My first day's lunch was Maggi Noodles. While preparing it came in the to-be first friends of mine at York-Sabrina and Phil. A tall, beautiful, giant walked in, said a hi and introduced herself as the flat representative(she's a lot up herself... hehe... to put it in her own language.). A nice chat with comments(good ones!) on my noodles I retired to my room to work on my module selection. During dinner I got to know my other flatmates, Irene from Cyprus, Mohammed from Lybia, Elisa from France and of course Ms.Rep Sabrina from Argentina. There was a Chinese student in the flat but I never really got to know him. Now each of them deserve a special blog post which I shall grant very soon.
The rest of the week was SNOW week!!! I saw snow for the first time in my life. It's a very nice and beautiful sight to see the fields and meadows covered by a white blanket of ice. However, my few attempts at making a snowman were disastrous. I didnt get the shape quite right. It just didnt look like two balls one on top of the other. hehe...
Thus went my first week with not many incidents... Got to know my flatmates better and am lucky enough to have all goodie goodie people in my flat.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Monday, 4 May 2009
First day at the University of York, York
So... There's a reason why my blog's wall is black.People in the UK are obsessed with black.And winter is the month of grey and black. That was my first observation(positive observation...) Hmmm... Probably a more scientific reason would be that black absorbs light and heat and doesn't reflect it. Helps keep the warmth which is most definitely required... hehehe.... I wanted a black coat like them as well... The shade of black was so pure and dignified that I did get one the following weekend.
So the next day morning I was wondering how to reach the Computer Science department. While my coordinator suggested to follow the crowd, I was surprised to find that there wasn't a crowd of students hurrying to college. My initial thought was that students were pretty punctual and went early to their classes. Coz my aunt had warned me that people are very punctual in the UK. Later I found out that students are the same everywhere. It was just too cold to get out of bed and walk all the way to lectures. hehe... Well anyways I found the CSE department following the university map that I had printed out from India (clever!).
The best thing about UK is one can find any place by just following a map and the sign-boards on roads. There's no such thing as an out-dated map or 'things' that no longer exist. But walking with a temperature below 3 degree celcius and cold breeze blowing was definitely an ordeal. It was a very sharp and bad transition from a hot place to an extremely cold place.
I was finally relieved to reach the door of the CSE department. And to my surprise a professor who was about to enter as well held the door for me and smiled. After the ordeal the day before, I felt welcome in this foreign land! An aspect of people here that needs appreciation. A 'sorry', a 'thank you' , a 'Cheers' or just a smile... I hear one of these when I pass someone... Be it in the university or on the street.
Then I met my coordinator, Dr.Suresh Manandhar. I was then assigned the job of choosing the modules I was to study. So with an introduction to some staff in the department and a handbook, I came back to my room for lunch. I mean to cook my lunch(experiments!).
So the next day morning I was wondering how to reach the Computer Science department. While my coordinator suggested to follow the crowd, I was surprised to find that there wasn't a crowd of students hurrying to college. My initial thought was that students were pretty punctual and went early to their classes. Coz my aunt had warned me that people are very punctual in the UK. Later I found out that students are the same everywhere. It was just too cold to get out of bed and walk all the way to lectures. hehe... Well anyways I found the CSE department following the university map that I had printed out from India (clever!).
The best thing about UK is one can find any place by just following a map and the sign-boards on roads. There's no such thing as an out-dated map or 'things' that no longer exist. But walking with a temperature below 3 degree celcius and cold breeze blowing was definitely an ordeal. It was a very sharp and bad transition from a hot place to an extremely cold place.
I was finally relieved to reach the door of the CSE department. And to my surprise a professor who was about to enter as well held the door for me and smiled. After the ordeal the day before, I felt welcome in this foreign land! An aspect of people here that needs appreciation. A 'sorry', a 'thank you' , a 'Cheers' or just a smile... I hear one of these when I pass someone... Be it in the university or on the street.
