My top five 'struggles' of being an international student in England

I have never regretted studying abroad at the University of Southampton - quite the opposite. I think it is one of the best decisions I have ever made (so far) in my life. However, moving to a new country is not just challenging on an emotional/personal level – it also means becoming accustomed to a new country.

It’s not as ‘extreme’ as it might sounds; for many people it’s just learning to drive on the opposite of the road or learning to use the self-checkout at Asda. But there’s definitely some small ‘struggles’ I bet every international student goes through.

This is a list of my ‘Top Five Struggles’ as an international student in England. Take this with a pinch of salt though - calling these issues a ‘struggle’ is exaggerated!

Cars driving on the left side

The annoying thing about cars driving on the opposite side of the road to what I’m used to is that, as soon as I get used to it, it’s time to go home! Then, when I come home to Oslo, I have to get used to the right-side driving again. Suddenly it doesn’t matter if I’m in England or Norway, because the struggle to not get run over is haunting me regardless of what country I’m in! With that being said, my impression is that British people have a more aggressive way of driving. Also, where are all the pedestrian crossings in this country? I’m talking about those proper zebra crossings with a proper green light in front of you, so you never find yourself in doubt on whether you can cross the road or not.

You don’t take card? Card-charge? What? 

If I remember correctly, only 4% of purchases in Norway are made with cash and Norwegians use bank cards absolutely everywhere. I have experienced on trips abroad that you have to buy something for a certain amount before you can pay by card, but I have never been charged everything from 5p to 50p to use my card.

This is probably why I found it very funny listening to people complaining about the 5p charge of plastic bags, but never one word about the charges for using your card. The plastic bag charge is something we have had in Norway for a good 10 years, so at least that’s a charge I’m used to. You can imagine I was thrilled to see that some taxi companies are finally starting to have card machines with them, because driving around looking for a cashpoint after a night out is not cool.

Queueing everywhere

This is absolutely not a negative thing, but definitely a thing I have had to get used to! In Norway you get on and off the bus / tram at whatever door you like, but here in England it is a different story. To be honest, I actually like this, so when I’m home and people don’t wait until I have been able to get off the tram I get extra aggressive and mumble something about how much I miss England! People actually follow the 'stand to the right, walk to the left' policy on escalators here and I love that too.

British politeness

This is not to say that Norwegians are impolite, but it’s hard to compete with British people when it comes to politeness, hence why I constantly focus on not forgetting to say please, thank you and remember to use the right title when writing emails or talking to my tutors. Titles, for example, are extremely new to me; my old teacher just went under the name; John-Arve or J-A and my old headmaster was often referred to as; Tjossi-B. Going from that to writing ‘Dear Dr….’ when writing emails was quite daunting in the beginning.

Furthermore, in Norway if you accidently bump into someone in the grocery store, it doesn’t happen too often that people bother to turn around and say ‘sorry’. It’s something I didn’t use to think about before, but if I’m home and bump into someone and say sorry while they just walk off, I again mumble something about how much I miss England…

Tap water and gas stoves

Regardless of where in Norway you are, you can always drink water from the tap and it tastes better than Evian. Have you for example ever heard about Voss water? That is literally tap water in Norway and I never had any trouble drinking my recommended two litres of water a day before I moved. I love England, but this is one thing I hate. The tap water (in most places) tastes like a swimming pool compared to Norwegian water.

Then there are the gas stoves. I’m sure I just need some more practice on how to use them, but I always have to try at least two or three times to get the flame on everytime I want to use the stove. I’m always slightly scared the kitchen is going to blow up because I’ve heard so many scary stories about this! Luckily, I have a flatmate who is very proficient at using the stove in our kitchen and she’s always close by if I need help.

With this being said, it’s not all that bad. For example, as an international student here I have had the privilege of experiencing some proper British culture. Like last Sunday, Remembrance Sunday, one of my favourite days over here.

Not to mention the fact that I can be a tourist here forever and discover new places around the city of Southampton!

This is the Holyrood Church by High Street, I’ve probably taken walked past it 20 times, but never taken the time to go inside.

Are you an international student too? Feel free to share your own ‘struggles’ of living in Britain!

Alexandra