University of Arkansas Office of Study Abroad: Arrival in England #HogsAbroad

I have arrived in England (as of January 16th)! Classes don’t start until the week of February 5th and I arrived early enough to get adjusted. Moving to another country has been a real adjustment! Having visited England before, I was not expecting it to be very different than America, especially since we speak the same language. Jetlag was not a problem for me, because upon moving to my new home, I changed my clocks to the local time and went on as I would with a normal day. I did notice I got hungry at weird times, based on my American routine. Other than hunger at strange moments, I jumped right into making a new routine – my British routine.

So far this new routine has consisted of exploring my new town (Lewes), decoding the British-English language, and drinking tea (lots of it)! To put my tea drinking habit into perspective, I noticed on Friday that I had only drank 2 cups of water since arriving on Tuesday (two!) – the rest has all been tea! One of my favorite things has been finding fun differences between the US and UK in language and in lifestyle, while learning more about British culture. My favorite word of this week is “twitten” – a word used in Sussex for a small road or path. I think the American equivalent would be “alley-way”.

When I envisioned what my time in England would be like, I never thought that I would get culture shock. I thought culture shock was only for people visiting drastically different countries with different languages and lifestyles. I met up with an American friend of mine and we bonded over how we felt about all the little differences between the US and UK. It was then that I realized I have experienced a little culture shock.

Everything seems strange here – not in a huge way, but subtly in every. single. way.

The streets, buildings, and staircases are narrower; People drive on the opposite side of the road; I have to open the window when I shower and the toilets look funky; And don’t get me started on the currency: I believe I can pass as a normal citizen when shopping until the moment comes when I pay in cash. There are five or six different coins and I never feel more like a traveler than when I am rummaging through my wallet to pay.

It doesn’t feel like home, but I love it. Getting used to these changes can be frustrating (like when it took me 20 minutes to make a bowl of oatmeal) but I am welcoming this experience with open arms. Already, England has truly transformed my excitement for different cultures!

And now I will end my blog with pictures and captions from my first week abroad. Cheers!