http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/A Group Blog from students of The University of Edinburgh as they adventure around the world on Erasmus and International Exchanges.en-EUMokoFeed10http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/http://data5.blog.de/design/preview/2a/7e3580942c00e9e50dfda9389df5f3_160x200.jpghttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/19/reaching-the-end-6342719/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-06-19:/2009/06/19/reaching-the-end-6342719/Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:10:30 +0200 <p>I’ve now been back in Scotland for almost two weeks and have moved into a new flat in the Grange, got a job, unpacked my umbrella and pretty much started my life the way it’s going to be for the next few months – with all of that in place it almost seems as though the last eight months didn’t even happen.</p> <p>My last week in Dijon was stressful and sad – there were so many things to organise before I could leave and of course, admin is never painless in France! We spent a lot of time trying to find Erasmus co-ordinators to sign things and secretaries to give things to and collect things from, most of which managed to sort itself out in the end, which is also pretty characteristic of France – there’s usually not too much point getting stressed out about these things because everything does tend to fall into place at the last minute! As well as all of that, Sophie and I kept ourselves busy completing our list of things to do before we left and, among other things, took a trip to Marsannay, a wine-growing village just outside of Dijon. I think it technically counts as part of Dijon as the bus goes there, but it does seem like a tiny town on its own. There isn’t really very much there – just a church, a couple of museums, cafés and caves de dégustation which are basically just local peoples’ houses that you can turn up to and ask to taste their wines. We didn’t do that because there does tend to be an expectation that if they open bottles for you to taste and take time out of their day to take you around their vineyards and tell you about their produce you’ll reciprocate by spending money, which we couldn’t really afford to do. Nonetheless we spent a pleasant day in Marsannay – it was also the last sunny day of my year abroad so I’m glad I didn’t spend it inside!</p> <p>My dad and brother came over for my last few days to have a bit of a holiday before helping me to take my almost 60kg of luggage (!) back to Scotland. It was unfortunate that they were there on a Sunday and a Monday – the two most difficult days to find shops, museums and tourist attractions that are open. Normally it wouldn’t have been too much of an issue and I had planned to spend a lot of time with them at the lake and the park, or just wandering around the town or going to some of the other wine growing villages around Dijon – as I said though, the weather took a turn for the worse and it rained almost constantly from the minute they set foot in France to the minute we left. We did go to Beaune though and I think they were impressed by how pretty Dijon is although also a bit bemused as to how I could have kept myself busy and entertained there for a whole year! </p> <p>As I’ve said before, the process of leaving seemed to take weeks and weeks, but when it actually came time to pack up my room it sort of took me by surprise. I’m glad that I had family visiting because I didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that it was nearly all over. Sophie came out with us for a final meal, we went to bed early, caught a sickeningly early train to Paris and before I knew it, I was waving goodbye to her at the departure gates of Charles de Gaulle airport. And that was it. It felt very anti-climatic after the weeks of tearful goodbyes and discussions about packing and whether or not to take mustard home and whether or not we would still all be friends in a year, two years, three years. </p> <p>So that’s my Erasmus year over now and I can’t believe that a year ago I was sitting in my flat writing out my very first blog, still three months away from actually going to Dijon, and trying to convince myself that I hadn’t made a grave error in agreeing to go through with this madness! I could never have imagined how the year abroad would turn out – for one thing I was supposed to be doing a teaching assistantship in Marseilles – but it exceeded all of my expectations and left me with so many fantastic memories and experiences that I would never have had otherwise. I did so much travelling, learned to ski and snowboard and kayak, discovered what it’s like to eat like a blind person, witnessed a parade of bikers dressed up like Santa Claus, spread the joy of Marmite to unsuspecting Europeans, fell in love with the colour orange, sang karaoke, found hundreds of new uses for mustard, learned about wine and how to pour a beer (after causing much hilarity with my pint glass full of froth on my first attempt), I learned new words in German, Spanish, Dutch and Polish and joined in with some traditions of my new home, I went on strike, ate snails, balked at trying frogs’ legs and yearned for roast beef. I made fantastic new friends and my French improved dramatically. In short, I had an absolutely brilliant year and I couldn’t have wished for anything better or more rewarding. I was sceptical when previous Erasmus students assured me that this would be the best year of my life, but as it turned out, they were completely right! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/19/reaching-the-end-6342719/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>dijonhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/19/reaching-the-end-6342719/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/16/and-that-s-all-from-me-for-now-ensc-lille-6317014/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-06-16:/2009/06/16/and-that-s-all-from-me-for-now-ensc-lille-6317014/Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:19:13 +0200 <p> Well I’m home, the last week over and gone and finished and here I am already wondering what to do next and how to carry on. This week went so fast in so many ways but also seemed to drag as saying ‘goodbye’ is always horrible. As I mentioned last week, we said goodbye to Rob on Sunday evening with vodka watermelon; Monday evening I was sitting in Rachel’s room watching her tidy idly wondering if we were really leaving. After the beginning of the year, one would have thought I’d learnt my lesson: Don’t pretend that things aren’t going to happen. </p> <p> It was hardly surprising then that I was doing a great job of exactly that- I carried on as usual. The beginning of the week was just a blur of work and bad spelling, I worked every hour possible to get my report completely finished but by Wednesday it was pretty much complete and ready to print Thursday morning. </p> <p> The evenings were anything but normal (or at least our concept of normal), Tuesday night Rachel and Andrew spent their hard earned Auchan points on expensive bottles of ‘bubbly’ and wine and we sat and chatted in our cleaning clothes- I think I was pretending to start sorting my room out (another symptom of pretending things aren’t going to happen.)</p> <p> The ‘goodbye’s’ started in earnest on Wednesday, we held a ‘petit fête’ chez Andrew for all of our closest friends, Shusaku, Clara, Phil, Anne and Anna, Sana, Rachel’s sister had already arrived by this point (she came over to help Rachel and Irene to get all her stuff back) and she spoke to the Anglophones. It was nice to have one last French evening but Shusaku and I spent the evening chatting to each other as out of everyone I think I will miss him most because I don’t know when I will next see him. </p> <p> On Thursday we continued the ‘aurevoir’s’ with a ‘pôt’ in the labs, that is to say a drink with everyone, I was glad we organised it, even though it cost us a small fortune in cake and Cremant d’Alsace, since we could say a proper thank you and goodbye rather than sneaking out the back door. It gave it a proper finish and felt final, I was worried it would be a non-event and feel odd but it was nice and yet horrible to have to ‘bisou’ everyone knowing I may never see them again. Still kissing cheeks with 14 people is not easy and I’m glad I won’t be doing that again for a while! </p> <p> Lydie wasn’t able to come to our gathering which I was sad about, I gave Gabin his present but I had to leave Lydie’s on her table on Friday as she wasn’t there again. It was a shame because I had really grown to like Lydie and she helped me so much, I hoped she liked her present. It felt weird walking away from labs, after going in nearly every day, saying goodbye to Gabin was awful, it was surprising to discover how much I had grown to like him and how much I will miss him- I didn’t expect to feel so sad! </p> <p> There was no time for sadness though as Irene was taking us out to the 3 brasseurs (flammekeuche place) for dinner- if you ever go to Lille I highly recommend this place, it is reasonably priced, they do amazing beer and flammekeuche are the next big thing if you ask me. It’s just off to the left as you come out of Gare Lille Flandres. </p> <p> Anyway, we managed to get in the kettle again which was fun and afterwards we headed over to the Oz bar one last time with Sarah where, in a typical us move, Rachel and I decided we wanted the blue drinks everyone else seemed to have even though we had no idea what they were. So Rachel, with a coquettish giggle asked for ‘six of those blue drinks please,’ well, it was our last night- they turned out to be cocktails that cost € 8.50!</p> <p> When we got in at 11.30 I finally realised that I was leaving the next day- I looked around my room, it was total chaos and no hint of packing. In a panic I started throwing things into bags and by the time I fell into bed most of my packing was done- I had about four hours sleep before I was up gutting my room and bleaching every square inch of it. A few tea breaks later and Rachel was leaving, it was odd because I know I will see her again, if I have anything to do with it I’ll be seeing her every other week! But it was still sad to know that it was the end of an era. </p> <p> There was no time to dwell however as I still had a room to sort out, by one o clock I had finished all be it exhausted and with the migraine from hell! Sarah popped over to give me back my book and seemed reluctant to leave so we sat and chatted and waited for my parents. It was an ominous feeling, knowing it was the end and that I was going away for good. </p> <p> As we packed the car (in record time thanks to all the help from Andrew, Sarah and Kalyleigh (Andrew’s friend)) I remembered back to my arrival and how it seemed only moments ago in time, but I don’t recognise the girl who arrived at Boucher and panicked about not having a washing machine. </p> <p> In typical French style at half three my room was empty and spotless, my report had been collected and I was ready to hand over my keys and yet there was no one about. The office had been closed all day- this did not surprise me at all and I’d written a letter to post through the letter box just in case. And so came the final goodbye’s, Sarah and Andrew, we looked at each other as if we were doing each other a disservice and hugged for a while- words weren’t really enough by this point. </p> <p> My parents and I wasted a few hours in Lille, buying some Macarons and having a final croque before getting in the car and heading to Le Tunnel sous la Manche. I was home by ten feeling sick, exhausted, sick and sad to leave, happy I went, relieved to have finished all my work and dreading unpacking everything.</p> <p> I’m going to post one last blog after this one, I want to settle back into home and reflect a little on the year before writing a concluding piece but for now I’ll finish by saying that I wouldn’t have missed or changed this year for the world!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/16/and-that-s-all-from-me-for-now-ensc-lille-6317014/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>melissa-ladymanensc-lilleensclhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/16/and-that-s-all-from-me-for-now-ensc-lille-6317014/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/12/back-to-reality-6291461/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-06-12:/2009/06/12/back-to-reality-6291461/Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:51:51 +0200 <p>I've now been back in the UK for just over a week and yet Austria feels like a lifetime ago. I did jump straight back into life here, which was a conscious decision - I didn't want to be moping around thinking about life in Vienna when I should be getting on with life here, so after, what will hopefully be my last stop over in Heathrow for a long time, I arrived back in Scotland with my mum in tow. Our flight to Edinburgh had been a bit more exciting than usual due to the fact that we shared it with a number of politicians including Menzies Campbell, and BBC journalists, who I presume were on their way up for the European Elections. </p> <p>As soon as I got to Edinburgh I immediately moved into my new flat, which I have my wonderful flatmate, Michael, to thank for finding it and sorting out all of the admin as the rest of us jetted around the world, and it is absolutely amazing! I started work again on Monday the 8th - in the same summer job at the National Wallace Monument, and it felt like I'd never left. Hardly anything has changed. I know that that unsettles a lot of people returning home as they feel that they've changed but nothing else has, but it was actually quite comforting. I think it helped that everyone there was really interested in hearing about my year abroad, it's good to be able to tell other people about it and realise just what a great opportunity it was. I sometimes forget just how much I've done while I've been away until someone asks me 'so, how many countries did you visit?' or talks about how they've always wanted to go to a Viennese Ball and I can tell them that I've been to one. </p> <p>To briefly mention the European elections before I try and summarise this amazing year, I think that Erasmus has definitely broadened my knowledge about European politics and I couldn't believe just how apathetic the British people were and how little campaigning there seemed to be. In Austria there were posters everywhere and you knew exactly who was standing and what their policies were, whereas in the UK you had to do a lot of research just to see who was running. I can't say I was surprised when the BNP gained their first two seats but it did disgust me somewhat - especially as it was a pattern which was seen all over Europe. Austria is particularly conservative and their far-right party, which took an anti-Muslim line for the elections also gained ground. </p> <p>It's really difficult to summarise just what I've taken from this year. It has definitely allowed me time and perspective to think about what I want to do later. It has also affected how I make important decisions; taking into account what my friends and family say but ultimately making an independent decision. Before we started our Erasmus year we were told all about the qualities we would gain and how we would be more independent, confident and open-minded and I was always a little doubtful as to what I would gain from the experience, but I have gained far more than I could ever have imagined. I've made some amazing, life-long friends, visited so many different places, experienced a completely different culture first hand and gained valuable teaching experience.</p> <p>Erasmus has been one of the best experiences of my life and I think that everyone should take the opportunity to live and study or work abroad if they can. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/12/back-to-reality-6291461/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>erasmusviennahttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/12/back-to-reality-6291461/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/10/erasmus-the-best-year-of-my-life-6275890/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-06-10:/2009/06/10/erasmus-the-best-year-of-my-life-6275890/Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:20:43 +0200 <p>I've been back in the UK now for a week and a half and it still doesn't feel real. Right now I feel as though I'm simply on holiday from Finland and I'll be going back there to resume my life in a matter of days. I can't quite get it into my head that it's over and my life in Helsinki is all in the past tense. I lived in Finland, I do not live there now.</p> <p>It's been a strange couple of days because I went to Edinburgh directly after getting home, and that felt as though I'd never left. It felt as though I could simply delete everything which had happened in my life in the last year and pretend it never happened, almost as though the things I've been doing in Helsinki have absoultely no relevance to my life in Edinburgh. It was a strange feeling, don't get me wrong I love the fact that my relationship with my flatmates and best friends is still the same and we're still good friends, but at the same time it felt like they hadn't changed at all in the last year and I have. I've done so many things and met so many people that they will never quite understand because they didn't go on exchange.</p> <p>Then, on Thursday we had our first post Erasmus reunion in London. Basically, it ended up that coincidentally 5 of my best friends were all planning on being in London on 4th and 5th June. We'd all arranged this seperately and it just so happened - I was visiting a friend for example. So we all met up in Picadilly Circus (IN the fountain, as were the instructions from the Spaniard in the group) and then went for drinks and a meal. It was really really nice and I think we all realised that even though it's the end of erasmus and the end of our lives in Finland we can still be friends, and our friendship doesn't just exist in Helsinki. We were all really excited to see each other as there was a lot of catching up to do because the guys had left Helsinki earlier than me and our other friend, meaning we had to fill them in on everything. It felt so normal and natural, and saying goodbye wasn't hard - there were no tears unlike Finland - which means we all know that it's not the end of our friendship. The tears in Helsinki were for the end of erasmus, not the end of everything. Then the guys went home and I stayed in London until Tuesday with one of my best girl friends who is German.</p> <p>Now, I've got loads of things to look forward to in the coming weeks. On Saturday I'm heading to Vienna to see one of my friends from home who is doing her erasmus there, but coincidentally, one of my best friends from Helsinki also lives there so obviously we will meet up. Then, on Thursday next week I am heading to Spain to see a friend from Edinburgh who is in Seville. It worked out to be 50% cheaper if I flew to Madrid and took the bus, meaning I also get to see one of my other best friends from Helsinki who lives there. I am so excited about seeing them again - more so than seeing my friends from the UK. It feels like as I've not seen my UK erasmus year friends in a year, then if I don't see them for another few weeks until they come home it's not really the end of the world in the grand scheme of things, whereas I've not got my head around not seeing Lisa and Javi yet. Meaning I really miss them!</p> <p>Then, at the end of July, we've got a real test of everyones English skills - around 15 of my friends are coming to Edinburgh/Glasgow for our first reunion to go in time with the other Edinburgh Helsinki goers birthday. I can't wait although at the moment we're stressing out about where to put everyone as neither of us have flats as of yet meaning there is the potential that almost 20 erasmus students will be camping out on the Meadows! It's so cool that loads of people are coming, pretty much everyone who has been invited is coming.</p> <p>So that is my life post erasmus!</p> <p>The last fortnight in Finland was horrible, it really was because every single day someone else was leaving and we had to say bye. I've cried more times in the last few weeks than I remember doing in years, as it was pretty much every day there were tears. It was so emotional and also so horrible walking around my building because each day another room was empty, and because it is a hostel during the summer, the cleaners were straight in to de-studentify it and make the room look nice. If anyone ever asks me for advice on an exchange year my advice would be to not make friends. If you don't make friends then going home will be so much easier. </p> <p>As one of the few native English speakers in Helsinki I am proud of how much my friends have improved in their English and I know that I have had a big part to play in this, which I like. Loads of them said that we were the best English teachers ever, and lots of people said that their challenge at the start of the year was to understand the native British speakers, and now they can. Even though I didn't really learn a language this year (although my French improved dramatically, especially when drunk) I've learnt an awful lot about English and second language aquistion, which as a Linguistics student, is incredibly interesting. When I listen to my friends speaking, I hear me and the other UK team in them, and now when I speak English, I hear my friends in my speech. They have influenced me just as much as I have influenced them. </p> <p>In the last year I've changed a lot, my opinions about Europe have changed dramatically. When I first arrived I saw myself as different from the rest of Europe and I was fairly EU skeptic - well not skeptic, but I wasn't in a hurry to join the Euro put it that way! Now I can't understand why the UK aren't rushing to join the Euro currency, and I've realised that the UK have a ridiculous status in Europe. Why do we think we're so special and different from the Germans or the French?? Everyone else in Europe just laughs at us! I certainly see Europe to be much more a part of my life and combined in my identity as British - we're European and perhaps having done Erasmus gives you a shared identity there. As one of my French friends facebook status' said on his departure - I "was Erasmus, and always will be". I've learnt so many things about different countries, people and languages this year and as much as there is difference in the world there are also many similarities. </p> <p>I'm now considering doing my Masters in the Netherlands as I've found a really good course that I'd love to do, so I will probably be applying in a few months. I would never have considered that this time last year and I will now be spending every moment I can getting into differnet countries in Europe and visiting my friends. Going on exchange in my 3rd year was one of the things I've wanted to do ever since applying to university and it was one of my priorities for choosing a university. Erasmus has been everything and anything I wanted it to be - I would never have thought that I would have ended up going to Finland for my year abroad, but it has ended up being the best year of my life and an experience that I don't think can be sumarised into one word or feeling. It's just simply "Erasmus"! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/10/erasmus-the-best-year-of-my-life-6275890/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>helsinkihttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/10/erasmus-the-best-year-of-my-life-6275890/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/08/wicked-weekend-ensc-lille-6264983/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-06-08:/2009/06/08/wicked-weekend-ensc-lille-6264983/Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:12:06 +0200 <p>I was a little worse for wear last time I wrote- suffering the consequences of an ‘all-nighter’- but now I am fully recovered from that, just suffering the consequences of a hectic weekend and lots of work. It’s Monday night- I’m not at Japanese because the classes have turned into ‘stage prep.’ and since I’m not going away there’s no point in going, so instead I am trying to remember what on earth I did last week. Rachel is currently furiously cleaning her bathroom as we are leaving on Friday- just five more days. I keep hearing Rachel making funny noises as the tap drips on her head and Andrew doing the washing up- I’m going to miss this. </p> <p>But that is this week and for a while I’ll live in last week so that leaving isn’t so close. Lydie read and corrected my report this week, it was highly embarrassing when she came in, sat next to me and said ‘your English isn’t very good.’ I have to be honest- it really isn’t very good, you have probably noticed the deterioration, it is directly linked to time spent in France and was worst whilst writing my literature review in French. I am surprised quite how much my English has been affected, I wouldn’t say my French was great, it’s better and I can easily get by but it’s not fluent and yet it seems every new French word I learn I forget an English one! Apart from my atrocious English my report was alright I think and I am now working through the changes. </p> <p>Monday was the bank holiday and bar a bit of tidying I pretty much laid about, we had our last big Sunday meal (stuffed mushrooms with ‘spicy lentils’, and a cheese pie) and then in the evening Rob and Sarah came over to watch Howl’s Moving Castle. I have probably already mentioned that film- it is no joke that I watch it at least once a week- the book was better but the animation is superb! Rob and Sarah seemed to like in anyway. We met up with them again on Wednesday to spend a fortune (67 euros) for our farewell to Rob meal. </p> <p>Thursday we started with aperitif at six and had kir (wine and syrop), it was a bit of an odd meal with French wine, nachos, fajitas and a Normandy tart for dessert- not very matching but it didn’t matter. It was an odd night, Rob was a bit out of sorts due to having to take oral exams- he had organised everything to go home then the exam dates changed, the only other option was oral exams in French. I cannot imagine they were fun, and some of the lecturers were really not very nice about it but he got through it (by skipping one) apparently. He was much happier Sunday night. We managed to avoid the goodbyes that particular night by deciding to pop round theirs when we got back from London.</p> <p>On that note, the weekend finally came, possibly too soon but I could barely contain my excitement about going to see Wicked. We got the late train Friday night and my Dad picked us up, my boyfriend was already at mine, it was nice to be there with Andrew and Rachel. It was a flying visit, Saturday morning we were up early to get the train to London (forty minutes) one short tube trip later we were standing in the rain outside Topshop telling Adam and Andrew to meet us at half twelve. Rachel and I proceeded to get very excited and spend a small fortune! Lunch and a few gifts for people in the lab later we were on our way to the theatre! Rachel had never seen a London musical and Andrew loves the music for Wicked so we couldn’t wait. I cannot speak for everyone but I thoroughly enjoyed it! We spent the evening in the Mexican in Leicester Square drinking margaritas and chatting. </p> <p>Sunday was spent lounging around at my house but I had to take Rachel to see the horses and we had a paddle in the river and a walk around the farm. It was a nice leisurely morning which turned into a gloriously sunny early afternoon- so much so that we could sit in the garden with our wine thinking about leaving and how we’re going to cope. We had a BBQ before my parents dropped us back off at the Eurostar- it felt like we’d only just arrived! </p> <p>No time to relax we headed straight over to Rob’s for the real goodbye- he left this morning so last night really was the last night. Anne and Anna made a vodka water melon and quite a few people turned up to say goodbye, we couldn’t stay long since we had work this morning but leaving was not easy. It left a sort of hollow feeling as we hugged Rob and Vicki (Rob’s girlfriend) goodbye for the foreseeable future, and not knowing whether we would see the others again was bizarre, I don’t know them well enough to ever see them again but we’ve seen them so often this year... I cannot sufficiently explain it, it’s odd. I didn’t think about this part, at the beginning when I just concentrated on getting through each day, then when time passed so easily I thought it would never end and now I’m trying to pretend it won’t end... </p> <p>Anyway, I had better stop rambling about endings and concentrate on pretending it never will- before Friday I have a million and one things to do- not least finishing my report, our final fête, our last night out... To make matters worse after Rob’s farewell thing on Thursday my computer decided to give up the ghost, and I think, this time, it’s for good! I am writing this on Rachel’s computer and I don’t know how I’ll write next weeks’! Oh well this time next week I will be home...</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/08/wicked-weekend-ensc-lille-6264983/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>ensc-lilleensclmellissaweek-39http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/08/wicked-weekend-ensc-lille-6264983/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/03/oslo-03-06-6231370/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-06-03:/2009/06/03/oslo-03-06-6231370/Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:50:31 +0200 <p>I am now officially, academically free!  Today I had my last exam, a gruesome half hour Norwegian oral about a pious childrens' book from 1851, and having completed that, and all my other exams, with what I consider to be general success I feel free free free, it's lovely!  I have been so busy of late, but it has been good in a number of ways.  First and foremost I attended the translation conference that I was invited to:  it felt quite wonderful to spend 3 days or so outside of the city in a charming hotel, eating delicious meals, meeting other translators, attending seminars and meeting some of Norway's foremost authors.  (Even sweeter than all this was the knowledge that the Norwegian government covered the entire cost, hurrah!)  For me it was also lovely to see friendly faces from the department back in Edinburgh, 3 of whom came along.  Upon return I was faced with a mountain of revision and two more exams, but having now come past those, it feels joyous.</p> <p>Back to reality, and I am slightly saddened to have to face the prospect of packing up my room.  It is very nearly the end of my ERASMUS era! Just a week or so more and I am off to an array of things, most of which, interestingly, would never have come about had my year abroad not happened. Next week I return to Edinburgh for a fleeting 3-day visit: I have been invited to attend a second Scandinavian translation conference, this time being hosted by the University, and am combining my flying visit with seeing family, my lovely friend V who has been stationed in the Mediterranean all year, and picking up a wad of summer reading recently ordered on Amazon and currently awaiting me back at home. Following my quick stop in Bonny Scotland I am then heading out to Denmark, to a rather remote wee place marked below:</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/280/3563280_08e63d3f92_m.png" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"></p> <p>I have secured a summer job (together with my Swedish kompis, luckily enough) on the island where I'll be au pairing and working in a Nature Reserve and Cafe, which ultimately sounds like a busy way to spend a summer, but is exactly what attracts me to it.  As a Scandinavian Studies student my interests reach beyond just the Norwegian language, and so spending a few months in Denmark will be a lovely and fitting way to round off my year, I hope!</p> <p>Actually, on that topic I have to say how worrying it is to be out here when news of the funding cuts for language students are dominating back home: so many of us are unable to have our say, away on exchanges that prove exactly why Modern Languages are so vital!  My own department are suffering a lot (despite the many protests that nobody will be adversely affected) and already my Option Courses for fourth year are looking to be becoming less 'Option' and more simply, 'Courses', myself and friends are partly dreading the return to whatever the department manages to offer (and I know they are trying very hard to accommodate us as well as massive cuts in funding, which is a nightmare for them as much as anyone).  I can only hope things start to look up in the near future, though am not terribly hopeful and quite honestly, rather afraid of what my Honours year might amount to.  Not a comforting thought whilst stationed abroad and unable to do much at all to combat such scary prospects.</p> <p>Anyway, on the bright side I am now looking forward to my final weekend in Oslo!  A party on Friday, some friends from Sweden on Saturday and early on Sunday we are setting out for an adventure on the Hardanger plateau: a few days of camping, and rumours of snow still in some parts!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/03/oslo-03-06-6231370/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>oslohttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/03/oslo-03-06-6231370/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/01/sunshine-swimming-and-sport-6215123/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-06-01:/2009/06/01/sunshine-swimming-and-sport-6215123/Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:03:07 +0200 <p>The last week has gone by incredibly quickly and been filled with literal and metaphorical sunshine! Last Monday was absolutely boiling – it got up to 36 degrees and so we headed, sweating and gasping, for the lake where they have a fake beach, complete with volleyball nets, sand and ice cream sellers. The plan was to sunbathe but it was far too hot to actually sit in the sun, so we found a shady spot under a tree (the good thing about fake beaches is that you can find shade without trying to force a massive umbrella to stand up in the sand!) and ate ice cream. We also went swimming in the lake itself which was a fantastic break from the heat – the water was cool and there were floating ‘islands’ – basically huge plastic platforms – that you could swim out to and dive off or sunbathe on. It was a really good day and I really want to go back before I leave – a date which is approaching far too rapidly.</p> <p>Everything we do at the moment is sort of coloured by the fact that we’re leaving Dijon next week – each time we do something, we know it could be the last time. The last trip to the lake, the last visit to Carrefour (it’s just a supermarket but for some reason we always get really excited to go there…), the last time we go to Café Gourmand or see our French classmates. The act of leaving France has seemed to drag on and on, so much so that part of me wishes I was leaving sooner while the rest of me screams that it never, ever wants to go! I’ve felt like I’m just about to leave ever since Megan went back to Scotland almost two weeks ago, at which point I still had three weeks to go. </p> <p>Leaving soon isn’t stopping us from trying new things though and we were excited when we discovered that one of the many free sports that the university offers the students is kayaking. We decided to go along last Thursday and we turned up all excited and enthusiastic – feelings which quickly turned to fear when we realised that everyone else there were fairly proficient kayakers, having been doing the sport three times a week since March while the three of us had never done it before. They all knew each other really well and had lots of in jokes and banter but they also seemed genuinely pleased that we had gone along and they made every effort to include us. We went to a lake about half an hour away from campus by minibus and basically just messed about in the kayaks for a pleasant couple of hours. The others practiced capsizing and then righting themselves – something which looks difficult and terrifying – while we got the hang of going in a straight line, which is a lot harder than it sounds! After a while, Yves, the instructor, got out a plastic ball and split us into teams to play ‘passe a dix’ – basically it was just catch in kayaks; you had to pass the ball ten times between your own team member without dropping it and you couldn’t throw it to the person who had just thrown it to you. The fun bit was that when someone did drop it, everyone else had to kayak towards it and try to poach the ball for their own team. As I said, we were only out for a couple of hours but we had such a good time that Sophie and I decided to go along on the group’s excursion to the river Doubs on Saturday. We met at 8am and drove two hours to the river, where we donned our extremely unflattering wetsuits, slathered ourselves in sunscreen and gaped at the map on the bank of the river as Yves showed us where we would be going and how long it would take (8 hours to do about 23km!!) At this stage I was seriously doubting my ability to propel myself forward for that distance and was starting to brick it a little bit! Yves had a sore shoulder so he and Sophie were going to be in a two-man canoe rather than a kayak so she was feeling more confident than me, but once we’d set off I forgot about how far we had to go and once I’d got the hang of going straight I started to have fun. The water was quite calm and we were going with the current, which wasn’t too strong but had enough rapids to make it fun! It was so pretty as well – I think it must be one of the best ways to see the countryside. At the start we stopped fairly often to look at chateaux on the banks and jump off various bridges, which was fun! We stopped on a little beach for lunch, which was strapped to the big canoe in a waterproof barrel. The other instructor, Anna-Sophie, lives on a farm and had brought a 4kg drum of freshly picked cherries for us, which we devoured in minutes and then spent a pleasant half hour spitting the pits at each other. Incidentally, Anna-Sophie caused some name related issues as the three girls kept answering to each others’ names all day – French people always pronounce my name as ‘Anna’ because they have problems pronouncing the ‘h’ so she basically had both mine and Sophie’s name – it was very confusing! In the traditional French fashion, lunch took around two hours – after we ate we swam in the river and skimmed stones and chatted before we emptied the water out of our kayaks and continued on. It was a long day and by the end I was really exhausted but it was so much fun and felt like a real achievement as well. It was good to be outside in the fresh air all day and to be doing something more energetic than rolling over every fifteen minutes to ensure an even tan!