1. What surprised you the most about life in England?
"The most surprising thing for me here in UK is that most shops close at 5pm except big cities like London or Birmingham. So compared to the situation in China, it is kind of annoyingly surprising. Especially for a student who doesn’t have a car to drive to supermarkets that are not close to the city.
Another surprising thing is that at work people drink a lot of tea here in UK. I noticed this because I did a three-month internship in REED, an international recruitment company. Black tea is very popular and they put a lot of milk and sugar. Speaking of sugar, British people love sweets and they consume the most amount of chocolate among Europe."
2. What did you like most about life in England?
"I like a lot of things in UK such as the uncensored Internet, not polluted sky and a national sex education show on BBC. I also can buy books that are banned in china. (maybe I’m too cynical here, haha). The most interesting thing for me is the diversity. It’s good to talk to people from Europe, India, and Africa, not many Americans though. Before I came, I thought I would hang out with British people a lot when I study here, but in fact there are just a few local students in our postgraduate class which has more than 100 students. Also different from China where almost all students will go directly to pursue their master’s degree after college, here most of my classmates have quite a lot of work experiences. Honestly speaking, the fun I had here in UK are not with the British people, it is the people outside UK that tend to be more open minded and interesting."
3. What did you not like about being there/what was the hardest thing about being there?
"A lot of people complain about the British weather, but I’m okay with it. The summer here is really short though. It was hot for like a week this year and then summer was gone. I can’t really think of any very hard thing about living here besides the loneliness I get sometimes. Oh, their running water pipes are interesting. Normally, we have one that can mix the hot water and cold water in one tap. But here they have two taps, one only for hot water and the other one only for cold water. So in winter when I wash my face I need to switch from two taps and afraid of being too cold or too hot.
I don’t really like the British accent and some young people here, haha"
4. What do you wish someone told you before you went to England?
"Before I came here, I had this weird idea that women here only use tampons not the pads. So I brought with me so many pads that are more than enough for a year… Pretty stupid ;-) In reality, they do have pads here so it is unnecessary to waste the precious luggage space… I wish someone could have told me that."
5. Do you have any advice for Chinese students going to an English-speaking country?
"I think football, pubs and churches are quite important in the British culture. British breakfast and fish & chips are worth mentioning as well.They are not great but not too bad either.
Based on my own experience, I do think there are some things that the Chinese students should pay attention to.
1. Always say sorry and thank you.
2. Always try to stand in the line. Wait for people who are getting off and then get on.
3. Hold the door for people behind you if possible.
4. Don’t waste food. Take food that is enough for you. You don’t need to show off.
5. If it’s a self-service café or restaurant, clean your table and put the trays in the specified place after you finish eating.
6. Try not to talk loudly in public or on your phone.
That’s what I can think of now. I’ll let you know if there is anything more=)
I’m very happy to help and feel free to let me know if you have more questions.
Cheers! ( British say cheers a lot instead of thanks)"
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