Hi, I’m Lena and I am your International Officer from Easter Term 2011 - Lent Term 2012. I am responsible for raising awareness of the views and needs of international students on Newnham JCR and university-wide in conjunction with iCUSU, as well as organising International Freshers' Week.
Being an international student might seem difficult, but in fact isn’t too complicated. Apart from having an additional freshers’ week prior to the standard freshers’ week, the main difference (and advantage!) to being a Home student is having access to vacation storage. There are also college and university wide socials put on for you, which I would encourage you to take up as they are a lot of fun and a great chance to get to know other foreign students (see the iCUSU website for more information). I have added below a few helpful hints for settling in to Newnham, but do drop me an e-mail if there is anything else you’d like to know, and not only will I respond, but I’ll also update the website!
Watch this space for more information on international freshers’ week and future socials.
Feel free to contact me on jcr.international@newn.cam.ac.uk.
You can also keep yourself updated by joining our Facebook Group "Newnham International Students":http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128361193860428&ref=ts
Watch this space to see timetables for int’l freshers’ week, as well as other international film nights, etc.
You can find International Freshers’ Week 2011 timetable and description of events here. Please note that there will be updates about the venues of some events.
Internationals can leave 6 boxes in STORAGE, weighing up to 20kgs each. There is also valuable storage for any instruments or computers you want to leave.
is provided by college, so don’t worry about bringing anything except maybe an extra towel if you swim or want to lie on the lawn in summer term!
There is a sale of dishes /cutlery /pots & pans at the start of term where you can usually pick up most things if you’re into cooking, but it is definitely possible to live off buttery food! You can keep your kitchen cupboard over the holidays so you don’t need to worry too much about storage.
In Cambridge you’ll need formal wear, a gown (purchase in Cambridge from Ryder & Ames or from college), plus day wear. Depending on where you come from, England might seem warm, cold or very cold to you – in any case, remember that you’ll definitely need things like scarves, umbrellas & boots!
This is very easy. Newnham Walk surgery is just around the corner and you can register there by taking along your passport and a letter from College proving you are a student.
Some useful links:
National Rail: www.nationalrail.co.uk
Stagecoach: http://www.stagecoachbus.com,
National Express: www.nationalexpress.com
iCUSU: www.cusu.cam.ac.uk/publications/international/IFG-Final.pdf
Cambridge University has a huge and diverse range of clubs and societies to join. For the full list see www.cam.ac.uk.societies/. A list of all International Societies can be found at www.international.cusu.cam.ac.uk.
Aside from the JCR International Officer, there exists the Newnham International Cultural Programme (coordinated by Sumiko Hatakeyama) - another way of helping internationals to feel at home and give diverse cultures recognition.
For regular updates on NICP events, please sign up to the mailing list at:
https://lists.cam.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/newn-nicp
For information on previous events have a look at the website: