Although the school fortunately didn't start until 14th of September, I had to spend two entire weeks in complete isolation - no going out, no shopping, no doing laundry and as a bonus, I was allowed only 30 minutes of cooking per day. I had to order my food online, but the online shopping services were so busy that my first order came only after five days of isolation. When I now hear someone complaining about restrictions, I cannot help myself but laugh, because they clearly haven't been locked in their room like in a jail cell.
But in the end, it was all worth it. When the school started, it quickly became clear to me that I chose my university well. If I compare my experience to that of my ex-classmates who chose to study at technical universities in the Czech Republic, absolutely everything is better in the UK. Our lecturers are professionals from the industry, we are only taught useful skills, everything including books, protective equipment, software, support sessions, tutors and career guidance is provided to us at no extra cost and all the universities here cooperate with international companies to make sure that graduates meet industry expectations and can smoothly transition to professional life.
When it comes to living in the UK, I have to say it's different, but I got quickly used to it. I can buy myself food for a lower price than in the Czech republic, I know which brands of cheddar cheese are rather enjoyable, what is the correct milk to tea ratio and that you have to first look to the right when crossing the road. The only thing that bothers me is my mostly British flatmates. They don't care too much about education and prefer spending their time getting drunk, high and partying, while I'm trying to sleep or study. It is also unfortunate because of the COVID restrictions. If only one of them gets infected, even though I may not know them, I'll have to get back to self-isolating for another two weeks.
It has been a very rough start to my university life, but hopefully, things will only get better. To summarize it all, if I had to decide again about going to a university in the UK, knowing all of the things I've written about, I wouldn't have chosen otherwise.
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