Globe Café offers £3 two-course meal and a nice chat

Better education is one of the reasons why people go to study abroad. Places such as the United States, Australia or the United Kingdom are well known for the best universities in the world, and it is worth considering leaving your comfort zone in exchange for higher quality education, followed by better career opportunities.

Apart from that, you will experience different cultures, both through the country and new friends coming from all over the world. This will enrich all your senses, from listening to their music to trying different cuisines with their national dishes. Also, you will have the opportunity to develop your language skills as you will use the language for both your studies as well as in your daily life.

On top of that, you will become completely independent, because once you can live in a different country and deal with all the above, you will be unstoppable.  

As Aneta Varvysova, an English literature student, said: “Living and studying in the UK has always been something I have strived for, ever since I can remember. Studying abroad has not only given me the opportunity to meet great people from around the world and find some of my best friends whilst receiving a brilliant education, but it has equally made me a stronger, more content person as it pushed me out of my comfort zone.” 

However, being an international student can be sometimes very hard. Everything has its negative side, and the fact that you leave your home, and family, and move to a completely different country, where people speak a different language, and follow different cultural habits, can make you feel homesick and excluded. 

As Martha Zheng, a student from China, mentioned: “Maybe there’s something in British people that they’re kinda reserved and it’s hard for us to make friends with locals.” 

So, to help international students feel better in Newcastle, a charity Friends International created a community called Globe Café, which hosts a 2-course dinner every Monday night in Jesmond Parish Church Hall from 7 o’clock to 9:30 PM. The meal costs £3 and varies every week from Indian or Chinese dishes to the typical British cuisine.  

Judith, one of the volunteers, said: “I think it depends on what the chef is comfortable cooking, tonight we’re having an Asian dish, often we have traditional British dishes as well, chicken pie, bolognese perhaps.”

The dinners are prepared by a group of volunteers, and it is possible to let them know beforehand if vegetarian, vegan, or any other dietary option is required. 

Globe Café is an opportunity for students, coming from different countries to learn about British culture, share their own cultural habits, have a warm meal, and find a new group of friends that is going to accept you whatever your nationality, ethnicity, or English level are. 

Manpreet Kaur Bagga said: “I wouldn’t have these many friends if I hadn’t come to Globe, I wouldn’t be feeling more inclusive in the UK, because as an international, it’s difficult to make friends with the local people because they already have their groups, and they don’t want to get involved with people because it is a lot of effort.”

As well as the meals, the themes of each night also vary, and because it was 11^th November on Saturday, Monday’s theme was Remembrance Day. The program of the evening started as usual with a quick chat and meals, followed by a speech and remembrance quiz. Participants were talking about when and why we remember various people, but also about the 11/11 itself. Everyone then could make paper poppy flowers as a symbol of that important day, have a cup of tea, some biscuits, and have a nice time with other international students or with the volunteers. 

As Judith explained: “We go with the calendar, so we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate Easter, but often we just have random, like a game night or you know, other fun things.”

However, Monday nights are not the only activity Globe Café runs. They usually take weekend trips, when they set off to nature or to different places in England to show others some of the national heritage. 

As Paul Skelton mentioned:  

“We do a lot of activities like we take students away for day trips for walks, we did one at Hadrian’s wall, obviously, it happened after the tree was cut down, so we’ve had to explain to the students that this tree had been taken down unlawfully, we went to Hexham by train to see the firework display. We have coming up a trip to Beamish, and also the main thing of the winter is the Christmas weekend away in Lake District when we go from Friday to Sunday night.”

So, no matter where your roots are, if you want to learn about new cultures, feel uncomfortable about ‘being an international student,’ or just getting hungry, Globe Café keeps its door open for anyone and makes you feel like at home.