finally, I could get this blog working ( ^ v ^ )
here's my blog entry on my first impression on this university and the culture
After two weeks of studying at the University of
Essex, I have mixed feelings towards the UK culture and the academic
environment. I would like to start sharing about it by talking about the people
here, followed by my thoughts on the food, and the academic environment here.
My thoughts towards the people in UK or rather
students in this school could be summed up in four words: Loud, drinking, clubbing
and undisciplined. I know it is not a very positive image but it seems that
most students here, particularly western students seem to love clubs. In Fresher’s
week I had such a hard time trying to sleep every single night because my flat
mates were so loud after a night of clubbing and drinking. Most of the other
students and student support crew from the school told me it was just a Fresher’s
thing; however the clubbing activity every night seems to still go on today. There
is just something out there every night. And in every club outing, being loud
and drunk seems to come hand in hand with the word clubbing.
I have been dragged to the club twice by my new
friends, and I did not enjoy a moment of it. The lights were changing colour so fast I got dizzy.
The music was so loud I had to shout to talk to the person next to me and still
could not make out half of what is being said. The majority of drinks served is
alcoholic and were ridiculously overpriced. I still do not understand why people
would still be crazed over clubbing after spending 30 pounds a night. Along
with some crazy nights like the foam party where people get drenched going back
to their rooms in the middle of a cold freezing night. Though I don’t understand
any of it, I suppose it is part of the UK culture and main form of
entertainment.
The place I came from is a busy city, Hong Kong never
goes to sleep, yet I have never seen so much music and clubbing before. It is
hard to get used to. Especially since most of the new friends I made were
pulling me to the club when I did not even want to go. I got used to lazing in
my room with bright lights outside my window at night, so spending the night
outside with lots of people in a loud room was definitely outside my comfort
zone. Also the main entertainment for us would either be shopping, sports or
electronic games, clubbing and staying up all night with friends is considered
a rare thing to do and almost never happens unless we are on a school outing
trip.
The local students here also seem to lack discipline,
not in terms of school rules, after 15 years of disciplined education, they are
better than most teenagers from other countries. However, when it comes to day
to day, taking care of yourself kind of discipline, UK students did not give me
a very good impression. They never fail to keep the kitchen messy with sauces
and food all over the floor, table and counter tops. Though most people in Hong
Kong do not act much different I do think students need much improvement at
taking care of themselves and staying tidy.
That being said, I do find the people here to be
really kind and nice, though not all people, the majority of them are willing
to help out and accept foreign students. It was nice to have friends to teach
you the different currency, the food, how does the buses and trains work, and
even how to use the self service. I would imagine it to be so hard if I had to
figure all of that out on my own. Compared to where I came from, I would definitely
say the people here are a lot kinder and more willing to lend a helping hand. If
I was back home, I would probably end up trying to figure things out on my own
slowly from embarrassing moments.
With the people out of the way, the next is food. Before
I came, I was so excited about the food since this lecturer who came in my high
school months ago told me be careful of putting on 15 pounds since all the kids
she knew that went to the UK to study came back gaining wait from eating too
much fish and chips, pies and so on. It was not until I came and lived with
local people that I knew fish and chips, pies, and pizzas were pretty much the
only thing they could cook, and take-always is all over the place. No matter
who, eating food like that every day would make you fat. These are not the main
stream food in china, we eat rice and vegetables most of the time, and we cook
it from scratch generally, so it is unusual to see rows and stacks of ready-made
frozen meals in Tesco and the SU shop.
The food was not tasty either. I tried the well-known English
breakfast and with the sole exception of the scrambled eggs I did not like the
rest of it, especially the sausages, never want to eat those again. Pork pies,
a traditional food my flat mates introduced me were terrible, well they did
give me ready-made ones that came in little packets though, maybe the original
would taste better? Good thing I could cook to avoid the food here. The only thing
I liked was tea, early grey sure taste good with milk and sugar in it.I lived
in a place where the food was great. There are so many different types of food
within a 15 minute walking distance from your home, Chinese, Japanese, Italian,
French. You name it, it is all there! I kind of miss having all those foods just
there on the table, now I have to cook it myself to be able to eat a decent
meal.
Another thing with a cooked proper meal is they cost
so much. For fried rice in the top bar, it cost around 4 pounds; I could make
the same thing in the kitchen for less than 35p. it does not taste all that
good either. I am guessing because most UK students, at least the ones I know
so far, cannot cook, they would still pay the 3 pound premium to get a proper
meal. Where I came from the food does not cost a lot, in fact it is almost half
the price it is here in the UK. Opening restaurants sure is good business here.
For the academic environment, there is not very much
to say as Hong Kong was once a colony of England, the education system is
adapted from the UK, though it has changed though out the past 15 years, most
of the education structure remains similar. It is also a very international
city, so I am used to seeing and studying with people from different countries
across the world.
Not directly tied to education, I do find studying in
the middle of a park quite usual as I came from a city. Facing the trees and
grass half of the time does scare me quite a bit, simply because I am not used
to it. Living in the city also means facing technology all the times, and to me
Colchester as a whole just seems like I am living on earth 30 years ago, though it seems like I am the only one thinking like that.
In conclusion, the University of Essex is a new challenge
to me in many ways, especially in getting used to the lifestyle here. I hope I would
be able to get to know my way around the UK culture better and maybe learn to
enjoy British food and entertainment one day.
Priscilla (＾∇＾)
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