University of Aberdeen Blog

Now some of you might think that I am referring to the popular youtube video, but not this time. It actaully refers to possibly the only thought that went through my head as I watched the countdown to 2010 whilst partying hard with my friends. I woke up the next morning and whilst filling in my new calendar I realised that 2010 is actually a pretty important and busy year for me. In 4 months time I have to hand in the final draft of my disseration, 6 months till graduation and my best friends’ wedding, 7 months to a trip to New York and a possible 9 months before I start my new degree (which is still yet to be decided). Usually when I know I have a lot of important things to do, my brain will occasionally go into panic mode, and I’ll end up hiding under my duvet with a cup of tea, but these days I seem to spend most of my free time thinking back to how much my life has changed over the last three and a half years. It only feels like yesterday when I was frantically packing my suitcase with all the things I thought I would need for my first year at university. Having moved around a lot as child, I had always thought that after finishing my undergraduate degree in Aberdeen, I would probably want to move again for my next degree (I just want to get as many fancy letters after my name as possible), but right now whilst sitting back in my comfy office chair and staring out at the university campus, I can happily say that I have no intentions of leaving Aberdeen any time soon.

Anyways enough reminescing for today. Well I know it has been a while since my last blog entry, but I have been a very busy bee. I’ve just started working on my dissertation, which is surprisingly interesting and the best part is that I can work from home, so I get to enjoy a daily lie in . I’ve also decided to do my part for saving the whole planet thing by buying a bicycle, and cycling pretty much everywhere. It’s lucky that Aberdeen is pretty bike friendly otherwise having never ridden a bike on a road before, I’d probably end up under a bus.  However I have discovered the joys of cycling to the beach whenever I feel like it, and how a helmet can be used for other purposes aside from cycling such as protecting my head whilst cleaning a part of my bathroom that has a ridiculously ceiling.

It is now quarter to five, and time for me to start closing things up in the office. So hope everyone had a good new year and good luck in the upcoming exams.

This past weekend marked the switching on of the Christmas lights here in Aberdeen. It seems as though it gets earlier every year. I am normally the one trying to encourage people to start getting in the festive mood in October and bemoaning my friends’ lack of Christmas Spirit. For some reason however, my feelings have changed. Maybe this is me just growing up…but I’m not sure I like it. No matter how much music I listen to, or how many presents I decide on, I can’t get the Spirit flowing!

Presents are of course at the forefront of most people minds right now. If, like me, you are terrible at gifts and want to give vouchers to everyone, you have to start looking early. I think this year may be slightly easier due to the new shopping centre here in Aberdeen.

Union Square opened at the end of October and according to Wikipedia, is the 2^nd largest shopping centre in Scotland being 700,000 square feet. Now I have no idea how big that is in relative terms…but I know that there are lots of shops, some of which are new to Aberdeen such as Paperchase and Ollie and Nic (Hurray for those!). As it is mostly undercover, it will definitely be easier than trailing from shop to shop in the cold and rain. As well as all the shops there is also a selection of restaurants. As I found yesterday, it is far too easy to spend an entire afternoon there getting nothing done!

Although I am now in the process of picking and buying presents, I have a lot of things to consider. Things that I never considered before coming to Aberdeen. Such as how many outfits will I have to sacrifice to fit that in my suitcase or how many pairs of shoes will I have to forego in order to keep it under the weight limit for the plane. I should possibly take a leaf out of my sister’s book – she bought all of her presents in September before going back to University. Hmmmm not sure I could be that organised.

Well as for now, I have to go peruse some websites in the hope I can just buy everything online and have it all delivered to home so its waiting for me when I get back.

As I sit here writing this blog entry and looking out the window I cannot help but notice that autumn has arrived in Aberdeen. The leaves are all changing colours and falling down, the days are getting darker, and the winds are getting colder. All of this means that winter is just around the corner and that it will soon be time to put on a thicker jumper and turn up the heating a bit. Having just started my eighth year in Aberdeen, I am fairly well used to the winters up here and actually enjoy them. It never gets too cold, because we are an east coast city and the darkness has its advantages from a study point of view. It makes it more appealing to sit in a class room or office or one of the many coffee places around campus with a nice mug of tea or coffee (or a hot chocolate if you are feeling really indulgent) and read a chapter or two in a text book or plough your way through some journal articles. I find I am always more productive during the winter and hope to get a lot of work done on my PhD over the next few months. This will be crucial towards me finishing it on time, so I for one am grateful that winter is coming J

Until the next time, be well in all things.

