Studying Abroad in England this Fall: Advice

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am going for a semester abroad this fall. I will studying at Oxford University for vast majority of the time and an International Student Center the other with a focus in biomedicine/natural sciences. I am still a high school student and will be living with a host family. I am quite excited. The reason why I posted this so early is that I will actually be gone the entire summer, working. So, are there any tips you might have on becoming accumlated to England from America? Oxford University in general? Or the city? Or just the overall experience. I would be so thankful for any and all advice or tips or anything. Thanks!!!</p>

2

<p>Some of the differences I noticed after having lived in the U.K. & the U.S.:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Language: Although the 2 countries share the same language, some English English is pronounced differently than American English. Overall, I think they speak much faster than Americans. You'll be lucky to find someone who speaks the Queen's English. When I was in Birmingham as a student, I had classmates who couldn't understand the computer science teacher from Yorkshire. I thought my English was bad. </p></li>
<li><p>If you're going in the Fall, expect to have very long nights & short days. It will start getting dark by 4 P.M. There's not much sun light in the U.K. year round, gloomy is how I would describe it. It's also very wet & cold in the Fall.</p></li>
<li><p>I was in Oxford once on a Sunday to visit a friend who went to high school there, the city was quite dead, just like many English cities on a Sunday. It seemed no one went out on Sundays. Shops & grocery stores were closed or had limited service hours. Buses & trains did not run on their normal full schedules that day. If possible, plan your trip so that you do not arrive on a Sunday. Oxford is quite a way from London Heathrow/Gatwick, you'll need to take a train/coach bus .</p></li>
<li><p>I learned to make bread from a friend whose landlord taught her how to make it. When I roomed with an English girl at the Y, she baked bread almost daily. It seems that English enjoy baking bread much more so than Americans. There are also many more bakeries too. I think I gained quite a few pounds there.</p></li>
<li><p>Due to the very high cost of heating , some families did not turn on their water heaters throughout the day. They only turned it on when someone was going to use it such as bath time. I once rented a room from a family, when I went to take my shower at night, I had to make my request known. </p></li>
<li><p>When shopping for groceries in the supermarket, many bring their own shopping bags/carts. Expect to pay extra if you do not have it. </p></li>
<li><p>Oxford is full of cobblestone roads, avoid any shoes with pointy heels, tennis shoes are the best. </p></li>
<li><p>The pretty light in the sky: I didn't know what it was at first, if you see it you'll never forget it - the northern light, enjoy it while it lasts...</p></li>
</ol>

3

<p>Lucky you - Oxford is one of my favorite places in the world. Get the address of your host family when you can, and you can start taking a look at your new world online at maps.google.com, or your favorite online map place.</p>

<p>You can get a bus from either Gatwick or Heathrow to Oxford. </p>

<p>I disagree with the above poster about Oxford being dead on Sundays - that may have been true back when England had more restrictive laws, but Oxford is always very busy and bustling.</p>

<p>Plan time to explore the city - it's terrific. I'm sure your host family will have some suggestions of things to visit, but start looking at some guide books. </p>

<p>When packing, bring layers. The weather varies quite a bit, in the fall it will be cool, but will rarely get icy cold. Don't panic over bringing all sort of toiletries - you can get anything you need. And if you don't bring everything you need for clothes, use the "charity shops" that are all over Oxford to pickup an extra sweater, etc. </p>

<p>It's a student town, a lot of fun, and you'll meet people from all over the world. </p>

<p>Here's some links
The Ashmolean - Museum in Oxford
The</a> Ashmolean Museum: Oxford's Window on the Ancient World
Charity shops
Didn't</a> Pack a Jacket? Think Charitably</p>

4

<p>//I disagree with the above poster about Oxford being dead on Sundays - that may have been true back when England had more restrictive laws, but Oxford is always very busy and bustling.//</p>

<p>I did use past tense, I was in high school then, lol. I hope you agree with me on the rest of my message...</p>

5

<p>
[QUOTE]
2. If you're going in the Fall, expect to have very long nights & short days. It will start getting dark by 4 P.M. There's not much sun light in the U.K. year round, gloomy is how I would describe it. It's also very wet & cold in the Fall.

[/QUOTE]

Weather perception depends very much on where you are from. It's nowhere near as cold as New York in winter for example. Usually just a bit damp. There was about half an inch of snow last week and that was a crisis. That will probably be all for 2008. It does get dark though, when the clocks "fall back". In the summer it's light from 4am till past 10pm though, so it compenstates. The temperature can be variable at any time though, so if it's hot or cold, it won't last. Bright white tennis shoes (known as "trainers" in England) are used to identify an American tourists by the way. Just so you know.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
It seemed no one went out on Sundays. Shops & grocery stores were closed or had limited service hours. Buses & trains did not run on their normal full schedules that day.

