On Tuesday Engineers Without Borders (EWB) had a benefit concert where bands played and happiness was abundant. While there, I met a guy who actually goes to school at Leeds and is studying abroad at KU (why you would come to the middle of wheat fields to explore the US, i have no clue). Anyways, I got ask him about all of the rumors I have heard about schools and England and just general information about the place I'll be for almost five months. Here they are:
Rumor #1: Students in England don't go to class.
TRUE - Apparently, no one goes to class. If you do, you'll be one of like 5. He said my upper level courses, like Fluid Mechanics and what not I should probably attend a little more frequently, but the others it doesn't really matter.
Rumor #2: Final Exams are worth the majority of my grade.
TRUE - Most final exams are 70-100% of my grade and last for 2-3 hours. However, a 70% and above is the equivalency of an A. So that's awesome and totally manageable.
Rumor #3: They drink. Like a lot.
TRUE - He told me its no big deal if you get out of classes early to just go get a drink or something. I get the feeling they take it all a little different than we do. I feel like here alcohol is such a big deal, while there its just part of their everyday life. Get back to you on that one, though.
Fact #1: Leeds has 3 universities in it.
So apparently there are three different "unies" (sp?) as he called them in the city of Leeds, meaning there are about 100,000 students in the city. He told me there is a huge areas of houses and stuff that only students live in, so that should be kind of cool.
Fact #2: Leeds is well good.
He said this about 15 times. He said there is so much to do. There's the city centre, which is a short walk away from the uni and has bars and shops and all sorts of fun things. I'm pretty much pumped.
Fact #3: London is great, but its so big you can't find parties.
That's a direct quote. I don't really have anything to add.
Fact #4: He's going to tell him friends to look out for me.
Not sure if I should be creeped out by that or happy that some random English dudes will make sure someone doesn't take advantage of me. I guess I'll find out.
I guess the moral of this conversation is this is going to be awesome. And I should start using phrases like uni and well good so I fit in and don't look like a moron. Oh crap. What if I use hella or holla or some other weird phrase and they all look at me like I'm psycho? Though I guess everyone kinda does that now, and I still have friends, so it can't be too bad, right? Again, guess I'll find out.
Well, that's all for now. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
The Well Good American Going to a Uni,
Jessica
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
I'm leaving on a Jet Plane
Yesterday was a memorable event. My flight to and from England was bought. I leave January 18th to get there by the 19th, and won't be back in the states until June 4th. Its crazy. I won't touch foot on US land for four and half months. I'm actually starting to freak out. No family, no friends, no unhealthy American food, no KU basketball, no American accents for over four months. I'm starting to realize all the little things about the US I'm going to miss. I can hardly stand being away from St. Louis's gooey butter cake for two months until I go home. This is double that time. And way more important than some delicious, unhealthy coffee-cake (Is that what it is? I really have no idea what to define it as.). I feel like skype is going to become my new best friend. I mean, I skype quite a bit now, but I also get to see people throughout the four months I'm off at school, whether it be through breaks or visits. But when January hits, there will be no visits, no breaks to go back home. I'm really going to miss everyone and those little things. They don't even have Twinkies in the UK. Not that I ever eat Twinkies, but its nice to know I have that option. I guess they probably have something way better than Twinkies though.
On another note, I signed up for housing. If you checked out the website I posted last time, you could kind of see my options. The living situation seems much different than here. It appears no matter where I live, I have my own room with a bed, desk, and "closet" of some sort. Most of them are self-catering, so I have my own kitchen that I share with 4-8 people. In addition, most of them share bathrooms with the same number. The one thing that weirded me out is only four of the residence complexes are actually located on campus. The others are spread out throughout Leeds, some as far as a thirty minute walk away. It kind of baffled me that you would chose campus housing and not actually be on campus. Don't believe me, check out this map. The squares are residence halls and the the blue squares are where campus is.
We had the option to chose a preferred hall, so I went with Leodis Residences (G). It seems pretty nice, decently close to campus and the City Centre, which, if I understand correctly, is like the downtown area of Leeds. That should be pretty nice. If you're feeling like a super creep, here's a link to the dorm. There's a gallery of pictures and kind of explains the accomadations. Leodis Residences Link
So I officially have a ride to England. And a place to live. Its time to get PUMPED.
