Decoding the Differences
One day, about a week after I got to Norwich, I was walking home from town when I saw a man walking towards me. As he passed I smiled at him, and he looked back at me and said, "you alright?". Confused, I replied that yes, I was fine, and continued on home. The rest of my walk I wondered why he had asked me that, did I not look okay? Did people not smile at each other here?
It took me a few weeks of being asked, "you alright?" multiple times a day to figure out that it really just meant, "how are you?". After that I felt pretty silly about how I had answered that man in my first week, but it got me thinking that even though I come from an English speaking country, there will still be times when things are lost in translation.
So, thinking about that, here is my Top Five Differences Between Canada and Norwich that I have found so far.
1.) Obviously, greetings. When someone says "you alright?" it's easiest to just say "ya, you?"
2.) Marking in classes. In Canada our grading system working on a scale out of 100, and a good mark could be anywhere between 80-100%. In the U.K. they also grade on a scale out off 100, however barely anyone gets a mark that high. Over here an average mark may be somewhere in the 60's, and if you get over 70, you are doing really well. This can be a big shock to people coming over from North America and get there first mark back and it's a 65. So don't freak out and call home saying you are going to fail, not that I would know anything about that....
3.) If you are living off campus, there is a really high chance that you won't have a tumble dryer. Most houses have a washing machine in the kitchen, but dryers aren't common. That means that you will most likely have to either buy a drying rack, or hang your washing up on a line in the backyard.
4.) Clothes and shoe sizes. In the U.K. the sizes aren't the same as in North America, clothes go up by two, so if you're an 8, you're at 12 over here, and shoe sizes go down by two, so if you're a 7 you're a 5. Remember this if you plan on doing any online shopping.
5.) At my university in Canada, a bus pass is included in my tuition, but at UEA, it's not, so if you live off campus, I would suggest getting a bus pass, it's much easier than scrounging for £2.70 every time you want to go into town. At the beginning of the school year the bus company First puts on a deal of students, so if you are thinking about getting a pass, that's the best time to do it!
I find more differences everyday that I am here, some major, some more quirky, but here are some of the ones that I've found at least a little helpful when trying to adjust to a new country. If there are any more that you have found, leave a comment and let me know :)
Sarah
It took me a few weeks of being asked, "you alright?" multiple times a day to figure out that it really just meant, "how are you?". After that I felt pretty silly about how I had answered that man in my first week, but it got me thinking that even though I come from an English speaking country, there will still be times when things are lost in translation.
So, thinking about that, here is my Top Five Differences Between Canada and Norwich that I have found so far.
1.) Obviously, greetings. When someone says "you alright?" it's easiest to just say "ya, you?"
2.) Marking in classes. In Canada our grading system working on a scale out of 100, and a good mark could be anywhere between 80-100%. In the U.K. they also grade on a scale out off 100, however barely anyone gets a mark that high. Over here an average mark may be somewhere in the 60's, and if you get over 70, you are doing really well. This can be a big shock to people coming over from North America and get there first mark back and it's a 65. So don't freak out and call home saying you are going to fail, not that I would know anything about that....
4.) Clothes and shoe sizes. In the U.K. the sizes aren't the same as in North America, clothes go up by two, so if you're an 8, you're at 12 over here, and shoe sizes go down by two, so if you're a 7 you're a 5. Remember this if you plan on doing any online shopping.
5.) At my university in Canada, a bus pass is included in my tuition, but at UEA, it's not, so if you live off campus, I would suggest getting a bus pass, it's much easier than scrounging for £2.70 every time you want to go into town. At the beginning of the school year the bus company First puts on a deal of students, so if you are thinking about getting a pass, that's the best time to do it!
I find more differences everyday that I am here, some major, some more quirky, but here are some of the ones that I've found at least a little helpful when trying to adjust to a new country. If there are any more that you have found, leave a comment and let me know :)
Sarah
Comments
Post a Comment