What to expect of Manchester and the UK

Part 2 – Welcome Week/Freshers

For international students, your Welcome Week starts a few days earlier (15^th September) than local students. This is so that you can get a head start on settling down in Manchester. This way, when Welcome Week starts (17^th September), you can fully concentrate on enjoying the most exciting moment of your life (exaggerated… but it should be super fun 😐😐).

This post is to introduce you to some of the activities we have in Manchester and what you can expect from it. But before you start enjoying all the fun activities the uni has to offer, you will have to attend a welcome presentation and some other workshops(not compulsory). Some of these events are very important for international students so make sure you know the dates, time and locations of these events.

All the scheduled events for Welcome Week are listed in this booklet called “What’s on”. For past years, the university would send them out to students before they arrive. For this year, you will have to pick one up when you arrive on campus. Please make sure you pick up a copy as soon as you can so you can start planning your Welcome Week with all the events you want to go to. As of now, I will just give you a brief guide on what’s going to happen 😃.

Orientation events (begins on Friday 14^th September, this link will have all the information you need)

• Global Village Fete
  • The ‘Global Village Fete’ is one of the biggest events planned for our new international students.
  • We will have stands showcasing some of our national and faith societies, a stage area with music, dancing, singing, and performances of all kinds in our big, spacious and beautiful marquee.
  • This will be held on Saturday 15^th September(two days before Welcome Week)
  • Make notes of this on your planner now! You don’t want to miss it!!
• Campus tours and city bus tours
  • These will be given by our student ambassadors. You can find more information at the Global Village Fete (see above 😃)
• Welcome presentations and workshops
  • There are a total of 4 welcome presentations taken place in University Place lecture theatre B. They are not compulsory, but they will cover all the essential information you will need to know for your life in the Uk. The dates are…
    • Friday 14^th September, 11am
    • Friday 14^th September, 2pm
    • Sunday 16^th September, 10am
    • Sunday 16^th September, 2pm
  • There will also be workshops for international students
    • Please check out this link! It contains all you need to know about orientation
  • I am not an international student so I wouldn’t know what these events are like, but I would definitely go to as many as possible so you don’t have to worry about how to set up bank accounts, registering, etc.
• Also, please go on this page and fill out the form for which welcome presentation you would like to attend. this will be extremely helpful for us as it will give us a rough idea of how many people will attend each session. Thank you😃😃😃.

Daytime events during Welcome Week (begins on Monday 17^th September)

• Society fair
• 
  • The society fair is one of the main attractions of Welcome Week, there will be many stands set up by different societies to grab your attention and convince you to join them.
  • The fair is held across multiple buildings within the campus. Make sure you pay the Students’ Union Building a visit upon your arrival on campus and ask one of our student ambassadors for the details.
  • Societies are the best places to meet new people and make good friends; it gives you the chance to bond with someone who has the same hobby as you. You like playing chess? If you go and join the chess society. You like to play football? Join the football society and be active!
  • Joining a society is the best way to meet new people and make good friends; it will give you’re the opportunities to bond with others with the same interest as you (make sure you go and have a look!!!).
  • We have the most societies out of any universities in the UK so don’t you worry about not finding a society that’s right for you 😉😉.
  • My personal opinion on societies is that you s
    should join one or two. Make sure you take some time and turn up for the events for those societies. Studying hard and getting the best grade possible is important, but making the most out of your student life and meeting people is equally as important. Widen your social circle and enjoying your time here should be your priority. : )
• School events
  • School events are the ones created and set up by the school you belong to, so if you are a Student of School of Mathematics, then there will be events set up just for students from your course/school.
  • As every school will have their own event’s, I am not entirely sure what will be available to you, but what I would suggest is that you go to your school building (if you don’t know what building your school then leaves a comment and I will find it out for you😃😃) on the Monday of Welcome week and ask what is on.
  • Make sure you attend these events as you are most likely to meet your lifelong friends there. After all, the friends you will spend the most time with are your course mates.
  • I met most of my close friends through the school events so please make sure you go to them! To make the most out of these events, don’t be afraid to arrange meetups after.

Night events during Welcome week

• If you think you can take a break after sunset then you are WRONG! This is when it starts!
• For those who live in halls, this is a great time to bond with your flatmates. Don’t need to be shy and just go for it, they want to have fun and make friends too.
• If you don’t live in halls then this is a good chance for you to invite them out for a few drinks (doesn’t have to be alcoholic 😉).
• There will be clubbing events set up just for students (I won’t be listing them here, but you will be able to see posters all around campus during Welcome Week). These events will be attended mainly by students so you will be able to meet even more people by taking part.
• If clubbing events aren’t for you then we have Movie nights (some halls will also have their own movie nights too) in the Student Union Building. More details will be available on the What’s On guide (pick up a copy when you arrive on campus!).
• There are bar crawls available if you are more into social drinking (again, doesn’t have to be alcoholic). This is where you and a group of people going around the city to try different pubs. This way you can find your ideal pub to chill at English people love to hang out in pubs so yeah, get used to it 😉).
• There will also be events set up by societies to meet at night time. These can be a small party, and dinner with other new students at various restaurants.
• Most nighttime events aren’t free and you will have to buy tickets. Some events might not have tickets on the door so be sure to buy your tickets in advance!
• Nigh time Manchester is amazing! Although it might not be what you have been expecting, I am sure you will love it
• Here is a website you can have a look at to see what it’s like

This is all I have to say about for Welcome Week. There will be an event for you so don’t worry if what I have listed doesn’t interest you. As usual, I want to thank you for taking your time reading this and if you have any questions, please ask! Oh and stay tuned for future posts 😉.