UEA International Student Ambassadors

Hello everyone, As we are approaching to the end of the winter term (OH FINALLY), I think its a good idea to relax and put University aside of you. Time flew this semester with the amount of school work, adapting to your new life at UEA or even Norwich, meeting new friends, joining your school societies, learning how to cook and even for some of you, still homesick (I hope your coping well). I believe its about time we deserve our own special Christmas break. For some of you people out there, you maybe going back to your respective countries or hometowns. As for myself, I am going to stay (yay?), but today I am going to tell you why staying here is not such a bad idea. Many of us are born travellers, curious about the world outside our eyes, we want to see more, experience as much as we can in our 70 years of living (okay some of you may have it longer, but lets go for the average) and as young mature adults, our desperate need of searching for answers and exploring kicks in. Lif

Hi everyone! Christmas is now lurking around the corner, and so are all of the fabolous christmas themed events happening around in Norwich. Most of you are probably knee-deep in assignments and exams, but everyone needs a break once in a while to capture that christmas spirit! To help you save some time on searching for events I have made an overview of the christmas events going on below, giving you more time for the fun stuff :) Friday 9th UEA Symphony Orchestra and Choir are hosting a Christmas concert in St. Andrews Hall in town playing classical christmas music. Tickets are still available online, and are 5.50 for student. Should be a lovely evening! http:// www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk/ events/ uea-christmas-concert---uea-sym phony-orchestra-and-choir.aspx Tuesday 13th Christmas in the LCR! The first of two LCR this week. Dress up and have a blast! Tickets are 3.50 online and 5 at the door. http://www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk/events/the-christmassy-lcr.aspx Thursday 1

Hello people, As many of you will be coming to Norwich, or England in general, to study, I thought it is a good idea to inform you about the critiria you should pay attention to when choosing your new house/accomodation. Having lived outside campus for 2 years and having moved into two different houses in Norwich, I can tell you that I have made all the wrong choices one can make when choosing a house so listen up in order to learn from my mistakes! If you found an advertisment or if you heard about a house which sounds interesting, all you have to do is to find the contact information of the owner and ask him for a "viewing". He/She will then arrange for you to view the house and see it from inside. Now, this is the most important moment of your decision-making process. The first thing you need to check when you walk in the house is the temperature. If your viewing is on Summer and the house is really hot, this normally means that the house is very easily affected by the

This is Notes from Norfolk's 200th post! It will be my last one and I am happy to introduce you to Ng Chong Loong who will be taking over the Malaysian Student International Ambassador role as of next week. I've had an amazing four years here at UEA and learnt plenty both inside and outside the SCVA's seminar rooms. Norwich has been full of great experiences and I have been lucky enough to learn about the Alhambra in situ and study art and architecture in Venice while I was a student. I've made lots of friends and received incredible support from the staff when I needed it. Whatever the future holds, bring it on! Cheers, Maggie p.s. this is a little early but I'll say it anyway...Happy Halloween! x p.p.s. UEA South-East Asian Society, Malaysian Society, Japanese Society and Indian Society have gotten together this year to bring you the Joint Oriental Halloween Party at Lola Lo's this Friday! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166965383393557

Sheringham is a seaside town on the North Norfolk coast and roughly an hour away from Norwich by train. It's a nice place to go to for a daytrip and you can walk to Cromer which is a few miles to the east. As a student, it's worth your while getting a National Rail 16-25 railcard which saves you 1/3 on fares across Britain! The town's motto is Mare Ditat Pinusque Decorat which is Latin for "The sea enriches and the pine adorns". There is a little theatre in the centre of the town ( http://sheringhamlittletheatre.yolasite.com/ ) where this year's family panto is Dick Whittington and his cat. The Mo Sheringham Museum opened in April 2010 and tells the story of the town's fishing industry and development as a holiday resort. On 19 January 1915, Sheringham became the first place in Britain to have a bomb dropped on it by a Zeppelin - you can find out more about this at the museum too. In the meantime, it's nice to have fish and chips by the sea and if