The girl who will not be hitch-hiking to Leeds, England,
Jessica
On another note, I signed up for housing. If you checked out the website I posted last time, you could kind of see my options. The living situation seems much different than here. It appears no matter where I live, I have my own room with a bed, desk, and "closet" of some sort. Most of them are self-catering, so I have my own kitchen that I share with 4-8 people. In addition, most of them share bathrooms with the same number. The one thing that weirded me out is only four of the residence complexes are actually located on campus. The others are spread out throughout Leeds, some as far as a thirty minute walk away. It kind of baffled me that you would chose campus housing and not actually be on campus. Don't believe me, check out this map. The squares are residence halls and the the blue squares are where campus is.
We had the option to chose a preferred hall, so I went with Leodis Residences (G). It seems pretty nice, decently close to campus and the City Centre, which, if I understand correctly, is like the downtown area of Leeds. That should be pretty nice. If you're feeling like a super creep, here's a link to the dorm. There's a gallery of pictures and kind of explains the accomadations. Leodis Residences Link
So I officially have a ride to England. And a place to live. Its time to get PUMPED.
The girl who will not be hitch-hiking to Leeds, England,
Jessica
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Acceptance: Part 2
An e-mail I received yesterday:
Dear Jessica,
We have now received your supporting documentation, and are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted onto the University of Leeds Study Abroad Programme . An acceptance letter has been sent to you today together with a general welcome pack...
So I've officially been accepted into the University of Leeds...aka, I'm officially going to England. The e-mail also included a link to housing, and I'm not going to lie, I'm rather excited. Check it out: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/accommodation/prospective_students.html. Instead of paying attention to the nonsense my C++ teacher yammered on about, I was checking out where I could be living next year. There's an international housing option, but I'm thinking that's not the direction I want to go in. I think it'd be kinda nice to be the token American on my floor. I mean, who wouldn't want to be?
In addition, I got some important dates. First of all, I have to be there by January 19th. That's 77 days. Or 2 months and 16 days. Its boggling my mind that in 2 and half months I will leave the US for 4 months. FOUR MONTHS. The 19th to the 21st will be orientation days. I'm hoping its not some awkward you-are-all-foreign-so-let's-shove-you-in-a-room-together type of deal. Honestly, I'm not so sure I want to make a lot of American friends. I think this experience is more about the people from other countries I meet and how they can open me up to a lot of different perspectives and viewpoints. At least, that's what all my scholarship essays say.
The more I think about it, though, the more I keep imagining what it'll be like. But I kind of don't want to think about what my time there is going to be like. Its going to be amazing, no matter what, but the more I dream, the more I may disappoint myself if there's something I don't get to do. I think I gotta just roll with the flow and let my experiences take me where they want to. We'll see what happens, and, maybe unfortunately for you, I'll make sure to write about all the crazy adventures I encounter. But for now, I'll just keep rolling with the flow of things and stop trying to determine exactly what may come.
The Potential Token American,
Jessica
Dear Jessica,
We have now received your supporting documentation, and are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted onto the University of Leeds Study Abroad Programme . An acceptance letter has been sent to you today together with a general welcome pack...
So I've officially been accepted into the University of Leeds...aka, I'm officially going to England. The e-mail also included a link to housing, and I'm not going to lie, I'm rather excited. Check it out: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/accommodation/prospective_students.html. Instead of paying attention to the nonsense my C++ teacher yammered on about, I was checking out where I could be living next year. There's an international housing option, but I'm thinking that's not the direction I want to go in. I think it'd be kinda nice to be the token American on my floor. I mean, who wouldn't want to be?
In addition, I got some important dates. First of all, I have to be there by January 19th. That's 77 days. Or 2 months and 16 days. Its boggling my mind that in 2 and half months I will leave the US for 4 months. FOUR MONTHS. The 19th to the 21st will be orientation days. I'm hoping its not some awkward you-are-all-foreign-so-let's-shove-you-in-a-room-together type of deal. Honestly, I'm not so sure I want to make a lot of American friends. I think this experience is more about the people from other countries I meet and how they can open me up to a lot of different perspectives and viewpoints. At least, that's what all my scholarship essays say.
The more I think about it, though, the more I keep imagining what it'll be like. But I kind of don't want to think about what my time there is going to be like. Its going to be amazing, no matter what, but the more I dream, the more I may disappoint myself if there's something I don't get to do. I think I gotta just roll with the flow and let my experiences take me where they want to. We'll see what happens, and, maybe unfortunately for you, I'll make sure to write about all the crazy adventures I encounter. But for now, I'll just keep rolling with the flow of things and stop trying to determine exactly what may come.
The Potential Token American,
Jessica
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