First of all, I have to admit that I like Swindon very much. The inner town is quite small in contrast to, let's say, London and therefore it makes everything nice and personal.

And Old Town is even more calm and I really enjoy just walking through the streets with the old houses.

Nevertheless, when I first walk through Swindon there were a lot of things which appeared strange to me as a guy from another country.

On my first day here I really wanted to do the one thing which would be characterised as most English-like.

I decided I would visit a traditional pub. In Germany, going to a bar is not a big deal. But when I entered a pub in Swindon the drama had only just began. I went in, sat down at a table and, as I am used to doing in my country, I waited for the waiter to take my order. After half an hour hopeless expectations, I realised that I was supposed to order at the bar on my own.

'Okay,' I thought to myself, 'after this unsuccessful beginning, I will take advice from my travel guide to avoid another disappointment'. So I looked under 'pub order' where it says: "The best and unproblematic choice in an English pub is a lager."

Convinced that there couldn't be anymore hurdles to get my long-awaited drink, I told the bar keeper with my best British accent: "Ey lager, pleaz."

Unfortunately, he replied to my horror: "Which kind?"

As I tried to find any brand name in between all the different types of drinks I felt like a stranger in the middle of nowhere. In the end, I chose the safest way and changed my order to a coffee.

After this problem-filled first contact with your society, I thought about buying some food in a supermarket.

My next amazement arrived when I stood in the queue for the till and the lady in front of me had to pay. The cashier asked if she had a club card. A fairly simple request you would have thought.

But she pulled out about 20 different cards from clothing stores, supermarkets, bookshop and others I couldn't identify.

Finally she managed to find the right one and I left the store with the feeling that I have arrived in the land of the club card.

So Swindon is the land of the clubcard.

But, from my first impressions, it could equally be called 'dirty-land'.

Walking through the streets, I could hardly avoid stepping on rubbish like empty cans, used sandwich boxes, bags which used to contain chips, etc let alone the garbage bags in front of every house. Finally, I am really confused by this habit of the English to say "cheers" in situations where I don't expect it.

I mean, I always thought cheers was a term used when you pull your glasses together and make a toast.

So I really got the impression that people here are crazy when in a shop where I bought something the person behind the counter said "cheers" to me.

After a while, I discovered that the word is used here instead of thank you. Anyhow, I still can't imagine that people in Germany would say 'prost' (cheers) instead of 'danke' (thank you).

So after my first interesting experiences I decided to walk back to my flat.

As I walked through the streets I became a bit afraid about the health of you Swindonians. I mean, your eating habits couldn't be less healthy!

People appeared to have one aim in life as they walked along to stuff their faces with anything bad, ranging from chips and sandwiches to biscuits and fatty pasties.

But, in spite of your strange quirks, I must say people in Swindon have proved to be extremely polite and very open towards me.

I am enjoying my time in the town and, who knows, some of your strange habits might even rub off on me!