Category: ResiLife

Content supporting students living in our residences

Celebrating Southeast Asian Pride at SEADay 2024

Posted on by emily-may.roberts

Celebrating Southeast Asian Pride at SEADay 2024

By Mindy Liew

For the past three years, Southeast Asian societies in the University have come together to host SEA Day (Southeast Asia Day). Celebrating the region’s rich tapestry of history and culture. The annual food festival draws hundreds of students together to share in Southeast Asian pride.

This year’s celebration saw the joint effort of the Malaysian Cultural Society (MCS), the Malaysian-Singaporean Students’ Association (MSSA), the Brunei-Bristol Society (Brustol), the Vietnamese Society, and the Indonesian Students Association in Bristol and Bath (PPI).

Hosted in the grand Great Hall of Manor Hall, with the help of ResiLife, attendees were spoilt for choice with the range of national culinary treats on offer. From the sweetness of Singaporean soy milk grass jelly drink to the spice of Bruneian nasi katok, the room was set in a frenzy as everyone rushed to purchase their taste of home. Personally, my favourite was the various Malaysian desserts and snacks on offer, particularly the onde-onde (palm sugar glutinous rice balls).

Southeast Asian pride was at an all-time high as both attendees and event crew alike donned their best traditional wear, such as the sinuangga and cheongsam. Attendees were also treated to cultural performances throughout the evening. Jumpstarting the performance roster was the university’s Malay Martial Arts team, both young and experienced martial artists alike simulating sharp traditional combat. A live band performance featuring pop song classics brought out the romantics inherent in all Southeast Asians, quickly followed by a fun Indonesian game of gerobak dorong (wheelbarrow).

Of course, it wouldn’t be a roaring festival without the UoB Lion Dance Team. The red and yellow lion duo was once again a crowd favourite amidst the booming procession of traditional drum and cymbals. At the end of the night, the festival morphed into a concert as the crowd gathered before the stage for the final act – Beng and the Beats. The rock band’s setlist consisted of songs humorously dedicated to each country represented at SEA Day, one being ‘Style’ by Taylor Swift to commemorate her recent tour stop in Singapore. It was a sight to behold as the crowd collectively sang and danced along.

As the night ended on the band’s emotional serenade of ‘Yellow’, there was a renewed sense of community between us all. Being over 10,000 kilometres away from our home countries, many of us international students in Bristol were drawn to reflect on our connections to our culture. Encapsulating the essence of home, SEA Day served as a brilliant opportunity for us to reconnect with our roots amidst the hustle of student life in a new country.

Moving in weekend

Posted on by emily-may.roberts

Moving in weekend

Students at Wills Hall during moving-in day

 

Moving for the first time can be stressful. What do I bring? Who will my roommates be? How many forks will I need?

We’ve put together some advice as you prepare to settle into life at Bristol.

What do I bring?

Badock Hall.

Firstly, if you’re staying in halls, make sure you check to see what is already provided. You can find this out here – Bedroom essentials include your bedding (don’t forget the quilt and pillows), towels, laundry bag, hangers and extension leads if you need the plug space (no more than 13 amps load). If you have an ensuite, make sure to remember a bath/shower mat and some bathroom accessories (toothbrush holder, soap dispenser, as many toilet rolls as you can sneak out of the house, etc).

 

If you’re a Marlborough House resident, no need to worry about kitchen equipment as this will be provided! For everywhere else though, here are some things to remember. All residents should bring plates, bowls, mugs, cups, cutlery and a bottle/can opener. If you are a self-catered student, you should also bring frying pans, saucepans and other cooking accessories you may need. Don’t forget you are just one person, so no need to bring four of everything!

You also shouldn’t feel the need to rush to the Wilko sales this week, as this year the SU’s ‘Take a Plate’ campaign could save you some cash.  You can expect to find mugs, plates, bowls, glasses, pots, pans, cutlery, graters, baking utensils, oven trays, cafetieres, reusable cups, water bottles, food containers and peelers, all for free in these locations:

Student kitchen at Clifton Hill House

This is the start of a new campaign introduced to limit the amount of waste going into landfill and saving you a pretty penny.

Cleaning supplies are also a must have. Washing up liquid, sponges, cloths and tea towels (don’t forget to wash them regularly) are a good start! As these things are all used communally, you may want to wait till you arrive so you can share the costs with your roommates and avoid bringing duplicates.

 

Roommates

It can be pretty intimidating moving in with strangers, especially if you are also moving to a new city or area. Try to remember that you’re all in the same boat! Whether you are the type to kick start introductions, or prefer to let others do the talking, there’s room for all personalities here. Why not arrange a group activity for you and your new roommates? You could hunker down for a movie night, cook a meal together or check out a local café or park! A really simple thing to do is leave your door open as you move in, it lets people know you’re open to talk and introduce yourself.

If you do find yourself struggling to settle in, you can always talk to the people around you. You may find that one of your roommates is going through a similar situation and can help each other through it. You can also reach out to the University wellbeing services if you feel unable to turn to anyone else. This friendly team has loads of advice and resources to support you and there are some great tools to help you manage your own wellbeing as well.

 

 

 

New campus Wi-Fi network coming in 2023 and 2024

Posted on by yl22363

Work begins this month on a new high-performance network for our world-class campuses. The work will assess the Wi-Fi coverage of the current network before its upgraded on a building-by-building basis at the end of 2023 and throughout 2024.

As the single biggest investment ever made into IT infrastructure, University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Evelyn Welch believes, “Our capital investment is not about shiny new buildings, but about providing the right environment…particularly our digital infrastructure”.

