Since I got here, that is.
I'm still fairly amazed at this place. I love Nottingham as a place to live. The public transport here is fantastic and the city seems to have everything I need. The campus is a great place to be as well - I love the buildings here because they make me feel like I live in the future (I live on Jubilee campus...)
The course is still going well - some lecturers I like more than others (there's one we have that I canNOT understand....) and Greek baffles me, but the people I know here are nice and we all seem to muddle through together!
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
3 weeks in...
And things are going surprisingly well!
I do panic about how things are going to turn out and this often manifests itsself in my head as all the worst possible things that could happen. So far, none of them have. I havn't been yelled at for not doing A-levels (they actually gave me a bursary for it...), I havn't been murdered by scary people in my halls, I havn't had all my stuff stolen and I havn't cried in class because I didn't understand a bloody thing that was going on. All in all, not a bad start at all.
There's 4 proper subjects I have classes/lectures in at the moment:
Greek: I am awful at languages. This I've known for some time, but Greek seems ok! The big scary alphabet isn't really that scary at all and once I learn my tenses, I'll be away... Ok, so it's not easy-peasy and there is homework like woah - but I can cope with it! The book we work from ("Athenaze") is fairly helpful (providing you're looking up the right word!) but it works on a sort of storyline. Which is almost unbearably boring and repetitive. It's become something of an in-joke with the rest of the class about how dull it is - Dicaeopolis (or "ό Δικαεοπολις") and his slave, Xanthias ("ό Ξανθιας" - I'm just pratting about now...) seem to spend all their time in a field, making each other's lives difficult with the aid of a pair of stroppy oxen. It's hardly gripping... But at the same time, nobody's called me a complete idiot and I've managed to get through my homework without crying!
Introduction to the Greek World: Some actual history! The lecturer we have for this one is fantastic - he's got a great sense of humour and he's so animated and great to listen to. It's pretty much going through Greek History one era at a time looking at various sources - anything from bones to poetry. Obviously, because of time and stuff a lot of things only get skimmed over - I guess we can focus more in the next year.
Classics and Popular Culture: Far too much fun! The last lecture we had for this involved watching some bits of films, part of a Prince (as in The Artist Formerly Known As A Squiggle) concert, a Nick Cave video ad part of an episode of The Simpsons! There is a point to it - mostly picking out elements of Classics (for example, last lecture was centred around Homer - especially "The Odyssey".
Prehistory - First Humans To The First Farmers: My extra module... I've got no background in Archaeology, but it does seem interesting. The lectures seem a bit too fast-paced for me though. I don't know if it's because I had a cold last week or because I've never been to an Archaeology lecture or if it's just the way our lecturer does things. She does seem very enthusiastic (which I like) and energetic - but I think I might have preferred it if she slowed down a little! I'll see how things go at the next one! It's not utterly terrible - just a bit confusing!
Homework is to be expected - not getting too much (not too little either!) Greek tends to take up most of my time, but there's a fair bit of Herodotus I need to read for the end of the week!
Socially I'm not that busy, but that's probably a good thing! I'm not too tired! Went to the Classics Society last week and back up to Sheffield to see some friends at the weekend. This week I want to try to make it to the Sci Fi Society as well. Just bought tickets to see some bands I really love - I don't go out as much any more, but I'll be damned if I'm missing any of that lot! I'm watching a lot of videos as well - no live telly because I don't have a licence - but lots of other stuff. It's about all I've got the energy to do after lectures!
I do panic about how things are going to turn out and this often manifests itsself in my head as all the worst possible things that could happen. So far, none of them have. I havn't been yelled at for not doing A-levels (they actually gave me a bursary for it...), I havn't been murdered by scary people in my halls, I havn't had all my stuff stolen and I havn't cried in class because I didn't understand a bloody thing that was going on. All in all, not a bad start at all.
