So, I shall begin this epic post by answering the questions that I am sure you all are keen to ask for the past 2 months: yes, yes, I am fine, uh huh, yeah, I can see the lake from my room, uh huh, no it isn’t as cold as what you think, its England, not Siberia, yes, I get what you mean, must budget la, if not of course eat bread and drink water towards the end of every month, yeah, a lot of walking, yes I miss my car, no, I don’t miss rice, because I have 5kg of it sitting in my shelf, and I do my own cooking, and if I have to convert my currency everytime I buy something, I guess I’ll have to settle with bread and water, yeah, lectures are good, got some free time in between them, yeah, made some French and Russian and Korean friends, no haven’t been drinking and partying, yeah, it’s hard to find authentic Asian food here, and yes, things aren’t as straightforward as it used to be at home.
From my lengthy answer, you’ll notice a pattern going on here: I have to deal with everything on my own. And it isn’t just me, it’s all the dudes and dudess in the uni, be it undergrad, postgrad, exchange students or language centre students. And no amount of information and advice, whether it’s from the graduated cousin or the PhD uncle will prepare you for life on your own.
1 very simple illustration. It’s late at night, and the fridge at home ran out of milk. You feel lazy to drive out and get some Dutch Lady, and went to bed instead. The next morning, the milk is back in the fridge, probably bought by your mother. But, over here, you are lucky if your Dutch Lady don’t disappear with the carrots and the eggs. And you have to walk for at least 5 minutes just to get new Dutch Lady and carrots and eggs. That’s what’s interesting about living on your own.
And then you have to watch over your own health, making sure that you don’t fill your blood with MSG and melamine from the microwaved pizza and cuscus, and don’t drown yourself in Pepsi and Coke, and most importantly, Jack Daniel’s.
On top of that, you have to monitor your studies (on your own as well, lecturers won’t speak to your parents, not even a word), constantly check the uni email, your results, assignment dates, meet the tutor, attend seminar, make sure your timetable don’t clash (like my case), and be present at the stuff you need to be present in. Then you have to schedule appointments with the lecturer if you need assistance (unlike in college) and learn your way around the library to look for books (even more unlike in college)
Finally, and more significantly, you have to watch your finances. You have to chase up the bank if your card hasn’t arrive, constantly monitor your account to ensure that there’s no fraud, and crucially, watch your balances so that you don’t have to eat bread and drink water towards the end of the month. I am not complaining, but, welcome to England.
I’ve only been here for a week and the half, so I can’t comment on how hard the syllabus is (though maths seemed quite scary, but I will work on it more) or how complicated the assignments would be. But what I have discovered in the past week or so, is that uni life is not about pushing the limits of yourself. It’s more about knowing the limits, knowing how far you can go. So, it’s not “Yesterday, I took 15 shots of rum and was able to count to ten, today I’ll take 20”, but it’s more like “I took 15 shots and was puking my way back to my room, today I’ll have 8 shots and cheat with some cherry juice”. It’s also not “yesterday, I studied till 1am, today I’ll stay up till 3am.” It’s more like “If I want to last till the end of the week, I’ll call it a day and continue tomorrow morning.”
But what I can tell you is that the definition of fun in university life can vary in each person. My cousin’s definition of fun in university is having a friend with a car and thus go clubbing whenever they could, while my friend’s example is sitting in the quiet room in the library everynight. There’s also some who enjoy mixing with people from all over the world, and some who would stick to their group from the same country (so out!). All I can say is, its up to you to look for all the fun, and not let others dictate what you should and shouldn’t do. Its also about not doing things you’ll regret (like me bringing a bunch of friends to the pub, and paying through my nose)
Also, another thing I discovered is that here’s the only place where you have to be cautious when studying, because as you sit for a long time, your body temperature falls and the cold will slowly creep on you without you realising it. But that’s not the excuse to skip studying, of course.
I’ll end this post with some behind-the-scenes pictures of London, Oxford and Coventry. Until the next post arrives, I wish all uni students (and myself, nonetheless) Happy Studying and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and.............
Millenium Bridge at night
London Eye
Big Ben
Trafalgar Square
Coventry
Oxford
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