{"id":14461,"date":"2016-03-15T16:41:42","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T16:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/postgraduate\/?p=3800"},"modified":"2016-03-15T16:41:42","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T16:41:42","slug":"relocating-to-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2016\/03\/15\/relocating-to-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Relocating to study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\tStudying abroad is probably the most significant and exciting decision I\u2019ve ever made in my life. I wanted to be part of a greater world, to open my eyes to a new culture, new educational environment and especially to make my childhood dream come true.<\/p>\n<p>When I finally settled down with Bournemouth Uni, there came the anxiety just as much as the happiness. What do I need to prepare before flying to the UK? How would it be to live by myself? How do I even find a place to live? Lots of questions were wandering in my mind and now, I\u2019m writing this blog to share with you how I\u2019ve managed the hardship and become more mature.<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/postgraduate\/files\/2016\/03\/Cambridge-Anh.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3802\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3802 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/postgraduate\/files\/2016\/03\/Cambridge-Anh.jpg\" alt=\"Cambridge - Anh\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>My new friends at BU<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Relocating is not easy; moving overseas is even more challenging. Thanks to BU\u2019s welcome pack with all the instructions and advice I needed, the preparation became much less of a burden. Basically, whether you\u2019ll live in BU halls or a private property, they are usually furnished and you don\u2019t really need to buy anything but your personal belongings. I came here as a Master\u2019s student and due to some visa issues I couldn\u2019t apply for halls in time. I had to search online for letting agents in Bournemouth and went to lots of trouble with housing contracts, payment, finding housemates and so on. I got a place at last, but it wasn\u2019t a pleasant experience so I\u2019d say save yourself the effort. Here are some of my own experiences that hopefully can make your life easier.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Prepare warm clothing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>UK\u2019s winter is cold, very cold if you come from a tropical climate country like me. Some parts of the UK snow heavily around January \u2013 February, it\u2019s important to pack warm clothes in your suitcase. You can buy warm clothes here, but they are generally more expensive and they\u2019re designed for UK people \u2013 who are used to this kind of weather, they may not be warm enough for you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t bring kitchen stuff or stationery<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s really not necessary to bring any kitchen stuff, if you need to eat rice daily then just bring a small cooker. Stationery is quite cheap here as well and you\u2019ll mostly work on your laptop anyway.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t bring lots of cash<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Prepare enough cash to spend for the first month or two only, it\u2019s not a good idea to carry lots of cash. Just open a bank account here within the first month.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Be prepared for a culture shock<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not the same as at home, even if you have learned some culture differences in advance it won\u2019t be the same when you actually experience them. Be open-minded, understanding and adaptive. There will be massive support from BU as well regarding how to study effectively, how to manage your daily life, what kind of help is available if you feel homesick or have any problems living in the UK.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speak English when you can<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If English isn\u2019t your first language, try to grab any opportunity to practise, perhaps by making friends from other countries, participating in extracurricular activities, registering in study skills classes or even finding a part-time job! Be proactive as you\u2019ve paid a lot of money to study here, try to learn everything out of it and make your time here worthwhile.<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/postgraduate\/files\/2016\/03\/Anh-dance-ed-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3804\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3804\" src=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/postgraduate\/files\/2016\/03\/Anh-dance-ed-2.jpg\" alt=\"Anh-dance-ed-2\" width=\"900\" height=\"425\" \/><\/a>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>One World Day, when I participated in a Georgian dance<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Nothing worth having comes easily, what\u2019s important is that you have the willingness to overcome obstacles and the persistence to succeed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>By Anh Ngu<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Studying abroad is probably the most significant and exciting decision I\u2019ve ever made in my life. I wanted to be part of a greater world, to open my eyes to a new culture, new educational environment and especially to make my childhood dream come true. When I finally settled down with Bournemouth Uni, there came&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2016\/03\/15\/relocating-to-study\/\">Read more &raquo;<span class=\"sr-only\"> about Relocating to study<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1446,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1658,1663],"tags":[877,1708,130,48,2048,2186,711],"class_list":["post-14461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-archive","category-postgraduate","tag-bournemouth","tag-anh-ngu","tag-bournemouth-university","tag-bu","tag-masters","tag-postgraduate-study","tag-studying-in-the-uk"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1446"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}