As I am writing this I am somewhere between England and France. I am on
my way back 'home', France anyway. This is the end of my time in England, for
now. I can still remember arriving here, about 4 years ago, being really scared
and feeling quite lonely at first. I didn't understand most of the people, they
had all sorts of different strange rules - these were my first and unhappy
encounters with health and safety regulations. But I got to know people,
students from all over the world as contact with other foreigners was much
easier at the beginning - making British friends took a bit more time, but I've
got them now! Speaking with people became easier as well and Birmingham had
suddenly become my home. Birmingham and I had our ups and downs, more downs
during the extremely busy final year, even though the last two months I spent
in England passed by in the blink of an eye.
In a very franco-british way, I believe that I have developed some kind
of love-hate relationship to the country, which makes me hate the weather above
all and complain about it constantly (I’m sorry!) but I could not stop the
tears from rolling down my cheeks as the ferry left Portsmouth harbour.
Living in England is easy, you don't really feel foreign because there
are so many different people of different origins, that I have never felt excluded.
I mean I felt right where I was.
I have seen great places in Britain over the three years I have lived here. I will just mention a few which I haven't talked about in other posts. There are two places I'd like to recommend, these are York and Aberystwyth. I had never been told to visit York until a few months ago and I was intrigued, thinking that the only nice thing north of Birmingham was Scotland... how wrong I was. York was just so lovely with its little streets, its seemingly infinite amount of cute cafes, the different historic monuments and the walk along the city walls. It is a nice daytrip destination I believe, possibly in 'summer' :)
Aberystwyth is foremost a challenge for every foreigner when it comes to
pronouncing its name. Luckily, I heard it many times in lecture, as we were
informed by possibly every member of staff that international relations first emerged
as a discipline in Aberystwyth in 1918. I then discovered that this oddly written place was
in Wales and actually one of the nearest coastal places if you are in
Birmingham! Off we went on a sunny but cold November day... to this beautiful
and peaceful place. I admit there isn't much entertainment , but for a daytrip
it was definitely worth it! The castle ruins, the walk up to the National Library
of Wales and the promenade also offer many photo opportunities! Not to forget
the panoramesque train journey from Birmingham!
Now, I just have a few concluding remarks to my time in England on
various things that I saw, that I got annoyed at or that I laughed at. A few
odd observations, that might make other people who have moved to the UK nod or
smile, while making our British friends think about some of the peculiarities of their own
country (if they haven't heard it from me before that is!)
Boots: Yes, I mean Boots, the store. I love it. And a lot of other
people from abroad do. Why you might think, it's just Boots! Well, I think for
us it's because it doesn't exist at home, no store has everything from medicine, other
health products to beauty products... it just makes any woman happy!
Health and Safety: As I mentioned it before, this was a big discovery of
mine, more annoying when one is trying to organise an event, or when they tell
you that electric appliances need to be ‘PAT tested’, but rather entertaining
in the public space. For example, this sign. ‘Slippery when wet’, which you can
find on the staircases of many train stations. I cannot imagine it in French ‘glissant
en cas de pluie’ or in German ‘rutschig wenn nass’ hanging in a train station
in continental Europe. For us that sign makes as much sense as saying ‘cold
when snowy’ or ‘bright when sunny’.
Plug socket switches: Why you need a switch on plugs is beyond me... and
at the beginning of my time in England many devices were left uncharged, as I forgot to turn switches
on. Terrible. More importantly they have created a generation of OCD people, who have
the compulsion of turning them off when nothing is plugged in (You know who you
are!).
Separate water taps: Really? I mean still? Why? I love getting up in the
morning and having to decide whether I want to freeze or burn my hands
today.
The food: I think when my (French) Mum left me in England, she was quite
worried about what I would eat and even in the following months she needed
regular updates on my eating habits, as I was not only living on my own for the
first time and but also in ENGLAND, where the food, according to good old
stereotypes was just dreadful. I had a few bizarre encounters with beans on
toast, which I still don't like, as well as Marmite, cucumber sandwiches and breakfast
sausages. But there are certain things which I will deeply miss very soon, like
real tea, like cadbury and galaxy chocolate, a cheap pub meal, curly fries, coffee at every street corner…
British Humour: What is British humour? Judging from what most British
people I know laugh about, it's dirty jokes, but maybe I just have the wrong kind
of friends... However, even sarcasm, self deprecating humour also exists abroad, but
I guess British people are simply the champions of it. Just next time somebody
understands British humour, don't be surprised, it's not THAT hard to get.
Systems: I mean, I could complain about driving on the left and not using
the metric system, but in the end it's just a different while still equally
efficient system to ours. However, when it comes to height, I have little
understanding for the usage of feet and inches, and even less for the usage of
pounds and stones for weight... I mean... what ? Stones? It confuses everybody.
Now for all those who aren't familiar with this :
1 Stone = 14 pounds
65 kg (probably the average weight of a woman) = 10 stone 3.3 lbs
What I see when people talk about weight in stones
Anyway, I have nothing more to say. I will miss this country and its
people dearly and who knows maybe my ‘Au revoir’ will become truthful sooner
than I think!
