Today was the first day in about a week that it actually rained a bit. Here was my day:
I have been feeling a bit under the weather so I slept in till about ten, got ready and headed out the door for a “Kirsten Day.” In other words, a day to do things on my own. I walked down to the bus stop, which is about a ten minute walk down to Bristol Rd. I got on the 62 Bus on my way to City Centre shopping attractions. Since I’ve been here, I have come to the realization that I made a very poor choice of NOT bring my jeans and sweatshirts, known as hoodies. EVERYONE here wears jeans and I was told that people don’t wear jeans….a certain someone who is going to go unnamed for the moment told me this….. so I came here with one pair of jeans.
So I did some jean shopping today at the “Bull Ring” which is the shopping centre downtown Birmingham. It was a pleasant day with the sun shining and me walking in and out of numerous shops on my own time. I got a bit hungry, so I stopped at a place called “EAT.” and picked a chicken and basil baguette. I have had some trouble finding food that I really enjoy so far in England, this sandwich however was the most delicious sandwich I have ever had on my palate! I was so sad when it was gone! Anyway, after my scrumptious lunch sitting on the steps overlooking downtown, I made my way back to a bus stop. I then went to the grocery store and got a little more than I could carry. I figured what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger so I told myself I was going to make it work. I got to the closest bus stop to the grocery store I was at, Sainsbury’s, and looked at the bus times. The bus I needed, Bus 44, was NOT running on Sundays. Which meant I had to walk to another bus stop to catch one of the 60’s and then make a 10 minute up-hill walk to my flat (keep in mind I had bags and bags of groceries and the stuff I bought downtown). As soon as the 62 bus dropped me off at my street to start my ‘hike,’ it started to rain. Yippy Skippy.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I start classes and I’m pretty excited to get into a routine. I’m also going around to different places after classes with my resume to find a job. I’ll let you know how my first week of classes goes!
Also, It’s free to talk on Skype over the internet so if you get an account give me a ring! I’m under Kirsten.Kvalsten.
Kirsten
Sunday 28 September 2008
Saturday 27 September 2008
Welcome/ Fresher's Fest
What a week! This week was Welcome/Fresher’s Fest Week and it was a busy one!
All this week the campus had various fairs going on like Sport fairs, Society fairs, and Job fairs. There were two very large white tents outside the Student Guild where you’d walk through each day to get information on things going on around campus and the Birmingham area. Every night for Fresher’s there would be some sort of event going on. Fresher’s Fest is a festival for 1st year students at the University of Birmingham, 1st year doesn’t necessarily mean ‘freshman’ students. The event’s consisted of free bowling night, free cinema night, Dance clubs, block competition and last night was the Masquerade Ball!
For the Block Competition, each block of tennis courts dressed up a certain way and whatever block did the best job won free food. My block, 21, dressed up in camouflage. Me and Ashley were visiting some of our friends in the block next door and happened to run into a boy in the British Army and he gave us his button shirts to wear. Although are entire blocked looked pretty good, I believe the block who dressed up like the ghost busters won.
On the way to one of the fresher’s events, our bus broke down in the middle of the busy Bristol Road and we waited for about 30 minutes before another bus had to come pick us up…..arg! Then when we finally got to where we were going, the leaders of fresher’s got the group lost cause they didn’t know how to get to our destination…frustrating!
The Masquerade Ball was the most fun of the entire week! Ashley, Katie and I got all dolled up and walked down to the Student Guild around 9:30ish. As we were waiting in line to walk in, there was a man with fire torches and girls on stilts walking around with huge feathered masks. Once you got in, you walk down a long hallway that looked like you where walking among the stairs. There were three dance floors to accommodate the over 2000 people attending. One dance floor was all techno….so I didn’t even walk into that room, yuck. The other dance floor was a silent disco. Silent Disco’s are pretty popular here. It’s where everyone gets a set of ear phones with the music playing, but if you didn’t have a set of headphones, you’d see a bunch of people dancing but you wouldn’t be hearing any music. It looked funny! Last but not least, was the hip hop dance floor where we spent our entire night. Now people in the UK mainly listen to Techno music, so it’s not that common to have much hip hop at dance clubs. You could tell that we were American’s because we were busting it out like it was our job and all the British students were looking at us like we were from a different plant. It was a lot of fun!
