Friday, September 30, 2005
Greetings from England
Hello, everyone! Sorry I didn't post sooner, but it's been impossible to access the computers until now.
See, to get a computer account, I had to know my student ID number. The registration form said the number was on my library card. I don't have a library card. So I go to the library and ask if they can at least look up my ID number. I try my best to look pathetic and tell them, "I just want to get on the computer so I can e-mail my family and let them know I'm okay." The librarians are very sympathetic, but have no idea how one goes about finding one's ID number. They call my department, the history department, and ask if THEY can look up the number. The history department says yes. I go to the history department and get blank stares when I tell them I want them to look up my ID number. "Who told you we'd do that?", the lady asks. I try my poor-exchange-student-stranded-in-a-foreign-country-with-no-way-to-call-home routine again, and she agrees to look it up for me. Then, ID number written on a little yellow post-it note, I head back to the computer lab to register my account. It works, finally, and tells me I'll need to wait an hour for the account to activate. I come back an hour later, and here we are!
Sadly, just about everything at the university is turning out to be exactly that complicated. I'm getting very good at finding my way around campus, because I've crossed it several times going from one department to another figuring things out. Apparently I'm missing several key pieces of paper necessary to do those trivial little things like register for classes or move into my dorm. I will never, ever complain about UTA's administration again; compared to Leicester they are a model of efficiency and clarity. Until this trip I never realized just how amazing my student ID card was. Think about it--a single card that can access my meal plan, my scholastic record, my financial information, my parking lot, and half a dozen other things! But here at Leicester I'm probably going to end up with 10-15 different cards for different things: one for the library, one for the gym, two bus passes (one for each of the two bus routes I'll need to take), one to use the school printers (at the modest cost of 10 cents a page), one to get into my dorm, and so on. It's INSANE how card-happy the administration here seems to be.
In fact, Wednesday ranked pretty high on my Most Miserable Day Ever ranking. I couldn't sleep on the plane, the bus was late so I didn't get lunch, and there was a lot of confusion over where I was going to be staying so I had to wait outside in the cold for an hour for a bus to take me to the correct residence hall. But after 11 hours of sleep and a nice big breakfast, Thursday was a much more fun experience. Last night we went to a Ceidlih (pronounced, for some reason only a Scotsman could fathom, 'Kei Li'), a traditional Scottish dance. There was a band there with a violin and accordion and drums and stuff, and they taught us five or six dances. Of course, the girls outnumbered the guys by almost 2-to-1, so I was a "guy" most of the night. And the dances didn't always work out like they were supposed to, because half the international students don't really speak English that well. But all in all, I had a great time.
Leicester itself is a *beautiful* town, covered in all kinds of greenery and flowers. The past two days it's been very cold, but today it's quite nice out, maybe in the high 60s? There's pretty much always a slight drizzle or light rain falling, but I don't mind being wet as long as I'm not cold. Leicester was first settled by the Romans, so there's 2,000 years of history to explore. The university is quite interesting, architecturally. I'll have lots and lots of cool pictures to show you all.
Speaking of pictures, there's been a little bit of a problem with them. I don't have a computer myself, and have been told in no uncertain terms that I am never, ever, ever to plug a foreign device into a school computer. I'll have to wait maybe a week or so for the workers to finish installing the new broadband connection in the dorms and a friend will let me upload the photos off my digital camera onto my blog.
I haven't met many British people yet, because only international students are at this orientation session. So I've been hanging out with some Americans, a few Canadians, and one apiece from Barbados, India, and China. Everyone I've met so far is really friendly, though. One of the orientation assistants is named Rachel. I ADORE Rachel. She looks a lot like the woman that plays Osiris on Stargate, long curly blonde hair, dimples, that beautiful accent. Except she's not possessed by an evil parasitic alien, of course. She's incredibly friendly and cheerful. The other is named Laurie. I think he's a professor of history, although I'm not quite sure. Sometimes it's hard to understand what he's saying--he tends to mumble. But anyways, he reminds me vaguely of Marshall from Alias. He looks sort of similar, and he's a huge history buff.
Anyway, I'm going to be late for the next session. I'll try to update tomorrow if I can. There's TONS more stuff to say.
