The cultural and life exchange was amazing

It was all born from the experience of visiting my brother during his master studies in Sussex, that vacation trip convinced me of the panorama and university life outside the country, the cultural and life exchange was amazing. 

It took me about two and a half years to consolidate my own trip, this time to York at York University. During the application process at the university as well as scholarships and funding, my advisor from Across the Pond was always supporting me with the paperwork and forms to expedite the process. She was always very cordial and attentive to all my questions and guidance throughout the process. It was a real adventure to arrive because the airline I was traveling with went bankrupt the same day the flight was leaving, fortunately the British government sponsored the trip for all those stock in Cancun. The arrival to York was wonderful, via Manchester by train admiring the architecture, some landscapes and a new life. York had begun.   
 

Accommodation 

The university offers accommodation of various sizes and prices. Before leaving it is important to have this defined as it can be a bit stressful to some extent the first few days. The positive thing is that there are always people and new friends who support you in this aspect until you find a place. The truth is that both options either at the university or outside are quite good. In my case I chose to be outside the university allowing me to be in two different locations whose advantages are having a larger space and being able to interact more closely with people who already lived there, two English people to be precise that nowadays are my friends, learning more about the culture and way of life in England.  
 

The campus  

The second day l arrived, a very good friend of mine took me on a 25 minute walk through downtown to arrive at the campus, such an impression of the city, green and walled, pedestrian and bicycle paths were visible. After passing a small hill we arrived at the reception, simple, located in an orange-brown building with the name of the university in silver, l feeling of joy and successfulness to be finally on campus.  

It consists of the West campus and East campus, which during the year of my stay was being expanded and remodelled. Both campuses offer endless activities and spaces for socializing, studying and even resting. 

For example, there are the music rooms, whereby joining the York Music Society you can access to these rooms where every room has a piano, or drums, and you can practice any other instrument. Another example is the Buddha that connects the surrounding buildings, a sort of small altar where you can be quiet, meditating or chatting with someone while having a drink and/or a snack. 

Continuing with the societies, there are a variety of them, such as swing, art, drama and every sport you can imagine, from handball to jiujitsu. In addition, there are often student events where you can dance and socialize in a lot of activities organized in conjunction with the university. 

On campus there are several cafeterias and bars, what I mean is that each department or faculty has a bar and cafeteria service in its building, as well as meeting points where you can chat and have a drink either at night or during the day.  

It has its own cinema, so if the seventh art is your passion you can join and have a membership that will give you access to all the movies on the billboard, it is the same experience as in a movie theatre and patience rewards both time and economy. 
 

University life 

The campus is divided into various departments, equivalent to faculties in Mexico. Chemistry, Music and Education are some of them. It doesn't really matter which department you study in, since class sessions are usually attended in multiple classrooms throughout the university, so you have the opportunity to get to know them all. Find your way around and also get lost along the way, small adventures that are well worth the experience. It is not less important to highlight that the university is surrounded and constituted by beautiful green areas where birds, especially ducks and geese inhabit it, it is very beautiful and relaxing, even the university has a lake that surrounds an auditorium and connects various buildings, I reiterate the use of bicycles since it is the most efficient way to get around. 

In the academic field, the university always supports you with courses or workshops to improve your communication in English both in writing and in conversation as well as in different software oriented to the program and department you are studying, as well as other more general ones from Word to Excel and programs for data analysis, for example.

In the specific case of the master's degree that I studied, each subject is attended once a week, so well organized time can be used to study another language, in my case I studied French giving me the opportunity to improve my level and meet other students and friends from both master's degrees and bachelors’. During my stay I made great friends from all over the world, China, UK, Colombia, Turkey, Spain to name a few, we met to play soccer, organize parties and birthday celebrations, we made a wonderful community to get to know each other and socialize, in other words having a lot of fun, dancing, listening to music and playing games. To welcome twice the new year with such energy and happiness, having dinner and later toast in the Minster’s bells ranging out and sparkling wine  were something to remember for a lifetime. 

You can really enjoy and live the university life in a total  immersion throughout  the university itself; classmates and friends generate an identity and association that greatly enrich the experience of studying. 
 

Applied linguistics for Language Teaching 

The program offers the study and analysis of the most relevant linguistic research related to the learning and teaching of English. In addition, there are optional modules or classes that each student can choose on a personal basis given the particular interest to study specific areas of the master's program, for example Inter culturalization or the advances of software that provides support and help to students and teachers to improve the performance of students in a specific language. 
 

The city 

From the beginning, a beautiful city, influenced by the Vikings and the Roman Empire, it offers an incredible number of cultural spaces, all of which can be visited by bicycle and in my opinion the most recommendable means of transportation. Not to be missed are the Clifford Tower, the city walls and the York Art Gallery which hosts an automaton clock whose mechanism is operated by the museum staff twice a week, it is a beautiful spectacle, every figure and detail wonders who observes it. York also has several pubs and local breweries where you can appreciate beers for all tastes and have an excellent meal. The city of York also has its own chocolate factory shop where they offer guided tours around the factory with chocolate tasting. 

The Shambles, inspiration for Harry Potter lovers, a number of clubs and pubs make the nightlife of York something unique, a few streets away you can go from one to another in minutes and eat some Kebab in a food truck after party time. 

Both day and night York is a very safe city, you can move day or night without any problem, the nocturnal wildlife also manifests itself especially  on the bicycle paths, wooded and out of a thriller movie host owls and even foxes, it is wonderful to see these animals on a night walk or back home after a movie with friends. 

- Sergio Alfredo