There's 4 proper subjects I have classes/lectures in at the moment:
Greek: I am awful at languages. This I've known for some time, but Greek seems ok! The big scary alphabet isn't really that scary at all and once I learn my tenses, I'll be away... Ok, so it's not easy-peasy and there is homework like woah - but I can cope with it! The book we work from ("Athenaze") is fairly helpful (providing you're looking up the right word!) but it works on a sort of storyline. Which is almost unbearably boring and repetitive. It's become something of an in-joke with the rest of the class about how dull it is - Dicaeopolis (or "ό Δικαεοπολις") and his slave, Xanthias ("ό Ξανθιας" - I'm just pratting about now...) seem to spend all their time in a field, making each other's lives difficult with the aid of a pair of stroppy oxen. It's hardly gripping... But at the same time, nobody's called me a complete idiot and I've managed to get through my homework without crying!
Introduction to the Greek World: Some actual history! The lecturer we have for this one is fantastic - he's got a great sense of humour and he's so animated and great to listen to. It's pretty much going through Greek History one era at a time looking at various sources - anything from bones to poetry. Obviously, because of time and stuff a lot of things only get skimmed over - I guess we can focus more in the next year.
Classics and Popular Culture: Far too much fun! The last lecture we had for this involved watching some bits of films, part of a Prince (as in The Artist Formerly Known As A Squiggle) concert, a Nick Cave video ad part of an episode of The Simpsons! There is a point to it - mostly picking out elements of Classics (for example, last lecture was centred around Homer - especially "The Odyssey".
Prehistory - First Humans To The First Farmers: My extra module... I've got no background in Archaeology, but it does seem interesting. The lectures seem a bit too fast-paced for me though. I don't know if it's because I had a cold last week or because I've never been to an Archaeology lecture or if it's just the way our lecturer does things. She does seem very enthusiastic (which I like) and energetic - but I think I might have preferred it if she slowed down a little! I'll see how things go at the next one! It's not utterly terrible - just a bit confusing!
Homework is to be expected - not getting too much (not too little either!) Greek tends to take up most of my time, but there's a fair bit of Herodotus I need to read for the end of the week!
Socially I'm not that busy, but that's probably a good thing! I'm not too tired! Went to the Classics Society last week and back up to Sheffield to see some friends at the weekend. This week I want to try to make it to the Sci Fi Society as well. Just bought tickets to see some bands I really love - I don't go out as much any more, but I'll be damned if I'm missing any of that lot! I'm watching a lot of videos as well - no live telly because I don't have a licence - but lots of other stuff. It's about all I've got the energy to do after lectures!
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Still busy!
Lots of work getting done! It's nice to be busy, but at the same time, I'm tired out!
Only really started lectures this week - before that I was mostly spending time filling in forms to try to get more money or get the extra modules I wanted. I've done both of those now and it all seems to have gone well, so I'm happy!
The first week of lectures have been ok. Greek is fun, but bloody difficult! The "Introduction to the Greek World" lectures look like they'll be good once it gets going - lots of interesting stuff on there! I'm taking an optional module for "Classics in Popular Culture" which looks like being fairly good fun - not sure why we're getting a lecture on Wonder Woman for that though! And the extra module I chose is about Prehistory to the first farmers - which sounds really interesting! Glad I got to the Archaeology department early for that one!
The halls I'm in are really nice. Starting to get to know people here. Had a hall meeting last night to help people get to know each other, it was nice and informal but it did clash with the LGBT meetup I wanted to go to! I've not really been that social here yet - I've been too tired! Got talking to one of the blokes on our floor in the laundry room last night - he seemed really worried that I hadn't been to any of the fresher's clubbing things. I don't think I missed much by the sound of it! I'm looking forward to things like the Sci-Fi society and ClasSoc much more!
I havn't really explored Nottingham yet. That's the plan for today - I get Wednesdays off and I've done my homework, so I'm going on an adventure! I've pretty much got the busses sorted out. The ones that come up to the campus are ok, but if I walk to the end of the road there are loads more busses! Invested in a Mango card as well - just a pre-paid travel card you can use any time. Gives me a slight student discount as well. I'm not sure how often I'll need to go into town, but it's nice to have a convenient option for when I do! The idea I can just turn up and a bus will be there in a few minutes still bewilders me! Where I'm from there are only a few busses a day and they're less than reliable! Looking forward to exploring!
