First of all, I don't think I'll bother commenting on the election fiasco. The rest of the world's media has done that brilliantly and precisely (even though I still don't think my vote helped things particularly).
This week's post will be a very honest, open view on student life from the perspective of someone who doesn't go out every week or even every three weeks. I prefer a quieter night in. Last week I mentioned meeting up with friends and going for a drink at Bar One, the bar on the Vale. That was definitely what I would call is 'my territory'. Personally, I see massive clubs like Gatecrasher and so on (see, I haven't even got a wealth of experience there to mention a few more) to be places I'd go to for occasions. Perhaps that sounded a little bitter but there's a reason for this. I've mentioned in previous posts about the atmosphere in university halls. You have to be prepared for interrupted sleep on nights that are frequent to begin with then they die down and happen only twice a week then they creep up again and so on.
I have to be blunt: I don't necessarily feel a part of the community of Tennis Court. I haven't met many people yet who don't have the, shall we say, typical student mentality of work vs play. I'm working on that. I am, though, counting down the days (two months!) until I'm in my second year house and I know I won't have to worry about the kitchen being an utter disgrace. My flat failed our recent flat inspection twice. It was spotless after the second inspection because the boys realised what they were living in. When I was the last one to leave, at Easter, I'd tidied the kitchen up nicely so I'd have something nice and fresh to come back to. I then polished it up a bit when I returned. Then it got messy. It stayed messy for two weeks. This morning I decided that just wasn't acceptable any more and I cleaned up. Luckily, the boys appreciate when this happens and I buttered them up even more with some freshly baked cupcakes so hopefully the kitchen will stay at least in an acceptable state.
In a small aside - I'm loving Doctor Who right now. Apart from the episode that was on tonight. That was slightly naff. Not quite as genius as Steven Moffat's weeping angels. Watching Confidential (which is arguably my favourite of the two parts - main then behind the scenes) I began to see how the true story linked in with the writer's idea. It kind of made sense. I'm not a history buff, though, so it took a few facts and a history lesson from one of the residents for me to understand a snippet. It's a good series, though. Ok maybe that wasn't such a small aside. And I could discuss the matter further.
Adding to my waiting game, I'm also looking forward to transforming my crowded room into a whole house. The person I'm living with - my boyfriend - may not be staying with me over summer because he'd like to spend some time at home so I'll have the house to myself for however long I stay there for (I'm thinking of getting work experience here while I have a few months spare). That means I can really move in and organise my stuff. I can buy a book shelf and make a mini library corner and a desk to put my old PC on and a little exercise corner next to the TV and a work corner in my room with all my folders. Ooh, exciting! And a shoe corner. Can't forget the shoes.
The Northern Society have been on hiatus to figure a few things out and we're back to the drawing board. Hopefully there will be more interesting news to come, with that. I urge all potential freshers to look out for us at Freshers Fair.
Showing posts with label halls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halls. Show all posts
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Week 2: Noise vs Sleep
Someone please let everyone know Freshers Week (Welcome Week, officially) is over. Since Monday I've wanted to go to sleep at about 10.30pm, which I regard as an early night compared to most nights being somewhere between midnight and 1am. Monday, I forgot it was my flatmate's birthday this week so we planned to go out to Gatecrasher. I engaged in the pre-games but then realised how tired I was and slipped away to my room when everyone had gone. No 10.30 sleep. Tuesday night was probably my fault because I just stayed up on Facebook and Youtube, browsing nothingness. Wednesday was a certain in my head because I planned out everything I needed to do and was ready to go to sleep at half 10. The problem was, one of my flatmates decided to hold pre-games for her tennis team's night out. They left at about 11.30pm, leaving a lovely mess I briefly tidied then proceeded to sleep at just gone midnight. Thursday didn't happen because I went out for a meal with my boyfriend and we stayed up a bit longer playing Articulate (best game in the world ever) and I eventually fell asleep at about half past midnight. Last night I was determined! I would finally get my 10.30pm sleep. It didn't happen. Due to an extremely busy and stressful week, my eyes grew heavy at about 8pm. Deciding there was no point browsing nothingness or getting any work done, I got ready for bed and shut my eyes at about 10 past. At quarter past, just when I had drifted into near-sleep-state, one of my flatmates made a loud noise. This wasn't intentionally to wake me up, it just happened that there was a bunch of them in the kitchen waiting to go down to the Hub, I assume to play a game or two of pool. Then my phone rang. Then I got a text. I rebelled and stayed up past midnight again. Bad times.
The moral of that story is: you should probably come to University armed with earplugs or if you end up with considerate flatmates, appreciate it like its the last thing on earth you'll receive.
