Travelling home for Christmas

[Lyssia]

Undergraduates all over the UK (and probably some other countries too) do it every year. Whackloads of international students do it too. I've just done it for the upteenth time but I'm suffering from worse-than-average culture shock - and it's not like I live a huge distance away from the UK normally anyway.

 

This afternoon I got on a bus and spoke to the driver in Dutch. When I walk along the street I automatically step to the right. I've lost any sense of "If someone's in your way, you'll apologise politely and step round them" - rather I've become a Brush-Your-Way-Past-And-Glare-If-They-Don't-Like-It rotter. I actually miss my bike (given my physique, that's laughable) and got lost in the University Library earlier because the signs to everything were in English.

 

On the plus side though, my bed here is much more comfortable!

 

Anyone else travelled "home" for Christmas? Any expats? Any similar weird stories?