Harlaxton Entry 1
Let's see how many of these I'll put up over the semester. This is more for my amusement and benefit later on in life when I feel like reflecting.
It's been four days since my arrival to Harlaxton College in Grantham, Lincolnshire, UK, and all I can say is that the school seems to have it out for me. On day one of my arrival (Friday 7 Jan 2011), my camera's shutter got jammed because I ran it into something, and I don't know what that something is. It happened getting onto the coach (think tour bus), because that's the only time I can remember it not being in prefect condition. It still took really good picture, but two of the corners were hacked off and black. Since I had nothing to fix it with on the coach, I put the camera away, and crashed the rest of the way to Harlaxton. Upon being placed in our assigned rooms about and hour and a half later, (and after a traditional meal of fish and chips), I made to my room. Snagged the bottom bunk off to the side, as well as my choice in desk and closet (Score!). Then came the unpacking. Dear god, I hate to sound vain or whatever, but there is not a lot of room to store your crap. My small suitcase is acting as a large drawer. Lolz. While unpacking, I pulled out my adaptor/converter and plugged the bugger in, and then stuck my power strip into that. (I did this in both France and the Netherlands, and had no problems.) Next came my alarm clock that has served me well for over 10 years... and not 5 minutes later, I hear this popping noise and the smell of smoke starts to invade the room. I turn from my unpacking, and notice that my alarm clock is no longer on. Rushing over, I notice a small burn on the desk, which fortunately came off easily. I started crying inside.
Saturday went a bit better, but all was not well. I learned that, even with an adaptor/converter, my DSLite charger doesn't charge in the UK. Great. There goes my back alarm clock. Thank the deities made by man that we have time to go into town where I was able to by a UK DS charger. I also bought a watch, since I didn't bring my phone. During the couple hours in town with Megans (yeah, there are two of them) and Jordan, we found that everyone we talked to was nice and willing to help us find the places we needed. Success was achieved when I spent £5 on a watch and £10 on the DS charger. I'm going to have to get used to saying "Cheers!" instead of "Have a nice day." (<") We found an awesome choclate shop I plan on visiting later on in the semester for gifts. The lady working there was nice, and when we asked here what Turkish Delights tasted like (being the partial Narnia nerds we are), she answered: "I don't like them, they taste like perfume." as well as a proper description of what they were. It's enough to keep me away from them, although I'm tempted to get some for Shorty since she loves her bf's cologne so much. Lol. When we got back, we explored the manor for a couple hours (I think), looking for secret passages and rooms. (We're looking to see if there's a hidden room we can use for D&D, lol.) Later that night, discussions of D&D began, trying to finalize some ideas for the campaign Jordan's DMing. Lots of joking went around in this conversation, but most of it was disregarded. (I'm going to be playing as a Spirit Shaman, race: Lycanthrope (coyote).)
Sunday went by the best so far. With the exception of the boring rules and regulations speeches, of course. At this point, a lot of us were getting tired as the time zones were aligning with our body clocks, so it was hard to stay awake. It didn't help that it was a beautiful day out, and the sun was shining. After the lectures and lunch, Megan, Megan, and I went out to explore some of the campus grounds. It is gorgeous I tell you! Everything is green and lush; I love it. We found a short nature trail, and we'll probably walk it almost every day (or just wander the grounds for some exercise, as the countless flights of stairs don't do that enough; lol). I'd have to say the only downside to today were the text books I had to spend £115.15 on and the tummy ache I went to bed with.
Monday was just a combination of terrible and awkward. I woke up, finding one of my flash drives, which was the best thing that happened that day. Waking up to the stomach ache I went to bed with was something I brushed to the side, as this tends to be normal this time of the month. However, that was not the case. About 40 minutes into the British Studies lecture (around 9.10am), I did "the best projectile vomit I [Prof. Bujacks] had seen in quite some time; it was quiet and almost majestic(?)" (second-hand quote from Bujacks). Great. I've made my mark on the Harlaxton class of Spring 2011. I was escorted out of the room, and brought to the bathroom to clean myself up. The nurse gave my Tylenol, and a note to get me out of classes for the rest of the day. I went to sleep, and woke up around 3.00pm feeling much better, but there was still that soreness in my gut. I'll be taking it easy on the food for a while. I don't want to be the talk to the college again. This was coupled with Ekida-sensei finally responding to my emails. Turns out I'm not enrolled in the class I filled out and turned in papers for. I was able to relax a couple hours later though, as the problem was solved (Yay!). I also signed onto the Recreational Committee, a sub-group of the SGA.
Tuesday is going by nicely. My stomach ache in nearly gone, and Dr. Kim's polisci course is pretty cool (PSCI 489 European Studies). He went over the syllabus, and by the end of that, we were told that each person would be doing a country presentation, and we had to select one from the list. I shot my hand up and asked if I could claim one now, instead of waiting until March. Dr. Kim is awesome for letting us choose now. I HAVE LAID CLAIM TO THE NETHERLANDS! (It certainly give me more incentive to get my ass back into that country to meet up with Joyce/Sephy). This good day just got better when the fire alarm went off. No problem, we were told there'd be a fire drill sometime soon, so we all went outside. Turns out some chick's hair dryer set the damned alarm off, and the fire drill is still on. Peachy. Let's hope this day only gets better.
On some happy notes:
¤ £0.65 = $1.00
¤ So far, the food has been pretty good, despite the severe lack of choice.
