The amazing Erasmus experience in Birmingham!

Dear all,

We would like to share our experience at UCB, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have some additional questions ;)

Talita & Kristjan

Accommodation 

We both live in Cambrian Hall, which is a good choice if you like sleeping late, because it's just across UCB. You just cross 2 streets and your there. Also Cambrian is cheaper than Maltings and you still got your own room. It's not really high class though. You have a quite small room and very small bathroom, which you share with your neighbour. It's ok for me, but probably some girls would miss some more shelf room or a mirror. You have a mirror in your room though. You have the choice to pay for the semester in one full payment or you ask them to arrange a monthly pay. I pay monthly and it's 330.25 pounds a month.

The other accommodation is Maltings, which is a bit more modern and has its own bar and a bit better equipment, but it's more expensive and about 15 minutes away from UCB by walking.

Welcome gift in the accommodation J 

Local Culture & Habits 

The first thing you'll notice that the people drive on the opposite side of the road. Birmingham is quite a modern and young city so it's not very cultural if you ask me. You still have some landmarks and views, but not as much. Birmingham is a business city. You will find loads of shops and restaurants, mostly business hotels and similar. What amazed me is that most people are very nice people and they really like to help. First day when we arrived in Birmingham people asked us if they could help us, which was a big surprise for us. Also remember that people rather say »cheers« than »thank you«. It means the same as the latter. You might see a lot of different people, with different backgrounds because it's also a city with a lot of cultures mixing, for example Indian, Chinese, Turk and similar.

Transport

Transport in Birmingham is quite flexible. You can get a bus from the coach station in Digbeth past the market or get a train at New Street station. The buses travel all around Birmingham and they are very frequent. For distant cities like London you can book a bus ticket online for the Megabus. To London is usually around 5 pounds. 11 pounds is usually the return ticket.

The city centre

Costs

Prices in Birmingham vary. Some stuff is cheaper than in Slovenia, but there are also some which are more expensive. If you want to eat cheap you can visit chinese quarter, Eat For Less or Pizza Hut on weekdays from 3-5 when you get a pizza of choice, starter, unlimited drinks and unlimited salad bar for 7 pounds. There are also some cheaper stores and deals. Many good deals are in Poundland or 99p store. And in UCB you can usually get a meal quite cheap. For those who cook a lot and love vegetables and fruits ca neven visit the market where you get everything the cheapest.

Pros & Cons

Hmm, we wrote many Pros and Cons already, but still there are more. It's good that the college hosts some excursions to Stratford upon Avon, Warwick castle, York and similar and cheaper as if you would go on your own, you just have to be fast, because there are limited seats. Everyone can find a job with the help of the job center in UCB, who help you write your CV and give you many suggestions. For a 35 pounds for half a year you can enter the UCB Gym where you can access a fitness room with many different modern machines and you can enter the steam room, sauna and jaccuzzi as well. You will get around Birmingham quite quickly probably and after some time you might get used to the city and want to travel and see other parts of UK. Birmingham also hosts one of the best christmas holidays in the world. They even host the Frankfurt Christmas Market and over all new street you will see christmas stalls selling various stuff. It opens in november and lasts till 21. December.

Other

Most things have been discussed in previous segments, other than that you meet a lot of friends and people your age with similar interests and you will like it. For those who like nightlife, like mentioned previously, will love the city. Also it's called the city of many students so your in the right place J 

Opinion about Faculty 

The university college of Birmingham (UCB) is a brilliant college. Although I have so far spent just over a month in Birmingham, my English university UCB has brought me a lot of new knowledge, experience and in this way significantly enriched my general knowledge in the field of tourism, such as English and German languages. During the lectures the student must actively participate with his own opinions and ideas. There's a lot of international students. This is a positive point that I would like to stress, because it helps you with finding new ideas, reach new experience and lots of good friendships. Lectures are in my opinion very well organized: professors are very helpful and the method of study is very effective and with an international mentality. As I mentioned before, I attend lectures with many international students. This means that there are many people from different religions and habits in my classroom and as a result, each of them has a different way of thinking - wrong opinion does not exist, because all students are equal and every idea or opinion is welcome. I see a great positive point, because I think it makes the student more mature and increases his knowledge, no matter where he comes from. The lecturers are very open and willing to help anyone who has some issues or difficulty with understanding some arguments. Furthermore, there are ''workshops'' for each subject, where there's a discussion about the lectures, exams and assignments that the subject requires. The method of studying is similar to the Slovenian. In England students has to participate actively from the very beginning by regularly submitting essays or reports for each subject. The essays or reports are the essential part of the evaluation. This encourages students to continually explore websites, online newspapers, magazines and books that are at his disposal in the library. These online magazines, newspapers or other news are accessible via online UCB links. After the lectures, each subject is followed by seminar exercises, where the topic that was discussed during the lecture deals with a more specific and at the same time, of course, with the active participation of students, common ideas and discussions. 