[/QUOTE]

Before 1992 it was actually illegal to trade on a Sunday. So shops were closed. But that's not the case anymore. There are limited trading house though. 6 hours in total. Everywhere else in the country seems to be open 10-4 (even East Oxford), but the centre of Oxford is lazy and does 11-5pm on a Sunday. However, this does not apply to cinemas, restaurants, places of entertainment generally. I do think that Sunday evenings are quieter than others in general. But Oxford is basically always busy. Especially George street and Cornmarket.</p>

<p>Public transport operates a "Sunday service" which means fewer operations than normal. This is also the day railways get repaired, so if you go to the station, you find your train is actually the dreaded "rail replacement service" (in other words, a bus) that will take twice as long. Having said this, there is still operational transport which will get you anywhere you need to go, better than in most places in the US. There is a bus to London every 20 mins or so all day and all night every day apart from Christmas day and Easter. </p>

<p>On other days of the week, most shops are open 9-5.30, with "late night shopping" on Thursday nights open till 9pm in the weeks before Christmas. Supermarkets are open till 10-ish, and Tesco in Cowley is open till midnight.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
It seems that English enjoy baking bread much more so than Americans.

[/QUOTE]

I have never known anyone who makes bread, but no-one is going to stop you if you really want. Oxford is big on over priced sandwich and cake shops. For some reason many Americans are obsessed with the weird foods of England, like black pudding (made of blood). But actually such things are not that common and there are so many nice things. Especially the unhealthy ones, like the cakes. Lots of wonderful desserts to. </p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
When shopping for groceries in the supermarket, many bring their own shopping bags/carts. Expect to pay extra if you do not have it.

[/QUOTE]

Britain is in trouble with the EU for supplying plastic bags for free. They encourage you to bring your own (but few people actually do). Some supermarkets give you "reward points" for doing this. Do not bring thousands of plastic bags with you!</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
Oxford is full of cobblestone roads, avoid any shoes with pointy heels, tennis shoes are the best.

[/QUOTE]

There is only one single square in Oxford that has cobbles as far as I know, which is Radcliffe Square. The rest has big flat paving stones which match the buildings.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
The pretty light in the sky: I didn't know what it was at first, if you see it you'll never forget it - the northern light, enjoy it while it lasts...

[/QUOTE]

If this is true you saw a once in a decade event. I suspect light pollution. Certainly never something I've seen. I had to google it to see if this was actually possible. England is far,far too far south. You would have to go to Scotland or Norway to see this (in fact they advertise "see the northern lights in Norway" holiday here).</p>

<p>Oxford is quite spread out and hardly anyone lives in the centre (it's all college owned buildings). Your host family will likely live in one of the outer areas such as Summer Town (posh and expensive), Headington (quite far), Cowley (where I live) or Iffley. You might have to buy a bus pass to get into town, or buy a bike (sell it on when you leave). There are lots of buses night and day.</p>

6

<p>Just to clarify things a little bit, the kind of wetness I'm referring to was the constant drips & drizzles from the sky that didn't seem to end, not like the torrential rain one gets in tropical regions. And yes, I'm from very warm places & have preferred to live in warm weather regions most my life. </p>

<p>Even with limited public transportation on certain days, I agree it's still a lot better than most places in the U.S. People do get to where they need to go within a reasonable amount of time.</p>

<p>Back in the days when I lived in the U.K. the grocery stores that I went to in my neighborhood (not Oxford) had used brown paper bags, the little ones that didn't hold very many things, don't remember seeing plastic, I guess bagging practice depends on the regions & the shops too.</p>

<p>I guess if there's a considerable amount of walking involved, wearing heels is not the way to go, as it will make walking on cobblestones seems especially a long walk.</p>

<p>Pastries in general are loaded with fat, they are tasty & tempting, my preference is still with the Euro kind, including liver, kidney & all... although they may be weird to some. Now talking about it just makes me want some.....</p>

<p>Regarding the aurora, I don't know how to explain the colorful sky that I saw at night, if you can believe that. What man-made object can light up the sky with such pretty light? I don't believe in UFOs. Light pollution? perhaps, if that's the case I would have seen it more often. I saw that only once & I was staring at it that whole time, pretty weird but beautiful. I can only guess it's aurora & I was not in Scotland or Norway.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for the information. I am really excited about leaving. I wish I could leave now. Only left is 5 months of school whereI just have to study my behind off and get fantastic grades at AP- and then work. But, one of the people I work with is actually from England. So, I might fly home with her and stay with her for a week or so to get use to it and have a little fun, and then meet my host family. So, excited. Thanks, so much everyone.</p>

8

<p>
[QUOTE]
Regarding the aurora, I don't know how to explain the colorful sky that I saw at night, if you can believe that. What man-made object can light up the sky with such pretty light? I don't believe in UFOs. Light pollution? perhaps, if that's the case I would have seen it more often. I saw that only once & I was staring at it that whole time, pretty weird but beautiful. I can only guess it's aurora & I was not in Scotland or Norway.

[/QUOTE]

Perhaps you did see it? I am only pointing out that this is extremely rare and it's very unlikely that Twirlonwater will see it. Might just have been a late night sunset if it were summer? I don't know. Fireworks? RAF?</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
Pastries in general are loaded with fat, they are tasty & tempting, my preference is still with the Euro kind, including liver, kidney & all... although they may be weird to some. Now talking about it just makes me want some.....

