iFriends

iFriends is an organization created by a group a people from churches. It's been in Belfast for years with the aim to connect and help all international students. With series of "i" program, such as iCafe, iTalk, iSport, iConnect are the bridges between international students and local community.

I've been to those event since the very first week I arrived to Belfast. From there, i've had so many opportunities to make friends with both international and local people from different backgrounds, been to many trips with them, and explored Northern Irish cultures with various activities. Last Sunday we went to iConnect to one of the local families in All Saint church. Honestly, I can't remember how many times I've been joining these events, but every time brings to me such a different feeling...really warm welcome, lots of laughs, lovely food cooked by local people.

I never feel lonely in this country because there are so many things for you to explore and i just wish it would be more than 24hours/day to fulfill my activity list :)

Giant Causeway- Rope bridge- Dunluce castle with INTO students

What a relaxing Saturday with INTO students to Giant Causeway-Rope bridge and Dunluce Castle!!! We had a really good number of students signed up for the trip :)

We had a really nice time with some quizzes from Zaut_one of INTO students and breathtaking scenes. Even though, it was raining a wee bit freezing but nothing could not stop us from having good fun :) I really enjoy the time working at INTO with lovely students <3

This October is full of social events to welcome INTO freshers and I am looking forward to seeing more students in the next trips :)

Ps: Photos will be posted at later time :P

Fre..eeeee lunches :)

Around this time every year, some churches in Belfast organises free lunches for students. Everyone is invited and welcome :) I always love the food there with beautiful hot dogs and lovely soups <3. Every Thursdays and Fridays, students come along to Fisherwick and St Thomas church to get lunches and sit down to chat with awesome background music played by several members from the church.

Thank you everyone who has organised such a good place for us to make friends or we can discuss the projects with our partners. After lunch,...classes start and we're back to lectures with freshness and joy!!! 

Acadamic updates...

It's been 4 weeks from today since I started my Msc. How can i describe my feeling :) ? Well, it's the mixture of excitement and challenge. I'm excited because of learning new things that I haven't done before,...excited to work with tons of new friends both locals and internationals. However, time flies in a blink of an eye with many things on schedule and i gotta try my best to manage them. It is sometimes exhausted but I feel that I am living my life with its best effort to achieve the success :)

4 weeks have passed and I can tell that Queen's school of management is really brilliant with enthusiastic lecturers who are always available to listen to your concerns and give the most honest feedback. in addition, you're provided with the latest news and upcoming events to keep you up-to-date with various opportunities in your career path.

Generally. everything is going in the right track :) and i am happy with the things I'm doing <3

It's been a week...

It was Monday again and my course has started for a week already. I had the very first lectures and tutorials for every single module in this semester. They're all really interesting and challenging. Thanks for the Graduate Diploma course at INTO which provided me with skill sets and relevant knowledge, therefore I feel very confident with my MSc Finance. 

I was assigned to be in a group with 2 local students in Economic and Financial Strategy module. They're all very friendly and helpful. Normally, there is a mixture of students with various backgrounds within a group, so we can share experience among each other. In addition, a small group with 3-4 members would be very efficient and easy to manage. 

I'm going in the right track and everything's perfectly fine so far. It's expected to have more workloads in the next following weeks, but it should be fine once I have reasonable time management. I still can join many social activities organized by International Friends and the Student Union at least twice a week :) It's all about work life balance :D

Right! Hope it's gonna be another good week for everyone and for me as well :) 

My first Msc Finance class

I had got my timetable for my Msc Finance, which is very intensive with 12 hours lectures and tutorials. Unlike Bachelor degree, Master students are required to spend most of the time for self-studying. Around 80 postgraduates are doing a Master at Queen’s Management School and roughly 31 of those are Msc Finance. You can make friends with students from all over the world, such as America,  European countries, China, Vietnam, Middle East, etc. The most important thing is that they are very nice and friendly. In addition, we can share experience not only in academic purposes, but also in cultural perspectives.

My first class was Corporate Finance, which is generally about decision making in corporations and business. It is a really interesting module, which provides me techniques to analyze and explain economic situations happening in daily life. The teacher is really enthusiastic, helpful and experienced in the related field; therefore students could get practical and up-to-date knowledge.

No classes in couples of days but I still need to revise and do some readings for the subject and look forward to the other 2 modules in the first semester!

 I am also looking forward to take part in Queen’s Freshers’ Fair, which is on 28th, and 29^th September.  There will be hundreds of clubs from academic to sports and social ones. Last year, I signed up for photography and music clubs which were really helpful and interesting. So, this year, I am gonna make the most of my time to attend more activities in Queen’s 

Ps: Any pictures will be updated at later point :D

TGIF!!!!

Whoo hoo. It’s Friday again...a busier Friday than usual with lots of things to do and students around the office. Glad that I can somehow help them resolve their concerns. More good news is that the social assistant have just planned another brand new social event in preparation for the new international students who will arrive for induction next week  “ walking treasure hunt programme” which is a good craic to explore Belfast in a dynamic way. Oh, by the way, 'Craic' is a Northern Irish word which means 'fun'.

That is more than enough for my lovely weekend. I’m going to join Ceili (Irish dancing) and an Irish Stew Buffet organised by Queen’s tonight, down in the Whitla Hall which is 5 minutes away from where I live. That’s a great chance to meet new friends and experience Belfast culture.

TGIF and happy weekend everyone!!!