Birmingham – where it’s home (by Nisa Z)
Posted by BiBer | Filed under Uncategorized
Here is another personal account describing the University of Birmingham, Aston University and the city of Birmingham, written by one of our students here, Nisa Z.
Birmingham is a big city located in the West Midland region of the UK. It is considered as the second city of UK or known as the Muslim capital of Britain due to its large number of Muslim population. Birmingham has one of the best shopping areas in the UK and being in the Midland,s it is very accessible and cheaper to travel to other parts of UK: Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, London, Cardiff, where there are a large Bruneian student population. They are approximately 2 to 3 hours away both by coach (bus) and train. Birmingham also has its very own International Airport which offers over 1000 direct and indirect flights.
Within the city itself, there are 3 train stations: Birmingham New Street, Birmingham Moor Street and Birmingham Snow Hill. Once you arrive in Birmingham at any of these 3 stations, you will find yourself already in the city centre so it is very convenient to travel to Birmingham even for a day trip because you can actually stop by Birmingham, do your shopping and take a train to another place.
You can say that Birmingham is a shopping heaven because the Bullring Shopping Centre is one of Europe’s largest city shopping centres and UK’s busiest shopping centre. Halal food and meats are easy to find in Birmingham, there are many halal takeaways, restaurants and butchers around. We have a Chinatown where there are oriental shops selling oriental foods like Indomee, ABC soy sauce, Maggi Sauce etc. Rag markets, Indoor and Outdoor markets are available if you need to buy fresh fruits and veggies, fresh seafoods, and halal meats can be found at the Indoor markets. Watching movies at the cinema is cheaper compared to other parts of the UK at £3.70 per person with student discount. More student discounts are available at most shops provided that you show your valid student ID. Also, with coupons printed from studentbeans.com, you can get more student discount deals. Being a student is heaven =) Birmingham is a cheaper version of London.
Birmingham has 3 universities and 2 university colleges : University of Birmingham, Aston University, Birmingham City University, University College Birmingham and Newman University College.
I’m going to talk about the University of Birmingham and Aston University only because I’m not familiar with the other universities. And currently both universities are in one of the top 50 universities list in the Brunei Ministry of Education scholarship requirements.
I am currently in my 3rd year at the University of Birmingham (UB). It’s a very old established university and has a very huge campus and beautiful building achitecture. It is 8 minutes by train or 20 minutess by bus away from the city centre. Being slightly far away from the city centre, clearly the surrounding residential areas are mostly occupied by students giving the university a very nice and safe environment to study. You can find most of your needs here without having to go to the city to shop. In the university centre, we have our own stationery shop, bookshop (a 3-floor Waterstones), two convenience shops, bank branches (HSBC, Natwest, Barclays and Lloyds TSB) so if you wish to deal with a bank it’s easy to do it from Uni, an airline branch (you can book plane tickets from here), money exchange, optical shop, hairdresser, bar, computer shop, post office, cards and gift shop, insurance branch, souvenir shop and few cafes and one halal section in our food court.
In terms of university facilities, there is a huge main library and other primary libraries, prayer rooms, student guild where you can seek advice, a representation centre and meet the student body, computer facilities, sports centre (gym, courts, swimming pool, sauna, numerous football pitches).
As you walk outside the university gate, you’ll find numerous Halal fast food chains and other shops. Student halls are within short walking distance from the Uni. Most houses outside the university are rented by university students making it a safe student area. It is advisable to stay in a rented house because the Birmingham University accommodation halls are expensive. There are numerous letting agents available outside the university if you’re having difficulty finding a house. House rent is approximately £50-£70 per week.
Currently there are 13 Bruneians studying in Birmingham University.
Aston University. I can’t say much on this as well. It’s situated in the city centre itself, about 5 minutes walk away from the shopping centres. It is smaller compared to Birmingham University but has more Bruneians studying there, about 20 people I suppose.
There are few Bruneians studying at Birmingham City University and University College Birmingham as well.
Although we Bruneians study at different Universities, most of us live close to each other at Pershore Road which is 15 to 20 minutes away by bus to the city centre. It’s a very peaceful environment and we look out for each other. Every Thursday night, we have Isya’ jemaah prayers and a small sort of dinner gathering among us. We also have sports activities almost every weekend. We call ourselves the BiB (Bruneians in Birmingham), and we are trying to promote more Bruneians coming here because it’s not only the best place to study, it’s also the best place to be. I love my time in Birmingham.
Tags: Birmingham, Brunei, society, Students, UK