</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/929/3556929_679673570e_s.jpeg" alt="last few weeks 019" vspace="5" hspace="5"> <img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/926/3556926_a39ff1754e_s.jpeg" alt="last few weeks 013" vspace="5" hspace="5"></p> <p>Towards the end of the week Sophie N and I were trying to spend as much time with Sophie M as possible as she was leaving at the end of the week. Her family drove over from England to pick her up, and we said our tearful goodbyes yesterday morning. It’s really sad to say to goodbye to everyone, because although we all live in the UK and will definitely see each other soon – probably within a couple of months and in the case of Megan and Sophie V, as soon as I get back – we’ll never all be together again at once and certainly never in Dijon. In some ways leaving Dijon to go home is proving harder than leaving home to come here because back then we knew it was only a temporary situation whereas now it’s permanent. That sounds depressing but obviously there are so many good things I’ll be taking from this year and so much I’ve learned – but I’ll talk about all of that next week when I’m back in Edinburgh. I still can’t believe it’s so soon! </p> <p>Until next time!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/01/sunshine-swimming-and-sport-6215123/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>dijonhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/06/01/sunshine-swimming-and-sport-6215123/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/31/the-morning-after-the-night-before-week-beginning-25th-june-ensc-lille-6206257/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-31:/2009/05/31/the-morning-after-the-night-before-week-beginning-25th-june-ensc-lille-6206257/Sun, 31 May 2009 11:02:49 +0200 <p>Sunday: 11.35 AM</p> <p> I will start with the most recent (and rapidly fading) alcohol induced memories, I got home about five and a half hours ago- yes I stumbled through my door at 6AM. Though by that time the stumbling was due to exhaustion, and knee and ankle pain, rather than drunkenness- that part happened earlier.</p> <p> Friday night, relaxing after a stressful week at work, sipping wine, having a good laugh, we suddenly though it would be a great idea to use this bank holiday weekend (yes another) as an excuse to go for the infamous ‘all-nighter.’ I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but in Lille, if you live at the Cité Scientifique, going out presents a problem. There is of course our trusty metro which stops service at 00:19 and starts again at 6:30 on a Sunday so if you want to go clubbing you are stuck in town until the metro starts up. So, without thinking too hard about it we made the decision to just go for it (but we had a taxi number just in case). </p> <p> So at ten past midnight we made our way excitedly to the metro, we were sensible, taking a nap in the afternoon (a necessity in my case as I had woken up at seven to go take my French oral exam) and not starting drinking until about nine, we met Sarah and Rob at the station and off we went, feeling absurdly over dressed! The club was called b-floor near Wazemmes, we must have arrived at about 12:45, it was free which is partly why we chose it. You could buy an entire bottle of vodka for € 80.00 which between five was reasonable and gave us many more drinks than buying separately would- it was apparently the thing to do. </p> <p> To cut a long, long night short once the dancing started I was glad we didn’t get kicked out at 3AM like we do in Scotland, the five of us were in the middle of the dance floor and soon enough word travelled round that we were ‘Britanniques’ and we quite literally became the centre of attention- it was very bizarre, but also a lot of fun but by about half four we were shattered and seriously dehydrated. </p> <p> We decided to cut the evening short when Rachel fell and hurt her ankle rather badly, we’ve both had bad ankles and knew it was daft to wear heels but sometimes you have to bear the pain- this time it seemed it wasn’t worth it. So by five AM we were outside waiting for taxis, and not even here could we avoid the glances ‘wow they’re speaking some foreign language, let’s imitate them’ arg! I was glad to get home (even though it cost € 30.00), although four hours sleep is really not enough. </p> <p> I have a feeling today will be a day of recuperation! However, that’s not all we’ve done this week, on Thursday we had the DELF exam (written, listening and written), I do not think I did very well but my oral went much, much better so fingers crossed I will pass! To get over the exam on Thursday we went out with Shusaku to ‘Akira’ which he said was a fairly good Japanese restaurant, no where near as good as in Japan of course, but we had sake and I tried proper sushi (raw tuna is possibly the nicest thing I’ve ever tasted!) It was even good for vergetarians and people who don’t like fish, Andrew had the vegetarian menu- a lot of rice, and Rachel had yakitori. We even managed to eat with chopsticks, I was impressed that i could pick up cucumber! It was well worth it, and I really enjoyed it, but knowing this would be one of our last evenings with Shusaku made me sad. </p> <p> Wednesday night we finally finished our Lord of the Rings quest, the fourth one is very, very long! The beginning of the week was marred by the fact I had a cold and seemingly chronic hay fever which was not pleasant but I bought some good antihistamines which really did the trick! </p> <p> Labs have been alright this week, just been trying to get everything done and I keep having to remind people of my deadlines and when I’m leaving- that is rather frustrating but things are very busy at the moment. Talking of leaving my parents have booked the train home, for midday on the 12th of June- in two weeks I will be home for good! All this time I have been looking forward to the end, when we arrived I thought ‘it’s only nine months’ but what I didn’t take into account was how horrible it would be to leave Rachel and Andrew, Rob and Sarah and Shusaku. But I’m not thinking of that now, not until Thursday when we have our official ‘goodbye’ meal (Rob is the first to leave on the 9th and we’re in London all weekend so that will be our last chance!)</p> <p> Anyway, no more sad things, I need to rehydrate myself some more! I’m thinking a laying about, watching Angel day is in order….</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/31/the-morning-after-the-night-before-week-beginning-25th-june-ensc-lille-6206257/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>enscensc-lilleweek-39melissahttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/31/the-morning-after-the-night-before-week-beginning-25th-june-ensc-lille-6206257/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/30/the-beginning-of-the-end-ensc-lille-18th-june-6202973/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-30:/2009/05/30/the-beginning-of-the-end-ensc-lille-18th-june-6202973/Sat, 30 May 2009 14:54:53 +0200 <p>As I said last week I came back from Milan with the sudden realisation that we said we were going to do so much that we just haven’t done, so trying to rectify that we have been planning things left right and centre! I will first mention that during the day (except the Ascension (Thursday) I have been in work and working on my reports and doing the last few experiments, but who cares about that! </p> <p> We had been invited over to Fanny’s Tuesday night so after work (nipping home briefly to put our summer clothes on) we all got in her car and she took us back to hers for dinner. She apologised for not making a big effort but she had made a quiche and a cake which is more than a lot of people in Britain would do! The wine was promptly opened- starting with some sparkly, of course- and we spent the evening just chatting, and of course gossiping! </p> <p> The following night we were planning on going to see Star Trek but we could only go if we saw the dubbed version- dubbed films are never good- so we gave up on that and after a lot of to and fro-ing on Facebook Rob eventually told us that we were having an impromptu BBQ chez them. We got together some nibbles and went over for about seven; another glorious evening was laid out in front of us, sitting on throws on the grass basking in the sun drinking wine. Rob had his rugby ball and by the end of the evening we were all playing catch (the five Anglophones, Anna and Anne (the German girls))- which was much funnier than it sounds. We were all fairly ‘merry’ by this point…</p> <p> We had to leave eventually- didn’t want to have a hang over for our Thursday morning jog, we got up at 8.30 despite the bank holiday (I love France, 4 bank holiday’s in one month!), we had to leave for Philippe’s at 11.30, that is Rachel’s ‘chef de stage’ or supervisor. He had invited us over for lunch, I imagined it would be a small affair but how wrong I was! He had taken on the vegetarian challenge with determination and come up with an amazing 5 course meal! We started with the obligatory aperitif- crément d’Alsace and nibbles at 12.30, then moved on to orange and vegetable samosas with soufflé for a starter with some white wine. This was followed by a cumin quiche (delicious) and curcuma quiche with salad, then of course cheese with a nice Bordeaux (also obligatory), dessert was a café gourmand but not only were there macarons (and 7 types of espresso to choose from) there was ice cream, waffle, biscuits, sorbet, melted chocolate… I was in heaven! It was about four in the afternoon by the time we had stuffed all that and Philippe suggested a walk in the park, it was a lovely day and the park was beautiful. It felt very French and it was nice to experience that before we left. </p> <p> What I also noticed was the fact that we all spoke French the entire time and it didn’t bother me on iota, there was nothing I didn’t understand despite topics ranging from Chemistry (very little) to politics and on to music! I think I can say my French has most definitely improved! </p> <p> We had to rush home at six however to be on time for Rob and Sarah coming over to start watching Lord of the Rings- the extended version! The original plan was to spend a weekend watching them back to back but our weekends seem to be disappearing! It was easy though to just sit back and watch. We carried in on Friday night but won’t be finishing until next week! </p> <p> Still in my hyper organisational phase, and thanks to Rachel’s weather watching, we decided Sunday would be perfect for our picnic at the zoo and so Saturday Rachel, Andrew and I got everything we would need for the perfect British picnic. Now the French may know how to do bank holiday banquets but give the British a picnic to plan and there’s no stopping us. We prepared salad, pasta salad, tomato salad, fruit salad, we took bread and cheese and crisps and wine and settled ourselves on a picnic bench for the foreseeable future. By the time we went into the zoo it was four in the afternoon, but also the hottest it had been all day (it must have been edging up to 28 Celsius.) I was pleased that everyone had a great time at the zoo, Andrew loved the red pandas, and the baby Tapir was just adorable, the baby Gibbon had grown a bit and was trying to run about. It was fantastic. </p> <p> So, not wanting to disappoint I’m already planning next week, trying to fit in everything, we have the DELF French exam (not looking forward to that) but are also going out to a Japanese restaurant and finishing Lord of the Rings. No plans for the weekend yet but I’m sure that will change! </p> <p> There’s only three weeks left, I don’t know how to fit it all in! I don’t want this to end! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/30/the-beginning-of-the-end-ensc-lille-18th-june-6202973/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>enscensc-lillemelissaweek-38http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/30/the-beginning-of-the-end-ensc-lille-18th-june-6202973/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/28/nearing-the-end-6192631/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-28:/2009/05/28/nearing-the-end-6192631/Thu, 28 May 2009 15:00:24 +0200 <p>The past couple of weeks have been quite strange. Today I finished my placement, and having only one class today meant that the whole thing seemed a bit anti-climatic. Nevertheless, I took advantage of the extra few hours and have spent the day closing my bank account, paying my last month's rent (I have to pay a full month's rent despite moving out on the 3rd of June, something to look out for if you're with the OeAD.) and trying to work out what I still need to do. Still, despite being quite organised I did find myself somewhat hyped up last night - a bit like back in September, apart from the fact that I know what I'm moving on to. </p> <p>Despite finishing my time in both schools and my leaving party last friday (in Charlie P's of course with various erasmus friends and friends from halls, though it felt like Ellis and Caroline should have been there as well)it only really hit me yesterday that I was actually going. This sudden realisation was brought about by the reminder email for my flight home on wednesday - thank you BA! I found myself thinking about my time here overall but I think I'll write about that next week, once I'm back home and have gained a bit of perspective on the whole thing. </p> <p>So the leaving party last week was really good; Sarah, Juho and I went to Sly and Arny for some farewell pizza and cocktails. They've been my closest friends here since everyone from first semester left and it was good to do something together. Juho gave me a German guide book to Finland as a leaving present, which I thought was really sweet and will definitely encourage me to go and visit him there! I got some really sweet cards from my Austrian friends in halls as well which is nice. </p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/672/3545672_3a6ffa2c90_m.jpeg" alt="leaving party 055" vspace="5" hspace="5"></p> <p>As well as the leaving party, our entire corridor decided to head out en-masse to 'the best ice-cream parlour in Vienna' (according to Anna, a German girl I live with) This involved changing u-bahn stations and traveling to the end of the U1 line (Reumannplatz) where we found Tichy. It seriously did not disappoint, and if the weather is good while my mum is here (which it's forecast not to be) then we'll definitely have to make a stop there - in fact, even if it's raining I don't think I'll be able to resist! </p> <p>Last Thursday was also a holiday and since it fell on a Thursday they stretch it over to the weekend. In German, this is called a 'Bruecketag' but in Austria it's a 'Fenstertag' - I'm not entirely sure why... the German makes more sense, what with it bridging the gap to the weekend, I don't know where windows comes in to that. We decided to take advantage of the good weather and headed to Baden and 'Austria's largest beach', which turns out to actually just be some sand plonked beside an outdoor swimming pool. The Strandbad is amazing though and so much fun! Baden will always be one of my favourite places in Austria, I really could live there. </p> <p>So today I'm off to Prague until Sunday to visit my dad who moved there earlier this month. I'm really looking forward to seeing him and spending some time together in Prague, which has definitely become one of my favourite cities! On monday, my mum arrives and we'll try and pack in a few things before I head off - though the majority of my plans seem to involve eating or drinking in 'insert name of restaurant/cafe/bar here' for the last time'. At least she'll be fully acquinted with Ottakringer and Schnitzel by the time we head home on wednesday (as well as pizza, cocktails, ice-cream and oriental breakfasts!).</p> <p>Until next time (the last time!)<br> Tschuss! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/28/nearing-the-end-6192631/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>language-assistantviennabadenhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/28/nearing-the-end-6192631/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/27/a-long-day-in-the-life-6301538/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-27:/2009/05/27/a-long-day-in-the-life-6301538/Wed, 27 May 2009 19:44:10 +0200 <p>Hello my intrepid readers!! (I haven't said that before, but it seems to be something that a blogger must say at least once!) Once again, sorry sorry sorry for not having been very good at updating this! I'm just really busy, and the there's always been some important deadline coming up which forces me to work instead of write blogs.</p> <p>It's all going well though, don't worry!</p> <p>Aaaanyway rather than ramble on about the usual “this week I went to a nightclub and then did some work” shenanigans, I'm going to give you a wee run-through of a standard Tuesday so you can get an idea of what Informatics life can be like once the initial “crazy-woooooo-erasmus parties-I didn't understand a word of what he just said-oops I slept in-how the hell do the printers work” phase has passed.</p> <p><strong>8.00am </strong><br> "♪ La radio... de los éx-i-tos! Los 40 principales! ♪ Son... las ocho! Las siete en Canarias." Time to get up then. Shower, shave, breakfast, teeth, prepare stuff for uni.</p> <p><strong>9.30am</strong><br> Walk down Carrer Nou de La Rambla, catch the metro (doing some Catalan homework on the train)from Paral·lel to Palau Reial, then walk up the hill to uni.</p> <p><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="parallel"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/295/3596295_8ba6b3d050_m.jpeg" alt="parallel"></a></p> <p><strong>10am - 12 noon</strong><br> 2 hour CDI Lecture (compression of data and images). Today we're learning about the "discrete cosine transformation" and its use in JPEG compression.</p> <p><strong>11.15am - 12 noon</strong><br> I have an overlap in my timetable, so leave the CDI lecture early to go to ER lecture (Requirements Engineering). Today we're contrasting Kano and Volere's methods of classifying requirements.