Getting a bathtub boat with your mates is one of the best ways to spend the unusually warm September weekends we've been having lately. Btw, did you explore Norwich and Norfolk during the Heritage Open Days? I hope you had a good time :) Anyway, Wroxham Broad is on the River Bure near the village of Wroxham within The Broads National Park and it is roughly fifteen minutes away by train from Norwich. This Broad is also home to the Norfolk Broads Sailing Club. It's really peaceful chugging away at about 4mph watching other boats go by and people fishing and dogs running about. For a couple of quid, you can get lots of duck feed to scatter to the swans! You can read more about the Norfolk Broads here: http://www.visitnorfolk.co.uk/explore-norfolk/broads-rivers-guide.aspx  and here  http://www.tournorfolk.co.uk/fivebroads.html Cheers, UEA Malaysian Ambassador

It has been an honoured to be one of the volunteers in the UK School Games (UKSG) 2011. The UK school games is a major multi-sport events for junior and senior high school students all over the UK to compete and to prove that they are the best among their peers for their sport branch in the UK. This year, the UKSG was held in Sheffield and involved not less than 5000 altlethes and 1000 volunteers. There were several group of volunteers, which come from different organisations. The organisation where I was affiliating with is called 'International Inspiration', which consists of around 100 young leaders, age 13-18 years old, from 10 different countries. This innitiative has been organised by a collaboration of the British Council, UNICEF, and The UK Youth Sport trust. I was so delighted when the British Council contacted me to be one of the interpreters for one of the Indonesian young leaders who were chosen to participate in the preparation trainings as well as in the volunteer

Sometimes dissertation madness threatens to take over and that's when you know you need to get out of the library for a while. Hence a little daytrip to nearby Ely, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire! Ely is roughly one and a half hours away from Norwich by train and its name comes from the Old English Ēl-gē which means "eel region" - once upon a time, there were plenty of eels in the marshes of the area! There are many historic buildings and winding streets to wander around. The river is a popular boating area and you can see many houseboats with (sometimes) funny names. Ely Cathedral's heritage goes back to Saxon times and you can read more about its founder, St Etheldreda, at the cathedral's website: http://www.elycathedral.org/history/the_story_cathedral.html These days, the cathedral still serves as a place of worship but also hosts exhibitions, concerts and plays - for example, the upcoming Los Gitanos and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. I'm fairly su

I can not believe that it has been four years at UEA...yup...4 years of lazy mornings, rushing to lectures, course work, all nighter revision sessions and the constant parties where I met so many great and diverse people...being a student is great..Regardless of having less money, I was able to do various part-time jobs to keep me afloat and therefore pursue my dreams. I first completed a BSc in International Development with overseas experience ( 3 months in Peru) last year and today I handed in my 12,000 word thesis which marked the completion of an MA in Development Economics....It is a great day indeed! Currently there are people still in the library looking through their papers and hopefully they will make the 3.00pm deadline.. The question however is..what on earth will be the next chapter? Statistics suggest that unemployment is at its highest and that many graduates are struggling for jobs....As an international student...whilst before it had been tempting to stay in the UK fo

To many international students, potential students, parents, the UK's riot tragedy must be a frigtening moments and a worrying matter. The UK's safety environment must become a great concern for all international students and residence. The looting and violance took place in several regions in London and some cities in England, namely Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchaster. As international student, I was also worrying about what would happen in Norwich. I was affraid that this violance would spread out to Norfolk region. But thank's God, Norwich has located in one of the safetiest county in the UK. It has proven its status against this security challenge. I believe my choice to study in Norwich is the best option until now and I am so glad that I did not choose to study my PhD in Birmingham. In the beginning of my study, I contemplated my choice whether it is the right one because according to many students who like the metropolitan environment, Norwich is not a good choi

This video was taken during UEA open days July 2011. It comprises all information related to UEA campus, such as facilities for students and academic staff, campus environment, and campus accomodation. Regards, Aidy Indonesian student ambassador

I do not understand where three years have flown by. The oft-quoted phrase that ‘time flies when having fun’ seems to ring very true. I am genuinely going to miss UEA and Norwich. As an international student from India I was looking for a place to understand England, learn, live and grow as a person. UEA provided the perfect combination. The University and the city of Norwich gave me a safe and diverse platform to expand my personality and try out new things. My favourite memories from UEA are around the new and shared experiences I have had with a truly international student community. Salsa dancing, a 60 mile cycling trip, Sushi making, Bhangra, hand making Italian pizzas, wine tasting by the lake etc have all been really small but nonetheless new and fun experience for me. These small but altogether very important experiences not only broaden one’s horizons but also give you some distance and reflective space towards one’s own culture. Being an Indian student in the UK, I tried to a

Hi UEA lads... We are joint 8th in People and Planet league, a great improvement on previous years. See Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jun/07/university-green-league-nottingham-trent-environment . To be honest, I am quite happy to be surrounded by nature and green environment while I am studying. Especially for a great day walk around the lake. Enjoy your surrounding while you are here and take a walking route in the forest at the back of the lake can be an amusing small adventure.