Only really started lectures this week - before that I was mostly spending time filling in forms to try to get more money or get the extra modules I wanted. I've done both of those now and it all seems to have gone well, so I'm happy!
The first week of lectures have been ok. Greek is fun, but bloody difficult! The "Introduction to the Greek World" lectures look like they'll be good once it gets going - lots of interesting stuff on there! I'm taking an optional module for "Classics in Popular Culture" which looks like being fairly good fun - not sure why we're getting a lecture on Wonder Woman for that though! And the extra module I chose is about Prehistory to the first farmers - which sounds really interesting! Glad I got to the Archaeology department early for that one!
The halls I'm in are really nice. Starting to get to know people here. Had a hall meeting last night to help people get to know each other, it was nice and informal but it did clash with the LGBT meetup I wanted to go to! I've not really been that social here yet - I've been too tired! Got talking to one of the blokes on our floor in the laundry room last night - he seemed really worried that I hadn't been to any of the fresher's clubbing things. I don't think I missed much by the sound of it! I'm looking forward to things like the Sci-Fi society and ClasSoc much more!
I havn't really explored Nottingham yet. That's the plan for today - I get Wednesdays off and I've done my homework, so I'm going on an adventure! I've pretty much got the busses sorted out. The ones that come up to the campus are ok, but if I walk to the end of the road there are loads more busses! Invested in a Mango card as well - just a pre-paid travel card you can use any time. Gives me a slight student discount as well. I'm not sure how often I'll need to go into town, but it's nice to have a convenient option for when I do! The idea I can just turn up and a bus will be there in a few minutes still bewilders me! Where I'm from there are only a few busses a day and they're less than reliable! Looking forward to exploring!
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Busy!
Busiest day for me so far...
Had to go and complete my registration. I thought this was going to be difficult and take a long time. It didn't. It took a few moments in the sports hall. It took longer to find the way out than it did to actually register...
Went to the Student Services bit to ask a lot of stupid questions - they were all very nice and helpful! I'm mostly sorted out now - just need to make a few phone calls (and figure out how to work the phone!)
Decided to take the campus tour - not as busy as I thought and half of them left part of the way around (why? Odd people!) but the bloke giving the tour was really friendly and useful. Grabbed a very quick sandwich for lunch and made tracks to the next bit...
Had an introduction thing to the Classics department. There's some rather scary people there! Filled in some forms, then went to meet my tutor. Got given some info about extra modules as well - I need to pick at least two more to make up my credits for the year. I'm seriously considering the Prehistory/bronze age ones. Got to get down to the Archaeology department tomorrow and sign up for those. Also signed up to Beginners Greek (yikes!) and Classics in Modern Media (which sounds like fun!)
My feet were hurty after that, so I came back home, had a brief relax and dinner. I'm horribly fussy, but so far the meals have been really good - nothing awful!
Had to go and complete my registration. I thought this was going to be difficult and take a long time. It didn't. It took a few moments in the sports hall. It took longer to find the way out than it did to actually register...
Went to the Student Services bit to ask a lot of stupid questions - they were all very nice and helpful! I'm mostly sorted out now - just need to make a few phone calls (and figure out how to work the phone!)
Decided to take the campus tour - not as busy as I thought and half of them left part of the way around (why? Odd people!) but the bloke giving the tour was really friendly and useful. Grabbed a very quick sandwich for lunch and made tracks to the next bit...
Had an introduction thing to the Classics department. There's some rather scary people there! Filled in some forms, then went to meet my tutor. Got given some info about extra modules as well - I need to pick at least two more to make up my credits for the year. I'm seriously considering the Prehistory/bronze age ones. Got to get down to the Archaeology department tomorrow and sign up for those. Also signed up to Beginners Greek (yikes!) and Classics in Modern Media (which sounds like fun!)
My feet were hurty after that, so I came back home, had a brief relax and dinner. I'm horribly fussy, but so far the meals have been really good - nothing awful!
Monday, 20 September 2010
Boxy fun!
