UEA International Student Ambassadors

Hi everyone :) The christmas lights and decorations have gone up all over Norwich and things looks so festive and beautiful. Since I won't be going back home this Christmas, I decided to paint a picture of what christmas is like in Nigeria - just so I dont miss it tooo much! There's many similarities between a British and Nigerian christmas, but also a lot of differences. We usually have the same types of decorations up around the country to mark the festive season, but a zero percent liklehood of snow :) The weather in Nigeria is tropical all year round, so that itself creates a very different atmosphere. I know a lot of people can't imagine Christmas without snow, whereas most Nigerians prefer to appreciate snow from a distance (pictures, movies etc) - we love our heat ! People tend to have fake fir christmas trees up in their homes although those dont grow in our country. But we also decorate our palm trees with lights!     Christmas is also very much ...

Hi. Today, I'm going to talk about Christmas in Korea. Christmas in Korea is quite different from Christmas in the UK.   Most childeren get presents from their parents but that's it. We don't really have a Christmas meal together and so on unless they're Christians. Some Christians go to church on the Christmas day and celebrate Christmas with other friends at their church. What is interesting about Korean Christmas is that Christmas day is very much like a 'Couple's day'. Most of the couples in Korea go somewhere nice for dinner. (Oh, unlike the British Christmas day, everywhere is VERY busy on Christmas in Korea!) I remember once when I was 18, I went to a romantic place with lots of pretty Christmas lightings in Seoul with my boyfriend and I literally couldn't move at all as that place was full of other couples! I was moved by other people as they were just pushing me. After that experience, I never go outside on Christmas in...

Hi everybody!   I'm here today to talk about quite a strange custom we have in Spain.   On New Year's Eve, when the clock strikes twelve, most of Spain is glued to the television, where the beautiful clock from Madrid's Puerta del Sol is broadcast. Picture: ailmadrid.blogspot.com   With every strike of the clock, we eat a grape! They are called 'the twelve grapes of good luck', and it is believed that eating them will provide you good luck and happiness for the year.   This tradition is not too old, though. It is likely to have started when Alicantese vine growers had a grape surplus at the end of the 19th or the beginning of the 20th century.   So, to cut a long story short, in Spain we start every year by eating grapes. It is a quite exciting thing to do, and somehow we never end up eating them all in time! And of course, once the new year has been welcomed like this, we have a toast with champagne or cava.   Merry Christmas ...

Christmas in Norwich is too exciting and beautiful! One or two months before Christmas time, people begin planning and doing their shopping. You never see our city as much busy in any other time!   Here are a couple of photos from Norwich's city centre during the lights switch on this year If you are staying in Norwich during the holidays, here is a guide of events that will be going on! http://www.visitnorwich.co.uk/documents/665.pdf       Happy holidays!! :)   Shaima'a Middle East Ambbasador

Hi I'm back! Yesterday (5th, Dec), the UEA Korean society had the very first Christmas dinner party at the Assembly house. Great food, Great atmosphere and Great company! It was AWESOME. Played a few games after dinner as well :) So I'm going to post some pics from last night ! Pictures were taken by Jun. Enjoy! Craker time! :)    Korean Society Committee members :)   Draw on your head! Memory test :)  Concentrate, concentrate..  Musical Chairs for boys   Musical Chairs for girls     So, this is it! Hope you enjoyed these pics and Merry Christmas!! xx   Saem - Korean Ambassador    

A French Christmas After emptying my knowledge to find a good subject to interest you guys, I thought of the most obvious subject right now : Christmas. Obviously, we are all waiting for the Big Day to come to have our gifts, give ours and share a delicious meal and day in families. You may think every Christmas day looks the same all over the world but it isn't the case and that's why, I'm going to show you my typical Christmas.     December 24th :     - Decorate the " Crèche" (the crib) which is a clay house and dolls that represent the Chris's birth with Mary, Joseph, the ani;als and the 3 Kings       - Have a great little meal with : Soup, Gratin Dauphinois (Potato Gratin) or Hachis Parentier and lat but not least Chocolate Yule Log with Mullen Wine       - Put all our shoes around the tree    - Prepare a wine glass for Santa - Some goes to the church to sing the Carols w...

