Coming to the UK

Originally, I chose to come to the University of Reading because I thought it would be most like my home in the United States. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was only halfway correct. While both countries share many similarities, there are also many differences that are exciting to explore. For example, there are many words used here in the UK that have a different meaning, spelling, or pronunciation. In the US we would say counter-clockwise while in the UK I have heard the term Anticlockwise, chips versus French fries, Aluminium versus Aluminum, etc. I personally have found that the similarities outweigh the differences and that has made it easy to merge into the Whiteknights lifestyle.

In the beginning, understanding classes was a challenge, at my home university we all know what to expect with each class and each assignment. When approached, each of my professors were not only happy to give me advice so that I understood all my responsibilities, they also seemed to enjoy having a brief chat. I have to say that I find the staff and students here at the University of Reading to be tremendously helpful as well as enormously friendly.

The University of Reading campus is an amazing place but one of the things I didn’t expect was to really love the town of Reading as well. The buses into town run Twenty-Four hours a day, Reading center has all the shopping, food, and entertainment you could ever want, and the town itself has many attractions that make it a great place to be. Additionally, you are only a twenty to thirty-minute train ride from London which gives you access to all the big city sights without having to live there.