American student in UK says there’s one thing she finds really ‘confusing’

An American exchange student studying at the University of Plymouth has voiced her confusion over one aspect of British life that she claims ‘doesn’t make sense’.

Moving to a new country is a significant decision that often comes with several adjustments and cultural surprises. Taking a gap year or an exchange year during studies provides an excellent opportunity to discover and immerse oneself in a new country and culture, with the comfort of knowing you can return home at the end of your exchange period.

This was the path chosen by Isa Rivera, who is currently attending a UK university as an exchange student. Hailing from New Orleans, Isa is a musical theatre student at Nebraska Wesleyan University who took the chance to study abroad at the University of Plymouth.

She has since used TikTok to chronicle her time as an exchange student in the UK, including all the changes and cultural shocks she’s encountered in her first months in the UK.

In one clip, Isa expressed her bewilderment about British electrical sockets and how they differ from the ones she’s accustomed to in the USA.

She films herself attempting to insert an American plug into a UK socket – which naturally didn’t work due to the distinct differences between the two plugs. While UK plugs have three pins, including an earth pin for added safety, the US plug only has two pins and is also narrower than a British plug.

Isa found herself unable to plug her US plug into the UK socket, so she used an adaptor and plugged that in before plugging in her US plug into the adapter.

She then turned on the socket she wanted to use, a feature not common in the US.

Isa expressed her confusion with the British socket system in the caption of her video, stating: “The switch makes no sense… Like if it’s red that should mean off but it’s the opposite.”

However, several people quickly commented on the video to explain why the British electric system is ‘safer’ than the US system, while also expressing their own confusion about the differences.

“You guys don’t have switches?” one viewer queried, while another challenged: “Dare you to find a safer electrical system than the UK.”

Another person commented: “You guys don’t have switches? So you unplug a plug after using it? Or do you just let the electricity keep flowing through??? That’s so dangerous.”

One user explained: “Double the electrical voltage to American outlets iirc, red means live, therefore on, extra safety measures bc of the higher voltage.”

To this, Isa responded: “Actually helpful answer! Good to know.”