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Studying in the UK: Cultural Oddities You Will have to Smile About
- December 20, 2019
- Posted by: administrator
- Category: Study in UK
Studying in the UK, we have said so many times, it is an extraordinary experience: you will know a different culture, you will learn one of the most spoken languages in the world and you will develop a great open mind. But, before reaching the aforementioned achievements, there will be trials to be faced. Trials that will require not only a spirit of adaptation but real tolerance.
England is not even remotely similar to Italy: climatically, geographically and culturally these two countries are almost at the antipodes and English habits consolidated to us Italians seem absolute oddities.
Don’t take it for granted: in the long or medium-term they could make your stay heavy and, at times, even difficult. So, before you leave, ask yourself if you have the right stuff. And, just after reading our list, you decide whether to study in the UK!
Studying in the UK: quirks in the supermarket
The English supermarkets, as we know, are fascinating: large, supplied and almost dispersive. Which tourist managed to resist the temptation to enter Tesco and buy unusual and unavailable foods in Italy? Well, try, however, to think that when you study in the UK may not be a tourist but a “semi British citizen ‘and grocery shopping in a typical supermarket experience will be partially destabilizing.
In addition to sauces, you should know that the British are crazy about canned food: there is, in fact, no food known to the world that they do not enclose inside a can. Not only legumes, sauces or cereals but also meat, potatoes, vegetables and much more. Feel like sausage and beans? No problem, you will also find this in the can.
Are you ready? Then we go on because not only will it be difficult to do the shopping, but also to eat.
Studying in the UK: food oddities
Cooking: waiting for the water to boil and that pasta or rice are cooked is, let’s face it, exhausting a bit for everyone. Even for us Italians, especially if we are hungry. But, since this is an indispensable process for the meal to be ready, we have learned to come to terms with it. The British, on the other hand, have thought to remedy this annoying problem, concentrating the cooking of weekly carbohydrates at once. For this reason, you will probably see mountains of rice or cold pasta in a refrigerator in the UK to dress, heat and eat as needed on the sofa as there will be hardly a dining table in English houses and, if present, it is not said to be used for lunch or dinner together.
Studying in the UK: housing oddities
In addition to the almost total absence of apartments and the omnipresence of houses with small gardens, wooden doors (non-armored and rarely locked) and large windows facing the street without grates, you will find carpeting in every British home. While studying English in UK, you will not only walk but do an infinite amount of other activities such as eating and studying and the vacuum cleaner will be a household appliance that you cannot give up.