“Everything is going to be different to what you are used to.” As I waited to leave at the airport, my father’s words came back to me. My father failed to be funny, but I noticed his anxiety about the departure of his one and only beloved daughter.

Even after living 500 miles away from my parents for two years, barely visiting my family, he didn’t seem too pleased that I had decided to study abroad for 10 months. Before the start of my big trip, I had come home to Berlin for a couple of days and I realised during this time why I’d chosen to leave my parents. Being an only child can be rather irritating, although I guess it’s the same in the UK.

Anyway, when I boarded my plane I tried to consider all the important facts that would help me ‘survive’ the first days. I remembered that all cars drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, and I remembered that I shouldn’t mix up the terms ‘England’ and the ‘UK.’ But a one and a half hour flight isn’t that long if you want to recall everything. I was running out of time…

I was supposed to meet another girl on the first day after my arrival. We had agreed to meet in front of her halls at 9am, but apparently she was a little bit late. I was waiting and waiting and waiting. Having grown up in Germany where its normal to inform your buddy when you might be one minute late, I was getting nervous. But Lily was from Georgia so probably had more severe jet lag than me. Maybe she had overslept.

Eventually I couldn’t stand waiting any longer so I went to the Security Office to see if I would be allowed in the building. The officer seemed pretty shocked to see a student at this time, but perhaps this was because he had fallen asleep.

After letting me in I went up to Lily’s flat and knocked on her bedroom. A girl who I did not know opened the door – apparently I was on the wrong floor. I found it quite funny how the girl apologised for her messy appearance nearly as often as I did for waking her up so early. We exchanged stories of our first Cardiff experiences and then I left her to get back to sleep– she had been partying until 3am. Sorry again Amy!

When I was outside, I finally realised that I had forgotten to adapt the different time zone; Germany is one hour ahead of the UK. After that experience I realised the first difference between Germans and British; you guys seem to be more relaxed and don’t take everything so seriously.

But you are definitely serious about a warm dinner. I’m used to having lunch as the main meal of the day, but when my British flatmates caught me eating my usual dinner of slices of bread with butter, meat and cheese, they seemed pretty perplexed that Germans don’t have a warm dinner.

When my French flatmate, Solene, found out about my eating habits the reaction got even worse; she couldn’t believe it.

“So you have first bread as a appetizer and then a warm dinner?”

“So no warm dinner at all?”

A look of pure horror was written all over her face. She even offered me some of her dinner. Maybe some nations have more in common than they ever realise.

I also learnt that studying in the UK means you save some money, even though the living expenses are slightly higher than in the rest of Europe. The highly praised punctuality of Germans can be pretty expensive, but here I don’t have to text or call my mates when I can’t make it on time. But the money I save – and probably a little bit more – will be spent on going out and clubbing. (I’m glad that my parents dont read gair rhydd!)

When I go out in Berlin it’s normally only once in a while, and we plan the night at least two weeks in advance before heading to the club. Normally, we gather at about 10 pm in someone’s flat and leave around midnight. Nobody is wasted before even entering the club. If we’re not having fun, we head to another club. We stay until 5 or 6 am in the morning. The next day I wake up at 4 pm and have a terrible hangover.

When I go out in Cardiff I go out twice or three times a week. We don’t gather at someone’s place because we don’t plan to go out, but this doesn’t prevent everybody being tipsy when we enter the club. We arrive between 9 and 10 pm, we’re having fun, and we stay until 2 am in the morning. The next day I wake up at 10 am and have a terrible hangover. Some things will never change.

But being an international student means more than dealing with a different time zone, variant eating and clubbing habits and another currency.

I’ve grown up speaking my mind all the time – Germans are notorious for their honesty. My Mum wasn’t always very fond of my behaviour. Especially when, aged seven, I broke the silence of a waiting room with “Mummy, why has this woman such an ugly nose?!”

However it’s common in Germany to be direct. We tend to consider ‘showing respect’ as a proper way of being polite. ‘Respect’ assumes that the other person deserves an honest answer, not some ‘pretty white lie’. Being sincere demonstrates that we really care about this person. So we set a high value on what people say.

I noticed that the British people define politeness in terms of ‘friendliness’; smiling, saying phrases such as “how are you” and “see you,” whether they have a real meaning behind them or not.

This is a pleasant feeling! I don’t have to be afraid to be embarrassed or exposed in public. I feel sheltered. I no longer hear things like, “have you gained weight?” or “I’m sorry, I’ve heard you lost your job?”

However, now I cannot be sure how they really feel and think. It’s much easier for me to handle a situation if I know the truth, even if it’s not pleasant. In some situations I tend to feel insecure, instead of seeing me as the strong and powerful woman that I usually am.

Because there are different approaches towards “being friendly”, misunderstandings can easily occur. It’s always just a fine line: an outspoken remark can easily be regarded as slightly disrespectful, even when I never intended to offend the person. It’s also a matter of your own awareness of this issue; sometimes I still assume that my behaviour is tolerated and accepted in society. It can be difficult to keep in mind that this is another country, another culture, with different common behaviour. Yet this is the best adventure I ever had.

In the words of Henry Miller: “Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.” Explore the world.