. Also I did not expect that that many students will be smoking on campus, and there are a lot of international students, which is a good thing because it is much more interesting to integrate with other cultures. I have not seen the club scene in Essex yet, but I hope that it is NOT like in the other universities- drunk girls, vomiting and in reviling clothing, which I do not appreciate the most.

I am still leaving with my parents in London, but I know what it is to be independent so when I will find my own flat that will not be a problem for me. I know most of the students when they come to the university, one of the biggest challenge for them is to live independently, make dinner, do your own laundry, fortunately I know how to do all of that. 

Although my experience was not as interesting as other students, I am sure that there is more yet to come. However I can tell you a small story about my experience when I first came to England, and went to school. My classmates knew that I was from Russia, so they all have thought that I was connected to the Russian mafia and they were all very scared of me, but I have gained a lot of respect this way from them, and was never bullied. Once one of the boys from my class asked me is it true that I am from Russian mafia, I said- "If I will tell you I will have to kill you" he has avoided me for a month after that!!