[Student View] Celebrating St. David's Day

"The Black Forest cake comes from a place called Black Forest in south-west Germany, and that's where half of my family is from!" That's Helen, from University of Newport. She teaches at a primary school, and studies Fashion Design, and she loves Welsh cakes.

"My dad's Indian, mom's Portugese. I studied in Delhi till about grade 7, then moved to Canada. And I'm here in Wales as an exchange student now. So yeah, I'm from all over." That's Anika, from University of Newport, fond of salmon and photography.

"I used to dance with my brother in Tokyo. But I'm too short to be a professional performer. So I took up stage management. I know nothing about theatre, mind you. I just deal with people, lighting and sound." Akiko, from Japan, full of vim and humour.

"I went to Bath (in England) when I was fourteen, and on going back to Colorado, I decided to work hard on my grades to come back to the UK for college. I'm happy to be here, studying piano." That's Lauren, from the USA at the Royal Welsh Academy of Music and Drama.

These aren't characters from a film (would make interesting ones though!) They are real people. I met them.

You may ask: how did I meet them?

I went to a St. Davids' Day Reception. St. David is the patron saint of Wales and on the 1st March of every year it is St. Davids' Day. Wales celebrates everything Welsh on this day - it's their national day. The bright sunshine and children scampering about, the red Welsh dragon costume parades, daffodils, the delicious Welsh food festival - its all there, all over the city of Cardiff.

The Welsh Assembly decided to make this day even more memorable by inviting international students from all the universities of Wales for a reception at The Senedd (which houses the Welsh Assembly) by the eternally pretty Cardiff Bay. The Senedd (pictured) is a beautiful building, like a glass house, and follows all the 'green' principles of construction.

At the beginning, I felt a little awkward. Going all alone for a party with a slight hope of finding familiar faces was not my idea of fun. But then, I simply went. And boy, am I glad I did! And I learnt that chatting to people isn't hard at all, as long as you strike up the right topic. It was fun.

Ministers from the Welsh Assembly were present, and were very friendly, going up to students and talking to them. Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales, gave the opening speech, remarking that he hoped we had learnt by now that Wales was not a part of England. That's the beauty of the Welsh. They are brilliant at self-deprecating humour. And they are ALWAYS happy.

The food was traditional: lamb cawl with laverbread, salmon and cream, Welsh sausage and mash, wine, sparkling water and tons of Welsh cake. I enjoyed the cake, obviously!

The day was fantastic. Thank goodness I went! Now I know people who will keep me updated on all the musical concerts and theatre performances around town. And I know places around Wales I have to visit next.

Awesome.

Supriya is an international student from Delhi, India
She is studying MA International Public Relations

You can read her first blog post here.
Her second blog post here.

Her third blog post here.

[Student View] Taking a part-time course at Cardiff

"...all I know, is that I know nothing."
                                             - Socrates

…that's what I learnt today. This was my first class of ‘Introducing Philosophy’, a 10 week course started by Cardiff University’s Centre of Lifelong Learning. And it was good to know I wasn't the only one who felt that way!

The Cardiff Centre of Lifelong Learning offers short-term courses open to anyone interested in the subjects offered on the course. They range from language and social sciences to business and computer sciences. And the best bit, the assignments are completely optional. You want to do them, do them and get the credits. You don't want to do them, just whistle your way through the classes.

They are all part-time and therefore I can do them around my main Masters programme. It gives me the option of learning something new alongside my main degree and contributes to my overall experience while I am living in the UK.

This year, they introduced a beginner's course in Philosophy. And I, eternally desperate to understand the overrated 'meaning of life', jumped and enrolled myself for it.

Our professor is a Greek with Socrates’ style of asking questions first, confusing us and then clarifying concepts. We spent the first hour trying to figure out the meaning of “Philosophy”. I have a feeling, that like my major Public Relations, I will spend the next ten weeks trying to dissect the precise meaning of this elusive term. After much debate and discussion, it was boiled down to a method or a way of thinking about things. It involves reasoning and trying to find the logic behind things by means of questioning and discussion.

Thoroughly confused by the end (that’s the idea, I was told), I left the class having made new friends, broadened my mind and looking forward to thinking about the universe in new ways.

Supriya is an international student from Delhi, India
She is studying MA International Public Relations

You can read her first blog post here.
And her second blog post here.

[Info] Meet Cardiff University in India this February

If you are from India and interested in studying at Cardiff, we will be visiting several cities this February.

You will be able to get more information about Cardiff University, the courses we offer and advice about making an application.

All available events are below. Hope to see you there! 

If you however are unable to make any of the appointments you can contact us and join the community through Orkut: http://www.orkut.com/Main#Profile?uid=17979784092837957659

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Bangalore

Date: 7th February 2010 (11am - 6pm)
Event: Global Education Interact
Venue: The Chopras, 1108 B Wing, Mittal Towers, M.G. Road, Bangalore.

