Cultural Confusion

I haven't done much worth blogging about in the last couple days. I am getting into the swing of my classes, etc., and have been planning some weekend trips. (This weekend to Scotland and at the end of February to Stonehenge!) But I still want to try to stay in the habit of blogging at least every couple of days, so I figured I would do something a little different.

Before I came here, I really had the (ethnocentric) idea that England was just the US with accents.

I was wrong.

So here is a list of some of the most confusing/entertaining stories about navigating a new country and a confusing language!

1) I had to very quickly learn to hide my confusion when the BBC described 2 inches of snow and 33 degree temperatures as "Britain's Great Freeze."

2) The first few times I ran into my flatmates, they would always ask "Are you ok?" Now, in the States, this is a very probing question. It's really only appropriate if someone looks upset or if you want to have an emotional conversation about their feelings. So naturally, every time they asked, I would have a major crisis and worry that my eyes were puffy or I was dressed inappropriately or I was giving off some other kind of vibe that indicated I needed to be checked up on. After this happened like 5 times, I asked my other American friends if that had been happening to them and we all collectively realized that it must just be a standard greeting like "what's up?" or "how are you doing?" in the US and is actually not at all a deep probing question. I have to say though, even with this realization, I still get jarred every time someone asks me if I'm ok!

3) People's questions about America are sometimes classic. After I told someone I was from the Missouri, which I always describe as the middle middle of the country, she asked if I made it out to the coasts often. I kindly explained it was a 2 day drive to any kind of ocean. Another person was completely boggled by the idea it took the same amount of time to get across the state I'm from as it does to get across most of the entire UK.

4) The campus here is filled with independent businesses like grocery stores and restaurants. At Mizzou, essentially everything on campus belongs to the University in some respect, so I feel very much a sense of ownership over the campus. That just isn't the case here. This came very apparent when my American friends and I tried to go inside to a restaurant to eat our fish and chips (which is sold from a stand that doesn't have any seating of its own) and was asked (not so politely) to leave and told it was very "cheeky". (Later, we asked some Brits what "cheeky" means and they said it means "naughty!") At Mizzou, every eating establishment, building, room, outside space is open to and designed for student use and that is simply not how it feels here. This has been one of the most difficult adjustments.

5) The first day I got my phone, I decided to use it as an alarm to wake me up the next morning. I set it, charged my phone, and thankfully, added an alarm to my iPod just in case it didn't work. It didn't. I was distressed, but figured I'd give it another try the next morning. Once again, it didn't work. I asked my friends and none of them seemed to be having a similar problem. Then, in a flash of brilliance, it dawned on me that I was entering the date of my alarm in the American order instead of how the rest of the world writes it. No wonder my alarms hadn't gone off-after all, I'd set them for November 1st and December 1st.

I'm sure that these stories will continue to make themselves apparent and I'll be sure to share.

Much love, especially to my school friends who all started class today. The semester will be over before you know it!