Today was another successful crepe tuesday. I figured out that mixing olive oil into the batter helps make them better.
I went to talk to IT before my noon class (the only one for tuesdays) and was told that my issues with receiving emails were pretty much a mystery. Sigh. I was more successful at the payments desk, where I picked up my stipend cheque to be cashed at one Barclays Bank. Then I went to class, and took some notes before class started. I'll probably sound pretentious. Don't say I didn't warn you.
HIS114, which turned into my first module at the University of Sunderland: So far, really warm and probably full of freshmen. Smelly ones. Although, that might just be the room.
All the british students are up in arms about the heat. It's supposed to get up to 25 ºC (which is around 77 ºF). That's a rather warm room temperature.
I had a strange conversation about study abroad, modules, and the weather with an irate southerner (I suspect London, but I'm not sure). He insisted on calling me "Raeanna".
The classroom was really warm, and no one on the windows would open one. Regarding the outside temperature, I heard someone with a british accent trying to explain the term "Indian Summer" to a german international, so I guess it's one of those terms that forgoes rational cultural identification.
I need to come up with better reasons for going on this trip. "Because I've always wanted to see England" doesn't sound that great, and "I've always wanted to study abroad, and I don't speak any other language fluently" sounds worse. Any thoughts, please let me know.
I was pleased when I didn't end up in the 09:00 seminar group, but then I realised that I wasn't registered for the class and so hadn't been placed in a group. Bummer. I ended up in the 10:00 group.
The first lecture was an overview, and I didn't know most of it. I did know that the world wars aren't in the early modern period, which stretches from approximately 1500 (1453 and the fall of Constantinople and 1492 and Columbus sailing the ocean blue are two academic contenders in the great debate) to 1750 (I don't know why). That made me feel better, because I'm slightly less unknowledgeable than the person behind me. It looks like the class will be over the social events of the period and how they are intertwined with the political and religious events of the period. I'm pretty satisfied with this, since I know a little bit about the religious events as taught in Core 150 (who knew it would be so useful?) and I have a vague impression of English history for that period.
After class, I hunted for Barclays. I was not very successful. I got directions, all conflicting, from three different people. The last one finally landed me at the "fruit and veg stand" across from the bank, but only after I walked all the way up and down three streets and ended up covering the same ground two or three times.
I bought some strawberries, peaches, and pears with some of my £520 in cash that I need to hide around my room in £38 aliquots. On the first day of orientation, Emma told us about a kid who lost £6,000 that he was carrying around in a brown envelope. Stay with me, it's related. When I got my cash, they gave it to me in a brown envelope. I went home pretty quickly, with a tight grip on my bag.
I foolishly didn't buy a pair of slippers at a random shoe store, so I was incredibly footsore with very little to show for it by the time I got home. I heated up a cheese and onion pasty (remind me to look up and test a recipe before I head home), then put on Pride and Prejudice. I updated yesterday's blog, then fell asleep for about five hours, I would say.
When I went downstairs around 20:30, everyone was just getting ready to watch Sherlock Holmes (with Robert Downey, Jr.), so I had a snack and hung around. "Everyone" here means Jessi, Conor, Josie, James, and Adam, since Micha doesn't hang out with us much and Flo was on a date (tikka chicken chom chom). We had a fun time switching around the seating arrangements every time someone got up, too. Adam's computer doesn't have a very wide angle of viewing, so the people on one end of the "couch" got the slightly inverted colour scheme.
After the movie, I set about arranging a skype date with my family for tomorrow. Now it's time to sleep, which will be aided by some mint tea.
Showing posts with label tikka chicken chom chom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tikka chicken chom chom. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Orientation Day 3, Metrocentre, Birthday — Wed 21 September
Today began with a frantic search to find my alarm, which was neither under my pillow nor coming from my computer. I eventually found it under my bed. Fortunately, the adrenaline was an effective way to wake up before the skype call planned with my family. I got to see yet another sunrise, much to my chagrin. Beautiful as they are, I hate sunrises.
The call went well, and it was nice to see everyone even if they did call ten minutes early. After the call, I went back to bed for half an hour.
Quick note: "module" means "class/course". This threw me off to no end before I figured it out.
Jessi, Josie, Flo, and I had the same advisor meeting at 9:30, and we were hoping to be out before the coach to the Metrocentre left at 12:30. Unfortunately, the advisor was half an hour late and talked for an hour about the online systems (that mostly don't work for study abroad, as it turned out). 12 o'clock came around without me seeing the advisor, and I managed to arrange for more of an independent online module-code-finding adventure before a physical meeting the next day. It wouldn't have been such an issue if the physical module lists had included biomedical/pharmaceutical sciences...
In any case, we all got to the coach (which is just a big bus, like LCS used for away games) on time. I was looking forward to more of england in the daylight, but I don't have any pictures from the way over because I was extremely carsick. I thought it was just me, but Jessi had the same problem. I resolved to remember my dramamine on the York trip friday.