Then I met my coordinator, Dr.Suresh Manandhar. I was then assigned the job of choosing the modules I was to study. So with an introduction to some staff in the department and a handbook, I came back to my room for lunch. I mean to cook my lunch(experiments!).
The Travel....
During the relaxed days of the penultimate semster's holidays came the news of my selection to the EURECA project(to my father's very despair.. hehe..). I was to come over to the ancient city of York, United Kingdom to do my final year project. Amidst the uncertainity of my passport processing and Dad's disapproval of travelling to a foreign land alone, things came together and I finally landed in York on January 29th, 2009 at 8.30 pm.
The travel to this city requires special mention because I had to wait in Heathrow airport, London for nearly 10 hours. My first flight of the day to Leeds-Bradford airport at 9.00am got cancelled due to bad weather. Being my first trip outside India and with no experiences of flight getting cancelled I had no idea what to do. So I followed the crowd to the British Midland Airways counter. To my despair, anger and irritation the woman in the counter said that we had to take our luggages back and that we would be booked on a flight to Manchester. Manchester????? How do I get to York from there??? So I told the person that I was new to the place and that they need to get me to Leeds. Well... they were helpful enough to book me onto the next flight to Leeds but that got cancelled as well. It was 2.00 pm and I was terribly hungry and worn out. Fortunately, my dad had activated international roaming on my mobile and I called him up and was almost to tears. And dad in his usual style said, "If the next flight doesnt take off you can definitely come back baby.No issues regarding that". Its nice to see how parents can be a very strong moral support even though they aren't near us. Although a flight getting cancelled is not such an issue that requires lot of moral support, it was to me being a first timer to a foreign land.
To my worst fears the BMI said there wasn't a confirmed seat on the next flight. I was so much pissed off and irritated that I started shouting at this guy at the counter telling him to call his manager. Finally, he managed a confirmed ticket on the day's last flight to Leeds. Passing this weird trauma on my first day I landed in Leeds airport and took a cab to York. But the personnel at the counter of this BMI airlines were so not helpful that I've decided to write a very nasty letter to them regarding the experience I had.
Although my initial day at UK wasn't all that cherishable, the days to come added to my academic & intellectual knowledge and added a new perspective to a student's life. When things happen the way we want without any struggle, we certainly are on the wrong track... hehe... :-)
The travel to this city requires special mention because I had to wait in Heathrow airport, London for nearly 10 hours. My first flight of the day to Leeds-Bradford airport at 9.00am got cancelled due to bad weather. Being my first trip outside India and with no experiences of flight getting cancelled I had no idea what to do. So I followed the crowd to the British Midland Airways counter. To my despair, anger and irritation the woman in the counter said that we had to take our luggages back and that we would be booked on a flight to Manchester. Manchester????? How do I get to York from there??? So I told the person that I was new to the place and that they need to get me to Leeds. Well... they were helpful enough to book me onto the next flight to Leeds but that got cancelled as well. It was 2.00 pm and I was terribly hungry and worn out. Fortunately, my dad had activated international roaming on my mobile and I called him up and was almost to tears. And dad in his usual style said, "If the next flight doesnt take off you can definitely come back baby.No issues regarding that". Its nice to see how parents can be a very strong moral support even though they aren't near us. Although a flight getting cancelled is not such an issue that requires lot of moral support, it was to me being a first timer to a foreign land.
To my worst fears the BMI said there wasn't a confirmed seat on the next flight. I was so much pissed off and irritated that I started shouting at this guy at the counter telling him to call his manager. Finally, he managed a confirmed ticket on the day's last flight to Leeds. Passing this weird trauma on my first day I landed in Leeds airport and took a cab to York. But the personnel at the counter of this BMI airlines were so not helpful that I've decided to write a very nasty letter to them regarding the experience I had.
Although my initial day at UK wasn't all that cherishable, the days to come added to my academic & intellectual knowledge and added a new perspective to a student's life. When things happen the way we want without any struggle, we certainly are on the wrong track... hehe... :-)
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