</p> <p><strong>12-2pm</strong><br> PROP theory lecture (Programming Project). All about how we should be using the Model-View-Controller pattern in our projects.<br> <strong><br> 2pm</strong><br> Go down to the <em>menjador</em> and queue to heat up my lunch in the microwave (leftovers from last night's tea... it's kinda the done thing here!)</p> <p><strong>2.10-2.30pm</strong><br> Sit in the Plaça de la FIB (School of Informatics Square) and eat.<a href="javascript:window.open(" title="fib"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/296/3596296_3ddd0bc3c8_m.jpeg" alt="fib"></a></p> <p><strong>2.30-4.30pm</strong><br> Go to the labs and work on my Cryptography project; at the moment I'm trying to get my implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard to work in "CBC mode" but it's not working and I can't see why.</p> <p><strong>4.30-6pm</strong><br> Catalan class. Today we were reviewing the imperative... by the way, you do know that we use the imperative to give orders but the subjunctive to give prohibitions, don't you? We have been told this a trillion times. We know.</p> <p><strong>6pm – 7pm</strong><br> Preparation for DSBW Lab (Design of Web-Based Systems), today it's about Struts so I'm trying to get myself up to speed so that I'll manage to finish the lab practical in the allocated time.</p> <p><strong>7pm – 9pm</strong><br> DSBW Lab... high speed stressful programming! Got it finished just in time, and submitted with 1 minute to spare. Phew!</p> <p><strong>9-9.30pm</strong><br> Travel home on the metro. *tummy grumbles*</p> <p><strong>9.30pm-10pm</strong><br> Cook dinner and eat. Since it's late, it's good old traditional Spanish... Heinz Beans and a baked potato. Can't be bothered being a culinary whiz this evening!</p> <p><strong>10pm-11pm</strong><br> Doing some more Cryptography, time is running out for the deadline on Friday!</p> <p><strong>11pm-midnight</strong><br> Writing up up the report for our CDI practical, measuring the average length of a grain of rice by using a picture of... a plate of rice. Never said the word <em>arroz</em> so many times in my life.</p> <p><strong>Midnight-12.45am</strong><br> A cheeky bit of revision for the SO Partial exam on Friday. I hate partial exams!</p> <p><strong>12.45am</strong><br> Bed! Got the usual 9am meeting with my PROP project group tomorrow, need to be up in good time to get my laptop all ready and organise what I've done.</p> <p>No exaggeration. And there are many worse days than this! Future informatics Erasmusers, do not expect to be able to come here and be lazy!! Admittedly Tuesdays are generally a busy day, but every day is a busy day. Obviously I don't have class until 9 every day, only twice a week... but still!</p> <p>Socialising during the week usually just consists of catch-ups and cocktails, and lately a bit of "let's just go and have ice cream on the beach"... but the actual fiesta time only really happens at the weekend.</p> <p>Time is running out, and the most annoying thing is that I want to be making the most of every day, but there just isn't the time to do everything I would like to.</p> <p>But it's hot again now and I think it's going to stay hot. My Catalan teacher moans a lot about it, "no li agrada gens." Well I like it, although it's not as though I actually go out and enjoy the weather if I'm slaving away in the labs! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/27/a-long-day-in-the-life-6301538/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>barcelonauniversitat-politecnica-de-catalunyahttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/27/a-long-day-in-the-life-6301538/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/25/exams-karaoke-and-fountains-6173756/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-25:/2009/05/25/exams-karaoke-and-fountains-6173756/Mon, 25 May 2009 13:14:16 +0200 <p>I’ve been back in Dijon for just over three weeks now and although the time has gone by quickly, it still seems like ages ago that I was in Vienna. As I said before, coming back to France felt like coming home, which was a really weird feeling that I hadn’t expected at all. I was pleased though, because if I can feel perfectly at home in another country then it must mean my Erasmus year has been a success!</p> <p>The past few weeks have been busy: the university was still blocked when I got back and the striking students were taking it in turns to sleep in the building to prevent anyone but the teachers from getting inside (legally they can’t deny anyone access to their place of work). It was decided that the teachers who weren’t on strike would relocate their classes their classes to other buildings on the campus that hadn’t been blocked – that way, the students could still have classes in the week leading up to the exams, which were going ahead regardless of the strikes, but the government would see that officially we were still striking and the blocage was still going ahead. Then, in the first week of exams they held a secret ballot which decided to unblock the building. Up until that ballot, all the votes were being decided by a raising of hands, which meant that some students were too intimidated to vote ‘no’ to the blocage and the strikes. Either way, the deblocage didn’t really affect anyone because exams had started by then and there were no more classes anyway. </p> <p>The exams were pretty much the same as the same as the ones we did last semester, but I only had three this term because some of the striking teachers didn’t set exams. Once again I was surprised by the lack of rules during the exam – everyone had their phones out and people were passing each other notes and answers along the pews of the lecture theatre and walking around to get more paper or borrow a dictionary from someone sitting on the opposite side of the hall! I think going back to Edinburgh next year is going to be a bit of a shock to the system!</p> <p>All in all, the exams weren’t especially stressful and most of the Erasmus students viewed them as nothing more than a bit of an inconvenient detraction from sunbathing and partying. The weather has been absolutely amazing these last few weeks – it’s been above 30 degrees nearly every day although we’ve also had quite a few storms at night time. We’ve taken to sitting outside at one of the cafés in the main square most evenings, drinking wine and watching the world go by –it’s all very French! There are fountains in the main square as well and a couple of weeks ago we spent a memorable few hours playing in them and taking photos of each other running through them and jumping over them. That kind of behaviour in public is quite frowned upon here (I think mainly in bourgeois towns like Dijon rather than France in general) and we generated quite a crowd of people staring in disbelief at the crazy ‘anglaises’! Incidentally we’ve also been getting a lot of stares lately for our summer clothes – the French never seem to wear shorts or skirts, or even strappy tops – no matter how hot it is they always wear jeans or black trousers with long sleeved tops, or if it’s really roasting three-quarter lengths! I have no idea how they do it – they must be so uncomfortable! But judging from the stares and pointing, they seem to think we’re just as crazy!</p> <p>As well as sunbathing we’re trying to see and do as many things as possible before we leave Dijon in the next few weeks – the first day everyone was back after the Easter holidays we sat down and made a list of things to do and we’re trying to work our way through them – although a lot of them involve food and sunbathing opportunities! So far we have seen the new Audrey Tautou film about Coco Chanel, had drinks at Café Gourmand (the one in the main square – we’ve done this quite a lot of times!) and gone to Parc Colombier which is a massive park quite near the campus with a petting zoo and ice cream parlours and lots of sunshine and ponds and exciting things like that! We also visited Besançon last week, which I think I’ve written about before. It’s the nearest university town to Dijon and has much more of a studenty atmosphere. Although I’ve enjoyed Dijon, I think I would have really liked to have spent my Erasmus year in Besançon, just because it’s a bit (a lot) livelier! We spent our day there at the citadel, which I’ve never been to before. It was really interesting and has three or four museums, including a fantastic one about the French Resistance, and a zoo, which was ace! </p> <p>Another thing on our list was to do karaoke at Hunky Dory, Dijon’s best and only karaoke bar. I had never done karaoke before and to be honest I wasn’t especially keen to do it now, but it was on the list so it had to be done! We went along last Tuesday, which was Megan’s last night here before she went home for the summer. It turned out to be a fantastic, although slightly surreal, evening. The place was quite empty when we arrived with only one table of about six French teenagers who were singing song after song. When we went up to sing they cheered and applauded as though they had never been so thrilled about anything in all their lives and so when they sang, we did the same. It was all very friendly and mutually encouraging and everyone was getting more confident, so while I had agreed to sing just one song, we ended up singing about fifteen! About an hour after we got there, we were about to leave the stage after a particularly brilliant rendition of ‘Everybody’ by the Backstreet Boys, when the screen came up with ‘les anglaises’ and the other table of people gestured to us to stay up and sing again. The French version of ‘My Way’ came on and they rushed up onto the stage to sing with us. When it ended the screen showed ‘les françaises’ and we sang ‘Yesterday’ by the Beatles with them. It doesn’t sound like anything too special but we were really touched that they had made the effort to bond with us and to sing an English language song. After that we sang with them a few times – them making the effort to sing in English and us to sing in French. At one point we put on ‘Colours of the Wind’ from Pocahontas and while we sang the English words, they sang the French – it was lovely! When the bar closed we went our separate ways and I doubt we’ll ever see them again, but it was a really lovely and memorable evening! On our way home we passed the cinema which had discarded as massive cardboard cut-out of Bob from the film Monsters vs Aliens which we stole and paraded around the town and took photos of next to all the landmarks we could think of, which was, I think, the perfect way to finish Megan’s time in Dijon!</p> <p> <img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/711/3536711_b01b01e867_m.jpeg" alt="" vspace="5" hspace="5"><br> Megan and Sophie with the newly rechristened Jean-Luc</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/25/exams-karaoke-and-fountains-6173756/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>dijonhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/25/exams-karaoke-and-fountains-6173756/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/22/zoo-and-bruges-and-tests-and-stuff-ensc-lille-6158265/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-22:/2009/05/22/zoo-and-bruges-and-tests-and-stuff-ensc-lille-6158265/Fri, 22 May 2009 16:05:15 +0200 <p> I have to admit I haven’t been all that great with writing my blog, but I seem to be so busy all of the time. I suppose with just three weeks left to go it’s hardly surprising, when my parents left I suddenly realised how much needs to be done before we leave so I promptly started organising. Last week was a bit calm but it’s going to get crazy!</p> <p> Coming back to the cite scientifique after being in Milan was a bit of a let down, and the prospect of a five day week was no more welcoming but as always time marches on. The week started in a particularly sad way, I finally made the decision about going to Japan. It’s been on my mind for months, since before Christmas and even over Easter I still really wanted to go but in that first week back I started to have serious doubts. I know people say to take every opportunity but my mantra is usually to follow my instincts and they were telling me to say no. I can’t put into words how horrible it was to sit in the class watching everyone else get so excited about going and me knowing I’d thrown it away but even then I still knew I’d made the right decision.<br> The stage was in a hotel, and the wage wasn’t great although accommodation and food were included I had visions of me cleaning dishes due to lack of Japanese ability and not many day trips… Also I know next year is going to be tough enough without coming back from Japan and wanting a break straight away, I have so much to think about with my chosen career path anyway. Finding a PhD isn’t going to be easy. </p> <p> I was sort of wishing the week away since my parents were visiting at the weekend (which I now say in a French accent) but Rachel’s Dad was here on the Tuesday and Wednesday so we all went to the 3 Brasseurs, also known as ‘the flammekeuche’ place. Not wanting to break the tradition we also went with my parents on the Friday but we managed to get the table inside the brewing thing- I’ve no idea what it is, but it’s a huge brewing thing which is normally full of beer but they cut holes in the sides and put a table in the middle- it’s the best table in the place and we’ve always wanted to sit in there so that was a real achievement…</p> <p>Before weekend fun could start we had a French test, it was actually horrific, none of us were really in the mood and so I forgot to listen in the listening part, my essay was okay, maybe a little off topic but since Rachel started to write about communism (‘look at Russia’) I don’t feel too bad. I think we were all a little fed up.</p> <p> My parents, my brother and I went to Bruges on Saturday, I’d already been but it was on a snowy, rainy, awful day (even though we had fun) it was nice to see Bruges in the sun. Roughly translated that means walking from bar to bar drinking the local beer ‘Brugge Zot’ which means the ‘Bruges Joker.’ We did manage to get a ride on a horse and trap which took us around the town for about half an hour, it was fun, if not a little worrying that the driver couldn’t really control the horse! We ended up back in Lille for dinner, moules frites of course although they weren’t very nice, I don’t think it’s the right season… Sunday we ended up in Lille again just drinking beer, what a surprise, but before that we visited the zoo.</p> <p> The zoo is a-m-a-zing! It’s free for a start but for a ‘tiny’ zoo it has some great animals like zebra and alpacas, a rhinoceros, lots of gibbons and one of them with a little 6 month old baby which was so cute and in a bizarre, surreal twist one of the girls from the lab was working there! It’s odd to know people in Lille, I think my parents found in bizarre and I found it odd talking in English; we donated some money to name the gibbon Hylo but I don’t know which name was chosen yet.</p> <p> Anyway I’m organising a picnic to the zoo some time soon, everyone should see the meercats and the weird animals like the flying foxes and some of the pens are so flimsy, I could have touched the alpacas and the peacock managed to escape. Sorry, I was very over excited about the zoo.</p> <p> Anyway, it’s Friday now so hopefully I won’t be so late next week, since I have some work to do I’m sure I’ll procrastinate by writing!</p> <p> Until next time…</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/22/zoo-and-bruges-and-tests-and-stuff-ensc-lille-6158265/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>enscmelissaensc-lilleweek-37http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/22/zoo-and-bruges-and-tests-and-stuff-ensc-lille-6158265/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/20/oslo-20-05-6147571/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-20:/2009/05/20/oslo-20-05-6147571/Wed, 20 May 2009 15:18:37 +0200 <p>As one of my final weekends in Oslo, the past one was as good as I could possibly have hoped for.  Beginning on Friday with the medical students' review show (thinking re-writing of popular songs into hilariously clever rude Norwegian versions and lots of nudity), and continuing onto Saturday's big event: Norway's Eurovision win!  Alexander Ryback pulled it in at a record breaking score for Norway, and being in the country when they won was amazing (despite the fact my whole student village's television signal went down and everyone had to resort to internet viewing)!</p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBFFlL58UTM&feature=fvst"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/022/3523022_5d3475df21_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"></a></p> <p>Saturday was a night of great celebration for many, and Sunday was another big calendar event: Norway's National Constitution day, 17. mai.  A massive day of celebration for all, everyone got on their lovely national costume, the royal family stood on the palace balcony and huge parades walked the entire length of the main street in Oslo and round in front of the palace.  Despite the fact that celebrations were marred slightly last year by sudden snow, this year was brilliant sunshine all day, it was lovely!  We had an early start with a traditional breakfast at a friend's: smoked salmon, prawns, gravadlax, fresh rolls, coffee, a huge range of delightful things!  After that we headed out to view the parades in the company of enthusiastic parents, siblings, friends and grandparents awaiting their children walking past in the parade.  After a little while watching, we met some friends, had some ice cream, enjoyed good company in good weather, and eventually headed onto a park for a barbeque, it was a delightful day all in all.  Here are a few pictures from the day:</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/015/3523015_a93ff5a866_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/016/3523016_4d601e9bf3_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/017/3523017_03e8125854_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><br>Above is one of the buses I wrote about in previous entries: on the side of the bus are rather revealing photos of the students whose bus it is, they seemed to be enjoying the attention they received as a result of their kinky photoshoot!</p> <p>Anyway, the weekend was a dream, but this week hasn't been quite as good: today I had my first exam of this semester, Contemporary Literature, 4 hours of not-quite-as-successful-as-i'd-like essay writing!  This weekend I have a translation conference to attend, and a bit of work to do in preparation for it, and next week another exam.  Basically, work is once again taking over, but I suppose I ought not to complain after such a good weekend!  A wee bit of work and a wee bit of play and a hope to make the most of the past few weeks here!