Britain is not a dream paradise.

The following is a letter from a friend of mine in the UK, in which she confided what she heard, saw and felt during her study in the UK ...

Life in the UK

For the UK, maybe everyone is full of curiosity. In the eyes of college students, it is very lucky to be able to go abroad. Britain is a traditional capitalist country and a developed country. Studying in Britain may be really enviable.

I have the opportunity to study in Britain because there is a joint school-running project in Black University. People have a lot of opinions about studying abroad. Some people say that people who go abroad are more likely to "study badly", some people say that China people are not United after going abroad, and some people think that it is not easy to find a job when they come back after going abroad. No matter what others say, I went abroad in a calm mood. I think my life will be different, and I like a different life. Only those who have really eaten crabs have a say in the taste of crabs. No matter what the investigator can say, it is only the "color" of the crab; What journalists and education departments can say the most is just "Xiang". So I embarked on a journey to start my own life.

First Arriving in England

It was autumn in England when we arrived in England, and the weather had already turned cold. When we came to our school apartment, it was already past ten o'clock in the evening. When I first got off the plane, I could hear a lot of sighs, and more might be disappointment-the legendary developed countries, perhaps high-rise buildings, are brightly lit, but the scene in our eyes is different, the obscure sky, the five-story office building at most, the sparsely populated commercial street and the dilapidated two-story housing-but as we all know, developed countries are not measured by this alone. I'm totally acceptable, because I was psychologically prepared before I went abroad. When I packed everything in my apartment, I found myself sleepy and hungry, because I hadn't slept a wink for a day and a night, and I didn't eat well, but the supermarkets in England closed after four o'clock, and there was no change to go to the grocery store, so people were hungry and wanted to sleep. Only then did I find that I didn't have a pillow or quilt, so I had to sleep on my arm and covered my coat. At that time, I thought that it would be good to get through the night and everything would start again. Because I was too tired, I fell asleep soon (in fact, I had to go through various formalities the next day, so I got up in the morning and shuttled between the police station, the bank and the school until the evening, and I didn't really eat a so-called "meal" made by myself until the evening).

clothing, food and shelter

in people's imagination, English gentlemen are graceful and dressed in suits, but in fact, British people don't have high requirements for clothes. In a certain workplace, men are generally not required to wear suits. British people wear clothes casually, and all kinds of clothes are acceptable. Most people prefer to wear casual clothes, while office workers wear more formal clothes, such as uniforms or suits. In Britain, if you go to a bar, men must wear black trousers and leather shoes, while women must wear evening dresses. There are many styles of women's clothes, which can be said to be varied, including long skirts, short skirts, suspenders, long sleeves, short sleeves, vests and navel-revealing dresses. The quality of shoes in Britain is very good, and most of the styles are elegant and generous, such as thin heels, thick heels and platform shoes. There are few colorful clothes in Britain. Most of the clothes here are dark, and black is the eternal fashion color here. In Britain, people prefer to wear scarves. There are many styles and styles of scarves. If they are well matched, they are also a good ornament. There is an old saying in China called "February and August, dressing casually". The weather in Britain has changed greatly, and people's clothes are also very different. In winter, it is often a thick coat or overcoat with a shirt or T-shirt inside. In summer, you can often see people wearing coats. If you are in China, there will be people pointing fingers, but in Britain, no one cares what kind of clothes you wear.

according to our eating habits, we always feel that the main and non-staple foods in Britain are not right, and there are few varieties. It can be said that rice is not sticky, meat is not fragrant, chicken is not fresh, eggs are boring, and there are few varieties of vegetables. Meat is basically not fat, probably because of feed, it doesn't have much flavor when burned. Chicken is very fat, carnivorous, tasteless when stewed, and oily. British people are not interested in seafood, so only coastal cities can sell it. But boxed, each box is 4-2, the number varies, and each egg has a trademark and shelf life. Bean products are only available in China. The prices here are surprisingly expensive when converted into RMB. The big price of everything is basically the domestic price multiplied by twelve or thirteen. But there are also many things that are very cheap, and supermarkets in Britain always have discounts on expired food, which is said to take care of the poor, but in fact, not the poor also buy them. Especially poor students like us always go to the supermarket to buy discounted goods. China students will suffer if they can't cook in Britain, because the British people's eating habits are different from ours. They mainly eat hamburgers, pizza and French fries, as well as all kinds of canned food, bread and fast food. The British people are used to this eating habit, but China people will get tired of it if they eat for a long time. But in fact, when I first came here, I couldn't do anything. Now there may be few people who can work in the only child's family, but I can be forced to exercise here in less than four or five days. After all, it tastes bad to be hungry.

