Everything you need to know about UEA that wasn’t in your prospectus 2017/18

Congratulations, you've made it into UEA. I'm sure you are very excited and you should be UEA is a great place to study. After all it is ranked among the top universities in this country despite not being in the Russel Group. Theres loads of things to do at UEA and loads of things that make it truly a one of a kind university.

However, we're pretty sure the University won't have told you everything you need to know for the coming year ahead. Don't worry here at the Tab Norwich we've got you covered, heres our updated list of everything you need to know that wasn't in your prospectus.

Derby Day

Even bigger than the Olympics, even bigger than the world cup, is Derby Day. What is it you may ask? Derby Day is annual sports event between UEA and Essex University, the day include a whole host of sports – Football, Rugby, American football, Lacrosse, the list goes on and on. It’s kind of like an overgrown primary school’s sports day, just with a lot more binge drinking and chants (Like a lot more). Over the past five years UEA has dominated Essex, unfortunately it's Essex's turn to host this year, but don't fret you'll see Derby Day in its full glory in your second year. Even still it'll made an indescribable LCR night.

The iconic trophy.

The Greenery

UEA is full of green, and actually won an award for having the greenest campus. Expect to spend plenty of time outside enjoying the company of the bunnies – the hill outside Colman House offers great views of the whole campus whilst the lake is a great spot for a BBQ or a game of football in the summer.

LCR

The LCR, if you find out its full title you get extra points, is the club on campus. Tuesdays and Saturdays are the major club nights on campus – called Damn Good and A-List respectively with each other offering a different vibe – Damn Good is a feel good retro disco with all your favourites and guilty pleasures as well as unmissable dressing up opportunities. A-List is the place to be if you love house, electro, hip hop and mainstream anthems. The LCR is also a great place for gigs. With Shaggy, Foals and Stormy all having played. Even Akon will be playing in October. Ben Howard came one year and called us all c*nts – that was a pretty big deal.

All the reasons LCR is the best.

Livewire

Perhaps the best student radio station out there is Livewire. Run by the students it offers a great variety; from your favourite 90s hits to rock, hip hop and even Dub. It also runs a charity competition called JailBreak, where teams of students try to get as far from campus as possible within a 48 hour period, relying solely on the charity of others to get out of Norwich and beyond whilst fundraising for the Livewire’s chosen charity. Students have made it to Dubai, Toronto, Russia and Budapest in the past, so see if you and your flatmates can try and beat those records come Spring when the event takes place.

Prince of Wales Road

The major club spot in Norwich is the Prince of Wales Road, with at least two dozen clubs along its perimeter. Here is where you’ll spend many a night out dancing, drinking, and probably having a kebab after (My personal recommendation is Olive Tree). The infamous road even featured in a mini-documentary by Jeremy Kyle. It’s like Norwich’s answer to the strip, only way more tragic with ten times as many hen-dos.

It's like a classical painting.

The 'Oh UEA' Chant

A chant that you’ll come to know inside out by the end of you first year is the famous Oh UEA. It goes something to the tune of ‘When the Saints Come Marching In’:

Oh UEA/Oh UEA

Is wonderful/is wonderful

Oh UEA is wonderful

It’s full of tits, fanny and rabbits

Oh UEA is wonderful.

It sounds cringe now, but by the time you’re graduating it will feel like the soundtrack to your entire existence.

Pimp My Barrow (PMB)

One of the biggest days and nights of the year is Pimp My Barrow – a charity event which runs every year and takes students on a pub crawl across Norwich, with their own pimped-out wheel barrow in any theme they desire. This is an endurance sport, with partying starts about 12pm and finishes when you leave the LCR. It's the biggest LCR night, if you can manage to get that far.

Oh UEA…

The abundance of Rabbits

So many rabbits, an abundance of them. I don’t think personally I’ve seen so many in my life. It makes spring time particularly nice, with the little rabbits entering the big wide world. UEA’s rabbits are the original mascot of the Uni defending their title against Cloud Dog.

Red/Blue Bar

These bars will be where you spend a lot of down time between lectures and seminars. Offering student prices but also a chance to chat and chill, Blue Bar is also home to Sports night on Wednesdays – a mini club night of sorts where the sports teams celebrate their victories of the week. It also shows football games and hosts the Super Bowl Party.

Cloud Dog

In the year 2015 UEA was gifted with the sight of a beautiful floof, who became known as Cloud Dog. She was seen pretty much everyday with her owner on campus, she gained such a following she even won BNOC of the year.

Unfortunately she passed away in October 2016 with the SU even putting up a memorial to her (You might have seen the 10ft tall cut out of a white dog whilst visiting UEA). However, we were gifted the great news that the original owners now have a new little Cloud Dog called Bella. We're sure you'll see more of her over you time at UEA.

Cloud Dog (bottom left) and Bella or Cloud Puppa (bottom right).

Zig Zag

UEA's Live Music Society hosted their own mini-festival for the first time last year on campus, featuring a variety student live bands, electronic music, spoken word, art and drama to name a few things on at the event to celebrate all the different creative arts going on at UEA. Art exhibits, drama, comedy, and acoustic music take place in the daytime, while student bands and DJs take over the outdoor Amphitheatre and the LCR in the evening. Fingers crossed it's on again this year.

UEA is full of live music.

The 5 Ls

The most infamous thing at UEA – The 5 Ls. This is challenge as old as time itself which is set for all students to achieve by the end of their three years. The objective is to have sex in five locations around campus – the laundrette, the lake, one of the many lecture theatres, the LCR and the library. So the legend is told that if you manage to complete all five Ls, you should get a tattoo of an ‘L’ somewhere on your body (most people apparently preferring the bum as it’s easy to tell people you’ve completed the challenge without having to whip out your tattoo in a public place).

Although this list may not definitively state every unique trait that UEA and the city of Norwich has to offer for its undergraduate inhabitants, it does give you a few heads up as to what you’ve got yourself in for over the next three years.

Good luck freshers and make the most of it. See you in September.