Culture Culture Shock

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Well I am still in it. There is more than you would expect coming from one English speaking country to another, but I have plenty of culture shock this week... although I am getting settled in and adjusted. I think dorm life is actually the biggest adjustment of all. I barely see my flat mates. The ones I have met are nice, but sharing a bathroom and kitchen with six other folks is going to be an excerise in patience and tolerance (especially when it comes to cleanliness).

I saw a quote in the AJC this week about British cooking that before I would have just laughed off as a stereotype, but so far it seems to be true. Not that the food is bad, but just very mild. Even Indian food is on the bland side here. I had a dish that would normally have set my mouth on fire and here it was just ehh....not hot at all. Even your standard things like Doritos are milder. English cuisine aside, they do make great desserts and cakes. Loads of stuff that I've never heard of before, but it's all delicious.

The locals here are lovely, as they would put it, but very difficult to understand. As it turns out, even people from England have trouble with the Jordy (Newcastle native) accent. I am catching onto it a bit, but it takes a few seconds to process it and so I feel silly looking at people sometimes with a blank stare or just nodding as if I understand. Everyone can understand me (even other international people living here find American accents easier than the English accent), but I find myself asking people to repeat things constantly.

Despite that, I've only been in England one week and I am already abandoning my standard way of communication. Many words I use all the time are completely lost over here (i.e. weird) and so I've already incorporated English terminolgy into my everyday communication. I hear things in my head in a British accent as well. It's funny how quickly our minds adapt to things like that.

I took the afternoon today to be a little bit of a tacky tourist around Newcastle. I walked around the main street and down to the Quayside to take more pics of my new home and to have a pint down by the Tyne River. Pictures from today are included.

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Photos

Something Princess
This boat is always docked and I can't remember the name now, but it's really a club. You can go on it and party.

Gateshead Arena
This is the theater in Gateshead, the town across the river.

Comments

[Vanessa]

Your pictures are great!