UEL Orientation (Day 3 of 3)

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!

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!”)

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!

Obviously, I do not own any of the material seen in this video.

It is an excerpt from an episode of "The Catherine Tate Show."

I am merely borrowing it for the purposes of demonstration.

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)!

Tower Bridge

Brett at Tower Bridge

The Tower of London

The White Tower at the Tower of London

Brett at the White Tower at the Tower of London

UEL Orientation (Day 2 of 3)

The second of three orientation days wasn’t terribly eventful. Neither, for that matter, was my day—meaning this will be short. All it consisted of was formally enrolling, having my visa checked by school officials, and getting my new student ID. 

(The ID is kind of interesting, but only because everything—and I mean EVERYTHING—is dependant on this little swipe card! Without it, you can’t even get into the bathroom, let alone your classroom or the building it’s in. Oh, and you even have to swipe it when you come into class, ’cause that’s how they track attendance.)

After that (about three hours total), I came home and did a bunch of UEL-related stuff on the computer (e.g., looking more into the various social groups on campus), spent a while in my quest for housing (no responses yet), ate dinner with KG and MM while watching the news, and then Skyped with the family.

Now, here it is at 10 PM GMT, and I’m ready for bed. Tomorrow should be a bit more interesting, mainly because it’s orientation for my program of study.

Going down…

UEL Orientation (Day 1 of 3)

Well, today was the big day: orientation at UEL (part 1 of 3); and, it went very well! Now sit right back and allow me to regale you (bore you?) with the day’s adventures…

It all started, as no morning ever should, at 4:58 AM GMT, when I woke up for no freakin’ reason. I mean, seriously, I had another hour-and-a-half in which I could have rested. Alas, it was not meant to be. So, I tossed and turned for a bit, until, finally, I just said, ‘Screw it!’ and went over to the computer…

And who had just posted on my FB wall their well-wishes for my day? The divine Mr Ruley, that’s who. Turns out he was just about to go to bed as I was getting up. So we chatted it up for a bit online before I finally resigned myself to the fact that it was time to go. That was Great Start Event #1.

Great Start Event #2 happened as I was making my trek toward the tube stop: first, my iPod randomly selected Eartha Kitt’s “An Englishman Needs Time.” Why was this so great? Well, lemme tell ya: it’s awesome on one level simply because it was Heavenly Eartha herself, on another because it was a recording taken from the concert that Nic and I saw her perform live, and on a third level because it was about an Englishman and I’m in, well, England.

And then (Great Event #3), my iPod started playing “It’s Getting Better” by Mama Cass Eliot (Mamas and the Papas). Again, you may wonder why I’m classifying this as something great. You see I fell in love with the song (and the group) through their inclusion in one of the most romantic gay films I’ve ever seen: “Beautiful Thing.” (The flick in question was one of the few things that kept me sane in the early days of my coming to terms with my sexual identity—try as I might to find positive, happy representations of gayness, queer filmmakers of the ’90s were seemingly eager to paint a picture of gayness equaling misery, suffering, death, drugs, and infidelity. Damn it, I wanted more—and found exactly what I was looking for in the sweet love story of Jamie and Ste.) At any rate, the song was awesome/fitting because the film is set in Thamesmead, about 2.69 miles away from UEL. (Hmm….a day trip might be happening soon…)

Eventually, I made my way to the tube and began my journey proper. The entire trip took me about 1.5 hours—first I had to transfer from the District to the Jubilee line, and then I had to switch again to the Docklands Light Rail (DLR). Shockingly, it wasn’t bad!

Part of My Journey

Orientation itself was a bit overwhelming! Lots of information coming our way about everything from library services, to visa no-no’s, to trips around London and elsewhere. It was all a bit much, but after I’ve had some time to digest it all, it should (hopefully) make sense.

At 12:30 PM GMT we were given £5 vouchers to any of the multiple eating establishments on-campus. I wasn’t interested in much, so I just grabbed an egg sandwich and a coffee*—except, the grandmotherly cashier wouldn’t let me get away with just that. She kept insisting that it was a waste of money (as the two items only came to £2.65, or thereabouts), and forcing food on me! First, she told me to take an apple, which I did so as to be polite. Next, she told me to take a banana—I protested that it was too much, but she insisted…and then she insisted again, telling me to take a second banana! Finally, to top it all off, she told me to pick up a pack of belVita Breakfast Biscuits! It was all a bit absurd, but I did as I was told—guess I have dessert and breakfast for tomorrow.

Grandmotherly Cashier, or Nabisco Enforcer?

Following my sandwich and coffee, I wandered around the campus a bit. It really is a unique place—between the adjoining Thames and the occasional fishy breeze, one definitely feels as if they’re near docks, and the colorful, rounded dorms blend in almost perfectly with that nautical setting. Then there’s the London city airport, which is directly across the river—the large(ish) planes landing and taking off within seeming arm-reach is really cool. In some ways, UEL is very reminiscent of Columbia, but in other ways it’s just different enough that (at least at this point) it makes me feel a touch homesick. 

UEL/Docklands Dorms on the Thames

London City Airport and the Thames (Behind the Big Giant Head)

At 2:00 PM GMT, a group of us headed over to the Gallions Reach shopping center. There wasn’t too much there, but it was fun to go along on my first excursion with my London peers.

Around 5:30 PM GMT, I finally left campus and started the long trek home. I did make one final detour though: when it came time to transfer from the Jubilee to the District line, I left the tube and made my way to the street-level. You see, I was at the Westminster Stop, and one of my biggest regrets from the last time Nic and I were here was that I never got decent photos of the Palace of Westminster (the parliament building) at night. Tonight I rectified that, as can be seen from the photos below. And while I was there, I was able to actually hear Big Ben toll the 6:00 hour.

The Millennium Eye

Brett, "Big Ben," and Palace of Westminster

Westminster Abbey

After wandering for a bit, I returned home and chatted briefly, once more, with Nic as he prepared for tonight’s show. Then I enjoyed a yummy dinner of chicken and rice with KG and MM while watching “Coronation Street.” (I’m sure I’ll talk more about it later, but I’ve had a great time discussing British soaps and audience interaction with KG and MM while I’ve been here—I think the fact that they’re such a phenomenon over here is awesome, and I really want to get at that difference between British and USAmerican culture. I also think it’s interesting that British soaps are ongoing narratives like our own, despite the fact that so many other British television programs are self-contained narratives.)

Anyway, I’ve blathered on enough for one night—time to close shop.  Till the bell tolls again...

* I haven’t mentioned it here yet, but I’m trying to curb my coffee addiction while I’m here. I’ve done really well the last two days, having a single, small cup both days. No more. Quite the change from my multi-pot/day habit!