When I went to the international/exchange student orientation earlier in the week, the head of the program doing the presentation explained culture shock in a way that was a little more comprehensive than the definitions I've heard before.
She said that anytime you find yourself comparing what you're experiencing to your past experiencing and thinking that it was better or worse or just different than what you are used to, this is a kind of culture shock. Because as we know, culture isn't just music and art, it's everything that is involved in how a society works.
So some of the instances of culture shock that I've had here so far:
-> How people approach you: almost everyone I've met has been extremely friendly and they ask a lot of questions. Surprisingly the most common first question is: "what are you studying?" This question and "Where are you from?" are the two most common of the questions. It seems that people often don't introduce themselves until later in the conversation, if at all. I don't know if this is the norm or if it's just the context in which I'm meeting people at the moment, we'll see.
-> There are two taps on the sink, one for hot water and one for cold water. So you can either scald your skin off or freeze your fingers off. This does not please me. Apparently the way to do it is to plug up the sink and put in a mixture of hot and cold water to wash your face or do the dishes. It's rather inconvenient.
-> Everything is uber expensive, especially the bus and drinks. The exchange rate does not help.
-> Some common words that I really enjoy: Cheers - said sort of in the place of "thank you" but also just in a situation when one person is pleased with the other. Fit Like - this I mentioned in another post, but it's the equivalent of "how are you," it's from the Doric dialect which is popular in northeastern Scotland (where Aberdeen is located). Hiya - instead of hi or hello. Uni - instead of University or College. I've had to change my way of referring to K as a "College" because here "College" is a beauty school or some other kind of trade school. So I've attempted to switch over to Uni. I'm sure there are many more that I will add later on.
-> It's perfectly normal to have a Fresher's week (Freshman orientation) that has school arranged events involving alcohol. Something that would never happen in the U.S.
-> I've had several discussions with my flatmates and some of the other people I've met around campus about the cost of Uni here compared to the U.S. They are all shocked when I tell them how much it costs for one years tuition at K. Here the tuition is 3,000 pounds per year, as opposed to the $44,000 per year it costs to go to K. Although there have been a lot of protests lately, as all the colleges in the UK are raising their tuition to 9,000 pounds per year beginning next year. I've met several German exchange students and it seems that their tuition is even more affordable. One girl said she was paying around 50 Euros per year, which is under $100. It's just crazy how much higher education costs in the U.S.
-> Soap in bathrooms - in my limited experience so far it seems that this is not altogether normal. At the Pearl Lounge there was absolutely no soap in the bathroom. I wasn't wild about that.
-> Paying the bill in a restaurant - it seems as though you have to make a point of asking for the bill as they will not just bring it to you even when all your plates have been cleared away and you are just sitting there. It's very civilized.
As a side note, I purchased my first alcohol in a store the other day, it was kind of exciting. My friend Allie and I were there together and we both felt as though we were doing something wrong. But it was perfectly normal, especially since the store where we bought it is very close to Hillhead so they get uni students in there all the time.
On the whole, the cultural differences haven't been too overwhelming. I'm expecting it to get a little more challenging with the start of classes next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment