Studying Abroad With Northumbria University

Looking for a place to stay in Madrid.
Most of the accommodation here is all done through one company called ‘Help Madrid’. There are other forms of private student accommodation available, but they take care of most of the shared flats.
They have a big range all over the city and a big range of prices. If you book with an agent like Spotahome, they will normally be using Help Madrid as well, so it can be best just to book direct through the help Madrid website to avoid extr...a costs.
I am living in right in the centre of Madrid in a 10 bedroom, 3 bathroom flat for €460 per month. I also have a cleaner once a week included in the price. That is what you can expect to pay for a similar flats over here but they do have more or less expensive ones depending on your budget. There are also some more luxurious places available if you are willing to spend a bit more.
One thing to be aware of though is make sure you read the description of the room fully and check the pictures because I rushed into it and have a room without a window.
Here are some pictures from flats from Help Madrid with a similar price.
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Hola from Madrid,
Madrid is a vibrant and lively city full of beautiful scenery and culture. After over 3 months here and trying to fit as much in as possible I feel as though I have still barely scratched the surface. It is packed full of shops, cafe’s, bars, historical buildings and much more. I am living in the centre which I’m really enjoying as there is so much on my doorstep. If it isn’t then you can get a transport card which is €20 for 30 days on buses, trains and th...e metro within the city. The cost of living is pretty similar to what I’m used to at home but it with so much so close it gets hard to resist spending.
With regards to uni over here I am studying at Esic university which is located in Pozuelo about 45 minutes from the centre on public transport. The university is really modern and clean and the people are all really nice. They have many international students and I have met people from all over the world including Italy, America, Germany and China. My classes are between 4-10pm Monday to Thursday which is very different to England but there is always a 3 day weekend at Esic. I study 10 modules, have 20 hours of teaching per week and 75% attendance is compulsory. The workload is big but it is worth it for the experience.
The nightlife in Madrid is amazing. There are big events mainly for techno music most weekends and even when there’s not you can have a very good night in one of the many clubs. Drinks in clubs can be expensive but alcohol is cheap in supermarkets. Entry to a club can be €20 but you normally receive 1 or 2 free drink tokens with that.
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Kyungpook National University
Kyungpook is one of the many universities in that are situated in Daegu, and one of the 3 that Northumbria is partnered with. Daegu is located in the south-east of South Korea and is the 4th largest city in Korea with a population of around 2.5 million people.
My experience in Daegu has only been one of enjoyment. The city is big and vibrant and has a lot to offer for any student. One of the most popular places that you will find in Daegu has to... be Apsan Park. This is just one of the mountains that surround Daegu. But this is most popular because it offers an incredible view of the whole city. You can easily make a whole day of hiking up there and having a meal up at the top with your mates.
Another popular place in the city is the downtown. This is where students from all the different universities come together on Fridays and Saturdays to eat and drink. This is definitely the best place as well if you want to meet Korean students as well. They’re all really friendly and will always come up and speak to you, whichever place you choose to go to.
During my time in Daegu all the Korea people, from the student to the professors, to people you meet on nights out, are all really sound. I’m very glad I was given the opportunity to come here, and cannot wait to come back to Korea next semester.
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University of Central Florida
Holidays on holidays…
Although being in Orlando feels like holidays, it is tempting to visit other locations as well. Therefore, after seeing Universal Studios, local beaches or multiple tourist places, it is difficult not to sign up for another great adventure, which is… a cruise to Bahamas!
... One of the numerous options for cruising include spending a day on a private island called Great Stirrup Cay as well as in Nassau, which lies on the island of New Providence. On top of that, often it is required to sail through the ocean for one full day, however it is more exciting than one might expect. The ship provides entertainment in all forms: there is a dance floor, swimming pool, hot tubs, sports equipment and courts, clubs, restaurants, karaoke station, etc. Moreover, food is being served without breaks and there are unlimited beverages for everyone. In addition, the views from the ship and from the land are amazing. For extra experience, it is recommended to book an excursion, such as snorkeling with tropical fish on coral reefs.
A cruise is a great way of complementing the stay in Orlando and it is much easier to go on one from the United States than from Europe, both when it comes to time and expenses.
More on Instagram: westenka
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University of Central Florida
One of the most amazing places to visit in Florida are the beaches. The weather is different than in Europe, hence swimming in the ocean is possible even in November! They are long, what allows having walks by the water for many kilometers. What is surprising, it is even allowed to bring a car to some places in order to drive closer to a desired location. Naturally, it requires a fee (usually 20 USD) and the money is spent on keeping the beaches ...in good condition both for the animals living there and for people.