Hi all, Most of you out there love London, due to its diversity, tasty food, enterntainment and lets not forget .....shopping!!! So recently I visited some friends for the weekend and discovered another more vintage and very cute side of London, which is a nice change to the vibrant and busy streets of central London. Portobello Market in West London is one of the most famous street markets in the world. It is a popular destination for Londoners and tourists alike. Portobello Road goes straight through the heart of Notting Hill, the trendy area of London made famous by the film Notting Hill. I tried to find the set locations: the blue door, the travel bookshop, the garden fence and so on but I have to admit it was not that easy! I absolutely loved this place! Amazing food, from various countries ranging from paellas to hot dogs and great sweet/desert to cater for your sweet tooth (amazing pancakes and they are everywhere!!!! I was tempted to have more than one). ...

Hello to all of you! This is the Jenny, German Ambassador, writing. I have been to Edinburgh recently, a trip organised by the ESN network. And I thought I'd share some of my impressions and photos with you! To start with, Edinburgh is a great city and totally worth a visit. The fact, that Autumn turned all the trees red and yellow didn't really hurt either! Isn't that beautiful? :) We had a guided tour and some free time and could explore the city on our own. There was so much to see! We even climbed up some hills to enjoy the view over the city. What you can see here is the "new" part of the city, the old part is on far left of the picture - you get a glimpse of the Castle in the upper part. The old part is mostly the so called Royal Mile and links the Hollyrood House (that's where the Queen is staying when she is in Edinburgh) .... ... and the old Edinburgh Castle, where they have tons of exhibitions to visit. And don't forget ...

After being at UEA for quite a while, it was high time I got out of my comfort zone and left the lovely Norwich for the big city--albeit only for a day! I used this occasion to meet a friend and her boyfriend. Most of the day was spent in the Tube, getting from one place to another, but we also toured the British museum and Harrods, as well as Chinatown. There was even a film premiere going on at Leicester Square, with none other than Tom Hanks starring! The train tickets are extremely cheap if bought in advance and it takes just about two hours to get there--if you're feeling like trying out something new or getting out of the University environment for a bit, it's a great idea! Esther Veas Spanish Ambassador Photographs (c) Saana Ranta .

Hello everyone, Elodie (French Student Amnassador) is backk ! Today, I wanted to talk to you about one of the many delights of UEA and its surroundings but one event made me change my mind so this week's topic is going to be both USEFUL and (quite) SERIOUS. This weekend, I went on a trip to Edinburgh with Erasmus society (A-MA-ZING city by the way) when my handbag cointaining all my belongings got stolen in a club on Sunday at 2 in the morning -> What a great way to begin the day, isn't it ? Well, let's be honest, I don't know a think about the British police system so I kinda freaked out first but I went to see the travel councillor and thank god, he was there !   So here is we you need to do if you get stolen : - Go see the nearest police office/post to declare it, you give a declaration and they'll give you a very important crime number - Cancel all credit cards and identity ones (like your ID, your NHS card, ...) - You'll get a call...

Hi everyone! My name is Ksenia and I am a new Russian Ambassador at UEA! Today I've decided to share with you my favourite place on campus. You might laugh now, as it is not a pub or LCR but... the library :) I just can't get over how beautiful the views from the library are. Depending on where you choose to sit, you can see the river, fields, trees, flowers, rabbits and so much more. It is so peaceful and inspiring (at least for me!) I attach a few pictures so that you can see it for yourself! :) Have a good study day everyone! :) xxx  

Hi everyone!  I am the new - and first - German Ambassador at UEA and I am very exited about starting to work with and for you all :) My name is Jenny and I am originally from Berlin, the great capital of Germany. I am in UEA for an Erasmus year (as a law student) and I am really happy I chose this university! The city and all the people are so nice and there really is nothing to dislike (except the awful English bread). There is always somebody to go to if you have any problems and now I have joined them - to help YOU with any problems you might have :) So don't feel shy and just write an email to germanstudents@uea.ac.uk or go on facebook to write a message there. I promise my next post will be a bit more interesting, this one was just to present myself to you. Hope you all have a nice Halloween tonight! Jenny - UEA German Ambassador

