UK dopers: Moving to England in 10 days! HELP!

In My Humble Opinion
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So, as of 1st October, I will be moving to England for (at least) two years. I decided the best plan upon graduating from college was - more school! I will be studying at Oxford on a student visa, which I happily have already obtained.
Now, if there is one thing I am terrible at, it is packing. I need some help deciding 1) what I should bring with me 2) what I should buy there and 3) what I should just forget about.
The main struggle is limiting the amt of books I’m bringing - most of them will have to be for my subject (Classics). I don’t want to ship gallons of stuff, plus I’m sure I won’t have too much space in my room.
I’d also like to hear from the UK cohort as to what I, as an American, should know about living and studying in England, and especially Oxford, that the student guides won’t tell me.
I also have one specific question: I am going to be bringing a laptop (Mac) which I know will need a bunch of gizmos to work with the plug, so that is taken care of. I can of course watch my Region 1 DVDs on this laptop, but I like the idea of having a DVD player and renting DVDs, except they would be Region 2. (I’m undecided on the whole TV issue as of yet). So my question is: how difficult and expensive and legal will it be to buy a region-free DVD player?
Sorry for the long post, even the smallest hint will be appreciated!

Cheers,
Daphne Black

“It’s probably funnier in Latin. You know how that is.” - Fred on Angel

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You can buy region free DVD players in the UK for relatively cheap.

Here’s a Sony one on Amazon.co.uk for £70 but you can get cheaper ones in supermarkets.

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You’re right to opt not to bring many books. It’s incredible how heavy ( =expensive) they can be to ship. And with the Bodleian Library on your doorstep, you’ll hardly have a problem finding another copy to consult…

Like Arch Trout said for DVD players. Dixons, a high street chain, have them for £30.

Other than that, ummm, I guess the student guides probably tell you a fair amount of what you need to know. But as a whole, expect things to be more expensive here. :frowning:

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…of course, that player won’t be region-free - but then do you need it to be, if your laptop can play your present DVDs?

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Other general points about socialising in the UK.

We have much more of a drinking culture here than in the states.
Especially amongst students (although I assume students the world over like to imbibe).

Almost all pubs allow smoking throughout, which may be a shock to you if you’re coming from California.

We don’t have a tipping culture here so the barman will look at you very oddly if you leave your change on the bar.

I’d also check the threads that are kicking about at the moment about the language differences to help avoid any embarrassing situations.

I don’t know about Oxford, but my university would penalise student essays for using American spellings. Make sure you set your spell checker to UK English and not US English.

Have fun and enjoy your studies.

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Thanks, ArchTrout and GorillaMan.

I just thought region-free would be nice, because then I could watch my DVDs on a (potentially) better or easier to see screen, and more than one person could watch them. I will check both options out.

Thank you for the note on tipping, that is always confusing. Students in the US love to drink, of course, but the vast majority of it is not legal, much less in College-owned “beer cellars.” I look forward to the more enlightened attitude about drinking, and sex as well: the matter-of-fact attitude about that (in the guides and official info) is refreshing.

I do know about basic language differences, i.e. ‘trousers’ vs. ‘pants/knickers’, lift, lorry, full stop, etc. and I have been informed re: ‘can’t be bothered’ and ‘can’t be arsed’ and some others. Also the student guides are full of glossaries for ‘Oxonian’ language. But any anyone would like to share, I’ll be delighted.

Spelling is going to be terrible! I am a good speller here, but I am going to slip up. I will of course set the spell check for UK, but in writing things out… I will just have to be vigilant. Also: punctuation is different. Did I do the quotation marks above correctly?

Something I have been wondering about is this: when I talk, I gesture a lot with my hands, and I make a great deal of eye contact. I tend to feel that if a person is not making eye contact with me they are not interested or distracted. I have read that making (extended) eye contact and large gestures are considered bad form in England. Is this true?
I really don’t want to be a ‘stupid American’. It’s astounding to me how much the countries seem to differ in the ‘little things’ which adds up to quite a learning curve. But I am really excited that I have this opportunity!

Thanks again, any other advice is very welcome!

Cheers,
Daphne Black

“It’s probably funnier in Latin. You know how that is.” Fred on Angel

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I wasn’t aware of any particular differences in punctuation - and nothing looks wrong with your quotation. In an academic context, just ask what the house style is for your department: in many cases, it’ll just be the Chicago manual anyway.

No. Perhaps in elite (ie stuffy) surroundings, you’ll want to be a bit demure. But no, don’t worry about it. (It’s a common observation that Americans do tend to seem to talk loudly, though.)

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I hope you have a great time in the UK Daphne. In what area of classics will you be specialising?

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GorillaMan, the punctuation I was referring to was putting the . (full stop!) or the , inside or outside of the quotation marks, and also using single vs. double quotation marks in the reverse situations (in the US, it’s double first, then single inside, in the UK, it seems to be single first, and sometimes throughout - but maybe I’m confused).

