As a Leeds ambassador, I have the responsibility to spread the word about Leeds around Western University (London, Ontario, Canada) for those looking to go on exchange or Study Abroad while at Western. I've found so far that it's a really fun job and I've particularly loved speaking to students who have already been on exchange to Leeds because they too are as enthusiastic about it as I am. I thought I'd write a blog post to explain in full why Leeds is such a good choice because apparently, Instagram has a character limit on their captions which I didn't actually know about. (Some of this is just direct copy and paste from my Instagram and then some is more detailed.) 

First of all, the city itself. Leeds is a vibrant, multi-cultural epicentre of diversity, in the North of England. It also has a rich history based on industrialisation and growth which is displayed in many of the fantastic museums throughout the city. There is some beautiful architecture shown off in the streets of Leeds - just like the iconic city hall who’s silhouette is synonymous with the Leeds skyline. Others include the Corn Exchange and the University of Leeds’ very own Parkinson building. I think if you want to come to an English city, Leeds is a great opportunity to experience life in this country without being caught up in the busy-ness of a city like London. It has a relatively small city-centre but then the city itself extends into the beautiful surrounding countryside with suburbs like Kirkstall, Roundhay and Headingley. Despite the centre being small, it still has a lot to offer in regards to shops (namely the big Trinity Shopping Centre), restaurants and bars (more on those later) but without being overwhelmingly large. Something I really recommend doing is eating at the Trinity Kitchen which is at the top of the Trinity Centre. It's a food court full of street vendours and different types of food from around the world. Other eateries I highly recommend are Little Tokyo and Bundobust. Two of my favourite parts of the city are Millenium Square which occasionally hosts events like the annual German Christmas Market and is the home of the City Museum, and down the bottom of town where the River Aire runs - home of another museum, the Royal Armouries. Leeds also has a lot to offer in terms of culture. The music scene is brilliant with many small venues scattered throughout town displaying the best of local and international artists alike. For instance, I've seen the likes of The Lumineers, Emeli Sande, Big Thief and Karl Blau during my first two years of uni. Leeds is also host to some excellent music festival - every year in the Spring the venues throughout the city host Live At Leeds which is a great opportunity to see up and coming bands to much bigger artists right on your doorstep. I also went to Gold Sounds festival at Brudenell Social Club last May which was really cool because that very much focused on displaying very small artists, with the headliners being Phoebe Bridgers and The Big Moon who are definitely making a splash in the music industry but should still be classed as small artists.

City Hall just lurking

Christmas market fun

The thing that is frustrating about Canada is it’s lack of public transportation between any place which isn’t a major town or city. I want to go on day trips to National Parks or beauty spots but, as a non-driver and someone who is not 21, this is near impossible without having a spontaneous, driving 21-year old friend. This is the exact opposite to England and Leeds is in a prime location. Whilst costs of trains and coaches are high in the UK, coming from Canada where trains to Toronto are so infrequent that only booking wayyy in advance won’t cost you an arm and a leg, you’re golden. Leeds is situated a 2 and a half hour train journey from real London (which can lead you on to anywhere - Cornwall, Wales, France; you name it!), has a direct train route up to Edinburgh, is close enough to other must-see Northern cities like Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool and York and has good connections to Birmingham and other places you may want to visit whilst you’re in England. It even has a train which takes you right into Manchester Airport that you can catch extremely cheap (we're talking like £40) flights to destinations all over Europe. Leeds is also in a great position in terms of English beauty spots. Just south of the Yorkshire Dales, you can easily get buses to Skipton which can lead you into the heart of the beautiful Dales. There are also really short (+ cheap!!!!) trains to Ilkey if you want to getaway to the gorgeous Yorkshire countryside. Yorkshire is scattered with sites of English heritage. For instance, Fountains Abbey which is just one example of the pieces of British heritage you can find extremely close to Leeds. Some of my other favourite places nearby include Brimham Rocks and little villages like Grassington and Kettlewell. Unlike some cities down South, it is so easy to go not even an hour away from the city centre and be completely free from city life.