¤ My room mates are pretty cool, even if they aren't in my social circle.
¤ More crap will be added if I remember.
It's been four days since my arrival to Harlaxton College in Grantham, Lincolnshire, UK, and all I can say is that the school seems to have it out for me. On day one of my arrival (Friday 7 Jan 2011), my camera's shutter got jammed because I ran it into something, and I don't know what that something is. It happened getting onto the coach (think tour bus), because that's the only time I can remember it not being in prefect condition. It still took really good picture, but two of the corners were hacked off and black. Since I had nothing to fix it with on the coach, I put the camera away, and crashed the rest of the way to Harlaxton. Upon being placed in our assigned rooms about and hour and a half later, (and after a traditional meal of fish and chips), I made to my room. Snagged the bottom bunk off to the side, as well as my choice in desk and closet (Score!). Then came the unpacking. Dear god, I hate to sound vain or whatever, but there is not a lot of room to store your crap. My small suitcase is acting as a large drawer. Lolz. While unpacking, I pulled out my adaptor/converter and plugged the bugger in, and then stuck my power strip into that. (I did this in both France and the Netherlands, and had no problems.) Next came my alarm clock that has served me well for over 10 years... and not 5 minutes later, I hear this popping noise and the smell of smoke starts to invade the room. I turn from my unpacking, and notice that my alarm clock is no longer on. Rushing over, I notice a small burn on the desk, which fortunately came off easily. I started crying inside.
Saturday went a bit better, but all was not well. I learned that, even with an adaptor/converter, my DSLite charger doesn't charge in the UK. Great. There goes my back alarm clock. Thank the deities made by man that we have time to go into town where I was able to by a UK DS charger. I also bought a watch, since I didn't bring my phone. During the couple hours in town with Megans (yeah, there are two of them) and Jordan, we found that everyone we talked to was nice and willing to help us find the places we needed. Success was achieved when I spent £5 on a watch and £10 on the DS charger. I'm going to have to get used to saying "Cheers!" instead of "Have a nice day." (<") We found an awesome choclate shop I plan on visiting later on in the semester for gifts. The lady working there was nice, and when we asked here what Turkish Delights tasted like (being the partial Narnia nerds we are), she answered: "I don't like them, they taste like perfume." as well as a proper description of what they were. It's enough to keep me away from them, although I'm tempted to get some for Shorty since she loves her bf's cologne so much. Lol. When we got back, we explored the manor for a couple hours (I think), looking for secret passages and rooms. (We're looking to see if there's a hidden room we can use for D&D, lol.) Later that night, discussions of D&D began, trying to finalize some ideas for the campaign Jordan's DMing. Lots of joking went around in this conversation, but most of it was disregarded. (I'm going to be playing as a Spirit Shaman, race: Lycanthrope (coyote).)
Sunday went by the best so far. With the exception of the boring rules and regulations speeches, of course. At this point, a lot of us were getting tired as the time zones were aligning with our body clocks, so it was hard to stay awake. It didn't help that it was a beautiful day out, and the sun was shining. After the lectures and lunch, Megan, Megan, and I went out to explore some of the campus grounds. It is gorgeous I tell you! Everything is green and lush; I love it. We found a short nature trail, and we'll probably walk it almost every day (or just wander the grounds for some exercise, as the countless flights of stairs don't do that enough; lol). I'd have to say the only downside to today were the text books I had to spend £115.15 on and the tummy ache I went to bed with.
Monday was just a combination of terrible and awkward. I woke up, finding one of my flash drives, which was the best thing that happened that day. Waking up to the stomach ache I went to bed with was something I brushed to the side, as this tends to be normal this time of the month. However, that was not the case. About 40 minutes into the British Studies lecture (around 9.10am), I did "the best projectile vomit I [Prof. Bujacks] had seen in quite some time; it was quiet and almost majestic(?)" (second-hand quote from Bujacks). Great. I've made my mark on the Harlaxton class of Spring 2011. I was escorted out of the room, and brought to the bathroom to clean myself up. The nurse gave my Tylenol, and a note to get me out of classes for the rest of the day. I went to sleep, and woke up around 3.00pm feeling much better, but there was still that soreness in my gut. I'll be taking it easy on the food for a while. I don't want to be the talk to the college again. This was coupled with Ekida-sensei finally responding to my emails. Turns out I'm not enrolled in the class I filled out and turned in papers for. I was able to relax a couple hours later though, as the problem was solved (Yay!). I also signed onto the Recreational Committee, a sub-group of the SGA.
Tuesday is going by nicely. My stomach ache in nearly gone, and Dr. Kim's polisci course is pretty cool (PSCI 489 European Studies). He went over the syllabus, and by the end of that, we were told that each person would be doing a country presentation, and we had to select one from the list. I shot my hand up and asked if I could claim one now, instead of waiting until March. Dr. Kim is awesome for letting us choose now. I HAVE LAID CLAIM TO THE NETHERLANDS! (It certainly give me more incentive to get my ass back into that country to meet up with Joyce/Sephy). This good day just got better when the fire alarm went off. No problem, we were told there'd be a fire drill sometime soon, so we all went outside. Turns out some chick's hair dryer set the damned alarm off, and the fire drill is still on. Peachy. Let's hope this day only gets better.
On some happy notes:
¤ £0.65 = $1.00
¤ So far, the food has been pretty good, despite the severe lack of choice.
¤ My room mates are pretty cool, even if they aren't in my social circle.
¤ More crap will be added if I remember.