Yesterday I was quite busy the whole day through, so that was good.
Christina was ill, so I got to sit behind the 'big' computer. But because Christina was ill, Maddy had to do her postal deliveries very quickly. She explained to me how to answer the phone just in case she someone did ring in the minute that she was out, although it wasn't very likely that someone would call in that short period.
So Maddy went out the door. And the phone rang. It literally started the ringing as soon as the door closed! So I answered and the person on the other line asked to speak to someone. Well, that wasn't really hard, so I looked up the list to see what number I needed to dial for that person: and it wasn't on it! Fortunately, Maddy came back at that moment and took over: turned out the person that was needed is in France and not on the list. Seriously! Of all people that guy had to pick her to call! :') God, that was nervewrecking.
Most things I did yesterday were preparing author copies to be sent and franking the envelopes of those.
At one time there were so many catalogues that needed to be franked, that Maddy and I did it together just to get rid of it quicker.
Furthermore, I finished filing the business cards for Pinelopi. While I was doing that someone, I think she's called Vicky, came to me to explain me about what the people at the UK sales-division do, which was really good, because to be honest I'd thought there'd be a lot more economics involved! It actually sounded quite fun as well, you know, trying to get bookshops to buy and sell your books.
After or before that Sophie from the children's division came up to me to see if I could come up with some ideas for a new drawing book. So that was nice and different to do (:
Before I can tell you what else I did, I must explain a little bit: the books at MOM also usually have an ebook version. Well, there are two types: sony reader and kindle. When turning the normal file into an ereader file, things might go wrong, so Christina and Maddy have to look up these mistakes and type them out.
Well, what I had to do was to 'collate' the mistakes of both types of ereader: see what mistakes are the same and also put it all in chronological order.
Also I met Jonny, who took over Maddy's desk when she was out to get lunch. He was also really nice.
Oh, and remember the London Underground-song I posted once? Well, since the big bosses are out in France, Mauro and some other people from foreign sales upstairs were playing songs and they asked Maddy and me whether we knew any songs. I said that I knew one about the London Underground. I don't know exactly what they thought of it, but a lot of noise came from upstairs :P
That was practically my whole day. In the evening I just went straight home and had supper with Tom and Amanda. They invited me to come to dinner on Friday with them and another friend who'll be staying over for a couple of days and apparently speaks perfect English.
I ended the day by finishing watching the film on my laptop.
OH AND: Tom is a miracle man! He fixed WiFi on my laptop! Turns out Amanda and I didn't use the password correctly: we thought it was either the letters of the numbers, but it actually is the letters and the numbers, including the / that is between them!
I'll keep you posted,
woensdag 16 mei 2012
dinsdag 15 mei 2012
Oh no!
Yesterday was my first day at Michael O'Mara Books.
I had to start at 10am, which is a really good time (especially because it means that in Holland it's 11am by then :P). So I just got up, ate breakfast and out the door I went!
The tube ride to Clapham North is quite long, but being the Londoner I am, I just sat and read my book while listening to music (that's just how I roll, ya know :P).
By the time I arrived at the station I felt the occasional flutters in my stomach, but the building was quite easy to find (this was actually because I'd looked up and walked the route on Google Maps, probably wouldn't have found it if I hadn't).
There I met Madeleine (or Maddy) and Christina, who are both working the reception/post room. I got appointed my own desk including a Macbook (but to be honest, I just prefer a normal laptop).
For starters, Maddy took me around when she delivered the post, so I could see the several buildings that Michael O'Mara is in and she also introduced me to quite a lot of people (I only remember a couple of names though).
Since it's actually not that busy at the moment, I didn't have that much interesting things to do, but that was alright, 'cause I don't think I'd have been able to handle anything that challenging yet.
I started out by filling in the euro prizes for some books on iTunes (this took quite a while, but it was alright to do). Furthermore, I had to collect some books and form them into packets and get them ready to be sent out and also I had to organize/file Pinelopi's business cards (there were quite a lot of them!). To be honest, I can't completely remember what else I did (that's how exciting it was :P), but overall I had quite a good day!
I can take a lunchbreak whenever I want and I can stay away for an hour (which I actually find a bit too long)!
During the day, we actually had a power cut! Really, all of a sudden all the lights went out and so did the computers. This resulted in lots of 'Oh no!'s coming from Maddy, which sounded really funny because she's got such an English accent.
It turned out to be quite local, because up until including Clapham North (the tube station) no longer had power, but the other way (which is headed to Clapham Common) did have power! How weird is that? It probably had something to do with some construction workers who are working on a place on the Lion Yard (which is where our offices are situated as well).
At first, I was the only one able to continue working, because I had a laptop, but later the internet stopped working as well, so none of us could do anything :')
In the end (after nearly an hour!) the power went back on again, which disappointed a lot of people because they'd been hoping to go home early.
At 5pm I got to leave, so I started texting Vera and Charissa (we had agreed to meet on Trafalgar Square). And after a tube ride, a short walk in the wrong way, then a walk in the right way, the decision to take the bus instead to prevent getting lost, I was at Trafalgar Square!
After a short phone call I spotted Charissa and not much later we were joined by Vera. Charissa asked us to sing her a birthday song, so she would feel more like it was her birthday. So we did what she wanted and embarassed her by singing Happy Birthday a little to loudly for her liking (^^).
Then we walked around for a bit, on the look out for a place to eat and we ended up in this tiny Italian restaurant near Embankment park (and station), which is actually where we walked past last year! I had no idea!
Well, the lasagne was really good and Charissa liked her birthday present (we both gave money so she could finally buy the bag she wanted so badly but thought too expensive).
After dinner we went for a walk to the London Eye. We collected our tickets and were led into a weird room, where we apparently were waiting for the 4D-experience of the London Eye. It turned out that was included in our ticket (for free). Well, despite having to wear the most hideous 3D-glasses ever, it was quite cool! Way better quality than that used in a cinema.
Then it was finally time to get on the London Eye and it was really cool! We could see Buckingham Palace, the Penis-building (no idea what it's really called) and lots of other buildings! Quite amazing.
After that, we walked around for a bit and ended up having a chat with a guard at Downing Street. He was really friendly, so that was nice.
I believe it was about 9.15pm by then, so it was about time we went back home. Charissa had to take the Bakerloo Line and Vera and I the Nothern Line (if I remember correctly), so we split up.
Luckily, Vera also had to travel on the District Line for a bit afterward, so we could travel together some more. She intended on getting off at Cannon street, but the train just passed that station (apparently, it doesn't stop there after 8pm), so she had to get off at the next station and figure out how and where to go :P
When I got back, I finally "met" Tom (I've met him before, about 3 years ago), who had been away for business. I actually sat down with Tom and Amanda for quite a bit until it was time to go to bed (which is also why I hadn't written this yesterday).
I'm afraid I must disappoint you, because I don't think I'll be writing about today tonight (I'm quite tired), so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that!
I'll keep you posted,
I had to start at 10am, which is a really good time (especially because it means that in Holland it's 11am by then :P). So I just got up, ate breakfast and out the door I went!
The tube ride to Clapham North is quite long, but being the Londoner I am, I just sat and read my book while listening to music (that's just how I roll, ya know :P).
By the time I arrived at the station I felt the occasional flutters in my stomach, but the building was quite easy to find (this was actually because I'd looked up and walked the route on Google Maps, probably wouldn't have found it if I hadn't).
There I met Madeleine (or Maddy) and Christina, who are both working the reception/post room. I got appointed my own desk including a Macbook (but to be honest, I just prefer a normal laptop).
For starters, Maddy took me around when she delivered the post, so I could see the several buildings that Michael O'Mara is in and she also introduced me to quite a lot of people (I only remember a couple of names though).
Since it's actually not that busy at the moment, I didn't have that much interesting things to do, but that was alright, 'cause I don't think I'd have been able to handle anything that challenging yet.
I started out by filling in the euro prizes for some books on iTunes (this took quite a while, but it was alright to do). Furthermore, I had to collect some books and form them into packets and get them ready to be sent out and also I had to organize/file Pinelopi's business cards (there were quite a lot of them!). To be honest, I can't completely remember what else I did (that's how exciting it was :P), but overall I had quite a good day!
I can take a lunchbreak whenever I want and I can stay away for an hour (which I actually find a bit too long)!
During the day, we actually had a power cut! Really, all of a sudden all the lights went out and so did the computers. This resulted in lots of 'Oh no!'s coming from Maddy, which sounded really funny because she's got such an English accent.
