News

A month ago, we featured a post about a Dutch student studying in America. Tessa ten Cate had started her own blog called IntProblems.com with loads of brilliant images pointing out the common problems and differences that international students face in a new country.

She has recently moved to London and so has a whole new country to pick out the differences for. Here she describes her early experiences of the UK and shows us some of her brand new images:

"So far London has been great! Monday through Thursday every week I am in class, but on the weekends I have been exploring London as much as possible. This isn't my first time in London so I had seen the majority of the main tourist sights before, but it was great going back and taking photos of everything.

It has also been an experience getting around the city on my own this time. I have walked many places, taken the tube tons, and used the railway trains too. Of course one of the main things that has taken a while to get used to is that all traffic drives on the left and that pedestrians stay to the left as much as possible too."

With just over a month until the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, finishing touches are being made and excitement is growing. Stunning plans have been revealed about the opening ceremony, whilst the organising committee have announced that the Games have come in half a billion pounds under budget.

Unique Opening Ceremony

The director of the opening ceremony, Danny Boyle, yesterday unveiled elaborate plans that will transform the Olympic Stadium into the British countryside for one night only on 27th July. There will be meadows, rivers, an oak tree, fake clouds and even real farmyard animals (including 70(!) sheep), all alongside 10,000 (human) volunteers.

The show is called "Green and Pleasant" and is inspired by Shakespeare's play The Tempest. It will tell the tale of a land recovering from its industrial legacy, and will begin with the world's largest "harmonically-tuned" bell ringing in the stadium.

Floods devastated parts of Wales over the weekend and more are expected, as heavy rain continues throughout Britain. After one of the wettest Mays on record, the bad weather has continued into June, with torrential rain causing a number of rivers to burst their banks on Friday and Saturday.

Weekend of Floods in Wales

Areas around Aberystwyth near the west coast of Wales received twice as much rain fall in 24 hours than normally falls in the whole month of June. This led to floods 5 foot deep in the local town of Ceredigion and the leader of the County Council, Ellen ap Gwynn, has revealed that an appeal will be launched to help those affected:

"I've personally witnessed the devastation left by this weekend's flooding. It's heartbreaking to see so many homes damaged by the flooding and to realise that many have lost prized personal possessions that cannot be replaced. However, I hope that by launching an appeal we can assist those affected to get back on their feet as soon as possible."

Meanwhile in nearby Pemmal 600 people were evacuated from their homes after a dam was on the verge of bursting. After a drain hole that normally releases pressure became blocked, emergency services had to work quickly to build a channel for the water to safely flow away.

Football fans across Europe are bursting with excitement, as Euro 2012 starts today. The international tournament is being held in Poland and Ukraine, and it is the former who will kick things off against Greece in Warsaw at 7.45pm (GMT) this evening.

The tournament starts with four groups of four teams, and there are some tasty looking groups. World champions and current holders of the European cup, Spain, are in the same group as Italy, whilst other favourites Germany and the Netherlands have been placed in a group alongside Portugal. After the teams have all played each other, two teams from each group will go through to the quarter-finals, when the straight knock-out part of the tournament begins.

Most people have one of Spain, Netherlands or Germany to win the tournament, though France and Italy are sure to provide strong competition. However, as Greece showed at Euro 2004, there is always room for a major upset at the Euros.

The Host Nations

Poland and Ukraine are hosting an international football tournament for the first time and have been preparing for five years. Six brand new stadiums have been built, the countries' infrastructure improved and transport links developed. Roughly half of the games will be played in Poland and the other half in Ukraine.

Britain has just finished three days of parties, pageants, parades and concerts all in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. To mark Elizabeth II being on the throne for 60 years, the country was given a four-day weekend with millions joining in with the festivities, despite some typically wet British weather.

Sunday: Boat Pageant and Street Parties

It all started on Sunday with a ‘flotilla' of 1,000 boats making their way through London on the River Thames. The Queen was joined by close family members on a specially made Royal Barge. Surrounding it was one of the biggest gatherings of boats from around the world the Thames has ever seen. More than a million people flocked to the banks of the river to catch a glimpse of the unique site. Although prime spots filled up hours before the procession began, revellers were happy to simply join in with the party atmosphere.