Home Away From Home
I keep running into the same set of questions, so, here’s the answer to my friend’s FAQ.
1. What is it like to be here?
Hmmm.. a little more laid back than i thought, but then again this is a shire (ndeso a la anglais). I’m used to a fast-paced life, so times could be a little frustrating with all the queues and still can’t get anything done after 2 hours.
“Won’t be immediate, darling. But I’ve taken note of that.”
Seriously?!
2. How’s the weather?
Surprisingly pleasant. Not a single drop of rain since I got here. A little breezy in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, but after a few days you get used to it. I even walk around in my favourite “If You Can Read This Thank A Teacher” short-sleeved T-Shirt with no jacket. We’ll see about the weather in October when temperature tends to drop.
3. Yu(cki)mmy Grub
First week’s food was horrible because it was hall food. Hall food is never good. Even my Japanese friend who had thought that english food could’ve been her favourite is now anti brown-sauce thanks to the chef at Florence Boots and Hugh Stewart Halls.
Out from the halls, food’s okay. I’ve eaten around 8 different sandwiches from the union shop’s meal deal, have had different soups from the library cafe, burgers here and there, and a great mash & gravy next to the bookstore. So, I think I’m good. I’ll survive, and still miss the tastes of home.
(Tatterati: LH has better choice of food even if it’s the cold dendeng from warung bapak)
4. Fish and chips
There’s a fish & chips shop 3 minutes walk from where I live. Apparently with under £4, I can get a HUGE portion of fish and chips, so big that it’s enough to feed 3 people! I mean it. It’s eye-popping! I think I’m done with fish and chips for the next few months.
5. Campus
It’s beautiful :)
I live at Jubilee campus, where the buildings are so futuristic some say it’s transformer-like, some say it’s lego. I think it’s nice. I feel like living in some strange twilight zone starship enterprise planet.
My school however, is at University Park Campus. Where everything is lush and green, with lakes and boats. Trees and the chipmunks family. Swans and ducks walking by as you sit around waiting for the bus. There’s even a zen garden where you can sit under a tree to ponder, waiting for the apple to fall on your head.
It’s really a nice place to study.
6. People
I miss my friends back home, even the ones I don’t see very often.
There is one interesting friend here, though. She’s from Japan and is in my program. Her sons are in their twenties (do the math to get a rough estimation of her age), and she is back to school because she is curious about the concept of Justice.
A woman, matured, and still has the passion to learn about something as vaguely complex as social and global justice. Cool, eh?
7. Robin Hood
No, I haven’t seen him around. I haven’t gone to the forrest, nor have I been to the castle. What I have done however, is visit the City Council, where the sheriff works, and to the Gallery of Justice, where people were punished, hanged, prisoned, and/or left to die some few hundred years ago. Grim, yes, I still have nightmares from that visit (-.-*)
Conclusion: This is an interesting city to do your studies in, but I wouldn’t recommend living here for a long period of time if you’re used to the busy life of Jakarta, Bandung, or Singapore. You’ll miss swearing at angkots & motorcycles ;)
