E D U C AT I O N
“Chips are crisps, jam is jelly,
and no one knows what a
queue is!”
HOW THE SSE HELPED ONE SCHOLAR
FEEL AT HOME IN ANOTHER COUNTRY
WORDS EMILY STOKES
Emily Stokes is a UK SSE Scholar,
spending 3 terms at Hutchison School, in
Memphis, Tennessee. Here, Emily describes
her first few weeks of settling in.
Moving to America, going to high
school and living with an American
family are completely surreal. Things
that before now I had only seen in
movies keep popping up everywhere;
there are the subtle things like red solo
cups and Twinkies, but then there are
also big things, like Friday night football
games, tailgates, homecoming and
weekends at the lake house.
Sometimes it amazes me how
different America and the UK can be. I
never understood the amount of space
America has at its disposal before coming
here; everything is so much bigger and
spread out. In the time it would take to
drive from London to Scotland – over
half the country – you would be lucky to
38 | dialogue
be a third of the way across Tennessee.
Then there are the moments when I feel
like I speak a different language; biscuits
are like English muffins, chips are crisps,
jam is jelly and no one knows what a
queue is.
Every time I meet someone new they
have a few questions. Where in England
am I from? To which I have to reply
outside of London – even though I live
closer to Dover – because otherwise,
whatever variation on Ashford I try, we
will descend into a ten minute mess of
me trying to explain where that is in
England. Do I actually drink tea? Yes.
Yes, in fact I bought a 240 box of PG Tips
with me and I am mildly horrified every
time someone tries to give me honey
and lemon with my hot water. Do I know
any of the boys from One Direction or
Prince Harry? No, unfortunately we
haven’t crossed paths yet.