Hello everyone! I am honestly going to updating as regularly as possible from now on. I realized what I had been doing that has been preventing that so I am going to fix that and put more posts up. For now, I wanted to give a general update of some of the things I have been through and learned since I last posted. The first thing I found out is something that had I lived in a dorm before I am sure I already would have known, but here it is....Do not under any circumstances get romantically or physically involved with someone in your dorm. Mind you I learned this from watching my friends here and I know there are often exceptions to that rule, but still it has lead to a few awkward interactions between my dorm mates. The second thing I found out is that when my weekend starts out going downhill, it will not stop until I have hit the ground. So basically I had a really rubbish weekend. Finally, if you want a good sense of paranoia in your life, join assassin’s guild. I joined and the long game started Monday. Monday I came back to the dorm and found out that, already, two of the three people targeting me had been in the dorm. Needless to say, I was quite a bit paranoid for the remainder of the day.
My classes are going well and my sleep schedule is starting to be affected by everything I have been doing lately, but that is pretty Cornell normal. As is the norm for me, I am learning more in some classes then in others simply because some interest me more. For the most part though, I have been having an awesome time. The only thing is that I am missing certain things about the States. For example, I am missing going into a store and seeing brands I know, I miss being mocked jokingly for my southern accent as opposed to my American accent, I miss not saying rubbish when I am describing something I do not like, and I really kind of miss the currency. That last one might sound odd but I was kind of excited when I found that my friend had a dollar hanging around. Silly no? Anyway that is about it, though I plan to go to Coventry this weekend and will post more about it. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask! Cheers!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Combatting Home-sickness and a general update
So it is now the middle of week 2. A lot has happened in a short amount of time. I am finally now officially settled in. I have completed practically all my forms, got everything sorted out with the bank, am working on assignments regularly, am now enrolled in all my classes, bought everything I have practically needed to buy, have signed up for all the societies and sports I want to do, am eating regularly, and finally over the "fresher flu". It has been rather hectic but I have made a lot of really cool friends, have made trips at midnight to do laundry, have figured out the bus system, have mock assassinated someone, have almost had a debate with a teacher about the merits of optimism, made a trip out of town, and done some karate. It has really been a lot of fun and I got over the transition phase a lot faster than I thought I would. I do have plenty more time here, to pick up Briticisms, laugh with my friends, and work hard in classes, but I must say I will miss this place. Now having gone through everything, including culture shock and home sickness, I highly recommend doing this exchange to any interested individual. It is even possible for upcoming seniors, I am one and I actually am doing a phone interview with a company in the states this Friday. Oh, before I go into the other topic of this post, I have another Ellie-ism, "I cannot see the pasta from the noodles". Just try to imagine about 5 college students with raised eyebrows blatantly staring at her with confused expressions. It was pretty comical. Now that I am settled, I am going to try to update more regularly, but I cannot promise that since things can get really hectic.
Now then for the topic of the day...."How to combat home-sickness".
Home sickness generally affects everyone at some point or another when they have to be away from home for an extended period of time. For some it can take two days for home sickness to appear, for others 2 weeks, and still for others an indefinite amount of time. To be honest, I really envy those who do not experience it. I am generally get it off and on during the first 20 percent of the time I will be away and I have gone away to Cornell several times (I hail from North Carolina) and now obviously I have gone to England. Having said this, I have developed some strategies that help me and may help you one day:
1. Do not think about it. In practice, this is generally hard to do. It is hard to stop thinking about something, even if you tell yourself to stop, but it can be done. I try meditating and focus on nothing and sometime it does work. Although by itself it is not very effective, it is effective in conjunction with other methods.
2. Get your mind off. This is similar to the first but instead of just telling yourself not to think about it, you actually try to distract yourself. This can be done by listening to music, watching a movie, going for a walk, talking with local friends, doing some sort of sport, working on homework, reading a book, etc. Really anything that can distract you, works.
3. Stay busy. Fill up your schedule, although this may seem like an idea that would just add to your overall stress because of the what-ifs (what if I take on too much? what if i cannot get my work done? what if i do not get enough food/sleep/quiet time/etc?), it is actually a very successful strategy that I accidently implemented back in the Spring. I had an absolute crazy academic schedule with Labor law and a writing intensive English course on top of my other courses and being casted in a play. Needless to say I would generally go from Friday to Friday realizing that I had not really had a chance to think since the previous Friday and I will say to me now, it is a blur. However, it was still effective, I just did not have time to think about being away from home and pretty soon it was thankfully the end of term and I kept my grades up. Still wondering about how I managed that....anyway....
4. Talk to family. Sometimes the best remedy is to call your Mom, Dad, sister, brother, grandparents, uncle, aunt, cousin, spouse, lover, boyfriend, girlfriend etc. Sometimes it can help just to hear their voice and know that everything is going alright with them. It is especially nice with my family and fiancé since they are all extremely supportive. A strong support network can go a long way.
5. My last tip for today: Talk to a friend. Call up a friend from home or message them on Facebook or Myspace or whatever it is you use to contact your friends. Hearing from a friend back home can be comforting and it is of course a great way to stay in touch. You can also talk to friends where you are or otherwise those around you. Chances are they have been there before and know what it is like. They can lend a sympathetic ear or maybe you can vent together. Who knows, maybe they can even share there own tips for getting over it.
One more thing....Do not forget it will pass. That is all for today. As they say at Warwick, Keep Calm and Carry On! Cheers!
Now then for the topic of the day...."How to combat home-sickness".
Home sickness generally affects everyone at some point or another when they have to be away from home for an extended period of time. For some it can take two days for home sickness to appear, for others 2 weeks, and still for others an indefinite amount of time. To be honest, I really envy those who do not experience it. I am generally get it off and on during the first 20 percent of the time I will be away and I have gone away to Cornell several times (I hail from North Carolina) and now obviously I have gone to England. Having said this, I have developed some strategies that help me and may help you one day:
1. Do not think about it. In practice, this is generally hard to do. It is hard to stop thinking about something, even if you tell yourself to stop, but it can be done. I try meditating and focus on nothing and sometime it does work. Although by itself it is not very effective, it is effective in conjunction with other methods.
2. Get your mind off. This is similar to the first but instead of just telling yourself not to think about it, you actually try to distract yourself. This can be done by listening to music, watching a movie, going for a walk, talking with local friends, doing some sort of sport, working on homework, reading a book, etc. Really anything that can distract you, works.
3. Stay busy. Fill up your schedule, although this may seem like an idea that would just add to your overall stress because of the what-ifs (what if I take on too much? what if i cannot get my work done? what if i do not get enough food/sleep/quiet time/etc?), it is actually a very successful strategy that I accidently implemented back in the Spring. I had an absolute crazy academic schedule with Labor law and a writing intensive English course on top of my other courses and being casted in a play. Needless to say I would generally go from Friday to Friday realizing that I had not really had a chance to think since the previous Friday and I will say to me now, it is a blur. However, it was still effective, I just did not have time to think about being away from home and pretty soon it was thankfully the end of term and I kept my grades up. Still wondering about how I managed that....anyway....
4. Talk to family. Sometimes the best remedy is to call your Mom, Dad, sister, brother, grandparents, uncle, aunt, cousin, spouse, lover, boyfriend, girlfriend etc. Sometimes it can help just to hear their voice and know that everything is going alright with them. It is especially nice with my family and fiancé since they are all extremely supportive. A strong support network can go a long way.
5. My last tip for today: Talk to a friend. Call up a friend from home or message them on Facebook or Myspace or whatever it is you use to contact your friends. Hearing from a friend back home can be comforting and it is of course a great way to stay in touch. You can also talk to friends where you are or otherwise those around you. Chances are they have been there before and know what it is like. They can lend a sympathetic ear or maybe you can vent together. Who knows, maybe they can even share there own tips for getting over it.
One more thing....Do not forget it will pass. That is all for today. As they say at Warwick, Keep Calm and Carry On! Cheers!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Organizations/sports clubs
Hello everyone! So as you can this posting will be about Organizations, aka Societies or Clubs, and Sports clubs. At Cornell we have clubfest, here it is called the Societies Fair. It happens during what is called Freshers week, aka the first week of classes. Like at Cornell, there are a ton of clubs at Warwick. They have just about anything you can think of and if they do not then you can easily make your own. Here is the link for the website listing all of them: www.warwicksu.com/societies.
If you go to the site, just click All societies under the societies heading. There are generally membership fees for every club and you do have to join the general SU club to join any societies listed. The cost this year was 10 pounds for the general membership and then it varied by each society. Some of the societies cost 5 pounds, some 3, and some are free. There are over 250 societies and they are broken up into different categories: Academic, Activities and Games, Campaigning, Cultural, Film and Media, Food and Drink, Hall Societies (which allow you to play sports with the people in your dorm against other dorms), Music Appreciation, Performance, Religious and Belief, and Welfare, Charity and Action. I am in 5 societies, which include Assassins Guild and Team America.
Assassins Guild is a society where members go around fake assassinating each other and the longest surviving player wins. Evidently the long version of this game can go on for 3-4 weeks. The premise during the long game is that you receive two targets and some details about them (nothing too personal) and then have to track them down on campus and fake assassinate them, generally by tapping them on the torso with your choice of mock weapon. Some examples of mock weapons include cardboard knives and swords, rubber chickens, toy water pistols, and stuffed animals. I do not know how much fun the long game is because it does not start till next week but I will post my progress. I was able to play a short version of the game and it was a lot of fun. I highly recommend joining it if it interests you.