After what felt like several hours but was in fact about half an hour, we arrived. My group included Jessi, Kari (Jessi's friend from Germany who's studying here, too), Josie, Conor, and, briefly, Scott from Colorado and a girl who might be from Whitworth, but I never caught her name. I don't actually know her, so...
We ate at Nando's, which is a mostly chicken restaurant. I got chips (fries in American) and ratatouille. It was okay, but a little heavy on the onions. After that, Scott and mystery girl split, and the rest of us went to Primark for cheap clothes. I wanted jeans, but there were none in my size. At all. In the end, I got a longsleeve t-shirt for a few pounds, a duvet cover and pillow case, and some hangers. Jessi, a goddess among women, held my place in the massively long queue so I could get the hangers.
By the time I got out of the store, everyone else was gone. I decided that I would go to one of the two Orange stores to see if I couldn't get my mobile up and running. I found it after about an hour of wandering, and finally got it registered. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my £10 voucher for the pay card, so I tried to top it up at a "cash point" (ATM). I need to look that up online, because I have no idea how it's suppose to work. I ended up going to the other Orange store to have them either explain it or top it up for me.
It worked out, and I wandered the mall in a good mood until I got to a stationary store and tried to buy a binder and some paper.
My wallet was not in my bag. It wasn't in my shopping bag. It wasn't in my jacket pocket. It still wasn't in any of my bags or pockets after three searches. The cashier was very sympathetic, and offered to hold my stuff until I came back with my wallet.
This was pretty devastating. While I only had £15 in cash, I had all my cards and pictures of friends in the wallet. I also didn't want to have to buy another wallet, cancel my debit card, and get a new drivers' license, Whitworth ID, debit card, and library card. I was also mad at myself for losing yet another wallet (lost my first one a few weeks into my freshman year at Whitworth), and so soon into the trip. I would have to rely on the goodwill of my friends for food and transportation until the debit card company sent me a new card.
In spite of my troubles, I held it together pretty well. I remembered exactly where I'd been, and suspected that I'd left the wallet right in the Orange store. Still, I walked back through all the stores, up and down stairs and escalators, until I returned to the Orange store. After what seemed like a very long wait in a very warm store, I was directed to the help desk just outside the store.
They had my wallet! I was walking on air. All my cards, all my cash, all my pictures, right there in my hands again when I thought I'd never see them again.
I thanked God sincerely for the unexpected birthday gift.
I used my phone to call Jessi and find out where anybody else was, and found them successfully. We all kind of showed off our loot, then headed back to the meeting point at about 17:15 before waiting about an hour for the coach to show up. Josie had bought a huge cookie from a cookie store in the mall, and was asked repeatedly who it was for. Apparently, she was planning on eating cookie for about a month.
I sat much closer to the front, and it took at least fifteen minutes for the carsickness to kick in. I got some pictures during that time.
Jessi and I hypothesized that it's the road, not the driver or the bus. I think that bumps and any other types of sudden motion (like the terrible shifting in the first bus) jerk us around too much and shock our brains into thinking that we need to be nauseated.
When we got back to Clanny, it was decided that we should go to an Indian takeout place along Hylton Street (runs along one side of Clanny House). Once Flo finally finished doing his registration stuff on Conor's laptop, we collected Kari and set off. Adam and Michaela pled full stomachs and didn't come.
On the way, we met the Ginger Clanny House Cat, a huge long-haired orange tabby who has his own facebook page.
Once we reached Curry Express, we sat down in the hotel registration-like front room of the restaurant and read the menu. Flo read it out loud, and "Tikka Chicken Chom Chom" became an inside joke. Picture it said with a sleazy eyebrow wiggle... In any case, I got Vegetable Biryani and an order of garlic naan.
Remember the cookie that Josie bought? It was actually my "cake". It said "Happy Birthday, Raeann" (spelled correctly!) and had a card signed by everybody in the flat. Josie got some pictures of it, and I intend to get them onto the blog ASAP.
That night, there was a "nerd" themed party at a Uni bar, which was interpreted by most girls as "slutty school girl uniform". This meant that there were people in the kitchen in varying states of drunkenness, and I hung around for a while before deciding that beer smells really gross in a warm kitchen full of people drinking beer. I went upstairs, killed the spider above the bathroom door for Jessi, and updated the blog before I went to sleep.
It was a good birthday.
The call went well, and it was nice to see everyone even if they did call ten minutes early. After the call, I went back to bed for half an hour.
Quick note: "module" means "class/course". This threw me off to no end before I figured it out.