If you don't go to Britain to study languages through an intermediary, there are few people who live in host families. You can choose to live in a school apartment or share a house in Britain. School apartments in Britain are very welcome, so you should apply in advance, and if you live in a school apartment in the first year, it will be difficult to apply for it in the second year. Generally, the advantage of living in a school apartment is that it is safe, reliable and convenient. It can effectively use school resources, such as the library, and it is also convenient to join various societies and make many friends. Renting a house outside can give you a deeper understanding of the hardships of living at home. If people sharing a house are difficult to get along with, it will be troublesome, because it involves many problems, such as paying rent and utilities together, and often taking care of each other when renting a house outside. For example, if you live in a school apartment, these problems are not very serious. In Britain, it costs 4 to 5 pounds a week to live in a school apartment, and the rent of a house costs more than 2 pounds a week. With the addition of utilities and various fees for surfing the Internet, it costs less than 3 pounds. The bigger the city, the higher the cost of housing. Whether it is a school apartment or a rented house, a bed, a writing desk, a closet and so on will be provided in an individual bedroom. There should also be a public kitchen, bathroom, bathroom and washing machine. British people are very particular about the kitchen, so there will be microwave ovens, ovens, electric stoves, refrigerators, dining tables and so on.

British supermarkets offer all kinds of daily necessities, and you can often find a "one-pound store". The so-called "one-pound store" means that everything in the store is one pound, and of course there are things over one pound, but the price will be clearly marked. In fact, living in Britain is like this. If your standard of living is not high, you can find cheap things. If you are rich, there will be many exquisite things for you. There is a big gap between the rich and the poor in Britain. It is said that the gap between the rich and the poor in Christmas in Britain reaches 2, pounds (Christmas in Britain is grand, just like Chinese New Year in China). Walking on the streets of England, you can often see that some children around adults are dressed like little emperors and little princesses. They will go to all kinds of advanced occasions under the guidance of their parents.

If you often go to places far from home and need to take a bus, the way to save money is to buy monthly or weekly tickets. In London, most people's means of transportation are subways, because the subway in London is relatively developed. The weekly ticket to London's 1, 2 and 3 districts is about 12 pounds. If you want to go to the 4, 5 and 6 districts, the fare is even more expensive. In other cities, if you take a bus, it costs 1-2 pounds for each one-way trip.

Studying in the UK

In fact, British courses are not difficult for local students, and there are few class hours. Compared with students from other countries, British students are much happier. In college, it is often a big class first, and then a small class for discussion in a dozen people. So you can digest what you have learned in class. But it's not so lucky for international students. If your English is good, it will be easy, but if your English is not good, it's yourself who suffers. Because of the language, it takes you five, six or even ten times to read a page of books. If you learn professional knowledge, there will be many professional terms, so you need to look up many words. Before the exam, I have to recite a lot of words and chapters. Because there is a fixed examination time in English exams besides writing papers, you usually only ask big questions and answer three big questions within two hours. If you are a liberal arts student, each big question needs more than 1, words. Imagine if you were asked to write in Chinese, you would frown, let alone English. But this may be a lot easier for British students.

Britain is not a paradise

The welfare benefits in Britain are very good. The government gives subsidies to the poor every year, and the government gives a subsidy of 1, pounds to beggars every year. Everyone here has a professional certificate. You will find that no one here is qualified to look down on anyone. Everyone is equal, regardless of wealth or occupation. There are all kinds of intermediaries in Britain to serve you, and most of them are free and have a good service attitude. For example, a real estate agent introduces jobs. Every big work unit has a reception desk. You can ask him all kinds of related questions and she will try her best to help you solve them.

But actually, it's not easy to live in Britain as a China person. You will find many times of so-called discrimination. When you work, you will have a lot of heavy and tired work to do; When you visit a famous brand store, the waiter will not take the initiative to serve you, because they think you can't afford it; When you go to work, you will find that the living expenses you earn hard are only their pocket money besides living expenses in the eyes of the British; If you are a girl walking in a dark street after 9 pm or earlier, someone will ask you if you do business ...

When we got off the plane on the first day, some students were splashed with water. When I work in McDonald's, people often ask me, are you from China, Guangzhou, Hongkong or Taiwan Province? Because China people who come from Guangzhou always pretend to be "advanced Cantonese", they are usually not United, and often tell foreigners what's wrong with China people. What's even worse is that in bars, (British people usually talk about two topics, one is football and the other is sex, and bars are their normal communication places), they often tell British people how China women are "cheap". I remember when I was working in McDonald's, I chatted with an Englishman. He told me that it was not easy for you to find a job, you know? There are many girls like you who have just come to a country and can't find a job, and they have all gone to hotels ... He said, you know what I mean? I think as China people, no matter what bad things happen in China, we should not tell foreigners, let alone see jokes.

If you are an Englishman, you should be happy to live in such a country with good welfare and a high standard of living, where you can look down on people of other races. And if you are a China person, you should do something to protect your personality and the country's national character.

Britain is not a paradise (for China people)! ! !

There are things we can imagine in the letter ... such as a good environment, a superior learning place, advanced urban construction, and so on. Everything can still make us students in China yearn for conditions, but there are also dark sides and chilling sides that we can't imagine. I can't help worrying about the young people studying abroad, and silently praying and blessing them on the promising and complicated road to study.