which we find ourselves , and the second one helped me to refine and orient myself on what will be the final dissertation of my Master ’ s course .
As far as my fellow students are concerned , due to Covid , many students are not present where the college is . The ones I interact with the most are the ones in my residence ( FYH ). In this place we have two Methodist students and their partners in the two flats ( they count as two different households ). In my household , we have two Anglican students , one from the Manchester area , one from London and five Methodist students from Nottingham , Dudley , Leicester and one who has moved around as a Minister child . There are huge age differences , too , but this doesn ’ t seem to be a problem . Living in such a varied environment is a great pleasure for me because it helps me to understand how varied the Call can be and also helps me to refine my English with the different shades of English accents .
As far as my impressions of England and the city of Birmingham are concerned , I can say that I am adapting quite well to the new reality . As soon as I arrived , what struck me most was the weather : particularly the speed with which it changes and the frequency with which it rains ( almost every day ). During quarantine , I had the pleasure of seeing sun , clouds , snow , sun , rain and clouds in the space of six hours . Another thing that struck me was the taste of the food : different from how I remembered it ! Being of Sierra Leonean origin , I have travelled a lot in my life , and I have often had to get used to the realities I encountered ... but I never imagined finding identical products as in Italy but with a different taste . There are also other peculiarities that I could list ( such as ‘ See you later ’, which is a greeting and does not mean that you are going to see later or ‘ You ’ re ok ?’ which simply means hello and not an interest on how you are really doing ). The thing that did worry me a bit , though , was the left-hand drive . For a while I found it hard to adapt to the left driving . I was a bit afraid to walk on my own as , without meaning to , my instinct was to look on the wrong side of the road while trying to cross ( and Birmingham is not known for careful driving ).
On the other hand , though , what I have found really beautiful is the multi-ethnicity of the area I am in . Walking around I never felt out of context ( apart from when I had to deal with the English of the British in Birmingham , which is not easy at all to understand !). Many times I had to point out that I am not English , and even when I said I was Italian , no one ever asked me my origins . The impression I have is that the climate , at least in the public sphere , is more inclusive ( or at least tries to respect the other person for who they are or feel they are ). This is very encouraging ! Supermarkets also reflect this in my opinion ... I am a spicy and mango lover , and you cannot imagine the joy of finding all kinds of spices and mangoes ( fruit , dried fruit , juice , soda … is there more ?). I am well aware that I still have a lot to discover ... and I am looking forward to being ( positively ) surprised by the new reality I find myself in .
THANKS very much to the Waldensian Church Mission for supporting me !
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