Hello, This blog is addressed to anyone who is interested on finding more ''inside'' information about UEA. So, if you are an international student who is thinking about atudying in UEA but you want to know more about it, then you can meet us in your own country!   http://www.uea.ac.uk/international/meet/Meet+Us+In+Your+Country   This link includes all the upcoming visits of our staff to different countries. These people are going to be there to speak to you and answer any question you may have about UEA, Norwich, UK in general, etc.. There are two scheduled visits for the summer. One in Sri Lanka (Colombo) and one in Hong Kong. So, if you are from any of these two countries get involved! Check the link to see the rest of the scheduled visits, your country might be one of them.. Also, let us know if you have any questions about the visits. We are looking forward to meeting you in your country! Thanks for the interest, George, Greek Ambassador

Hi UEA... I proudly announce that our university is ranked 18th from 19th last year by the Guardian.co.uk. Check this link out... http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2011/may/17/university-league-table-2012 It is good news for us the students and the staffs. In general we are above some prominent universities, like Birmingham, Newcastle, King’s College London, and Manchester. With higher rank, hopefully the university also is able to make the UEA grads be more competitive in the market. As we the international students hope for. Let's race to the top. Aidy-Indonesian student ambassador

Hi again Travellers, Following my suggestion on some top edgy destinations in the first post, I will provide you with five more options, which are selected from other regions in the UK. So far, we have covered the Northwest, South of Mainland, North East, and Scotland and Northern Ireland. This posting will highlight Wales, Midland, London, South east, and South west. The Brecon Beacons National Park (Wales) This popular walk takes you past Sgŵd Clun-gwyn (White Meadow Fall), where the river crashes fifty feet over two huge, angular steps of rock before hurtling down to Sgŵd Isaf Clun-gwyn (Lower White Meadow Fall) and Sgwd y Pannwr (Fall of the Fuller). The walk's climax is the Sgwd Y Eira (Fall of Snow), whose rock behind the main tumble has eroded back six feet, allowing you to walk directly behind a dramatic twenty foot curtain of water. (Source: http://www.top10ten.co.uk/ ) UEA Fell club usually arrange to have a trip to this area. You can contact them by email Lizzy ( su.

Hi spring and summer Travellers, Have you given a thought where to go to spend the beautiful spring and summer this year? I you have not, I am more than happy to provide you with some options for some edgy destination sites in UK. I have not experienced all of them myself, but the list here has been presented based on a small research. Are you ready to explore? The Lake District   (Northwest) The National Trust has cared for the iconic mountains, fells, and farms of the Lake District for over 100 years. Each valley has a unique character - whether remote or bustling - there's something to inspire every nature lover, adrenalin seeker, literary maestro or archaeology buff... (Source: http://www.nationaltrust.co.uk/ ) Accessible by train, much more convinient with the car, the closest city is Lancaster. Guernsey channel island (UK) (South of Mainland) A heady mix of stunning scenery and the best of contemporary living, Guernsey is the perfect destination. Inspiring walks along

For those of you that don't keep up with English newspapers (I've been here nearly three years and I still can't get all of the different papers straight!), the Guardian posted a very interesting article regarding the fairly recent academic trend of university-level creative writing programmes in the UK. As a stellar example of such programmes, the article focuses in on UEA, which boasts THE best creative writing MA in the UK. Now, I know I'm just a measly old undergrad, but that doesn't stop me from bragging about our creative writing MA to anyone who will listen. Our MA has a phenomenal list of alumni which even people who haven't heard of the Booker prize would recognize - Ian McEwan and Kazuo Ishiguro, for starts, who penned  Atonement and Never Let Me Go respectively, both of which have been adapted to the big screen. The Guardian takes a look at whether or not it's possible to teach "creative" writing, and makes some interesting points - y

