What I've Been Up To In England, Part III
ENTRY FROM OCTOBER 2, 2008
I have done the very thing I told myself I would not do and that is hold off writing for another week. Classes began on Monday, but I will write on those tomorrow, after the week's final lecture. This entry will record the events of last Thursday and take us to the Sunday before the start of lectures.
On Thursday I got up later than I had intended - I wanted to go to the Freshers Fair, an event held in the Sports Centre where various clubs and organizations set up booths to recruit students. I was also told it was a good place to meet people. However, when I got there, it was very crowded and loud music was playing throughout the centre. As such, it was apparent I wouldn't really be meeting anyone. I made my way through the centre quickly, stopping to examine a few booths, most notably the Film Society. During my time through, I kept receiving brochures and cards from people representing various groups, gyms and clubs. By the time I left I had a bag full of stuff. However, since all of it was useless, I threw the bag away on the way back to Oxford Road.
After this I went to the student union to go to the poster sale being held there. It was on the first floor, occupying the nightclub's space. I stayed there a long time, perusing through several displays of posters. I eventually bought five, including a Salvador Dali print and a "Pulp Fiction" movie poster. My favorite is a black-and-white photo of John Lennon with the words "Give peace a chance" printed on it.
By the time I finished buying posters it was nearly two, so I had to go to an introductory meeting for the Film and Media students. This meeting was fairly self-explanatory - the course was outlined by the professors, who went over the syllabus and explained how to access coursework and documents from the MMU website. The lecture only lasted about an hour. The rest of the afternoon I hung around the dorm and did a much-needed load of laundry. Alifi made BBQ-and-honey chicken for dinner. It was quite good.
At some point I went next door. After a drink or two, it was decided an alcohol run was needed. If nothing else it was an excuse to go into the city with my friends, so I volunteered to come along. We went to the Spar on Oxford Road. I bought some Strongbow and, knowing Dan liked it, some Guinness as well. As I was the last in line, I noticed during checkout none of the other were still in the store and I had a vague, then clear, feeling that I had been left behind. This was not the case, fortunately. We went back to the dorm and proceeded to get more and more intoxicated. I spent most of the time in the hallway talking to Jimbo, then went into the kitchen and talked with the flat as a whole. I got back to my room around 3.
Friday morning I woke around 8 with a hangover that was worse than I had expected, given that I had several glasses of water before I had gone to bed. It occurred to me that since the introductory meeting was the day before I might have a class that morning so I emailed David Huxley to ask. I had some more water then went back to sleep. I woke up around 1. By then class would have been over, but David Huxley wrote back later to confirm that there was no class. That afternoon was spent largely in the dorm. Later in the evening I went next door. As usual, people began drinking. At one point Dan handed me a bottle, telling me to get ready. What he meant to do was use his bottle and sharply tap the bottom of it against the top of mine - this would cause the beer to rapidly foam and I would essentially have to chug the foam. This was a popular activity among Dan and Seb in particular. However, Dan's bottle was mostly empty and he tapped too hard - his bottle and part of the neck of mine, smashed and beer went everywhere. Dan cut his finger and I ended up soaked. I went back to my room and changed.
Soon afterward we decided to go to a club. A great bunch of us went out to the City Centre to a club called 5th Avenue. There was a long line and Kat and I discussed leaving, but the line moved quickly and after a painful (to me) five pound entrance charge, we went down into the club. It was a bi-level club, somehow lightly smoky even though it was a no-smoking facility. The music was loud and unfamiliar and I immediately wanted to leave. We took a brief tour of the place, then people started dancing. Kat told me she and James were planning to leave soon, but came back later to tell me they liked the music and would be staying a while. I spent a great deal of time near the bar, people-watching. Before long I sank into my usual "feeling alone in a huge crowd" depression and tried to snap myself out of it, but no songs came on that i knew and it became more and more difficult. Eventually, the theme song from "Friends" came on. I almost immediately felt better and finally made it onto the dance floor. Kat gave me some cider, which also helped. After a few more songs we left and headed to a pizza place on Oxford Road called Popolino's. I have grown to love their garlic cheese pizzas. After getting our food we went back to the dorm to eat and have a few more drinks.
