This guest-post has been written by Thomas Shipley, a former Frankfurt International School (FIS) student and a current English Literature student at the University of Nottingham. And yes, we are related.

After spending months at home in post-IB rehabilitation, I wondered what living in England and going to university there was going to be like. Were the rumors of sleeping in, little work, and much partying true? Was English food going to be as bad as us continental Europeans make it out to be? Would I have difficulty making friends?

After a term at the University of Nottingham, I have already gotten my fair deal of student life! Freshers’ week, or week one of university, was probably one of the most exciting times of my life – seven days of meeting new people, going to clubs and events, and drinking. Lots of drinking! Oh and some introductory lectures too, let’s not forget about those.

Settling into my course wasn’t easy, as was the navigation around campus, enrolling myself into modules, and figuring out my timetable. I was so used to having my academic life all laid-out for me that it almost felt like too much freedom. Lectures were a bit daunting at first; two hundred students in one hall, all quiet, all listening to one professor’s voice. Seminars (lessons in a small group) felt like being in school again, just everybody was speaking in various English dialects.

As an international person, part-American part-German, I’ll admit that I felt a bit of an outsider in an otherwise quite homogenous group. Sure, there were foreigners – mostly Chinese – but otherwise I was surrounded by English people. The one thing that helped me along was the fact that English is my native tongue, albeit with an American accent, so the “wrong” type of English. At least that’s what the perpetual teasing has taught me. One English friend would greet me with a grin on his face, yelling at me in his best American accent: “Oh my gawd!” Since this fellow is a Northerner, I would retort: “Ay up!” (a typical Yorkshire greeting to a Lancastrian is not always advisable… see The Wars of the Roses for more information).

I guess what I like most about university life are the societies and the social life. However, there won’t be any more hall socials next year, as I’ll be forced to live in a flat. And maybe I’ll have too much work next year to attend any of the numerous societies’ (e.g., Philosophy Society, Chinese Society, Sailing Society) meetings; I already have a considerable amount of assignments as it is. But all that might get old anyway once I’m in year three. Who knows?

I wonder where my degree in English may lead me. I have a few ideas that I will delve into, such as journalism or advertising. A friend scoffed and asked, “A degree in English? You know what they say about English majors…” Some German friends and family have asked: “English? That’s a useful language to learn nowadays! It should be easy for him, he has an American father!” To them all I say: Well, then you try explaining to me Dickens’s view on the effects of utilitarian education and rapid industrialization on our society!