Today is yet another beautiful day! We have been so lucky with all our sunny day’s here in Birmingham, England. The weeks prior to our arrival it rained every day, it hasn’t rained more than 5 minutes! Woot Woot! Since classes start on Monday, us girls are keeping it low key this weekend. Hanging out around the flat and making a trip to Tesco’s. Tesco’s is similar to a Wal-Mart and is very cheap for groceries and other home accessories. We have to take two buses to get there, but it’s worth it for the prices. Speaking of buses, I think I’m finally starting to get my “bus legs” and not getting as dizzy. Thank heavens or else this would have been a long year!
Miss you!
Kirsten
All this week the campus had various fairs going on like Sport fairs, Society fairs, and Job fairs. There were two very large white tents outside the Student Guild where you’d walk through each day to get information on things going on around campus and the Birmingham area. Every night for Fresher’s there would be some sort of event going on. Fresher’s Fest is a festival for 1st year students at the University of Birmingham, 1st year doesn’t necessarily mean ‘freshman’ students. The event’s consisted of free bowling night, free cinema night, Dance clubs, block competition and last night was the Masquerade Ball!
For the Block Competition, each block of tennis courts dressed up a certain way and whatever block did the best job won free food. My block, 21, dressed up in camouflage. Me and Ashley were visiting some of our friends in the block next door and happened to run into a boy in the British Army and he gave us his button shirts to wear. Although are entire blocked looked pretty good, I believe the block who dressed up like the ghost busters won.
On the way to one of the fresher’s events, our bus broke down in the middle of the busy Bristol Road and we waited for about 30 minutes before another bus had to come pick us up…..arg! Then when we finally got to where we were going, the leaders of fresher’s got the group lost cause they didn’t know how to get to our destination…frustrating!
The Masquerade Ball was the most fun of the entire week! Ashley, Katie and I got all dolled up and walked down to the Student Guild around 9:30ish. As we were waiting in line to walk in, there was a man with fire torches and girls on stilts walking around with huge feathered masks. Once you got in, you walk down a long hallway that looked like you where walking among the stairs. There were three dance floors to accommodate the over 2000 people attending. One dance floor was all techno….so I didn’t even walk into that room, yuck. The other dance floor was a silent disco. Silent Disco’s are pretty popular here. It’s where everyone gets a set of ear phones with the music playing, but if you didn’t have a set of headphones, you’d see a bunch of people dancing but you wouldn’t be hearing any music. It looked funny! Last but not least, was the hip hop dance floor where we spent our entire night. Now people in the UK mainly listen to Techno music, so it’s not that common to have much hip hop at dance clubs. You could tell that we were American’s because we were busting it out like it was our job and all the British students were looking at us like we were from a different plant. It was a lot of fun!
Today is yet another beautiful day! We have been so lucky with all our sunny day’s here in Birmingham, England. The weeks prior to our arrival it rained every day, it hasn’t rained more than 5 minutes! Woot Woot! Since classes start on Monday, us girls are keeping it low key this weekend. Hanging out around the flat and making a trip to Tesco’s. Tesco’s is similar to a Wal-Mart and is very cheap for groceries and other home accessories. We have to take two buses to get there, but it’s worth it for the prices. Speaking of buses, I think I’m finally starting to get my “bus legs” and not getting as dizzy. Thank heavens or else this would have been a long year!
Miss you!
Kirsten
Tuesday 23 September 2008
The Old Man of Coniston
Phew.... I'm pretty tired!
So we left at 9am for the Lake District which was about 3 1/2 hours away on Friday morning. As soon as we got there we got all our sheets and stuff to get our beds put together in is assigned rooms. My room was called "Napping Tree." hehehe! Then we got split into 6 groups. Each group was assigned a job each day to do a specific job. For example, Friday night my group was on dinner duty. We had to set the tables, serve the meal, and wash up afterwards...lots of work!
Every night at Coniston we did 'community' building games with our entire group. We did the name game the first night. We had to say our name with and adjective, the only name I could come up with was "Kick-ass Kirsten!" LOL!
On Saturday, my flat mate Ashley and I decided we were going to hike up the Old Man Coniston....now let me tell you about that... The people at the Presley Centre, where we were staying, said that it was a hike on a trail.... WRONG! It was more like a 7 hour mountain climb! It was one of the most mentally/physically demanding things I've ever done! 2276 ft, on a steep steep steep rocky path that wasn't really a path at all. The entire time up I kept saying to myself, "Why am I doing this?" But as soon as I made it to the peek, I looked down at my accomplishment and at the beautiful scenic view and it was all worth it! It was amazing! I saw the Irish Sea and the entire country side and it was absolutely gorgeous! I have never hiked in my entire life and after this experience I decided you either go big or go home.