Hi Lads! I know some of you are really in the middle of hardship, struggling with the exams. Sorry to tell, this information may not be appropriate for you. This information is for the students who have finished the exams and want to celebrate the end of this semester by enjoying the beautiful and festive Norwich & Norfolk Festival at no costs. Although there are some shows with entrance fee, there are also many free events for everyone to enjoy. These are the highlights of free events, which are maybe interesting for you. 1. "That’s The Way To Do It"  take on the traditional Punch and Judy show Saturday 14 - Sunday 15 May at 12 noon, 2.30pm & 4.00pm both days at Cromer Pier and Beach ( http://nnf11.nnfestival.org.uk/programme/detail/thats_the_way_to_do_it ) 2.  "As the World Tipped" - open air theater Saturday 21 May, 10.15pm - at Eaton Park, Norwich ( http://nnf11.nnfestival.org.uk/programme/detail/as_the_world_tipped ) 3. Sorrel Muggridge:

Hello guys! It is nearly the end of the academic year for most of us students, which deliberately means, we have EXAMS to get through! I know this is the most difficult time in our lives, where we are stuck with revision and exams. But, this does not stop us from celebrating the end of term! Surely everyone is really scared of revision and exams, hence the need for some motivations!! I've found these really motivational websites where you could actually take some time off from revision and think why we need to revise for our exams! 1) The Big Picture!  See http://www.thebigpicture.eu.com/ 2) Ideas to Motivate Students! See http://www.virtualsalt.com/motivate.htm 3) Reasons why exams are important? See http://school-teacher-student-motivation-resources-courses.com/ Furthermore, depending on individuals, some of us may not like the ideas of motivation through our computer/laptop screen. Some would prefer a real night/day out with friends or alone to release your stress! Well,

A couple of notes ago, I posted about being able to spend Easter weekend in Vienna thanks to a UEA Travel Award. The weather was brilliant, the museums were great and I had an amazing time :) I checked out some Easter markets, the catacombs of Stephansdom, ate schnitzel, sausages, truffeltorte and coffee, visited the Kunsthistoriches and Sissi Museum, saw the Lippizaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School, strolled about the Museumsquartier, visited Schonbrunn palace and Imperial Apartments, met interesting people and learned abit about Austria's history. It was great! I want to go back! Next time, I'll definitely go to the world's oldest zoo and the Secession! "The Travel and Expeditions Committee grants a number of annual Travel Awards, normally for £150, but in exceptional cases for £250, to assist individual students, whether undergraduate or postgraduate, to undertake worthwhile and original journeys which will lead to their personal or professiona

Good News! The overall rank of the UEA has improved from the 28th to the 27th this year. It is indeed an achievement that UEA and its students should be proud of. We are in top 30 for these following subjects: Communications and Media Studies (2nd) Pharmacy (2nd) Education (4th) American Studies (6th) Nursing (7th) Geology (8th) Sports Science (12th) Drama (17th) History of Art (18) Biology (18th) Maths (20th) History (21st) Philosophy (24th) Medicine (25th) English (26th) Computing (27th) Economics (28th) Law (30th) Really looking forward to having UEA in the top 20 or even in the top 10 next year. :p

The Canaries just secured their place in the Premiership for 2012!  The photo above is from last year when Norwich City FC was promoted to the Championship. Looking forward to seeing how this year's achievements will be celebrated! I finish my degree this summer, but will definitely be heading back to see Norwich City in Premier League action at Carrow Road. Congratulations Norwich! Una Norwegian Ambassador

Hello folks :) Okay so I didn't make it to the Eternal City after all. No sweat, Rome can wait. In the meantime, the weather in Norwich is BOOTIFUL at about 22 degrees in the day and 10 at night. Here's a picture of Norfolk Terrace and some daffodils to give you an idea of what it's like. I'm currently working on an Anglo-Saxon essay and occasionally, I get a glimpse of third-years slaving away frantically, working hard on their dissertations. Vaguely remember writing mine last Easter and dashing to and from the British Museum. This year, I'll have all summer to write mine! :) Thanks to a UEA Travel Award (see https://intranet.uea.ac.uk/services/students/TEC/TEC_applications ), I am now able to go to Vienna for a very short and sweet break! Tell ya about it when I get back. Have a good Easter break everyone! Cheers, UEA Malaysian Ambassador p.s. Have you seen Kathy's post below? I can't wait for this year's Norfolk & Norwich Festival! htt

