So again, this is me, at the end of my first year, about to take my exam in 12 hours, recollecting my first few days here at UoY.
At your College
First of all, Fresher’s Week events are usually organised by your college. You should try to go for as many as you possibly can! Fresher’s Week is the ONLY time you can ever get drunk and not have to worry about being abducted because your lovely STYCs will take care of you! I personally made a mistake of not partying hard enough during Fresher’s Week, mainly because I was super jet-lagged, was recovering from a horrible flu that lasted 3 weeks, including Fresher’s Week. I regret it very much, to be honest. But this is also a good time to get to know your house/flatmates. You’re going to have to live with them, so you better start liking them now.
The different Colleges will organize different events, so pay attention to your College’s Facebook Page!
Things that you can expect:
Booze. Lots of it.
Drunk people partying their heads off.
You getting drunk.
Dancing (ladies, don’t wear heels unless you’re very sure you can stand the whole night in them)
Bar crawls (just you travelling from one bar/club to another for about 4-7 bars/clubs in one big group)
Non-alcohol related activities for those who don’t like being around drunk people
Day trips to various places around York. Town, IKEA, Monk’s Cross, Designer Outlet, maybe even Leeds, blah blah.
From the Uni
The Uni also organizes stuff for Fresher’s Week. The most prominent one will definitely be the Fresher’s Fair. This is a HUGE fair on Hes West for EVERY SINGLE FRESHER. Venues usually include Central Hall, James Dining Hall, YUSU Yourspace, Sports Centre, Vanbrugh Paradise, Hendrix Hall (sometimes). The fair is basically your biggest chance to see every single club/society/sport in the Uni. GO TO IT!
Joining a club isn’t like joining a CCA. See this post for more info.
Look around. See everything! Open your eyes to the opportunities that the Uni is presenting to you on a BIG FAT GOLD PLATTER. This is your chance to join anything! Take up a new sport, learn something really stupid, find people who share your quirks, be around like-minded people! Kick, cook, throw, sleep, drink, do what YOU want to do!
The second event you should definitely go for is the Viking Raid. It’s a huge viking-themed (due to York’s Viking history) bar crawl and I hear it’s incredibly fun and popular routes sell out incredibly fast! Again, I was feeling really crap that day, also because I had just come back from training and had just caught Freshers’ flu, and couldn’t go. You should go if you just want to go out with friends! You don’t have to get drunk, you just need to have fun! Go for the experience. You’ve come to the UK to experience a different life! Don’t come out like a cookie-cutter barbie doll!
During Fresher’s Week, YUSU also has shops on campus that will sell you cheap second-hand items, stuff like vintage clothes, or things that were made in York/Yorkshire, etc. It’s a great chance to just get out of your room. Trust me, you would rather be exhausted after seeing too much, than bitterly regretting not going out.
Domino’s also gives out vouchers and free pizza on this day, so go and get them! Domino’s is really good (their dips are UH-MAY-ZINGGG~) but really expensive so unless you’re ordering with a group of like… 5-6 people, you might want the voucher just to see the types of discounts you can get. I think you get 50% off if the order exceeds a certain amount. Plus, they are the only ones who deliver at 4am in the morning if you’re feeling hungry after a night out at Revs or The Evil Eye. Basically, if you get hungry and dumb o’clock, they will feed you, so do them a favour and pick up a voucher.
The International Students’ Association (ISA)
The ISA organizes loads of stuff for International Freshers! They always have trips to parts of the UK for the weekend throughout Autumn Term to give you a chance to explore the UK. Note that they aren’t tours or anything. You just pay for transportation (actually, a coach) and you’re free to go wherever you want. It’s worth going because it’s cheap.
They also have Coffee Mornings/Afternoons throughout the year. They are on Wednesdays, so sadly I can never make them because I have sports activities (Yes, it’s a Union thing. Wednesday afternoons are for sport). Take the chance to go for those during Fresher’s Week because the turnout is always the greatest then and you get to meet other international students. You might even meet others from your course! I sure did. They have free coffee/tea and biscuits and cookies. WHY WOULD YOU NOT GO?!
Singapore Society
The Singsoc will try to help you from the time you are confirmed a place in York to the day you graduate. We completely understand how freaking stressful it is to move your whole life from Singapore to York. The complete change of scenery, the weather, the lifestyle, the culture shock, the EVERYTHING. Know that there are many Singaporeans here in York who are here to help you. If you are coming to York alone or travelling here with family, if you need directions, a gentle nudge, a helping hand, we’re here for you.
The Singapore Society is currently working on the Fresher’s pre-departure event, for you to get to know your other Freshers! We’ll also have a booth at the British Council pre-departure meeting so look out for us there! Time to meet some of your seniors and get in touch, because believe it or not, we are SUPER DEDICATED TO HELPING YOU. Read on and find out why. 😉 Furthermore, we also plan on having another simple meet-and-greet event just after Fresher’s Week, so as not to interfere with you getting to know York and other non-Singaporean friends. But by all means, feel free to keep in touch with your peers and even your seniors!
Now then… Your seniors are really excited to get to know you and help you. We’re actually rushing the international office to give us the list of all your names so that we can actually get in touch with you BEFORE you choose your colleges so that you can get some first-hand experience/advice from people who have been in the College. I am from James College, so if you need ANY info, please do contact me. PLEASE! You can get in touch with Jerome for info on Alcuin, Bramina for Langwith, and Indrani for Halifax. Don’t be shy and feel free to bombard us with questions!
I don’t know about other seniors, but I personally am arriving in York a day earlier than you guys are due to arrive. (Note that international students can arrive earlier than UK students) Why would I do such a stupid thing considering how the first week has basically nothing but Fresher’s stuff? EASY ANSWER.
I AM HERE TO HELP YOU SETTLE IN.
Get in touch with me. Text, email, letter, messenger pigeon, owls, telegrams, whatever! I know how hard it was to move in. I’m lucky I had my dad with me, but others weren’t so lucky! I don’t ever want you to think you’re alone when you move in. I’ll try my best to (with brute force) drag your luggage to your room, help you orientate yourself, help you find your way around. Heck, I’ll pick you up from the York station if I have to. FYI, I live quite near the station so it’s really not a problem. I know it sucks when you’re here alone on your first day. It sucks when you don’t know what to do next! Please let me help you. I’m sure other seniors will be willing to do so as well because we’ve all been there. We all know how hard it is to get settled in.
Do note that there are several colleges that have a welcoming committee to meet you when you arrive on campus. They usually consist of second years who have volunteered to help you move in. International students are usually allowed to move into their accommodation 2 days before the Brits arrive (24 & 25 Sept for 2016) and they will be there on both days. Use their help! They volunteered after all…
So I hope this post helped you get the gist of Fresher’s Week. This week will be quite hectic, and you probably won’t be able to go for all of the events. If you do, I salute you. Really. Just make it to as many as you possibly can! If someone asks you: you wanna go for this? You wanna eat this? You wanna go do that? Say yes! Except for drugs. Say no to drugs.
~:Denise
Comments