Another thing to warn aspiring Uni folk is about the noise around halls. It's common sense that if you live in a densely populated area it's going to have some kind of noise. TC (Tennis Court) has noise in the form of large groups of boys chanting various songs about either TC or Mason (our rivals across the road) and several (and I mean the LOTS kind of several) groups of people waiting for taxis in the car park outside the window. They don't wait quietly, for sure. Last week, when the snow was still abundant, I had to shut my window with a little bit of anger as I had just drifted off to sleep when a snowball hit the glass with some force, waking me up. They got the message. Unfortunately, people who 'get the message' are few and far between in halls. It generally works on a majority vote. If one person is going to sleep, that person is insignificant. Obviously this isn't a valid general rule. I most definitely take into consideration if one of my flatmates wants an early night and I'm still awake. It's just basic politeness.
The moral of that story is: you should probably come to University armed with earplugs or if you end up with considerate flatmates, appreciate it like its the last thing on earth you'll receive.
Another thing to warn aspiring Uni folk is about the noise around halls. It's common sense that if you live in a densely populated area it's going to have some kind of noise. TC (Tennis Court) has noise in the form of large groups of boys chanting various songs about either TC or Mason (our rivals across the road) and several (and I mean the LOTS kind of several) groups of people waiting for taxis in the car park outside the window. They don't wait quietly, for sure. Last week, when the snow was still abundant, I had to shut my window with a little bit of anger as I had just drifted off to sleep when a snowball hit the glass with some force, waking me up. They got the message. Unfortunately, people who 'get the message' are few and far between in halls. It generally works on a majority vote. If one person is going to sleep, that person is insignificant. Obviously this isn't a valid general rule. I most definitely take into consideration if one of my flatmates wants an early night and I'm still awake. It's just basic politeness.
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Week 0: Moving and Settling In
Hello random readers! I may as well introduce myself considering this is the first post. There is a section somewhere on here with a few facts about myself but I can write more in here. I'm Vici Royle, I'm a Drama and Theatre Arts student at the University of Birmingham. I'm living a self catered flat Tennis Court (Centre Court, to be exact), which is part of the Vale student village. My family home is in Doncaster, near Sheffield, and I appear to be one of the very few northerners at the Uni. We're a rare breed. What else? As well as being clearly interested in theatre - acting, backstage stuff, theory and everything else to do with it - I like watching (not playing) ice hockey and I'm an utter Harry Potter nerd. In this here blog I'll be pretty much keeping track of what's going on in my life and how it feels to be a student living away from home (though my flat feels like a second home already) and facing up to proper adulthood.
And so onto the post! The week before moving to university was a bit hectic. I was sent a reading and equipment list which meant I had to buy two books (the complete works of William Shakespeare and a drama anthology) and some steel capped boots (the Drama course isn't just about acting, it also includes backstage work which includes building the set, props etc which requires safety equipment). I had a mini panic when I looked at the reading list because there were so many on the list. There were two must-haves, aforementioned, six 'essential reading' and a few more on general reading. I was advised that I didn't have to buy all of them and should just buy the must-haves and exploit the 2million+ volume library on campus. To buy all the essential and must-haves would've set me back over £100 so I was happy not to hand over so much money especially as being a student means this horrible thing called budgeting enters your life, which I will develop on later.
It took me two hours to drive to the university and I was still an hour early (I was allocated a time slot to move in). The atmosphere was incredible when I arrived. There was music blaring out of the TeCRA (Tennis Court Residents Association) office, a marquee to collect keys and Freshers Fest (I'll explain later) tickets as well as the internet CD and insurance. I'm in Block 21 which meant that I couldn't escape the blaring music (TeCRA office is just downstairs) but that didn't matter at all because it added to the excitement of moving in. Naturally I let my Mother sort out the kitchen stuff while I set up my PC and put my books away. The internet was very easy to set up and took only ten minutes and a restart. There were three options: free, £70 and expensive. I chose the free package and it's really good. I haven't yet tried to watch anything on the iPlayer or 4OD so that could be a good measure to see how awesome the internet is but I'm sure that won't be an issue at all.
My flatmates (there are six of us in my flat) arrived at staggered times with one arriving a day late because he couldn't make the allocated move in day, which wasn't a problem at all (though he did have to arrive before 8.30 to get his keys whereas my move in time was 12.30 - 13.30). There was a welcome meeting the whole of Tennis Court at 2.30pm so we had enough time to organise the important things in our rooms and the kitchen, to remember names and sit around in the lounge to chat. We all agree that we were really lucky with flatmates because we already feel like we've known each other for ages and act like a family. If there are any problems (cleaning, for example) then there's never an argument because we all understand that we have to look out for each other and make sure we're all happy to live together. We get along really well, too, so that helps. There are already a few in-jokes and lots of funny stories.
