I figure I should tell you all something about where I'm staying, i.e. my dorm or hall as its called here.
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OK, I know that title sounds completely crazy. But, let me explain. Oh, and if you're wondering, the guy in the middle of the picture (grey jacket) is my dad. This past weekend, A horde of celebrities were in St Andrews for a golf tournament. The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, pairs amateur celebrity golfers with pros as they compete for the cup. The celebrities included Hugh Grant and Samuel L Jackson who were probably the most talked about/sought after of the lot. There were quite a few more, a number of cricketers included. The first week of classes has come and gone. It took me a while a find a couple of my lecture rooms, but I found them in time and wasn't late to any of my classes. There are a lot of differences in the way things are taught over here. Not that I didn't expect things to be different, I did, it's just that now, I'm a bit worried that I might not be able to cope. We have major essays to write and actual researching to do. A small voice inside me keeps saying that I should have stayed in Davis where everything is familiar and therefore easier. Freshers Week at St Andrews was very interesting. The hall I'm staying in is called University Hall and it happens to be the hall that has the most number of social events and the freshers week hall schedule left no doubt about that. And at most events, especially the evening ones, drinks flow more freely than water (our hall is the only one with free drinks bars), so it has most definitely been interesting. We've had an event every afternoon and every evening. The evening once are usually just large parties, with music, dancing, and drinks. The afternoon events were mostly smaller scale getting to know people things. We had ice-breaker games one afternoon, tea parties (albeit with drinks) on another, crazy golf on the putting green, a photo scavenger hunt and a few others. All the events except the last two were held in the Old Wing Common Room. The pub crawl was a boys vs. girls event and of course was held in various pubs around town. The girls were all dressed in pink and the boys had to wear ties. We screamed and chanted at the boys when we saw them on our way and they did the same to us. Apparently this got us warnings from the local police for being too noisy and we had to quiet down in the end. It was a lot of fun walking down the streets in a large group of girls all dressed in pink shouting and chanting and having fun. The Bop was fun as well. It's basically a clubbing event in the Student Union. Our hall went in a large group dressed in black and gold (hall colours) with black and gold stripes painted on our cheeks. We dominated the place with our sheer numbers and random chanting/singing of the Uni Hall song. I got back at 2:30 that night and went to bed close to 4 am. To make up for that I went to bed before 10 pm the following nights. Apart from all the fun, we also had to advise and matriculate (ie meet with our advisers about classes we're taking so we can be signed into them and officially register at the university). I was expecting this process to be a bit long and tedious, but it was smooth, went without a hitch and was over pretty quickly. Right now, I believe I've caught the "freshers flu". My throat is absolutely dying and I've been coughing all day. I don't know why I am this sick, I didn't even party all that much. I am sipping a hot cup of tea as I write this, so I hope I get better soon. Ok, so, I know this is long overdue, but I've been busy/tired/without internet access for the past few days. This is going to be a long entry, so, here goes. On Tuesday, I went sightseeing around London with my cousin, again. It was nice to be back in the city, it felt as lovely as ever. It was a bit windy and chilly, more so than last time. I've spent the last two days sightseeing in London Town. It's been pretty amazing. It was lovely to actually see the places in person, when I'd only seen them in pictures or on TV before. I'm writing now. This might not be up to my usual standard because I am still a bit jet lagged. I slept for 12 hours last night, but I'm still tired and sleepy right now. The past few weeks have pretty much been about shopping and prepping. |