Happy Chinese New Year to All Our Students.

A blog by Dr Clare Grant

Over the weekend, Chinese New Year was celebrated all around the world, including here in Bristol. Although Chinese students at the University weren’t lucky enough to get a statutory holiday to celebrate the New Year, I’m sure they enjoyed welcoming in the year of the Snake. Chinese New Year traditionally marks the end of the Winter Season, so that’s already one good reason to celebrate….roll on some Spring-like weather! Traditionally, it’s also a very family orientated time of year, when relatives get together and enjoy good food and each other’s company.

There are so many ways of keeping in touch with family once you leave home and come to University, even when leaving home means travelling thousands of miles to study in a different country. In fact, sometimes it feels hard to escape family ties: there always seems to be some way in which they can contact you! But, as we all know, it’s at family times like Chinese New Year, when the rest of our relatives get together without us, that we can feel particularly isolated and unsupported.

There are many International students at the University, with the largest single group being  from China. The personal and professional benefits of spending some time abroad studying in Bristol can be huge, but it can also be challenging studying away from home. All of the Bristol University Support Services (Students’ Health Service, Student Counselling, Disability Services, Multifaith Chaplaincy and Careers Service) are here to help our International Students as well as our home ones. These support services may be quite different to the ones provided by Universities in other countries, so it’s definitely worth having a look at their individual websites to see what they offer and how they might be able to help you.

Here at Students’ Health Service, we are experienced in helping International Students with their medical problems, wherever they come from in the world. In any one day, we can see students from at least 15 different countries! We are also aware of the physical and psychological health problems that can be associated with coming to study abroad. If you are experiencing health problems, please do make an appointment with one of our doctors or nurses, (our reception staff will help you decide who it’s best to make the appointment with): whichever country you come from, we are here to help you whilst you are studying at Bristol University.