Although you can find a lot of incredible sandy places in Orlando, it is recommended to go to Tampa, as many beautiful islands to which you can drive or take a fairy surround it. Moreover, waters in Gulf of Mexico are much warmer!
More on Instagram: westenka
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University of Central Florida
What to do in Orlando? You can visit Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios. Have a coffee or a beer in a bar, eat a delicious hamburger and steak. Furthermore, there is an amazing nightlife with multiple clubs. Also, if you like music, there will be a lot of festivals and concerts for you to attend.
... There are many more surprises awaiting! If you like nature, you will find numerous parks to go for a relaxing walk… provided that you don’t mind alligators. Orlando’s Wetlands offer an incredible opportunity of experiencing wild life and observing birds and crocodilians wandering the same trails as people just few meters away. The below pictures were taken in a park where over 220 bird and 63 butterfly species are present. What is more, the swamps are home to local alligators, which unfortunately are not visible on the pictures, as they usually hide in waters with just their noses and eyes on the surface. In addition, it is common to meet turtles and snakes like southern black racer, which although is black and very frightening, is actually not venomous.
If you come to Florida, make sure to balance city life with nature, which will definitely surprise you with its beauty!
More on Instagram: westenka
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Kyungpook National University
I will be using this week to give you an insight into life as a university student in South Korea. Today I will give you my impressions on the University Campus and my time as an actual student here. At the time of writing this, I’ve been here for over 2 months now and only have a month left. My experience here has been amazing and truly life changing. I’ve made friends with people from all walks of life and all over the world.
I came here with... a very basic grasp of the Korean language. So, I thought it would be a struggle to adapt to Korean life. But this wasn’t the case thanks to the buddy programme that KNU have in place. This programme helped us make friends with many Korean students and not just fellow international students.
Me and two other students got partnered with our buddy, Dave. He immediately helped us settle in and took us for Korean BBQ and drinks. Any problem we ever had, Dave would help us out. This could range from just navigating around the city, or with more tedious problems with our academic schedule. I can easily say that without Dave my experience here wouldn’t have been as near as good.
The KNU campus is very different from the one at Northumbria. The sheer size of it was probably the biggest difference for me. It’s massive and houses everything on campus such as the department buildings, student union, library, all the accommodation, cafeterias, parks, as well as a huge sports area that includes a golf range, football pitch, baseball field, running track, basketball and tennis courts just to name a few.
When comes to the actual classes here, they have been a challenge but still really good. The one mistake I would say I made, was not choosing a more diverse set of classes. In hindsight, I would have chosen more classes related to Korea itself, such as Korean cultural studies or Korean International relations. But at KNU they do give you the opportunity to do an Internship at a Korean company, that I couldn’t recommend higher. I won’t lie and say I understood everything my lecturers said every time. But even though, my lecturers were really good and wanted to get to know me more and help me explore Korea, giving me advice on places to go and things I should see.
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University of Central Florida
What does a life look like in Orlando? Well, it is a paradise for those who enjoy sunny days. There is no place for bad moods when the weather is beautiful and people around are always kind and helpful. Moreover, the standard of living is very satisfying and the only issue might be a lack of a car, as distance to shops and other necessary to visit locations is pretty big.
... When it comes to accommodation, a large area around the university is full of student flats in all kind of price ranges, but probably all of them have a swimming pool! Below you can see photos of The Marquee and The Verge communities, which are located very closely to the campus. Although a walk from there takes only 15 minutes, it is possible to use a free shuttle bus right from the houses and be dropped off at the university.
In the next few days expect posts about life in the United States with the focus on Florida as well as holiday destinations from Orlando.
More on Instagram: westenka
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Universidad de Chile Chile is also an extremely beautiful country with so many amazing places in which you can travel. Going to the beach the Andes mountains the desert or glaciers. Atacama is the worlds driest desert and around a 2 hour flight from Santiago. The views are incredible. Whilst being in Chile it is also extremely cheap to travel in to other countries such as taking an 8 hour bus to Mendoza Argentina for £35 or £70 for a return flight which takes 50 minutes. As I... did not get a visa to come to Chile I had to leave before my initial 90 days was over therefore I decided to go to Peru. This was an amazing experience where I got to go to the only desert oasis within South America. My plan when the semester ends isn’t to come home straight away but take full advantage of being here and travel within other counties in South America including more of Peru to see Machu Picchu and then travel northwards in to Ecuador. This will be my final stop before I start my next semester.
