Study in the UK Blog

Hello All.Today was the first day of classes. The semester is finally upon us, it’s been a long time coming. The past two weeks have been amazing fun, with plenty happening since my last post. The last two days of International Orientation week were very full on, with activities on all day to attend. There were some funny ones, like an introduction to the many sides of British culture, but more serious and useful information regarding safety and wellbeing. The University certainly takes care of their International Students!

During the first of these days of activities, I finally ran into some other Australian students. Though it had been great meeting people from around the globe, I think homesickness would have set in pretty soon if it wasn’t for hearing some familiar voices. We met for a drink and a chat later that night.

The next day was the first of Freshers week, so the Student Residence was packed with parents dropping their kids off to their new home. It’d been quite around here for the days prior, with only a few international students and early arriver’s around. Everyone I have met has been incredibly friendly, so it’s been pretty easy to settle in. Being an international student certainly helps the initial conversation with domestic students, there’s always plenty to talk about.

Freshers week was great fun. I was a bit skeptical at first, as I’d been through it all before, but they make a much bigger deal about it over here. Needless to say, my new flat mates were keen to party right throughout the week, and I happily obliged. Unlike them, I had hardly any Induction to do as I was doing 2nd year modules, so I got it pretty easy. The week concluded and you could tell everyone had a bit of “Fresher’s Flu” from all the late nights, but it was worth it.

I’ve only had two classes so far, so I’ll reflect on all the differences at the end of this week. Cheerio!

Greetings from the UK!

After 40 hours, 3 flights and a bus, I’ve finally made it. The trip over was much better than I expected, in flight entertainment sure helps the time to fly by.  The past few days have been quite busy, filled with all sorts of administration type things such as sorting out accomodation, registering as a student, meeting with the Study Abroad staff and finalizing subject selections. As it’s International Orientation week, yet a couple of weeks before semester actually begins, there are plenty of international students around. It’s been an interesting experience getting to know some of them and how they came to arrive there.

With the University here being so close to the centre of the city, knowing the way around is essential. Tours of the city are offered by the Uni as part of the orientation activities, and it was really helpful to learn more about the area. The next two days are packed with lots of Orientation Activities. I’m not quite sure what they involve yet, but I’ll be sure to report back. Overall it’s been a great start to the year here, with everyone being invloved being very helpful. If it keeps up like this it’ll be an awesome year!