Jessi, Josie, Flo, and I had the same advisor meeting at 9:30, and we were hoping to be out before the coach to the Metrocentre left at 12:30. Unfortunately, the advisor was half an hour late and talked for an hour about the online systems (that mostly don't work for study abroad, as it turned out). 12 o'clock came around without me seeing the advisor, and I managed to arrange for more of an independent online module-code-finding adventure before a physical meeting the next day. It wouldn't have been such an issue if the physical module lists had included biomedical/pharmaceutical sciences...
In any case, we all got to the coach (which is just a big bus, like LCS used for away games) on time. I was looking forward to more of england in the daylight, but I don't have any pictures from the way over because I was extremely carsick. I thought it was just me, but Jessi had the same problem. I resolved to remember my dramamine on the York trip friday.
After what felt like several hours but was in fact about half an hour, we arrived. My group included Jessi, Kari (Jessi's friend from Germany who's studying here, too), Josie, Conor, and, briefly, Scott from Colorado and a girl who might be from Whitworth, but I never caught her name. I don't actually know her, so...
We ate at Nando's, which is a mostly chicken restaurant. I got chips (fries in American) and ratatouille. It was okay, but a little heavy on the onions. After that, Scott and mystery girl split, and the rest of us went to Primark for cheap clothes. I wanted jeans, but there were none in my size. At all. In the end, I got a longsleeve t-shirt for a few pounds, a duvet cover and pillow case, and some hangers. Jessi, a goddess among women, held my place in the massively long queue so I could get the hangers.
 |
| No clashing! |
By the time I got out of the store, everyone else was gone. I decided that I would go to one of the two Orange stores to see if I couldn't get my mobile up and running. I found it after about an hour of wandering, and finally got it registered. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my £10 voucher for the pay card, so I tried to top it up at a "cash point" (ATM). I need to look that up online, because I have no idea how it's suppose to work. I ended up going to the other Orange store to have them either explain it or top it up for me.
It worked out, and I wandered the mall in a good mood until I got to a stationary store and tried to buy a binder and some paper.
My wallet was not in my bag. It wasn't in my shopping bag. It wasn't in my jacket pocket. It still wasn't in any of my bags or pockets after three searches. The cashier was very sympathetic, and offered to hold my stuff until I came back with my wallet.
This was pretty devastating. While I only had £15 in cash, I had all my cards and pictures of friends in the wallet. I also didn't want to have to buy another wallet, cancel my debit card, and get a new drivers' license, Whitworth ID, debit card, and library card. I was also mad at myself for losing yet another wallet (lost my first one a few weeks into my freshman year at Whitworth), and so soon into the trip. I would have to rely on the goodwill of my friends for food and transportation until the debit card company sent me a new card.
In spite of my troubles, I held it together pretty well. I remembered exactly where I'd been, and suspected that I'd left the wallet right in the Orange store. Still, I walked back through all the stores, up and down stairs and escalators, until I returned to the Orange store. After what seemed like a very long wait in a very warm store, I was directed to the help desk just outside the store.
They had my wallet! I was walking on air. All my cards, all my cash, all my pictures, right there in my hands again when I thought I'd never see them again.
I thanked God sincerely for the unexpected birthday gift.
I used my phone to call Jessi and find out where anybody else was, and found them successfully. We all kind of showed off our loot, then headed back to the meeting point at about 17:15 before waiting about an hour for the coach to show up. Josie had bought a huge cookie from a cookie store in the mall, and was asked repeatedly who it was for. Apparently, she was planning on eating cookie for about a month.
I sat much closer to the front, and it took at least fifteen minutes for the carsickness to kick in. I got some pictures during that time.
 |
| Spire! Steeple! Thing! |
 |
| Countryside. About how I saw it by that time, actually... |
 |
| Practically home. |
When we got back to Clanny, it was decided that we should go to an Indian takeout place along Hylton Street (runs along one side of Clanny House). Once Flo finally finished doing his registration stuff on Conor's laptop, we collected Kari and set off. Adam and Michaela pled full stomachs and didn't come.
On the way, we met the Ginger Clanny House Cat, a huge long-haired orange tabby who has his own facebook page.
Once we reached Curry Express, we sat down in the hotel registration-like front room of the restaurant and read the menu. Flo read it out loud, and "Tikka Chicken Chom Chom" became an inside joke. Picture it said with a sleazy eyebrow wiggle... In any case, I got Vegetable Biryani and an order of garlic naan.
Remember the cookie that Josie bought? It was actually my "cake". It said "Happy Birthday, Raeann" (spelled correctly!) and had a card signed by everybody in the flat. Josie got some pictures of it, and I intend to get them onto the blog ASAP.
That night, there was a "nerd" themed party at a Uni bar, which was interpreted by most girls as "slutty school girl uniform". This meant that there were people in the kitchen in varying states of drunkenness, and I hung around for a while before deciding that beer smells really gross in a warm kitchen full of people drinking beer. I went upstairs, killed the spider above the bathroom door for Jessi, and updated the blog before I went to sleep.
It was a good birthday.
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