One moment of cultural confrontation I have encountered while studying in the UK is how difficult it is to communicate with university staff and support teams, especially regarding registration. Although they speak English, many of them aren’t on site at the University and extremely slow in regards to their work setting. The people here are much more laid back than anything I’ve ever seen in the US. I often cannot get answers to simple questions. Much of the university staff lacks a sense of urgency, which can come across as lazy and apathetic to students’ wellbeing. It seems common for them not to answer questions themselves, and just give another person’s email in which I must wait again for their response. This is only my first week of classes, so hopefully it will be smooth sailing in regards to registration and other problems from here on out.
The study abroad program here at Lancaster is at a large university. That has been very different from Rollins and contributed to the cultural confrontations. At home my professors and accommodations team are available to help at any time and in any circumstance. They are also able to respond in a timely manner, which I have found is not the case here. It took Lancaster University about a week to adjust my class schedule. During this time, I did not have access to the class portals, thus putting me behind compared to other students. This has especially challenging for me because I highly prioritize staying on top of my assignments. It has been very stressful not being able to access this information, but it has taught me a lot of lessons about patience. Though it has not been easy to stay calm, one way I found to cope is through exercise. Whenever I begin to feel stressed, I utilize one of the many running trails they have on the university grounds. Since it is such a large campus, I have found it interesting to take different routes, and in turn experience more of my surroundings.
