Tag Archives: international students

International students visit Cambridge, Centre of Knowledge – both useful and ‘useless’!  

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Birkbeck international students enjoyed an excursion to the beautiful historic university city of Cambridge on two dates in August and September. Both days included a guided walking tour, chauffeured river punting and a visit to a famous Cambridge pub.

International students on day trip to Cambridge

As befits a day out with university students in a university town, the first day out to Cambridge was quite an education. Apart from historical facts shared by tour-guide Andrew, including why Henry VIII wields a table leg instead of a golden sceptre at Trinity College; and through some fun conversations en route, the group also learned the correct pronunciation of ‘Côte d’Ivoire’, the origin of ‘soccer’, how to make Chinese dumplings and a really quick and simple way to count cattle which, in case you’re wondering, is to count the legs and divide by four. 

For the second excursion, after the first one quickly sold out, students were overjoyed to see the weather was even better this time round! After a walking tour of the city, students enjoyed a leisurely chauffeured punting tour along the Backs, with the iconic views of Kings College and other beautiful college buildings. Students had free time to explore Cambridge, then reconvened at the historic Eagle pub for drinks before heading back to London.   

international students enjoying a day out in Cambridge

Once again, students said how much they enjoyed seeing more of the UK and getting to meet fellow students. 

International students being shown around the city of cambridge

Both excursions provided a great way to meet other students, discover the UK and to accumulate some useful, and sometimes ‘useless’ knowledge! 

International Students’ Day Trips to Oxford

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In the second part of a series of blogs looking back at excursions held for international students earlier in the summer, we share two special days out to the historic city.

international students day trip to oxford

On 24  July, Birkbeck’s international students visited Oxford with tour guide, Andrew, taking them on a guided walking tour of the beautiful and ancient university city. He explained its long history, showed its most famous buildings and told some intriguing stories, including the strange and sometimes treacherous world of college tortoise racing!  Afterwards, students enjoyed a relaxing chauffeured punting tour of the River Cherwell, and then had a few hours free time for exploring, eating, shopping and chilling out.

international students trip to Oxford in July

 

 

Another scheduled day out to Oxford, later in the month, brought a typical British weather system; with umbrellas at the ready!
international students holding umbrellasDespite the frequent downpours of rain, the students’ spirits were not dampened. As our guide Andrew pointed out, ‘there’s no bad weather in England, just wrong clothes’. He led another interesting and entertaining walking tour of the city, pointing out the beautiful historic sights of Oxford and explaining its darker historical links to the slave trade.    

international students enjoying tea and coffee

Due to the rain, the group abandoned plans to go punting on the river and instead visited the beautiful Grand Café, the oldest coffee shop in the UK, which dates from 1650. After enjoying coffee, tea and cakes, the sun came out again for a few hours of free time to explore the city. 

We’re not “made out of sugar”

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A student from Brazil recently shared that in her country, people who are reluctant to go out in the rain are teased with the question, ‘Are you made out of sugar?’ Last week’s day-out to beautiful and historic Greenwich proved that while they are certainly sweet people, Birkbeck’s international students are not ‘made out of sugar’, willing to brave the pouring rain. Read this account of the day.

International students visiting Greenwich

Our day began early morning at Westminster Pier, to take the Thames Clipper boat service to Greenwich. On arrival, despite the weather, students were keen to put up their umbrellas and enjoy the sights with tour guide Andrew to discover the history and stories behind this fascinating part of London.

In Greenwich Park, Andrew led the group up the hill to see the famous Royal Observatory. Before ascending, commenting on the grey skies and rain, he joked, “Who knows?  Maybe there’s bright sunshine at the top!”

On arrival, a low grey mist obscured the usually impressive views. Even the tall buildings of the nearby Docklands were hidden. However, within a few minutes the mist cleared, the sun shone and students were folding up umbrellas and reaching for sunglasses. Everyone enjoyed the stunning views of London. “What I said earlier was a joke!” laughed Andrew.

International students standing by the Greenwich observatoyTo round off the tour, we visited the famous Goddard’s Pie & Mash shop, where students enjoyed this hearty and delicious traditional London food.

International students at a pie and mash shopAndrew explained that Pie & Mash predates Fish & Chips as a traditional British dish, and that Goddard’s has been a family-run Greenwich favourite for over 130 years.

International students on the tour of GreenwichStudents ended their day in Greenwich full-up, maybe a bit wet, but also happy and, we hope, with some new friends. Sweet!

 

International students’ summer event: a guided tour with open-air music and afternoon tea at the Kensal Green Cemetery, London

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Cecilia Danielsson, BA Linguistics and Language student, writes about the science-themed summer event, that brought Birkbeck international students together to learn more about the College’s history by visiting the final resting place of its founder, George Birkbeck.

Birkbeck international students’ stand by the Birkbeck family mausoleum at the Kensal Green Cemetery. Credit: Harish Patel, School of Science

After over a year of meeting in the ethereal cyberspace, the glimmer of spending time face-to-face was a welcome return to normal, even if we all had to re-learn our interpersonal skills again! Fortunately, these skills were all firmly intact and everyone was delighted to engage in real conversation.

The weather was kind to us with slabs of blues and green, contrasting sharply with grey stones of the graveyard all reignited by the sun. It was the perfect day to celebrate George Birkbeck, and a chance to reflect on the extraordinary vision actioned to bring higher education to the working people of London. Birkbeck has been transforming lives since 1823, and the university has transitioned through various colourful identities through its long and extensive history. In 2023, Birkbeck will be celebrating its 200th anniversary.

Developed as an engineering and science faculty, the tour of Kensal Green Cemetery was a chance to not only pay respects to the University founder, but also to consider works in Literature, Botany, Languages and Royalty from notable pioneers in science, such as Brunel and Babbage.

Students gather for a group photo at the Kensal Green Cemetery. Credit: Harish Patel, School of Science

The enthusiastic tour guides were rich in their knowledge of tombstone architecture and the famous residents of this corner field in West London. For the architecture fans among us, the tour talk referenced some of the neogothic styles of concrete structures, as well as Egyptian and post-modernist designs.

Glancing around there were parallels with the built environment we are familiar with in the London buildings around Bloomsbury, including Birkbeck’s luminous neighbour, the British Museum. Once we had paid respects to the family of George Birkbeck, there was a chance to reflect on the requirement for institutions to continue to support access to cutting edge research-led higher education and to London, and the need for lifelong learning.

Students on their tour of Kensal Green Cemetery. Credit: Harish Patel, School of Science

After our meandering weave through the stony paths and tall green trees, it was time for afternoon tea. With a delicious spread of lovingly home-baked fayre by the very kind hosts of Kensal Green Cemetery, it was time to kick back and reflect upon our day in the sun to the soundtrack of the talented The Dionysus Ensemble and the opportunity to thank the organiser of the event, Professor Sanjib Bhakta, Assistant Dean (Internationalisation and Partnerships) who put together a memorable day for us all.

The Dionysus Ensemble. Credit: Harish Patel, School of Science

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