Parties, Parties and more Parties!

“Erasmus it’s just party!”, I am sure that most of you have heard this sentence and now that I am in Erasmus I have to admit that here, I have had some of the best parties of my life. However, I also have to study and work on my modules. It’s just a matter of balance.

But let’s focus on the important topic today: PARTIES! Here there is not enough with just an ordinary party so what we do is: Pre-party, party and finally, after-party. So that, more or less, we start the party at 10 pm and we can finish it at 5am. The pre-parties and after-parties usually are in the flats of the residence or private flats in Paisley. And to party we usually go to the Union or to Glasgow. Personally, Glasgow it’s much better, nevertheless, when we are lazy to move to Glasgow, we stay in the Union that it’s just three minutes from the residence. The important thing is to stay with friends; with them anywhere you will have fun!

Party in Glasgow it’s amazing! It’s full of night clubs and interesting pubs to go. I would recommend going to Sub club, theGarage, O2 ABC or Bamboo. Moreover, there are clubs which the entrance it’s free, so if you want a cheap night just check the different offers. In Facebook, there is a group called “Erasmus Glasgow”, there you can find a lot of information.

 

Sub Club Glasgow

Bamboo Glasgow

 

I love Erasmus parties because you can meet a lot of interesting people of different countries. And let me tell you something, even in parties you can learn! In fact, now I know some useful sentences in French, or other languages, thanks to parties. Moreover, we celebrate the national parties of some countries such Saint Patrick's Day of Ireland, the King’s day of Netherlands or the Crepes day of France.

On the other hand, if you prefer something more relaxed, you can just go to a bar, in Paisley you have several options. In my opinion, the best is “De Beers”, it’s close to the residence, cosy and the music is good. It’s always full of students and Scottish people; the problem is that it’s a little small so sometimes you can not enter.

You only live once, so my advice is: work hard but have as much fun as you can.

My daily life

Well, first of all that here every day it’s different, always new plans or activities to do. In fact, my life doesn’t have a fix schedule here, but I like to improvise a little, therefore, it’s great. Obviously, there is people how follows strictly a timetable but I am going to talk about my own experience.

I just have class on Tuesday and Thursday. I had a lot of free time so I joined an English module to improve my English, I recommend to you to take advantage of this opportunity that UWS give to all the students. Moreover, I haven’t taken this module for credits, so I haven’t to do the exams or the assessments.

Apart from that, I do 3 modules for credits. The first one is WRL (Work Related Learning), the first two weeks I had 3 hours of class but after I just did 1 hour of tutorial per week. Sincerely, it is not really interesting this module, it just requires working on a platform called Mahara from your laptop.

The second module is called Get into Enterprise. Here you will mix lectures and tutorials, it’s more interesting than the other module, and the advantage is that you don’t have exams.

And the last one, it’s called Digital Marketing, this for me it’s the best because I have learnt new things. In fact, thanks to it I am writing this blog. And I am doing 3 hours per week, from those, 2 are lectures and 1 tutorial.

Usually I don’t wake up at the same hour, it depends on if I have to work or go to class, I eat more or less at the same time than in Spain, and in the afternoons, we go to the gym or somewhere with my friends. On the sunny days, most of the students just stay outside the residence laying on the floor with some beers and hope to become a little suntanned. However, I have to say that here the weather is more than crazy; in one day it can rain, be sunny, be cloudy and do wind.

On Tuesday evening we usually go to “Table talk”. It’s a meeting with other international students and there you discuss about some topic and do some activities. Moreover, there are some snacks, teas and refreshments.

We always have some plans and during the weekends we try to visit a little the most iconic places of Scotland. I recommend to you to participate in as much things as you can because this is an experience you only life one.

The union and sports

How can I make new friends? I am sure that you've though about this. Here you can find two great solutions.

The “Union” is a Students' Association (SAUWS) run by the own students of UWS. It provides a wide range of services and is a way of communication and interaction between the university and the students. Each “Union” has its own building, in the Paisley Campus, it’s located in Storie Street,Paisley, PA1 2HB; the telephone number is 0141 849 4157 and the e-mail is office@sauws.org.uk. The Union of Paisley it’s the biggest one.

