One thing I did not expect when studying abroad was the sheer amount of difference between my living situation in the United Kingdom versus back home in the United States. Despite having close to the same amount of room, and living off-campus in both situations, many amenities and aspects of my apartment are different, and I highly recommend considering these differences before living long-term outside of the US.
The first difference I noticed was the lack of air conditioning in my apartment. Many places in the US have adapted to having a lack of AC, such as the dorms at NAU; however, during the peaks of summer, it can get incredibly hot in the UK. When I initially arrived, the UK was in a massive heat wave, so not having AC at my disposal made my comfort levels plummet. The high level of humidity in the UK dramatically impacts the heat inside making it pretty miserable when it becomes too hot outside.
The next difference can be positive, or negative depending on your perspective. The water systems are quite different than in the US. The water, specifically in the sinks there is a much wider range of hot and cold. The water when turned completely to heat is boiling, and the water when turned completely to cold is ice cold. This is nice because cleaning dishes is easier with boiling water, but was hard to adjust to because I burnt my hand numerous times. With these extremes also come limitations, as the water only stays boiling for about 5 minutes of constant use. This is because the hot water runs out and needs to heat up again, the same thing happens with ice-cold water. When they run out, the water becomes lukewarm. It is nice to get a wider range of hot/cold from our sinks, but it is slightly frustrating to run out of heat so often when doing dishes or getting ready in the morning.
The final comparison that is very different from the US to the UK is the lack of cabinetry space. Before coming to the UK, many people warned me that apartments in Europe have less cabinetry and closet space, so I expected less, but I did not expect the sheer lack of them entirely. Our kitchen has one small lower cabinet for kitchenware and one larger one for cleaning products, and there are zero closets. This was mind-blowing to me. I had to adapt to my space and find ways to make it work, but it was interesting to see the difference.
Overall, living in the UK is very different from the US. Of course, there are many more differences with my living space, such as a different stove top, on and off switches for every single plug to save power, an on and off switch for the hot water in the shower to prevent overworking the water heater, a lack of a dryer, and the lack of top sheets on beds, but the ones mentioned were the most impactful for me. It is interesting how two countries that seem so similar at a glance can be so different in reality.
