{"id":2863,"date":"2022-08-29T09:22:59","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T08:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/?p=2863"},"modified":"2022-09-02T08:57:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T07:57:23","slug":"my-experience-as-an-international-student-at-queens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/2022\/08\/29\/my-experience-as-an-international-student-at-queens\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiences of a International Student at Queen’s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Guest Blog by Julien Kolta, PT International Student Officer, Queen’s Students’ Union<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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My name is Julien Kolta and I\u2019m a second-year medical student. I\u2019m from Egypt and I\u2019ve lived in the United Arab Emirates for the past 15 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with being a medical student, I am the part-time International Student Officer at Queen’s Students’ Union and a faculty of Medicine Health and Life Sciences\u2019 International Student Ambassador. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being an international student living in Belfast and studying at Queen’s is incredibly exciting and I\u2019ve learned so much in the past year that I\u2019d love to share with you all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What I wish I’d Known…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Feeling homesick is normal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During your first semester at Queen’s, you will be very eager and enthusiastic about the new experience. You\u2019ll meet lots of new people and make new friends, so you won’t feel as homesick at the beginning. However, as semester two rolls around and deadlines get closer you might feel it a bit more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is completely normal and everyone goes through it, the trick to beating it is to keep yourself busy with work, sports and friends as well as keeping in touch with home. There\u2019s also a lot of support available to students both within your school (e.g. the advisor of studies and the pastoral lead) and outside your school (e.g. the Students’ Union and Student Centre).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Be Patient with Yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, it\u2019s important to realise that living away from home is a balancing act between work, your social life and your responsibilities (i.e. cooking, cleaning, washing). Likewise, there\u2019s a bit of paperwork that comes with being an international student such as opening a bank account, registering with the police, and receiving your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) so you must know that these things take time but all you\u2019ve got to do is be patient but persistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. How to find ingredients from Home<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A necessary piece of information I wish I was told is that you can still find certain ingredients for traditional foods but at specific supermarkets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are easy to find on google and many supermarkets around Belfast cater for different cultures where you\u2019ll find all the spices and ingredients that you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out here for more details on International Supermarkets<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Belfast<\/strong> Public<\/strong> Transport<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navigating Belfast’s public transport (the bus specifically) was quite difficult for me at the start and I wasn\u2019t sure what to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My biggest piece of advice is to apply for a ylink card<\/a>, a type of student card that gives you discounts on rides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What helped me at the beginning was I spoke to someone who knows how to navigate the bus and we took my first ride together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned that buses are labelled with numbers and letters based on the different routes they take, for example if you are catching the bus from outside One Elmwood, the new Students’ Union and Student Centre, you will be jumping on the pink number 8 bus to take you into the city centre! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google maps will tell you which bus to take and at which time, it will guide you to the stop where you need to take the bus and will give you the name of the last stop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All you need to do is get on the right bus and most importantly on the right side of the road as there might be 2 stops on the same street going in opposite directions. Then you need to present your ylink card, tell the driver where you\u2019re going and pay for your ticket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, it’s really helpful to download different Belfast’s taxi apps such as Value Cabs, Fona Cabs and Uber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Top Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now there are a few things that don\u2019t fit into the \u201cThings I wish I\u2019d known\u201d section but they\u2019re still very important. It\u2019s advice I\u2019d like to share with you all:<\/p>\n\n\n\n