The union hosts sport events; regular stand‐up comedy gigs as well as quiz nights and poker competitions. There are high‐spec fun‐machines spread over three floors featuring. There are also parties in the bar with a DJ, so the third floor some nights is like a night club. During the first week, there will be a lot of parties which I recommend you to go to meet new people. From my point, it’s quite expensive for what it is but you can have fun anyway. The best day to go to these parties is on Friday and it’s always full of international students.

It’s interesting to know that all UWS Students are members of the Students Association. However the team of students in charge of the Union have several important tasks: they campaign with and for you, work to improve learning and teaching, offer advice and support, organise events and activities and finally, they also enable sports teams and societies across all campuses. Another great opportunity that provides the Union is that is a perfect place to meet and interact with other students.

 

Moreover, I encourage all the new coming students to join one of the numerous sport groups or societies; or even to become involved in the campaigns or the management team of the Union. It would be a fantastic experience because you would do something that you like, practise English and make friends. Make your choice depending on your interests and if you are not sure you can join just one of the tester sessions to make clear your mind. There are more or less 15 societies and several sports clubs; therefore, you have a wide range of options.

Enjoying your time during your stay in the university has a lot of benefits in your mental and physical health, so don’t’ hesitate to join! If you decide to do it or want more information just get in touch with the Team UWS via the Meet the Team page.

In addition, having a sportive and active life it’s very important for most of the students, due to this the university provides excellent facilitates in the “Robertson Sports Centre” and it’s located next to the Thornly Park student residence. So it’s quite far from the core of the UWS Paisley Campus or the residence of Sotrie Street, Lady Lane or Gorge Street. However, a bus passes Thornly Park on a regular basis to and from Paisley town centre. Despite this, it provides a wide range of sport facilities to satisfy all the needs and interests of everyone.

 

It has extensive facilities for a wide range of indoor activities. Externally, there are three floodlit all weather pitches are available for five-a-side football, hockey and other team games as appropriate. Obviously, there are also some changing and shower facilities available for both indoor and outdoor pursuits. In fact, the sports centre provides facilities to practice the following sports or activities: basketball, football, outdoor floodlit 5-a-side football, hockey, rugby, badminton, short tennis, table tennis, netball, volleyball, aerobics, fitness, training area, jogging route, thai tae-kwon-do and aikido. Furthermore, there are several activities during the week that you can join.

The gym is fully equipped with the latest sport equipment. Moreover, the sports services team can offer instructions on how reaching your fitness goals. The membership/Student ID cards will be required if you want to book.

Despite this good offer, many students go to another gym: “Lagoon Leisure Centre”, which it’s quite more expensive, £20 per months for students, but it’s much closer and it’s open more hours. Personally, I go to this one because it’s much closer. And it’s really convenient, I mean, for example, when we finish from the gym, if we need food, we go to the Morrison supermarket on our way back, because Morrisons and Laggon Centre are really close.

  

For more information of the Union or the SAUWS, this is the link you must click at:
https://www.sauws.org.uk/

And then, they also have an interesting twitter account with their activities:

https://twitter.com/sauwsstudents

Here there is an album of potos of the Rpbertson Sports Centre:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/uniwestscotland/sets/72157631451309382/

Services and facilities

A positive aspect of this university it provides a lot of services, groups, teams and facilities to the students to make their academic life easier and better.

The UWS has a well-equipped computing laboratory available for all the students. There are classrooms provided with touch screen technology, tablets and PCs. Additionally, it has interdisciplinary science laboratories, industry-standard design and engineering facilities, nursing and midwifery teaching areas and skills labs.

The university also has a library and learning resource centre equipped with over 1,000 reader spaces which include reading rooms and group and individual work areas to satisfy the needs of everyone. They are also computers and TV if the students need to work with them.

 

Moreover, there is Wi-Fi access across all the campus and in the residences. When you arrive you can have internet connection through two different available Wi-Fi networks. One is “Conference” and the other is called “Student”. In the beginning probably you will not be able to connect to Student because you need your banner number (the banner number is like your identity number in the UWS, you will get it activated once you have done your online enrolment during the first days).

