News

Foreign Students's picture

The 5 Best Pictures on the Internet

You know those images that appear on your Facebook every now and then? You know, the funny ones of cats doing a dance or a student tricking their drunk friend. Everyone enjoys them right? Well, we've collected some of the best together for your pleasure below, so sit back, relax and enjoy. Which is your favourite?

Foreign Students's picture

Burns Night: Haggis, Whisky and Poetry

Today is one of the stand out celebrations in the Scottish calendar, for today is Burns Night. The annual festival celebrates the life and poetry of Scottish national poet Robert Burns (above), who was born on this very day (January 25th) in 1759. In typically Scottish style, the celebrations are a brilliant mix of solemn traditions and raucous fun.

Traditions and Celebrations

Burns Night is all about celebrating everything that is Scottish, and centres around a supper held in the evening. Many people will dress in traditional Scottish clothes for the evening, which often means donning a tartan kilt. However, the most important aspect of any Burns Night supper, has to be the haggis. Haggis is the most quintessential of all Scottish foods, and if you haven't tried or even seen one before, you may not like the sound of what it is made from. Sheep's heart, liver and lungs are minced with onion, oatmeal, suet (beef fat), and spices and then boiled in a sheep's stomach for 3 hours. Sounds nice eh?

Foreign Students's picture

The Northern Lights Thrill Britain

Parts of Scotland and Northern England have enjoyed stunning displays of the Northern Lights over the last few nights. Unusually strong solar storms have caused the aurora borealis to be seen far further south than normal, allowing people to enjoy their best appearance in more than a decade.

Although the Northern Lights are most usually associated with the Arctic Circle, they can be seen fairly regularly in northern parts of Scotland. However, it is very rare that they ever reach as far south as England, and locals are taking full advantage of the beautiful sight. For the last two nights English counties as far south as Yorkshire have been enraptured by the lights, and can expect one final hurrah tonight. Indeed, Robin Scagell from the Society for Popular Astronomy, said:

"It looks like we could be treated to another cosmic light show and so it is well worth watching the northern part of the heavens."

Experts are also predicting that parts of America may also enjoy the spectacle, with Washington expected to be able to see it on Tuesday night. Get an idea of the Lights' beauty in the video below which shows the sky over a single night in Norway:

 

Amy's picture

Happy Chinese New Year!

Amy is an international student currently studying at Kingston University in London. Here she describes how Chinese New Year is celebrated in her home country of Taiwan.


The most important holiday in Taiwan is the Lunar New Year. It normally comes around one month after the Western New Year, and there are similarities between Christmas and Chinese New Year. On this special holiday, families get together for the festivities. Whilst visiting relatives and friends, we greet them with New Year sayings, wishing them good luck, good health, great fortune and so on. Adults give children little red envelopes with money inside them instead of gifts.

At New Year's time, most families paste signs on and around the front doors of their homes. These signs consist of black or gold Chinese characters written on squares or strips of red paper, because red is a happy colour which brings good luck. You always see red as the main decorative colour during this holiday.

Foreign Students's picture

Are International Students Still Welcomed to Britain?

Over the last six months there have been several incidents that from the outside could suggest international students are no longer welcome in the UK. First there was the Malaysian student Ashraf Haziq who was the victim of one of the most shocking videos to come out of the London riots (pictured above).

More recently there was the tragic murder of Indian student Anuj Bivde in Manchester on Boxing Day. Similarly, though clearly on a lesser scale, there was the symptomatic story that came out of Plymouth last week of shop keepers banning foreign students from entering in groups.

On top of this, there is currently the perceived notion that the British government is trying to make it harder for international students to gain entry to the UK with the introduction of harsher visa laws. This and the recent incidents together make it easy to assume that there is a growing trend in Britain against international students.

Syndicate content