Things you know to be true as an international student at a Welsh University

Pronouncing Welsh names is more difficult than getting a First 

Senghennydd, Llanbleddian,

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Is it gibberish? Is it a bunch of drunk spelling errors? No. It’s Welsh, and whenever your family and friends send you something in the post, they fuck up your address spectacularly.

Us international students will probably never be able to say these names, but we’ll never stop asking our Welsh friends how to pronounce them and stare at them in awe. It’s actually the coolest thing ever.

The weather here is the bane of our existence

IT’S ALWAYS COLD HERE. How am I supposed to go out in my LBD when I’m on the verge of getting hypothermia?

Oh, and don’t even bother doing your hair and makeup in the morning, the winds will mess it up instantly and you’ll slip multiple times on the wet leaves everywhere on your way to lectures.

We don’t get rugby

Honestly, what are the rules, how are they played, and what’s up with those helmets? Is it like American football?

We just really want to be included, so please let us tag along to the games and just tell us when we’re supposed to cheer.

This is what the Millennium Stadium looks like when it’s not raining

The accents will never stop being confusing

Let’s be real, if you’re not from the U.K. it’s a bit difficult to differentiate the accents sometimes. To us, a lot of Welsh people sound English and a lot of English people sound Welsh. Either way, we can’t really understand you guys half the time, we’ve just mastered the art of smiling and nodding.

Don’t even get us started on the different English accents – we can’t tell the difference.

You came here to learn a bit of Welsh…

But somehow, you ended up living with all English housemates except for that one person. That ONE Welsh housemate who teaches you only one word: ‘microwave’. It’s ‘popty ping’ by the way.

Welsh cakes are your new favourite snacks

Welsh cakes are love, Welsh cakes are life. How have we survived this long without them?

It’s annoying as hell when your friends and family don’t understand the difference between England and Wales

For the last time Aunt Judy, I go to university in Cardiff which is in Wales. No, it’s not London. Yes, it’s in Britain. No, it’s still not in England. It’s not that difficult.

The nature is unbeatable

The nature in Wales is unparalleled. Bute Park and Roath Park are both at our doorsteps and we take it for granted all too often. When the city centre gets to be a bit too much, we can take a short train or a bus journey and explore hiking routes at Brecon Beacons or Caerphilly. There’s nothing quite like it.

Some of the best TV programmes are filmed here and you never shut up about it

We’re the only ones who get to go back home and brag about how we go to uni in Sherlock’s mind palace or have seen Doctor Who being filmed on our way to lectures.

On set

You’ll never want to leave

Cardiff has the perfect mix of everything. You’ve got the city centre, the bay, a neighbourhood full of lively student houses, and beautiful nature all in one. Despite the fact that it’s a capital city, the people here are friendly and it’s safe and affordable.

For us international students, we have to go back to our home countries when we get our degrees. We probably won’t see our friends here for at least a very very long time, if ever again so we cherish each day we have here.

We all love the ‘Diff, and we always will.