David

On Tuesday, the 1^st September 2009 the University of Aberdeen held its annual Open Day and once again over 6,000 visitors flocked to the campus to get a feel for the university and meet with academics and members of the recruitment and admissions staff. On top of the chance to listen to a number of talks and presentations on a wide range of issues concerning students, visitors could also go on a tour of the campus and our new sports facilities, as well as visiting various departments. The weather played along beautifully and the atmosphere on campus was really good. The day before the Open Day about 200 prospective students and their parents stayed over in halls of residence to get a taste of student life. There was a student party with a pub quiz and some karaoke (the highlight of which was me and my fellow student ambassador Sean singing ‘I Got You Babe’ by Sonny&Cher).

This was my 5^th Open Day as a student ambassador and once again I thoroughly enjoyed meeting loads of new people and showing them around campus, despite only getting 3 hours of sleep and my feet hurting a lot by the end of the day. We had a number of new student ambassadors starting this year and they turned out to be a very friendly and helpful bunch and it was good fun working with them. I am already looking forward to next year’s Open Day on Tuesday, the 31^st August 2010, which will probably be my last Open Day at the University of Aberdeen unfortunately.

After the hustle and bustle of the Open Day the campus has quieted down again, but will roar back to life in just over a week when Freshers’ Week 2009 kicks off. Freshers’ Week is great fun and gives students new and old a chance to settle in, sign up to one of our 58 sports teams and 105 student societies, and have a bit of fun before classes start the week after. After the long, quiet summer it will be fun to have the campus thronging with students again and to catch up with friends that were gone all summer. And as I am involved in a number of societies it will also give me the chance to meet some of our new students and make new friends. Which is what being at university is all about.

Until the next time, be well in all things.

David

You know, this time last year it was hard to imagine that I would have graduated with a degree but here I am post-exams, with a respectable degree and graduated! Exams were really difficult - but I managed through them with the prospect of going to Skye with my fellow classmates for a bit of chilling-out time afterwards. Before Graduation I was extremely busy continuing my work for the University, preparing for all you new lot coming in September! But I took a week off for the Glastonbury festival which was awesome by the way! Luckily the sun shone every day and I got a suntan! It looked pretty good against my little black dress for graduation.

Graduation this year was slightly different from every previous year since it was the first time to be held in Elphinstone Hall; but for me it was special to have it there since I walked past it every day when at Uni, plus my sister got married there so it holds good memories. I graduated last Monday and twas a pretty hectic day. I had to go be girly and get my hair done, pick up my boyfriend from the train station (he came up for my Graduation bless his little heart), meal with the family, collect robes, home and dress, photos, a briefing beforehand, the actual ceremony, then more photos and finally the after-party!!! It sounds like a lot of work for one day, but it was so amazing I would totally do another degree just to graduate again! The actual ceremony was a bit nerve-wracking as I completely thought that I would do something stupid like fall over on stage or miss my turn. However, apart from being slightly confused with the Latin, fortunately none of those embarrassing things happened! A few of my former French lecturers came to see us all graduate and they looked extremely grand in their fancy robes and hats.  Afterwards they posed with us for our photos to mark the end of an era.

Both my folks came along to watch, but secretly I think they enjoyed Pimms on the lawn best out of the whole day! My Dad bought a pitcher afterwards to share, but somehow I ended up drinking most of it! I felt really posh drinking Pimms in my robes on Elphinstone lawn - like a proper intellectual!

So now that the graduation and Uni is over it’s a little sad and I’m really going to miss not going to classes and seeing my fellow comrades every day with their stories and jokes. Really make the most out of your time at Uni - it totally is the best years of your life!!!

All the best with your studies and remember that Uni is also to enjoy!

