University of Wales Swansea

Great in all the aspects relating to the exchange students, help and advice for them, activities, nice beach, and unforgettable parties and nightlife..!!

As an exchange student I admit that life in swansea was great, but pay attention to the expensive life in UK. The most expensive things are probably tha accomodation and the means of transport: if you want for instance to take a train you'd better book it in advance to get a lower fare (Unfortunately it is impossible to buy train tickets from Italy, quite unfair cause from other European countries it is possible - e.g. Germany-).

For what nightlife is concerned you have to go to Mumbles, where the Mumbles Mile takes place every weekend.The city center is also OK for weekends. You must visit Cardiff. You should attend to the rugby match between Cardiff and Swansea University teams. I am sure there are lots of things I am missing, but I could say I really enjoyed myself during my time there.

bus drive from london heathrow to swansea is loooooong and expensive.... get your ticket in advance! so you don't risk that you have to wait for the next available seatt.

Communication was unexpectedly halted after I had been in Wales only five days, due to the events of September 11. But, looking beyond that, communicaton was fairly effective at Swansea. We were able to learn a little Welsh and, more over, were able to get a sense of the tones and accents of our fellow Welsh, English, Scottish and Irish students.

Overall, the housing I lived in was inhabitable. I was provided with the essentials I needed for dormitory life. However, because of the remote location, it was difficult to get to the university and into the town centre, so I felt a bit isolated, although I did take the opportunity to rent a bike on a few occasions so that I could get around more efficiently. Living in the castle annex was inexpensive, especially considering that the cost included a meal plan. However, the food provided at the school was below par and I felt that my dietary needs were not met because of the lack of fruits, vegetables and other fresh foods. Because I was buying my own food at the market and preparing my meals, rather than eating the school's, I was spending more money than I had originally intended. I set up two meetings with the head master of the annex, both times requesting to be taken off of the meal plan for the aforementioned reasons and was denied my request.