It turned out to be quite local, because up until including Clapham North (the tube station) no longer had power, but the other way (which is headed to Clapham Common) did have power! How weird is that? It probably had something to do with some construction workers who are working on a place on the Lion Yard (which is where our offices are situated as well).
At first, I was the only one able to continue working, because I had a laptop, but later the internet stopped working as well, so none of us could do anything :')
In the end (after nearly an hour!) the power went back on again, which disappointed a lot of people because they'd been hoping to go home early.
At 5pm I got to leave, so I started texting Vera and Charissa (we had agreed to meet on Trafalgar Square). And after a tube ride, a short walk in the wrong way, then a walk in the right way, the decision to take the bus instead to prevent getting lost, I was at Trafalgar Square!
After a short phone call I spotted Charissa and not much later we were joined by Vera. Charissa asked us to sing her a birthday song, so she would feel more like it was her birthday. So we did what she wanted and embarassed her by singing Happy Birthday a little to loudly for her liking (^^).
Then we walked around for a bit, on the look out for a place to eat and we ended up in this tiny Italian restaurant near Embankment park (and station), which is actually where we walked past last year! I had no idea!
Well, the lasagne was really good and Charissa liked her birthday present (we both gave money so she could finally buy the bag she wanted so badly but thought too expensive).
After dinner we went for a walk to the London Eye. We collected our tickets and were led into a weird room, where we apparently were waiting for the 4D-experience of the London Eye. It turned out that was included in our ticket (for free). Well, despite having to wear the most hideous 3D-glasses ever, it was quite cool! Way better quality than that used in a cinema.
Then it was finally time to get on the London Eye and it was really cool! We could see Buckingham Palace, the Penis-building (no idea what it's really called) and lots of other buildings! Quite amazing.
After that, we walked around for a bit and ended up having a chat with a guard at Downing Street. He was really friendly, so that was nice.
I believe it was about 9.15pm by then, so it was about time we went back home. Charissa had to take the Bakerloo Line and Vera and I the Nothern Line (if I remember correctly), so we split up.
Luckily, Vera also had to travel on the District Line for a bit afterward, so we could travel together some more. She intended on getting off at Cannon street, but the train just passed that station (apparently, it doesn't stop there after 8pm), so she had to get off at the next station and figure out how and where to go :P
When I got back, I finally "met" Tom (I've met him before, about 3 years ago), who had been away for business. I actually sat down with Tom and Amanda for quite a bit until it was time to go to bed (which is also why I hadn't written this yesterday).
I'm afraid I must disappoint you, because I don't think I'll be writing about today tonight (I'm quite tired), so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that!
I'll keep you posted,
zondag 13 mei 2012
Huh, swimsuit models?
Today was the first actual day I spent in Elm Park (where my hosts live) and in London.
When I woke up this morning, Amanda had already gone to church (I believe she's a priest), so I made myself some breakfast. Believe it or not, I tried making toast twice. And it got burned, twice. It's just because here they don't have a toaster but make it by using some kind of mix between an oven and a grill. Well, it got my toast black.
After a shower, I decided to leave Amanda a note and head into the city! My initial plan was to go to Covent Garden, but then the Underground also stopped at 'Tower Hill', so I got out and saw the Tower of London (I didn't go in, because I had already been there about 5 years ago). From there on, I started walking into a direction that I didn't know where it would take me to. I passed the rebuilt Globe theatre (might go inside there sometime during these 2 weeks) and walked across the Millenium Bridge.
Then, I got a text from Charissa, that she was on her way to Oxford street, so I had to overcome the challenge of finding another Underground-station, so I could go there as well.
During this adventure I came across this very little street, with just a few shops and places to eat, but it looked really fun! I think it was called something like Gabriel's blablabla.
Anyways! Soon after that I had finally found Waterloo Station and the Jubilee line took me straight to the stop 'Bond Street', which is situated on Oxford street! I bought myself a crepe with nutella and waited for Charissa. And waited. And waited.
Finally, she arrived! Apparently she had been a little confused or whatever when taking the tube and bus.
We decided to do a little shopping: I ended up with a T-shirt from H&M and a dress that was on sale from Topshop (:
Then we went to the McDonald's to go to the toilet and afterwards we bought a postcard to send to our English teacher (the one in charge of the work experiences). We decided it'd be fun to go to Piccadilly Circus to see if we could find the M&Ms store.