Brimham Rocks

Something that is well-known about Leeds is just how good the nightlife is. Whilst I didn’t actually know about this reputation until after I got accepted in August 2016, I wasn’t prepared for just how good it would be because to me anything was better than a Guildford night out. Leeds has something for everyone. Every base is covered - on most normal weeks anything from intimate poetry/spoken word nights to live jazz to drinks at a bar to clubbing until the early hours of the morning is being enjoyed by the inhabitants of Leeds. Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen is my favourite bar in Leeds which is a very well-known fact amongst my friends from both Leeds and Guildford (and probably soon Canada). This joke even got to the point where I was collecting screenshots of people who asked if I lived in Belgrave. Why do I love it so much? A very good question which I can't seem to put my finger on except because of how much I love the vibe. It’s a bar with a rooftop, a music venue and a host of vintage game nights and album listening parties. On top of this, it also sells delicious food at it’s pizza and burger vendors. Other bars I think are worth the visit: Call Lane Social, Smokestack, North Bar, Rum & Reason, Sela Bar, Headrow House, Waterlane Boathouse, Tapped, Parkside Tavern, Roxy Lane Balloom and MOJO... to name a few. Equally, I have to mention the infamous Otley Run - a c.17-pub crawl from way out in Headingley commencing either in the Uni’s own bar or Dry Dock pub and is almost seen as a right-of-passage for many university students. Probably the part on the Run I look forward to most are the weird jellyfish shots in the Box - they're a strange concoction which includes Bailey's but they taste dangerously good! There's also an offer of two glasses of prosecco for £5 at the first pub (Woodie's Ale House) so you know, start as you mean to go on? Clubbing wise, I think I’ve counted close to 20 nightclubs in Leeds. If you’re coming from London, ON, where you’re limited to Frogs, Jack’s or the Ceeps, this gives you a ridiculous amount of options on any given night. I personally recommend Wire, especially on a Thursday for Fuzzy Logic - it gives you a good insight into the UK indie music scene. You also can’t go to the University of Leeds and not end up at Fruity in the LUU on a Friday at some point; it’s cheesy but brilliant. I also think Beaver Works is just something you should experience when in Leeds if you’re someone who doesn’t mind staying up until 5am. It’s like nowhere I’ve been before and is definitely something you won’t find in London, ON, hosting a wide variet of DJs from techno music to disco. Drinking isn’t for everyone and doesn’t have to be part of your Leeds experience, so as I said, with the variety of nights from poetry to techno music, Leeds is an excellent choice if you want to have fun during your studies.

As cool on the outside as it is on the insude

Sazzle's watering hole

The last thing I want to talk about is the university itself. The University of Leeds is a wonderful uni to go to. It won Sunday Times’ University of the Year in 2017 and is one of the Top 15 Universities in the UK. It has so much to offer from a very wide-range of subjects and modules to hundreds upon hundreds of societies to join. I personally have got most involved with the Leeds University Union Music Society (shoutout to my pals at LUUMS, miss you all xoxox), FemSoc (Feminist society) and the History Society, but am looking to join the Hiking society, Photography Society and Leeds Student Radio when I’m back for my final year. Others include the biggest non-academic society on campus, @leedssnowriders, who are our snow-sports society and the Tea Society (see what I mean about wide range?). Snowriders offer weekly indoor slope sessions at Castleford for those who are interested in freestyle and racing AS WELL AS trips to European ski resorts at Christmas and at Easter. I believe the Tea Society offer trips around town to try different types of tea so honestly if you want to fulfil a British stereotype, that sounds like a good one to join. There’s political societies, sport societies, subject societies (LawSoc being the biggest academic society on campus), chartable action societies… you name it- for more information visit the LUU website. The campus itself is quite beautiful with the classic red-brick style buildings at the top of campus many universities of the same era in the UK have. The Union Building (our version of Western’s UCC) is newly renovated and is like a little town. It has two bars, a whole host of eateries, study spaces, rooms for societies, events spaces for club nights and gigs, and bunting outside which is what sticks in my mind when I think of the the university. Honestly, the University of Leeds is a fantastic uni. It’s perfectly situated about a 10 minute walk from the city centre but still has its own space in campus form. Leeds is also home to Leeds Beckett, Leeds Art University, Leeds College of Music and Leeds Trinity which all feed into Leeds being a student hub. This is what sets Leeds apart from London, ON which centres around one university. Being a student city which is based on a handful of different institutions, there's so many people with so many different backgrounds to meet. Although there is some level of rivalry, particularly between Uni of and Beckett, if you take a step back it is really cool just how accessable further education in Leeds is. The rivalry is also fun during Varsity which is the big sporting competition at the beginning of the academic year between Uni of and Beckett, resulting in a rugby match at the Headlingley Carnegie Stadium.

The campus is so pretty

Leeds is just wonderful. That being said, I am very much enjoying my year at Western. I've already been given so many opportunities. I could't recommend studing abroad enough.