Not Just a Pretty Face...

Following our first week of classes (and the first twinges of study-related stress) a few of us decided to continue our gradual exploration of England today. We had a stunning autumn day on our hands, and where better to go than the distinguished capital city of York?

York is a mere 25 minutes from Leeds by train. It’s a remarkable place for many reasons: an occupied area since Roman times, it also possesses an 800-year-old cathedral and vintage shops and pubs with names like The Old Fizzywig and The Teddybear Tea Shoppe. It’s romantic England, as read in Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters; it’s the England that, upon arriving at Heathrow or Manchester, you begin to believe may be a myth. But whether it’s maintained for the tourists (and I don’t think it completely is) or for the county’s own passion for its history, York feels like you’ve stepped into another century.

York Minster, the city’s cathedral, is a grand old Gothic building that dates from 1220 and took 252 years to construct. It reminded me of a lighter, brighter Notre Dame; the huge (massive!) stained glass windows let in tons of sunshine and the stone walls are a yellowy-gray. We arrived this morning in the middle of choral matins, which made for a positive, albeit solemn, atmosphere. We returned later on to take the 275 winding steps up to the church’s main tower and see an amazing view of the city.

We also saw some of the old Roman walls and the Clifford Tower (see above!); wandering around the city centre, we discovered a Food & Drink festival happening, thankfully with free samples! There was also no end to the cozy shops tucked into narrow streets. If you walk the Shambles (see below!), the famous tiny street where the houses lean in over top of you, it feels like you’re walking in Diagon Alley. Most people would probably say that they’ve strolled into an 19th century romance novel; we felt it to be much more Harry Potter-like. You almost expect the shops to be selling broomsticks and Butterbeer instead of ceramic cats and clotted cream fudge. Although both of these are quaint enough in their own right ;)...

We also managed to fit in the York Castle Museum, a fitting treasure trove of and homage to the beloved city, and afternoon tea in Newgate Market. At that point, we felt British enough to head home for a quiet Sunday night :), but not before stopping in at the Bodington Hall international student welcome party, where we met some more students and had free pizza and wine! Thus, our good day got even better.

And, if you click right here, I posted the rest of my York pictures on Facebook again!

I keep hearing about the sunny temperatures back home, and I must say I’m quite jealous! We’ve had nothing but misty rain for a week. I think that’s what aggravating my cold, which has never really gone away; even the heartiest dose of Robitussin can't beat it. Time to test the English health system, I guess.

Up next this week: more Shakespeare, more American poetry, more Renaissance tragedy, and...a ticket to see Stars (a Montreal band) in concert. All for Tuesday. So... I’m off! Have a great beginning to the week!

Gennelle

p.s. Does anyone know a fool-proof way to cook a turkey? We’re going to attempt it on either Sunday or Monday night to help celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving...and quit ‘cher chuckling. I believe with the right amount of determination, we can manage it ... ;)

The Virtues of Beacham's and Lemsip

It’s like the plague, contagious and non-particular about its victims.
It snatches people left and right, and refuses to release them from its clutches.
It is defeated only by a dedicated group of crimefighters.
It is....

The Fresher’s Flu. And it got me this past week.

My entire week has been framed by this malevolent head cold, which is still clogging and distracting me today. However, I’m not alone—one by one, every fresher has been falling prey. Our crimefighting team is made up of decongestants, Kleenex, and lemon tea, along with a few hours of sleep here and there. I guess this gloomy shift of weather--from clear skies to unrelenting rain--in addition to the sleep deprivation and low vitamin intake inherent in Freshers Week, has been enough to sideline most students the last few days. Although this hasn’t deterred the masses from partying up a storm most nights; I now understand Leeds’ reputation for student social supremacy. It’s something else. I’m just not sure I can keep up in the long term, with my wimpy Canadian “Let’s drink Smirnoff Ice” mentality... ;)

Onto something more interesting than my stuffy sinuses: I started classes yesterday! We began with a bang--or more specifically, a quiet and competently-delivered Contemporary American Writing lecture. It was an introduction to the weekly seminar class that I had today. Only ten students, and some very interesting readings. We go from Martin Luther King to Ginsberg, to Miller, Mailer, and many other important writers of the last 40 years. I’ve never done anything contemporary or American, so this is a convenient mix of the two.

I also had my first Jacobean Drama seminar, a late add for me as I had a lecture clash. My professor is really friendly (as they all have been) and loves the literary period we’re doing. He’s also the coordinator of the core Renaissance Lit module I’m doing this term, so he delivered this morning’s lecture in that as well. My seminar for RenLit was tiny- only 6 students, all female. It was a good discussion this morning however. I think I’m going to enjoy the Renaissance; I’ve only ever studied Shakespeare in detail from that time, and the era was so much more than that. The amount of creative genius present in early 17th century London is simply incredible; I’m not sure we’ve ever topped it, or ever will. I guess we’ll see...

