Arriving at Leeds Uni - His Uni Exchange: Part 4
Part 4: Going through my first week or so in Leeds and my experiences when arriving for the first time.
After everything leading up to my exchange in Leeds, what from all the planning, to the 2-months of travel beforehand, to eventually arrive was a bit serene. It felt odd to have all my preconceived ideas about the place, and what it would be like, turn into reality.
First off, after a while on the road, it was definitely nice to settle down into a single place and have a bit of normality and routine. However, with orientation week for exchange students literally starting straight away, there wasn't a whole lot of time for feet up relaxing.
First Impressions
When initially rolling into 19 Autumn Place, our flat and home for the year, it was cool seeing it in real life and instead of Google maps and the Unipol letting photos. The surrounding area though wasn't much to write home about, with terraced flats literally everywhere and a definite lack of any physical beauty.
However, I should say, this image contributes to the character of the Hyde Park area and there is a reason so many of Leed Uni students choose to live there. None more so than it's a quality student hub and above all it's cheap.
We went for a walk around to get our bearings and found that it was only 10-15mins to the uni campus, 20mins to the city centre and there was a take-away joint on our corner. But more importantly, there was the 'trifecta of convenience' with the local Middle-Eastern supermarket, social club and pub all 200m away.
of Leeds
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The city of Leeds itself was an interesting mix of an old industrial style city meeting the more modern raised developments of today. A few of its buildings were distinguishable and its town hall was a nice historic structure, however, it definitely lacked an immediate charm.
Around our area though, there were more interesting things to see, with Woodhouse Moore (or Hyde park) offering a huge and very nice green space filled with students. Also, the suburb of Headingley was a trendier and quieter spot, filled with pubs and cafes.
Again, I must stress, this initial impressions was chipped away as the year progressed and the culture of the North & Yorkshire shone through. There was literally so much going on for a young adult to get involved in, which will see you get caught up in it all and loose track of time.
of the Uni of Leeds
When walking from our flat to the uni for the first time, I was amazed that it only took 10 minutes (although it was uphill). The campus itself is literally on the edge of the city centre, blending into part of the surrounding area. I immediately liked its location and having everything within walking distance, which is a far cry from the sprawling urban areas of the Gold Coast.
The uni definitely has a bit of character to it, in that it's situated within Leeds, rather than a stand alone campus. So you have some buildings that were specifically built for the uni over the years, then others that have been acquired as it's grown. Also, since it's been around since the turn of the 20th century, so there is a nice contrast between the original old red brick buildings and some that are more modern.
The main walkway through uni was the initial highlight, as you walk directly past the Student Union. The multi-coloured bunting that runs along adds a nice touch and brightens up the uni. From here, when you head into the Union itself, it's an overwhelming experience when you try and make your way through the multiple levels and crazy amount of services provided (there's 2-pubs, beer garden, a cafeteria, cafe, supermarket, bank, multiple food outlets, a theatre, radio station, plus heaps more.)
I was really surprised at the size of the uni and impressed at how compact it was to fit so much into the space, right on the edge of the city centre. Apart from taking a while to figure out the many building names and where they were, it's a quality campus.
My advice if arriving again
1) Buying of Homewares/Bedding/Etc
We were lucky enough at the time to have a relative of Ruby's to drive us to our flat after arriving in the UK. On our way, we stopped off at a range of different Mills, as well as at Argos to grab all the items we thought we'd need to fit our empty flat. Where we were primarily focusing on solely those cheap items to help us live. It was incredibly convenient, but not knowing where to go and what were reasonable prices in Britain, we probably ended up spending too much.
My advice: Just go to Wilko
Wilko is a general variety store with literally everything a student needs to set-up a flat or room for seriously bargain prices. There's one in both Headingley and in the middle of town, which both cater for Leeds uni students getting ready to move in for the year.
2) Orientating Yourself
After making sure you have everything you need (literally go straight to Wilko), just walking out and around your immediate area will help you massively. By knowing where the closest supermarket, pub, train station, bus-stop, takeaway and shortest route to uni is, it will save you from wasting your time walking around aimlessly in the future.
This is also the case for the Leeds Uni campus. Some of the building and lecture theatre names can be confusing and your subjects may be spread out around the place. Take a day to walk around and check out the libraries, student union, as well as, some of the bigger buildings. There are also tours in orientation week that can help with this.
