Uni, Post 1


This is part one of a possibly weekly set of what are effectively diary entries. This will not only motivate me to carry on writing, but furthermore, I’ve been told before not to put anything online I wouldn’t want my mother reading (presumably as a way of stopping me from writing certain things, but my mother’s fairly liberal, so there we have it), and this also means I avoid having to repeat myself over and over again answering questions from my mum as to how university is going, as I can instead show her this. Finally, I can no longer damage “the reputation of the school” (Our year’s exam results probably did that job for me anyway.)

To coin a phrase, alas. Results day came and went, post-results-day events occurred, and I ended up through clearing and some exceptionally helpful admissions officers at my original third choice, the University of York. I considered making it my insurance, which would have made the whole process a lot less stressful, but I originally didn’t based off accommodation and the fact I didn’t really want to be shacked up in the asbestos ridden hellholes that are CLASP, having just spent ~ 9 years at CC & SPS, which composes some part of the university buildings & colleges at York. Turns out, not really an issue. Heslington East, the fairly new bit of the campus which is a large extensions has new, non-asbestos-actually-sort-of-environmentally-friendly-non-shitholes buildings, and increasing parts of the original campus are being upgraded & replaced, so a lot of it looks like a building site. Just like SPS, then, except with geese. So many geese. There are also some rabbits, though, which is fairly nice.

Besides, a side effect of clearing meant there was no on-campus accommodation left anyway, so my original issues turned out to not really be a concern. Instead, I was referred to a third party student accommodation company, Student Castle, who had just opened a new set of flats and stuff in a redevelopment just within the ancient Roman walls of York. I’ll admit that I did turn my nose up at it as I walked past it, mid-construction (clearly in an attempt to replicate the on-campus situation, it too is partially a building site, and has loud geese), on my way to the university open day earlier this year, but there we have it. My room’s £139 a week, which is similar to shared kitchen en-suite rooms on campus. Student Castle does have some extra benefits, my favourite of which is the free bike rental. Whilst the rent includes a year long bus pass, the university isn’t that far away, and is a fairly pleasant cycle, with some nice hills to climb and then roll down (speaking of which, did some proper no-hands cycling today. Only took 18 years…). Plus, you can even sometimes get shouted at for cycling, just like in London!

This week’s been induction stuff, in terms of the academic side of things. Given my fairly poor work with foreign languages, I don’t think I’ll be taking a Languages-for-All course this year in preparation for a foreign literature/language module next year, part of the English course here at York. Instead, I’m thinking of doing the Anglo-Saxon literature lit/lang course, which doesn’t have any language prerequisites.

From a social perspective –– so many names! One downside, I guess, of being off-campus is that spending time in the college common room is a bit of a chore, but the cycle is quite nice, if not bloody cold on the way back. I’ve prepared for the North, though, by bringing five scarves, which I think should be enough for me to survive the winter. A college formal at the National Railway Museum was great, though, and I got to know some people there. Also, trains.

So many trains

I also met some people with the tempting offer of Super Smash Bros: Melee and Mario Kart: Double Dash.

Uni YikYak game is strong, 2 #1s so far, top score of 162.

Food wise, having left London, I left Lal Bagh of East Sheen for the last time. :(. I’ll miss the dodgy ordering, varied delivery times, and the succulent Chicken Madras. Freshers food has consisted for two Tescos pepperoni pizzas spiced up with some fresh chilli & chorizo, four yoghurts, two bacon sandwiches, some cereal, a BLT, pasta, a burger, a Tescos curry, and the traditional Thursday takeaway curry, and lots of Earl Grey tea. Not entirely happy with the curry I had, might have to try a new place, as well as adjust its frequency - student budget and that. Madras was too lemony, not spicy enough.

I’m currently reading (as you can see from the books post, to be honest) W. H. Auden’s “The Dyer’s Hand”, which is quite interesting. Plus, a lovely set of coincidences happened on the day I picked it up from the library, both on an earlier talk about translation and the opening of the book, as well as the more obvious surname related link.

Wit

I’ll probably have to start reading my course texts soon, though.

Oh, and Doctor Who was surprisingly decent, though the spinoff sounds shit.

I think that’s all.

last.fm 3x3: 3x3 My Spotify Discover Weekly playlists have been pretty disappointing recently. Oh well.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtS2Ikk7A9I My sides are somewhere in the newly found waters of Mars from this video. CLAM FLESH!!

See you next week.

H./