Seminars here are so much more involved and more comfortable than at home, mostly because they’re held in the professor’s office and more often than not, said office has crammed bookshelves lining the room, framed portraits on the wall, and overstuffed chairs arranged around an old-fashioned-looking fireplace/radiator. I just tried not to ruin the cozy atmosphere today by hacking up a lung, flu-style.

As for societies, I went to the socials for BandSoc, a live music club (the event was a gig with various local bands at the Cockpit, a storied venue downtown) and for LUU Backstage, the group that does stage crew for all the shows that happen during the year. Hopefully I can work on my stage management experience with them—plus they go out for curry every Thursday!

I tried ‘er again, I must mention...although the non-spicy kind. I’m not that brave.

Doing some reading today, I stumbled upon a passage from a letter written by Adrienne Rich, a celebrated feminist writer. She refused the American National Medal for the Arts in 1997, and explained why in the letter cited here. As an MIT and English Lit major, sometimes it’s hard to explain exactly why I “read books and watch movies” for my degree—understandably, some people don’t see what careers, other than the (completely rewarding!) path of teaching, an Arts degree can lead to. Rich has one of the best descriptions I've read of why it’s so important to have “guardians of art”, as one of my English profs at UWO, Dr. Conway, put it:

“And what about art? Mistrusted, adored, pietized, condemned, dismissed as entertainment, auctioned at Sotheby's, purchased by investment-seeking celebrities, it dies into the "art object" of a thousand museum basements. It's also reborn hourly in prisons, women's shelters, small-town garages, community college workshops, halfway houses--wherever someone picks up a pencil, a wood-burning tool, a copy of "The Tempest," a tag-sale camera, a whittling knife, a stick of charcoal, a pawnshop horn, a video of "Citizen Kane," whatever lets you know again that this deeply instinctual yet self-conscious expressive language, this regenerative process, could help you save your life...There is a continuing dynamic between art repressed and art reborn, between the relentless marketing of the superficial and the "spectral and vivid reality that employs all means" (Rukeyser) to reach through armoring, resistances, resignation, to recall us to desire”

- Adrienne Rich, "Why I Refused the National Medal for the Arts" (http://www.barclayagency.com/richwhy.html).

I think it shows that art is more accessible than we may think, and more malleable. You can create any career you like with art because of its adaptability to situations and its constant presence in our lives.

Whew, she’s a long one today! I hope I haven’t bored you too much with this entry! I just thought it’s an effective description. Do you?

That’s it for today... I’ll be talking to you soon!

<3

p.s. Beacham's and Lemsip are the British equivalents of Contac-C and Neo-Citron. I love B&L.

"Over slate-gray Victorian skies..."

It actually rained today.

We've been basking in the sun for the past two weeks here in Northern England, but today we got a taste of what the British students insist is the normal weather--gray drizzle. I hope it doesn't last and we get our perfect autumn weather back.

But seriously, I can't believe I'm talking about the weather when so much has been going on!

Freshers Week has snowballed into a week-long party, as the freshers who got here on Sunday have jumped into the Intro festivities with unfettered enthusiasm. Their dedication is quite admirable, really; most of the kids who get home at 5 am have to be in course meetings the next morning. Johanna and I, feeling rather ancient at the ripe old age of 20, have managed to attend both the official Intro Party on Monday night, which featured the Vengaboys* (who attracted almost a thousand curious spectators to their 1 am set) and the School Disco last night (to which everyone comes dressed in high school uniforms!). At the disco, we met up with Johanna's "English friend" Vicky, as we call her, and Vicky's friends. Vicky went to McGill on exchange last year and has been an invaluable source of information and support for us here at Leeds, whether it's how to take navigate buses, score tickets to events, or find cheap food and shopping :). The disco was amazing too.. so much fun.

*N.B. For all of you who DON'T know who the Vengaboys are--and come on, who doesn't?--they're a European dance pop group who were big when I was in about Gr. 6. No one here had any idea they still performed; watching the four members jump around on stage felt vaguely like watching a fitness video from 1999.

Whooo disco! Johanna and I in our schoolgirl finest...

Another great thing has been visiting the Bod Bar here at the residence- it's cool to see a safe, cheap place for students to go drink that's close to their rooms, rather than encouraging them to go all the way downtown. I finally got my bus pass, too, which is incredibly exciting!! It's now my most treasured possession, after my Let's Go. Ah, my Let's Go...there it is now, sitting so confidently on my almost-empty bookshelf. The only other occupant is a copy of Machiavelli's The Prince, which I have to read for Monday. Welcome to 3rd year seminars, I guess!