3) Meeting New People & Making Social Connections
Now that you kinda of know where everything important is, it's time to start getting into the Leeds experience. Whether it's other exchange students, your new flat mates or through uni societies and events, the people are what make studying in Leeds such an unreal time.
Through the Leeds Uni inbound exchange student page and a WhatsApp group that was created, there were people exchanging contacts and creating events way before even arriving. In my first week I went to a few of the self-organised Facebook event's for exchange students and I'd recommend these as a great way to meet people in the same situation as you and potentially make friends you'll stick with for the rest of the semester.
It was through this first meet-up event that I met a legendary German named Tim. From then on, he introduced me to a heap of exchange people at Montague Burton, including Liam, who between the two of them, deserve a massive mention for being cracking blokes during my first semester!
Being in a flat with just Ruby and myself, I was concious that we should try and meet people early on, in order to get into the social scene and not get left behind. However, it's really not a big worry because there are literally so many different ways for anyone to get involved socially with whatever you are into, which totally makes the Leeds experience special.
4) Leeds Uni Societies
Finally, the biggest thing about your initial time in Leeds & at the Uni of Leeds, are the hundreds and hundreds of societies the uni has. Anything from cultural groups, sporting teams, music groups, academia, performing arts, drinking (actually literally nearly all involve drinking) and everything in-between, the Uni has a club or society for you.
Before I explain my experience, my biggest tip of all is to not try and do too much. Pick one or two that you are super interested and keen on (especially if you are only there for 1 semester), because to get properly involved will require lots of your time and you only have so much. For me, I did want to try everything, but I soon realised this wasn't possible, what with the want to travel and maybe some actually uni work. So I ended up finding my way into two that I wouldn't have originally thought, but it was still a rad time regardless.
Initially, as I'm heavily into my Aussie rules back in Aus, yet knowing this wasn't a British sporting option, I also have a background in rugby union. So I went along to the union training sessions and socials for the first few weeks. This was great fun all round, but unfortunately during a muck-around game of football (soccer), I dislocated and ruptured my knee (5th time now) and ended up on crutches for a few weeks.
This put an end to rugby, but led me to the two societies that I stuck with for my time at Leeds.
The Real Ale Society
Firstly, I do enjoy my beer and being immobilised again was extremely depressing, so I did the only logical thing, I turned to the drink. Now the RAS is exactly what it is, it's a bunch of uni students that formed a society with the sole purpose in taking the time to find and drink good beer. It was an extremely well run society, with regular members that I got on with from the start. With weekly events, special weekend trips and an annual trip abroad to Prague, I made really good mates with a bunch of these guys and I'm so so glad I went along.
I genuinely had the most fun and cooked times with this lot, from getting kicked out of a small Yorkshire village, to going abroad and running a muck in Prague. It was a load of fun and I actually tried beers beyond the standard lagers I'm use to in Aus (DIPA Mango Lassi was unreal!). Can't say enough about my time with the RAS, between Harry, Dot and John of the committee and all the Prague guys (special mention to Team Chapeau Rouge), I will really miss this part of my time in Leeds.
UoL Water Polo team
The second society I really enjoyed was my time with the Uni of Leeds Water Polo team. Not being able to run meant I ended up doing a lot of laps in the Edge pool to keep fit, but, one can only stare at a line for so long. I was missing the team vibe and competitive nature of sport, so I tried my hand at water polo. Prior to this, my only experience was a term or two in high school as part of PE, but I considered myself a decent swimmer and have decent ball skills from footy. Though, even with this, nothing got me working harder than doing the egg-beater with your arms above your head.
I trained regularly with the boys, had a great laugh and some good nights on their socials. However, I do regret only joining the second semester (though my knee had other ideas), because I missed most of the games. Overall, it was a great time, solid fitness and just a good bunch of blokes.
So, there you have it. The first few weeks in Leeds can be hard to get yourself organised with what is going on, the things you need to live and the want to get involved on the social scene. I promise though, with some time, thing will become easier and there is literally so many things to get involved in that you'll probably try and do too much (although the drinks will flow all year long). Good luck none the less and above all, just enjoy the ride!
If you have any questions about any of this or any other exchange related things, don't hesitate to get in touch via our email hishertravelings@gmail.com. Thanks for your time & have a good week.