Induction Week

This week is induction week for all the Masters students, so no real classes just meetings to get to know your department and your course.

On Monday I didn't have anything scheduled so I slept in a bit, watched the new Downton Abbey and Doctor Who, and generally hung around my room.

On Tuesday, I had a general Psychology department welcome where we heard from the head of the department, the graduate school chair, the GSA (again), etc. It was good to put faces with names. That afternoon there was a welcome for all of the "overseas" students. I think they really meant for students who don't speak English as their first language because there was very little that applied to me. They talked about all the tutoring support and English language support you can get. I was bored.

I've seen a hot air balloon on my way to campus each morning this week.

For Constantine College's "Founders Fair" York Cocoa House came to do a chocolate tasting. We tasted 35% milk chocolate, 50% dark chocolate, 85% dark chocolate from two different regions in Colombia, 100% chocolate, cocoa nibs, and a raw cocoa bean. It was really interesting to learn about the chocolate history of York. Nestle and Terry's both had factories here at one point.

The weather has been really gorgeous. One of the maintenance men who showed up to fix my bathroom light (which no longer leaves me showering in the dark! yay!) commented on how warm it's been for Fall.

On Wednesday, I again had no meetings so I grabbed one of the extra tickets to the History Society's free trip to The York Dungeon.

Got a picture of the opera house on the way.

So, it's basically a really cheesy haunted house that incorporates York's history: Henry VIII stripping the monasteries and putting down the rebellion, the plague, Guy Fawkes, Dick Turpin (famous highway robber), the witch trials, and so on. I don't scare very easily, so by the end I was honestly a bit bored. One poor girl fell down three times in three different rooms. She's probably considered a "person of nervous disposition" mentioned in the warning sign at the entrance. The York Dungeon is not recommended for children under 10, pregnant women, and persons of nervous dispositions.

We had to queue outside and go in two separate groups. I'm glad I went for free when it was offered and now I know I don't want to pay 17 pounds to go again. Matt says I have now done more touristy things in two weeks than he has in five years.

After we were finally done and they tried to sell us the pictures which were taken at the beginning, I found this memorial stone outside the building while waiting for the group.

On Thursday morning I had an "internet and email orientation" which was exactly as boring as it sounds. I can't believe they even offer it as a workshop during induction week, or that it wasn't labeled "optional". That's an hour of my life I can never get back. On the bright side, I met this handsome kitty on my way to campus. He was chasing birds but got distracted when a person might have meant attention. I obliged him. 

After that we had a four-hour long SPSS workshop, which was good because I haven't used SPSS since December 2010 and I'll need it a lot in the coming year.

Got this out of a vending machine during our lunch break. It was yummy.

That evening I grabbed a "burrito" at The Glasshouse in Langwith College for dinner. British burritos involve unheated tortillas, seasoned rice, and chipotle chicken. It was alright but I don't think I'd call it a burrito. As I was leaving I saw this sign on the piano. There may have been giggling.

On Friday, we had the forensic psychology course induction with all of the course staff. We met all the other students on the course and discussed all the modules and the dissertation. Our course is mostly home students, which is quite different from the management graduate school which is at least 95% Chinese students this year. We played a couple icebreakers, one was really interesting. Statistically in a group of 25 or more there should be two people who share a birthday. Jo (course director) said it has always worked in previous years. We had two pairs of people who shared birthdays. The other ice breaker, we tossed a ball around and said our name and something interesting about ourselves. So, I told them I come from the desert side of Washington that looks nothing like Seattle in Grey's Anatomy. They were all very surprised. At least I won't have to explain it another 22 times. Jo said this year they decided to accept fewer Masters students for Forensic Psychology to give each student more individual mentoring. They usually had about 40, so getting into a group of 23 feels even more prestigious.

After my induction I had an hour to eat lunch before the next workshop, and since I had no food in my apartment I got the campus market's sandwich + coke + crisps = 2.99 deal. This sandwich was actually really good.

Food labels are interesting here...

After lunch I went to the "library and endnote workshop" where they basically taught me about all the database resources for psychology I used at WSU. After an hour, I decided not to waste any more time and snuck out so I could get to the store.

I went out to Monk's Cross Shopping Center again so I could go to Poundland (the dollar store) and ASDA. I found this white chocolate spread. I may need to buy some in the future.

Treated myself to some chocolate orange biscuits. They're pretty good.

I also found single serve cocoa packets to keep on hand for the next tea and coffee meeting/social event I attend so I can drink something too.

On Saturday Debbie, Andrea, and I went to Fresher's Fair on the west campus. I signed up for the drama society, theatre goers society, Shakespeare and wine society, international student society (which runs some similar trips to the GSA but on Saturdays instead of Sundays!), cinema society, and grabbed leaflets from a few others. There were also tons of vendors handing out vouchers (coupons), and free pens. It took a long time to get through everything and it was PACKED. (Freshmen. Ugh.)

After that, I went into the city center to get my phone set up with O2. I got 2000 texts, 200 minutes, and 1GB of data for 15 pounds a month. If you want my number, send me a message. On the way to and from the store I wandered a bit. It was fun. I discovered a few cool vendors at the year-round market.

There is a Disney store in the city center.

I was SO EXCITED to find this. I will spend way too much money there this year, I'm sure of it.

I passed The Golden Fleece, the most haunted pub in Britain.

I wandered through the Shambles a bit.

This is one of the local ghosts featured on the ghost tour.

Those donuts smelled a-maz-ing. It was really unfair.

After making my way home and having a chat in my kitchen with Debbie (she kindly brought my bag of stuff home while I went into town), I enjoyed my treat for the day. It's an apple and almond franzipan tart. Divine.

After dinner, my room was so cold! It was below 16 degrees, but my heater still hasn't turned on. Tanya and I are ready to storm Jaqui's office and demand more heat! So, I went through my Freshers Fair loot in bed under my down comforter. I'm set for pens and re-usable shopping bags. And bottle openers. The DramaSoc button has one on the back. Around 8:00pm the "Live and Loud" event for Freshers week was happening at the Ron Cooke Hub and went on a good portion of the night, so I did not sleep well. They were not exaggerating about the "loud" part.

Today I watched yesterday's sessions of General Conference, did my laundry, hoovered my room (our vacuum has a face), and got all my stuff ready for tomorrow. Debbie also came down to our quiet and clean kitchen for a cup of tea (herbal for me). Her flat's kitchen is neither peaceful nor quiet but that's another story for another time. We may have a daily ritual on our hands. In the future I'll do all my cleaning and laundry on Thursday mornings so I can avoid the busy times in the laundry room.

New roommates:

Miranda from Greece studying pyscho-linguistics

Hulya from Turkey

AND we have now sighted our mystery roommate twice. I call him "old guy" because he has grey hair and has been on his phone both times we saw him so I still don't know his name. We'll get one more roommate in the room across from me on the 21st.

Random observations from the week:

• British people use "on" for a lot of situations Americans would say "in"
• I rarely hear people say "thirty" when expressing time. It's always half six for 6:30, etc.
• I encounter a lot more adults with terrible b.o. here. Not a fan.
• I now have a numb spot on my right thigh above my knee. That's new.

Tomorrow I start my classes, so I'd better get to bed :)