The 3rd. of August was the day for which I have waited so long full of anticipation, adrenalin and curiosity. Its 1 pm in Bangkok when the plain starts its landing to this huge, modern and chaotic city in South East Asia.
After getting my luggage & exchanging a few Euros into Thai Baht, there I was. 9000 Kilometers aways from home in a city I was so excited to live in.
During 40 minutes of taxi drive to my accommodation I can’t stop watching out of my window. Skyscrapers, Highways, colorful cars and a never ending skyline. Because of 5 hours difference to Germany there are some problems in getting my sleep every night. JETLEG ALARM.
The first weeks are really difficult till I get used to habits, smells, weather, even life.
Staying in a accommodation like mine, the iSanook Residence, is absolutely perfect. Modern, stylish and really close to almost everything.
The university is reached by a 10 minutes walk or a 2 minutes drive with a bus, tuktuk or a taxi for 10-50 Baht, which is 0,20€-1,30€, really cheap.!
We study at „Chula“, Chulalongkorn University in the Faculty of Communications Arts, one of the oldest and renowned universities of Thailand. Its not a normal Campus, we are used to. It’s almost a district in Bangkok with 19 faculties, a park, a stadium, a hospital, a posttation, a museum etc.
The Asian people like doing huge things. Everything in this city seems to be bigger than normal. By visiting the Shopping Malls like Siam Center, Central World, Terminal21 you could get lost 😉
In this 3 months I’ve learned and have seen so many wonderful things. Thai people are really kind people, a bit shy but as soon as you get to know them, you make interesting friendships. Except of the traffic, the life here is carefree, stress-free and more chill of what we are used to. People live from day to day, enjoy their lives even though many people suffer from poverty.
In this 3 months I was also part of an historic event here in Bangkok. With the death of the King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the age of 88 on October the 13th. in 2016, the people and the whole country have changed. This loss caused a deep mourning and the once happy and loud Bangkok become quiet.
Nevertheless I am thankful and grateful to be part of this country and to get the opportunity to see things, I would probably never see.
The following pictures are a clipping of what I saw, what I loved and what you guys should see too 🙂
London just called and now here I am! The big city lights received me on the 15th of September, and in addition to that I had the pleasure to enjoy a Firework directly from my balcony. As you can see the picture below showes you the view from my flat.
I´m one of the students who didn´t get an accommodation on campus. But no panic there are a lot of other opportunities to find around the University. In my point of view I did a better choice with taking a privateaccommodation.
The first few days are really exciting, you get to know new Students from nearly all over the world. It is really impressive how everything goes, the first week over here called the „Freshers Week“ was a lot of fun. The well structured first week included litte games around the campus, working in mixed groups with the Erasmus students, presentations about how studying at Greenwich would be and the freshers fair.
I would recommend you to definitely go there, it is a lot of fun an maybe you will join one of the societies. And even if you’re not joining some of them, you will find a lot of trips organized by the students union. For example the choir is a really nice thing to to. There will be a show in the beginning of December in the chapel of our University singing christmas songs. Yes if you want to you can already feel that christmas is coming nearer in London.
I have already been to London when I was younger, so as maybe the most of us I have already seen the Big Ben, St. Paul´s Cathedral, Houses of Parliament and all the other touristic attractions. But I think London has so many other things to discover. All of the districts are different and have different vibes. The best thing to do ist to go by tube to the place you want to start and then just walk, walk around the city and open your eyes.
There are so many interesting things you will discover by walking through town. Lovely small avenues, nice markets and a lot of food! The weather in our first four weeks was sunny nearly no raindrop but it was a little bit windy. It is definitely worth it to walk around the parks London gives you.
I am a little food addict person so here are some places where you defiantly should go:
After the Freshers Week there were some nice trips organized by the Students Union one if ist was the trip to Brighton. It was a lovely Saturday morning the weather was absolutely perfect to go to the sea. It only took us one and a half hour to get to the coast of England. If you need to get our of the hustle and bustle Brighton is the best thing to do, just walk over the pier and enjoy the view.
The mostly reason to visit Brighton is the Pier. There are a lot of rides and attractions. But you can also find things to do Brighton town is big enough to find shopping places but there are also some small alleys with cute little cafes.
All in all I am really enjoying my semester abroad in London and I would always choose it again. There are so many things that I still want to do and I´m really looking forward go through steps who are made in many films.
The best example is Harry Potter, there is not only the universal Studios where you can go there are a lot of places you will recommend in town.
Please feel free to contact me if there are any questions or if I can help you finding the right University my email address is: jrichardson@stud.macromedia.de
Best Regards,
Julia Richardson
Arriving at one of our partner Universities in London feels a bit like detrain the Hogwarts Express. The old veneer of the Greenwich University looks amazing.
In addition to that it’s directly next to the Thames on one side and borders on Greenwich Park on the other side. The great appereance is completed with the traditionel events of the eagerly working student union. In the first two weeks there were a lot of Freshers Events like sport trial lessons, welcome meals and of course the Freshers Fair and a legendary Pub Crawl. And all these events happened without any cloudy sky.
Still now in October the English weather is converse to the assumptions we have in Germany. Okay, it is getting colder now from day to day but all students here can still enjoy a relaxing nap on the great green lawns of Greenwich Park while squirrels running around. Speaking up squirrels, while they aren’t a big attraction there a oodles of city foxes in the streets of London. When the sun went down they stray through parks, pedestrian areas and diverse dooryards. Three months won’t be enough to see all the attractions and hidden places in London.
But as a start we went to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour. It was amazing even for students who weren’t that big fans of the famous London wizard. You could see everything from the great hall to all props of all eight films.
To get an impression of the workaday life here in London you just have to visit central London. It is overwhelming. Of course you know the big red double-deckers but there are a lot of them. Everywhere. And then there is the left-hand traffic. The first weeks you have to be lucky to survive in the morning or home-going traffic. The time you think you just got it now and you cross thoughtlessly the road you hear another horn again and notice that you still have to watch twice or better thrice.
Touristic places like London Eye, Tower Bridge or Big Ben do also have their magic. In the middle of a very busy city are a lot of old imposing examples of structure. If it’s rainy (which it wasn’t often like I said proudly before) there is the chance to visit all the famous museums here for free. The Tate Modern, the Museum of London and the National Gallery are worth visiting. While struggling through the busy traffic it is unmistakable that London is a city in constant change. There are a loads of cranes outstanding the skyline. Although London is the most international city in Europe the public transit stops at around midnight.
This is why the thousands and thousands of taxis here making there money despite a lot of competition. All the students here make a great use of Uber, the taxi app which is less expensive and you normally have to wait at most five minutes.
If you are interestens in sports regardless of wether doing it or watching it, London is the city to be. You have the chance to practise every form of sport in an University team. Very popular is Hockey, Football, Rugby, Rowing and Ultimate Frisbee. Also shooting some Golf balls in the skyline of London is no problem. With some beers beside its much fun for eveybody.
But also watching sports in London is no problem. There are a lot of events happing here. Tennis masters, Premier League matches and also Cricket is interesting to watch. London is a city of boundless possibilities except for going home late by public transport and bike safely. We’re looking forward to more of the interesting and student including lectures as well as a big Halloween events (it’s really beloved by Brits) and of course a heartwarming Christmas time.