Moving to the stomach needs, there are various catering outlets to make sure that the students can eat and get energy for their studies. In the Paisley campus, you have 4 options:

1. The Canteen at the Union, it’s in the Students’ Association building, on the ground floor, and it’s open from 8.00am to 2.00pm
2. The Canteen next to the Student Link, it’s on the first floor of Elles Building West. It’s open in the following timetables: 8.45am -7.30pm Monday and Wednesday; 8.45am-5.00pm Tuesday and Thursday; and 8.45am-3.00pm Friday.
3. The Canteen at the Library, you can find it on the ground floor of library and it’s open from 8.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Thursday; and from 8.00am to 3.00pm on Fridays.
4. The Canteen Coffee Bar, it’s on the ground floor of the Brough building and it’s open from 8.00am to 4.00pm, from Monday until Friday.

More or less the four canteens offer the same: hot and cold snacks, sandwiches, refreshments, cakes and coffees.

 The university also has a lively student union, with  excellent events and entertainment schedule. I am going to talk about this and sports in my next post.

Moreover, there is the “Student link”. It’s a zone in the Elles Building (Room J202) where it’s given all the information required and advices related to the campus and the university to the current students. The staff there will offer you guidance and help kindly; moreover, you don’t need any appointments to go there.

Other student services include careers and funding advice, job shop, counselling, spiritual care and disability support.

For further information you just have to ask me putting a comment in the post or surfing though the official webpage of UWS: http://www.uws.ac.uk/paisley/

Surviving

 

All those who are for the first time far away from home and experience the first touch with the independent life, you will have to deal with some situations. When you will arrive everything is going to be new: new flat, new people, new food, new timetables, new language… but take it easy.

Probably you will have some troubles in understanding the Scottish accent but don’t worry, even for the native English speakers it’s difficult to understand it.

Moreover, have you thought about food? You will have to eat! Most of the people forget about this before arriving, but when you are new and your fridge is empty, you would like that someone would have told you where to go. I recommend going the Morrisons is 10 minutes walking from the residence, it’s the cheapest supermarket and it’s open until 10 pm. If you want to buy frozen food also a good option is Iceland, located inside the Piazza mall. The Co-operative and Mark&Spencer are the most expensive supermarkets. The Family shopper is also a good shop to do last minute shopping; there is not a huge variety of items and food but it’s excellent if you want to buy cheap drinks for a party because it’s close and open until 10 pm.

Another thing to deal with, if you live in the residence or in a shared flat, is the people. They probably will have different cultures, habits and language but this is not an obstacle to make new friends. I encourage you to open your mind and try to talk with them and plan some things, even going to the supermarket it’s a good opportunity to know your flatmates in the beginning. Of course, it will take some time until you see with who you get on well better or to trust them, but take advantage of the opportunity to learn from other people. I recommend you to join to the activities that the university prepares for the first week of each trimester; it will help you to know new people.

When you will arrive maybe you will feel alone the first days but it’s completely normal, don’t worry. To feel more like home, you can decorate your room with photos or flowers.

In addition, the timetables here maybe are different from where you live, so my tip is to try to adapt, it’s better to have a routine.

Don’t be discouraged! You can handle it! I am sure that you will gain more experience of life, you will not regret it!

 

Here I post a video where you can see what Erasmus is!

 

Moreover, if you click in the following link you can get in touch with other students who have been through this experience or are going to do in a close future.

 

Accomodation - Storie Street Residence

It opened in September 2012 so it’s really new and quite modern. It’s in front of the University and the library, so in two minutes walking you can be in your classroom, really comfortable for all those who doesn’t like to weak up early. In this residence is where I stay and it’s quite expensive but I totally recommend it.

It’s divided in three parts. Each one has different floors, and in each floor there are more or less three flats. Inside each flat, there are 4, 5 or 6 bedrooms and one spacious kitchen-living room shared among the people of the flat. The en-suite rooms are perfect for students, inside it you have your own bathroom, the bed is wide and comfortable and the table and space for studying are big. Moreover, you can put photos or notes in one board in the wall. In all the residence or university you have access to Wi-Fi and in the bedrooms there are 2 data points. There is no TV, but if you bring one with yourself you can connect it in the kitchen.

The kitchen is equipped with microwave, hob, kettle, oven and fridge/freezer.

