ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE GUIDE

for international / visiting

students

2017

WELCOME TO CATZ! Starting at a new university can be daunting for anyone, but moving to an entirely new country makes the whole experience even more challenging and exciting. Catz is a very welcoming and vibrant community (as you will all soon find out!) and our first priority is to make sure that you feel as comfortable as possible. Using the advice of international and visiting students at Catz, we’ve put together a short guide to make your transition to uni as easy and fun as possible. We hope that very soon you’d get to call Catz your home and we’re beyond excited (probably more than you are) to welcome you at Catz! SUMMARY OF CONTENTS: PAGE 4-5 ..................................................................................... Introduction PAGE 6....................................................................International Student Rep PAGE 7.................................................................................. JCR Committee PAGE 8-11................................................... When You Arrive & Practicalities PAGE 12........................................................................... Luggage/ Settling In PAGE 13........................................................................................ Quick Tips

INTRODUCTION

Most of you will be living on site, so you’ll have the benefit of college facilities on your doorstep. If you’re a Visiting Student there is a chance that you’ll be living in the accommodation of another college, such as New College. Again, nothing in Oxford is very far and your base will still be Catz, but it’ll be an opportunity to meet an ever wider group of people. Wherever you are, Catz will be the focus of your social time here – it’s a place where you can go to dinner in Hall, attend clubs and societies, meet with friends in the JCR and go to fortnightly fancy dress college parties ‘Entz’.

Oxford University is made up of lots of different colleges and departments, spread throughout the city (it’s only a small city though so it’s never too far to walk or cycle). You will be a part of St Catherine’s College (Catz), the largest (and best – haters gonna hate) undergraduate college in the entire University.

• The JCR refers to the Junior Common Room in college, which is where Catz students spend a lot of their time. It is home to a large flat screen TV, comfy chairs and sofas, a games room equipped with pool tables, darts boards and table football and adjoining bar – it’s a great place for taking a break and meeting new people. The JCR can also refer to the undergraduate body in college. Every year there is an elected committee that deals with various aspects of student life in college.

• There is also the MCR (Middle Common Room – graduate and mature students) and the SCR (Senior Common Room).

• There will be events throughout the year celebrating the diverse cultural backgrounds we bring to Catz!

A SMALL WELCOME

Please and I cannot insist on this enough, if you ever do feel the need to chat my door will always be open. So don’t hesitate ( promise I don’t bite)! Not so long ago I was a fresher, afraid of moving so far away but at the same time aching to get started at Oxford. A year later, I’m so glad I decided to come here. Catz truly does have a vibrant and tolerant community with a great support system. We are very luck to have wonderful Welfare Reps and Peer supporters who are here for you. I can’t wait to meet all of you and I’ll see you when you arrive at Catz (if you want to ask me any questions before you arrive fire away!!) , MUCH MUCH INTERNATIONAL LOVE, Raphaëlle (raphaelle.petit@stcatz.ox.ac.uk)

Hi ! My name is Raphaëlle and I’m your international student rep. I’m Franco-Mauritian, live in Singapore and study Law with French Law. My role is to make sure that your stay in Oxford will be as smooth as possible and that homesickness disappears from your vocabulary. As international and visiting students, you might be bit anxious at the idea of living abroad. Don’t worry you’ll find that people here are genuinely very nice (and you don’t have to like tea to fit in!!! shocking I know) You’ll have many opportunities to discover British culture and I encourage you to embrace them fully (PIMMS!!!). So don’t be afraid to move away from your comfort zone and don’t be closed off to anybody. Being away from home, from your family is tough but you’ll see that Catz will become your own little dysfunctional family and home. At Oxford, there are many weird but oddly charming traditions like matriculation, hall, trashing (fear not these expressions will soon be part of your vocabulary) and home student will be just as lost as you are. It is therefore completely normal to feel like you need time to adapt (after a year I still feel like I need time to adapt).