For further information please call: 080 40840000, email: banagalore@thechopras.com or visit www.thechopras.co.in

Date: 8th & 9th February 2010
Event: Education UK Expo
Venue: Taj Residency

Date: 10th February 2010 (10:30am - 5:30pm)
Event: World Education Fair
Venue: Taj Residency, 41/3, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bhaskaran Rd, Jogupalya, Bangalore.

For further information please call 080 43503333 / 25590355 / 9663881003, email: bangalore@edwiseinternational.com or visit www.edwiseinternational.com

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Chennai

Date: 4th & 5th February 2010
Event: Education UK Expo
Venue: Taj Coromandel

Date: 6th February 2010 (10:30am - 5:30pm)
Event: World Education Fair
Venue: Taj Coromandel, 37, Mahatma Gandhi Road Nungambakkam, Chennai.

For further information please call: 044 42928200 / 42068985 / 9382860648, email: chennai@edwiseinternational.com or visit www.edwiseinternational.com

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Coimbatore

Date: 1st February 2010 (10am - 1pm)
Event: Interviews
Venue: Campus Abroad, CA G2, 1st Floor Damodar Centre, 1050 Avinashi Rd, Coimbatore.

For an appointment please call: 0422 2249200 or email: coimbatore@campus-abroad.com

Date: 1st February 2010 (2pm - 5pm)
Event: Interviews
Venue: Edwise International, 4th Floor, Ashirwad, D B Road, R S Puram, Coimbatore.

For an appointment please call: 0422 4500474/ 9600535757 or email: coimbatore@edwiseinternational.com

Date: 2nd February 2010 (2pm - 5pm)
Event: Interviews
Venue: The Chopras, 725D/I, 4th Floor, S.R. Complex, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore.

For an appointment please call: 0422 4504313/4/5 or email: coimbatore@thechopras.com

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Hyderabad

Date: 3rd February 2010 (11am - 6pm)
Event: Global Education Interact exhibition
Venue: The Chopras, 1-10-20/2 B, Pooja Edifice, 3rd Floor, Opp. Shopper’s Stop, Chikoti Gardens, Begumpet, Hyderabad.

For further information please call: 040 40361000, email: hyderabad@thechopras.com or visit: www.thechopras.co.in

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Mumbai

Date: 12th February 2010
Event: World Education Fair
Venue: J W Marriott, Juhu Tara Road, Mumbai

For further information please call 022 4081 3333 / 2200 3338, email: ho@edwiseinternational.com or visit www.edwiseinternational.com

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Pune

Date: 11th February 2010
Event: Education UK Expo
Venue: Le Meridien

Stuart

[Student View] My first experience of snow!

Ever since I came to Cardiff, I have been dying to see snow.

Hailing from a city like Delhi, where the average temperature never goes below 30-degrees Celsius for the better part of the year, I was confident that my eternal dream of seeing a soft white quilt spread across the courtyard would finally come true here.

The dream was on the verge of getting trampled when the inhabitants here told me that it "rarely snows in Cardiff". Everytime somebody would say that the winter was going to be “warm and wet”, my heart would plummet further. This year, however I have been lucky.

I saw snow. I felt snow. I walked in it. I trudged in it. I slipped on it. And I experienced all kinds of it.

One winter evening in December, while walking back from the shopping centre, small white flakes began to fall on me. I thought it was dandruff! And then I thought it was rice crispies. And then, my friend who had accompanied me, exclaimed "Its Snowing!" And my reaction was "THIS is SNOW!" I had a very different version of snow in my head. Anyway, I captured as much as I could.

That was my first. And then it never ended. The little rice flakes would fall in great numbers and form a blanket, which would soon turn hard ice, which would soon melt into sludge (thanks to the bright sun the next day!).

As December grew on, the weather became quite changeable. The mornings would see bright sunshine and a chilly breeze and the evenings would witness snowfall. At one point, in a span of an hour, I saw snowfall and the sun, each 'phenomenon' lasting for fifteen minutes alternately.

January 5^th was a momentous day for snow-seekers like me. It snowed. Big, fat flakes of snow. And when the snow fell down, it wasn't hard as ice. It was soft, flimsy like candyfloss. Everyone was out: making snowmen and throwing snowballs.

And the next morning, I saw my dream. A white blanket of soft snow right outside my window.

The snow experience in Cardiff has been an immense delight for me so far.

 Supriya is an international student from Delhi, India
She is studying MA International Public Relations

You can read her first blog post here.

[Video] Alumnus from MA International Journalism

Here's an interesting video of Piyush Roy, an alumnus from Mumbai, India.

He graduated from the MA International Journalism programme in the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies and worked for several major newspapers and magazines in India. He talks about some of his experiences during and after studying at Cardiff.



Some related links:

• More information on the MA International Journalism: http://www.cf.ac.uk/jomec/degreeprogrammes/pgmasters/mainternationaljournalism/index.html
  
• The School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies: www.cardiff.ac.uk/jomec
  
• More videos on the Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/cardiffinternational
  
• Videos on Youku: u.youku.com/cardiffio

Stuart