Britain in My Eyes

For example, if one returns to halls by sunset, before they get into their room, they have to go through several encoded and locked doors watched over by CCTVs as well as being met by several security guards. Thus there is no reason to feel unsafe. Almost all doors at halls are fire doors, which always have to be kept closed and should be able to keep potential fire in for up to 30 minutes. In every corridor and room except the bathroom and kitchen, smoke detectors and alarms are plentiful. Therefore, the probability that someone could burn to death is approaching zero. In the case of a fire alarm, everyone from the given block has to move to an area outside where all the people are counted and checked against a list in order to find out if somebody remained in their room regardless of the insane noise of the fire alarm. Fire drills are tested every week independently of each other. Hence it’s not uncommon to hear an alarm several times a day, each time in a different building. More often than not, a lecturer is interrupted by the loud wailing and the same happens during the following lecture. There are no exceptions in testing even during exams. Fire drill training take place several times a year.

An instance of exaggerated paperwork is evidence of received post at the halls reception. Every package has to go through a form of a complicated system which often takes half a day to complete. Sometimes it happens that one receives an email from a delivery service that the package has been delivered at noon, but they still can’t collect it even at five in the evening regardless of the fact that they can see their package on the reception floor waiting for processing. However, this system evidently works since no one’s package that I know of has ever been lost or misplaced.

Doctors in England need a whole chapter for themselves. A month ago a piece of my tooth separated so I did the obvious and went to see a dentist. To my surprise, I got an appointment the next day in the morning after filling in a registration form even though the tooth didn’t hurt at all and It was not an emergency. The process was very professional – I was X-rayed, the dentist discussed everything with me beforehand and suggested several options. The price was very similar compared to the Czech Republic and the filling is still lasting without any problems. However, the exact opposite became true in next two weeks when I got an inflammation in my sinuses. After several days with a fever reaching 40°C and paracetamol not doing its job, I went to see my GP. The waiting room was almost empty, that placed a little smile on my face. It didn’t last long as I was told at the reception that the earliest appointment I could get would be the following week. However, I got lucky after insisting and explaining how bad I was feeling, the receptionist started to call the surgeons nearby until she managed to get the appointment for me the same day. I was prescribed antibiotics and in a week, I was fit again.

In terms of cooking, I would say that Britain is pretty different compared to the Czech Republic. When I arrived here, my culinary skills enabled me at most to have a meal of ham, eggs and spaghetti with ketchup. It was imminent that I would need to wait for some time until I would manage to cook myself a tasty dinner. However, my first shopping in a local supermarket changed everything. In Tesco’s, for instance, it’s possible to buy ready-to-eat meals for a reasonable price, which only require to be heated in a microwave. They are without any added preservatives, and their taste is incomparable to the common powdered meal prepared by mixing with hot water. Regarding common cooking, there is an infinite assortment of foodstuffs. Range of meals which are possible to prepare is thus inexhaustible. All one needs to know is what ingredients to buy and how to bring them together. However, there are always friends around who can help, so I learnt over the course of a few weeks how to prepare several tasty meals of various cuisines, and ready-to-eat meals from a supermarket had become only a choice of mine when tiredness exceeds my “inspiration” for cooking.

This was only a short look at background of everyday life. I could continue with the famously known British courtesy or weather. However, these topics are so proverbial and obvious that I won’t mention them here.