THE JCR COMMITTEE The Committee are elected annually by the JCR. We are your representatives this year:

• President – Tiger Hills

• Vice President/ Domestic Liaisons Officer – Will Bennett

• Treasurer – Nick Wells

• Secretary – Jack O’Callaghan

• Clubs and Socs Rep – Emily White

• Entz Reps – Flo Ward and Harry Wragg

• Welfare Reps – Dani Groves and Ben Shuker

• Welfare and LGBTQ+ Rep – Charlie Blake

• IT Rep – Ruth Faherty

• Charities, Environments and Ethics

Rep – Harry Holmes

• Equal Opportunities Rep – Ellen O’Brien

• Access Rep – Molly Williams

• Careers and Academic Affairs Rep – Eva O’Sullivan

• OUSU Rep – Tom Wernham

• International Students’ Rep – Raphaëlle Petit (Cannot wait to meet you guys !!– please get in touch if you ever need anything! )

• Arts Reps – Fionn Montell-Boyd and Michael Delgado

• More information about your committee and their individual roles can be found on the JCR website: jcr.stcatz.ox.ac.uk **

WHEN YOU ARRIVE

International and visiting students arrive earlier than the rest of the JCR in Freshers’ Week to allow for flexible travel arrangements and extra time to adjust to your new environment. When you arrive in Catz a team of students will be on hand to welcome you and help you settle in. It really is a great chance to meet and make friends with a lot of your fellow international students! There will be a programme of events on Sunday and Monday to help you to get to know each other before the majority of students arrive on Tuesday. More information on the programme for early arrivals will be available when you get here – see you all soon!

PRACTICALITIES

• Primark – The cheapest place to buy clothes. Although the quality is not the best, it is good for things such as bedding and Entz costumes. On Queen’s street.

• Tesco/Sainsburys – Supermarkets. Go here for cheap, quality food shopping, but remember you most probably won’t have any freezer or oven in Catz.

• Argos – Good for cheap clothing racks, lamps and things for your room. Also good price phones, cameras etc. Products are ordered online or using the catalog system in the shop and picked up from the collection point in the shop.

• Boots – Pharmacy. You can buy medicine, toiletries, socket converters.

There are a few things you will need to sort out early on when you arrive. These are some staple UK shops that you may not be aware of:

It is important that you try to set up your phone and bank account as early as possible after you arrive. Your phone will be essential in Freshers’ Week for new contacts and in case you get lost. You will need to add a debit card to the online Upay system which links to your Bod card (university card) so you can pay for food/drinks/laundry/printing in college. Don’t worry if you are waiting for a UK account to set up, alternative arrangements can be made. If opening a student bank account, take along your certificate of enrollment (signed by College), as you cannot open a student account without it!

• PHONE: Unless you’ve unlocked your phone for international use, a UK SIM card will probably not work in it, in which case you will have to buy a UK phone. You can buy a UK SIM on contract or pay as you go. The main network providers in the UK are O2, Vodafone, EE, Virgin, 3, Tesco Mobile and Giffgaff. You should talk to current students about which networks have the best coverage in Oxford/college but you may find opinions differ. For making international calls you might want to get a calling card or you can call home for free over the internet using Skype or apps like Viber.

• BANK ACCOUNT If you are here for a year or more, open a UK bank account. Most banks offer student accounts with generous overdrafts and freebies. Look around online to find the best deal and make sure you choose a bank with a branch in Oxford (main ones are Natwest, Lloyds, Santander, HSBC, Barclays) in case you run into any issues – their call centres will quickly swell your phone bill. Bring cash with you, bearing in mind that your bank account may take a while to set up. You can always exchange money from your home currency in Oxford – the small shop on Cornmarket has good rates. If you use an international debit card, it will charge you a fee every time you use an ATM.

• BIKES: For many students in Oxford cycling is the easiest and quickest way of getting around the city. Lectures and tutorials are often not in college so if you want to maximise sleeping time (and we all do ;) ) , you might consider investing in an bike. A bike is also an essential for potential rowers; the boathouse is no fun to walk to at 6am. There are many bike shops around Oxford; if you’re lucky, you might get a cheap second-hand one from another student but don’t count on it as demand is high. The upside of this is that you should have no problem selling your bike when you leave! There is a secure bike shed in Catz where you can leave your bike over the holidays.

