I'm tall? and How I Thought I Knew English

While I have been over here I have noticed that I am indeed not short. I have always known that I was above average at a whopping 5 and a half feet tall, but I have never really felt the part. I think this is mainly because of my friends, for as long as I can remember have all been taller than me, and I have always been in the middle to short half of the height lineup.

Here, however, I often feel like I am towering over people. When I walk down the hall, I am actually looking over people's heads! Nearly half of the girls that I hang around with are 5' 2'' or less (ok maybe that is a slight over exaggeration, but it's not a huge one). And the guys, at home the common height seems to be about 6 feet, here it's more like 5'10''.

I'm not sure how I feel about my new found altitude but there is not much that I can do about it.

So, on anther note I have started to become fluent in the British vernacular. There are still moments were we have a "What on Earth are you talking about?" and have to ask for a translation, but I'm getting better all the time.
If you ever have interactions with people from this fine island here are some common terms
(our term- their term)

Vacuum-The hoover
It is like how we call everything we blow our nose with a Kleenex
Lunch- Dinner
Dinner- Tea
These two confused me for the longest time, I could not figure out why they were having dinner so early
The Bathroom- The Ladies
Dad, Mom, Kendra this should make you laugh. Think of Peter and the Star Catchers
Soda-Pepsi, Sprite there is no general term
Grilled Cheese- Tosties
You have a major- You're on a course
Classes-Modules
Professors- Not quite sure what to call them
Nasty- Mingin'
I don't think this is a bad word, all I know is its Scottish and my flatmates from the north use it
Cool, Good- Well nice

Go for it, Why not?-Get involved

The other thing that has been odd with words is the spelling. You write cheques, labour away at tasks, while being asked what is your favourite colour.
While they don't sound like they would be that hard to understand, throw in an accent and some fast talkers and you, like me, would be scratching your head, feeling dumb that you can't even understand English.

Well, I hope that you now feel more cultured as you become more fluent in a language you through you already knew :)