Y1-3: Weeks 2 & 3

During the second week of class, you start settling into your routine. Even though some classes change from week to week, you start to get used to managing your time. My timetable is a little strange because my classes are spread throughout the morning and afternoon, with many hours in between, five days a week (no, I don’t get free days, which sucks). So, for example, I can have French class at 9:15am and then nothing for the next two hours. This is tricky. You think you have enough time (I mean, two hours, plenty of time to do some exercises and reading before the next seminar, right?). But, in the end, procrastination is what occurs. Because you have to manage your time independently, it is very important that you have enough willpower to pull yourself out of the addictive loop of YouTube and Facebook and actually do some work. Either in the library or in your room, it’s up to you where you do it, but you have to do it. No excuses, otherwise your stuff will pile up and you’ll get stressed. Personally, I have heaps of books to read and even though I am managing to organize my time quite acceptably, I’m getting stressed all the same (and, consequently, homesick- although this is due to other reasons too).

So, that said, I’m going to tell you about what I was up to during Week 2.

First, there were still taster sessions going on, so even though I was doing the volleyball trials, I also went to the last fencing taster. It was so much fun! I really didn’t think fencing would be so hard! It requires a lot of physical strength and control, and can be quite tricky, but it is a lot of fun to do. I wish I were able to join, but it crashes with the volleyball training sessions… Maybe next year.

Second, on Saturday was Klass. As I am still underage, my clubbing options are limited to the nights on campus because they don’t ask for ID (I’ve been missing a lot of socials due to this, which is reaaaaaaally annoying), purchasing a ticket instead. That is, Score on Wednesdays or Klass on Saturdays. Week 2’s Klass theme was commando, so we equipped ourselves with some face paint and military prints and danced all night long! It was great, although on Sunday morning I slept like a log… 

And last, but not least, house chores. Ugh, how I despise doing the washing. There are Circuit Laundry-run launderettes all over campus. Mine is the Westwood one which isn’t very big, usually has one third of the machines out-of-order and isn’t what we’d define as “clean”. Plus, it takes around two hours to get the whole washing done. Seriously, two hours. And it’s not cheap. Here is the process: 1) Separate your dirty clothes into bags and drag them all the way to the launderette (you are lucky if it isn’t raining). 2) Find a free washing machine, duh. This is the most difficult part, as they are in high demand all day apparently. You really have to find a moment during the week when there is likely to be one or two free and check online, otherwise you’ll find yourself waiting and wasting your time until one wash finishes and its contents are reclaimed by their owner, so that you can actually use the machine. 3) Turn your washing machine on and wait for 45 minutes. Yeah, it takes 45 minutes to wash your stuff. You can now set your alarm and go do other time-consuming university student chores. 4) Once your clothes are washed, it is usually easy to get your hands on a tumble-dryer (someone found it logical to put more tumble-dryers than washing-machines in the launderette. Apparently they didn’t know about student necessities). Your clothes will take about 55 minutes to dry. But at least they will be nice and warm (and their colours probably starting to wear off) afterwards.  In conclusion, £5/round of clothes + ≈2hrs = Congratulations, you’ve managed to wash your clothes. Now, do it every two or three weeks if you can, otherwise you’ll soon be poor and will lose precious time.  Another thing we did on Sunday was to cook. The food from the Bars and Eateries on campus is proving to be quite boring and not that varied, so we were really craving for fish. Amélie and I made boiled vegetables, fried cod and Spanish tortilla. It was all so yummy! But it made us realize how long it takes to cook, how expensive it is to buy fish and, at least for me, how glad I am to have the Eat and Drink card. I’ve never found cooking interesting and I think it is time-consuming, but it is obviously necessary. And finally, I re-dyed my hair. That is what happens when you have bleached tips and fantasy hair-dye, the upkeep is quite demanding. I managed to do it without making a total mess or staining anything, so I think I deserve a cookie.

Week 3 was a bit more of the same. Routine and class, going into town to do some shopping… Rain arrived. And by this I mean that it was pouring and cold outside and I’m glad I’m alive to tell the story. It is going to take me some time to adapt myself to the weather. I don’t mind the rain, in fact, I like it - if I’m indoors. If I have to cross half of the campus to get to my lecture, then I hate it. I just felt like curling up in my bed and reading (but not class stuff, things I actually like. Or watching a film, which is also quite rare in my life nowadays). On Wednesday there were different BUCS games, including the volleyball first team match against Southhampton. Even though I didn’t play, I did go to cheer the girls. They did very well considering the had only had two weeks of training, although they lost the match. And, finally, on Saturday I went with Amélie to the X-Factor, but that is another story and it deserves a whole post for itself, so stay tuned!

Y1-2: Arrivals' Weekend, Freshers' Week 2014 and week one.