University College of Birmingham

First impression 

Before I came to study in Birmingham I've read some general information about the city like interesting things, holidays, people and their customs etc.. From the very beginning I was impressed by the fact that Birmingham is the second largest city with regard to the population of the United Kingdom. It is a multi-ethnic and multicultural city as about 30% of its population has European origins. In 2001, 70.4% of the population was of European origins (including 3.2% Irish), 19.5% of Asian origins of the English language, 6.1% of African or Afro-American, 0.5% of Chinese origins, 2.9% of mixed ethnicity and 0.6% from other countries.

When I arrived in this city, without any doubt the first thing I've noticed was the huge amount of people on the streets, people of different ethnicities and races. The city itself is huge, but the center and the main streets are so small that you can go through them by walking.

Night life

The nightlife in Birmingham is very diverse. For young people there is an entire street in which there are only clubs, pubs and clubs with all kinds of music and for all tastes. The city of Birmingham is also situated in one of the biggest clubs of England, “Gatecrasher”, in which there are various rooms each one with a different kind of music. In the center there are also many bars where talented musicians play live music, usually jazz or rock, and for some of these bars you don't have to pay the entrance. There are also numerous international restaurants like Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, etc. In short, for every type of cusine you want to try.

In Birmingham there are many theaters. The most important professional theaters are : Alexandra Theatre ("The Alex"), the Birmingham Repertory Theatre ("The Rep"), the Birmingham Hippodrome and lold Rep, the mac and Drum arts center hosts performances.

Places and activities 

In the city of Birmingham there are many activities available. As regards sports, in the center of Birmingham there are many gyms and many places where you can practice different types of sports such as yoga, Thai chi, kick boxing, aerobics, Pilates and many other types of sports.

The main places you have to visit when you come to Birmingham are the streets of the city centre like New street. This street is the main shopping area where you can find the Bull Ring Shopping Centre with a huge number of shops.

Broad Street is well known for its big number of pubs and clubs, but also because it’s close to the famous and beautiful canal of Birmingham that is followed by many other channels. Along the channel of Birmingham you can admire the particularly green nature of England.

Another place you cannot miss is China Town - the Chinese district where you can find supermarkets, restaurants and bars that are fully managed by Chinese people.

Other interesting activities people can do or visit in Birmingham are the Teamworks Karting Birmingham, the Birmingham Museum and Gallery, BBC Birmingham Public Space, National Sea Life Centre, The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham Bowlplex, Creation Indoor Climbing Centre, Ackers Adventure which is an outdoor Activity situated only 2 miles from the city centre. They offer a wide range of activities for all ages (4 +) and abilities. This includes skiing, tobogganing, climbing, canoeing, kayaking, archery, jungle challenge, birthday parties, school holiday clubs, lessons, clubs, courses, events and more; Tenpin Birmingham Star City is a big bowling centre. They have 22 modern fully computerized lanes and 19 American Pool tables.

Cannon Hill Park is a place full of plenty picnic areas and refreshments; one of the many fun places to visit if you're looking for things to do in Birmingham is the Birmingham Nature Centre Home with an impressive range of animals and reptiles from all over the world, including some endangered species.



 
Birmingham Canal 

 
The City centre 

Victoria square 

The entrance of the Bull Ring – for those who love shopping J

Culinary & student meals

As concerns food, in Birmingham you cannot find exactly a repertoire of meals for students, but at the university all students can have a full meal for a very low price compared to some of the local restaurants in the city centre. In Birmingham there is a wide choice of international cuisine and all kinds of food, from fast food to medium and upscale restaurants. In China Town there are many Chinese restaurants for those who loves Chinese food and are not expensive, you can eat a full meal at a reasonable price. In the center of Birmingham there are also several restaurants and buffets of Indian, Thai and Japanese food at reasonable prices.

Talita Visentin, Kristjan Sovič

talita_v@hotmail.it