A Letter To My Sister

Ru-Ying Wang, China

Dear Sister,

I haven't seen you for almost a year since I came to the University of Sheffield last June. Today is the first day of the three week long Easter vacation mid-semester. I am very glad to receive your letter again. I know from your letter that you are going to attend the IELTS examination and take postgraduate study in Great Britain. You ask me what it is like in the UK and at British universities. Now I am writing to you to describe my impression of the UK, the city of Sheffield and my University.

I also dreamed of travelling to the UK when I studied at my mother University in China. I was eager to visit the international metropolitan city, London. I wanted to watch the famous Premiership League Football Matches of England and to see the beautiful English countryside.

My feelings about coming to the UK for the first time were pleasant, somewhat curious and excited. When I looked out of the window of the coach from London to Sheffield, the beautiful scenery of the countryside attracted me deeply. I was seemingly walking into a gallery of cubic oil paintings of landscape. Watching the blue sky, undulating hills, green pastures and serene flocks and herds, I enjoyed the fabulous beauty. After my arrival at Sheffield I found the environment of the city is equally charming. Crookes Valley Park and Weston Park embody the perfect co-ordination of horticulturists' skills and natural grace. The spectacular fountain garden in front of the Town Hall integrates lots of aesthetic elements and becomes a bright pearl of Sheffield.

Sheffield is the fourth largest city in England, with over half a million residents. It is located in South Yorkshire. The architecture in Sheffield is traditional and characteristic. Many buildings were built one or two hundred years ago. The people prefer repairing the old houses to dismantling them. The interior facilities of the buildings, such as toilets and fire doors, are usually fine. There are few skyscrapers in the city centre. This is very different from the big cities of China. But the city is clean, including the clear blue sky.

The high latitude is probably the reason why the daytime here is so long in summer and so short in winter. It may not get dark until 10:00pm in summer while it can get dark at 4:00pm in winter. The weather's variety also provides a constant topic of conversation for the people in Britain. I summarise two features of the weather in Sheffield: mild and rainy. It is cool in summer and balmy in winter. I feel comfortable in midsummer when the weather is usually so hot in Beijing that people can hardly work normally without air conditioners. In Sheffield, it often rains or drizzles. Sometimes the rainy weather lasts for a couple of days. The more interesting thing is that it often rains while the sun is shining. So do not laugh at those who carry umbrellas on a sunny day.

The transport system of Sheffield is well-developed. A large number of public traffic facilities such as trains, trams and coaches provide a convenient service for people. The streets are designed with consideration for the disabled. You hardly see cyclists in the streets. In contrast, as you know, the streets in China's cities often swarm with people who use bicycles as a means of transport. To my disappointment, public transport in Sheffield is quite expensive.

It is said that Sheffield is the UK's First City of Sport. As I know well, there are two football teams in the First Division of the football league, namely Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. Several years ago when I was in China, I knew Sheffield Wednesday played in the Premiership League but now both of the two football teams have been demoted to the First Division. In addition, there is also a rugby team and an ice-hockey team in the city, both of which are nationally famous. The famous Crucible Theatre hosts the annual world snooker championships. Other sport facilities include the ski-village, the world-class swimming and diving facilities at Ponds Forge, and others.

The people in Sheffield are polite. They are patient although some foreigners can't express themselves clearly in English. The drivers always give way politely to the pedestrians at street crossings. My landlord is a kind and compassionate person. He furnished our flat to satisfy all our needs. I can always improve my English when I talk with him. However, there are often some guys in the streets who ask you for change. They ask in a polite manner and often say sorry if you tell them you don't have any change.

There are two universities in Sheffield, namely the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University. I couldn't find the entrance gate of my University when I arrived. Later I found out that most Universities in the UK have no entrance gates and encircled campuses. There are all kinds of educational and service facilities in the University. In particular, the IT facilities are extremely convenient for the students to search for information via the Internet. The University's IT Centre opens 24 hours a day. By logging onto the network, I can search for electronic materials for my assignments, email my friends all over the world, query the book loan from the library, look through the BBC news etc. I am very busy with my studies this semester. I have nine assignments to do. The assignments are actually essays with thousands of words, or 10 to 40 A4-size pages. In order to finish the assignments, I must search a large amount of material in the libraries and on the Internet.

The teachers are very strict with the students on references. If you refer to others' work in your assignments, you must give the source clearly. Otherwise you could be thought to be plagiarising and fail the assignment. The examination questions are also different from that of China's universities. There are usually several essay questions, without any multiple choice and blank-filling questions in the test papers.

The University of Sheffield Union of Students is Britain's largest and best student union. Recently The Virgin Alternative University Guide conducted a survey of Britain's colleges and universities by evaluating the aspects that matter to prospective students, such as the town or city, the social scene and the students' union. The University of Sheffield came out on the top in the survey. There are hundreds of clubs and societies, service facilities and much more in the Union. The Union is so convenient that almost everything is in one place.

Global Span is a society in the Union. It organises several day trips every semester. I took part in the trips to Windsor and Stratford. Windsor Castle is a mighty royal residence still in service. Bounded by the broad flowing Thames, it towers in the green royal parkland, like a fairy tale vision. Stratford is William Shakespeare's hometown. As an elegant town on the River Avon, it is one of the most English places in the UK. I visited Shakespeare's Birthplace and New Place, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and the historic and cultural streets. I enjoyed the trips very much. On the trips I also took many pictures. The building in the picture is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre by the River Avon. A flock of swans is playing placidly on the river. Some trees on the riverbank stretch their branches onto the river, just like welcoming the visitors from distant places. Are you impressed by the scene after you see the picture? I will show you other pictures when I return to China.

The other picture is a street scene in Sheffield. The picture was taken in front of our house near the University. The temperature difference in winter and summer in Sheffield is not considerable, even though in April it still snows!

Having talked so much, I find it's already fairly late. But I have to continue doing my assignments. If you have other questions about studying in the UK, I will tell you my relevant experiences and feeling later. I hope we can meet in the UK. Take care of yourself. And I wish you good achievement in your study!

Yours, Brother

Ru-Ying Wang, China