On the way, we walked on Regent Street and Carnaby street (love, love, love Carnaby street!). There was one shop on Regent Street that was really weird: we walked past it and suddenly these guys that were only wearing a swimsuit caught our eyes! Apparantly, that's what they did for their job: stand in the doorway wearing a swimsuit.
We also visited Hamleys, an HMV (where I bought a film to watch on my laptop) and the Ferrari store (Charissa wanted to buy something for her uncle there).
Finally we'd made it to Piccadilly Circus and after having asked someone who was carrying an M&Ms bag, where the store was, we found it! It's huge and they've got many, many M&Ms goodies. I ended up buying some M&Ms, because you can pick all the colours yourself (including silver and gold).
I was disappointed by one thing though: I had anticipated that they'd have all sorts of different M&Ms flavours but all they had were crispy, milk chocolate and peanut. AKA, they didn't have the one with peanutbutter that I love so much.
After that, it was about time to head back to Elm Park again. Amanda and I had lasagne for supper and after that we tried finding a way to connect my laptop to WiFi, but we failed. So I'm typing this from Amanda's laptop, again.
On Tuesday she'll probably ring the company to see if they know how to do it. I guess my laptop's just being stubborn.
At the moment I've paused watching a film to type this and to finish and send some exercises to one of the kids that I tutor (he's got a test on Wednesday, so I promised him I'd send some exercises).
Tomorrow's my first day at work and I'm really excited! Also, I'm going to the London Eye tomorrow evening and according to Amanda it's amazing and really worth the money (:
I'll keep you posted,
When I woke up this morning, Amanda had already gone to church (I believe she's a priest), so I made myself some breakfast. Believe it or not, I tried making toast twice. And it got burned, twice. It's just because here they don't have a toaster but make it by using some kind of mix between an oven and a grill. Well, it got my toast black.
After a shower, I decided to leave Amanda a note and head into the city! My initial plan was to go to Covent Garden, but then the Underground also stopped at 'Tower Hill', so I got out and saw the Tower of London (I didn't go in, because I had already been there about 5 years ago). From there on, I started walking into a direction that I didn't know where it would take me to. I passed the rebuilt Globe theatre (might go inside there sometime during these 2 weeks) and walked across the Millenium Bridge.
Then, I got a text from Charissa, that she was on her way to Oxford street, so I had to overcome the challenge of finding another Underground-station, so I could go there as well.
During this adventure I came across this very little street, with just a few shops and places to eat, but it looked really fun! I think it was called something like Gabriel's blablabla.
Anyways! Soon after that I had finally found Waterloo Station and the Jubilee line took me straight to the stop 'Bond Street', which is situated on Oxford street! I bought myself a crepe with nutella and waited for Charissa. And waited. And waited.
Finally, she arrived! Apparently she had been a little confused or whatever when taking the tube and bus.
We decided to do a little shopping: I ended up with a T-shirt from H&M and a dress that was on sale from Topshop (:
Then we went to the McDonald's to go to the toilet and afterwards we bought a postcard to send to our English teacher (the one in charge of the work experiences). We decided it'd be fun to go to Piccadilly Circus to see if we could find the M&Ms store.
On the way, we walked on Regent Street and Carnaby street (love, love, love Carnaby street!). There was one shop on Regent Street that was really weird: we walked past it and suddenly these guys that were only wearing a swimsuit caught our eyes! Apparantly, that's what they did for their job: stand in the doorway wearing a swimsuit.
We also visited Hamleys, an HMV (where I bought a film to watch on my laptop) and the Ferrari store (Charissa wanted to buy something for her uncle there).
Finally we'd made it to Piccadilly Circus and after having asked someone who was carrying an M&Ms bag, where the store was, we found it! It's huge and they've got many, many M&Ms goodies. I ended up buying some M&Ms, because you can pick all the colours yourself (including silver and gold).
I was disappointed by one thing though: I had anticipated that they'd have all sorts of different M&Ms flavours but all they had were crispy, milk chocolate and peanut. AKA, they didn't have the one with peanutbutter that I love so much.
After that, it was about time to head back to Elm Park again. Amanda and I had lasagne for supper and after that we tried finding a way to connect my laptop to WiFi, but we failed. So I'm typing this from Amanda's laptop, again.