The residence also has a laundry for all the students. Using the washing machine requires £2 and the dryer £1.

As well, there is also a common room where you can stay with your friends, in this room there is a pool table, a table football, vending machines, Xbox, magazines and a TV.

The price is £106 per person/week and includes gas and electricity and personal contents insurance. If you come one year you can pay in installments, but I have come just for one term you have to pay it in only one installment before coming.

I think that it’s relevant to say that on the ground floor of the residence there are 13 accessible rooms for students with mobility issues. These rooms, kitchen and lounge areas are specially modified for students with disabilities.

It’s interesting to know that there are also student wardens who assist the residence students during the out of office hours. You can always contact them and during the first weeks they will help you with any doubt or problem that you might have.

Related to the cleaning, the students are in charge of keeping their own room and flats clean and tidy. The cleaning service of the residence is only in charge of the common areas. Time to time the staff of the residence will make an inspection in the flat to check that everything is ok.

Finally, I believe that I need to talk about the security of the residence. The fire alarm is tested every week and if it is not a test or it doesn’t stop in several seconds everyone should go out of the building. And the residence has also security staff and security cameras.

In summary, I can say that this residence it’s truly cozy, warm and comfortable. It is full of students so you will have the opportunity to know a lot of new people and you will have fun together. For all the party lovers, I must say that on Fridays usually there are some parties in the flats, so you can join them!! But if it gets too noisy for you these days and it really annoys you, you can call the reception of the residence and they will solve the problem.

 

For more photos click in the following link:
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/uniwestscotland/sets/72157633213639482/

Accomodation

Travelling abroad is a challenge for any person and implies preparing a lot of stuff and papers before leaving your country. For me one of the most difficult parts was deciding where to live. Sincerely, I recommend leaving your home knowing exactly where are you going to sleep and live because otherwise maybe the new situation could be too much overwhelming.

In fact, if I have to be honest the lack of information was the biggest problem that I had to deal with. My mobility tutor of Spain didn’t help me and the university of destination, UWS, gave just brief information. An even it was more difficult to contact with students that could give me their opinion of their accommodation. That is one of the reasons that has encouraged me to write this blog, to help foreign students like you.

If you are going to study in UWS, you have a lot of options. First of all, I have to say that all the options have advantages and disadvantages, so you should choose that preference that suites more with your demands and needs.

• Rent a private flat in Paisley:
  

  This option is the best for those who really like to be independent, a relaxing atmosphere or that are looking for something a little cheaper. This option is better if you are staying for a long time in Paisley, at least one year. There are a lot of good opportunities to live in a flat or apartment near the university; you just need to check some websites such as: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/student-accommodation/Paisley.HTML
  http://www.gumtree.com/flatshare/paisley
  http://www.citylets.co.uk/student-accommodation-renfrewshire/paisley/
  http://student.spareroom.co.uk/accommodation/university_of_paisley/
  Most of the prices shown at these sites include water and electricity.

 

• Rent a private flat in Glasgow:This alternative it’s perfect for those who like the atmosphere of the city. You have more opportunities to go out or to find a job if you live there. Nevertheless, it also has disadvantages, every day that you have class you will have to catch a bus or take a train and then walk to the university, so it will take you some time. In addition, most of the UWS students live in Paisley, so maybe you will be away from the students’ environment. Perhaps I would say that this option is better if you are staying at least one year in UWS. If you are interested in it, you can check the following web sites:
  http://freshstudentliving.co.uk/locations/glasgow/?gclid=COejravxxcQCFUHmwgodZGgAAQ
  http://www.unite-students.com/glasgow?gclid=CJrssq3xxcQCFRHKtAodNmoAdQ
  http://www.accommodationforstudents.com/Glasgow.asp