I love you all and hope you're doing well. Please leave a comment if you wish.
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See, to get a computer account, I had to know my student ID number. The registration form said the number was on my library card. I don't have a library card. So I go to the library and ask if they can at least look up my ID number. I try my best to look pathetic and tell them, "I just want to get on the computer so I can e-mail my family and let them know I'm okay." The librarians are very sympathetic, but have no idea how one goes about finding one's ID number. They call my department, the history department, and ask if THEY can look up the number. The history department says yes. I go to the history department and get blank stares when I tell them I want them to look up my ID number. "Who told you we'd do that?", the lady asks. I try my poor-exchange-student-stranded-in-a-foreign-country-with-no-way-to-call-home routine again, and she agrees to look it up for me. Then, ID number written on a little yellow post-it note, I head back to the computer lab to register my account. It works, finally, and tells me I'll need to wait an hour for the account to activate. I come back an hour later, and here we are!
Sadly, just about everything at the university is turning out to be exactly that complicated. I'm getting very good at finding my way around campus, because I've crossed it several times going from one department to another figuring things out. Apparently I'm missing several key pieces of paper necessary to do those trivial little things like register for classes or move into my dorm. I will never, ever complain about UTA's administration again; compared to Leicester they are a model of efficiency and clarity. Until this trip I never realized just how amazing my student ID card was. Think about it--a single card that can access my meal plan, my scholastic record, my financial information, my parking lot, and half a dozen other things! But here at Leicester I'm probably going to end up with 10-15 different cards for different things: one for the library, one for the gym, two bus passes (one for each of the two bus routes I'll need to take), one to use the school printers (at the modest cost of 10 cents a page), one to get into my dorm, and so on. It's INSANE how card-happy the administration here seems to be.
In fact, Wednesday ranked pretty high on my Most Miserable Day Ever ranking. I couldn't sleep on the plane, the bus was late so I didn't get lunch, and there was a lot of confusion over where I was going to be staying so I had to wait outside in the cold for an hour for a bus to take me to the correct residence hall. But after 11 hours of sleep and a nice big breakfast, Thursday was a much more fun experience. Last night we went to a Ceidlih (pronounced, for some reason only a Scotsman could fathom, 'Kei Li'), a traditional Scottish dance. There was a band there with a violin and accordion and drums and stuff, and they taught us five or six dances. Of course, the girls outnumbered the guys by almost 2-to-1, so I was a "guy" most of the night. And the dances didn't always work out like they were supposed to, because half the international students don't really speak English that well. But all in all, I had a great time.
Leicester itself is a *beautiful* town, covered in all kinds of greenery and flowers. The past two days it's been very cold, but today it's quite nice out, maybe in the high 60s? There's pretty much always a slight drizzle or light rain falling, but I don't mind being wet as long as I'm not cold. Leicester was first settled by the Romans, so there's 2,000 years of history to explore. The university is quite interesting, architecturally. I'll have lots and lots of cool pictures to show you all.
Speaking of pictures, there's been a little bit of a problem with them. I don't have a computer myself, and have been told in no uncertain terms that I am never, ever, ever to plug a foreign device into a school computer. I'll have to wait maybe a week or so for the workers to finish installing the new broadband connection in the dorms and a friend will let me upload the photos off my digital camera onto my blog.
I haven't met many British people yet, because only international students are at this orientation session. So I've been hanging out with some Americans, a few Canadians, and one apiece from Barbados, India, and China. Everyone I've met so far is really friendly, though. One of the orientation assistants is named Rachel. I ADORE Rachel. She looks a lot like the woman that plays Osiris on Stargate, long curly blonde hair, dimples, that beautiful accent. Except she's not possessed by an evil parasitic alien, of course. She's incredibly friendly and cheerful. The other is named Laurie. I think he's a professor of history, although I'm not quite sure. Sometimes it's hard to understand what he's saying--he tends to mumble. But anyways, he reminds me vaguely of Marshall from Alias. He looks sort of similar, and he's a huge history buff.
Anyway, I'm going to be late for the next session. I'll try to update tomorrow if I can. There's TONS more stuff to say.
I love you all and hope you're doing well. Please leave a comment if you wish.
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