• FLIGHTS AND TERM DATES: Always check with your tutors to find out what dates you should be in college before booking flights. At the beginning of each term, most undergraduate (non-visiting) students will take exams set by the College at the end of 0th week (‘collections’), so students are required to return to Oxford by noon on the last Thursday of each vacation and remain in Oxford until the last Saturday of each term. Exams may be scheduled for the week after the end of term (9th Week) so don’t make unchangeable travel plans until you are sure of when you’ll be allowed to leave Oxford. A good website for checking the relative costs of flights is Skyscanner or Liligo.

• There are 24hr coach services that run between Oxford and Heathrow Airport, leaving approximately every half an hour. There are also direct services to Stansted, Gatwick, Luton and Birmingham. The closest stop to Catz is on the High Street or you can get a taxi from the bus station at Gloucester Green. You can find coach timetables and tickets on the National Express, Megabus and Oxford Tube (24hr service to London) websites. For trains, see the National Rail Enquiries site. It is possible to stay in Oxford over the holidays but you must request vacation residence from the college office well in advance – you will receive emails about this during term time so keep your eyes peeled. If you do choose to remain in College there will be the possibility of working at the conferences that take place over the vacation periods.

• LUGGAGE: There are holiday storage spaces (located in staircase 2 and 5) for international and visiting students in Catz. However, be careful about bringing more luggage each term because you will accumulate things during term time and you are eventually going to have to deal with it all (trust me I’ve been there and I’ve regretted it) Remember when you’re packing that you are going to have to get from the airport to college with everything so don’t bring more than you can carry/drag yourself! Don’t forget that you’ll be able to buy things in Oxford if you need.

• SETTLING IN: You’ll find Catz to be a diverse and welcoming community and Freshers’ Week is a great opportunity to get involved in what’s going on. Joining clubs or societies is the perfect way to meet new people with similar interests and Freshers’ Fair is your opportunity to sign up to any that interest you. There is a huge variety of things you can take part in so there is bound to be something you’ll enjoy. There might be a society for students from your home country, which can be a great way of getting advice and sharing experiences. If there isn’t one already, you can start one! Although we’re sure Catz will be an amazing experience, our Welfare Reps and Peer Supporters are always on hand for those times when things get a bit tough, whether you’re homesick, struggling with a long-distance relationship or just fancy a chat!

QUICK TIPS • Get used to checking your emails frequently – this is the main method of communication within the

University. Make sure you also check you pidge in the porter’s lodge frequently.

• The tap water in the UK is drinkable so don’t stock up on expensive bottled water. Although the water is perfectly safe, you can use a water filter if you are concerned.

• You probably won’t be able to get a lot of the same foods as at home so bring your favourites, but remember to check import restrictions – no meat or dairy from outside the EU.

• If you’re confused by British slang, UrbanDictionary.com is your new friend.

• Make the most of where you are – visit other places around the UK and take advantage of the budget airlines that fly all over Europe.

• Pace yourself if you’re suffering from jet lag in Freshers’ Week so that you don’t miss out on the activities that you really wanted to participate in.

• Wait until you arrive in the UK to buy paper/stationary (Rymans is cheap and has a student discount) – save yourself the luggage space!

• Stock up on cold and flu remedies – new country, new germs and you want to be prepared for the dreaded Freshers’ flu – it exists. (you can find some LEMSIP at Boots)

• Immerse yourself in British culture but don’t do anything you don’t feel comfortable with – people will respect your choices.

• Oxford is a safe place but, just in case, Emergency Services can be reached by dialing 999. You can also never be too careful when heading home at night from clubs. Don’t let friends walk back by themselves or choose to do so yourself, and always charge your phone before you head out.

• Most importantly, look forward to enjoying your time here – Oxford really is a wonderful place (and we genuinely mean it) !!

ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE JUNIOR COMMON

ROOM

St Catherine’s College, Manor Road, Oxford

OX1 3UJ jcr.stcatz.ox.ac.uk

Designed by Imo Reeve-Tucker and Latifah Sah

Curated by Jamie McGowan Stuart

Credit to Mayu Noda and Raphaëlle Petit

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