  Lots of our freshers have only been in Norwich for 1 months and a half now and I'm sure they are still amazed by Norwich magnetism. As an Erasmus exchange for the year, I've already planned to cling onto a table or to one of UEA trees so as to stay longer.   Sure, words are just words and lots of Top 10 lists have been made to fuly appreciate our surroundings (like this AMAZING one), yet I'll let myself go to drawing my map of Norwich Pub-land. As the saying goes, there is one pub for every day in Norwich & only God knows how true that is.These pubs are my cherry picks : The lengendary Adam & Eve , the oldest pub of Norwich which brings you back to the 13rd centure while providing you with the best local, What else would you want to do as to be as British as you can ?   The lively Revolution de Cuba where dance, fun and salsa mix up to give you the best night of your week. There, you'll never be alone to dance on the da...

Hello everybody! I thought I'd seize this opportunity to talk about my summer placement from earlier this year and also more generally about the things we all  can do to augment our learning from our respective degrees. As a student who is genuinely passionate about the subject I'm studying, I keep thinking of ways I can enhance my learning experience here at UEA. While it is important to first and foremost focus on doing well on the particular course you are on, I personally believe that this is the more straightforward of challenges in getting the most out of our degrees. The real challenge for me has been how to then push my limits and capacities beyond the usual mix of tests and essays to get those crucial extra experiences that matter significantly once we graduate. One of the most important experiences I do believe, are internships. Internships are vital for many reasons: They offer you inavaluable 'practical' experiences and insigh...

Hello Everyone! I'm Amay, and I'm the Indian student ambassador here at UEA. I'm currently in my 3rd (alas, and final) year of my BSc Economics programme. First and foremost, a very very warm welcome to all the new students who have joined us this year; I hope you all are settling in well! Please know that you can get in touch with any of us if you have any questions/problems that come up..we're here to help! This is more of a general post just to say Hi and introduce myself to those who don't know me. I'll follow up next week with a post on my summer and the placement/internship that I did! As you new students would have undoubtedly noticed, the weather when you all must have arrived in end September was strategically kept fantastic so that you would get immediately attached to your new home. However, now that that's done, we're having this spell of hideous weather. Luckily, there is hope, and hopefully as Autumn hits its peak we should have s...

Hello everyone! My name is Elizabeth, the current Taiwanese Ambassador. I hope you all have a wonderful time for the first two weeks of your semester. Please feel free to send a message or email me if you have any queries. Have a nice semester! Elizabeth Shen Taiwanese International Student Ambassador International Office University of East Anglia Norwich, England taiwanesestudents@uea.ac.uk http://www.facebook.com/ueataiwan

Hi ! Hope you all had lovely summer :) I went back home for the summer break and had the most amazing time with my family and friends there. I'm now back at uni and have been very busy sorting out many things. Today's blog is one of the things that I have been involved with! The UEA Korean society was at the SocMart and so many students showed their interest in joing the Korean society. I will show you some pics from the day.        I'm so happy because the first year of Korean society seems to be successful :)  Anyways, that's it for my blog today. Have a great day and I will be back with some more interesting things.   Korean Ambassador - Saem

Take a look at what our Brazilian students say about life at UEA

Hi Everyone! Well the semester is only a few weeks away, so if you want to start planning your nights out, have a look at just a selection of the gigs and shows coming up this semester... http://www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk/events   20 September - Comedian - Andy Parsons - Norwich Playhouse      NORWICH PLAYHOUSE 10 October - Singer - Kate Nash - Waterfront WATERFRONT 10 October - Band - Bastille - Nick Raynes LCR NICK RAYNES LCR 21 October  - Band - Goo Goo Dolls - Nick Raynes LCR 25/26 October - Impressionist - Alistair McGowen - Norwich Playhouse 3 November - Singer - Lucy Spraggan (X Factor) - Nick Raynes LCR 17 November - Band - Turin Breaks - Waterfront 19 November  - Singer - Professor Green - Nick Raynes LCR 23 February - Singer - Newton Faulkner - Nick Raynes LCR