[/QUOTE]

If you're thinking of the savory kind in England, they're PASTIES. No "R". A kind of flakey pastry with stuff inside. I think traditionally a Cornish pasty has meat, swede and potato in it, but there are lots of kinds now (I recommend steak and Guinness). Definitely try them (eat them hot out of the bag in the street). Otherwise a savory pastry thing is called a pie, and found in pubs.</p>

<p>This is the pasty shop in Oxford.
West</a> Cornwall Pasty Co Ltd</p>

<p>picture
<a href="http://www.freedom-in-education.co.uk/newsletter06/cornish_pasty.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.freedom-in-education.co.uk/newsletter06/cornish_pasty.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Check out the UK web site called the student room.
They have a lot of Oxford uni students posting there.</p>

<p>Get a cheap cycle while you are there but keep it locked !</p>

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<p>Yes, pasties & pastries, I love them all, sweet & savory... After I left the U.K. for America, I missed the food so much that I lost quite a bit of weight (from 120+ to 110 lbs)...In a way it's a good thing. If I had continued to live there, I can't imagine how much I'll weigh now...and thanks for the pictures. :)</p>

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<p>Twirlonwater,</p>

<p>Pack light, have fun & have a great trip!!</p>

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<p>kwyml:</p>

<p>Your post is fanciful in several areas, and cupcake covers these parts, but the northern lights part really takes the cake: </p>

<p>I'm sure you didn't see aurora borealis from Oxford. I spent a winter (two months) in the Orkney Islands where 1. there is no light pollution and 2. It's considerably further north than Oxford. I never saw the northern lights there, not once. OK, it was stormy on quite a few days, but that's normal for the North Sea and the North Atlantic in winter...</p>

<p>Also, there is plenty of sun in the southern UK, it just didn't come out for you. Of course, the good part of short winter days is longer summer days, when you are more likely to be outside anyway.</p>

<p>And yes, people in the UK are not as profligate with fuel for heating and transportation as Americans- the entire world knows this.</p>

<p>As to shops having shorter hours on Sunday, think of the underpaid and less esteemed shop staff having more of a rest.</p>

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<p>Twirlonwater:</p>

<p>go to <a href="http://www.**************.co.uk%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.**************.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Great site- you'll get plenty of good information on your questions.</p>

14

<p>Hmmm...</p>

<p>this site seems to have blocked the URL...competition?</p>

<p>go to: usual URL prefixes, then ************** with no spaces, then the suffix .co.uk</p>

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<p>That's the student room no spaces.</p>

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<p>to tarrafna,</p>

<p>I already covered it in my previous posts that I was there some years ago, probable before you guys were born. That was around the time when some IRA members were on hunger strike in their H Block cell. It was also not uncommon to have bomb scares in parts of London. Trust me, if you went out on a Sunday, it was quite dead, nothing opened. I was in the U.K. for 2 years, not in Oxford tho, I already said that I was in Oxford for 1 day visiting a friend who attended a high school in Oxford. </p>

<p>I also said that I lived in Birmingham, obviously not in the S., more like the middle of England. I grew up in the tropics, so I know what "sunny" is, England is NOT sunny. </p>

<p>I grew up in one of the most lighted cities in the world, I'm well familiar with light pollution. What I saw that night was not light pollution. It was well after dark. </p>

<p>You said:</p>

<p>
[quote]
the good part of short winter days is longer summer days, when you are more likely to be outside anyway.And yes, people in the UK are not as profligate with fuel for heating and transportation as Americans- the entire world knows this. As to shops having shorter hours on Sunday, think of the underpaid and less esteemed shop staff having more of a rest.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I mentioned my impressions of the place as a visitor not as a way to say the U.S. is better than the U.K. or vice versa, nor have I said that I disliked the U.K. because of those factors. I think you misunderstood my post, I chose to talk about the place being cold & wet because the op will be there in the Fall. To say that shop staff is less esteemed is pretty class-conscious, don't you think? I really don't know if they are underpaid or not, nor do I think it matters.</p>

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<p>I wasn't very clear in my comment about shop staff. My point was not that I don't esteem shop staff, but that it is my perception that society views the work as menial; reference WalMart staff. "Class conscious" often has a positive connotation BTW.</p>

<p>Off topic, but I thought the CC fora were primarily for students/intending students. Am I wrong?</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
My point was not that I don't esteem shop staff, but that it is my perception that society views the work as menial;

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I do not know what "society" thinks of the work of "shop staff". I know only what I think of the profession. As long as it is an honest job to make an honest living, it is good. I could care less what others think.</p>

<p>
[quote]
reference WalMart staff. "Class conscious" often has a positive connotation BTW.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>How is being "class conscious' a good thing? Ever heard of the "untouchables". How "often" is often?</p>

19

<p>
[quote]
but I thought the CC fora were primarily for students/intending students. Am I wrong?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>This is a College Confidential Board, students, parents, college officials & people with internet connections do come here, although not all participate in discussions.</p>

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<p>One big difference between the US and England that you may want to discuss with your parents is that the legal drinking age there is 18, and most students do drink.
Another difference is that the British students in your class will have been studying in more depth (but less breadth) than you - they spend the last 2 years of high school working on just 3 or 4 'A' level subjects.</p>