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Hello!
My name is Yana Li and I’m an undergraduate student at Strathclyde, in the Department of Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management (DMEM), studying Product Design Engineering.
I finished my first two years of university in China at Taiyuan University of Technology, and then came to DMEM (after attending the international summer school) and joined through a 2+2 programme.
For this blog I'm going to talk about my experience of moving from China to Glasgow, Scotland and some top tips on what to bring and what to expect!
My top tips for moving
Before you start your new journey to Glasgow, there are some things that you should consider to plan ahead.
First, apply for your Visa as soon as possible. Once you received your CAS letter, you could start preparing your Visa application. This is the most important thing that you need to do and make sure you have enough time to receive it before you leave.
Second, book your flight. The earlier you buy, the cheaper flight you will get, this is always true for international airlines. Remember to check your baggage allowance and connection duration, as well as whether you need a Visa for your connection destination.
Third, find your accommodation. Make sure you have place a to live after you arrive Glasgow, so search students’ accommodation on university’s website or other search engines.
What to pack
First and foremost, don’t forget any of your documents like your offer, CAS, Visa, as well as credit cards and cash.
For me, another important item to pack was food from my hometown, which I love so much and can’t always be found in the UK. I packed lots of snacks, desserts, spicy noodles and so on. Then you can pack some clothes, your laptop, some medicines, conversion plug, etc. But don't worry about bringing too much since you can buy most of them in Glasgow. The city of Glasgow has a huge variety of shops that you can buy almost anything in, and if you can't find it within them, you can order things online and get them delivered straight to your accommodation, such as on Amazon.
Living in Glasgow
My first impressions were that Glasgow is a lovely city. Life here is always very interesting - there is so much to do!
I enjoy walking in the city centre or having afternoon tea with friends, I love all of the beautiful concerts and opera in theatre, I like trying food from different countries.
Strathclyde University, and the James Weir building where DMEM is in, are located right in the city centre, so it is really convenient for you to explore this city on foot, or get a local bus or train to explore Scotland further.
Accommodation
When you pick your accommodation there are lots of options - you can choose from the university’s accommodation, off-campus student accommodation or renting independently.
Strathclyde provides a large number of rooms in the campus, which are really convenient to get to the university’s buildings, you can get there in only a few minutes!
Around the university, there are other student accommodation options that are really modern and have a large variety of facilities but these also include a higher rent.
I live in a shared flat with 6 roommates, this means that I have my own private bedroom, as well as a private ensuite bathroom and we share a kitchen, where we can socialise, catch-up and spend time together or invite friends round to. However, if you want more private space and time to yourself, you can choose a studio flat, which have independent bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens so you live alone with all of the facilities to yourself.
Here are a couple of pictures of my bedroom, which has a big window onto a garden making it quiet and peaceful and lets in lots of natural light. I have my own desk for studying and lots of areas for storing books and my personal belongings. I can decorate it however I like, by choosing my own bedding and adding personal touches.
Travel from the airport
If you arrive into Glasgow International Airport, then the Glasgow Airport Express service bus (service 500) can bring you directly to Buchanan Bus station, which is in the city centre and very near to the University, only a 10 minute walk away. The bus departs up to every 10 minutes from stance 1 and operates 24/7 around flight times, it only takes around 15-25 minutes.
If you arrive into Edinburgh Airport, you can take the Bus 900 to get to Glasgow city centre.
It is very easy and you can either buy your tickets in advance online, or pay with contactless on the bus with your debit card.
Costs
Except for the tuition fees, I will spend about £11,000 a year. This includes £6,000 - £7,000 for my accommodation (which includes gas and electricity, water and internet bills) and around £5,000 for my daily expenditure which includes my food shopping, transport, eating out and anything else that I decide to do.
I'm looking forward to telling you more in my next blog!
Yana Li
