Week 1 of Semester 1: A Very Complicated Week

From now on I'll be prefixing each post title with the week and semester number, just to be ever so organised. This addiction to organisation is a very handy tool for university because it means that everything (apart from my study/room) is neat and tidy. It also means I'm likely to not be snowed under with all the work I'm getting.

So last week I forgot to post about the fairs that went on every day at the Guild. As it's a week late, I'll just briefly explain: On Monday and Tuesday the Guild hosted the Freshers Fair which is, in one word, 'FREEBIES'. Companies from all over Birmingham flock to the Underground and Underground Lawn in the Guild to give away free stuff and promote whatever they're selling or advertising. For example, various pizza takeaways were giving out a free slice of pizza and lots of leaflets with discounts and student offers. Asda were giving out a food bag with essentially a three course microwaveable meal and a leaflet of student offers and vouchers. There was a majority of clubs and bars giving out vouchers and encouraging freshers to sign up to their mailing lists for queue jumping and discounted entry fees as well as raising awareness of student nights and drinks/food offers.

Tuesday was also the first day of the two-day Jobs Fair. JobZone, from the Guild, came down to raise awareness for their services (they help students of any year, any subject, any degree level, to get a job or work experience in any field) joining various companies who were looking for students to employ. The majority of jobs available were in retail and catering so they didn't appeal to me but I did pick up details from the Birmingham Hippodrome about volunteer work (which gives me the advantage of discounted tickets and, if I work as an usher, seeing a show for free). The job centre also had a stand and had with them lots of printed sheets with details of available jobs (surprising!) and a system to use to apply for them (find a job that appeals, write down the code, go back to your flat, think about it, go on the website, type in the code, apply). The one job from their list that sticks out in my mind was 'Occupational Therapist'. Not quite the same as 'Shop Assistant', really! A few of the jobs, including the aforementioned, paid very well whereas some were minimum wage or £6 an hour. It really did depend on the type of work, which is fairly obvious anyway.

Wednesday was the second Jobs Fair but I don't think I went to that one because I had a very busy day of Drama. Thursday was the Volunteering Fair and Societies Fair. I browsed the volunteering section and saw nothing of personal interest but I do remember seeing various companies from other countries who were promoting working abroad during summer, as well as one or two Forces stands. I think I saw something a bit bizarre like a company who were wanting students to promote volunteering by volunteering. I wasn't quite sure how they earned a profit through that but perhaps my flatmate, Mike, who is studying Economics and has a fascination with money making schemes (he joined the Poker society), could explain that. The societies fair was even more packed than both Freshers Fairs (yes, I went to both because I wanted a lot of freebies... and I wanted more to write about in here) AND it was stretched over two days. University of Birmingham is big on extra activities which is fantastic. I didn't hang around for a long time for the first day of societies because I knew exactly what I was looking for: GMTG (Guild Musical Theatre Group). It set me back £4 to join the society but I didn't have to pay to audition for the performances they set up. The joining fee meant I could go to the workshops, was on the mailing list and could have access to all the socials and outings they plan. Their first performance will be in a few weeks time and they've just finished the audition process. Its Sweeney Todd. I went to the open audition but found out the day later that I couldn't be cast because my Theatre Crafts backstage allocation clashed with the performance week. I wouldn't be able to make it. I spoke to the choreographer (who happens to be performing in Vinegar Tom, which was the clash) and she empathised and encouraged me to audition for the showcase in Week 4 because she thought my audition was really good. If I get a place in the showcase, I'll get to perform something on my own which is even better than a possible casting in Sweeney. As well as GMTG at the Societies Fair, there were several sports clubs and various 'pointless' societies which bring together people with similar interests and provide a cool way to meet people or develop skills. I was told there were lots of martial arts societies. The full list can be found here. What's great about the Guild is that if there is any society that you think is missing from the list, you can set up your own (provided that you find a certain amount of people who are also enthusiastic about the chosen topic). The most random societies, in my opinion, are: Ginge-Soc, Vegetarian, Neighbours, Tricksoc. There's even, I've just found out this second, a Wilderness Medicine society. That actually sounds really interesting. The brief description says they are a society who are interested in emergency medicine, trauma relief and practising first aid in remote areas. Useful! The sports clubs at this fair were a mixture of casual teams and university teams which were more serious. My flatmate Katy tried out for the tennis team and was so good that she got a place. This meant that she had to pay £210 for membership at the Priory Tennis Club (normally about £800) which is where the training and matches are played. She has training twice a week and tells us that she's not very good but to get onto the university team is a privilege so we'll see about that when her first match is scheduled. Friday was the second half of the societies fair. I didn't go to this one because I'd already signed up for the Musical Theatre society but I could've gone ahead if I wanted to. My flatmate Nathan is a member of several societies including Debating, Redbrick (the university newspaper) and various other things I've forgotten already. Most societies keep in touch via Facebook groups where they can advertise their next meetings, workshops, events and socials as well as news about the society, about anything linked to it and other random things.

