Sheffield And My Impression Of It
Sing-Ho Ting, Malaysia
It was about 5.30 am, on a Sunday morning in September when my feet first trod on the ground of Great Britain, a country which I had been hearing and reading a lot about. It was indeed a tiring 13 hours flight from my home country, Malaysia, but the exhaustion was offset by my anxiety to step out of the airport to experience the weather, the 'alien' surroundings and the smell of historical Great Britain. I was greeted by a cold morning breeze, not too cold, but just to my liking. However, that was Manchester and the next question that popped into my mind was, Is Sheffield the same as well?.
My curiosity was answered after a 90-minute bus ride from Manchester Airport to Sheffield. I immediately realised that I had arrived in the UK's fourth largest city when the Arts Tower, the only outstandingly tall building around, appeared in my sight. Upon arrival, myself and my other two friends from Malaysia were brought straight to our hall of residence: Halifax Hall. I was particularly shocked to find out how far it was from my department, the engineering building, to Halifax Hall. At the hall, we were shown around and brought to our respective rooms, which happened to be at the old block, right behind the original great Halifax Mansion. The view from my window was indeed great as I could see part of Sheffield from there. Here I am! That was what I said to myself while looking out from my room window. We were very anxious to get ourselves settled as soon as possible and take a walk out into the university.
After lunch, we made our way out, together with the most important tool for newcomers like us – the campus map! We found our way through the campus, and timed ourselves to see how long it took to reach the engineering building. Well, 30 minutes was not really long after all, considering the fact that the weather was so cooling. It's totally different from my home country, where you will start bathing in sweat if you stay out for more than 10 minutes on a normal day.
Furthermore, during term time in Sheffield, you'll see lots of other students walking just like you and that will definitely make the journey more enjoyable. We explored almost every main part of the University and to be honest, I didn't feel that I was in a University at all! Sheffield University, as far as I am concerned, is like a city itself to me, as it covers such a huge land area. The city centre is just 10 minutes walk away from the engineering building, which again gives you a good idea of how close the university is to the city. I was also particularly amazed at the efficiency of the transport system in Sheffield. The bus schedule was especially punctual and effective, to my great surprise! If the bus arrival time is stated 15.37, you'll definitely see the bus appearing right in front of you at the exact time – 15.37. Neither later nor earlier! The city also has effective and very frequent tram services.
I had heard about other international students like myself being disappointed when they arrived in Sheffield, as the city was different from their expectations. Many would imagine Sheffield, being the fifth largest city in UK, having tall, huge, modern and majestic buildings packed in the city centre. Sheffield, like many other cities in the UK, is described as an old-fashioned but classic city, with many historical buildings, like churches, some as much as 100 years old. In fact, I am amazed at how well the local authorities manage to keep the valuable historical buildings up-to-date and yet be able to run the city, just like other modern cities around the world.
After a few months in Sheffield, I started to live just as I lived back at home except for the different food I had everyday at the hall. Well, personally, I think the food isn't too bad to taste. They do sometimes serve really good food! After all, I came from so far away for the experience of trying something new, including local food. Sheffield has almost everything you need, which was how I managed to live just like I used to at home. I didn't have a problem with being homesick, as this wasn't my first time living away from home. Meeting with different people from different parts of the world in the hall had made my first semester in Sheffield a truly enjoyable one.
On my floor there were people from Greece, US, Korea, Kenya, India, Singapore and the UK. The hardest part in getting to know each other is the first time you say 'hello'. I was surprised that I actually got to know the Greeks on my floor so well, even after just 2 months. I learnt that everybody has something really nice about them if you make some effort to find out what that is. Living with such a wide variety of people from around the globe was indeed a great experience for me. However, the different English accents between people from different parts of the world was a problem during the first few weeks. Again, I was surprised at how quickly I adapted to the different accents, not 100%, but at least I could manage to understand what they were trying to say.
Other than the international students' English accents, the local Sheffield accent was also a headache for me at first. It is really very different in the way they express themselves and the way most words are pronounced. I should say the local accent is not easy to understand even if you have the strongest command of English back at home! However, experience and time were the solution. Slowly, without knowing, I was able to get used to it, especially with the local tradition of people calling you Love. This was really strange to me at first, but it's normal now! It is just the local way of being friendly. Again, I appreciate it as a good experience of how to adapt in a different land.
Winter in Sheffield was indeed the time that I was actually looking forward to. I had always imagined what it would be like during winter, especially when the whole place is covered with snow. I experienced this when the first snow fell towards the end of December. I woke up and drew the curtain in my room. I was stunned for a few seconds when I saw the entire place was blanketed with snow, as white as I had imagined! It was a fantastic feeling for first-timers like me. I realised I wasn't the only first-timer around when I saw many others anxiously and curiously stepping out into the snow. Adding to the fun, the entire Endcliffe Halls area was made the battlefield for the annual snow fight between the halls. I was absolutely amazed to see the number of students that morning: at least 150-200!
I imagine people from other parts of the world who come to Malaysia would say that they prefer their own country. Undoubtedly, there's no place on earth which is better than home. I do miss home very much, but my time in Sheffield has been good as well. It's a different kind of experience from what I had at home and I believe this is what all of the international students are looking for. After all, we came all the way not only to obtain the best academic result, but also to equip ourselves with life experiences. My stay in Sheffield has so far been a great period of my life, with memorable lifetime experiences. Furthermore, the kind and helpful people of Sheffield, in general, have made my stay here even more 'homely'. Moreover, you don't hear people calling you Love everyday back at home!
Sing-Ho Ting, Malaysia