I will try to talk more quietly than I do here - I do notice that conversations with my friends might seem like shouting matches if you don’t listen to the friendly words being spoken!

Cunctator, (love the name, btw) I am a Latin person very much, especially post-Augustan Latin (I did my thesis on Petronius’ Satyricon) but for the second BA I am doing mostly Roman history and Greek lit/hist, since I got much less of those the first time around.
If I can convince someone to pay for me to stay at Oxford for a D.Phil (or if I go back to the states), I want to work on Late Antique Latin literature.

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OK, I thought of another silly question: in Oxford, everyone rides bikes. I love biking, I look forward to it. Except for the fact that it’s all on the other side of the road.

When I was in England last summer, I was able to cross the street without being killed, but I suspect it is more difficult on a wheeled vehicle. Any helpful suggestions if you’ve had to drive or bike over here?

Daphne

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OK I know it is really bad form to keep posting to my own thread, but I need to go to sleep so I thought I would post my last (semi-)random query first:
If I get a DVD player, and a TV, but I don’t get a license (licence?), is it illegal/impossible to watch rented or purchased DVDs?

In other words, do I have to pay the fee if I am not going to be watching broadcast TV on that set? (They have nice TVs in the Common Room, or so I’m told).

Thanks again for your help and good wishes, and any further advice anyone might have.

Cheers,
Daphne

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Have a gander here: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ This will tell you whether or not you need a licence (yes - with a “c”. With an “s” it’s the verb).

Good luck in Blighty!

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Sorry - that site’s not exactly high on facts, even though it’s the body that issues the licences!

But the essential quote is: “If you use or install television receiving equipment to receive or record television programme services you are required by law to have a valid TV Licence.”

[Could do with a comma somewhere, eh?]

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Yep, full stop inside. If it’s part of the quotation. Don’t add one inside if the original didn’t have one - but then you should work out a better context for the quote, anyway. Quotation marks: in an academic or formal context, double first, but other than that there’s no definite format.
And yes, seosamh is right, you’ll need a TV licence if you’ve got a set in your own room. They work out at about £10/month. And they do like to catch students out for not having one.

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IMO many US spelling versions are beccoming more and more commonplace oer here. In particular, -ise and -ize in words like ‘organise’ appear to be pretty much interchangeable, ‘center’ is becoming a common part of business names.

Just remember: cars have boots at the back, and don’t normally fit in lifts :smiley: (even though most UK cars are pretty dinky compared to the average US car!)

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As for cycling tips: wear a helmet (legally, it’s optional in the UK but if you get hit by another vehicle your skull will thank you) and obey the rules of the road–especially the (many) traffic lights.

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Noooooo tip the barstaff, please, pretty please (i’ve just got a new bar job) they won’t be offended, honest.
Don’t forget to bring a waterproof!
Search the web, most DVD players can be reset to factory settings and play ANY DVD. I think there are websites to tell you how to do it.
Yes, you will need a TV license, whether you have an arial or not.

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Aw, come on…am I really that invisible here on the boards that nobody mentioned me? :slight_smile:

I moved to Oxford in 1995 to start a M.St, then later a D.Phil degree in Modern History. I lived there until 2000, and passed my first D.Phil exam in 2002. My dissertation passed its final hurdle in, uh, July of this year. I knew a lot of Americans over there, I saw just about everything, I busted through every hoop they threw at me, which turned out to be a lot of them.

I can’t write down everything I learned right now (it would take a long time, and I’m kinda at work right now), but I will come back here in a short while…

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LICENCE, please! How many times …

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Well, I was a watching a (very funny) American stand-up do some material on the cultural differences last night, which may, possibly, under certain circumstances, be true in your case - bear in mind that these were all ratcheted up for comedy purposes:

English people love to complain, especially about the weather. This wouldn’t be so bad if only there were one type of weather they apparently liked, because then they would eventually stop. But a winter of complaining about the cold runs into a spring filled with comments about how we all hate the rain and then, against all logic, turns into a summer filled with complaints about how suddenly it’s too hot. And then in autumn it’s too cold again.This got a lot of laughs, which might be some indication of how true it is.

The English also wait for people to mispronounce a place name, and then sneer at them. This won’t be a big deal, but Leicester, Worcester and Bicester were in fact so named as a cruel joke. If people do sneer, rather than gently inform, feel free to keep getting it wrong in front of them.

A lot of the English don’t like Americans, or at least, will hold them solely responsible for the actions of their government. (The comic claimed that her first English boyfriend admitted that he told friends she was Canadian, because he was ashamed of her.) As one of my good friends is an American student, I can verify that this sort of attitude exists. It’s lazy and despicable, but it does happen. Happily, the majority of people are not like this.

Drinking rounds - a total surprise to the comic. In theory, everyone stands their round - so if you’re in a group of 8, that’s 8 drinks in the evening. “Even if you’ve just come out an AA meeting, you’re buying the drinks.” Basically it depends on the group you’re with - some see buying rounds as a fundamental part of pub culture, some don’t.