Insider tips for international students

Moving to another country sounds exciting until you realise you have no idea how anything works. From accidentally embarrassing yourself in another language, to trying to figure out where M28 is, being an international student is an adventure full of unexpected challenges. No matter how well you cope with the new situation, settle into school, or make friends – there’ll always be moments when you feel like the British pupils are rolling their eyes because we’ve made a fools of ourselves. That’s why I’m going to give you some insider tips that I wish I had known before.

One of my favourite things about being a student at RHS is that British people are generally very polite – something I’m afraid I’m not used to in Germany, at least. So, whilst I was still quite overwhelmed by all the lovely people during the first few days, it naturally didn’t occur to me that these friendly gestures were now the new norm. And by that, I don’t just mean being friendly in general, but for example, thanking the teachers after a lesson. When I first heard the teachers being bombarded with ‘Thank you, Miss’ or ‘Thank you, Sir’ after each lesson, I naturally walked out of the classroom completely confused without saying a word. I can proudly say that it took me at least one school week to add these polite sentences to my vocabulary.

Secondly, here’s a small but incredibly important tip for the girls! If you want to avoid a few awkward stares during the first few days, make sure you’re wearing your skirt the right way round. I know you might be thinking, ‘What sort of idiot would wear their skirt the wrong way round?’, but believe me, I wasn’t the only one who wore their school uniform rather strangely on the first day of term. I was actually quite lucky, because my roommate explained to me how to wear the skirt properly before anyone else saw me walking about like that, but I’m afraid I have to say that even after a week, you still saw girls wearing the skirt with the zip at the front. So bear in mind: the zip does go at the back!

My third tip is actually less of a tip and more of a simple piece of information, but I thought I’d mention it in this article anyway. But be warned: this might only apply to sixth-form students! Due to our really small classes the learning atmosphere is rather relaxed and it feels more like a chat with your teachers and classmates. Even though this is a pretty good thing, having smaller classes means that pupils simply shout out their answers without raising their hands. You can be a fan of that or not, but I feel like it makes lessons even more difficult for international students. If we’re completely honest: no matter how good you are at a subject, British pupils will always shout out their answers faster than you do, because they simply don’t have to translate anything in their heads. Also it kind of feels like I’m doing something illegal when I just speak out in class, because back in Germany the teachers would get angry if you speak without being called on. I think it’s more of a personal question whether you like this change in the school system or not.

Even if other traditions sometimes seem strange to you, you feel overwhelmed, or you find yourself stumbling from one awkward situation to the next – after a few weeks, it all feels like the most normal thing in the world. I mean, if I’ve managed to sort the whole RHS thing out, it can’t be that difficult.