Hi everyone! I’m Xiaotong, the Chinese student ambassador of the University of Surrey, I’m very glad to meet you guys here via this blog. I’ve been here since the end of September this year as a first-year PhD student in the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management, doing some researches on tourism sustainability.

Alongside my study and research journey, I’m also enjoying the role of being the Chinese student ambassador to bridge the university and our prospective students in China who have willingness to explore more about our campus and colorful uni life. Apart from my busy study and research schedule, I’m also very much enjoying the great variety of social or academic events provided for us to not only network and socialize with other peers, but also essentially level up our study, academy and working skills. Likewise, the safe, inclusive and friendly circumstance here really make me feel highly welcomed to engage with others in a quite international and interdisciplinary setting. There are a set of welcome events throughout the freshers’ week are really well-prepared, including programme orientation, international student gathering, accommodation quiz game and so on, all of which indeed serves as an eye-opener for me and greatly expand my global view via chatting with friends from varies countries and cultural backgrounds, as well as getting myself fit right in the new environment. For myself, I regard the cross-cultural communication as one of the most valuable things to cherish in university.

Add to that, I also spent quite a lot time in the brand-new massive sports park to get fit and relax myself. Following this blog, I’ll rolling out new series of blogs to help you know lot more about our amazing Surrey life in weekly basis! If you got questions about anything of the Surrey, please don’t be hesitate to make contact with us!  

嗨！大家好！我是萨里大学的中国学生大使马小桐, 非常高兴能够在这里和大家相遇！今年九月底我来到萨里大学开始我的博士阶段学习与研究，目前我在萨里大学的酒店、旅游与会展学院进行关于旅游可持续发展的学习研究。在这里，我很开心能够作为萨里大学学生大使建立起连接学校和国内同学沟通的桥梁。

第一篇博客，就来让大家多了解一下我吧。我喜欢读书、运动和交友。在学业之外，我非常喜欢融入学校丰富多彩的活动，这样不仅可以多交朋友扩大我们的朋友圈，更可以提升我们的学习，研究与工作能力。而且安全，包容与友好的校园环境也会让我们在这个高度国际化的学习环境中深感受到欢迎。比如，在学校的新生周举办的一系列的活动，比如新生欢迎会，国际学生聚会，‘宿舍活动夜’等，对我来说，这些活动让我认识了很多来自不同文化背景的朋友，并且通过和他们的交谈扩大了国际视野。就我个人来说，在萨里这个国际化、多元化的社区里，跨文化沟通是最值得珍重的经历之一。除此之外，我还利用业余时间经常去学校体育中心健身来放松自我。在之后的博客，我会更多地介绍丰富多彩的校园及本地生活，帮助大家去熟悉、了解萨里大学。如果大家有关于这里的任何问题，请与我们联系！我们下期再见！