Saturday I mainly hung around in the dorm. In the evening, Bob asked if I wanted to go out with him and the rest of the flat. I agreed and we went to the Odeon theatre, where we bought tickets to see "The Dark Knight" on an IMAX screen. We had an hour to kill before the movie, so we went to Quizno's to eat. I got my standard sub, chicken carbonara, but the sauce was different, being predominantly mayonnaise. This didn't really surprise me, as mayo is the primary condiment here, but it was somewhat disappointing, as the sauce is my favorite part. Afterward, we went back to the theatre and waited for them to clean the screening room. When we got in, we twice had to move from where we were sitting because we had unwittingly taken "Premiere Seats." Even in the merely okay seats, the movie was still great. After the movie we went home, although Bob's proposed shortcut took more time than the way we had come.
Sunday was largely uneventful. Since I'd made a habit of not going next door until late, I'd decided to over around 9:30. Dan beat me to it. He ran our bell and asked us if we were still alive - our absence was felt. So I went over and had a few drinks - turns out the Guinness I bought was not the kind Dan preferred, so we had a pint of the kind he did like (in the end, I liked my kind better). It turned out to be a fairly short night; most of the people in the flat had decided to stop drinking as much, since lectures were starting the next day. It was an especially new attitude from Seb, who had been trashed most nights that week. I left earlier than usual, around 12:30.
The only other item of interest from Sunday was I got in touch with Jon about traveling to Liverpool. He said he was going that weekend and I should call to work out a plan. This did not happen (the planning) until after lectures started, so I shall write about that in my next entry.
ENTRY FROM OCTOBER 7, 2008
Having failed on Friday to write down the events of last week, I shall do so now. Monday was the first day of lectures. I awoke to discover it was raining; I was grateful that the weather had withheld rain until then, as I would be stuck in class all day instead of possibly being outdoors. The first lecture was in the Chatham Building. Until the day before I'd had no idea where it was, but I was pleased to discover that it was directly behind the Righton building. The class was Science Fiction and Fantasy. The class began as I'd expected it to - the professor gave us the syllabus and went through it (I was very disappointed that I was would not be at MMU long enough to attend the lecture on "Battlestar Galactica"). Afterward, however, she gave a long lecture on the basics of fantasy, using clips from "The Wizard of Oz" to illustrate points. After a long hour and forty-five minutes, she said we could leave if we wanted, but the last hour of class would be a screening of a BBC documentary about modern society's perception of fantasy. I decided to sty and watch it; it turned out to be pretty interesting.
After class I went to the Righton Building to talk with David Huxley about my next class, East/West, which was about American and Chinese film and how they fit into the myths and politics of their respective countries. However, David had noted the previous week at the introductory meeting that the class was full and I was told to check with him to see if I could still take the course. Unfortunately, David did not have the information and told me to go to class anyway and speak to the professor directly. At 2 I went to the classroom and spoke to the professor, who also didn't know what the finally tally of students would be and told me to take a seat anyway. The class was a merely a trip through the syllabus. In the end, I had no problem signing up for the class.
Nothing much of interest happened until the following day at 2, which was when the film students met for Core. Because this was not the first meeting of Core, we had a real lecture - David Huxley gave a lecture which introduced the class to various film theories. The lecture was punctuated by video clips and lasted a little over an hour. After the lecture we split up into groups. My group met in the Righton Building. This part of the course began with icebreakers. Following this we were against split into groups and we analyzed the opening scenes of "Brotherhood of the Wolf." I contributed most to the group and was selected as spokesman when it was our turn to present.
The following day was the first meeting for Aesthetics of Trash. David Huxley went briefly through the syllabus, then showed some video clips of various animated shorts and exploitation films. The lecture was not too long. That evening I went next door and watched Jimbo play against Dan in the computer game "Age of Empires II." We then watched "Constantine" in Dan's room. It was an entertaining if mediocre film.
I spend the following day almost entirely in my room. I had meant to go next door, but Polly told me that most of the flat's occupants had gone home, so I decided to stay in. The last class of the week, European Cinema, was also the shorter. The professor went through the syllabus in just about half an hour. After class I went to the Student Information Point in the All Saints Building to turn in a sheet with my professors' signatures which allowed me to take their classes. It took longer than it should have, since a girl was talking forever to the international official, so I turned it into the receptionist instead. I then went back to my dorm to prepare for leave for Liverpool. I will write tomorrow on the trip, what led up to it, and what has happened since. For now, good night.
