One of the amazing things about studying at Kings London is the social life. As an international student abroad, I have to admit that sometimes the opportunities to make friends are limited, but not at Kings!! Here we all are in the same boat and, knowing this, the staff at Kings takes a lot of time to create those opportunities that I was talking about. But of course they never forget to help us improve our English at the same time, and what’s better than learning? Well, in my opinion it’s learning while having fun!
One way to do that is to join the drama club. OK, it’s quite new but it doesn’t change the fact that you can meet other students, practice your English, and have fun. But I guess that if you are shy it may not be your cup of tea.
In that case, why not take part in one of the lectures given by a teacher? These take place twice a week and deal with a whole range of topics; from the subjunctive tense to British icons and British music from different eras or the story of the English language. I know that the word ‘lectures’ sounds a little bit more academic, but actually they are quite informal, very interesting and it won’t hurt your general knowledge of British culture!
Our view of the stage at the Lyceum Theatre
But Kings also offers lots of other possibilities, one of which I personally took part in last Thursday, when I was one of 30 Kings students who attended the musical ‘The Lion King’ in central London at the Lyceum Theatre. It was an incredible experience that brought back childhood memories filled with Disney cartoons. I was also mesmerized by the dances, the songs, the actors, the costumes, and the stage-sets – fantastic!
It’s great to know that Kings London staff are constantly thinking of opportunities for you to spend time with other students and to help to discover the new environment that will be for a few weeks or even a year, your new comfort zone.
- Waiting for the performance to begin
Thanks to Kimberley for the blog and to Viktoria for the photos.
The latest news from our music/nightlife correspondent: Javier Aquique.
London definitely has a lot to offer as a tourist destination, but there are many places that are virtually hidden – places accessible to everyone but sometimes they don’t have much publicity. In any case, one of these places is the Belowzero bar, if you haven’t heard about it you should check it out.
What makes this bar so unique? At first it looks like a very fancy place, but in Regent Street most of the places are like this, but the thing that gets everyone’s attention is the fact that inside the lounge is the Absolut Ice Bar. Have you ever heard of a hotel in Iceland that’s made totally out of ice? Well this is the exact same thing, only it is just a bar. Literally everything is made out of ice, the walls, the chairs, the bar, even the glasses.
One cool customer
The bar is -5 degrees Celsius at all times, for obvious reasons the staff provide the visitors with designer coats and gloves in order to stand the freezing temperatures, nevertheless it is literally breathtaking to take an excellent cocktail of the best Absolut vodka in these conditions. There’s just one catch – groups of visitors can only remain in the bar for 40 minutes, there’s even a timer on one of the walls that lets everybody know how much time they’ve got left. (more…)
Recently, some of our students visited a local Beckenham pub for an open mic night. Don’t know what that means? Javier Aquique, a Venezuelan student and our local music correspondent, will tell you more.
Are you in the Beckenham area and think there’s nothing to do for a night out? Well if you are a live music fan, there is a place you ought to check out. The William IV pub is located on Elmers End Road, is not hard to find and also has nearby bus stops and a tram station. At first look, the pub looks like any other English kind, a detached Victorian building with many tables inside and a few others in the front, but what makes this venue so special is the fact that they have different activities during the week, from bingo to karaoke. Nevertheless, what will really grab your attention is the open mic night on Wednesdays.
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