When the current network was originally designed, no one could have anticipated the extent to which digitisation would transform teaching, research and learning in the decade that followed. Many replacement parts to the current network are no longer manufactured, making the structure in its current state vulnerable. Our new network has the potential to move us permanently towards more interactive learning and inquisitive teaching in the future.

Post-pandemic, we increasingly access the connected world through our fingertips. COVID-19 accelerated the need to exist online, so much so that traditional face-to-face teaching has been enhanced by shifting the student experience to a virtual space. Our University now promises an in-person education enhanced with the very best of blended.

Upgrading our network will…

  • Enable an academic to live stream lectures on campus with fluid, stable connectivity to thousands of students around the world.
  • Mean that a student can link multiple devices securely to support their study, social and entertainment platforms anywhere on campus.
  • Allow a researcher scalable connection to conduct experiments and store data autonomously on a secure service.
  • Empower a member of Professional Services to seamlessly join meetings and carry out tasks on the move, or from their desks, on a network that is sustainable.

The benefits of a new network will be felt by all 30,000+ members of our community. Anyone who joins the local network on, or away from, campus will experience a seamless, secure, sustainable, and fully supported digital environment.

Chief Digital Information Officer Keith Woolley says, “We’re excited by the possibilities this investment will bring and can’t wait to see the full potential of our new next generation network. With this transformation the University of Bristol will be better connected to one another, our partners, and our communities… it will provide a platform for innovative global research, creative teaching and facilitate options for inclusive learning for years to come.”

If you have any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Please email modern-network-project@bristol.ac.uk  or visit our SharePoint pages to find out more.

This scope of work is part of the Digital Strategy, which feeds into the objectives set out in the 2030 Vision and Strategy. 

Written by Aggie Hewitt, Communication Officer, Digital strategy

Food for Mood – Recipe 2

Posted on by Sophie Bridgewater

Towards the end of last year we ran a series of online cookery workshops for students in residences to attend in partnership with NCIM, promoting healthy eat for healthy minds. Our gut bacteria are constantly communicating with the brain through the nervous system. Keeping them robust and healthy with prebiotic foods like sweet potato, apple and mushroom not only feeds the bacteria but reduces inflammation, and creates Vitamin B and K which support brain energy and growth.  (more…)

Food for Mood – Recipe 1

Posted on by Sophie Bridgewater

Towards the end of last year we ran a series of online cookery workshops for students in residences to attend in partnership with NCIM. We will be running more of these sessions online and in person over the rest of the academic year. Keep an eye on our weekly newsletter to find out when!

Missing meals, long nights, relentless studying, and too much time online can make us feel lethargic, anxious, and make us more susceptible to illness.   Chronic stress, uncontrolled blood sugars and hormone imbalance creates lots of inflammation in the body. In the first session we learnt how to control many of these issues by cooking with fibrous, colourful vegetables and good sources of protein that control glucose spikes! Give this recipe a try and find out for yourself!  (more…)

My experience as a ‘Disabled’ Student

Posted on by Sophie Bridgewater

by Charlotte O’Brien, Senior Resident

As it’s Disability History Month I thought it would be a good opportunity to share my experience as a ‘Disabled’ student. Why do I italicise disabled? Calling myself disabled doesn’t really suit me as I don’t have a physical disability and personally, I see myself able to do what most non-disabled people can do it’s just I may do things in a different ways or experience things differently. This means it can be very difficult for me and others in my situation to be recognised, taken seriously and get the support we need as you cannot see that we may need specialist support in some way. (more…)

Top tips from the Chief & Senior resident team!

Posted on by Sophie Bridgewater

by our Chief and Senior Residents, compiled by Sophie Bridgewater, Student Community Coordinator

We hope that you are settling in well, and have started to gather some top tips of your own! In the meantime here are a few suggestions from the Residential Life Chief and Senior residents to help make living in residences go smoothly, as well as some exciting places in Bristol to check out! (more…)

Your Student Life: Balancing Studies and Physical Health

Posted on by Sophie Bridgewater

by Kien Le, Wills Hall resident 2021-22, 2nd yr Sociology BSc

Life as a University student is one of the best experiences of our lifetime. It’s the moment you start to shape your future. As much as we wish for a Uni life full of nostalgic memories to look back on, the two most important things that students are advised to focus on are studying and staying healthy. Here are some great tips to help you balance your knowledge and health at University. (more…)

Settling in with new flatmates

Posted on by Sophie Bridgewater

by Kien Le, Wills Hall resident 2021-22, 2nd yr Sociology BSc

Is it your first time staying at the University of Bristol Halls? Are you feeling insecure about a brand-new life with brand-new people? While settling in with flatmates may be a stroll in the park for some, there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of if you have your own concerns. Even siblings sometimes struggle to set aside their differences, let alone flatmates.

The key is to build and maintain good connections between each other; usually decided by your first interactions. Here are some simple tips when settling in with your new housemates: (more…)

Bristol Summer Events!

Posted on by Mel

by Aditya Palve (Senior Resident), Abhishek Gautam (Chief Resident) & Tanuj Sharma (Senior Resident)


Bristol Tattoo Convention – 8th-10th July

Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash

The Bristol Tattoo Convention is returning to Ashton Gate Stadium in 2022. Over 250 artists from all 4 corners of the globe will attend and over 30 trader stands will be present. There will be live music on both days from “The Old Time Sailors” who will be performing Matinee shows from 1pm-3pm. Demon Drome “Wall Of Death” will be performing 6 shows each day. There is a free bus service with buses running in a circular direction all weekend from Bristol Temple Meads Station, The Bristol Hotel on Prince Street, Broad Quay in the city centre then up to Ashton Gate Stadium. For ease of transportation, buses will be operating every 10-15 mins, traffic depending.

Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, BS3 2EJ

(more…)