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Mandy's Adventures
"The choices we make, not the chances we take, determine our destiny"
As of about 5:15 pm yesterday, I officially became a Brunel student! I got my student ID (if you are going to take someone's photo for a card that she must use frequently for an entire year, don't wait until she has been making her way through a maze of stations to the back of an extremely warm and stuffy room--yup, that's how good my student ID is), school e-mail address, and library card. I also picked up the intial packet for my program which came with my first assignment. Not sure why no one else has gotten any type of assignment yet, but I have three rather long articles to read before my introductory lectures begin next Wednesday. In my packet I received a timetable and will have all my lectures on Wednesday and Thursday. It seems to be the norm for postgraduates (that's what graduate students are called here) to have two days per week with scheduled lectures. There are only 9 full-time students, including myself, enrolled for Psychological and Psychiatric Anthropology. I met another of the 9 students, Maria from Germany, who seems very friendly. I actually ran into her again today when I was leaving the poster sale (where I purchased the Destiny poster to brighten up my room) with one of my Chinese flatmates, Xia. She invited me over to her flat, which is actually right across the hall, to watch a movie later. That will be nice since I can't play British DVD's in my American laptop. Today I was also really missing my car--ah, the trusty ZX2--when I went into Uxbridge with my American flatmate, Kate, and another American, Lindy, who is on the same course as Kate. I only bought a few things, mostly groceries, but Kate had to pick up three sets of drawers she had ordered with her dad earlier in the week. We had been thinking that our other purchases could just be put into the drawers and carried rather easily back on the bus. Of course, they were not assembled and packaged in boxes which caused a rather difficult trip home. I really don't mind the public transportation system here, but a having a car would have made today a little easier. This weekend a few of us are talking about possibly going into Windsor for a day. I've already toured the castle when Priscilla and I were here in 2005, so I most likely will not pay to do that again. But, there are lots of cute shops and I will also be able to pick up a certain someone's birthday gift that he has been requesting for over a year. That will be worth the trip right there!
Oh, and before I forget. . .yes, I think I may have the bizarre, uncontrollable power to bring the weather with me. While it was a curse at the Outer Banks (sorry about that rainy day, guys) it has been a tremendous blessing here. We have been having beautiful, sunny days since I arrived. Today was sunny and near 80 degrees! The rain is coming though with rain showers being forcasted for tomorrow. I guess I will have to start carrying my umbrella around with me everywhere. But I'm not going to complain--having those sunny days to move in and get settled were incredibly helpful.
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