Bath surprised me positively. I knew it was a small city- and that was one of the things that made me choose the University-, but I didn’t remember how it was actually like there. Bristol Airport is fairly small, and I enjoyed the bus ride to Bath. Meadows and groves are a lovely change when you come from a volcanic island. British houses are so…British. I don’t know why, they are just so prim and proper, so similar, so sensible. Bath itself is very pretty. With the Avon running through it, a couple of churches as well as the Abbey and many Georgian-styled houses, including The Circus and The Royal Crescent. And, of course, the Roman Baths (it’s called Bath for a reason, duh).

Pultney Bridge and Avon/The Royal Crescent/Walk on the skirts of Bathwick Hill

Over the few days I spent in Bath before moving in I ran errands, visited the campus to see what it was like, visited Bristol, learnt my way around Bath and did shopping. Now, Bath is a really expensive city. According to The Telegraph, the second most expensive city in the Uk. This means that you really need to know where to buy your things, otherwise you’ll become poor too soon. Poorer than the normal student. PRIMARK and Poundland have proven to be the most useful shops in the city centre. The High Street is definitely a place to spend money, but I still have to walk around the city and try to find the good places to shop for less. Some alleys have cheaper shops so it’s just a matter of finding where. The difference between pounds and euros is definitely obvious, and eating and going out takes its toll.

On another note, the weather has been quite nice. Coming from the Canary Islands, it is definitely cold. But not for British people. No. Them you can see walking around in shorts and T-shirts. Me, I wear jeans and jumper already. I don’t want to imagine how I’m going to deal with the winter. But so far we’ve been having sun, which is lovely. I’ve only seen rain twice (knocks on wood): Friday before Arrivals’ Weekend, when there was a thunderstorm, and one morning drizzle.

So,  back to the University stuff.  Arrivals’ Weekend. This is basically the weekend when everybody moves into their on campus and city accommodations. I had a morning time slot, so I got a cab with my dad and headed up Bathwick Hill. The amount of stuff I had managed to gather was incredible. Luckily, some poor lads who were helping out the newbies find their way helped us carry the packages up the four floors to my room. Generally, everything went quite well. I’m quite lucky with my room because it is apparently quite big compared with others, and I have the toilet and shower right across, no noise due to the distance with the social spaces (i.e. kitchen),  and not directly into the main corridor. I can sleep, therefore, I am happy. Unpacking, cleaning and making my room my own took a while, but having Dad around helped me a lot. Arrivals’ Weekend was basically meeting our flatmates (for some reason, the fourth floor is quite chilled and was unoccupied during most of the weekend- second and third floors are where the fun is), and finding your way around campus. The University of Bath campus is not too big, which is nice. And my accommodation is quite central, which is great. Woop, woop!

The Lake, on campus.

During both Arrivals’ Weekend and Freshers’ Week, there were tons of events going on.  Daily inductions (University, Academic and Departmental inductions), freebies at the Freshers’ Fair, Society and Sports Fairs and fun activities to do (games, inflatables,…). You can go to virtually anything you want (provided you have a wristband or pay). Nights involved predrinking and going out to the themed Main Events: Toga, Beach, UV, Show your colours,… Personally, my favourite was Show your colours, but some may disagree. Freshers’ Week was amazing, tiring and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I enjoyed it, and met many people (although I’m bad at names, sorry). If you want to see what went on during the week, find the video playlist of the FW14 here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnyZY8HCF_vSV6j1pzdj5YUo6Be6fogdt

Sunday was obviously the day to SLEEP AT LAST. Nothing was really going on so everyone caught up on their sleep and did the cleaning and washing (yeah, now we have to do it ourselves and it proved to be quite a time-wasting challenge). People from the accommodation hung out together and soon it was time to get ready for the first week.

Oh, the first week. How are we supposed to get used to the routine? First, lectures and seminars are so spread out throughout the morning and afternoon, with lots of hours in between. Second, you really struggle the first few times to find your classes. Italian class in the Mechanical Engineering building? Oh, come on! You are basically running from one place to the other, doing your errands, going to the doctor (Freshers’ Flu, check. Sore throat, check. Cough, check). Organizing your life weekly, going to the taster sessions for the Societies and figuring out what you will join. Sports, Academic Writing, Languages,…The offer is so wide and the time is so little. Choose wisely. I never realized there would be so much to do and so many things going on.

But don’t you worry, you’ll survive. You have to take care of yourself and organize your time, but you’ll get used to it. And you’ll meet the people with whom you’ll hang out and do your course with. Eventually, you’ll settle in. And when you do, you’ll probably stress and get homesick, but so far it’s Ok because you have so much stuff to get done you don’t have time to stop and think.

Well, back to my course reading. See you soon!