Baoyuan Huang
Degree and Year of Degree: 4th year, BBA
Which university abroad did you attend? University of Birmingham, UK in 2011-2012
Where did you live when you studied abroad? Student accommodation
What was the easiest part about arriving in the UK? Social communication and making new friends, there are a lot of social events held by the university, especially for the "Fresher's week". It's easy to make friends from different countries.
What was the most challenging part about arriving in the UK? The British accent is quite different from the Canadian English accent, so it became harder for me to understand English. Especially the accent by older people here.
What did you find different about studying in a UK University? There are not so many lecture hours; some of the modules (classes) only have 1-2 hours per week. But there are huge reading lists of the articles that we should read. Normally, students won’t read them until the very ending, giving them lots of headaches!
And, the biggest difference is they putting all the exams of term 1 and 2 in the summer. So we have to review 8-12 exams at the end which is very challenging, because we probably will forgot everything we learnt from the first semester…
Best thing about the UK?
UK is not a big country, so I’m able to do a lot travel. The train system is very convenient. I can take a train to any city, and most of the duration is around 2 hours. Such as London, Cambridge, Bath, Manchester, Liverpool and so on. Also France is only 2 hours away, making it easy to visit this country and of course other European countries as well.
Best things about Birmingham?
Birmingham is the second biggest city in UK. It has a high living standard but not with not a high cost of living. It is a very multi-cultural city as is the campus, lots of social events, and travelling around.
Lots of stars came to Birmingham to hold their shows, such as Rihanna, Katy Perry, LMFAO, Britney Spears and so on. It’s so great to enjoy the concert which is only a 10 minute train ride away!
The university holds sports fairs, socialist fairs and so on, so we can sign up for the clubs we interested in. Such as Taekwondo, ballroom dancing, soccer, Yoga, music, photography, wine testing, dancing society and so on.
What do you find most interesting about the UK?
Learning British accent and experiencing the culture shock.
Which courses did you take?
First semester: Marketing communication; Brand marketing; e-Marketing, Consumer Behaviour; Employee relations
Second semester: Modern history; Introduction to British History; Arts and its context II: Methods & Interpretations; End of Empire: Problems of 20th century International History; Shakespeare: Selected plays; Retailing Marketing.
Which course did you enjoy the most and why?
Brand Marketing, teacher set groups randomly and requires multi-culture combination. For doing a presentation project, the professor required us to present the final results in 5 minutes. My group presented by acting a drama which was a lot of fun.
What surprised you most about in the UK?
Freshers’ crazy life. Alcohol is the reason of being crazy.
Food you miss the most and could not get in the UK?
Canadian bacon is the food I miss the most! British bacon is very thick and salty, and I don’t like it very much. I also miss garlic bread and Canadian pudding.
What did you miss about Canada when you studied abroad?
I miss my friends in Canada very much. My friends are almost like my family for the years I studied and lived in Saint John. The local people in SJ are more friendly and considerate, and for me the Canadian accent is easier to understand.
How many other countries did you visit when you were studying abroad?
So far, I have only travelled within UK. I went to Cambridge, Bath, Liverpool, London, and Manchester.
Do you have any advice to future students, who may wish to study abroad?
Be active, lots of social events hold by University will offer you opportunities;
Be positive, homesickness will be compensated by lots of travelling and party plans;
Be creative, group works need new ideas and from what I seen Canadian classmates are the best at creativity;
Be brave, if you have the thoughts of trying something new, just do it! You won't regret it.