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/20/oslo-20-05-6147571/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>oslohttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/20/oslo-20-05-6147571/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/18/crazy-crazy-vappu-and-it-s-the-final-countdown-6135457/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-18:/2009/05/18/crazy-crazy-vappu-and-it-s-the-final-countdown-6135457/Mon, 18 May 2009 14:27:15 +0200 <p>I haven't written on here for such a long time, almost a month, as its been absolutely crazy here and I don't know where the time has gone. I'll backtrack a wee bit because I never wrote about Vappu which is a celebration on 30th April through to the morning of 2nd May, and you can't really have done erasmus in finland without experiencing vappu. Basically, Vappu is the May day holiday here which means everyone gets 2 days off work. It is tradition that the students have a huge festival over these days and it was manic, sort of like Hogmanay on Princes Street back home but crazier. All of the main streets in Helsinki were closed and literally the entire population of Finland was out partying, there were various traditions taking place in the main square in the afternoon such as giving the statue in the main square the cap which people get when they graduate from high school but essentially it was one big party. We started the celebrations early in the morning on 30th with a picnic - which obviously included alcohol - and then that set us up for the day of more barbeques and merryment, ending in a trip to the hospital (my friend thought she had broken her arm) and finally back home at 8am. To have a few hours of sleep and then back out again for the traditional picnics in the park early on 1st, which then followed on with a day similar to the one before ending at 9am on 2nd. We'd been hearing about Vappu from the Finns since we arrived so it was a huge event for the erasmus students, and I dont think we were really disapointed! </p> <p>The early morning picnics, and celebrations in the statue:</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/2887_1136721064936_1434644661_340882_2851742_n/3516888" title="2887_1136721064936_1434644661_340882_2851742_n"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/888/3516888_8aa6b282a8_m.jpg" alt="2887_1136721064936_1434644661_340882_2851742_n" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/4257_75055073194_576668194_1714918_6022062_n/3516890" title="4257_75055073194_576668194_1714918_6022062_n"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/890/3516890_eb7eb3b03d_m.jpg" alt="4257_75055073194_576668194_1714918_6022062_n" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>So, that was Vappu!! We all felt very Finnish over these few days and there is a lot of talk of everyone coming back next year for a reunion over Vappu, but I don't quite know how that would sit with 4th year finals in Edinburgh!</p> <p>--------</p> <p>Now we're into the final 2 weeks of our lives in Finland, everyday we are going to parties for "last night of ....." and its getting crazy. Each day almost someone goes home and I don't like it. It doesn't feel real, it's very sureal and very strange. Everyone is going home at different times because we all actually finished classes before Vappu at the end of April so this has been one crazy party month (as if our lives in Finland needed any more than that) meaning people have been going home whenever depending on their commitments back in their home countries. I'm not quite sure how I feel about going home - I'm really scared about it because I know I have to go back to reality and sort out so many things, not only on a pratical administative level but also rekindle relationships with people in Edinburgh and at home who I haven't seen for over a year. I left Edinburgh at the start of May last year to start my epic journey to Russia, Mongolia, China and then finally into Finland. I've done so much since then and met so many people that I can't quite imagine what it will be like going back to my every day life in Edinburgh because it feels so long ago. For the last year I've had such close relationships with people who I potentially will never see again, or at least, if and when I do see people again not everyone from our groups will be there and also, it will be different because we're no longer erasmus students. Everyone will have commitments and life to deal with, here we can just forget everything because certainly at the moment we have no schedule on our lives. We have no university commitments so this last few weeks have essentially been lots of socialising without having to deal with anything like an adult. In 2 weeks I'll be back at my parents house and I'm not ready for that. On another note, loads of people have booked flights to come to Edinburgh for the festival. I can't wait. </p> <p>-----------</p> <p>I've also been to Stockholm a week or so ago which was really fun - we didn't do much but had a good couple of girlie days too. It only cost 70 euro in total too which was amazing - the ferry was 27 euro return including a cabin (okay, it was the cheapest one and we slept under the cars) which was a great oppertunity for my friends to learn lots of sea life related vocabulary which is clearly essential to life such as shark, jelly fish, sting ray and whale. Then I spent around 40 euros over 2 days in Stockholm. It was a really cool city.</p> <p>-----------</p> <p>Eurovision happened over the weekend and it was brilliant. If I'm at home I've always watched it at home with my mum and it felt quite fitting to watch the Eurovision towards the end of my year of travelling fun, because last year I arrived in Moscow on the day Russia won the contest, so there are great memories attached to the entire year. A group of around 20 of us went to a pub to watch it on a big screen - we had various nationalities represented: UK, France, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Malta and Lithuania. As well as the obvious joint "nationality" of Finland. The Italians were there too but they had no idea why, apparently Eurovision does not happen in Italy. It isn't that Italy are awful and never make the final, it is simply that they don't enter and before we left a fair bit of wikipedia'ing took place to explain the concept of the programme. So we cheered and laughed at the awful nature of our countries entires, as France and Germany were shambolic, along with Spain and Lithuania who tried too hard. Obviously no one thought much of the UK entry too. So we decided that the winner should be Portugal, and then Azerbaijan and then Iceland. And wow, how wrong were we with our predictions!! </p> <p>The Finnish song is actually very famous in Finland and it has been played in all of the clubs over the last few months, so we already knew the words although no one realised it was an actual Finnish song, or it was Finlands eurovision entry until we were looking it up online. So when Finland performed, the entire pub went crazy with people dancing on the tables, jumping around and singing loudly persumably to counter balance the fact that whenever one of our countries sang we all cheered loudly too. But sadly the excitement was short lived with Finland bringing up the rear of the table with a shambolic 22 points. I really don't know why as there were loads of countries who had a much worse song than Loose Control but I guess its all down to the politcal voting as Terry Wogan would say!! Although if this is the case, how did the UK manage to do so well?! </p> <p>----------------------</p> <p>Photo from the Sit Sit I wrote about last time, and also a photo from our trip to Riga in March:<br> <a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/3287_511948045521_67001549_30512005_3941395_n/3516927" title="3287_511948045521_67001549_30512005_3941395_n"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/927/3516927_9a7701d9ba_m.jpg" alt="3287_511948045521_67001549_30512005_3941395_n" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/2802_72689623194_576668194_1682256_7721467_n/3516928" title="2802_72689623194_576668194_1682256_7721467_n"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/928/3516928_8848eb0fe7_m.jpg" alt="2802_72689623194_576668194_1682256_7721467_n" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/18/crazy-crazy-vappu-and-it-s-the-final-countdown-6135457/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>helsinkihttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/18/crazy-crazy-vappu-and-it-s-the-final-countdown-6135457/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/14/oslo-14-05-6112831/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-14:/2009/05/14/oslo-14-05-6112831/Thu, 14 May 2009 09:27:44 +0200 <p>My times of teaching at the University of Oslo are over!  It feels really, very bizarre to know that, and I'm sad too: whilst teaching in the department at home in Edinburgh is always good, here I was overwhelmed with course choices, always provided with the most in-depth assignment feedback not to mention pre-assignment discussion meetings, and the facilities of the most super library I've ever experienced.  I will really miss the academic aspect of this year abroad, but am so glad to have experienced it and wouldn't think twice before applying to come back.  The language thing (that is to say, studying solely in Norwegian) was a thought that intimidated me greatly in the beginning, but was never as difficult as I had imagined, and now presents no problem at all.  For me, the fact that I study courses alongside Norwegians and receive no special preference is a milestone for me: something that I never imagined would happen, but proves to myself that I must be better than I often think.  I now have to start thinking about exams!  I have three coming up over the next few weeks, and am specially keen to do well in my Nordic Children and Young People's Literature course.  The exam for the subject is a difficult one for me, an oral exam lasting half an hour where we go in unaware of the topic we must present on until given a short passage from one of the course texts and have to instantly recall all the relevant secondary literature and points in question.  I am nervous, but I'm hoping that sensation will drive me to revise harder!</p> <p>Before entering the period of exam havoc, C and S and I decided to take advantage of one of the best things about studying in Scandinavia: living here gives such ease travelling to other Scandinavian countries at a good price and without having to consider flying due to excellent train services (much more environmentally friendly and pleasant!)  We took our final trip to Sweden, to the capital, Stockholm, for three days:</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/251/3504251_69c38cb4a2_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/252/3504252_327128e02a_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/253/3504253_43b9169267_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/254/3504254_647f2f2d6e_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><br>The weather was a godsend, the company was lovely and as a last trip of sorts, it was a really very lovely way to sum up this year in Scandinavia.</p> <p>This weekend is going to be a big one: tomorrow the Medicine Students' Society stage their comedy 'review', which I saw last semester and am subsequently hugely looking forward to this week.  Saturday is a goodbye party of some friends (in addition to the highly important Eurovision Song Contest, which I firmly believe Norway to have an excellent chance of winning with a young man named Alexander Ryback violining and jigging away!) and Sunday is an early start: Norway's national day that I have mentioned before.  Friends are I will be meeting for a traditional breakfast, as is the custom, before heading to the main street to watch the parades before the day descends into inevitable barbecuing and merriment.  As such, I predict my revision to be very nearly null this weekend, and must get on with some now in preparation for Wednesday's exam!  The sooner it is over the sooner I can... well, begin revising for the next!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/14/oslo-14-05-6112831/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>oslohttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/14/oslo-14-05-6112831/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/10/milano-baby-8th-may-ensc-lille-6093497/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-10:/2009/05/10/milano-baby-8th-may-ensc-lille-6093497/Sun, 10 May 2009 21:58:33 +0200 <p> So- the first week back after Easter gives us a long weekend (muchly needed) and we packed our bags and headed of to Milan for a weekend in the sun. Twenty six degrees – so happy!</p> <p> In order to save money we travelled from Charlerois in Belgium which involved a two hour train journey (including changes) but we had booked in online and only had hand luggage and sailed through security, and since it was Belgium to Italy, no boarder control. The only need to show passports was for proof of identity on the plane so we went from France to Belgium to Italy and showed out passports once! I know it’s an open boarder and all that but it’s still weird to have no boarder control in an airport! </p> <p> All went according to plan and Milan was hot but we were fed up after trekking to the metro station to get a weekend ticket (48 hours for five pounds; that gets you unlimited travel on metro, bus and tram.) We then trekked back to the bus stop and had to count the number of stops to make sure we were at the right one- the club below the hotel ‘The Rolling Stone’ was a dead give away! </p> <p> We stayed in a place called ‘hotel America’ it’s labelled as a hostel and you can get rooms really cheap, ours were thirty euros a night but we chose a room for just the three of us and our own bathroom (although the water wasn’t exactly reliably hot…) We had a nap as we were so tired and we were planning a big, big night out. </p> <p> So at six we started to get ready- the water was still warm at this point- but had no idea where to eat, hoping that our lack of Italian- not for wont of trying- would make us endearing we asked the guy at reception who was wonderful! He drew it all out on a map, and pointed us to the student area for aperitifs where we started with a cocktail and found a nice, reasonably priced restaurant of which I didn’t even notice the name! We didn’t care, we were so hungry and the calzone was delicious!</p> <p> Two bottles of wine later, one in the restaurant and one in the room, we were dressing to go out, deciding to stay local and go down to ‘The Rolling Stone, two floors down. We spent an hour looking over the balcony waiting to see people go in. Eventually we gave in and not having a clue what to do, and not wanting to wait, we got ‘drink cards’ for thirteen euros which let us in right away. The drink cards were a good idea, you don’t pay for any drinks to the end! The measures were really generous and we were dancing before long, after a while we came to realise it was a gay night- it was brilliant! Semi- naked men dancing and some bizarre Italian comedian… I think…although research suggests he was on TV but that could be a bad translation…</p> <p> We left about two after much dancing but were exhausted and decided to have a late start, the hotel provided a small breakfast and then we were off to visit everywhere! We got on a tram to the centre and found the Duomo (Cathedral), it was not hard to miss, it is enormous and absolutely amazing- there has been a church on the site since the 5th century! Inside there are five naves and forty pillars, the nave is about 45 metres high! We then wandered on to the castle (which is also huge, and impressive) back to La Scala (the opera house) wandering through the covered walkway ‘Galleria Vittoria Emmanuel II’ built in the 19th century which now houses nice restaurants (too pricy for us) and designer shops (it is Milan.) We had a long lunch before heading out in the afternoon sun to a few churches, a drink by the canal and home for a rest before grabbing a bite to eat in by the Duomo; we only went to a pizzeria which was pricy but you could see the Duomo from our table (even if the view was obscured.) We headed home early (about ten) and watched some bizarre Italian television before crashing for the night. We knew we would need to be prepared for the long seven hour journey home.</p> <p> We checked out at eleven this morning, saying an extended thank you to the guy at reception whose name I never asked but who was so kind to us! We discovered that he gave us a free map which he was making other people pay for (four euros fifty!) and he gave us the balcony table this morning at breakfast, he told us that last night was the closing night at ‘The Rolling Stone’ had we known we might have gone down, but we would have paid for it by tonight!</p> <p> All in all the trip was amazing, no glitches and thanks to Rachel’s forward planning we weren’t too lost! She organised everything so I have to say thanks to her for that, and to Andrew for putting up with our stressing a particularly my minor panic attack at Charlerois train station today- fifteen minutes to catch a train and we couldn’t find the ticket place- I was stressed! Sorry!</p> <p> I know I have yet to write about my first week but it pales in significance next to this, just general chem. work, maybe I’ll add a bit during the week… we’ll see.</p> <p>Anyway, the first blog of the last term- that’s terrifying- anyway, until next time…</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/10/milano-baby-8th-may-ensc-lille-6093497/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>melissaensclweek-37ensc-lillehttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/10/milano-baby-8th-may-ensc-lille-6093497/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/07/puente-de-mayo-6301476/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-07:/2009/05/07/puente-de-mayo-6301476/Thu, 07 May 2009 19:25:24 +0200 <p>Righty-ho, just back to class after the “puente” of the 1st of May. When we have long weekends, they're called “bridges” here. So. Since I didn't let mum and dad come to Barcelona in Easter we decided that we'd meet up in Granada (Andalucía) for the long weekend in May, whaaaat a great place it is! More about that in a second. Last week was so insaaaanely hectic, I really could probably count the number of hours' sleep I managed to get on one hand. It was just basically deadlines galore and partial exams and all kinds of torture. I didn't even go out at the weekend, I was all cooped up like a recluse trying to figure out why my program was producing 03 e4 3c instead of 52 f6 01... or something like that :S Wasn't fun!</p> <p>On the Friday (1st of May) there was no class, so I was up at like 4am or something ridiculoso like that to get the first train to the airport and scoot on down to Málaga. It's a wonder I didn't have to pay for excess luggage for the bags under my eyes, I tellz yeh! Mum and Dad obviously thought I looked a bit run-down (which I was!) so I got stuffed with lots of good food. No complaints there.