So, today was the third day of orientation, and, by far, the
best, because it included the induction ceremony for my school...
PLEASE STANDBY FOR AN EMERGENCY BULLETIN:
Before I go too much further, I should provide some quick
notes on differences between American and British English when it comes to
discussing academics. For one thing, “college” is called “university” over here
(apparently, “college” is a term used for posh high schools). Next, “courses”
are referred to as “modules,” and your program of study (e.g., Cultural
Studies) is called your “course.”
THIS CONCLUDES THE EMERGENCY BULLETIN…
Okay, got that? So, the induction was for my program of
study (Cultural Studies) and things related to it.
It kicked off with a two-on-one meeting with the head of the
program, Debbie Shaw. She’s seems to be a really cool person, and she even
remembered me from her brief visit to Columbia for last year’s Cultural Studies
Association conference. She gave us the ins-and-outs of the program, and
instilled a bit of the fear of God into us regarding assessments (the primary
method of evaluation our progress—there are two of them per semester, and one
is worth approximately 45% of our final grade and the other is worth about 35%
of our final grade). I wasn’t able to meet my second teacher because he won’t
be back from his sabbatical until next week (I'm excited to talk more with him because most of his CS work centers on sex and pornography!), and my third teacher wasn’t there
either. Ah, well.
After meeting with Debbie, I had some downtime. Starving, I
grabbed a full English breakfast from The Edge (one of our on-campus
restaurants)—eggs, friend bread, bacon (ham), hash browns, and beans; and, no, I did not eat any of the mushrooms or black pudding. Yummy
yummy yummy—I’ve been waiting for a FEB since about two minutes after I left
London the last time!
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| I ate my meats, but didn't want any puddin'! |
Having stuffed myself, I meandered around the main hall of
East Building. I glossed over most of the groups advertising their things
because they were all sports-related, and anyone who has known me for more than
a few minutes knows that I’m not sports-inclined. But then…
Wait... what? Did I just see what I thought I saw?
Why… yes… it’s…
UEL HAS A TRIATHLON CLUB!
It’s £30 for the semester, and I’ll have access to
swim-training on one night and biking/running on another. Coaches will also be
available, and, when I asked about my lack of a bike in the UK, I was told that
I could just rent it if I wanted. Even better, the team currently consists of
some staff members and two students (neither of whom has actually done a tri
before)—meaning, despite my lackluster physicality, I’m still the most
experienced one of the lot! AMAZING! So, yeah, I think I’m gonna sign up for
that bad-boy—but I am NOT swimming in the Thames!
After chatting it up with the students advertising the
triathlon group, I headed on to my next session: a meeting with Hugh Bowman,
the Cultural Studies program’s personal librarian. He’s a 64 year old
Scotsman—at least I hope he’s a Scotsman—with a really long, gray, shaggy
beard. From the start, he reminded me of Dooley from “Santa Claus: The Movie.” And
he was also very pleasant and quite humorous, rounding out the comparison. (He
also has the distinction of being the first actual UK citizen I’ve heard use
the phrase “Bob’s your uncle!”)
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| Best. Librarian. Ever. (Next to Barbara Worley.) |
After Hugh, two other speakers inundated us with information
on everything from the campus bookstore, to emergency phone numbers, to
equipment rentals (e.g., cameras, sound equipment, laptops, etc.), and more. As
if all that wasn’t bad enough, the leader then played a 13 minute video about
all of the accommodations UEL offers for students who need them (e.g., dyslexia
services, childcare, etc.)—in all, about 9 people were interviewed during the
course of the video, and at the end of each segment they would repeat the URL
where viewers could find out more: “double-u, double-u, dot; you-eee-el;
dot-co-dot-u-kay; forward-slash ______” By about the third time I could no
longer hold my giggles, because I just kept hearing the Georgie character (from
“The Catherine Tate Show”) plugging one of her charity websites!
Orientation ended with a lovely reception in the Art and
Design gallery, where the Dean served us wine and sandwiches. She was a lovely
woman from Dublin, with short salt-and-pepper hair and striking eyes. Both the
Dean and the Vice-Chancellor offered us their words of welcome, and then we
were able to mingle with staff for a bit. Very nice.
Don’t worry, I’m almost done…
Below you’ll find a few snapshots form my continued
exploration of London at night. Tonight I took the DLR all the way to the Tower
Hill stop, where I hopped out and walked around the Tower of London and Tower
Bridge (and City Hall). I love this freakin’ city!
Until next time, remember: Bob’s your uncle!
PS: Today was a two-coffee day (awwww); but, I got to watch another episode of "Come Dine with Me" on TV (yay)!
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| Tower Bridge |
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| Brett at Tower Bridge |
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| The Tower of London |
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| The White Tower at the Tower of London |
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| Brett at the White Tower at the Tower of London |
I dare you to tri on a Boris Bike!!
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA! Well, I DO need to find one somewhere...
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