And so onto this week! I should've really included all the above in last week's post but it doesn't matter now.

This week was the first official week of term. This meant that the frivolities had to be calmed down and studying began. Because I'm studying single honours Drama and Theatre Arts, I had to sign up for a MOMD (Module Outside Main Discipline). This meant reading up on the various modules available in various subjects and making sure the ones I was interested in would fit with my timetable. As I had an interest in studying religion, from taking R.E at GCSE and A Level, I chose a module from Theology: Introduction to Christian Theology. To sign up for the MOMD, I had to go to the MOMD Fair in the University Centre building on the main campus, collect a sign up sheet, fill it in with the correct codes and details, get the staff from the subject to sign it and hand it in to the admin desk. During sign up, you have to choose a first choice and second choice. This is because some modules are more popular than others and get filled up fairly quickly. Other modules don't have a cap (limit) so it isn't a problem to just turn up. I couldn't afford to wait for confirmation for my MOMD sign up, though, because the first lecture was on Monday (only three or so days after I signed up). I turned up and it was very interesting indeed. The lecturer (Dr Marius Felderhof) managed to make the basics sound really exciting and I was pleased I'd chosen that module. As the MOMD option was sprung upon me in the first induction for Drama, I was a bit lost as to how it worked so had to follow up the lecture with an email to Marius to ask what work I would have to do and what research would be relevant for me. I got an almost instant reply with the relevant documents (reading list, schedule, lecture notes for week one and two) which were also being uploaded to WebCT (the online network/library where important documents are uploaded for students to save and view, saving on paper and keeping things perfectly organised).

Before the Theology lecture on Monday, I had my first Theatre Practice class. This was in the Selly Oak campus (as are all my Drama classes, lectures and seminars) so it took me about 40-45 minutes to walk over. There's a free bus (got my bus pass/card from the Aston Webb building on the main campus) for students but I've yet to research the times that leaves in the morning, from Edgbaston Park Road. Also, walking over there is a nice way to keep fit and wake yourself up bright and early, though the route isn't very scenic (down Edgbaston Park Road, pass the Guild, turn right, up Bristol Road). In this class, we were given some reading for next week and told that we need to start arriving half an hour early to meet in the second rehearsal room to organise our own warm up routine. We would be teaching that to ourselves through our past experience and anything we wish to research. That'll be an interesting way to bond.

On Monday night we all went out to The Custard Factory to see Zane Lowe do a DJ set. He was fantastic! The whole club was a very bizarre arrangement because there was a massive (and fairly empty) room, with a DJ set, that you had to go through as you arrived, then down some stairs to and outside area where there was a pool/pond and an outside bar. Down one side was a disused factory building and round one corner was a burger bar. Further down, through what looked like the entrance to a shopping centre (but wasn't) was a two floor lounge area with toilets, another outdoor pool, another DJ set and two posh-looking bar areas which was packed. Past the first outdoor pool and bar was an odd looking DJ set which had a wall of colour. Through this area was the main room where Zane Lowe turned up at 2am. Before Zane, the DJ was playing indie tracks which I appreciated so much after the majority of nights out had included music just outside of my taste. The only really bad thing about this club was that the floor was covered in empty bottles that people had just thrown there. I had to shuffle my way out because I may have slipped on a bottle and seriously hurt myself. That's always something to look out for on nights out: make sure the floor is empty before walking normally.

