UEA International Student Ambassadors

After a  brief, beautiful 2-week spell of great weather, things have turned a bit grim. Day after day of grey, gloomy skies and incessant drizzle test my morale. Coming from India, adapting to the weather in general has been easier than I imagined. Winter was relatively mild, and snow showers were brief and rare and actually good fun. But things started warming up by the end of February; the grass stopped looking glazed in the mornings and the trees, plants and rabbits started looking happier. Summer migrants started returning and early mornings burst into life with the chirping of myriad birds. And then, the weather cleared up. Suddenly the entire campus was bathed in sunshine. Trees around the broad took on a beautiful colour and I was stunned by the surrounding beauty. Here's a photo I posted on the UEA page in Mid-march: Click Here  For two weeks we enjoyed the blissful beginnings of Spring. But it was of course, too good to be true. Now that the April showers have ar...

University is like a Fairground Ride Highs & lows… It’s true! University is like a fairground ride; daunting, captivating and exhilarating. In fact, as any students will substantiate, university is closely akin to Blackpool’s infamous ‘Big Dipper’. It’s a fast ‐ paced ride full of highs and lows. Depending on your disposition, it’s normally those long hours of toil, tears and turmoil preceding an essay submission deadline that make up the vast majority of the lows. However, such a state of delirium is usually induced by a combination of self ‐ imposed sleep deprivation, excessive consumption of caffeine ‐ based liquids and the realisation that having “a few quiet drinks” a few days before the deadline, in hindsight, was perhaps not the best idea. Any self ‐ respecting student experiences this scenario at least once during their university career. However, you can always take heart from the thought that, somewhere, there is some poor soul in a much...

An 8.6-magnitude earthquake struck below the ocean floor off the northern coast of Sumatra in Indonesia on Wednesday, triggering tsunami warnings across the Indian Ocean and causing families in the area to flee their homes in fear and confusion. The quake, which was felt as far away as India and Sri Lanka, was originally reported as magnitude 8.9 before being downgraded by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to an 8.6. Strong aftershocks were felt in the hours after the quake, including one registering a magnitude of 8.2. The earthquake struck 20 miles under the sea floor about 300 miles from Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province.     Its epicenter was only 125 miles away from the spot where the 9.1-magnitude quake struck on Dec. 26, 2004, causing a tsunami that swept away coastal communities in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. About 230,000 people perished overall. Panicked Aceh residents evacuated buildings and tried to flee the cost by car, causing huge tra...

Easter is the time where Christians celebrate Jesus resurrection from the death. The Easter date depends on the ecclesiastical approximation of the March equinox. It is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox. Easter customs vary across the Christian world, but decorating Easter eggs is a common motif. In the Western world, customs such as egg hunting and the Easter Bunny extend from the domain of church, and often have a secular character. People who regularly attend church often attend special services on Easter Sunday. These may be longer or more elaborate than on other Sundays. In churches, it is generally a festive occasion with an emphasis on the dawn of a new life. In Battersea Park in London, there is a large Easter parade.  In the UK, many people use the day to decorate Easter eggs, share chocolate eggs and participate in Easter egg competitions. Easter eggs are often large hollow chocolate eggs filled with bonbons or other candy. The eg...