A Different Level

A Different Level (Week of September 3-9) 

Upon my arrival in England I did not really put any thought into the fact that, despite being an English speaking nation, the way of life in England, compared to the U.S., is not exactly the same. I realized this first hand when I tried locating my friend Nikola’s room for the first time. Nikola is a football player from Bulgaria that me and a few other WNEU students met on the football court. We play football almost everyday and we always try to organize games. On Thursday, after playing football, Nikola asked me to get him from his room when we were ready to play the next day. He informed me that he lives in room 46 on the first floor. What I did not realize at the time was that the first floor in England is different from the first floor in the U.S. So the next day when I looked for his room, on what would be the customary first floor in the U.S., I could not find his room. I felt lost and I didn’t know whether or not I had taken a wrong hallway. That was when I remembered, from my french class in highschool, that in Europe the ground floor is the first floor and the second floor is the first floor. Situations such as these were one of many cultural adjustments that I have had to make since arriving in England. I’ve also had to adjust to looking the opposite way one would in the U.S. before crossing the street. There are some instances where I just look both ways because I would rather be safe than sorry. Some of the group members have almost gotten run over from confusion over the local road rules. One big culture shock is the conversion rate. The U.S. currency is weak compared to the British Pound and if one were to make the conversion each time a purchase was made, it would be sad. In order to adjust, I have told myself that if I would pay the similar price in the U.S. then I can buy items at the British price. By the way, I was eventually able to find Nikola’s room and we all played football.