Differences

One of the main differences between the Oxford system and the United States system is the types of people with whom you get to interact. In the States, for the most part, undergraduates interact with undergraduates and graduates with graduates. The only real exception to this would be if you were a graduate TA teaching an undergraduate lab course, or perhaps if you were in an intro grad course that is open to senior undergraduates as an elective. But in those cases, you don't really become friends with those people - there's still a hierarchy.

And within the graduate subsystem, I don't think graduates tend to interact with those from other degrees unless they're very similar subjects (i.e. different sciences interacting, or a Communication graduate doing a marketing course in the MBA department). You wouldn't normally see linguists hanging out with lawyers and med students and philosophers.

Here, things are very different. Undergrads live with grad students, and people of all different degree programs are mixed together. On top of that, we get people from all over the world here. Not only does it help to gain different perspectives on what you're studying, it helps to gain perspective on the world in general. I've learned about food preferences and job interview styles and the correct way to pronounce hundreds of different names. (Whenever I am teaching or working in the States, the last one surprises people. I get a lot of "That's the right way to say it, but no one ever says it like that!")

I know I say things like this all the time, but even in my fourth year here it still amazes me. I may have become oblivious to other out-of-the-ordinary things (I've been known to say things like "I'm so tired of guinea fowl..."), but I still find it cool when I sit down with 8 people in hall and every one of them is from a different country.

Back to work now. Bis morgen!