I don’t have to click my heels three times to know that I’m not in America anymore.
Despite the fact that Americans and Brits speak the same language, the two aren’t as similar as I had originally envisioned them being. Americans studying abroad in London make the differences between American and British culture painfully obvious and easy to spot.
Throughout the entirety of this article, I use third person when referring to American students. For clarification purposes and to avoid being a hypocrite, the words “they” and “their” shall refer to every American student studying abroad in London, myself included. I’m guilty of doing everything listed below, and then some.
1. They walk on the right side
My first day in London was filled with a lot of walking and consequently, a lot of death stares from the locals. Why did it seem as if I was going against the flow of traffic despite the fact that I was trotting up the stairs on the “normal” side? Turns out, the right side of the road isn’t “right” here. In hopes of defying global homogenization and/or accommodating the needs of the many native lefties, the British people in the Middle Ages deemed the left side of the road the correct side to drive on (the actual reasoning is that they walked on the left to better prepare themselves to draw their sword with their right hand).
People are supposed to walk on the left side of the sidewalk, which is something that is hard for Americans to conceptualize because we’re so accustomed to the opposite. Perhaps it’s just me, but even the photo below of people walking on the left side confuses me. After a month in London, I’ve finally learned to walk on the left side and to expect to see an American student if someone has bumped into me going the wrong way. Despite these accomplishments, I still haven’t and don’t think I will ever learn to look the correct way when crossing the street.
2. They wear workout clothes
American students love to appear as if they are en route to the gym. Either that, or they’re too lazy to dress up in anything else. Regardless, American students do not dress like British students. During orientation, the very first thing we were told was that if we were going to be temporary Brits, we had to dress the part: overdress; wear leather; and stay away from anything that’s not black or gray. Needless to say, the girl dressed in leggings, a sweatshirt that is anything but black or gray, and neon Nike sneakers most definitely is not a British student. I’m not sure if the constant sporting of workout apparel is an American thing in general, or just a Duke thing, but I’ll naively assume that this is applicable to all American students. Please reference the following photos of American celebs for a few examples of what constitutes an outfit that a British student wouldn’t be caught dead in.
3. They lack volume control
The best way to spot an American student doesn’t even require you to open your eyes (although you should probably keep your eyes open because otherwise you will walk into an American student walking on the wrong side if your eyes are closed). My friends often make fun of me for lacking volume control. It took all of one hour in London to realize that this is a problem applicable to most American students, not just myself. There is an unspoken rule that you don’t speak on the tube (the British version of the subway system), and if you do it should be nothing above a soft whisper. You know that you are in the presence of an American student when you can hear someone speaking (or yelling, for that matter) on the tube from over 100 feet away. As if their accent (or lack thereof) weren’t enough of a dead giveaway, their exceedingly loud conversations about which black dress to wear out to the “American Sports Cafe” that night, is.
4. They are at the airport on Sunday, September 29
If you have a bucket list of things to do before you turn 100, attending Oktoberfest should be at the very top of it (and if you don’t have a bucket list, make one). Every year, 6.4 million people from around the world flock to Munich, Germany to attend the world’s biggest college reunion (but is more commonly known as the world’s largest beer festival). The amount of American students in London’s airport the Sunday after Oktoberfest leads me to believe that 6.39 million of those in attendance are American. At Oktoberfest, it’s also not difficult to seek out the American students. As per expected, they all congregate in the same 9,000 person tent that Europeans tend to avoid in hopes of hearing songs other than “Sweet Caroline” and “Hey Baby”. For more about Oktoberfest, please consult the profile picture of every junior that is currently abroad in Europe.