Chinese - advice on British universities

[Chineselookingwest]

my Son would like to study at UK University. Many of his friends do but they only mix with fellow Chinese and international students and keep themselves to selves. This is not what my son wants - he wants to integrate properly with UK students. His English is fluent.

he does not want to go to a university where international students isolate. He has friends at Essex university and Guildford and Holloway London who do that. He will avoid those places. Where else should he avoid please.

Cooking Chinese food for others and learning British cooking from them will be a great way for your DS to make friends. He doesn’t need to learn British cooking ahead of time.

Most students do not have cars! It can be a burden to be The One With the Car. I suggest your DS arrive without a car. If he decides he really wants one later he can always buy one.

Your DS sounds like a wonderful young man

To answer your later questions:

Budgeting - a lot of bank accounts now have inbuilt tools. For example https://www.starlingbank.com/current-account/tools/budget-planner/ Probably Chinese banks do the same but you have just not gone looking for them?

I would stick with the Chinese cooking for now. Hopefully he will make friends who want to reciprocate and share their favourite dishes with him.

Cars are not common with first year students. Parking tends to be an issue. I remember one university only allows a car if you have a disability (might have been York). Durham certainly says don't bring one.

This website has great information on money matters, including a budget tool for students: www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-budgeting-planner/.

@Impostersyndrome we looking at this website now thank you.

@EwwSprouts i think my son should get British bank account for UK study. Will look at this starling bank. Thank you. I am scared by how much to think about. Tell me about your DC as I would like to show equal interest as you been so kind to me and DS
@poetryandwine thank you. My son is great boy and very excited to join British university and make friends. But I do not want to give impressions that he is exceptional - clever but quite lazy in revising for examinations. Plays sport and computer games too much. He ordinary boy I think for UK and will “find his tribe” (this is a quote I seen on here lots and looked up meaning, I think will be true)

@Chineselookingwest How lovely of you to ask. My DS is also very keen on sport. At university he plays hockey, tennis and lacrosse (which he had never tried before). Character wise he is easy going about most things until you hit his stubborn streak. He has what we would describe as a dry sense of humour.

My helpfulness probably stems from the fact the only friend I keep in touch with from university now came over from Hong Kong to study. She and her family live in the USA but we still meet up every few years.

My dd has several Chinese friends at university, one just came to stay with us, also many friends from other countries, her university has quite a lot of foreign students and that is a plus for her, she is enjoying getting to know people from other cultures.
How well your son mixes with other nationalities will be more down to him than down to how many other Chinese students there are. He sounds friendly and great ! He will make all kinds of friends wherever he goes I am sure.

@EwwSprouts DS not experienced lacrosse. YouTube films of it seem fun. My son too has dry humour but that is in Chinese. May not translate in English!

@SirVixofVixHall your DD happy to make friends with anyone and be open. I hope my son makes friends like her. This is what he wants

On cooking, one thought. A student cookery course like this, though this is quite expensive.

https://theavenuecookeryschool.com/

DD did their two week course at the start of her gap year and before working a ski season. The first week is basic cookery, the second is other domestic and housekeeping stuff. The cookery course was very much aimed at students and focused on flexibility: what do you have in the fridge and what can you throw together quickly. A student on placement who was staying with us at the time was very impressed. DD learned as much in a day as she had learned in a term and a half of school cookery lessons. DD now has an enviable confidence in the kitchen, saved a fortune at University and has a healthy diet. The bonus is that we get her to cook for us when she is home.

We later had an East Asian student staying with us for a week or two so rather than having her hanging around the house, I paid for her to do the one week course. She did not learn as much, though she did master the art of baking cookies and brownies. She, hitherto, had seemed reluctant to stray beyond her cultural comfort zone, but to my surprise she had a great time, and at the end of week party it was clear that they had done a good job in bringing the group together socially.

Hello nice people who posted - I do not know if this thread is live now and you can see my posts. We are arriving in Uk next week and staying in Liverpool. Lots of open days booked. British universities we have emailed and talked to are very great and so pleased my son wants Spanish. I am so scary about driving on uk fast motorways. My DS is so excited and cannot wait to make English friends.

I just wanted to say I love this thread. MN at its best. Have a brilliant adventure with your son and enjoy the UK

@Chineselookingwest How lovely to hear from you! Have an amazing time next week and keep us posted if you would like.

The motorway driving will not be as bad as you think. You will be concentrating really hard and once the traffic is moving if you keep a gap between you and other cars it’s actually pretty straightforward - you just roll along steadily.

think*

thank you to the two people who have sent me message. I understand ‘troll’. Why would I create thread that is as this person says? What will be the aim? Me reading international press and knowing about DUP allowing Mrs May rule is seen as bad. I read news - without DUP she would not have been your PRime Minister. This is very accepted internationally

Isn’t troll hunting banned?

Just keep going @Chineselookingwest

@Chineselookingwest - you should join this Facebook group called What I Wish I Knew About University for more information about universities in the U.K.

@Chineselookingwest feel free to post your thoughts on the universities you visit. Hopefully you will have good weather and see them at their best.