Team America, I actually do not know much about yet. Evidently they organize socials for different holidays and events that are based on American culture. The examples I heard of included Frat parties and Thanksgiving. The latter I was especially excited about since I was afraid I would not be able to have it this year since obviously the Brittish do not celebrate it.
Now then on the Sports clubs. There are many Sports Clubs and teams available at Warwick. Examples of these include Aerobics, many forms of Martial Arts, Skydiving, Sailing, Ballroom Dance, Hockey (including ice hockey), and Lacrosse. I am actually in three sports clubs. They are Archery, Mountaineering, and Shotokan Karate. I will keep updated how those go, though I will say I got quite a workout from karate last Friday.
For a full list of offered sports clubs, click here. Be warned though that you will not definitely know what is being offered until the sports fair, because some are not offered every year.
On that note, I just realized that I may have signed up for too much but as long as I do not get behind, I should have a lot of fun.
If you go to the site, just click All societies under the societies heading. There are generally membership fees for every club and you do have to join the general SU club to join any societies listed. The cost this year was 10 pounds for the general membership and then it varied by each society. Some of the societies cost 5 pounds, some 3, and some are free. There are over 250 societies and they are broken up into different categories: Academic, Activities and Games, Campaigning, Cultural, Film and Media, Food and Drink, Hall Societies (which allow you to play sports with the people in your dorm against other dorms), Music Appreciation, Performance, Religious and Belief, and Welfare, Charity and Action. I am in 5 societies, which include Assassins Guild and Team America.
Assassins Guild is a society where members go around fake assassinating each other and the longest surviving player wins. Evidently the long version of this game can go on for 3-4 weeks. The premise during the long game is that you receive two targets and some details about them (nothing too personal) and then have to track them down on campus and fake assassinate them, generally by tapping them on the torso with your choice of mock weapon. Some examples of mock weapons include cardboard knives and swords, rubber chickens, toy water pistols, and stuffed animals. I do not know how much fun the long game is because it does not start till next week but I will post my progress. I was able to play a short version of the game and it was a lot of fun. I highly recommend joining it if it interests you.
Team America, I actually do not know much about yet. Evidently they organize socials for different holidays and events that are based on American culture. The examples I heard of included Frat parties and Thanksgiving. The latter I was especially excited about since I was afraid I would not be able to have it this year since obviously the Brittish do not celebrate it.
Now then on the Sports clubs. There are many Sports Clubs and teams available at Warwick. Examples of these include Aerobics, many forms of Martial Arts, Skydiving, Sailing, Ballroom Dance, Hockey (including ice hockey), and Lacrosse. I am actually in three sports clubs. They are Archery, Mountaineering, and Shotokan Karate. I will keep updated how those go, though I will say I got quite a workout from karate last Friday.
For a full list of offered sports clubs, click here. Be warned though that you will not definitely know what is being offered until the sports fair, because some are not offered every year.
On that note, I just realized that I may have signed up for too much but as long as I do not get behind, I should have a lot of fun.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
WBS/registration/classes
Hello again, sorry about the late posting. I seem to have less time than I thought I would have. So the exchange is with Warwick Business School and they do their registration slightly different from ours. You have to pre-register in the summer for classes, which for us is somewhat normal, but even then you are not fully registered. I believe it is because of being an exchange student but you have to fill out a form with your desired courses and have it signed off before you are officially enrolled. Do not worry if you do not register for modules before the start of term because you will have plenty of time to do so when you arrive. I am signed up for 5 classes, which equates to 48 CATS. They use CATS instead of credits but I believe having 48 Cats for exchange students is normal. I am taking Project management, supply chain management, equality and diversity, Innovation and High tech enterprise, and Managing organizations. They are all very interesting but take note that unless you plan to try and just read books from the library during term, it will cost more than 10 pounds, as it says on the website.
I am now approaching my second week of term and my first week went well, minus a scheduling error on my part. All my teachers were very nice and I am should be fine with my course work. It is rather easy to lose focus though because unlike at Cornell, where you have typically more than one lecture per week for each class, you only have one lecture a week and generally also a seminar. So you do not get pushed so much on your work and thus it is very easy to procrastinate. The examinations will also be different unless you are staying for more than one term. Instead of having the traditional exams, I have 4 papers and a journal I have to do. By the way, if taking a visiting course and the teacher does not go over the assessment for it, do not be afraid to ask about it. Next posting coming soon, promise. Cheers!
