Funny but so true in the same time…. Here’s what you know as an international student in the UK:
- You have to mind the gap between the train and the platform.
- Every door is a “fire door” that you have to “keep shut”.
- You are not surprised to see an old lady, her daughter and her granddaughter dancing together in a club.
- You talk about the weather all the time.
- You hear “WHA” instead of W-H-A-T ! and “THA” instead of T-H-A-T!!!
- You have asked to borrow ten “quid” instead of ten pounds from someone
- It is 23.45 and the bell rings in the pub. Last orders mate, lets have 2 pints each…
- You realize that every product you buy “may contain trace of nuts”
- Your sentences begin with…”to be honest”…
- You are addressed as “treacle, sugarplumb, darling, sweetheart, love, ….” (and all other versions of nicknames in that genre you normally only call your wife/lover) by the staff in supermarkets, pubs and restaurants.
- You are affected by CCTV paranoia.
- Your umbrellas have got broken at least twice and you are still hoping not to break the new one even if it’s May!
- You realize that you can get decent (dark, rye, healthy) bread in every European country except for the UK…and no, Toast is not considered a proper kind of bread…..
- You realize that British people are queuing politely everywhere except at the bar counter
- You realize that you have never seen an English Restaurant
- It’s only five and every single shop is closed!
- “hello/hey, how are you?” is replaced by “you alright?”
- You have a fire exit in your house.
- You find yourself breaking into an english accent when trying to order a cup of tea.
- You learn that 4 cups of tea per day is good for you.
- You realize that no matter how weird the clothes you’re wearing are, people just won’t care.
- You have six months of holidays in a year.
- In case you need to get your hands clean, you realise that you only have two options: boil your hands in water near to 90º or see how they become two beauty ice-cubes.
- You’re outside and don’t even notice it’s raining anymore, because it is just simply normal to you by now.
- You think you’re going to visit a palace, a castle or a chapel and you only see a few old stones.
- You see 3 kebab shops and 2 indian restaurants in every street.
- You’ve had a Full English Breakfast with bacon, eggs, sausages, beans, etc and you think it’s amazing
- You see Tesco as an important social meeting point.
- You hear and say “sorry” at least 10 times a day.
- You see people wearing flipflops and shorts even though it’s raining.
- You’ve said “cheers mate” more than twice
- You are kicked out of a pub at 11.30 pm
- You realize that dinner time is 6pm
- You wake up every morning knowing that it’s quite unlikely that you’re going to see the sun.
- You have tried the symbol of British food, a breaded piece of fish with fries and they call it “fish & chips”.
With its good parts and bad ones, being a student in UK is certainly an enlightning, door-opening and life-changing experience ! Those of you who would like to find out more about how to become a student in Shakespeare’s country, should definitely take a look at “Destination UK” our new programme of educational counselling!