When I got to my room, there was a box on the desk. So of course, I opened it!
Then there's the free stuff I picked up today:
I'm on a mission now to see how much tat I can accumulate!
Everything free!
Not bad day today!
Managed find the breakfast place - they didn't ask for my card - just my name and hall. Came back to get my stuff and set out again.
Decided to walk from Jubilee to University Park for my health registration thing. It's not too far at all and I didn't get *too* lost!
Got there and queued up - handed in some forms, filled in others and then got sent through a mad maze of people giving me frisbees. They offered me jabs for meningitis and flu (because I'm asthmatic) for free, so I had some of them and they tested my breathing. I'm supposed to make an appointment at Cripps medical centre to review my asthma medication - I guess I'll need a phone card - more on that in a moment.
Glad I got there when I did - when I got there, the queue was halfway through the hall. When I left, it was right out of the building!
Had a bit of an explore and found the fresher's fair. It was a bit crowded and mad. Had some bloke try to get me to sign up to something with "top name crunk djs". I'm not sure some of those things are even words. I asked if they played any prog at his club and he let me go on my way.
I decided to take the free hopper bus back to Jubilee. It's not too bad - it wasn't too crowded when I got on, but when we got there, there were a LOT of people waiting to go to University Park.
The telephone here confuses me. I don't have a calling card, because I've not figured out how or where to get them from (there's a leaflet, but I haven't read it) you can't just pick it up and dial - there's a whole weird ritual just to get a dial tone... I've not needed to call anyone yet, so hopefully I'll figure it out before I have to!
Proper registration tomorrow. Bit scary! Going to get there early again to avoid being in a queue forever! I missed the campus tour today, so I might go on the one tomorrow instead. And after that I might attempt the fresher's fair again - I want to join the sci-fi society!
Managed find the breakfast place - they didn't ask for my card - just my name and hall. Came back to get my stuff and set out again.
Decided to walk from Jubilee to University Park for my health registration thing. It's not too far at all and I didn't get *too* lost!
Got there and queued up - handed in some forms, filled in others and then got sent through a mad maze of people giving me frisbees. They offered me jabs for meningitis and flu (because I'm asthmatic) for free, so I had some of them and they tested my breathing. I'm supposed to make an appointment at Cripps medical centre to review my asthma medication - I guess I'll need a phone card - more on that in a moment.
Glad I got there when I did - when I got there, the queue was halfway through the hall. When I left, it was right out of the building!
Had a bit of an explore and found the fresher's fair. It was a bit crowded and mad. Had some bloke try to get me to sign up to something with "top name crunk djs". I'm not sure some of those things are even words. I asked if they played any prog at his club and he let me go on my way.
I decided to take the free hopper bus back to Jubilee. It's not too bad - it wasn't too crowded when I got on, but when we got there, there were a LOT of people waiting to go to University Park.
The telephone here confuses me. I don't have a calling card, because I've not figured out how or where to get them from (there's a leaflet, but I haven't read it) you can't just pick it up and dial - there's a whole weird ritual just to get a dial tone... I've not needed to call anyone yet, so hopefully I'll figure it out before I have to!
Proper registration tomorrow. Bit scary! Going to get there early again to avoid being in a queue forever! I missed the campus tour today, so I might go on the one tomorrow instead. And after that I might attempt the fresher's fair again - I want to join the sci-fi society!
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Here!
No more days!
Moving went pretty well. My mate Dave took me down and we got everything in his car. I really like my room...
Shelves
More of....
Bed!
Bathroom
Doors!
Been for a little wander around - didn't go far because by the time I was unpacked and sorted the internet out it was nearly 9pm. Going to have a proper look around tomorrow. That means an early start. That means I should get some sleep soon!
Moving went pretty well. My mate Dave took me down and we got everything in his car. I really like my room...
Shelves
More of....
Bed!
Bathroom
Doors!
Been for a little wander around - didn't go far because by the time I was unpacked and sorted the internet out it was nearly 9pm. Going to have a proper look around tomorrow. That means an early start. That means I should get some sleep soon!
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