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Universidad de Chile Throughout this week I will be posting about my time here at Universidad de Chile today looking at the university itself. My experience here so far has been extremely positive. Although I came here not knowing a single word of Spanish I have been able to learn some basics whilst here and am able to understand more and more each day. I have also made a lot of different people and made friends from all around the world. The great thing about the university ...is their buddy programme and their international group. This allows us to make friends with Chilean students as well instead of only just other internationals. The classes are extremely interesting and is heavily based around group assignments. We have to study 5 subjects per semester but have a large variety of what we can study with both English and Spanish courses on offer. I have also been allowed to take a postgraduate course here which is extremely interesting and again very heavily relies on group assignments. The grading system is 1-7 with 4 being a passing mark. Chilean people are extremely warm and friendly with a really positive attitude always wanting to say hi and talk to foreigners from around the world. The business school “FEN” is really small and easy to navigate around with its own free gym football, basketball/volleyball court, library, cafeterias and social areas. Every Friday FEN allows its students to drink in the social areas for a few hours (normally till around 9pm) a lot of Chileans are normally there and are really welcoming to invite you to drink with them and invite you to other places. The university international group also offers a lot of different activities including: BBQ’s, Trekking, Pool party, gala, Halloween party skiing and many other things throughout the semester. I think the hardest thing about coming here was not being able to speak Spanish as although all my classes are in English not all local people here can speak English but it’s been a really exciting challenge allowing me to get out of my comfort zone and allowed me to learn some basic Spanish. FEN also offered us “habla po” which was a weekly meet up for students to help them learn more Spanish for those who had not studied the language before.
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LCI creatives day🌞 on Saturday at LCI Melbourne, we had a creatives day, for friends and family of students and prospective students to come and get a tour of the school and get involved in some creative day activities. The day lasted 3 hours and had a lovely barista serving free coffee and donuts all day! May I add they were super delicious *see photos of donuts* then we got involved with local artists from around collingwood to create some artsy crafts. This really brought ...everyone together and everyone was loving it! We held this event in the gallery room, an amazing space within LCI to showcase your work. After this we had a tour led by a current student of LCI, which was great as I was able to Mingle with students and chat to them about my time here and having come from Northumbria University with study abroad. All in all the day was fun filled and very productive- with many prospective students and current students having a really insightful but fun afternoon at LCI🌸
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G’day! From very sunny Melbourne, Australia🇦🇺 today has been the hottest day I’ve had here so far, 33 degrees and it’s not even summer yet!😅 my exchange university is LCI Melbourne, situated in the funky Collingwood, close by the city and creative hub of Melbourne- Fitzroy. I spend most of my time around collingwood and Fitzroy as they have everything I could possibly need and there’s always something going on☺️ LCI has been amazing so far, and I couldn’t have chosen a better... uni to suit my needs whilst I am studying here. Coming from a large uni like Northumbria, LCI has less than 300 students in the whole school. It is very specialised and each class is designed for a more personal teaching. Most classes range from 10-15 people which is perfect as there is always tutors there to help out. The classes go from 9am to 12 pm then lunch then class from 2-5 pm which works very well for all the students as we get to spend time at lunch all together and interacting. The uni heavily focuses on bringing the student community together and will host events to get involved in. My first week here I won the Lego challenge and won a $20 target gift card! Buzzing. I will add some photos from bits and bobs around Melbourne so far and will be hosting an event at LCI on Saturday to talk about study abroad at the creatives open day there.
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7 interesting facts about Santiago that may surprise you:
1. You can’t flush the toilet in majority of places, however all of the new buildings already have better canalisation system 2. Spinach leaves are huge – so you know that feeling when you put loads of spinach on the frying pan and after one minute it disappears? So here, you can buy a proper spinach, not baby leaves, and enjoy its existence even after heating. 3. Sushi is sooo good and sooo cheap – due to the signifi...cant immigration of Japanese, the sushi culture is spread everywhere, with the good quality and good prices 4. K-pop – as the effect of the Asian influence, people (especially teenagers) love k-pop and they’re dancing everywhere, in every park, and next to any building with glass walls that are used as a mirror 5. Cleaning – for example our university gym has a brake for cleaning every hour, in the library staff is dusting shelves every 30 minutes and cleaning the floor every hour as well. This is because there are many cleaners hired because this is the way to support society and offer more employment opportunities for people who are not able to get any other job. I think that this point is extremely important because it gives the overview of the economic situation. Santiago is acclaimed to be the most European-like city in Latin America. And that’s true, but there are widespread, visible inequalities among the city that are a huge issue for the society. 6. Demonstrations – I find people here to be very proactive and they organise loads of peaceful demonstrations. There is a huge power in that people, and they are all willing to change the city and the planet to make it a better place. 7. Doggos – there are strayed dogs everywhere. Fortunately, the city council and many foundations are taking care of them by providing fresh water, puppy clothes and food. There are many, many more things that you will discover and understand only when moving in to that lovely vibrant city!