Leeds Uni's societies have also started out in full force. I joined the BandSoc today, which gets me in on new bands, shows, and gigs happening around the uni and the city. We might also join in on swing dancing, hiphop classes, kickboxing training, stage-managing workshops, short film screenings, soccer intramurals, and squash lessons. I'm going to try my best to do all of these, AND still travel during my time off. I had thought that perhaps I could skip a couple classes here and there if it meant I could travel a bit more extensively; however, the profs at our intro School of English meeting squashed that dream with one clear warning-- thou shalt not miss thy seminars, on penalty of having to explain yourself to the head of the school. These Brits take their academics quite seriously, methinks.

Everything's coming together, thankfully. Now I have a room, a cell phone, a bank account, a clash-free timetable, and 2 square meals a day! Everything a student needs...

Here's a pictures of my room, in case you haven't received the 3d tour via webcam, and one of the outside of the venerable Clapham House, my hall of residence:

Up next-- classes start on Monday! I can finally start what I came here to do... you know, other than attend things like School Discos and visit places like the Library Pub. Right, Mom and Dad? Talk to you all soon!

Are you going to...

....Scarborough Fair? Yes, yes I am--and did--today!

The Student Union organized a day trip to the charming seaside town of Scarborough for the international students, and most of us partook; if we wanted a slice of pure Yorkshire goodness, we sure got it ;). The highlight of the day was Scarborough Castle, whose ruins sit atop steep cliffs that have been occupied by people for at least 3,000 years:

My friend Johanna and I at Castle Scarborough

Despite the extreme winds, we all braved the open meadow on top of the cliff to see the incredible view of the ocean and of the town itself. The castle still attracts locals as well as tourists, as evidenced by the many impassive Northern Brits walking along the cliff edge with their sheepdogs ambling along beside them.

A group of us at the castle

The "fair" itself is a permanent mini-Coney Island, complete with a Ferris wheel, arcade games, ice cream shops, as well as semi-catatonic donkeys available for children to ride ;). We walked along the beach and the pier, ate some famous fish and chips, and got to taste the salty air. It's actually really nice to get out of the city; you don't realize it, but when you're kind of a country girl like me ("kind of" being the operative term here), the city gets a bit intense sometimes. Almost makes me long for the permanent quiet that is the village of Sweaburg.

We really did enjoy ourselves today, but it was a subdued bus that headed back to Leeds tonight... many people are worn out from all the excitement of the last two weeks, me included, and a day spent walking in the sun and wind just added to our already good night's sleep!

After getting back to Bodington, Johanna and I went to visit Fabio and Giorgio, two Italian exchange students also living at Bod, and got to eat some genuine friesa (sp?)-- bread covered in olive oil with tomatoes and herbs :). I think I can get used to this United Nations-like group of friends, who are all eager to share their native cuisine! We Canadians want to join in too, except I'm not sure what we'd make. Pancakes and poutine keep coming up as suggestions, but I'm thinking we should just get some maple syrup sent over and eat it straight from the bottle...

I've gotten to add Austria, Norway, Spain, Malaysia, Mexico, Argentina, France, and Poland to my list of nationalities of people I've met since my last post, which I'm extremely excited about. The vice-chancellor told us at the official reception on Friday that 13% of the U of Leeds student population are international, and that there are 130 countries represented. This delights me to no end, as you can probably tell!

My goal for the next few days is to catch up on some sleep while simultaneously attending many Freshers Week events, starting my book list, and photographically documenting my accommodation for you all, which is the most common request I've received thus far. I'll for sure get onto that, now that I've found my camera! (Or more specifically, Matt found for me!)

And if you're interested, I posted the rest of the best of my Scarborough pictures on Facebook again-- click here to see them!

It's been great seeing so many people on Skype, and I hope that more and more of you get it! Talk to you in a couple days .... <3

The Influx Begins

The number of international students that are streaming into the university is incredible! Having gone to most of the ISO events, I've met people from the following countries (and I hope from many more in the future): Turkey, Greece, Russia, Japan, China, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, United States, Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Korea, Cyprus, Wales... and the list goes on! It's been such a cool experience so far, and it's only been two weeks.

Amidst all the orientation events we're attending, we've been able to try some of the pub life here; our favourite so far is the Library Pub, which is the perfect place for students. It's also conveniently on the way to Bodington, which remains deserted; sometimes I think the lone figures you sometime see in the evening are just zombies and ghosts ;).

