First Week

The first week is already over and it feels like I've only been here for 2 days. During the Orientation Week, we did many group activities to get to know each other better. One of them was a walking tour of the city center of Manchester. We were divided into smaller groups and each group had a professional tour guide. We were lucky to have a true native of Manchester as our guide, who also writes travel guides about Manchester and highly recommended them to us. We visited the main places in Manchester within an hour and he told us some facts about them. I usually have a very negative attitude towards tours or city tours because I can't remember all the historical backgrounds anyway, but I really enjoyed this tour because he explained everything a bit and also told personal stories about each attraction.

There are many places in Manchester that are designed for students. The Public Library has numerous study spaces. However, it is a very aesthetic building. Unfortunately, we walked through the main hall relatively quickly because everyone was studying there, so I took a photo from the internet to show this place.

Another highlight is the John Rylands Library. When you enter the large room, it feels like you're part of a Harry Potter movie. This library has many of the oldest collections from famous artists throughout world history. You can visit the museum for free and explore the entire building.

The next day, we had a tour of the Manchester Museum. This museum is located on campus and can be visited at any time. The focus of the museum is on fossils and natural history. It is very modern and has some very interesting exhibits.

On Saturday, it was time for 'Off to the stadium!'. It's actually quite embarrassing that I've never been to a stadium before. We live in the mecca of football, but I have to travel to Manchester to watch a game. I have to say that it was 'only' a Manchester City game, which was enough for me personally. For a Manchester United game, you often have to spend around €200, which I can't understand at all. Honestly, I don't care which team is kicking the ball around, whether it's Cologne, Mönchengladbach, or Manchester, it doesn't really matter. The tickets were relatively cheap, so I thought why not watch a game. We sat in the 5th row behind the goal, which were relatively good seats for my taste. As is usual in Manchester, it was raining, which didn't make the game one of the top 10 moments of my life. It was still a good game and Manchester City won 5-0. It was an interesting experience, but I don't need to do it again. Maybe it was also because I had no connection to the teams and didn't know any of the players. The screens were unfortunately not big enough to see the players' faces clearly, so I can't even say if they would have convinced me with their appearance. Mission WAG failed!

The lectures start tomorrow and I'm very excited. It sounds very promising.