I have done the very thing I told myself I would not do and that is hold off writing for another week. Classes began on Monday, but I will write on those tomorrow, after the week's final lecture. This entry will record the events of last Thursday and take us to the Sunday before the start of lectures.
On Thursday I got up later than I had intended - I wanted to go to the Freshers Fair, an event held in the Sports Centre where various clubs and organizations set up booths to recruit students. I was also told it was a good place to meet people. However, when I got there, it was very crowded and loud music was playing throughout the centre. As such, it was apparent I wouldn't really be meeting anyone. I made my way through the centre quickly, stopping to examine a few booths, most notably the Film Society. During my time through, I kept receiving brochures and cards from people representing various groups, gyms and clubs. By the time I left I had a bag full of stuff. However, since all of it was useless, I threw the bag away on the way back to Oxford Road.
After this I went to the student union to go to the poster sale being held there. It was on the first floor, occupying the nightclub's space. I stayed there a long time, perusing through several displays of posters. I eventually bought five, including a Salvador Dali print and a "Pulp Fiction" movie poster. My favorite is a black-and-white photo of John Lennon with the words "Give peace a chance" printed on it.
By the time I finished buying posters it was nearly two, so I had to go to an introductory meeting for the Film and Media students. This meeting was fairly self-explanatory - the course was outlined by the professors, who went over the syllabus and explained how to access coursework and documents from the MMU website. The lecture only lasted about an hour. The rest of the afternoon I hung around the dorm and did a much-needed load of laundry. Alifi made BBQ-and-honey chicken for dinner. It was quite good.
At some point I went next door. After a drink or two, it was decided an alcohol run was needed. If nothing else it was an excuse to go into the city with my friends, so I volunteered to come along. We went to the Spar on Oxford Road. I bought some Strongbow and, knowing Dan liked it, some Guinness as well. As I was the last in line, I noticed during checkout none of the other were still in the store and I had a vague, then clear, feeling that I had been left behind. This was not the case, fortunately. We went back to the dorm and proceeded to get more and more intoxicated. I spent most of the time in the hallway talking to Jimbo, then went into the kitchen and talked with the flat as a whole. I got back to my room around 3.
Friday morning I woke around 8 with a hangover that was worse than I had expected, given that I had several glasses of water before I had gone to bed. It occurred to me that since the introductory meeting was the day before I might have a class that morning so I emailed David Huxley to ask. I had some more water then went back to sleep. I woke up around 1. By then class would have been over, but David Huxley wrote back later to confirm that there was no class. That afternoon was spent largely in the dorm. Later in the evening I went next door. As usual, people began drinking. At one point Dan handed me a bottle, telling me to get ready. What he meant to do was use his bottle and sharply tap the bottom of it against the top of mine - this would cause the beer to rapidly foam and I would essentially have to chug the foam. This was a popular activity among Dan and Seb in particular. However, Dan's bottle was mostly empty and he tapped too hard - his bottle and part of the neck of mine, smashed and beer went everywhere. Dan cut his finger and I ended up soaked. I went back to my room and changed.
Soon afterward we decided to go to a club. A great bunch of us went out to the City Centre to a club called 5th Avenue. There was a long line and Kat and I discussed leaving, but the line moved quickly and after a painful (to me) five pound entrance charge, we went down into the club. It was a bi-level club, somehow lightly smoky even though it was a no-smoking facility. The music was loud and unfamiliar and I immediately wanted to leave. We took a brief tour of the place, then people started dancing. Kat told me she and James were planning to leave soon, but came back later to tell me they liked the music and would be staying a while. I spent a great deal of time near the bar, people-watching. Before long I sank into my usual "feeling alone in a huge crowd" depression and tried to snap myself out of it, but no songs came on that i knew and it became more and more difficult. Eventually, the theme song from "Friends" came on. I almost immediately felt better and finally made it onto the dance floor. Kat gave me some cider, which also helped. After a few more songs we left and headed to a pizza place on Oxford Road called Popolino's. I have grown to love their garlic cheese pizzas. After getting our food we went back to the dorm to eat and have a few more drinks.
