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!