On Tuesday she'll probably ring the company to see if they know how to do it. I guess my laptop's just being stubborn.
At the moment I've paused watching a film to type this and to finish and send some exercises to one of the kids that I tutor (he's got a test on Wednesday, so I promised him I'd send some exercises).
Tomorrow's my first day at work and I'm really excited! Also, I'm going to the London Eye tomorrow evening and according to Amanda it's amazing and really worth the money (:
I'll keep you posted,
zaterdag 12 mei 2012
No, that's not Scott Monument.
Today was the day I finally went to London!
After having breakfast at our B&B, my dad and I packed up our things again and drove towards Edinburgh. There we printed my trainticket, dropped off my luggage until I had to board the train and then we walked around in Princes Street. We actually found this discount store that also sold books, so we both bought 3 books for £5,- which is really cheap. I decided to buy three classics, as I was planning one reading a couple of them anyway, and they'll come in handy when preparing for or during studying English. I purchased Pride & Prejudice, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Wuthering Heights (:
There was some construction going on at Princes Street so there was a map to show where everything was, including Scott Monument. Scott Monument is a bit of a tower-like building with a statue of a man in the middle of it. Well, when we were looking at that map, we were standing right in front of the monument. There was another man also studying this map and he kept claiming that the tower-like building wasn't the monument. That was really weird, because when my dad and I got closer to it, it specifically stated that it was the monument.
After having a drink at Costa, it was time for my dad to get in the car and drive to Edinburgh Airport. While getting there, he apparantly wasn't very lucky: he was to deliver the car filled with gas like it was, but the petrol station was closed, so he was charged £3,- per liter! Furthermore his plane was delayed and all of a sudden he had to check in his little suitcase, because of Idontknowwhat. But he made is home safely!
In the meanwhile, I had to entertain myself. First I got a little something to eat. Then I looked around in a few shops, but there wasn't really anything interesting, so I decided to buy two bananas (figured I needed to eat something healthy after all the cholesterol and bad stuff that I ate in the past two days) and sit down to read a chapter of Never Let Me Go.
When I was finished reading I saw this man who had his luggage on a trolley (why didn't I see one before?), so I went to fetch a trolley and my luggage. Then I walked to Platform 19 and got in the train. Looking back, I might've ditched the trolley, because it wouldn't cooperate very well with me.
At 13.30 the train left Edinburgh and set off for a 4 hours and 25 minutes-long journey to London King's Cross.
I tried to get access to WiFi and it turned out every passenger got 15 minutes for free (in that time I uploaded the other two posts), but to top up those 15 minutes with more time, you needed a creditcard. So that wasn't going to work out.
Eventually I spent the rest of the journey typing some thingies, looking out of the window, taking very few photographs, listening to music and watching Mulan on my iPod.
At about 17.55 I arrived in London! Almost immediatly I was spotted by Amanda who guided me to the Underground and then to her home. The house is actually barely 5 minutes walking to the tube station, which is terrific!
After arriving here, she showed me around the house and my room. Then I got to unpack and settle for a bit and afterwards we had supper.
Shortly after, we tried connecting my laptop to their WiFi, but my laptop just wouldn't have it. So now Amanda let me type this on her computer, which is very friendly of her (:
She had a talk with Tom and he said that one thing should be the password, but I'll just try that out tomorrow.
I actually think I'm gonna go to bed now (at 22.00, I know. At home I never go to bed this early!) and have some blissful sleep.
I'll keep you posted,
After having breakfast at our B&B, my dad and I packed up our things again and drove towards Edinburgh. There we printed my trainticket, dropped off my luggage until I had to board the train and then we walked around in Princes Street. We actually found this discount store that also sold books, so we both bought 3 books for £5,- which is really cheap. I decided to buy three classics, as I was planning one reading a couple of them anyway, and they'll come in handy when preparing for or during studying English. I purchased Pride & Prejudice, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Wuthering Heights (:
There was some construction going on at Princes Street so there was a map to show where everything was, including Scott Monument. Scott Monument is a bit of a tower-like building with a statue of a man in the middle of it. Well, when we were looking at that map, we were standing right in front of the monument. There was another man also studying this map and he kept claiming that the tower-like building wasn't the monument. That was really weird, because when my dad and I got closer to it, it specifically stated that it was the monument.
