I am attending university here, you know.

And yes, it’s called “university.” Not “college,” and most definitely not “school.” School is for children only in the UK.

Even more confusing is college. Your first two years of secondary school (what we would call high school) are in preparation for a standardized test called the GCSEs. They are subject tests, so students choose specific subjects to study fairly early on in the schooling system here. After GCSEs, a student might stay in the same 4-year primary school, or might go the a 2-year college. At the end, they will take A-level exams. Closest equivalent are AP exams in the states, but A-levels are harder, and count for more. You can use them to go to uni or you can apply to a job on your A-levels alone.

Ignoring that. I’m at uni here. And I’m here for a term, not a semester. And I’m going to have exams, not finals.

The quirkiest thing isn’t universal, though. It’s just my university, London Metropolitan, and it’s simultaneously cool and extremely frustrating.

When we hand in papers here, they are entirely anonymous. We are not allowed to put our names on the paper, nor do we hand the papers in to our professors. (Fun Side Fact: We don’t call the people who teach us “professor.” They are lecturers, or seminar leaders, and most students refer to them on a first-name basis. Which I cannot do. Thank you, Macaulay Orientation, for rendering me incapable of using any term less formal then “professor” when trying to speak to my teachers after class.)

Instead of handing the papers to the teacher, we have to print off special cover sheets from one of our online student accounts. (Like at QC, I have a variety of accounts to choose from. This one is called “evision”) The cover sheet has, I kid you not, a BAR CODE. We have to hand in the paper to the Undergraduate Office on the day it is due, and the bar code is scanned to confirm that the paper has been handed in, and students are sent a confirmation email.

One advantage is that while a normal paper is due at class time when the professor wants it, I can hand in my papers until the Undergraduate Office closes. Which could be at 5pm, but the drop box stays open until 9pm or so. That’s a whole lot of time I have to hand in my paper.

And the annonymonus system is nice, in theory. It does prevent favoritism and such from the professors. But as a study abroad student, unfamiliar with the citation style and basic spelling rules of the UK, I would like the graders to be aware that I do not have same background as the rest of the students.

For the curious, I’m wrapping up mid-terms now. One last paper due tomorrow, and I’ll be done with the midterms at last. I still have a group project, final papers, and a running log I need to work on. And readings. Lots and lots of readings.