ROYAL TREATMENT: “The dining halls at Cambridge are very ceremonial, and every meal is treated as an extra-special occasion. Four-course dinners are fit for a king with entrees such as tender duckling, cold cherry soup, baked haddock, and specialty desserts like the delectable Queen of Puddings. Fish is a common staple, as are potatoes and pies. If anything of English cuisine is worth raving about, it is their clotted cream desserts.’’
IN ENGLISH, PLEASE: “There have been times, especially in the beginning of my trip, that I couldn’t understand what people were saying, which is particularly embarrassing since they speak my own language. England has a wide range of dialects and sometimes if people spoke too quickly, I couldn’t catch their sentences.’’
STIFF UPPER LIP: “Overly dramatic emotion, though not quite a taboo, is frowned upon in certain public circles. I’ve found myself with one too many cold stares after ‘making a row’ in a restaurant or outdoors. Keeping a reserved control about your personality has been one of the hardest bits of British social etiquette for me to learn. I am a naturally touchy-feely kind of person, apt to hugging and touching friends and acquaintances, and this sort of interaction is awkward to the British.’’
HALLOWED HALLS: “At first, I was intimidated by the illustrious list of alumni that attended Cambridge. Still, after some time I came to find that I am just as academically motivated. Students at Cambridge take their work much more seriously than students at UNH. It is the academic pressure which they are under.’’
HOUSE RULES: “The university is divided into 31 colleges, each with a different history and set of traditions. Each college is patrolled by porters and housekeepers, chefs and fellows. Each college might be considered a family, which is closely akin in nature to the Greek system in America.’’
