Scubophilus Thistler

Upon arriving at the Leeds Bus and Coach station, Ashleigh and I, along with 2 other International students, were picked up by the University’s International Welcome team. We were taken to the temporary accommodation office. I thought I’d be able to move into my accommodation in the next couple of days, but it turned out that I wasn’t able to until the Saturday I arrived. A bit annoying, as I had to live out of my backpack in a temporary room for a few days, but not a huge issue. We got given our keys to rooms on campus, unpacked and had a quick walk around campus at 8pm. It was still quite bright at this time, something that we really weren’t used to.

Included in the accommodation was breakfast from the Refectory. An amazing, huge place which has been home to international-scale gigs for decades. We spent the next couple of days exploring campus and town. It’s very cool being able to duck down to town between classes, with the city center only about ten minutes walk from campus. A large group of students were taken into town on a tour, and shown all the cheap spots by some experienced students. Once the two days of temporary accommodation were over, we got bused to Montague Burton, a student residence close to campus. It was good to settle in, and despite being a 5 minute walk off campus, it was much more pleasant than the previous accommodation.

The last two days of International Orientation Week were spent in lectures, with loads of information on the city and the university. It was during this that I realised how similar Australian and British culture was, despite the initially confusing language differences. While the info in these sessions would have been great for students from non-English backgrounds, it was old news to us. Luckily we met up with some other Australians who though likewise, and went out for drinks instead.

Next up, a trip to Scarborough!