Teesside University

The Library

Teesside University is a local university situated at the north east of England, in a town called Middlesbrough (pronounced as middles-bruh). It has up to 17,921 students on campus, 9,750 are full time students. It has a clean campus, with well-equipped classrooms and lecture theatres, and 2 new buildings that were opened a few months ago.
There are 6 main schools :

1. School of Arts & Media
2. School of Computing
3. School of Health & Social Care
4. School of Science & Engineering
5. School of Social Sciences & Law 
6. Teesside University Business School

All the buildings are within walking distances (5-10 minutes from one end to another), and it is also close to student accommodation houses.

A wide space in the campus called "The Heart"

The Curve, one of the new buildings

Common Buildings

Student Union Building

This is the Student Union building, where most of the student-based activities are held. There is also a gathering three times a week for international students called the English Language Café so you can meet students from different nationalities.

• Ground floor : Student Union shop (sells food, drinks, stationary and Teesside Uni clothing)

• -First floor : Loveit Lounge (common area for students) and The Terrace (a restaurant in the    afternoon, a pub at night)

• -Second floor : Cafeteria (sells breakfast and lunch) and The Hub (clubbing area and for events)

The Library at night

The Library 
This 4-storey building is equipped with books, printers, computers and a cafe for all the students. It is a public library that is open to all. There is also a 24 hour security office located at the ground floor on the left.

The New Gym

  
The Gym
This building was opened in January 2016, and is one of the new buildings in the campus. It has 2 storeys and is equipped with cardio machines, weight-lifting areas, fitness studios, showers and sauna etc. It also provides exercise classes on weekdays, and it is open to all students and staff. You need to join the health and fitness membership scheme at a price of £85/year, and this includes unlimited access to gym and fitness classes, climbing wall, personal exercise programme, gym and climbing wall inductions, squash and badminton courts.

Weight-lifting Area

Rock climbling Wall

The Olympia Building (Situated beside the Gym/entrance to the Gym)

Clarendon Building (on the left)

Clarendon Building

At the first floor of this building, you will find the student centre which provides services and solutions for matters like accommodation, careers advice, enquiries about the university, enrolment and more. This is where you'll get your accommodation keys once you reach the university on the first day.

Middlesbrough Tower (from King Edward's Square)

 Middlesbrough Tower

This is the tallest building in the campus, and it is connected to the Britian building and the Constantine building. The finance department is situated on the ground floor, and the post room is also on the left of the lift. 

There are a lot more buildings that I haven't mention which are for specific schools. If you are worried of getting lost, don't worry. There are maps provided during orientation/welcome week, and there is an app called TU Mobile that has a map of the campus. You can also find classrooms with the app and more. I recommend downloading it for newcomers.

Well, that's it! I will talk about accommodation in the next post. Until then, stay happy and healthy! :)

"So, I heard you're considering the UK"

UK is one of the top countries that Malaysians consider to pursue their studies in, mainly because it is more affordable compared to the U.S. or it's part of the commonwealth countries, so getting your documents ready and approved should be fairly more convenient too.

I hope you're not thinking that everything's easy. There's still the student UKVisa to apply for, a university to consider, living expenses and more. But I'll not talk about these yet, let me start with a light and easy topic.

Stereotypes. (And misconceptions)


1. Accents
Not everybody in the UK has a posh British accent that you hear in Sherlock or from Tom Hiddleston. Like Malaysia, every part of the UK has their own unique accents. For example, London or southerners have that normal British accent you hear, whereas in the north, (from where I am which is Teesside) they have different accents like Georde accent, Newcastle accent etc. It's still comprehensible for us, we just need some time to interpret. The locals will understand. (I hope)

2. The British love their tea.
Yes. And coffee but mostly, alcohol. The only nightlife you'll find is either going to the pub for a drink, or dancing in a club. Although they do have 24 hour eateries (MCD *wink wink), you may find it hard to look for a place to "yamcha" (hang out for a casual drink) at night. Yup, in Malaysia we can talk through the night at a mamak, but in the UK, you'd find more drinkers than chatter boxes.

3. British weather is gloomy, wet and miserable.
Not exactly. It depends on where you are as usual. In Middlesbrough (the town where Teesside University is in), you'd get days with sunshine and blue skies, but some days it'll drizzle for the entire day. So just like Malaysia, you'll get sunny days and rainy days too.

4. Fish and Chips
It's like the national food right? Yeah, though they don't eat it at a daily basis (of course they don't I'm just joking!). Truth be told, UK food can't be compared with Malaysian food. You'll find that the flavours are not as strong and savoury as Asian food. Nevertheless, in Middlesbrough, they still have wonderful Italian restaurants for Western food lovers, Mediterranean food and Chinese restaurants for people who miss a bit of home. Don't worry, you'll still get to eat some fish and chips.

5. Everything here is more expensive than Malaysia.
Nope. Certain food are definitely cheaper here. For example, cheese, berries, alcohol and frozen pizza. Yeap, frozen pizza. It's only £1 (around RM6) for a 6-8 inch pizza from Iceland, or throw in a few more pence for a nicer tasting frozen pizza.

So that's a few common perceptions we Asians have towards the UK, I will go through them in detail soon. Until then, I hope this helps in clearing up some basic thoughts about the UK. See you in the next post!