I joined the hockey club and not only did I get to play a sport I love, I also met a lot of people. There are 120 men and women in the two teams combined, so when I walked around Bangor and constantly saw people I knew, it felt like I belonged there.
Each Central program offers an in-depth orientation that acclimates students to the country's language and culture as they get a feel for their new environment.
Get to know your surroundings by beginning your semester abroad with a full orientation led by the resident director. There will be extensive orientation activities during your first two weeks and activities vary between the fall and spring semesters. Fall program students tour Ireland during the first week of orientation. Spring students take the same tour later in the semester during Bangor University's spring break. Regardless of the semester, essential information regarding Bangor, the university and course registration is provided during the orientation period.
The culmination of this period will be a bus tour of Wales. Visits to historical and cultural sites all over Wales are included and emphasis is placed on introducing students to the diversity of the Welsh landscape and the richness of Welsh history and culture. Lectures will be given at various places of interest, and the tour will form the introduction for the required course, An Introduction to the History and Culture of Wales, which will continue throughout the semester.
One of the highlights of studying through Central College Abroad in Bangor is the number of cultural activities and excursions that are included as part of your program fee. These excursions, facilitated by the resident director, speak to the cultural learning and understanding you’ll gain in your courses. Recent excursions include:
And when class is out, you'll find Bangor is centrally located for traveling to cities such as Dublin (a two-hour ferry ride), London and Edinburgh (each a three-hour train ride) and other cities in the U.K. Longer trips have taken students to Paris, Amsterdam and many other places in Europe, especially since reasonable flights from Manchester airport are only two hours away. Many students also take day trips with other Bangor University students through various campus clubs and organizations such as the surfing club and rugby league.