Manchester – the global city

By Luna Sickau, Heinrich-Heine-University, Germany

When you’re going abroad, you always inform yourself about the place which is your home for a couple of month. You may google it, check the wikipedia entry or ask your friends and family. You may also visit the city before you’re even decide to apply for a university exchange. But you’ll never know if you made the right choice before you start living in the city and start to live a daily life there. If you’re reading this and already know that you will come to Manchester – CONGRATULATIONS! You made the right choice.

My name is Luna, a 21-year-old girl from Düsseldorf (Germany) and decided to come to the University of Manchester before finishing my bachelor class of Social Science at home. I fell in love with this amazing city one year ago, when I made in internship in Manchester for a month in the summer of 2017.

Now, more than a year later I am finally back and able to experience Manchester for half a year. I am living in a private flat, shared with international students (I would always recommend staying in a private house rather than living in a small and expensive student accommodation) and I want to give some insights of my daily life and the tell you how it is to be a part of this vibrating city – the city of Manchester.

Manchester is a colourful and busy city with endless opportunities and places to go. Since the day of my arrival, I felt welcome, accepted and appreciated. You’re never alone and even if you feel so, there are so many places to go (in Uni and everywhere else in the city). The people here are friendly, open and helpful (even though I was a bit confused that the bus driver called me ‘love’ on the first day).

The organisation of the University was brilliant, I already got loads of information at home and the welcome week is a must for everyone who’s coming over for their studies. Luckily, I found my two besties on the first day of the welcome week during a campus tour and we started to go to events and parties during freshers week. After spending the first days (and nights) in the city, you’ll get to know other students and the most popular places to go. Even if you experienced the freshers flu week (week 2), it is easy to catch up with your courses and the teachers and tutors are willing to help students if there are individual problems. At the beginning I was a bit confused because of my timetable (as I didn’t have as many courses as I normally have at home), but the workload might be higher than at home and before the first due dates after reading week, you’re happy to have enough time to focus on essays and catching up with readings.

Enough of first impressions – the next post will have loads of photos and tips where to go and what to do. MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME IN MANCHESTER!

IMG_1077

Northern Quarter

IMG_0894

St Peters Square

IMG_0836

University in September

IMG_0773

The University of Manchester

IMG_0904

Oxford Road

All photos made by myself, please do not copy or use.

First Impressions

By Poon Yun Xuan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Hello everyone! I’m Yun Xuan and I’m a Linguistics & Multilingual Studies major from Singapore! I’ll be spending a semester at the University of Manchester and I’m so excited to be sharing my experiences with everyone here.

IMG_5230

Let’s start with my first week here! Orientation was held during the first week, and there were fairs held for the different clubs and societies, as well as for sporting events. The first week definitely encapsulated the lively university spirit, with all the events and tours and talks and people handing out food discount vouchers (pizza and burritos for 1 pound? Yes, please!) Continue reading

Arriving in Manchester

The pitter-patter of rain, sirens going off in the background, red brick everywhere – no doubt, you have arrived in the great city of Manchester. Whether this is your first time in the U.K. or you have come as a tourist before, settling in as an actual student can be quite difficult, especially when you feel like the culture you are used to is worlds apart from what your eyes are now eagerly taking in.

Continue reading

Manchester, You’re Wonderful.

I’ve been in this city for nearly a month now, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.  Classes have finally started, and after attending my Contemporary Irish Poetry and Fiction class and getting the required novels, I’m super excited.  Excited to read, to learn about histories and cultures I never previously knew about, to meet more students from England and all over the world.

Screen Shot 2017-10-06 at 3.48.38 pm

Continue reading

Worries, Imagination and Reality

By Carine Huurman, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Before I went to Manchester, I had been volunteering in a conference centre in South England. When I chatted with the guests or the staff of the centre about Manchester they reacted all in a different way: Some of them called it a “StudentCity,” others almost described my Exchange to Manchester as the worst choice I had ever made. Continue reading