My first real week in Liverpool, culture shock and
I’m an adventurer at heart, despite my anxiety the thrill of exploring and the wonder of experiencing a new place always gets my blood pumping. Moving across the pond, I place a big priority on making Liverpool my home while I’m here, and after my first week it’s begun to ring true.
The culture shock of Britain isn’t as severe as some places, I’m lucky to study in an English speaking country so much of my confusion comes at shops when I need to ask salespeople to repeat themselves when they’re speaking a bit too quick for my American ears. However, there are some significant differences that did take some adjusting.
The first day, I plugged in my phone to charge only to realize 30 minutes later it wasn’t working. Apparently all electrical units here run on circuits you can shut on and off in order to save electricity and be more green! That means everything from the power outlet to the oven need to be flipped on first before use. Though I’ve gotten used to the switches, I still find it strange that all of them (including lights) are pushed down to turn on (rather than flipping them up, like in the states).
Additionally, we were given bedding by the university, and rather than the comforter I use at home, they pass out duvets that require a cover on top like a pillow! Though Im very grateful for their supplies, everyone in my group still found it vital to pick up another pillow and blanket as the ones provided were a bit scratchy and a bit flat.
This however, brought on the challenge of getting to the store. Though we’re fortunate to have some shops down the street, the Primark (great deals, great buys) is in the city centre which is luckily just a short train or bus ride away.
Our international advisors took us out on a short trip to show us which side of the street to get on for buses going into the city (we’d return on the other side of the median) and made sure we knew how to count out our coins for the ride (British coins are confusing, why does any country need an 8-sided coin?), which made journeys a bit less scary.
The centre is gorgeous, with the Albert docks and free museums that I look forward to taking advantage of. We had a good time visiting the hub of Liverpool and experiencing all of the music played around the city from the various pianos set up and ragtag bands located around the city.
After my first week here, I finally start classes in the coming days and that’s going to bring a whole new wave of culture shock to share. Catch me complaining and explaining it here soon!
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