The girls and I made a few friends on the way to the welcome meeting who, we found out, were living in the block right next to us, so we've seen them alot all week. We actually class one of them as the extra flatmate because he spends so much time in our flat. It was really easy to make friends with random people here because most people are very social and like to knock on random doors to say hello and get to know everyone. Danny, one of my flatmates, has a mission to get to know the name of everyone in centre court by the end of the year. He's already off to a flying start.
After we all settled in on Sunday, we went down to Bar One at the Hub in the Vale for a drink. Unfortunately the frivolities were cut short when there was a fire alarm and we were all evacuated. We all went back to the flat to play a few card games and make the most of the first night, regardless.
Monday was the start of the Freshers Fest. This is a university organised festival that includes nights out almost every day of the week (not compulsory) as well as vouchers for one free admission at the cinema, one free game of bowling and one free comedy night at Jongleurs. There were various levels of the pack depending on what the individual wants to get involved in. I bought the Silver Package which included all the nights in FF as well as Calvin Harris for next Friday and the Freshers Ball, which was last night. The Gold Package also includes N-Dubz. The prices ranged from cheap to expensive. The most expensive (gold) was £65 plus postage/booking fee and the cheapest was just a Freshers Ball ticket at £20 plus postage/booking fee. There's also a comedy night with an actor from The Inbetweeners for £7. You could buy individual tickets for Calvin Harris, N-Dubz and the Freshers Ball if you so wished to. That was mainly for people who missed out on buying them online before arriving at University.
Wednesday wasn't a particularly nice start, for me, because I had to wake up at 7am after a late night to make sure I was down at the Selly Oak campus for 10am, it being a 45 minute walk away. The reason for this was an introduction lecture to the course. There was a Facebook group already set up for the people doing Drama at Birmingham so I posted a notice to say that anyone who wanted to walk down together should meet in the Centre Court courtyard. About ten people turned up, a few from other halls but mostly TC. We had a lovely walk down to the Selly Oak campus, together, chatting breeze on the way. After the introduction to all the staff and the basic structure of the course, we were given the name of our Personal Tutor and had a meeting with them where we were given our timetable. We had to work out which slots were ours because there were various groups. I have Thursday off, which is nice. I doubt I'll actually have it off compeltely though because I've been advised that for every hour of contact (a lecture, a seminar etc) I have to do five hours of reading. I have about eight hours, at a guess, of contact, per week.
This morning my student finance information arrived in the post (which was delivered directly to my flat) so I could embrace the lovely task of budgeting. I chose to organise a weekly budget. I'm getting the full tuition fee loan, which I won't see because it is paid directly to the University, the full maintenance loan (income assessed) and a non-repayable grant which means I'll be surviving on £80 a week, which is very comfortable. As well as that funding, I'll be getting two bursaries from the University which are paid in two installments in January and May, I believe. I'll comment on them when I get them because they're irrelevant at the moment. With the budget I'll be able to do a limited weekly shop, save some money for laundry (£2.20 for a wash, £1 for the dryer), have a few notes for entertainment and perhaps save some money for summer or birthdays/Christmas.
And with that I'm off to make myself some dinner and hang out with the flatmates who have arrived back from wherever they escaped to. I should be updating this blog once a week with the happenings of Birmingham so do come back every Saturday or Sunday to see what's going on in Flat 135.
And so onto the post! The week before moving to university was a bit hectic. I was sent a reading and equipment list which meant I had to buy two books (the complete works of William Shakespeare and a drama anthology) and some steel capped boots (the Drama course isn't just about acting, it also includes backstage work which includes building the set, props etc which requires safety equipment). I had a mini panic when I looked at the reading list because there were so many on the list. There were two must-haves, aforementioned, six 'essential reading' and a few more on general reading. I was advised that I didn't have to buy all of them and should just buy the must-haves and exploit the 2million+ volume library on campus. To buy all the essential and must-haves would've set me back over £100 so I was happy not to hand over so much money especially as being a student means this horrible thing called budgeting enters your life, which I will develop on later.