And I must say, for keeping in touch- SKYPE IS AMAZING. I talked to Dad over Skype yesterday and was very impressed! All of this for free :). This new way of speaking face to face with someone over the Internet (and so clearly and quickly) goes very well with the importance given to surveillance technology over here-- "CCTV in effect" notices are extremely common, and in public places numerous signs urge citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity. I remember hearing in one of my tech classes at UWO that the Brits are the most-watched people on Earth, and now I believe it. However, I also believe that this adds to the sense of security you feel here, especially on campus. This is a favourite MIT topic of mine, but more of that later...

My dorm room is still in shambles as I try to unpack in the short time I'm there; so much of my time is spent on campus. Also, meals don't start until the 15th, so until then I'm relying on some PB on bread in the mornings, and much Subway during the day. So in this way, it kind of feels like home right now!

I'm currently in a computer cluster (why is it not called a lab? Not sure) on campus and in a few minutes we're off to pick up some important items... namely some reasonably-priced clothing from TopShop. Another great thing about student life in Leeds-- we get discounts practically everywhere! You can see how the influx of 60,000 students in September rocks the city every year.

Hopefully talk to many of you soon, probably on Skype!

The Magnificance of Permanence

And ... Bodington Hall is awesome.

I'm not quite sure how else to put it. I just moved in today, and I was in my room for a total of about 20 minutes before going back to campus, but I must say that I was impressed. Bod makes Saugeen look like... well, a prison, although it kind of looked like that anyway!

The Bodington complex is surrounded by soccer and rugby fields, making it a veritable country club compared to the temporary accommodation we've been in here on campus. Not that Charlie Mo was terrible, but it was a bit temporary, I guess. Now I'm in the place I can call home! When I got to my house (Clapham House, if you're interested) I sort of clambered up the stairs with all of my luggage, and standing at the top peering down at me was a delighted German girl. I can't really put it any other way-- she was definitely delighted to have human company, as she told me, because she'd been the only one in the house for a while. So we chatted for a bit, and I have a new German friend named Katarina as a result!

It was an epic journey this morning to actually get to Bodington, as it was the maiden voyage for the van moving 10 of us and our luggage to four different locations, and the Welcome Team had to sort of learn how to organize it along the way. We eventually made it through to Bod (just myself and Fabio, my new Italian friend) after about two hours, and that was when I discovered my fantastic single room.

I promise to post pictures from around campus and my residence SOON, immediately after the madness of Welcome Week has subsided a bit... Internet connectivity is still awkward to come by, but I'll definitely get on that. Perhaps my hard-earned skills of narrative description cultivated during my half of an English degree can help make up for it!

Also, I got a mobile phone today, and as soon as I figure out how to use it, I'll email my new number to everyone. I'm going to have Skype, but I also have a great international rate so calling me is a good option.

I'll update in a couple days... we're going to the Global Cafe tonight, hopefully to meet many more students from all over the world! Talk to you all soon!

Figuring It Out

The Leeds International Student Welcome Team is doing a fantastic job helping the steady stream of new students coming to the university every day. They are so friendly and so helpful, as a lot of them have studied abroad as well and understand the logistical difficulties we’re facing. We’ve already been to their office three times now, either for arrival briefings, random questions, afternoon tea, or informative talks. In addition to the city tour we took today, next week is packed with things to do, either academic or social. I can tell they’re going to be an invaluable resource for us during the next nine months or so.

Johanna and I spent the morning exploring the city centre again (there’s so much to see!) and trying to find an international plug adapter; we accidentally blew the fuse in our temporary accommodation—a really important fuse too, apparently, because both of our rooms lost power—so we’re trying to fix the situation. We’re pretty much responsible for our own internet connectivity, since all of the computer labs and student resource rooms are closed for the weekend, so this plug is pretty much essential :).

The city of Leeds keeps surprising me. It’s alternately working-class and young professional-oriented; fiercely traditional, yet obviously trendy. There’s also a huge mix of cultures. You’re more likely to find Japanese or Thai food before roast pheasant, for example J. Although, you’re also more likely to find Subway before anything else—there seems to be EIGHTEEN franchises in the city centre alone!

But I’m not complaining. I heart my Subway.

Next week I’m hoping to figure out my academic situation and meet the magnanimous Secretary Hauder (of School of English fame), who emailed his international students many times over the summer offering academic support and encouragement. Johanna’s also taking English Lit, so I’m glad to have a friend going through the same process :). It’s been great meeting her this week, as well as many of the other newly-arrived students, who are all equally friendly and enthusiastic about coming here, even so soon after their looonnnnggg journeys from home! The record so far is a 16-hour flight from Shanghai.

I hope the first week of school went well for everyone back home—good luck as another year begins!