On the way back down our leader Dan decided to make up his own route and took us through the country side were we got lost and went through a knee high muddy swamp and a river. As soon as we found the main road we took it back to the center.
On Sunday, the last full day, I went on a 2 hour canoe trip to a small island in the middle of the lake. There were five three person canoes and we all had a fun pirate fight on the way there which sounded like a good idea at first but when I was really the only one who got so wet that I could take my jumper off and I could bring it out….it suddenly became a bad idea cause I was sooo cold. We got to the island and had elevenzies. This is tea and biscuits at 11 o’clock! YUMMY! Then made our journey back to the center. At this point I was very very tired from all the physical activity and ready for a small cat nap before our evening meal. But I didn’t want to miss out on anything so when we got back, 11 of us decided to take a 10 person canoe to the Ruskin’s Home across the lake. A famous local paint critic and botanist. His large home for a tour and a small coffee shop for some tea, cakes, and beer.
We left early Monday morning for Birmingham and got home around 3ish. I was thrilled to find out that my internet wasn’t working and neither was my phone….not. Last night we just hung around our flat and relaxed, well besides for the grocery store visit.
It’s about 6:30pm here and I’m just about to get ready for a Fresher’s Fest event starting at 8. It’s a huge festival going on this week and tonight it’s at the Oceana Club. I better get ready!
Cheers!
Kirsten
So we left at 9am for the Lake District which was about 3 1/2 hours away on Friday morning. As soon as we got there we got all our sheets and stuff to get our beds put together in is assigned rooms. My room was called "Napping Tree." hehehe! Then we got split into 6 groups. Each group was assigned a job each day to do a specific job. For example, Friday night my group was on dinner duty. We had to set the tables, serve the meal, and wash up afterwards...lots of work!
Every night at Coniston we did 'community' building games with our entire group. We did the name game the first night. We had to say our name with and adjective, the only name I could come up with was "Kick-ass Kirsten!" LOL!
On Saturday, my flat mate Ashley and I decided we were going to hike up the Old Man Coniston....now let me tell you about that... The people at the Presley Centre, where we were staying, said that it was a hike on a trail.... WRONG! It was more like a 7 hour mountain climb! It was one of the most mentally/physically demanding things I've ever done! 2276 ft, on a steep steep steep rocky path that wasn't really a path at all. The entire time up I kept saying to myself, "Why am I doing this?" But as soon as I made it to the peek, I looked down at my accomplishment and at the beautiful scenic view and it was all worth it! It was amazing! I saw the Irish Sea and the entire country side and it was absolutely gorgeous! I have never hiked in my entire life and after this experience I decided you either go big or go home.
On the way back down our leader Dan decided to make up his own route and took us through the country side were we got lost and went through a knee high muddy swamp and a river. As soon as we found the main road we took it back to the center.
On Sunday, the last full day, I went on a 2 hour canoe trip to a small island in the middle of the lake. There were five three person canoes and we all had a fun pirate fight on the way there which sounded like a good idea at first but when I was really the only one who got so wet that I could take my jumper off and I could bring it out….it suddenly became a bad idea cause I was sooo cold. We got to the island and had elevenzies. This is tea and biscuits at 11 o’clock! YUMMY! Then made our journey back to the center. At this point I was very very tired from all the physical activity and ready for a small cat nap before our evening meal. But I didn’t want to miss out on anything so when we got back, 11 of us decided to take a 10 person canoe to the Ruskin’s Home across the lake. A famous local paint critic and botanist. His large home for a tour and a small coffee shop for some tea, cakes, and beer.
We left early Monday morning for Birmingham and got home around 3ish. I was thrilled to find out that my internet wasn’t working and neither was my phone….not. Last night we just hung around our flat and relaxed, well besides for the grocery store visit.
It’s about 6:30pm here and I’m just about to get ready for a Fresher’s Fest event starting at 8. It’s a huge festival going on this week and tonight it’s at the Oceana Club. I better get ready!
Cheers!
Kirsten
Travel, Travel, Travel.....
Hello for Birmingham!
Wow what a crazy adventure it has been so far!