</p> <p>We all met in Málaga airport, and then caught a bus to Granada (a bit of a hassle, but worth it). Granada's really not as famous as other cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia etc, and I really hope it stays that way because it's so nice; Sevilla was brilliant too but I think I'd give the edge to Granada. It's probably Edinburgh-sized in comparison, and it felt like... if I was studying there I would manage to get to know every nook and cranny of it quite intimately, unlike the hugemungous BCN with its endless supply of discoveries. And it's really cool because it has the Sierra Nevada mountain range around it, so although it's blazin' hot, you can still see snow!</p> <p>We stayed in an apartment in the Albaizín, the old Arab quarter... look how beautiful the view was:</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/view/3596256" title="view"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/256/3596256_fd4880f7e3_s.jpeg" alt="view"></a></p> <p>The weather in Andalucía is generally a bit warmer than in Cataluña but that weekend it was particularly warm. Probably the most famous thing in Granada is La Alhambra. Here's a picture I took of it, see if it rings a bell:</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/alhambra/3596247" title="alhambra"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/247/3596247_9005f86acc_m.jpeg" alt="alhambra"></a></p> <p>It is amazing... those moors really knew how to live. It's so huge, so intricately detailed and just generally awe-inspiring.</p> <p>Apart from that, we went to Sacromonte, a “sacred mountain” where the houses are actually caves with a door on the front. People still live in caves!</p> <p>Also, we were there for the “Santa Cruz” festival, which I'd never heard of... but was a big deal to them! Every barrio of the city made a big deal-style tribute in the square, usually a cross (cruz) and flowers and sculptures and stuff. On the Saturday night we went to see a great flamenco show. </p> <p>Then we went wandering the streets in search of life, I wanted to find a pub that had Licor 43 to show Mum and Dad the greatness that is Licor 43. Licor 43 is a Spanish Liquor, if you ever see it, buy it! For it is great.</p> <p>Anyway eventually we found out that in past Santa Cruz parties too much damage had been done, so the mayor decided to ban them in public areas. Anyway long story short we ended up finding ourselves in a private Santa Cruz party in some random's garden!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/07/puente-de-mayo-6301476/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>granadauniversitat-politecnica-de-catalunyabarcelonahttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/07/puente-de-mayo-6301476/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/07/is-this-the-way-to-seegrotte-6074669/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-07:/2009/05/07/is-this-the-way-to-seegrotte-6074669/Thu, 07 May 2009 11:24:50 +0200 <p>It has been a while again, but this time I think I have an excuse! If you've been following Hannah's blog as well then you'll know that I've had visitors for the past couple of weeks. It was really good to have people to show around and I knew straight away that they would re-awaken my appreciation of Vienna. </p> <p>Having met them in Bratislava, we decided to take a taxi from Suedbahnhof since Sophie and Hannah had been on enough public transport already. The taxi-driver decided to take the scenic route around the Ringstrasse which was great for Sophie and Hannah as it showed them all of the main buildings lit up. They were awestruck and it really reminded me of how I felt when I first arrived here, although they of course lacked the sense of panic and all of the tears...</p> <p>They didn't have much time to settle into Vienna as we headed to Budapest early the next morning, which is just 4 hours on the high speed train and definitely worth a visit if you're already in Vienna. It didn't quite live up to my expectations, I'm not even sure what exactly I was expecting but I think my impression was affected by the fact that Budapest looks like a construction site at the moment as they're overhauling their entire transport system. It also just didn't feel as safe as Vienna, though very few capital cities do. The architecture is amazing though and the city has a really interesting history, having once been two cities; Buda and Pest. We took advantage of the cheap spas, which was definitely needed after we climbed St. Gellert Hill in the heat. We also visited the cave chapel (which I absolutely loved) and the castle as well as taking a boat trip on the Danube which included a walking tour of St. Margaret Island ( a tiny island between Buda and Pest). </p> <p>After arriving back in Vienna on the Sunday afternoon we had quite a hectic week trying to do as much sight-seeing as possible. By the end of the week we were all absolutely exhausted but psyched ourselves up for another weekend away, this time to Prague. Again Prague is only 4 hours away from Vienna (by bus this time because it's so much cheaper!) and definitely worth visiting. This is the second time I've visited Prague this year and I still absolutely love it, especially the Jewish Quarter which we did visit last time but were too cold to fully appreciate. The weather this time round meant that it was too hot to do any hardcore sightseeing but in a way that was better because we got a good feel for the city just from wandering around. We stayed at Sir. Toby's again and met loads of backpackers and exchange students there, it's always so interesting to hear everyone's stories and to chat to people you probably wouldn't meet in any other situation. On the Saturday night we went on a pub-crawl, which although expensive (by Czech standards, cheap compared to Edinburgh) was a great way to sample Czech night-life and I will cherish my t-shirt forever. </p> <p>After another weekend away we took Han and Sophie's last week in Vienna a little more slowly which I think was appreciated by everyone. We still managed to fit in quite a lot of sight-seeing and managed a couple of day trips to nearby towns. Baden bei Wien was really pretty and we attempted to head to Seegrotte, Europe's largest underground lake. It's only 17 km from Vienna and is supposed to be quite easy to get to... </p> <p>After being left stranded in a random village just outside Vienna and having the question 'how do we get to Moedling?' answered with 'not at all, right now' we weren't so sure. Giving up on trains we decided to catch a bus. It was then that I realised I hadn't until that point encountered a non-touristy Austrian town, and used to the Viennese accent which as far as Austrian accents go is fairly well-pronounced, I couldn't understand a word anyone was saying to me. After about an hour of hanging around Moedling bus station, we eventually boarded a bus headed to Seegrotte and were immediately stuck behind a May-Day parade, which although was nice to look at (and listen to, as we had discovered at 8 that morning as a brass band passed under my open window) with the adults in traditional Austrian dress, it did mean that we were even longer getting to Seegrotte. In the end we completely missed the stop and got off in a random little village, which to be fair was gorgeous! We had almdudler in a little Gasthaus and then got the bus back to Moedling (Seegrotte was closed by this time) - the bus driver looked at us as if we were completely insane, which to be fair was our general feeling at the time as well. </p> <p>With it being Sophie and Hannah's last evening in Vienna before boarding their night-train to Strasbourg at 11 pm, we headed to Charlie P's for a goodbye dinner, which after a long day was very much appreciated. We had enough time for Sophie and Hannah to repack, having somehow acquired an extra suitcase worth of stuff (as is usual) and watch some television before heading to Westbahnhof for our goodbyes.</p> <p>It was a really good couple of weeks which really allowed me to re-appreciate Vienna and has made me a little sadder about leaving here. The past week I've been ill and so have had a bit of time to reflect on what I'm going to have to get used to when I go back to Edinburgh in a month's time:</p> <p>- living in a flat with other people.<br> - working in pounds.<br> - not speaking or hearing any german.<br> - how early restaurants close.<br> - lack of Austrian beer as well as missing almdudler, kinder, milka and good coffee. </p> <p>I'm definitely going to miss Vienna but having just booked my flight home today, I am getting used to the idea of going back and I know that it'll take a while to settle back in and I'm sure after a while it'll be like I was never away. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/07/is-this-the-way-to-seegrotte-6074669/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>seegrotteviennapraguebudapesthttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/07/is-this-the-way-to-seegrotte-6074669/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/06/some-more-easter-travels-6069215/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-06:/2009/05/06/some-more-easter-travels-6069215/Wed, 06 May 2009 14:54:22 +0200 <p>To continue with my last post we had a really brilliant time in Vienna! We took full advantage of it the first week we were there – pushing through the tiredness of all our travels. As well as the things I mentioned last time, we went on a tour of the Parliament building (which is really impressive and grand, like everything else in Vienna), visited several more Viennese cafés, visited Schönbrunn, the Hapsburgs’ summer palace, which houses the oldest zoo in the world as well as mazes and a desert house did quite a bit of shopping and generally just soaked up the atmosphere of what rapidly became one of my very favourite cities! </p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/518/3480518_1624a4a9b9_s.jpeg" alt="DSCF2010" vspace="5" hspace="5"> <img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/517/3480517_ca9480625d_s.jpeg" alt="DSCF2167" vspace="5" hspace="5"><br> The maze at Schonbrunn and the Reisenrad</p> <p>At the weekend we took a bus to Prague which I definitely recommend doing as part of a trip to Vienna – it’s really cheap and only takes around 4 hours. Taking the bus is never really the first transport option to occur to me and I’ll usually take a train if I can, but I have to say that it was a good way to see lots of Austrian countryside, which is really pretty. I know that there are better routes to take for natural beauty – this one was mostly flat farmland and little villages, but I was impressed anyway and we saw a lot of deer and other animals (well, two of us did – Max kept missing them!). We were staying in a youth hostel just outside of the tourist centre of Prague, which Max has stayed in when she visited the city back in November and which is without doubt the best youth hostel I have ever encountered (I know I said that about the one in Basel too, but they keep getting better!) It was full of backpackers, which gave an atmosphere that reminded me a bit of Fresher’s week – everyone wanted to talk to everyone else, was interested in why they were in Prague, where they’d been and where they were going next. It was also good that everyone was either travelling alone or in pairs because it made it easier to get a conversation flowing. We stayed in on the first night there and chatted to people in the hostel’s bar before crashing into bed, which was fantastic after spending a week sleeping on Max’s floor! </p> <p>Our first day in Prague was ridiculously hot and after heading into town, getting separated from each other (we had picked up a crew of backpackers and were, by this time, a group of about 10 people, which is hard to keep track of in a busy street), finding each other (which cost an awful lot of phone credit) and watching the astronomical clock on the town hall strike the hour, we were too warm to continue sightseeing and so headed for the nearest bar, which was on the roof of a hotel in the main square, giving a fantastic view of all the main tourist attractions! We stayed there for ages and once we had cooled off and the sun was a bit lower in the sky we went on a walking tour of Charles Bridge, Wenceslas Square and the Jewish quarter, which was deserted because it was Saturday, but still really nice to wander around in. </p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/519/3480519_8462c18ea0_m.jpeg" alt="DSCF2088" vspace="5" hspace="5"><br> The Astronomical Clock</p> <p> In the evening we went on a pub crawl we had heard about from some guys staying in the hostel. When we arrived we were a bit concerned to discover that there were two separate stag parties on the pub crawl and apart from two Americans, we were the only girls there. Although I probably wouldn’t recommend this particular pub crawl (there was an expensive cover charge, it went around all of the pricey, touristy bars and ended up in a really bad club) we still had a good time. We bailed on the club at the end as it was full of guys ogling the pole dancers on the tables and headed to a massive 5 storey club near Charles Bridge instead, which was much better.<br> The next morning we were obviously not in much of a state to do sightseeing but after an extremely leisurely breakfast (we’re talking a couple of hours!) we wandered over to the castle and spent the morning there before heading back to Vienna.</p> <p>The leisurely atmosphere carried on for the rest of the time we were in Austria – we were so exhausted by the time we got back that we slept in most days and just did gentle sightseeing in the afternoons! We still managed to go to the Hofburg (the Hapsburgs’ palace in Vienna, which is huge), visit the Museums Quartier, see the Rathaus and the main cathedrals, go to the Prater (the permanent fairground on the site of Hapsburgs' old hunting grounds which housesw the Reisenrad, a ferris wheel constructed in 1897), visit the Wien museum which gives the history of the city from Roman times to the present day, take a couple of trips out of the main city and attempt to go to the Seegrotte, the biggest underground lake in Europe which, sadly, we didn’t manage to do because there was some problem with the rail track on the way, leaving us stranded in some random town. We got a bus to another random town then waited over an hour for another bus which should have taken us to Seegrotte, but we missed the stop and ended up, once again, waiting for a bus in some random village! It wasn’t the most successful day of my life, but at least we saw a lot of random Austrian towns!! </p> <p>The trip back to France was long and uneventful – we took a night train to Strasbourg which was surprisingly comfy and pleasant, even though we were sharing a carriage with a baby, which could have been disastrous! We left Vienna at 11pm on Friday and got to Dijon at 3pm on Saturday. It was strange to be back after almost a month away, but mostly because it felt so much like home, which I didn’t expect. It’s been really good to see everyone again, although it’s sad to know that we only have a few weeks left until everyone starts leaving.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/06/some-more-easter-travels-6069215/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>dijonhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/06/some-more-easter-travels-6069215/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/06/the-month-of-may-is-always-an-important-one-here-6068230/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-05-06:/2009/05/06/the-month-of-may-is-always-an-important-one-here-6068230/Wed, 06 May 2009 11:51:41 +0200 <p>The month of May is always an important one here in Norway: the 17th of May is Norwegian Constitution Day, a celebration of the constitution declaring Norway to be an independent nation. As a national day it is easily among the most important of the year, and already preparations are underway: on the day people wear their national costume, the bunad, and the national media is currently publishing various articles on the best way to care for and wash your bunad, polish your silver and how best to carry yourself whilst wearing the ensemble, among other items. Strange in my opinion, but clearly the demand for such things exists! On the day there will be parades on the streets whilst the Royal Family stand on the Palace balcony and wave to the gathered crowds.</p> <p>A major part of the parade on the national day will be the Russ, the young people graduating from high school and about to head to University or other avenues. The Russ celebrations are a massive part of society here and traditionally begin on the 1st May, though this year were evident a few days before that too. The school leavers all wear special overalls which traditionally shouldn't be washed throughout the three week stretch:</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/215/3480215_128e1082b3_m.jpeg" alt="" vspace="5" hspace="5"></p> <p>Over time these overalls accumulate signatures and badges and different signs that signify the different 'knots' they have achieved through a range of agreed 'daring' challenges. These challenges change each year and are published annually for the new school leavers, but here are a few russ knot examples according to Wikipedia:</p> <p>Spending a night in a tree (earns a stick from the tree)<br> Eating a Big Mac in two bites (earns a piece of the wrapping)<br> Drinking a bottle of wine in 20 minutes (earns the wine cork)<br> Crawling through a super market while barking and biting customers' legs (earns a dog biscuit)<br> Spending a school day crawling on hands and knees (earns a toy shoe)<br> Spending the entire russ period sober (earns a fizzy drink cork)<br> Drinking 24 beers in 24 hours(girls) 12 hour (boys)<br> Have sex in the woods<br> Have sex with 17 different people in 17 days from 1.May to 17 May(norwegian national day)<br> Go for a swim before the 1. of May earns a popsical<br> Break up with a random 16 year old very public.<br> Run over a local bridge or from the school to the sentre or similar place naked.<br> Sit in a round about with a sign that says "We'll have drink if you honk your horn!"<br> Host an aerobic class at the local pub and get at least ten people to join.</p> <p>Reading the list it becomes quite clear that Russ is regarded as a right of passage more than anything, and often the 'knots' are a controversial topic in society. In 2004 a group of female leavers eager to fund a Russ bus to ride in (a common part of the parade) agreed to make a pornographic film with a well-known Norwegian adult film actor in order to make 20,000 Norwegian Kroner, a mere fraction of the end sum they spent on their bus (well over 200,000 Kroner). Asides from that rather extreme example of Russ celebrations the month of May is more taken advantage of as an excuse to party in the lead up to their exams and the national day, and all in good spirits.