The Ups (And Some Downs!) of Studying Abroad

Studying abroad can be challenging and sometimes downright scary: a new country brings with it not only a new language and people, but new customs, traditions and cultural quirks that no guidebook can teach.

El Comienzo (The Beginning)

Two years ago, I began studying in England as a Mexican student. The first big change to notice of course was the weather: my first day of university was a gloomy, overcast, cold and rainy day that did not help calm my nerves.

After unpacking my belongings, I reluctantly made my way to the ‘Welcome Tea and Biscuits’ event in which I would begin to meet all the other students and (hopefully!) future friends.

It quickly became very obvious that I was not going to meet many Mexicans here — out of the students I met, most were (as expected) British and European, and only two I met were from the same continent — but both were from the United States. Although a big part of me was a little panicked that I wouldn’t find a single student from my home country, another part was also starting to embrace the uniqueness and singularity that came with being the only Mexican in the room.

Introducing myself to students was easy, because at the first mention of where I came from, conversation poured — I was asked about my hometown, about the country, about how I moved to England, what I thought of the UK, and why I’d chosen to move from an (almost) perpetually sunny place to the land of rain and clouds. I was secretly pleased that I was going to be memorable — even if they just remembered me as the ‘Mexican girl’, they’d still remember me!

As the first weeks went by, first impressions faded and I made friends not through my ‘Mexican-ness’ but just as normal people do in university — through conversations, clubs, activities and classes.

I absorbed the culture like a sponge, eagerly asking about every single weird custom I came across, adopting typical British phrases and even changing some of my vocabulary (it’s not chips! It’s crisps!). I started watching British TV shows to understand the cultural references that previously puzzled me, and slowly started to ‘get’ the particular brand of dark, witty British humour that is so often mistaken as rudeness.

A Taste of Home

Somewhere along my journey of trying to become British, I went to a debate about the UK government, and in the post-event drinks, I met a Mexican postgraduate student. I was so happy to switch to Spanish and talk to her about which city we were from, how we both got to the UK, and how different life was out here, but this encounter also made me nostalgic, and a little bit of sadness kicked in the more we talked about all the things we missed from back home.

The main difficulty of being an international student is to reconcile the two parts or sides of yourself that emerge after arriving to a new country. Although it might be difficult to acclimatise or make friends, most international students I know get through this awkward stage quickly, and start making their way and feeling comfortable. However, through this process of fitting in, one acquires new mannerisms, talks about certain things, and absorbs the culture of the new place.

And so sometimes it might seem like you have two selves: the ‘you’ here and the ‘you’ you are back home. I struggled with not wanting to only be known as the ‘Mexican girl’, but also wanting to talk about my country and about how things are back home and how special and different they can be. International students are very lucky to have the chance to see and navigate and truly be part of two cultures, but this is not easy to do.

Tea & Tequila?

The way I tried to reconcile my two parts was to find ways to bring them together — I organised a Mexican night with my friends where I cooked for them typical food, I joined the Mexican Society at my university and met with them once every two weeks for lunch in case I got homesick, I called my relatives and friends on Skype more, and also told them about British culture and all the weird and wonderful things I’d learnt.

I started wearing more clothes and accessories that I’d brought from Mexico, remembered to read some books in Spanish or keep up with the local news back home.

But I also carried on with my quest to learn all about the British — I learnt to play croquet, I attended the weekly pub quiz, I mastered the art of making the perfect cup of tea and I learnt how to pronounce Gloucester and Worcester (Gloss-ter & Woss-ter?!) correctly.

The Best of Dos Mundos

Studying abroad has been an incredible experience because it’s allowed me to have a real look into how cultures exist and coexist, how they are so particular and yet similar in many ways. Those who live in only one place or only speak one language only get a one-sided view, a limited range of knowledge. Studying abroad allows you to reflect and question what you knew before and also really appreciate things from home like sunny days in winter or freshly-cut mangoes with chilli. It might be a cliché phrase, but I think it’s really true that international students get the best of both worlds.

— Daniela Alvarez is a current Oxford undergraduate student and a marketing intern at Langu. She originally comes from Mexico.

Originally published at heylangu.com on September 21, 2017.