24.9. - 28.9.2011

Helloooo!

I have soon spent one whole week in Britain and this post contains some of my experiences, overall feelings and events we've had.

It's been warm and sunny all week. People asked me to sit in the middle of them so that my skin could reflect the sunlight to all of them.

 We spent the last weekend with different kinds of enrollments and official university stuff (which still continues). Freshers (2 week long welcoming event) for the first year students started on Sunday. During daytime students can pick up different leaflets and vouchers from the student union building in the middle of the campus which acts as the central hub for freshers. My best catch so far has been a free pizza and a goodie bag with a slinky and some candies inside. :) During nighttime there is a party of some sort for (at least) the next two weeks. I was kinda gullible and bought a relatively expensive freshers pass which would grant me access to all of those parties. Two days after I bought it I realized that I would probably attend to only two or three of those 14 events. I tried to stay in one of the fresher parties on Tuesday to get my money's worth but eventually I ended up leaving early.

I've been feeling down a few times this week. Those moments are usually closely connected to the parties. I constantly feel like I should attend to them or else I'm not a good student and I just waste my time but whenever I go to fresher parties I just want to get out of them ASAP. This has made me gloomy a few times. I feel guilty for not liking the parties despite the massive hype they receive. Luckily I've found out that there's a lot of other kinds of activities here as well and I'm currently signing up to them. In addition I'm certain that the hypnotist and comedy club that are part of the freshers' nightly events will be great.

Few pictures from the university campus:

 It was a really sunny day! Again!

 And again!

And again!

We've been walking around the town quite a bit and it seems pretty nice. I haven't gone outside the central town yet but I'll do that in time. The shops close damn early which is my biggest complaint but apart from that everything seems nice and peaceful.

I still have only one flatmate in my apartment. At least I've met him now. The other 5 are either older students whose studies start later, or students of another university altogether. I'm really glad I didn't go and buy any kitchen utensils, because this student apartment's trash cans hide a beautiful treasure behind them! Old tenants can apparently leave any stuff they don't want to take with them behind the trash cans and the new ones can freely pick up whatever they want from there. I've snatched quite a bit of plates already for myself as well as for future flatmates and today I took a frying pan, kettle and some utensils. I don't even need to clean them myself. Just throw them into the washing machine and set the program to "intensive". <3

It's beautiful!

 Yes, they're pretty clean. ;)

 The electronic stuff is not as clean though. I haven't taken any of those yet.

The kettles and frying pans look much nicer on the "right" side.

The common room is much cleaner now than it was a week ago. Still a bit dirty IMO but good enough for pictures. :)

 View from our common room.

 Our actual course hasn't started yet so we haven't done any school work. We met our international coordinator and few other important guys (whose roles I can't remember) just a few days ago and they all seem very relaxed and cool guys. We don't have any personal student tutors like in Kajaani and we've had to find our ways around the campus by ourselves. People are nice and will always help when asked but we don't really have any guidance. Getting the best grade here is very easy. You get A if you receive 70-100% from the modules. Lower grades have a 10% slot each. Studying is very independent. We were told that there are very few lectures and workshops and that most of the work has to be done during your free time. The course leaders were scaring everyone with this while me and the other Finnish guy attending the same course were simply changing "Really?" looks with slightly raised eyebrows. After doing more or less independent studies in Kajaani from 8:00 to 16:00 every day for 1,5 years I really don't feel like stressing from any independent work they throw at us here.

This will be enough for now. Until next update everyone! \o

Signing off.

22.9. The Journey & First Impressions

Greetings ladies and gentlemen!
I didn't sleep very well the night before the departure. Only a few hours of bad, abrupt sleep. The flights to Stockholm and Edinburgh were on time and I was never in a hurry to anywhere. I got slightly uneasy during a taxi trip from the Edinburgh airport to train station since I felt like I should be small talking with the driver as she opened a conversation a few times. I wasn't completely silent, but rather a basic Finn who answered questions and said a sentence or two after that for the sake of a dialog.