</p> <p>As you can imagine, focusing on University isn't among my top priorities in this month of celebration and my final in the country! Exams are important to me, nonetheless, and having already completed one and in the lead up to others, I am spending time reading, etc. However, being able to do it in the sunshine and company is a massive bonus. I have also received feedback on recent essays: the system for feedback here is so advanced compared to home. Each student is given a personal meeting with our seminar leader to discuss our essay. In his office I noticed that he had made 2 A4 sides of notes about my essay alone, and his feedback was positive and helpful, most importantly. The fact that personal feedback meetings existed was surprising enough for me, but to discover how good they were was also a revelation.</p> <p>Anyway, asides from University things are in full swing: I am meeting my TANDEM partner as often as possible now in our last hopes at improving our requisite languages skills! I am spending a lot more time in the very efficiently run student unions, where volunteers operate the places in a highly admirable system, and on Friday some friends and I are taking the train to Stockholm in Sweden for a weekend which should be a lot of fun. Packing things in is becoming more difficult but I somehow always manage to do so, which is comforting at the very least. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/06/the-month-of-may-is-always-an-important-one-here-6068230/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>oslohttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/05/06/the-month-of-may-is-always-an-important-one-here-6068230/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/29/a-blurry-world-on-the-left-6026420/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-04-28:/2009/04/29/a-blurry-world-on-the-left-6026420/Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:47:12 +0200 <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span>I left my last blog on a train from Nanaimo to Victoria while travelling round Vancouver Island with my parents over the Easter weekend, so I’ll pick up from where I left off.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span><span>Nanaimo itself was less of an enchanting city compared to the delights of Victoria and I spent the majority of our first day there hiding in my hotel room trying to bash out 3000 words on the effects of warfare and political instability on conservation.<span>  </span>Interesting, you might think, until you’re sitting inside writing about it when it’s beautifully sunny outside!<span>  </span>Lucky for me the weather held out so once my paper was written, submitted and proof read by my very obliging parents we had a day to appreciate the fine weather.<span>  </span>Having walked along the sea front and around the rather small “downtown” area we took the ferry from Nanaimo to Protection Island to have lunch at a floating pub and then charmed the captain to take us to Newcastle Island.<span>  </span>The island is a provincial marine park with a human population of nil and a faunal population of lots of birds and a racoon (based on my observation from the afternoon).<span>  </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/663/3456663_1996db4755_m.jpeg" alt="DSC04650" hspace="5" vspace="5"> <img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/664/3456664_6d5ab418c0_m.jpeg" alt="DSC04674" hspace="5" vspace="5"> It was a lovely place to visit with numerous beaches, a lake and plenty of woodland to explore.<span>  </span>It was on the island that I had a stick related incident which I will share with you for your own amusement.<span>  </span>In British Columbia, there is a species of tree called the Arbutus tree which has beautiful orange bark.<span>  </span>On Newcastle Island there is an Arbutus tree which has beautiful twigs that have fallen off said tree and make ripe pickings for silly wandering tourists.<span>  </span>I, as one such tourist, picked up one of the aforementioned twigs which later in the day managed to make its way in to my eye causing the left part of my world to become rather blurry for the majority of the following week.<span>  </span>So yes, in summary, I did poke myself in the eye with a stick...... Not my proudest moment. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span><a title="DSC04669" href="http://"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/665/3456665_1a323bd34c_m.jpeg" alt="DSC04669" hspace="5" vspace="5"></a>  Fortunately this all occurred after the racoon sighting who had apparently been for a swim in the sea before climbing in to his tree bemused by the staring tourists, one of whom was carrying a pretty twig.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span><span>The next morning we took the ferry back to Vancouver this time arriving at Horseshoe Bay.<span>  </span>It’s a pretty wonderful introduction to the city, with the islands, snow capped mountains and beaches all in clear view in the sunshine followed by a short bus ride that takes you across the Lions Gate Bridge from North Vancouver to downtown.<span>  </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span><span>Having pointed my parents in the direction of their hotel I made my way back to campus to start to think about the three finals I have over the next week.<span>  </span>I have mixed feelings about reaching the end of term.<span>  </span>Needless to say there is an immense amount of satisfaction in finishing a semester and starting my whopping five month summer holiday but at the same time, finishing at UBC means leaving Vancouver which I’m not quite ready to do.<span>  </span><span>    </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/29/a-blurry-world-on-the-left-6026420/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>nanaimouniversity-of-british-columbiavancouverhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/29/a-blurry-world-on-the-left-6026420/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/27/a-hectic-week-of-travels-6015845/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-04-27:/2009/04/27/a-hectic-week-of-travels-6015845/Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:06:48 +0200 <p>I know I said in my previous blog that I would be off the radar for a while blog-wise but I've got a bit of time on my hands for literally the first time in three weeks, so here I am! </p> <p>It was fantastic, as always, to go home for Easter, although the weather was rubbish the entire week I was there! It's always a bit of a comfort for me to find that no matter how far away I go from home or how long I'm gone for, Edinburgh is still there and it's still essentially the same. I had fun revisiting places like Teviot and the Crags - it was all very nostalgic! Sophie came up to Edinburgh last Thursday so we could catch our plane to Bratislava on Friday and it was good to show her some of the more touristy spots of the city that I never feel like I can really visit because I live there!</p> <p>As I said, we left Edinburgh on Friday afternoon, and by Saturday lunch time we were in Budapest - meaning we had set foot in four countries (five for Sophie since she started in England) in less than 24 hours - impressive stuff! Needless to say we didn't get more than a glimpse of Bratislava or Vienna before we jumped on a train to Hungary. I hadn't really known anything about Budapest before we arrived and was interested to discover that it was traditionally two cities - Buda and Pest - separated by the Danube which were then united. Buda is definitely the more picturesque of the two and has far more impressive buildings although Pest houses the parliament building which is absolutely gorgeous. Budapest is also 'the city of spas' (another fact I hadn't known before I arrived)as it sits on top of lots of thermal springs. The first day we were there we went along to some thermal baths in Buda, just next to St Gellert's hill which has a cave cut into the side of it which was turned into what has to be one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen. The baths were just what we needed after a trek up the hill! The inside of building was beautiful with loads of mosaics and statues everywhere - it was obviously supposed to be a retreat for the wealthier citizens of the city, but because Hungary doesn't use the Euro it was so cheap that it was full of young tourists as well. I've decided that a spa holiday in Budapest is definitely on my to do list for future travels! While we were there we also did a boat trip on the Danube which had a stop off on on of the islands attached to the city which was really interesting and informative but also resulted in really awful sunburn! As always with these kinds of holidays - two days was just not enough time either to see everything we wanted to see or to truly get the feel of the city. It was also unfortunate that Budapest is in the middle of overhauling its entire transport system, including building new railway and tram lines so that the entire center of the city in both Buda and Pest resembled a massive construction site, which made getting good photos difficult! We went with it though and now have quite a few shots of ourselves posing in front of cranes and scaffolding!</p> <p>When we got back to Vienna we were exhausted but I was also excited to see the city. I have to say that it has lived up to every expectation I could have had of it and I am more than a little bit jealous that Max gets to live here all the time! We've been filling our days with sightseeing and sunbathing and eating the best cake I have ever had in the most beautiful cafe's I have ever seen! Last week we went to the Volksoper, the smaller and less fancy of Vienna's opera houses, to see the Nutcracker. Although it was slightly unseasonal it was fantastic - I was completely mesmerised. We also got fantastic seats, only 4 rows from the front because they sell the students all the leftover tickets for ten euro just before the curtain goes up, which I think is a really inspired idea. </p> <p>I'm starting to run out of time to write down everything we've been up to so I'll have to leave it until another time to tell you about everything we've done in Vienna and our trip to Prague which we got back from last night. I've loved this trip so much that I really think I'll have to do some proper backpacking after uni! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/27/a-hectic-week-of-travels-6015845/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>viennabudapestdijonhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/27/a-hectic-week-of-travels-6015845/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/26/oslo-26-04-6011534/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-04-26:/2009/04/26/oslo-26-04-6011534/Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:05:04 +0200 <p>Suddenly I find myself caught up in a hundred and one things all at once, and with the end of my exchange in sight I am beginning to try to take advantage of everything far more than ever. The result of this is time flying by almost scarily.</p> <p> I have been cooped up all weekend writing my final assignment for my Norwegian Academic Written course: we have to hand in two examples of our own writing, a bibliography (which sounds simple but having been taught the ins-and-outs of such things, really isn't at all, worryingly) and finally, an essay a few pages long about our development throughout the course. I know they're only trying to guage how we've really progressed language-wise, but writing such things bores me to tears! "I have learned to use the passive tense less often" and such sentences do not make for an exciting assignment! However, I am now finished with it and shall hand it in this week. Although only worth 5 ECTS credits, passing with a good mark would give me scope for picking my best points to apply to my Edinburgh transcript. Thinking about things like that is rare whilst on exchange, but now seem ever more important with term back in Edinburgh a not-too-distant thought!</p> <p> Recently things have been great here: it's very much a case of only <em>really</em> beginning to know the value of a place and people and opportunities once the time nears for it to be left behind.  On Friday we took advantage of the good weather (sunshine until 9pm, glorious!) and went to an island just off Oslo, Bygdøy.  We barbecued and played more of that rather dangerous but entertaining game I mentioned in my last entry, Kubb, and afterwards headed by into town to a friend's flat for a few hours:</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/039/3448039_5aed77cfd8_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><br>It was so lovely, but like I say, bitter sweet!  Anyway, if the weather remains how it has been recently, I see no reason why there shouldn't occur a few more days like this before we have to go anywhere.</p> <p>I have majorly lost touch with new and films and the likes at home, but a big one out here at the moment is the Swedish 'Män som hatar kvinnor' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvksrEhVvJ0), originally a novel by Stieg Larsson translated into English as 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.'  I saw it a few weeks ago with friends and can quite easily declare it to be the most scarring few hours of my love (and not just because my Norwegian brain was working in overdrive to keep up with the Swedish language.)  It is essentially a crime novel/film, but the presence of numerous murders and disappearances and Neo-Nazis and gothic hackers and rapes and attacks and any number of things made it perfect for the Scandinavian audience who seem to go crazy for this kind of things.  Whilst I was scarred, the 12 year old sitting behind me seemed quite happy most of the way through.  Maybe it's in their genes.</p> <p>Before I wrap up, I feel compelled to mention one more Scandinavian offering to the world (once again Swedish, for shame), but can safely assure everyone that no language skills are required to enjoy it to its fullest.  The video is a saucy clip from Sweden's version of Britain's Got Talent and will most probably leaving you wishing that the UK's version was quite as exciting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXRWvJjcdkk.  ENJOY.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/26/oslo-26-04-6011534/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>oslohttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/26/oslo-26-04-6011534/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/24/sit-sits-formal-dinners-finnish-style-5998607/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-04-24:/2009/04/24/sit-sits-formal-dinners-finnish-style-5998607/Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:59:10 +0200 <p>Yesterday evening I experienced a very popular Finnish tradition with university students - a "sit sit". A sit sit is essentially a formal dinner where you end up drinking far more than you actually eat because there are so many rules about when to drink, and what to drink, and you have to sing songs constantly. And then drink. The dress code was formal wear meaning for the first time in months we all got dressed up and wore nice dresses. Apparently the rule is that your dress has to be knee lenght or longer, but as we were erasmus students we didn't know this and therefore a couple of people broke the dress code on the skirt length!</p> <p>Upon arrival everyone had to find their set seat in the arrangment of about 150 people and then sit down at the table armed with a glass of wine and 2 vodka shots. This was at 7 o'clock in the evening and we were completely sober. So to start off we had to sing a song (in Finnish) to open the events and then there is a guy who is essentially a caller, who constantly bangs on his glass and shouts out "song number 38!" and then everyone has to stop eating, stand up, sing the song. And then once the song is over you then do a toast with the person on your left, drink, toast the person on your right, drink, and then the same with the person opposite you. There were 40 songs on the sheet and we got through all of them in a 3 hour period so you can imagine how often we were singing! </p> <p>As this was an international sit sit organised by ESN there were also songs in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German to go with the Finnish and Swedish traditional ones. The one thing all of the songs had in common was that they were essentially 'odes to alcohol' and talked about drinking, favourite drinks and being drunk. The songs were all accompanied by lots of banging on the tables, screaming and general drunkness as we all got slowly drunker throughout the night. The finale was a song at the end by which they toasted to the students who started university in 2008 (there were also Finns here) and then these people had to get on their chairs and down their drinks by the end of the song, then we continued to 2007, and then to 2006 and so on. In the UK this would be a very short song given that an undergrad degree is only 4 years (or only 3 in England) and then postgrad is one more. But in Finland, people can study for as long as they want and there is only a recently introduced time frame of 15 years by which one has to finish their degree, meaning we were toasting right back until 1997 for people starting university.</p> <p>The evening then ended with an after party which scarily turned into a school disco type thing from when we were around the age of 12 in secondary school. But by that point everyone was too drunk to care, so once the party finished down stairs we went back up to our rooms (convieniently, the resturant it took place in was in my basement) got out some vodka and carried on drinking until around 6am, and then some idiot Spaniards set off the fire alarm so we decided to go to bed and call it a day. Needless to say the hang overs were huge the next day!</p> <p>Other than the sit sit, nothing of noteable happenings has occured here. We're in the last week of classes which is scary - I finish my couses tomrrow and then I have just got 2 essays to write next week and I am offically finished at Helsinki. We're not leaving until the end of May though so we've got loads planned for May, including trips to Sweden and potentially Riga.</p> <p>The sun is shining in Helsinki, finally. It is still fairly mild in comparision to the rest of Europe, we're at around 4'c whereas everywhere else seems to be in the 20s. But that didn't stop a certain Scotsman getting sunburnt whilst playing football on Tuesday. Yes that is right, sunburn at 4'c is entirely possible when you've lived in sub zero temperatures for over 6 months!!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/24/sit-sits-formal-dinners-finnish-style-5998607/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>helsinkihttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/24/sit-sits-formal-dinners-finnish-style-5998607/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/19/oslo-19-04-5971964/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-04-19:/2009/04/19/oslo-19-04-5971964/Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:20:22 +0200 <p>Almost every day the sun comes out here, and as far as I'm concerned the weather is perfection: sunshine, but never too strong (I'm that pale and pasty Scottish way for life with an almost allergic reaction to most UV interruptions) but never temperatures over 15°C (none of that stuffy, sweaty action here, thank you!)  