After having a drink at Costa, it was time for my dad to get in the car and drive to Edinburgh Airport. While getting there, he apparantly wasn't very lucky: he was to deliver the car filled with gas like it was, but the petrol station was closed, so he was charged £3,- per liter! Furthermore his plane was delayed and all of a sudden he had to check in his little suitcase, because of Idontknowwhat. But he made is home safely!
In the meanwhile, I had to entertain myself. First I got a little something to eat. Then I looked around in a few shops, but there wasn't really anything interesting, so I decided to buy two bananas (figured I needed to eat something healthy after all the cholesterol and bad stuff that I ate in the past two days) and sit down to read a chapter of Never Let Me Go.
When I was finished reading I saw this man who had his luggage on a trolley (why didn't I see one before?), so I went to fetch a trolley and my luggage. Then I walked to Platform 19 and got in the train. Looking back, I might've ditched the trolley, because it wouldn't cooperate very well with me.
At 13.30 the train left Edinburgh and set off for a 4 hours and 25 minutes-long journey to London King's Cross.
I tried to get access to WiFi and it turned out every passenger got 15 minutes for free (in that time I uploaded the other two posts), but to top up those 15 minutes with more time, you needed a creditcard. So that wasn't going to work out.
Eventually I spent the rest of the journey typing some thingies, looking out of the window, taking very few photographs, listening to music and watching Mulan on my iPod.
At about 17.55 I arrived in London! Almost immediatly I was spotted by Amanda who guided me to the Underground and then to her home. The house is actually barely 5 minutes walking to the tube station, which is terrific!
After arriving here, she showed me around the house and my room. Then I got to unpack and settle for a bit and afterwards we had supper.
Shortly after, we tried connecting my laptop to their WiFi, but my laptop just wouldn't have it. So now Amanda let me type this on her computer, which is very friendly of her (:
She had a talk with Tom and he said that one thing should be the password, but I'll just try that out tomorrow.
I actually think I'm gonna go to bed now (at 22.00, I know. At home I never go to bed this early!) and have some blissful sleep.
I'll keep you posted,
A Bunny per Student / Gateau of the Day
This
morning we had breakfast in our B&B ‘Cullaig House’ in Dundee. During
breakfast we had an interesting conversation with the owner and an Irish
philosophy PhD-student who was also staying there (well, to be honest, I was
just listening, while my dad talked with them).
After
that, we packed up our things again, checked out and drove towards Stirling. We
decided to avoid the M90 this time so we’d see a bit more of the beautiful
country. We drove some interesting ways, passing villages that were smaller
than I’ve ever seen. Also, there was lots of nature that reminded me of
Wuthering Heights (though I did not actually read it, but we discussed it in
English class!) and there were plenty of houses that could’ve served as the
houses Cathy and Heathcliff lived in, as well as houses at an appropriate
distance that could’ve been their ‘neighbours’’.
On the
way we stopped at ‘Mona’s coffeeshop’ where I treated my dad with a cappuccino
and a scone and myself with a hot chocolate (including the ‘mallows and cream)
and toasted tea cake. It was a very odd coffeeshop, but it was quite nice.
We got back on the road and shortly after we arrived in Stirling. We intended on visiting the Wallace monument, but due to lack of time we had to skip that, so we went to our B&B. We did however enter the giftshop where I bought this really ridiculous, but great mug.
At the
B&B it turned out the owner wasn’t present, so we decided to head out for
lunch, which we had at The William Wallace (a pub). When we left the pub, we
found ourselves having less time left than expected, so we had to haste
ourselves to get to the university in time. Thankfully, we were only five
minutes late.
There we
met the student recruiter, who was really nice and friendly. She told us about
how things are done at Stirling and also what they look for in personal
statements.
Then we
(my dad and I, plus two other guys and a mother) were guided around campus by a
student. The campus was really nice, but the halls of residences were quite
disappointing after those at Dundee. Also, the Student Union was great, with
enough little shops (I already found out where I need to buy my
university-sweater when I get in!) and! Wait for it.... A STARBUCKS! That’s
right. Really, who’d have thought? I know I didn’t expect it at all! Besides
being a Starbucks on campus it was also cheaper than other Starbuckses that one
usually visits.
Also,
there was one striking thing about the very green campus: the amount of
bunnies! They were literally everywhere! It was like a bunny-invasion. I think
there might’ve been enough to give one to every student.
