This week I want to talk about religion in England. Today there are numerous religions practiced within the United Kingdom. However, the predominate religion is the Church of England.
The Church of England is also known as the Anglican Church. It is a Christian religion between Catholics and protestants. For example, followers of the Church of England do not recognize the authority of the Pope. The break with the Catholics occurred in the middle ages because King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife. However, the pope did not allow King Henry VIII to separate from his wife. This objection led King Henry VIII to start the Church of England.
Religion has a fairly large presence at Keele University. In the middle of campus there is a chapel for Christian students. There is also a small mosque for Muslim students. What is very striking is that the Christian union here is an institution and everyone respects what they say. I think it’s more open than in France where we do not dare to speak of God. Usually the Church is open after huge events. They offer tea and toast to the students coming out of the evening. I found it very strange at the beginning, but it is finally fine to be able to sit in a quiet place and talk a little after a long night out. Christian Union organises many events. Most of these events are spiritual, but they have sporting and cultural events as well. For my part I’m going to mass every Sunday. There’s a great choir so I like going !
See you next time, enjoy your life !
Romain
Within the Keele Church before catholic mass
Hi everybody, today as promised I will tell you about the food at Keele University.
There is a refectory that is open all week except on weekends. You can have three daily meals. In the morning you can have a traditional English breakfast which consists of bacon, eggs, sausages, mushroom and cheese. It is very different than the breakfast in France. However, I find it very nice because it is not as sweet. There are also several bar on campus where you can buy pizza and other dishes prepared like this. Sometimes it is nice to eat a meal with a pint of beer in a lively bar with good company.
English breakfast in Keele
One of the English specialty is fish and chips. I got the opportunity to eat fish and chips at Liverpool in an authentic restaurant. It was really good. There are also several cafeterias where you can order coffee and muffin between courses. It’s nice to be able to sit down and work here among students who take the traditionnal English tea time. The refectory, cafeteria, and bars aren’t very expensive if you are a member of the University. I can pay with my University card which gives me a discount on the food. I’m really surprise to discover that English people take the dinner at 6 p.m., and sometimes at 5 p.m., too early for me…
Fish&chips in Liverpool
There is also a small grocery store on campus, but it is more expensive than the large grocery stores located in the city. I only use it for small errands. When I want to make a big purchase of a lot of groceries I order my food on the internet. Morrison’s delivers the groceries to my dorm within two days. There are roughly the same products in France with some differences. There are less choices of cheese to choose from and no fresh baguettes!
That’s what I miss the most about France!
See you next week and enjoy!
It has been 4 weeks since I’ve been here and it still feels good. School is going by so fast.
Westminster theatre
This week, I will talk to you about my courses here. Back in Nantes I work in accounting and finance so it was compulsory to choose some equivalent subjects here at Keele University. In England you choose your courses by yourself and it is required to take at least 4 per semester. If there is a clash on your timetable with two classes, you should switch it with another one. If you want to take more than 4 courses you have to pay more. It is like 100£ more per course. As I said in my first article, there are not lot of hours per week but it really depends on which subject you are taking. Usually there is 2 hours of lectures and one tutorial hour per course per week. Since there are few hours in the lecture, most of the spare time should be spent studying by yourself.
My timetable
The big difference it’s about the assessment. Here at Keele, we write a lot more essays than back at Nantes. It’s really different than I’m used to in France. In France we have to reproduce the professor’s work. However, it is the similar in the sense that we have to work and think by yourself. I like it, I find it is good to reflect on the stuff that I’ve learned. The buildings in which we study are all really good, from the small classes to the big amphitheater. You can find all your course on an electronic online platform. Each course has recording so you can listen to after your course to hear what the professor taught.
See you next week, enjoy your life.
Romain
Keele in United Kingdom
In order for you know a little more about my new work environment, I will describe my first few weeks here and why I chose Keele University. The main reasons I chose to study in the U.K. was to improve my English, gain some new experiences, broaden my views, and make new connections. I hope that my new journalism job will inspire individuals to have the same experience.
My school, Keele University, is located in the northwest of England. It takes around forty minutes to Manchester by train. Keele is a lot bigger than my home university in Nantes. The campus is really beautiful. It has serene meadows and Woodland areas making it a great destination for nature lovers. As well as, there is beautiful castle where it’s happen the welcome ball, also an awesome Library and a Chapel with a lot of Christian Union events. Keele also has large fields for rugby, football, and lacrosse for sport enthusiasts. At first it was really tough trying to find my way around the campus, but after two weeks here, I can walk around without carrying a map. I will include some pictures in my next article for all of you to see.
Keele hall
When I settled in my accommodation, I met my five new roommates. They come from Sweden, Finland, the United States, and Turkey. They’re very pleasant and it just so happens that they all speak English really well. Lucky for me!
During my second week here at Keele, the freshmen moved in. This week is traditionally called Fresher’s Week. Universities in the U.K. have activities all week in order to make the freshmen feel welcomed. Activities include trying out new sports, going to trivia nights, dancing at the student union, and singing karaoke.
The Library with in front the Keele logo
When picking out my modules, I was really surprised that there was only ten hours spent inside the actual classrooms. The rest of the time is spent studying by yourself. It’s a big difference compared to the French schooling system.
Next time I will speak to you about the sport culture at my university.
See you soon and enjoy your life.
Romain