On Friday my friends and I took our first venture into our back garden for a late afternoon barbeque, and C brought along Kubb.  For those unfamiliar with Kubb, the game originates in Sweden and comprises of hefty chunks of wood:</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/506/3427506_91d4d8f02c_m.jpeg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><br>These chunks of wood are arranged and then basically lobbed about with enthusiastic throws:</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/511/3427511_2b8dae1b02_m.gif" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5"><br>(This diagram is hilarious, the figures appear to be doing all sorts of ambiguous things with the pieces)</p> <p>I clearly have an unknown violent streak as my partner and I reigned supreme with unbeatable Kubb playing skills, and ever since my legs and buttocks have ached from the to-ing and fro-ing involved in chucking about the pieces.  Needless to say it was an educational and enjoyable experience, and one that I hope to repeat!  Topped off with hot dogs from the barbeque it was not a bad evening in the slightest.  A pleasant interruption to tedious reading and writing, nonetheless.</p> <p>I have rather a big essay on the cards at the moment, which I have been working at for days already, but I gave it up last night for a party at my friend's.  It was a really good night, and weirdly enough interesting from a linguistic point of view.  As the only native English speaker I gave no hints to this and used Norwegian all night as is usual, however many of the Norwegians I met used English without any real reason (they had no knowledge of myself being Scottish and my friends being German before they began).  It really hit home to me the 'cool' factor behind using English, particularly American English.  It must be said that primarily males are the culprits, and they reserved English for their very worst stories, for example the tale of a bottle opener (in the shape of male genitalia, and almost life-size) acquired by one of them in the military, and the escapades that it had been involved in.  In itself not a pleasant tale, but the ones telling the story seemed to relish their Americanised curse words to the very utmost!  It was an odd experience.  It was only afterwards that they discovered that I am a native speaker of English after much debate: my accent was described as "a bit different" without being able to place me, but I was incredibly flattered to be told that "I knew that you weren't Norwegian, but you're very close."  Though I still doubt my own language skills, things like that make me realise that this year being almost over isn't necessarily negative, as I have clearly learned more than I realise.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/19/oslo-19-04-5971964/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>oslohttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/19/oslo-19-04-5971964/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/19/vancouver-island-5971230/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-04-19:/2009/04/19/vancouver-island-5971230/Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:07:01 +0200 <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span><span><span>The start of the week saw the last days of classes fly past in a bit of a blur as I tried to split my time between university, tour guiding and revising.<span>  </span>I suppose it goes without saying that the last of those has fallen by the wayside for now. <span>  </span>I think my family are enjoying getting to know where I’ve been living this year, spotting a few of the places they’ve seen on postcards and photographs and meeting some of the people I’ve been talking about.</span></span><span><span><span>  <br></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/881/3426881_d26b62ae51_s.jpg" alt="DSC04412" hspace="5" vspace="5"> <br>On Friday a couple of my friends and I took my sister to the Vancouver aquarium and thoroughly enjoyed watching the baby beluga whale trying to eat a seagull (unsuccessfully) and one of the sea otters indulging in rather an extended period of grooming (successfully).<span>  </span>That evening three of my friends were having birthday celebrations conveniently in the same club.<span>  </span>Once we managed to find it - I think there were at least 3 different groups of people, who, having got off the bus, headed in 3 completely different directions – it was a really fun evening singing and dancing along to the likes of James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell for the first half of the night and MGMT and Hot Chip for the second.</span></span><span><span><span>   <br><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/883/3426883_cd5f0bffc9_s.jpg" alt="DSC04433" hspace="5" vspace="5">  <br></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span>Saturday morning was a rather painful, early start as I had to meet my parents at 8am to catch the ferry to Victoria for the first leg of our five day trip to Vancouver Island.<span>  </span>Sailing out of the rain and in to the sun provided some rather lovely scenery and once we got to downtown we were able to walk around in shorts and flip flops for most of the afternoon.<span>  </span>Victoria is labelled as the residence for the “newly wed, nearly dead and overfed” personally; I think it’d be a rather great place to live although it is rather small in comparison to Vancouver.</span></span><span><span><span>   <br></span><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/884/3426884_c1f45676e3_s.jpg" alt="DSC04555" hspace="5" vspace="5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/882/3426882_a184e7fa94_s.jpg" alt="DSC04511" hspace="5" vspace="5"> <br>As predicted, our visit to the Butchart gardens was rather popular with my Mum - they really are quite stunning even a non flower fan would be impressed!<span>  </span>Dinner with the Capsticks this week has been rather quieter as my sister has returned to the UK to get on with her work before she starts back at University next week.<span>  </span>However, we’ve still managed to eat copious amounts of good food, Willie’s Bakery, for anyone heading towards Victoria in the near future, is definitely worth a visit!<span>    </span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span><span><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/886/3426886_c6cfe976b1_s.jpg" alt="DSC04582" hspace="5" vspace="5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/885/3426885_78356b39a3_s.jpg" alt="DSC04563" hspace="5" vspace="5">  <br>As I write I’m sat on a train travelling between Victoria and Nanaimo - the view out of the window is rather worth my attention so I think it’s a good time to finish the blog writing for now!</span></span></span></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/19/vancouver-island-5971230/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>victoriauniversity-of-british-columbiavancouverhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/19/vancouver-island-5971230/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/18/easter-where-week-34-ensc-lille-18-04-5965386/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-04-18:/2009/04/18/easter-where-week-34-ensc-lille-18-04-5965386/Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:03:36 +0200 <p>Again a two week gap, I’ve just been so busy. I can’t even remember what I’ve been doing! I’m at home now though for the Easter holidays, or Spring Break or whatever it’s called, but I have so much work to do that I don’t think it’ll be much of a break! </p> <p>The past two weeks I have literally just been doing my literature review, writing it, getting the French corrected, rewriting it, adding things, getting those checked, doing diagrams. I am just thankful that the ENSCL hasn’t been on strike; well I think some of the classes have been cancelled for the students but the labs are supported by a different group and so we have no need to strike. For some people it has been ridiculous, Shusaku didn’t have classes for about a month. The main reason is due to this new law they’re bringing in saying that anyone who wants to be a teacher now has to do a Masters degree, and that teachers have to do more work, there are a lot of things changing and people just aren’t happy with it. Above all the students. </p> <p>We haven’t really done much since the fancy dress, just meeting up with people here and there and doing a lot of French homework, the classes are very good this time, my new teacher seems to like me a lot more than my old one but again my name is causing a problem- she calls me Alissia and I don’t know why, oh well, at least I guessed she was talking to me… The only problem with these classes is that now all three of us, Rachel, Andrew and I are in the same class; our teacher always wants us to split up and usually I would agree but I have now decided this does not work. The three of us work very well together, our spoken French is about the same level and we’re very willing to speak, I find with most other people, with a few exceptions, just sit and let us lead the group. This ends up with us three always having to speak and answer questions which we think isn’t fair. When we work together we all put in the same amount of effort and don’t mind talking out loud because we all take turns, but our teacher does not see it that way.</p> <p>On a related topic we signed up for the DELF B2 exam last week, we had to go into town to do it so had to take the morning off of labs, it was 55 euros so I had better pass! </p> <p>Last weekend I popped home for Easter, we only had the Monday off but it meant Saturday and Sunday at home, and a late train back Monday. The Eurostar is all back to normal now and as such the trains no longer get held up and so I found myself back in England before I knew it. I needed a weekend at home to relax, labs have been so busy, although I did end up with a cold which I still have so that was a bit annoying. </p> <p>This week the French fishermen decided to ‘have a go’ and blocked all the ports, we got a bit worried when we heard the Eurostar people might join them in support but nothing came of it so that was a relief! </p> <p>Anyway I think that’s about all I can think of, I’ve been so boring, we’ve not even been into town or anything. Next semester we’re going to Milan and London, maybe Brussels, so it should be a bit more exciting. Now I just want to knuckle down and finish this review and my last two assignments of the year so that when I go back to labs I just have my report to write. I just can’t believe it’s nearly over!<br> Until next time… </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/18/easter-where-week-34-ensc-lille-18-04-5965386/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>ensclensc-lillemelissaweek-34http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/18/easter-where-week-34-ensc-lille-18-04-5965386/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/16/easter-break-in-cataluna-6301379/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-04-16:/2009/04/16/easter-break-in-cataluna-6301379/Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:15:59 +0200 <p>So! The Easter holidays finally came and have sadly ended! It was a hash to survive the last week of term, but the Easter break more than made up for it.</p> <p>Mum and Dad had looked at coming to visit me in Easter, but then a couple of Edinburgh friends booked to come over and then Mum and Dad got a slight re-scheduling! Instead we're going to go somewhere in the May long weekend, which is only a couple of weeks away. Unlike Edinburgh, we get 8 days' Easter break, so there wasn't really as much time as I'd have liked. I still want to try to go up to the Basque Country at some point!</p> <p>On the Thursday, caught the Renfe to Girona (yep, been there before... still love it though!) From there, we hired bikes and set off on our adventure! A 54km adventure that would take us from Girona to Olot, a town a bit further North in Catalunya.</p> <p>Jings. The furthest I'd ever cycled until then was 20 miles from Aberdeen to Ellon, that was hard enough!! Here's a map of the <em>recorregut</em>. We stopped for lunch in a place called Anglés because apparently beer was necessary, had a wee wander round the gardens and stuff. Was bonny and totally not tourist land, which was good :-).</p> <p><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="biking"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/206/3596206_111c99309a_m.jpeg" alt="biking"></a></p> <p>We cycled and cycled, mostly uphill, for like... a million hours! After cranking and cranking up the mountains we eventually got to the highest point, “Coll d'En Bas”. If you ever meet Bas, please tell him I like his Coll very much. After that, downhill all the way for like the last 20 minutes!</p> <p>When we got to Olot, our final destination, we found the hostel and showered and everything. With sore hands, feet, hind quarters and knees, we set off in search of refreshments. Eventually found a good Catalan pizzeria. Actually... having cycled so much and being so knackered we were fairly happy with only half a bottle of wine! Uyy, these foreign lightweights coming in, buying a pizza and only half a bottle of wine. Then we went to a bar where it was just us, and a bunch of under-agers having sneaky cervezas. The Mallorcan barman taught us how to make “real” sangria. We're now experts.</p> <p>Olot is a very pretty little town, it's just a shame we were too exhausted to really appreciate it. It's located in the middle of a bunch of old volcanoes, so... that would explain the hilly journey to get there. It was a bit infuriating to see all the cars zooming through a tunnel and probably arriving in Girona 20 minutes later!</p> <p>The next day we were dreading the trip back remembering the suffering of the previous day, but obviously it was the other way round; the hard part was the short bit and the rest was <em>wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee</em>.</p> <p>Cycled back to Girona, and then got the train back to Barcelona where we did all sorts of stuff. Saw the sights, had a picnic in Parc Güell, ate many a tapa, went to the beach, partied lots. Partied lots and lots, and then slept in a big pile of clothes on my bedroom floor, haha! Had a really fun time though.</p> <p>Here's a few pictures so you get the idea.</p> <p><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="easter hols"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/207/3596207_103f9a0edb_m.jpeg" alt="easter hols"></a></p> <p>The plan was to do lots of work in the Easter break to get a wee bit of a head start for the next quadrimester, but obviously... plans like that never really come to fruition! These past few days I've been just back to the grind, I'm still finding this semester much better uni-wise. It's really hard work, but the stuff is generally interesting and I feel like I understand how the university system works and everything. </p> <p>Plus now the weather has really improved. Actually it's a bit strange, but the weather got really good in March, then a bit dull and rubbish again for a few weeks, but then when we got back to Barcelona from Olot it became nice again.</p> <p>Anyway I'll write soon! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/16/easter-break-in-cataluna-6301379/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>barcelonauniversitat-politecnica-de-catalunyahttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/16/easter-break-in-cataluna-6301379/#commentshttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/15/the-bursting-of-the-haverbubble-5949297/tag:edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk,2009-04-15:/2009/04/15/the-bursting-of-the-haverbubble-5949297/Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:25:09 +0200 <p>Everyone on campus is currently shocked, the reason being a sexual assault on a Haverford student by an unknown assailant that happened a couple of days ago. For most students, the way that they learned about the assault was from unofficial sources – the Go!Boards (forums on the student section of the Haverford website) or the Anonymous Confession Boards (essentially a gossip forum online) – rather than the college itself. Whilst Haverford has an early-warning alert system, put in place after the Virginia Tech shootings, that informs students by text message of what’s happening, this wasn’t used in this case, which is causing some consternation.</p> <p>Haverford is a very safe school. I have never felt unsafe in Edinburgh either, but whilst I’m quite happy walking around alone at night here, I would probably be more circumspect about it back home. Although Haverford’s campus is entirely open to the public, there have been very few criminal incidents, although within the past month there has also been a fight in which a knife was pulled, a robbery and a flasher as well as the most recent assault. However, aside from these incidents I can’t think of anything of a similar nature that has happened during my time here.</p> <p>The recent sexual assault has caused the student body to question how Haverford should continue. Not only has there been widespread consternation at the slow response by the administration in informing everyone about what happened (it took three and a half hours), but students are asking whether the campus should be closed to the public, whether there should be CCTV cameras placed in the most isolated areas (a large portion of the campus is woodland), whether Safety & Security patrols should be increased, and whether there should be more emergency phones on campus. Meetings between students, staff and the administration are to be held later this week to discuss all of these issues. The main problem seems to be that many students want to continue not feeling afraid as they walk around campus, but also that they don’t want intrusions such as CCTV to become part of the norm. </p> <p>To someone from a university slap-bang in the city, all of these debates can seem fairly naïve, but students here worry about how any new security measures will fit in with the Honour Code, and the lack of cynicism can seem genuinely refreshing. There is no presumption that bad things will happen to students whilst at uni, and common problems in Edinburgh such as drinks being spiked or bikes being stolen just don’t happen here. Haverford is very far removed from the “real world”, despite being only a fifteen-minute car journey from the city line (and therefore from the ghetto, as once you cross into Philadelphia proper, the ghetto begins), and when the real world intrudes it can feel like the haverbubble has been burst.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/15/the-bursting-of-the-haverbubble-5949297/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>pennsylvaniahaverfordhttp://edinburghexchanges.blog.co.uk/2009/04/15/the-bursting-of-the-haverbubble-5949297/#comments