An American exchange student at Plymouth University has shared the one thing she claims ‘doesn’t make sense’ about the UK way of living – but Brits soon came to argue back
An American exchange student currently studying at the University of Plymouth has shared the one she she claims ‘doesn’t make sense’ about the UK.
Moving abroad is a big decision that often comes with a lot of changes and culture shocks. Taking a gap year or an exchange year while studying is a great way to explore and experience a new country and culture with the knowledge that you can go home at the end of your exchange time. This was something Isa Rivera decided to do, as she’s currently attending a university in the UK as an exchange student.
Originally from New Orleans, Isa is a musical theatre student at Nebraska Wesleyan University, who decided to take the opportunity to study abroad at the University of Plymouth. She has since taken to TikTok to document her time as an exchange student in the UK, including all the changes and culture shocks she’s experienced in the first few months.
In one video, Isa expressed her confusion about British electricity sockets , and how different they are to the sockets she’s used to in the USA.
She shows herself trying to plug in an American plug into a UK socket – which obviously didn’t work as there is a clear difference in the two plugs. While UK plugs have three pins, one of which being for the earth pin, which is added for extra safety, the US plug only has two pins and is also more narrow than a British plug.
As Isa wasn’t able to plug her US plug into the UK socket, she went on to grab an adaptor and plugged that in before plugging in her US plug into the adapter.
She then went on to turn on the socket that she was wanting to use, which is another feature that is not common across the pond.
Isa went on to share her confusion with the British socket system, as she took to the caption of her video to say: “The switch makes no sense… Like if it’s red that should mean off but it’s the opposite.”
However, several people soon took to the comment section of the video to explain the reasons why the British electric system is ‘safer’ than the US system – but not before sharing their confusion about the differences.
“You guys don’t have switches?” one viewer asked, while another person said: “Dare you to find a safer electrical system than the UK.”
Someone else went on to say: “You guys don’t have switches? So you unplug a plug after using it? Or do you just let the electricity keep flowing through??? That’s so dangerous.”
Another user went on to explain: “Double the electrical voltage to American outlets iirc, red means live, therefore on, extra safety measures bc of the higher voltage.”
To this, Isa replied: “Actually helpful answer! Good to know.”