Amye xx

Those of you following this blog should know by now that I like going to the gym and staying fit. At the moment the university’s gym is closed down which is rather annoying as I have had to get a temporary membership in a different (and more expensive) gym. But it will be worth it in the long run, trust me. On Monday I was lucky enough to be part of a tour of the new Sports Village which will open on the 24^th August 2009. To say that I was impressed is a blatant understatement. The new gym will probably be one of the best in Scotland and will make sure that students at Aberdeen can stay healthy and fit and participate in almost any sport imaginable. I was mostly interested in the fitness suite which has over 100 cardio-vascular and muscular machines, all of which have TV screens and can be programmed with exercises tailor-made for individual students! And the best thing is it will only cost £15/month or £11/month if you opt for the Off-Peak membership. And if you sign up for an entire year in advance you get a 10% discount (making it £162 or £118 for the whole year). Your membership will give you access to the swimming pool, the fitness suite, the performance gym, the squash and badminton courts, as well as over 60 fitness and health classes per week. While our swimming pool will originally stay in the King’s Pavilion (the Olympic swimming pool will not be ready till 2012), it is being refurbished (the main reason why our gym is currently closed down).  Those of you visiting the Open Day on the 1^st September 2009 will have the chance to go on a tour of the Sports Village. For more information in the meantime just redirect your browsers to http://www.aberdeensportsvillage.com/ and prepare to be dazzled.

I think I will head over to my interim gym tonight to make the most of my temporary membership and to get fit enough for our new gym. Until the next time, be well in all things.

David

It is hard to believe, but another academic year has come and gone and the quiet days of summer are upon Aberdeen again. However, quiet does not mean idle or uneventful, at least not in my case. Quite the contrary, actually. It is not just the weather that is heating up, but my PhD work, too. I have recently finished a draft version of the first chapter of my PhD thesis, which I am very happy about. I am currently trying my best to get chapters two and three done and dusted, too. Once that is done I will have about half of my PhD sorted and can breathe a slight sigh of relief.

The last few weeks have not been very helpful in that regard, as I have been rather distracted. At the end of May my oldest sister got married down in Piperdam near Dundee. We had crystal clear skies, and plenty of warmth and sunshine, which confused a lot of the guests who were in Scotland for the first time and had only ever heard horror stories about the Scottish weather. Some had to go into Dundee to buy shorts and t-shirt, only having brought woollen jumpers and raincoats… The wedding itself was wonderful and I have never seen my sister look more beautiful or happy then when she said yes.

I only had about a week to recover from the wedding, as my best friend and I went on a Nile cruise in Egypt at the beginning of June. This was totally irresponsible from a financial point of you, but a bit of a dream come true as I have always been fascinated with the ancient Egyptian civilisation. We saw plenty of ancient monuments, temples, and pyramids. After having lived in Aberdeen for about seven years now, it definitely took some getting used to the Egyptian sun. We had an average of 42 degrees Celsius, with the thermometer hitting the 49 degree Celsius mark one day! Overall, it was a really great holiday and I am glad I went despite it being so warm and rather expensive.

Looking out my window while I sit here writing this shows me nothing but low-hanging grey clouds at the moment which bring my feet nicely back on the ground in the here and now. I have had my fill of sun and fun for the time being and will now go back to work on my PhD. Until the next time, be well in all things.

David

By golly a lot has passed and now there’s a lot of cram in here! Well, my sister’s wedding has now passed and what an awesome day it was! The weather wasn’t fantastic (the next day was gorgeous grrrr) but it didn’t really matter as that probably stopped wanderers hehe. All the men were in their kilts (except my Dad) and the ladies looked lovely. The following day there were even more parties to celebrate the newly-weds though I slightly over indulged in wedding cake (it was worth it J ) They’ve now gone and returned to Las Vegas and to show their true Scottishness have not tanned one little bit! I’m more tanned than them in just one day in Aberdeen. Believe it or not Aberdeen is the sunniest city in Scotland and that was definitely the case last weekend when temperatures ‘soared’ to 18 degrees! It was lucky the weather was so gorgeous as the Torcher Parade took place Saturday and as always, Aberdeen Uni French Society took a successful part. Back in January we decided our theme was Asterix, so on Saturday we set out making a Vikingish boat, complete with waves, swords, shields and a pyramid.  At night we all dressed-up as our characters, and I think my favourites either had to be my friend Katie who stuffed pillows down her trousers to be Obelix, or Gregor who was the dog, but dressed in a rabbit costume lol. I can’t believe that’ll be my last Torcher <sniff> Oh! By the way, Torcher Parade is a Student Charities event in where societies have a float, decorate it in a theme and then at night have a Parade to collect money for charity. Good times indeed.

