What half a bachelor degree has taught me

When writing this it's 561 days since I moved to Oxford for the first time. During these 561 days I've learned much more than I ever would have, so no, I still don't regret my decision of studying abroad. Sure, there's been times where I've wondered if it's really worth paying thousands of pounds in tuition fee for a degree that I could've gotten for free in Norway. But then again, I couldn't have done so because Norway doesn't offer my subjects. And that's a big part of why I chose Brookes in the first place.

So what have these 561 days taught me? Well for starters I've learned that the British people do not eat nearly as much potatoes as Scandinavians do. Up until a couple of years ago a proper dinner for me had to involve potatoes in one way or another. So that British people don't seem to value the potato is probably equal to my lack of understanding for the British pub culture. Go to a pub in Oxford during any time of the day and I guarantee you there's plenty of people there. And not just one type of people, there's all kinds! Young, old, business men in suits with briefcases, and my favourite; football players straight out of football practice. It's beyond my understanding.

And whilst talking about food. Another thing these 561 days have taught me is that I'm a weirdo for bringing lunch to school, slices of bread in a lunchbox to be precise. I've always done so, and it's seen as a waste of money to buy food at the store or café while you could've saved money and brought it with you. And because everyone in Norway do so I've rarely been tempted to buy something else, but now I'm getting depressed around noon when I'm eating two dry slices of bread with ham and cheese while my friends are eating freshly made baguettes, panini's or delicious soup. At the end of the last semester I caved in and started buying lunch as well, and it was delicious. And expensive. Good thing I don't have any long days at campus this semester requiring consuming of lunch.

The half a bachelor degree has not only taught me that Mexicans don't wear sombreros 24/7, a couple of Italian words and phrases, and the deep-rooted problems in the US, it has also taught me a great deal about currency. You see, 561 days ago 1 pound equalled 10 Norwegian kroner (NOK). In other words, I was living the dream and felt quite rich. 561 days later, one pounds now equals almost 13 NOK. Not so rich anymore. So I've been forced to pay attention to trends and patterns because I lost so much money when I transferred money between Norway and UK. So please, from a soon to be broke Norwegian student, buy some Norwegian oil and help out my limited bank account.

To sum up, 561 days, or half a bachelor degree if you want, have taught me that British people don't value potatoes as much as I do, nor do they eat homemade lunch brought to uni in a lunch box. I've also learned that it's perfectly fine to go to a pub straight from the gym or football practice to have a pint, and last but not least, that the Norwegian oil I once loved so dearly has now become a huge pain in my backside. And because I've also learned that the British are polite and don't use unpleasant words, I had to change out that three letter words in the last sentence. 

I don't know what the rest of my bachelor degree will teach me, but I'll make sure to update you when I find out!