I had Tuesday off because I had a timetabled seminar, which is pointless without the reading and lecture preceding it, so it was cancelled for the first week only. I exploited this spare time by finally reading through one of two plays (Greek tragedies) I was given to read for Friday. This one was the famous Oedipus the King. I would recommend reading that, if you have a tolerance for mild gore and shocking tragedy. I'd describe the play as strung out episode of the BBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?'. You'll understand if you've read it.

Wednesday was a full day for me because there was an introduction to library services lecture in the OLRC in the Selly Oak campus as well as the PTPC lecture in which I was told to go and see a piece of theatre (of my choice) within three weeks, for a 1500 word analysis. There was a two and a half hour gap between PTPC and the library lecture which meant we had time to have lunch and socialise. Wednesday night was another night I was looking forward to: Skool Disco @ Risa. Unfortunately I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Risa is a fairly small club but it has something I haven't seen yet which is a chill room where you can go to relax and sit on some really comfortable sofas to have a break from dancing the night away. As it was Skool Disco, the selection of music was '90s cheese'.

Thursday was another free day, for me. I mostly hung out in the lounge with my flatmates and read the 'essential reading'. I had a night in, too, because I didn't fancy going to Gatecrasher. The guys ordered pizza (see, the freshers fair was useful) and probably played Poker or Rummy (I stayed in my room to read and chill). Friday was more full, though another night in for me and night out for the rest of the flat. As my course involves a lot of practical work in the university theatre, we had to endure a day of safety training. My schedule started with a talk about fire and the correct extinguisher for different fires which ended with various people in my group testing out their fire-fighting skills. A few people seemed to enjoy that a little too much. Next followed an hour talk about Manual Handling by Danny, the sound (literally and metaphorically) guy. After that was a talk about Risk Assessment. These two talks were in the HD Cinema area of the theatre (George Cadbury Hall), which, we are told, the BBC like to use. The final talk was about the production allocation project we were briefly told about at the first induction. For this, we have to keep a running log describing what tasks are allocated to yourself during the allocation. First years have to work on either costume crew or other crew. I've been allocated to be on the costume crew for Vinegar Tom, which I mentioned earlier. Each production is performed by third year students and the backstage crew is run by second year students, making performance week a hectic student-filled experience.

In the evening, everyone, minus me, in my flat went to see Calvin Harris at the Guild. I couldn't go because I've been suffering from Freshers Flu since about Tuesday. Thankfully, its going away so I'm feeling much better than before. I sold my CH ticket to a friend who didn't have one so it wasn't a complete loss. One of my friends came over, too, and we played a few card games and generally did a good job of procrastinating before I gave in and had to send him away so I could finish reading (yes, there's lots of reading to do in university).

Finally, Saturday (yesterday) was a very good day for me. I woke up after midday (finally!) and did lots of studenty things like turned my monitor round so I could watch the BBC iPlayer in bed, which works perfectly, by the way, with my free internet connection. From late afternoon onwards we decided to have a night in: just the boys and I. Katy and Sarah had gone away for the weekend to see their families. Mikey had gone away to see his girlfriend. We played Poker, which is a regular occurance in the flat, now, Jenga, and had custard with bananas (99p for a fair bunch at CostCutter).

And now I'm absolutely starving because I've been a dedicated blogger and stuck out writing this whole post without any breaks. I reckon it's spaghetti and spinach with a tomato pasta sauce, for me, today. It's amazing what you can make with very little food/skill.