Other than that it was the long awaited Language Ball a couple of weeks ago so I got to wear my pretty bridesmaid dress again yay! As one should do at a Language Ball I drank far too much wine and danced a bit too enthusiastically, but it’s going to be my last one so it was good to go down in style.  The next morning however I had to do the ‘walk of shame’ down Union Street. That’s something I do not want to repeat for a while and I may just stick to drinking tea for a while.

I have had a few disgusts at this, and no panic people, I have washed my hand since this time, but my facebook status was recently ‘Amye will never wash her hand again after having met and shaken hands with Prince Charles’ I still cannot believe I’ve met old Charlie boy-the day was almost surreal! Plus I had no idea he was coming to my work at the Town House until the very day! I got to shake his hand and then he asked me a few questions about my work as Student Ambassador and what I studied.  Just before he left he wished me luck for my exams! Not many people can say that the Prince of Wales wished them luck! Twas amazing.

On that note, I am going to back to my exam revision. I also have a costume rabbit head to return later- I’ve had a few strange looks already.

Til next time,

Amye xx

Hello Readers, I hope you all had as good an Easter break as I did. While I do not celebrate Easter as such it is nonetheless a good excuse to share a nice meal with friends. Which is why me and some of my friends that stayed in Aberdeen over the Easter break got together for a nice roast chicken dinner (courtesy of my fellow blogger Nooreen) and a few hours of witty conversation about this and that. During the break I also made good use of the fact that both of my housemates were away and finally organised a long-overdue raclette for some of my fellow PhD students. The evening was a great success with a perfect mix of food, wine, and great company and there will definitely be a repeat at some stage in the near(ish) future. To top it all off I visited two of my best friends in the whole world in Edinburgh last weekend and as you might have guessed this visit involved yet more wine and good food.

All of this feasting means that I will have to hit the gym again more often in the coming weeks as I need to get in shape for the summer. As mentioned in previous blogs I totally love going to the gym, though there are days when it is a real chore to drag myself out of bed and over there. I recently picked up a little leaflet that has me even more excited about going to the gym: the university will be getting a brand new gym this summer and it looks fantastic! It will have an Olympic sized swimming pool, several indoor and outdoor track courses, its main games hall is the size of nine badminton courts, and its gym will have a hundred cardio-vascular and muscle-pumping machines. In other words it will be a gym bunny’s paradise J Best of all, students at the university will only pay about £90 a year for full membership despite the facilities being used for the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Commonwealth Games (as training grounds, not venues mind you). The new facilities are just two minutes off campus so there is no excuse not to make use of them J

That is all the news from me this week. I going out for dinner with my sister and cousin, but thanks to the new gym I will not have to feel bad about it J

Until the next time, be well in all things.

David

Hello blog readers. My apologies for not have written in a long time. My only excuse is a mixture of being rather busy with uni work (curse those essays!) and having a rather bad memory. I think it is probable more of the latter though!

Well the last few weeks have been rather hectic. We have been on Easter break since the 27^th March and I went home for the first week which was lovely. It was nice to see everyone who I hadn’t seen since Christmas and also just relax a little away from work and all of those books. It was however, a little strange being home….I think I am far too used to having my own flat. It was also a little different having a dog around again. Especially one that demands that much attention. Although I would not be without her!

Then the time came all too quickly for me to head back to the ‘deen. My mum found a wonderful way of not missing me over the Easter weekend and packed up the entire family to follow me back here! I really do think that she loves Aberdeen more than me! But it was lovely taking the dog to the beach and watch her playing in the sea. With the weather having been so nice, it was great to have to have the opportunity to get out and get some fresh air.

While they were here we had some wonderful days out in town shopping, and then having lunch with a nice cool drink. It was even more wonderful as I wasn’t paying for it. When it was my turn to buy it was to the Illicit Still for the buy one get one free food with my student card. But I was at least nice enough to take my sisters on a night out and to the cinema. We went to see The Boat that Rocked which I personally thought was fantastic. Definitely one of the better films of the year.

Also with my dad driving, we went down to Stonehaven which is a quaint little seaside town not far south from here. It’s also really easily accessible by bus which is great for when my personal taxi has gone home. But it was better being there with my dog watching her scramble into the sea and then fall over the pebble beach.

But now my family have left…..leaving destruction in their wake. I need to go and rescue my flat before my flatmate gets back on Monday. And then I have to turn my attention to the essay I have due next week. An essay which I was planning to do last week before I was invaded. Grrrrrr.

Enjoy being back in classes!