Oh, and on a really quick completely different note. I have a friend in my dorm, who says particularly obvious comments so I will be posting some of them periodically and calling them Ellie-isms, and no that Ellie is not her real name. So the Ellie-isms for today is "That spike is particularly spiky." and "I am going to use my plate, because well it is mine."
I am now approaching my second week of term and my first week went well, minus a scheduling error on my part. All my teachers were very nice and I am should be fine with my course work. It is rather easy to lose focus though because unlike at Cornell, where you have typically more than one lecture per week for each class, you only have one lecture a week and generally also a seminar. So you do not get pushed so much on your work and thus it is very easy to procrastinate. The examinations will also be different unless you are staying for more than one term. Instead of having the traditional exams, I have 4 papers and a journal I have to do. By the way, if taking a visiting course and the teacher does not go over the assessment for it, do not be afraid to ask about it. Next posting coming soon, promise. Cheers!
Oh, and on a really quick completely different note. I have a friend in my dorm, who says particularly obvious comments so I will be posting some of them periodically and calling them Ellie-isms, and no that Ellie is not her real name. So the Ellie-isms for today is "That spike is particularly spiky." and "I am going to use my plate, because well it is mine."
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Dorm life
For those of you who have actually lived in a dorm, dorm life here will not be that odd for you. Before coming here, I had never lived in a dorm. Let me explain why that is. My first two years of college were spent at a community college and therefore I lived at my parents. Then when I transferred into Cornell as a junior, I was told that I could start in the fall, but would need to find my own housing. So now I live in a house on North Campus. Anyway there are several dorms on campus, I think I have gone over that I am in benefactors. Well benefactors is the only dorm where you can have a roommate. So my room mate came in Saturday and she is a very nice Britain. We are getting along very well so it works out. I really like my dorm life here though because there is a strong sense of community. We look out for each other, and check in with each other, and will bring tea to each other. We will all hang out in the kitchen and the hall and it is really nice. Oh, one thing that is bit annoying though is that to be in a two bed dorm, you have to live on the second floor. That is fine but the common room on the first floor has windows on the lower and upper floor so whenever you go to your room, if someone is in the common room, they will just stare at you. It is quite unnerving actually. So this occurrence has gave way to all sorts of nicknames for the common room, like the zoo and the fishbowl. Anyway...so about 22 of us share a kitchen so it can get crowded in there sometimes but for the most part it is quite nice. The cleaners who do your bathroom, kitchen, and living area are really nice. My main advice, if you live in a dorm, is to get out of your room and meet others around you. I know that sometimes you really just need to get things done, and so you do not want to be very social, but it really makes you feel welcome and at home. Hope that helped! Oh, once again if you have any questions, you can post them or email me! Cheers!
Orientation
Sorry, it has been a while I last posted. I have been rather busy with different events, on top of dealing with jet lag and now more recently what is know as Fresher's flu. Anyway International Orientation ran from September 28 till October 1. It was a really great experience, and I highly recommend going if you can. It was a mix of informative and cultural learning events. For example, there were department meetings, times scheduled to pick up your university cards, bank talks, and health registration, which were mandatory things to do. Then they also had trips to Coventry and oxford, bus and campus tours, different parties, and they fed you dinner and breakfast everyday. I feel it really helped to get me settled in to this place where it is rather different than what I am used to, because you can meet all these people who are from everywhere you can think of and really bond with them. I have met several people from Germany, Ireland, /Sweden, France, America, Africa, and most of my dorm mates are from the U.K. So I have been learning a lot, not only about other cultures, but also our own culture and how it differs from the rest of the world. Freshers (freshman) orientation is currently running right now and they have been showcasing the sports groups (I am going to do karate with my roommate :) ), clubs (I think I am going to join the assassins society), and many different parties.
One note about parties....the drinking age here is 18 yrs. old, so even if you cannot drink in the states, you can here. There are actually four pubs on campus which makes for some good fun. However, I would not suggest going and partying all the time. Yes, have some fun but do not neglect your studies and the things you have to get done. Anyway....
One last thing. It may feel like information over lode when you first get here, and you may feel like everyone is pulling you in every different direction. Do not let yourself panic and if you do panic, talk to someone. There are plenty of resources on campus and keep in mind that you are not the only one feeling that way. I will posting another blog today and then two more tomorrow. Cheers!
One note about parties....the drinking age here is 18 yrs. old, so even if you cannot drink in the states, you can here. There are actually four pubs on campus which makes for some good fun. However, I would not suggest going and partying all the time. Yes, have some fun but do not neglect your studies and the things you have to get done. Anyway....
One last thing. It may feel like information over lode when you first get here, and you may feel like everyone is pulling you in every different direction. Do not let yourself panic and if you do panic, talk to someone. There are plenty of resources on campus and keep in mind that you are not the only one feeling that way. I will posting another blog today and then two more tomorrow. Cheers!
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