Edinburgh train station was a little... strange. After a good half an hour search I came to a conclusion that there were absolutely no trash cans at the station. The paper bag and empty water bottle started to really annoy me but luckily I managed to spot a cleaner who let me throw my trash into his bag. After I found the platforms and received my tickets I realized that the tickets or the info boards didn't say anything about the train numbers or any other kind of codes so I had no idea which of the trains was mine (the info board showed only the final destination which didn't read on my ticket). When I asked about it I was simply told to "watch the boards". Really helpful considering that the boards didn't tell me which one was my train. A local elderly lady asked me about her train and ranted how she was told to "watch the boards" too. I did find the right train after showing a station worker my ticket and asking him where the train leaves.

 It was a really sunny day!

I almost fell asleep several times during the train trip. I jumped off one stop earlier since that particular stop was only 200/300 meters away from my apartment so I didn't need to take a taxi. I was surprised while I was waiting for my turn in the lobby. One of the employees asked me what my name was and after I told him my name, the guy in front of me turns around and tells me that he's from Finland as well. Talk about a coincidence.

I was shown into my room which appeared to be just as big as the pictures in the website promised. The common room was a massive let down however. It was completely trashed and looked like there had been five messy tenants living in there. The mess turned out to be doings of only one guy who had been living here alone (I was the second one who arrived here). The employee who showed me around told me that he would send a note to that roommate right away and come check how the common room looked later. I still haven't seen my roommate so far. Five of them haven't arrived yet and the one who has been living here is apparently away (kind of him to leave me old half eaten food though...).

 The view from the window is really depressing: I live in the second floor (1st if you count the floors in Finnish way) and all I can see are windows of neighboring apartments. I can see a glimpse of the river but it's on the other side. </3

 Apparently "extra large" room I got simply means a larger hallway. I don't mind though. In the contract my room is described as "superior room" which makes it so worth it.

Newsflash: England has upgraded its taps to this century! It takes a while for the warm water to come out though. I hope it gets better once more people move in (there are very, very few in this entire student apartment at the moment) and water starts moving more frequently.

I spent my first night hanging around with the guy I met in the reception and his three English roommates. They offered me a beer and we sat in their common room a few hours before I went back home to sleep. My first night was unpleasant. There weren't any quilts or pillows when I moved in so I huddled under a small towel for the first night. The room is cold (could be under 20C) and there is only one radiator which must be turned on manually and which stays on for one hour at a time. I woke up shivering after three hours of sleep, put some heavier clothing on and hugged the radiator for about 15 minutes. I have a quilt and pillows now, but damn the first night was cold. :(

Exchange Eve

Hello everyone!

My journey to England begins tomorrow morning. To wrap things up and for those who were unfamiliar with the subject: I am participating in the Erasmus student exchange programme which means a year long exchange period in England. I will study in Teesside University in Middlesbrough from the beginning of October to the end of May. I partake in Games Art degree programme as a visiting student and will hopefully and most likely vastly improve my art skills and knowledge. Especially in the area of 3D. :)

Nearly all the preparations regarding the exchange have been made (apart from figuring out where to pack the headphones and few other minor items) and I'm feeling slightly nervous. I am certain that I've forgotten something but I can't figure out what. Oh well, I don't think they are going to deny my access to Britain because of whatever it is I forgot.

I try to update this blog every other day to let people know how I'm doing and as a personal diary, but I don't think I'll be able to keep up with that kind of update pace. So, a more realistic scenario is probably two or three updates per week.

I think that is all for now. I will browse the interwebz a while before packing the laptop and some miscellaneous stuff and heading for the bed. I need to wake up around 5 AM, so not that much sleep for me tonight.

Have a nice day!

PS. Vanhemmille ja siskoille, jotka tätä varmaankin käy lukemassa: opetelkaa englantia, tai saatte odottaa soittoja/lomakäyntejä jos haluatte tietää kuulumisia! ;)