From Left-side Driving to Time Zone Changes
When we first touched down in London, it was about 9:00 in the morning… and about 3:00 back home. For me and a lot of the other students on the dialogue, we had trouble adjusting to the time, but the city had so much in store on first glance that we had to stay awake to take it all in. The very first thing that I realized was a major difference was the way that the British drive – on the opposite side of the street than Americans. Driving on the left means steering wheel is on the right and to enter the bus, the doors were on the left. At first it was confusing, as I am used to entering doors on the right, but within a few hours, I was used to it. Getting used to the slang that the British use was also slightly difficult. For example, “You alright?” for the British is equivalent to “What’s up?” for Americans, but the same phrase carries a different connotation for us in America. So that took some getting used to. Also the streets are very narrow and the busses, including the one that took us from the airport to our accommodations was tall and narrow. Buses in Boston would definitely not be able to fit here. Also changing my money and getting about three-quarters of it back in pounds felt strange. It felt like I was getting shortchanged but in actuality, the pound is better than the dollar and we get less money back than we give. London is a place relatively similar to Boston, but there are some changes I must and will eventually get used to with time.
Our orientation was extremely informative and at times, unconventional. We were given a presentation by representatives from the student services and the university we are staying at. One major thing they made sure to stress was the fact that we, in a different country, need to be aware of our surroundings and be SAFE when going new places, trying new things, and shopping. What really stood out to me was the part of the orientation where they mentioned that tipping is not customary for services in the UK. The orientation leaders had mentioned that service workers in the UK get paid a living wage and therefore do not need to be tipped and don’t expect to be. What also really stood out to me was the presentation by one of the chief police officers, which was the unconventional part of the orientation. Although safety is a serious matter, he managed to make listening to the rules of the program and living in London in general interesting to hear. He mentioned odd yet interesting stories on how and which instances people have violated the rules in order to deter us from doing so ourselves. The also other interesting thing was that they mentioned there is a public library and computer lab on the campus that we can use for whatever we need for class and assignments.