When we
were finished at the university (and had something from Starbucks in the Union)
we headed back to the B&B where we checked in and got to visit loo.
Afterwards
we took the bus to the centre where we stumbled upon the most ridiculous thing:
Stirling isn’t actually that much of a city with only 40,000 inhabitants and it
isn’t quite big, but it has this amazingly big shopping mall! The downside of
it is that all the shops close at 5.30am (even on Fridays!). The only shop that
was still open, was Poundland. You know, in Holland we’ve got similar stores,
but there those kinds of shops aren’t living up to their name and also sell
things over a euro. Poundland, however, does not do this! EVERYTHING was a
pound!
When we
were done there and had succeeded in doing business, we took a stroll around
the city and eventually sat down in an Indian restaurant for a bite.
As a
starter, I had Chicken Puri and it was absolutely delicious. My main course,
however, which was Nawabi Chicken Tikka was less good, but still edible. We
were also offered a dessert card and there was a really interesting dessert on
it. Namely, ‘Gateau of the Day’. Gateau being French, the restaurant being
Indian. Yeah right, go figure.
After
diner, we took a bus back to Causewayhead Road where our B&B, Calsey House,
is situated.
Currently,
my dad is watching a film (AKA being asleep) and I’m typing this.
Unfortunately, there’s no WiFi here either. When the owner comes back I could
perhaps ask for a password or so, but to be honest I don’t think we’ll see her
again this evening. So hopefully I’ll be able to upload these posts when I’m at
Tom & Amanda’s tomorrow evening.
I’ll
keep you posted,
The Sunniest City in Scotland
‘Oy mates!
I wrote this post the day before yesterday-evening, but as I
had no WiFi-connection at that B&B, I couldn’t post it until now J.
Yes, yes, yes! Today was THE day! I finally
started my adventure!
Dundee is quite a nice city, well, the part
where the buildings aren’t too hideous to look at (most areas are mixed with
the old Victorian stuff and buildings from sometime in the 20th
century).
Apparently, Dundee is the sunniest city in
Scotland! Too bad it didn’t want to keep up its reputation and we got greeted
by grey clouds and pouring rain (OK, it wasn’t raining that badly, but we got wet enough). We’ve actually been told about
five times that it usually is way sunnier that anyplace else in Scotland. Also,
Dundee was the first Fairtrade City (whatever that might mean) in Scotland. So,
I guess that’s a good thing?
But, let’s start at the beginning:
This morning I got up at 6 after which we left
for the airport at approximately 7.15. Although there was quite some traffic,
we didn’t actually get delayed by it.
Well, my dad had checked us in already, so all
we had to do was drop off my (currently non-broken!) suitcase, go through
passport check and wait. Well, to kill the time, we got something to drink and
eat from Starbucks and my dad purchased a magazine.
9.40: it was finally time to go through
security and get to our gate! Well, not much happened then. Our plane took off
at, I think, 10.15 and it was quite good: nothing went wrong, we’re still alive
J. I
actually really enjoyed watching the country from the sky: everything looks so
miniature.
We landed at 10.45 (English time), got through
passport-control, picked up my suitcase (some of my smiley-stickers have come
off! :O) and our rental car and drove to Dundee. On the way stopped at a Burger
King, because we were getting quite hungry.
We arrived in Dundee at about 13.30: originally
we were supposed to go to the B&B and drop off our luggage, but since we
had to be at the university at 14.00, we first went there.
A history-graduate showed us and four other
(possible) prospective students around campus: we saw the gym, swimming pool,
student union, student dorm, the library and the building where Humanities are
taught.
I actually also got to speak to someone from
the language-/English-department and she also gave me some papers to give me an
idea of what the modules/semesters would be like and what kind of
exam-questions could be asked. After that, my dad and I walked back to the
Student Admissions centre where we had gathered, so we could ask some others
questions about applying to Dundee: you know, the fees, requirements, etc. Our
questions got answered very well, so now I know what I need to focus on when
applying!
After that we finally went to our B&B:
Cullaig Guest House in Dundee, where we just sat in our room, while watching
the ending of Brother Bear and the beginning of Atlantis on the Disney
Cinemagic-channel (or however it’s called).
