One Month, One Post

It's been almost one month since my last post, but upon reading Paige's blog(ue), i am determined to write at least something to my slowly dwindling followers. Over the past month, I have certainly had the intention to write several times, yet friends, reading, or the overwhelming sense of there being too much to say has delayed me to this point. No more. Now, since we last left our hero...

Overall the move-in was rather painless. Aside from the unpleasant surprise of not having any plates/cups/cookware, things went rather smoothly. All I have to say is thank god for Wilkinson. It's more or less a midget Target, though without the good design. Luckily, glasses, cups, and plates can all be had for less than £1 per piece, so despite overspending on bedding, some comfort could be drawn from the 4 for £1 drinkware.

The first night, there was a "Pub Etiquette" social through the international office. Some lesson. More or less they said "don't push to the front of the bar, and order ale or lager." Gee, thanks for the tips. But despite the remedial lesson in alcohol consumption, I did manage to meet some new faces. Naturally, any time I heard an American accent, my ears perked and I introduced myself. Mind you, it's not as if I only talked to the Americans, but there's some commonality there, and many of them were grad students, so it was nice to find people my age, since many of the students at the pub were deceptively young. I ended up chatting with a few people, and we decided to head off to another bar--DryDock--which is, I kid you not, a ship on the side of the road. Too many pints later, I headed home with new friends in my phone and a sore liver.

International orientation continued throughout the week, with various seminars and meetups; some of which I attended, many of which I didn't. I think the week is primarily geared for people not from english-speaking countries, so much of the time was spent comisserating with my new friends. By the end of the week, I was registered, had done a tour of the city, and had a cadre of new friends, which inevitably led to many nights out at the pub/clubs. Typical freshman stuff. But all of it fun.

My flatmates had more or less all moved in (save for one) by the end of the first week, so we had the obligatory flatmate bonding over movies, food, and pints. All in all, I really enjoy my flatmates. All of us are quite different, but we all add perspective to the mix. Our final flatmate moved in the day before school began on the 28th. So five of us total, four of which are postgrads, three of which are from England, two of which are international, and one of which is a woman. Quite the diverse flat. We're like the UN, but with better style.

Classes started on the 28th (I think), after a day-long orientation to our program, a short group activity, and a trip out to Hebdon Bridge to see an old mill which was converted into a sustainable tourist attraction. It was nice to get back out into the countryside for a short hike, and getting to know my coursemates better was certainly beneficial, though, remembering names was not exactly the easiest thing. Thank God for facebook.

There are maybe 80 of us on the programme overall, but we're all in various sections, each varying in size. My section, Business Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility, has 12 people in it, many of us international. It's quite nice, too, that many people have worked for a bit, so I'm not the oldest person in my class (though I'm certainly in the running for that title).

Classes, thus far, have been rather uneventful. Most of us in the overall programe have about 60% of our classes together, so it's been nice to form a community. Since many, if not all of us, have the same Introduction to Sustainablility class, it was good to have others to commiserate with during our first essay: "What is Sustainable Development?." Now please, answer that in 1000 to 1500 words, using academic references. Ugh, what a disaster. Either way, I'm really enjoying the time with my coursemates. We all went out for a night after the essay was turned in (evidence of which has been appearing on Facebook). It's been nice to have a community within my course whom I can hang out with, as well as those outside of my course.

Other things I've done: went to see "Caucasian Chalk Circle" with a friend of a friend (who's now simply a friend), did several nights out, went to a proper Italian dinner, meet up with a friend from high school, saw a documentary at school, and, oh yes, rock climbed.

That's right. I'm a climber now. I have the shoes to prove it. And the chalk bag. So far I've only been on a few trips with the Mountaineering club, but it's been great fun. I like a lot of the people in the club, and though I'm quite terrible at the actual climbing, they're all very helpful to a novice such as myself. I'm sure pictures will follow at some point. Just this past weekend, we went to Northumberland for a weekend trip to climb a few crags. Though I fell off more often that I'd like to, I'm slowly getting a hang of the technique, and soon, I should be able to lead...something. We'll see.

Obviously, that's not the most comprehensive overview of all that's happened, but it'll have to do for now. More on life here later. Not much later hopefully.

Oh, and I saw The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus tonight with a few friends. Interesting movie, though more for the art direction than the actual acting. Still, I liked it. But I have weird taste in movies, so take that for what it's worth.