• Live at the Paisley Campus of UWS:If you want to live near the university and feel the students’ environment, you have to choose living in the accommodation of the Paisley Campus. It’s a great option to make friends, learn from other cultures and have independence. Here all the accommodations are self-catered and cooking facilities are provided. In addition, you will be provided with a bedding pack containing duvet, duvet cover, pillows, pillow slips , fitted sheet and a crockery pack (1 dish, 1 tumbler, 1 coffee mug and a pack of a fork, a knife and a spoon).
• Storie Street Residence: Opened in September 2012 so it’s really new and quite modern. I will explain more things about it in the next post.
• Furnished flats in George Street and in Lady Lane. This consists of newly refurbished flats with study bedrooms, open-plan kitchen/lounge, shower and toilet facilities and kitchen and bedding packs. If you have a shared flat, the most probably is that you will also have to share the bathroom. In George Street flats, in general, Chinese people are living there. And I have been in one single occupancy flat of Lady Lane and it looked a little old but it was really spacious.The prices, including gas, electricity and personal contents insurance, are the following:
• George Street: Single room (shared flat) - £106 per person/week
• Lady Lane: Single room (shared flat) - £106 per person/week
• Single room flat (single occupancy) - £137 per person/week
•  Single room flat (double occupancy) - £205.50 per flat/week
   

For all enquiries, whether for future or current accommodation needs, doubts or any other information that you may want to get directly from the accommodation team you can email them through accommodation@uws.ac.uk or call the Paisley Campus + 44 (0)141 848 3159. Moreover, if you click in the following link you will be redirected to a site of the UWS and in it you will find that there is a place where they answer frequent questions:

 LINK: http://www.uws.ac.uk/international-students/life-at-uws/accommodation/

The arrival

I planned my arrival some months before coming but when it was the moment of leaving the nerves and the emotion of beginning this new experience overwhelmed me a little. But now I can promise you that it’s really worthwhile. Well, now I am going to focus on how to arrive to Scotland. I am from Spain so my best option was travelling by plane. I flew with Ryanair because is one of the best low cost companies to buy a flight.

The nearest airport from Paisley is the Glasgow International. From there it will take you ten minutes by taxi to arrive to Paisley or you can catch the bus McGrill's 757 that will leave you at Paisley Gilmour Street Train Station.
 

The other option is the Prestwick Airport (the second nearest airport); here is where my flight landed. After that to get to Paisley City there are several options:

• TRAIN (ScotRail): This airport has its own train station which is linked to the airport by a walkway. You can get a train direct to Paisley Gilmour Street train station; more or less it will take 40 minutes to arrive and the price is more or less £8. Everyone from the airport receive discounted rail tickets if flight itinerary or boarding pass are shown. This train operates every 30 minutes approximately every day, and on Sundays every hour. Once you have arrived at Paisley Gilmour Street train station, you can take a taxi from Country Square (right outside the station) directly to your accommodation. Or go by walking if it’s near, for example, if you stay in the Storie Street Residence it will take you ten minutes by walk, but if you have all your suitcases maybe it will be more comfortable to take a taxi.

 

• TAXI: That option it was the one that I did. I arrived at the airport after the last train to Paisley had left so I needed to take a taxi, it cost me £60 and it took 50 minutes. It took me a long time to get a taxi because there were no taxis available outside of the airport but if this also happens to you, taxis can be called from the airport. If you are lucky and in the airport someone else also has to go to Paisley, then you can share the cab and it will be cheaper.

 

• BUS: No through bus to Paisley available.

When I took the taxi, I couldn’t understand at all what the taxi driver was saying and this scared me a little because I didn’t expect that because I can speak English properly. But don’t worry this is because the native people speaks Scottish and their accent is really difficult to understand but later you will see that you’ll get used to it. In fact, neither the professors nor the students or the people of the street are so difficult to understand if you have a standard level of English. So my tip is don’t worry about English if this happens to you.

 

Additional information:

If you need a taxi at Prestwick Airport, a good company of taxis is Stream line Taxis, and the mobile numbers that you can call to are:

• 01292 28 45 45
• 01292 477 000
• 01292 26 10 10

And if you need a taxi in the Renfrewshire area and surroundings another great company serving is the Paisley’s taxi. All their taxis are white, they resemble the old cars of the 70’s and are wheelchair accessible. The contact numbers are:

• 0141 884 8888
• 0141 887 5050
• 0141 889 9000

 

My experience

In this blog you'll find important and useful information for Erasmus students that want to come to study at the Paisley campus of UWS,  moreover, I will explain my experience too and some tips to enjoy more this experience.