University of Michigan International Center

If you come from anywhere besides North America, the mention of “football” probably brings up teams like Manchester United and Chelsea in your mind. But don’t worry about that; soon you’ll program your mind to call that sport “soccer,” and “football” will be the sport where men wearing padding charge into each other while passing an oblong ball. You will see it being showed in almost every restaurant and TV screen that is around. You will hear true Wolverine fans bashing Ohio State and MSU (Michigan State University). Even if you came here not knowing a thing about how the game is played or how many people are on a team, chances are you will leave Ann Arbor having Michigan football t-shirts and knowing who the quarterback is. I was just like that, coming here insisting that “soccer” is the real “football” and thinking American football was just a rebranded rugby. Little did I know that the University of Michigan has one of the strongest college football teams in the country. I was a...

We come from all sorts of financial backgrounds and budgeting experiences. This may be the first time you’ve started paying for rent, phone bills, and groceries; or you may have been financially independent for years. My department had a financial consultant present during the first week of September when we arrived, and that was a real eye opener to budgeting on this stipend. You have many things to keep you busy in grad school – stressing over your finances should not be one of them! Have no fear! Graduate students at the University of Michigan have one of the best funding packages in the country – we just have to budget accordingly. Saving money will become habit after a little bit of effort and practice. We all can do it, and so can you. Before you arrive in Ann Arbor, think about what is important to you to have a comfortable and happy life here. Do you prioritize having a really nice space to come home to? Do you prefer going out to eat on a weekly basis? Want to sav...

Restaurant week is a semi-annual event in Ann Arbor. The 2017 dates are January 15-20 and June 11-16. It provides a good opportunity for food lovers to go out and try as many great restaurants as they want for an incredibly low price. That means you can have a full lunch for $15 and a three course dinner for $28, and many restaurants offer 2-for-1 pricing. There are 53 restaurants in total involved in the January restaurant week. Also, some restaurants will donate a portion of the revenue from their selected menu to Food Gatherers, which is the first food rescue program in Michigan providing food assistance to low-income adults, seniors, and children in Washtenaw County. Check out the Ann Arbor Restaurant Week website for more information. It’s worth mentioning that restaurants select their menu based on different strategies. Some restaurants view restaurant week as an opportunity to introduce their new dishes, some promote their popular dishes, and others use this time to se...

Moving to a totally new environment can be stressful, and the academic rigor of U-M tends to exacerbate the issue. I remember being best friends with Google Maps to help me navigate through the campus when I walked around my first two weeks of school. With a constant battle against time and shivery-cold winter, I had to look into means of transportation other than just walking. Now, I would to share what I have learned in the past year with you. Lyft / Uber Most people already know what Lyft and Uber are, but let me introduce them to those who do not. Lyft and Uber are companies that help users connect with drivers within the proximity through a mobile app. By having both apps, users have access to a driver almost whenever. I like Lyft and Uber because all the drivers are controlled and regulated by big companies, lowering the risk of me falling into a sketchy situation. The user is charged based on time and distance traveled, but the app is very helpful when you are c...

Winter weather in Michigan is definitely famous for being bitterly cold, harsh winds, and lots of snow. Although this may be true, there are definitely ways to combat this winter weather and even learn to enjoy the season! Ann Arbor winters average temperatures from -15 ° C to 3 ° C. There is usually a lot of snow, especially in December and January, and it gets darker much earlier. The best way to combat the cold is with proper clothing, jackets, and winter accessories. Different clothing materials also have an impact on how effective they will be. Anything made of wool, down, cotton, and/or fleece is surely to be a protectant from the winter weather. Winter clothes and accessories are essential to surviving a Michigan winter. These items include: winter coats, sweaters, boots, gloves or mittens, scarves, hats, headbands or ear muffs, thick socks, and long underwear (long johns or thermal underwear). Although some of these may seem unnecessary as the winter continues, they are al...

Regardless of the season, whether it is Fall, Winter, Summer or Spring, arriving on campus for the first time as a Michigan student can be daunting. Not to mention the fact that you are far away from home, and know only a few people, if not none. Well, it depends on you how you want to shape your Michigan experience. Do you want to keep feeling the way you feel as you first step foot on campus (the I-don’t-know-what-I-got-myself-into feeling), or do you desire to have an exhilarating and rewarding time at THE best university in the nation, around people you care about that have similar interests as you? The latter seems more fun, does it not? One bull’s-eye way of ensuring that you have a fun time is through getting involved on campus. The University of Michigan is proud to have over 1,500 student-run organizations and programs on campus. That means each and every single one of you will find a niche, an organization or a movement you are interested in. From feeding squirrels...

Things To Do In Winter by Moshen Jafari If you arrive in Ann Arbor in the wintertime, you might find that it is too cold to even open the trunk of your car to put in your suitcase! However, there are many fun things to do in Ann Arbor during the winter to beat the cold and keep those winter blues at bay. Let’s start with Ice-skating which is even being offered for free in some parks like: Burns , Allmendinger and Northside . Many people also enjoy sledding and cross country skiing around campus and in various Ann Arbor parks. If you are willing to venture outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan has many places to learn and practice alpine or “down hill” skiing. Luckily, the local ski areas offer equipment rental and lessons for a small fee. Even though, there are not many mountains here, you can ski resorts such as Alpine Valley Ski Area , Mt. Brighton and Mt. Holly . Another, less expensive, winter activity that can be done in the Ann Arbor area is fishing. You only need a Michi...

Living with Roommates by Gizem Yagci Sharing is caring... Basics of roommate interactions are built on respect, understanding and empathy. After the friendly dynamic is set, the relationship can evolve from people-who-live-together into actual friends. It is crucial to keep in mind that we all have good and bad days and most times we do not have control over our lives. Lets say person A leaves the dishes in the sink for a day longer than usual due to what is going on in his/her life. Remaining roommates will have two routes to choose: they can be understanding or not. Then again it always comes back to the intentions of the person and most importantly CONTEXT!!!!! Living with other people is a challenge on its own. Your roommates could be from a very different background with opposite views or they may be from the same town, but still different in their own way. I believe that there is no ‘perfect roommate’. In any match, some sort of conflict will resolve on its ...

Ann Arbor is a small college town, but it has a relatively large LGBT population. According to some sources, Ann Arbor ranks as the second most gay-friendly and LGBT family friendly city in Michigan, behind East Lansing and ahead of Ferndale. Here are a few LGBT venues to explore in Ann Arbor. Spectrum Center might be a good place to start. Located on the third floor of the Michigan Union on S. State Street, at the heart of Central Campus, Spectrum Center will provide you with a bunch of useful LGBT resources on campus. Here you will learn about various LGBT-specific student organizations, workshops, grants and scholarships, and opportunities to volunteer. Apart from Spectrum Center, the University of Michigan has more than 20 LGBT-specific student groups , ranging from TransForm, devoted to providing resources and activism for the trans community, to Asexual Support and Visibility Group. Ask for the list of LGBT student groups at the Spectrum Center.     ...