Saturday I mainly hung around in the dorm. In the evening, Bob asked if I wanted to go out with him and the rest of the flat. I agreed and we went to the Odeon theatre, where we bought tickets to see "The Dark Knight" on an IMAX screen. We had an hour to kill before the movie, so we went to Quizno's to eat. I got my standard sub, chicken carbonara, but the sauce was different, being predominantly mayonnaise. This didn't really surprise me, as mayo is the primary condiment here, but it was somewhat disappointing, as the sauce is my favorite part. Afterward, we went back to the theatre and waited for them to clean the screening room. When we got in, we twice had to move from where we were sitting because we had unwittingly taken "Premiere Seats." Even in the merely okay seats, the movie was still great. After the movie we went home, although Bob's proposed shortcut took more time than the way we had come.
Sunday was largely uneventful. Since I'd made a habit of not going next door until late, I'd decided to over around 9:30. Dan beat me to it. He ran our bell and asked us if we were still alive - our absence was felt. So I went over and had a few drinks - turns out the Guinness I bought was not the kind Dan preferred, so we had a pint of the kind he did like (in the end, I liked my kind better). It turned out to be a fairly short night; most of the people in the flat had decided to stop drinking as much, since lectures were starting the next day. It was an especially new attitude from Seb, who had been trashed most nights that week. I left earlier than usual, around 12:30.
The only other item of interest from Sunday was I got in touch with Jon about traveling to Liverpool. He said he was going that weekend and I should call to work out a plan. This did not happen (the planning) until after lectures started, so I shall write about that in my next entry.
ENTRY FROM OCTOBER 7, 2008
Having failed on Friday to write down the events of last week, I shall do so now. Monday was the first day of lectures. I awoke to discover it was raining; I was grateful that the weather had withheld rain until then, as I would be stuck in class all day instead of possibly being outdoors. The first lecture was in the Chatham Building. Until the day before I'd had no idea where it was, but I was pleased to discover that it was directly behind the Righton building. The class was Science Fiction and Fantasy. The class began as I'd expected it to - the professor gave us the syllabus and went through it (I was very disappointed that I was would not be at MMU long enough to attend the lecture on "Battlestar Galactica"). Afterward, however, she gave a long lecture on the basics of fantasy, using clips from "The Wizard of Oz" to illustrate points. After a long hour and forty-five minutes, she said we could leave if we wanted, but the last hour of class would be a screening of a BBC documentary about modern society's perception of fantasy. I decided to sty and watch it; it turned out to be pretty interesting.
After class I went to the Righton Building to talk with David Huxley about my next class, East/West, which was about American and Chinese film and how they fit into the myths and politics of their respective countries. However, David had noted the previous week at the introductory meeting that the class was full and I was told to check with him to see if I could still take the course. Unfortunately, David did not have the information and told me to go to class anyway and speak to the professor directly. At 2 I went to the classroom and spoke to the professor, who also didn't know what the finally tally of students would be and told me to take a seat anyway. The class was a merely a trip through the syllabus. In the end, I had no problem signing up for the class.
Nothing much of interest happened until the following day at 2, which was when the film students met for Core. Because this was not the first meeting of Core, we had a real lecture - David Huxley gave a lecture which introduced the class to various film theories. The lecture was punctuated by video clips and lasted a little over an hour. After the lecture we split up into groups. My group met in the Righton Building. This part of the course began with icebreakers. Following this we were against split into groups and we analyzed the opening scenes of "Brotherhood of the Wolf." I contributed most to the group and was selected as spokesman when it was our turn to present.
The following day was the first meeting for Aesthetics of Trash. David Huxley went briefly through the syllabus, then showed some video clips of various animated shorts and exploitation films. The lecture was not too long. That evening I went next door and watched Jimbo play against Dan in the computer game "Age of Empires II." We then watched "Constantine" in Dan's room. It was an entertaining if mediocre film.
I spend the following day almost entirely in my room. I had meant to go next door, but Polly told me that most of the flat's occupants had gone home, so I decided to stay in. The last class of the week, European Cinema, was also the shorter. The professor went through the syllabus in just about half an hour. After class I went to the Student Information Point in the All Saints Building to turn in a sheet with my professors' signatures which allowed me to take their classes. It took longer than it should have, since a girl was talking forever to the international official, so I turned it into the receptionist instead. I then went back to my dorm to prepare for leave for Liverpool. I will write tomorrow on the trip, what led up to it, and what has happened since. For now, good night.