College of Arts & Sciences junior Katherine Jones is currently studying abroad in England in the city of Leeds. After being in England for the past month, Jones has experienced a culture much different from the American culture she grew up in.
1. How are you enjoying England so far? What has been your favorite part of your experience abroad?
βIβm am absolutely loving England. Itβs so wonderful to be in another country with a whole other culture and getting to meet so many different people. The school Iβm at has over 30,000 students, so Iβm surrounded by British people! And not only that, but I live on an entirely international floor, so Iβm living with people from Australia, Denmark, Canada, Finland and New Zealand, so I get a little bit of their culture as well.
βMy favorite part so far has just been getting to experience all the things that are different from the U.S. Every day I find something new thatβs different. Today, I found out they pronounce mocha like mah-cah.
βI thought that was so weird! Thereβs an βoβ in the word, so we pronounce the hard βoβ sound, but they donβt. Itβs little things like that I learn every day here.β
2. What kind of classes are you taking, and how is their university setting different from our own?
βIβm taking international politics, intro to ethics and a creative writing class. So as you can see, there is a huge difference in the number of classes taken each semester.
βOne of the most notable differences is that thereβs no such thing as a βliberal arts educationβ here. When I talk about the Creighton core, no one here really gets that concept because they study one subject and one subject only. They get a certain number of electives they can take fromΒ other departments, but itβs only about four over all four years. They even get weirded out when they ask what Iβm studying, and I tell them Iβm majoring in chemistry, but here Iβm taking a politics, a philosophy and an English class.
βThe other big difference is that the approach to classes is much more self-sufficient than at Creighton. Most classes are graded on one or two essays throughout the year and then one huge test worth 70 or 80 percent of your grade at the end of the semester.
βMost classes donβt have a textbook either, so the students are given a reading list of somewhere between 50 and 75 books, and you use those books to find support for your essays and to prepare for lecturesβ but the trick is the lecturer wonβt tell you explicitly which ones to read; the students have to pick. So thatβs a lot more intimidating than what Iβm used to.β
3. How do other students at the university dress, and how is it different from the style here?
βIf I had to make a broad generalization, I would say that the sense of style is a lot more eclectic than it is in America. For the girls, thereβs more pattern-mixing and layering. Also: high-waisted shorts, all day every day. But if theyβre going to wear shorts, then they wear them with tights, which would be unusual to see in America.
For the guys, the biggest difference is that they all wear skinny jeans all the time. In general, students here dress up more on a day- to-day basis. When I go to the Refectory (the dining hall on campus) in my leggings and quarter zip, I feel so underdressed! Also, their wardrobes consist of darker colors; nobody wears neon shirts at all here.β
4. How does the food differ from here? What kind of foods do you eat on a daily basis?
βThe food, for the most part, is similar to American food. If thereβs any difference, itβs that itβs more bland. For example, I bought spaghetti and marinara sauce, and the sauce was so bland I couldnβt even finish it! All I wanted was some spaghetti, but all I got was disappointment.
βThe worst part about the food is that, in the dining hall, thereβs all these different stations (much like at Brandeis, with a homestyle station, international station, pizza, salad bar, etc.) but the food at each station is the same for two entire weeks.
βCan you imagine having the homestyle station at Brandeis always having hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken breast and corn on the cob day in and day out? Iβve only been eating there for five days, and itβs already boring. So, everyone at Creighton, thank your lucky stars that the menu changes every day!β
5. What kind of activities do students do in their free time?
βThere is a large emphasis on sports here. The two biggest sports are rugby and soccer (oh, excuse me, football) and a lot of people play it recreationally here. People will just be kicking around a ball outside the dorms or things
like that.β
6. What kind of music do they listen to?
βTheir Top 40 music here is basically the same as it is back home (Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Nicki Minaj, etc.), but thereβs a bit more of an indie rock scene. For example, a nightclub is opening in the Union that plays βgarage band indie rock music.β Pretty much the only difference is that country music is definitely not as big here as it is in the U.S.β
7. Name one thing about English culture that surprised you.
βProbably the thing that surprised me the most about the English culture is that they love the American culture.
βDonβt get me wrong, the stereotypes they have of us are pretty bad. For example, there was a βfratβ themed party at a nightclub, and some of my flatmates were trying to figure out what was the most βAmericanβ thing they could paint on their faces and one person was like, βA hamburger! McDonaldβs! Guns!β So clearly what they associate with America isnβt what weβd like for them to associate us with, but that doesnβt mean they donβt like it.
βI talked to this one girl who was obsessed with Americans. As soon as I started talking, she gasped and said, βOh my God, your accent.β She then went on to ask (sincerely) why in the world, I would ever leave America to come to England.
βShe talked about England like it was the worst place in the world and America was so fabulous! I didnβt even know what to say! And then, another night I was wearing some American flag sunglasses, and three English students walked up to me, tapped me on the shoulder, and asked, βAre you really American?β and pointed at my sunglasses. I just am so surprised any time someone says they love America and they donβt understand why I would ever want to leave!β