Uni: USA vs. UK

My first few weeks at the University of Leicester quickly turned me from a fourth year close to graduation to a Fresher confused and lost.  Everything was so different and new; the English certainly have a special way of doing things.  I was not in America anymore.

 Accommodation the American way…

When it comes to accommodations in the U.S. it is very common for first year students to live with a roommate, it’s something Freshmen look forward to. Sometimes that can be a wonderful experience; you and your roommate get along wonderfully and become the best of friends.

Other times it could be the most horrible experience and your roommate turns out to be a complete psycho with a drinking problem and you become mortal enemies.

This experience is like picking chocolate from a lovely box of chocolates.  You never know what you may get.

Forrest was right…

After arriving at Leicester I became aware about how rare it is for students to have shared rooms. Just the thought of having to share a room with a random individual scares English students a bit.

I am guessing the English value their privacy but didn’t your mums teach you to share.

Partying the American way…

Partying is what many U.S. students look forward to when beginning their university life.

Red Solo cups filled with booze, beer pong tournaments, house parties that last all night without geting shut down by the cops, Greek life, and so much more.

When it comes to house parties I am almost certain that U.S. universities do it better.

Beer pong

Although English students throw poor house parties in their tiny flats, they still have other entertaining options to let loose, be it a club in a student union or massive bar crawls.

Partying is somewhat frowned upon in the U.S. by many universities.  When I was informed that Leicester’s Student Union had a club venue inside I must admit I was rather shocked. Not only does the union have a club venue inside but it also sells alcohol.

Photo: facebook.com/BrightTiePhotography

In the UK I no longer have to fight my university for my right to party; uni now accepts my party habits.

Did I sign up to study abroad or party abroad?  Sometimes I ask myself this question, especially when I see an advertisement for a bar crawl sponsored by a society in the middle of the week.

I guess the small amount of time English students spend in the classroom makes it acceptable to party almost every day of the week.

In the U.S. the key days of partying are Thursdays or shall I say Thirsty Thursday, Fridays, and Saturdays.  We prefer to keep the partying just on weekends, It makes things much easier and allows us to focus on our studies…what we actually came to uni for.

Dancing the American way…

U.S. dancing is for sure way more provocative at many events and parties that take place at uni.

Miley Cyrus is not the only one “twerking” in America; believe it or not many students were “twerking” when Miley Cyrus was still a nice young lady on Disney Channel.

My first time at O2 was a bit strange to be honest.  When I first arrived I expected loads of “twerking” taking place throughout the crowd.  I was rather surprised to see that was not the case at all.

Instead of seeing many young lads with their bums in the air, I see partygoers just dancing.  Grinding and twerking were not present on the scene; just normal clean dance moves.

I went into a sudden state of shock.  I thought to myself, “what is this ‘clean dancing’ that my new UK mates are doing.”  To avoid looking like the weird American I joined in.

Just when I thought the UK party scene was a bit more toned down and less raunchy a very familiar theme song blasted through the speakers of O2; it was the Baywatch Theme.

I stood in the middle of the dance floor rather confused at the sight of many students shirtless, both male and female.

“Baywatching” Photo: facebook.com/BrightTiePhotography

I am still confused as to why the Baywatch theme song makes students what to remove their shirts.

Although uni the UK way is still a bit strange, I am learning to embrace exactly what it means to be a student at an English university and the amount of fun you can have!