Then we decided it was time to eat something,
so we walked into town, looking for a pub. We ended up at one in the
city-centre that was surprisingly big. Also, the food was quite cheap and
really good! So even students that can’t cook can eat good meals for not too
big prices :P. I had chips, beans and sausages (I got three!) and that was really filling and satisfying.
Then we had to overcome the challenge of
finding our B&B again. Well, first we ended up walking a bit more through
the centre, which was good, because that offered us the opportunity to pass the
Tesco and buy something to drink for now.
After that, we had found the way to our B&B
surprisingly fast! But the walk back was so
steep! That’s really not going to be fun to cycle!
What I also must mention though, is that the
people who thought of the street names here, did not have much inspiration:
Constitution Street, Constitution Road, Constitution Terrace, Upper
Constitution Street, et cetera.
So, now we are back in our room again, my dad
is watching NCIS while I type this post.
Today was a really good, but very tiring, day. I’m
looking forward to tomorrow!
I’ll keep you posted,
woensdag 9 mei 2012
Can you believe it?
I know I certainly don't! I just can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow! I'll be waking up an hour earlier than I'd wake up for school, but I'm not going to school! That's so weird, because all of my friends and other classmates do have to go to school.
Today Soshannah, Talitha and I had a very dramatic goodbye-saying: lots of hugs and "BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"s. Quite fun, actually. It is weird though, that I won't be seeing them for two weeks and a half without having actual holidays.
Right now, my dad and I trying to deal with a drastic last minute problem: my suitcase is broken. It's still brand-new, I've never used it before, but when I closed it and lifted it to its wheels, it turned out one of the hinges is broken! It looks like the screws weren't screwed in correctly in the factory, because now the holes that the screws were in, have been widened.
God, I hate this. I'd been dying to get my own suitcase, I finally bought one, and the day before I'm leaving (after Hema, where I'd purchased it, had closed), it turns out my suitcase is broken!
My dad is going to try to use some thicker screws, but to be honest, I don't have that much faith in it. In five minutes we'll know...
Okay, my suitcase now looks like it might hold for a while (YAY FOR DADS!), but I'm still really disappointed that it was just broken like that! So I sent a complaint to the firm, we'll see what they'll do with it.
Tomorrow morning I'll have to get up at 6 and at 7.15 we're leaving for Schiphol. My dad already checked us in, so we only need to get rid ofour my luggage (I really fear that my suitcase might be too heavy...).
So yeah. We now also have a B&B in Dundee, which is good, because I don't want to sleep in the car tomorrownight.
My suitcases are packed. I've got stroopwafels with me, to give to nice people. I'm going to put my iPod in my bag after I finished writing this. So I guess that's it.
I'm leaving tomorrow. God, it's so weird that it's finally happening! Since last June I've been looking forward to this, and now I'm really going to experience it!
I'll keep you posted,
Today Soshannah, Talitha and I had a very dramatic goodbye-saying: lots of hugs and "BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"s. Quite fun, actually. It is weird though, that I won't be seeing them for two weeks and a half without having actual holidays.
Right now, my dad and I trying to deal with a drastic last minute problem: my suitcase is broken. It's still brand-new, I've never used it before, but when I closed it and lifted it to its wheels, it turned out one of the hinges is broken! It looks like the screws weren't screwed in correctly in the factory, because now the holes that the screws were in, have been widened.
God, I hate this. I'd been dying to get my own suitcase, I finally bought one, and the day before I'm leaving (after Hema, where I'd purchased it, had closed), it turns out my suitcase is broken!
My dad is going to try to use some thicker screws, but to be honest, I don't have that much faith in it. In five minutes we'll know...
Okay, my suitcase now looks like it might hold for a while (YAY FOR DADS!), but I'm still really disappointed that it was just broken like that! So I sent a complaint to the firm, we'll see what they'll do with it.
Tomorrow morning I'll have to get up at 6 and at 7.15 we're leaving for Schiphol. My dad already checked us in, so we only need to get rid of
So yeah. We now also have a B&B in Dundee, which is good, because I don't want to sleep in the car tomorrownight.
My suitcases are packed. I've got stroopwafels with me, to give to nice people. I'm going to put my iPod in my bag after I finished writing this. So I guess that's it.
I'm leaving tomorrow. God, it's so weird that it's finally happening! Since last June I've been looking forward to this, and now I'm really going to experience it!
I'll keep you posted,
Abonneren op:
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