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Santiago - first step to Latin America Money will return, time will not - I guess this is my mantra here and the approach everyone should have when travelling to a place that is so far away and you cannot come back very often. South America is a huge, huge continent that’s why Some of the recommended trips: Santiago – Buenos Aires £30 (by plane), 3h Santiago – Mendoza £20 (by bus), 8h... Going to Argentina is a first place to go as it is easy and fast to get. Buenos Aires is a place with stunning architecture, full of Latin American passion, plenty of cultural events, the experience is unique. Santiago – Lima – Cusco £140 (plane/ plane + train), 5h This is an extremely touristic place, prices are a bit higher but with good planning you can still get a good price. It is also easy and cheap to travel to capital cities of Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia. National flights: These are way cheaper, but all of the cities guarantee an amazing experience as Chile is one of the longest and narrowest countries on the planet, so travelling from South to North offers unforgettable sights, from dessert to glaciers. Calama £15, 1.5h This is a dessert region – Atacama Dessert, with flamingos, alpacas, ostriches and many more La Serena, Concepcion, Arica – places in Chile worth going (around 2h in a plane) Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas (prices depend on a season because everyone goes Patagonia in December, so it is more expensive then) – two cities that are a first step to magical Patagonia.
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Fiestas Patrias, or how Chileans love their country
The celebration of Fiestas Patrias is supposed to begin on 18 September, Chilean Independence Day and finish on 19 September, known as the "Day of the Glories of the Army". Unofficially, the celebration begins at the beginning of September and last until the end of month. Why? Because Chileans love their culture and are proud of it. Flags are everywhere, on every building, people are dancing cueca (national dance), going to ...fondas (fairs), having barbecue everywhere. Literally, everywhere. If you have a chance to be in Chile, make sure to spend September here. The predominant food are empanadas (sort of bread pastry) with a variety of fillings and loads of meat ( :c go vegan :c ). People drink terremotos (meaning earthquake) that are made out of cheap wine, pineapple ice creams and grenadine and are able to give you the experience of the earthquake (make you fall down). There is also pisco, a national liquor (Peruvians praise it as their national drink as well) and alfajores, a typical dessert that consist of two lightly breaded cookies joined with manjar, a sweet filling made from caramelized condensed milk. They love manjar here, really. I spent Fiestas Patrias in Pichilemu, one of the top surf destinations in Chile, having terremotos, going to fondas and trying to forget about exams I had in following week (I passed everything though).
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UNIVERSIDAD DE CHILE – ACADEMIA AND FACILITIES In terms of academic experience, my university offers a range of interesting courses, lecturers are exceptionally skilled and have a positive approach towards international students. I have to get 30 ECTS credits which basically translates into 5 modules. The choice of modules was totally up to me so I’m doing 2 in Spanish, 3 in English and additionally online course in Spanish (Sustainability and Social Economy). There are exam...s, quizzes, group works, surprise quizzes, presentations but despite that I still get enough time to travel and discover the culture (next post will be about the most important holidays in Chile – Fiestas Patrias, national drinks and food, stay tuned). We have here normal classes with professors as well as so-called ayudantias which are led by teacher assistants (usually older students) who go over with the topic again and answer any stupid question that you would not ask a tutor. University provides a free access to gym (closed on weekends though) as well as offers free Zumba, yoga, wall climbing classes, swimming pool and tennis court. Our campus is full of cultural and events, interesting workshops and held TED event a month ago. The urban organisation of the university makes it a place that you just want to stay after classes and chill with your friends. Every Friday students meet to celebrate survival of the week next to la concha (football pitch) where are legally having a pre-party until 10pm. There are many organisations at uni that helps you to feel like home. There is a FEN buddy system (you are allocated with the Chilean student who shows you the city around and answers all of your questions), ISA union that organises amazing events very often such as sports days, BBQ party, Aqua party, movie nights, trekking, everything you can think of. There is no way you will get bored here. Today, I am taking part in Let’s Chat event – a weekly meeting that gives Chilean students an opportunity to speak in English (there is also an equivalent event, Habla Po, that is organised by Chileans to help international students to understand their language).
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