I'm sorry sir, but what is the difference between Aubergine and an Eggplant?

Flags hang in the Abbey of Bath, England

Even though most students choose London as a study-abroad destination because it shares a common language with the United States, the city does in fact speak a different language. What’s more, Brits are not shy about emphasizing the difference between our two forms of English. Sure, they have pavement, rubbish bins, the loo, mates, rocket, chavs, and chips while we have sidewalks, garbage cans, bathrooms, friends, arugula, wiggers, and French fries. Dictionaries have been published simply to provide translation and guidance for those who are not native or assimilated to English vocabulary. In my opinion, the "language barrier" reflects something larger; an over-arching cultural barrier has confronted me since my arrival. For example, on my third night here, a bunch of friends and I went to hang out in a LSE student’s dorm room. Sure, the condition of the room would have easily compared with that of a freshman boy in some American state university: clothes thrown around, posters of women in bikinis holding beer hanging on every wall, bad rap music playing. Yet, one of the guys made a comment that my friend didn’t understand, and when she quietly asked what it meant, he exclaimed that she needed to be taught how to speak! "You need to learn English English, not that bloody American English,” he laughed in her face. Also indicative of this inherent British superiority is a question asked of my friend and I during our visit to Bath this weekend. [I should also add that one does not visit Bath, one takes a Bath. When speaking about the town, one must annunciate and extend the “Baaaaath” so as to avoid confusion with fellow mates who expect you to meet them for dinner in 45 minutes once you have finished with your Bath.] We found ourselves caught in a question and answer session by this young guy who was very weary of Americans. After first agreeing that I knew every rock band he liked, I was quite thrown off when he asked us, “do you Americans even know what spoons are?" Taken aback by the question, which was asked with total sincerity, all we could answer back was, "Its not as if we live in a primitive society…we ARE a modernized nation."I must admit that traveling to a place that also speaks English has made the adjustment far easier than it would be if I had moved to Prague, Berlin, or Paris. I can ask for directions, read the street signs, and follow along most conversations in which I engage or overhear. Yet, it’s been a bit disheartening to experience first-hand the discontent that so many Europeans, and young ones in particular, have with Americans. I am doing my best to adjust; I can alter some of my vocabulary, maybe even pronounce my A’s a little lower. Yet either way, I sense that some kind of cultural barrier will remain present.Cheers!