I have lived in Norwich for nearly three years now and every springtime, I hear about the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and this year for the first time I will not only be attending, but also be participating as a member of the festival's publicity team. The NNF is hosted throughout the city for 16 days and showcases local, national, and international artists, musicians, acting troupes, at different venues and events which are all accessible (and sometimes free!) by the general public. This year the event spans from May 6th through May 21st and sees the return of one of the event's most popular attractions - the Spiegeltent, which is an authentic travelling Dutch tent built out of wood and canvas and filled with throws, pillows, and curtains to create the perfect debauched atmosphere for some of the festival's most eccentric and entertaining vaudeville-esque acts. The festival also continues to pay tribute to its more classical roots by hosting numerous classical events th

Today's  morning appeared to be somewhat magical for me. After I have had my wakeneing-up cup of coffee I have suddenly realised that there is someone or something on my doorstep waiting to be let in. This someone/something Unknown was shy enough to knock on the door, or it was yet pondering over the necessity to do so, or it simply let me to decide whether or not ot invite it.  Even though the coffee was black and strong I was not yet awake enough to make a quick and corretct decision. Thus, I was standing on the other side of the doorstep peering at this Something through the door glass. It was bright, full of sunshine and i don't know how and why but I was absolutely convinced that it was full of happiness. However the Time is a less prone to long contemplations creature, it was running out leaving me few and few minutes before the class begins. Therefore, I was almost literally forced to make the first step towards the Unknown. I have opened the door and steped into a sunny

The sun was shining high up in the sky and there was an uproaring atmosphere reigning across the whole of campus of University of East Anglia since the early morning hours . So what was all this rush and enthusiasms that students came to the campus on this sunny Wednesday? That was the so longly awaited derby day where UEA sports clubs play against the sports clubs of University of Essex. The weather provided a perfect atmosphere to start with. Students were dressed in a multi-coloured and very suppportive manner for their university's sports club. UEA welcomed a large number of students from Essex University. In brief, it was a fun day where students were taking advantage of the perfect sunny weather to disguise themselves in different colourful ways and styles in order to support their teams. There were all sort of sports events in which UEA compete aginst Essex University. These range from football, hockey, boxing, badminton, swimming, basket-ball, volley-ball and the most

The trip was started at 9.30am when most of the students were still cuddling under their blankets. We had an hour bus trip from UEA to the country side of Norfolk, UK. There was a wide green grass landscape around me. I enjoyed what I saw from the window. My mind ran far from the campus atmosphere for a while. We arrived at the National Trust site, a natural protected area, in the north-east of Norwich city. The flocks of sheep welcomed us. They are just near by the canal and the tourist information hut. We spent a minute or two to take pictures and to breath. I wonder when was the last time I could feel so much oxygen went through inside my chest. We just walked to the open air boat with chilling temperature, hmmmm about 9-11 degrees. Excited! The boat was moving and going far to the middle of the canal, heading to the sea. We sailed for about 10 minutes until we arrived at a site where hundreds of seals lied on the shore. There are amazingly cute. After we were observing them for

It's again the time of the year where you see 70% of the Sun in the daylight, flowers blooming, temperatures rising and of course, bunch of people sitting and  hanging around in the square with t-shirts, shorts and slippers! Yes, guys! Spring has just conquered Norwich! It's been such an amazing winter but we will see you again soon! But look at the bright side, more carnivals and flowers blooming all around you!! To start it off, today's Derby Day, where UEA and Uni of Essex kicks it off with up to 50 sports events! Whether you are one of the competitors or just spectators, you should not miss this wonderful event!!! If you can't make it to see the competitions but eager to know the results, then the Bar and the Hive has it all!! Results will be posted there for everyone to see!! :)) Well, if you love facebook then, the Concrete Sports has all the updated and recent results: http://en-gb.facebook.com/ueaconcretesport . Tonight's there's going to be a fun and