It took me two hours to drive to the university and I was still an hour early (I was allocated a time slot to move in). The atmosphere was incredible when I arrived. There was music blaring out of the TeCRA (Tennis Court Residents Association) office, a marquee to collect keys and Freshers Fest (I'll explain later) tickets as well as the internet CD and insurance. I'm in Block 21 which meant that I couldn't escape the blaring music (TeCRA office is just downstairs) but that didn't matter at all because it added to the excitement of moving in. Naturally I let my Mother sort out the kitchen stuff while I set up my PC and put my books away. The internet was very easy to set up and took only ten minutes and a restart. There were three options: free, £70 and expensive. I chose the free package and it's really good. I haven't yet tried to watch anything on the iPlayer or 4OD so that could be a good measure to see how awesome the internet is but I'm sure that won't be an issue at all.
My flatmates (there are six of us in my flat) arrived at staggered times with one arriving a day late because he couldn't make the allocated move in day, which wasn't a problem at all (though he did have to arrive before 8.30 to get his keys whereas my move in time was 12.30 - 13.30). There was a welcome meeting the whole of Tennis Court at 2.30pm so we had enough time to organise the important things in our rooms and the kitchen, to remember names and sit around in the lounge to chat. We all agree that we were really lucky with flatmates because we already feel like we've known each other for ages and act like a family. If there are any problems (cleaning, for example) then there's never an argument because we all understand that we have to look out for each other and make sure we're all happy to live together. We get along really well, too, so that helps. There are already a few in-jokes and lots of funny stories.
The girls and I made a few friends on the way to the welcome meeting who, we found out, were living in the block right next to us, so we've seen them alot all week. We actually class one of them as the extra flatmate because he spends so much time in our flat. It was really easy to make friends with random people here because most people are very social and like to knock on random doors to say hello and get to know everyone. Danny, one of my flatmates, has a mission to get to know the name of everyone in centre court by the end of the year. He's already off to a flying start.
After we all settled in on Sunday, we went down to Bar One at the Hub in the Vale for a drink. Unfortunately the frivolities were cut short when there was a fire alarm and we were all evacuated. We all went back to the flat to play a few card games and make the most of the first night, regardless.
Monday was the start of the Freshers Fest. This is a university organised festival that includes nights out almost every day of the week (not compulsory) as well as vouchers for one free admission at the cinema, one free game of bowling and one free comedy night at Jongleurs. There were various levels of the pack depending on what the individual wants to get involved in. I bought the Silver Package which included all the nights in FF as well as Calvin Harris for next Friday and the Freshers Ball, which was last night. The Gold Package also includes N-Dubz. The prices ranged from cheap to expensive. The most expensive (gold) was £65 plus postage/booking fee and the cheapest was just a Freshers Ball ticket at £20 plus postage/booking fee. There's also a comedy night with an actor from The Inbetweeners for £7. You could buy individual tickets for Calvin Harris, N-Dubz and the Freshers Ball if you so wished to. That was mainly for people who missed out on buying them online before arriving at University.
Wednesday wasn't a particularly nice start, for me, because I had to wake up at 7am after a late night to make sure I was down at the Selly Oak campus for 10am, it being a 45 minute walk away. The reason for this was an introduction lecture to the course. There was a Facebook group already set up for the people doing Drama at Birmingham so I posted a notice to say that anyone who wanted to walk down together should meet in the Centre Court courtyard. About ten people turned up, a few from other halls but mostly TC. We had a lovely walk down to the Selly Oak campus, together, chatting breeze on the way. After the introduction to all the staff and the basic structure of the course, we were given the name of our Personal Tutor and had a meeting with them where we were given our timetable. We had to work out which slots were ours because there were various groups. I have Thursday off, which is nice. I doubt I'll actually have it off compeltely though because I've been advised that for every hour of contact (a lecture, a seminar etc) I have to do five hours of reading. I have about eight hours, at a guess, of contact, per week.
This morning my student finance information arrived in the post (which was delivered directly to my flat) so I could embrace the lovely task of budgeting. I chose to organise a weekly budget. I'm getting the full tuition fee loan, which I won't see because it is paid directly to the University, the full maintenance loan (income assessed) and a non-repayable grant which means I'll be surviving on £80 a week, which is very comfortable. As well as that funding, I'll be getting two bursaries from the University which are paid in two installments in January and May, I believe. I'll comment on them when I get them because they're irrelevant at the moment. With the budget I'll be able to do a limited weekly shop, save some money for laundry (£2.20 for a wash, £1 for the dryer), have a few notes for entertainment and perhaps save some money for summer or birthdays/Christmas.
And with that I'm off to make myself some dinner and hang out with the flatmates who have arrived back from wherever they escaped to. I should be updating this blog once a week with the happenings of Birmingham so do come back every Saturday or Sunday to see what's going on in Flat 135.
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Name: Vici Royle