First Week

So classes have officially kicked off and I’m having a bit of a scheduling problem. Two of my classes overlap and so SOMETHING has to be done. I’m just not quite sure what that something is yet. But I should probably figure it out soon or the classes will almost be over.

Anyway, this past week has been Freshers week. For those of you who don’t know it consisted of mostly drinking, drinking, and drinking. We started out on Sunday with a party in the campus bar (aka Tythe Barn). Needless to say I had my first real and legal drink that night. Also I met a few people, unfortunately it was so loud that I couldn’t actually catch most of their names and of course I was bombarded with the same question from several different people. “Are you from America?”

Monday there was more drinking but we also had a few lecturey things to do. We had our official registration and got our ID cards as well as sat a listened to people talk to us but I’m not quite sure what they were actually saying. That night, though, was something called the Fresher’s Crawl. No one was really sure what to expect, except that alcohol would be involved. It turned out to be gross and disgusting and smelling and sick and also, surprisingly quite a bit of fun. And I must say I probably won’t forget it anytime soon. I’ll have to do some gross experiement in biology and the only thing that will come to mind is, “eh, not as bad a Fresher’s Crawl.”

Tuesday we did a team building event where we had to make a farm animal out of cardboard boxes. My group made a chicken although it would pass for quite a nice robot as well. We didn’t win but our chicken was definitely the best of all the chickens. That afternoon was Old School Sports afternoon so we played things like egg and spoon race and tug of war. And that night they had the Fresher’s Fair, which is essentially signing up for clubs and things like that, also known as clubfest as Iowa State.

Wednesday we sat through more introductory lectures and the first Rugby match of the year was played. However since I arrived in this country it has rained everyday but today [October 12th] and it was absolutely pouring out on Wednesday. I did not attend the Rugby match but I watched from my window and caught bits and pieces of it. Also for those who attended the match it was the start of the port challenge, which is to drink a whole bottle of port during the game just because you can. So far all I’ve managed to learn at the college is how to drink and this small college of 900 students could easily put the biggest party school in the states to shame. That night however instead of just drinking in the Tythe like normal it was the first official RAC night at the Rock Cafe, a local night club. Freshers wore their 20 GBP tops they were required to purchase and we all felt like complete twats.

Another thing that I have learned is that they really want to suck every last pence out of you. Excluding all the drinks you buy and extra crap you want they expect you to buy the Freshers top (20 GBP), go to the Fresher’s Crawl (5 GBP), go to the Rock (4 GBP), participate in a scavenger hunt (20 GPB per team of 4-5), and attend the Freshers/Graduates Ball (40 GBP). In totally they expect you to spend a minimum of 73GBP and that doesn’t included all the drinks which are included in none of those prices. You are also required to pay for your own heating and electricity bills if you live in the dorms and pay for club dues and 90 GBP sports kits during the Freshers Fair. I don’t mean to complain but I’m here on a shoestring budget and they aren’t making it any easier on us poor college students. The thing I miss the most about Iowa State is all the free crap they give you, especially the free food.

Now back to the remainder of Fresher’s week. Thursday was the first day of actually lectures and they were pretty much the same as any lecture you’ve ever been to. Nothing really exciting to tell. However there was a scavenger hunt that night which I did not participate in because I had no money to do so. I literally had 2 GBP to my name. I instead watched a movie with some friends back in the dorms because I just couldn’t be bothered to go out every night like everyone else at the RAC.

Friday was more lectures but I didn’t atcually have one so I slept until about noon and got up for lunch. I’d also like to point out that I paid for all of the my meals for a whole year and you can be pretty darn sure I’m going to eat every single one of them. I get up everyday for breakfast and just go back to bed afterwards if I have to. After lectures however we went to AV8 and did some more dancing and of course more drinking, except for me the broke one.

Saturday we went into town and I managed to get more money from my account back home, something I was not really wanting to do. Went to Swindon to pick up a printer with some friends, came back and went to the Freshers/Graduates Ball. Nothing too exciting happened it was like most homecoming/prom/school dances except everyone was drunk and were actually legal to drink. They also had inflatable games including a mechanical bull, but instead of an actually bull it was a penis.

And finally, Sunday I mostly sat in my dorm and tried to recover from the night before which apparently didn’t work so well as I am now sick with a very bad cold. But there was something called a Pub Quiz that took place that night which I didn’t attend because I went out to pizza hut in Cheltenham.

That pretty much sums up my week. I’m sure I left a few things out but you can blame my crippling sickness. Okay so it’s really not that bad just a sore throat that hurts when i breathe, a massive headache that not even the best painkillers in the UK can seem to ease, and a case of the sniffles. Next time I’ll try not to be such a Debbie Downer.