The first plane ride was 5 1/2 hours to Iceland and it wasn't too bad. On the plane our meal was some kind of mix between enchiladas' and manicotti...sketch! Then we had about an hour lay over there till we hopped on the final plane to Heathrow, which was a 2 1/2 hour flight.
As soon as we landed in England, we spent about an hour or so getting through customs. Finally, we meet up with our program director and professors from UMD and took off on two coaches to Birmingham. It was a 2 1/2 hour coach ride that felt like 5 minutes....I slept the ENTIRE time!
We arrived at our Flats around 3pm and had three hours to settle in a bit then meet the entire group for a FREE dinner of cold english sandwiches such as curry and bacon, cheese and onion, chicken and corn, and cheese and pickles....again...sketch. The next morning, leaving no room for jet leg, we had to be up and ready to meet at 9am for our full day of getting acquainted with the University.
We first went to the Bank to set up our accounts, which took roughly 5 hours total. We also had to sign up for our Heath Care on campus.
Then they took us on the city bus around to some places like the grocery store and where are classes will be held.
Today, another early morning, we went to Selly Oak Campus and did a 'lottery.' We all got a piece of paper with times, number of items per room, and which room to start in first. So since we all arrive in flats with only clothes and some toiletries, are flats are pretty empty besides a couple plates, a cup, and a sauce pan. So the students from last year left stuff they didn't have room for to take back and we got to go through all that stuff and take what we might need.
I was able to get: A hair straighter, a few kitchen utensils, notebooks, pens, kettle, measuring cups, and some other random school supplies.
Also today we had some speakers from the International Office on Campus to talk about Welcome week and a police officer to talk to us about how to stay safe here.
Thus far I've had a great time......beside's the date with the porcelain toilet this morning due to a little bit of jet leg, dehydration, city buses, and a bad cold cut sandwich.... I can tell I'm really going to love it here and I'm already thinking that it's flying by!
It's 9:20 pm here and we JUST got internet! I got a cell phone last night and my number is:
07908154898
My address is:
Block 21 Flat 138
Tennis Courts
Edgbaston Park Road
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2RB
Tomorrow we head off bright and early for the Lake District till Monday night! I'll let you know how it all goes!
See ya! Miss you!
Wow what a crazy adventure it has been so far!
The first plane ride was 5 1/2 hours to Iceland and it wasn't too bad. On the plane our meal was some kind of mix between enchiladas' and manicotti...sketch! Then we had about an hour lay over there till we hopped on the final plane to Heathrow, which was a 2 1/2 hour flight.
As soon as we landed in England, we spent about an hour or so getting through customs. Finally, we meet up with our program director and professors from UMD and took off on two coaches to Birmingham. It was a 2 1/2 hour coach ride that felt like 5 minutes....I slept the ENTIRE time!
We arrived at our Flats around 3pm and had three hours to settle in a bit then meet the entire group for a FREE dinner of cold english sandwiches such as curry and bacon, cheese and onion, chicken and corn, and cheese and pickles....again...sketch. The next morning, leaving no room for jet leg, we had to be up and ready to meet at 9am for our full day of getting acquainted with the University.
We first went to the Bank to set up our accounts, which took roughly 5 hours total. We also had to sign up for our Heath Care on campus.
Then they took us on the city bus around to some places like the grocery store and where are classes will be held.
Today, another early morning, we went to Selly Oak Campus and did a 'lottery.' We all got a piece of paper with times, number of items per room, and which room to start in first. So since we all arrive in flats with only clothes and some toiletries, are flats are pretty empty besides a couple plates, a cup, and a sauce pan. So the students from last year left stuff they didn't have room for to take back and we got to go through all that stuff and take what we might need.
I was able to get: A hair straighter, a few kitchen utensils, notebooks, pens, kettle, measuring cups, and some other random school supplies.
Also today we had some speakers from the International Office on Campus to talk about Welcome week and a police officer to talk to us about how to stay safe here.
Thus far I've had a great time......beside's the date with the porcelain toilet this morning due to a little bit of jet leg, dehydration, city buses, and a bad cold cut sandwich.... I can tell I'm really going to love it here and I'm already thinking that it's flying by!
It's 9:20 pm here and we JUST got internet! I got a cell phone last night and my number is:
07908154898
My address is:
Block 21 Flat 138
Tennis Courts
Edgbaston Park Road
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2RB
Tomorrow we head off bright and early for the Lake District till Monday night! I'll let you know how it all goes!
See ya! Miss you!
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