University of Aberdeen Blog

I have quite a culture-intensive week ahead of me. Tonight I am off to His Majesty’s Theatre to see The 39 Steps, a comedic adaptation of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock thriller. Then tomorrow evening I will be at the Music Hall to be entertained by one of Ireland’s finest comedians, Dara O’Brian. On Friday I am likely to go to the movies, though I am not quite sure what I will end up seeing. And to cap it all off my housemate Rebecca and I are attending a classical concert in Mitchell Hall on Sunday evening. Most, if not all, of these events will be preceded by a fine meal at one of my favourite restaurants such as Rustico’s or Christo’s Greek Taverna. While this list hopefully shows that I am a highly sophisticated and cultured individual, it also highlights one of the things I like most about being a student at the University of Aberdeen. And that is the fact that Aberdeen as a city provides entertainment that caters to all tastes.

Aberdeen is not a very big city by international standards, but it is nonetheless very cosmopolitan. It has His Majesty’s Theatre, the Music Hall, the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre, three movie houses and many smaller venues all over the place providing a wide variety of cultural events. So whether you like gospel music or heavy metal death punk you should find a venue that plays your type of music in Aberdeen. Aberdeen, despite being quite north, also attracts big names like Pink, 50 Cent and Kris Kristofferson. A lot of musicals also find their way to Aberdeen and I have had the great pleasure to see quite a few of them over the past years, such as Blood Brothers, Miss Saigon and Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. And if you are in need of a good laugh there are always some comedians around such as Dylan Moran, Dara O’Brian or Omid Djalili. On top of all that Aberdeen has the added benefit that everything is within easy walking distance and it never takes very long to get from one venue to the next.

Students can also get directly involved with many of the cultural events in the city through a variety of student societies and charity campaigns. The concert I am attending on Sunday is being played by the University Orchestra for instance. There are also Centre Stage (our acting society), the Student Show (which is organised by our Charities Campaign), as well as a number of music societies and local bands. So whether you prefer plays, concerts, musicals or stand-up Aberdeen is definitely the city and the university for you. Until the next time, be well in all things.

David

So it’s just over a week now until I fly to Washington and I’m very excited. I’m going over in a group of 16 other students for a three week work placement at the Washington Naval Museum. The trip is run by the history department every year as part of one of the fourth year honours programs. There are about 12 different departments within the museum which you can apply to and I’m split between the departments of PR and Education, which should make for an interesting mix. Our boss over in Washington has been e-mailing us every week just to keep us up-to-date with the department and let us know the kinds of things we’ll be doing. There are about 8 of us in either PR or Education and it sounds like a fun area.

We only work Monday to Thursday when we’re out in Washington so there should be lots of time to explore. The accommodation is with host families and one of the host parents is organising quite a few visits for us. It’s also the cherry blossom festival when we’re out there, I have no idea what this is but I’m told its amazing!

I still have lots to do before I go though. I need to buy travel insurance and go pick up my dollars. Of course there’s also my dissertation to get finished (3500 words at the moment) and at some point I’ll need to get all my packing done as well!

This will probably be my last blog entry for a few weeks as I think I’ll be far too busy whilst I’m away but I shall update everyone when I get back.

Karen

My dissertation seems to have taken over my life a bit at the moment! It’s not due in until the 24th of April, but I’m doing work experience over the Easter break so I want to try and have it finished by then so I can get it proof read, then I’ll have ten days once we come back from Easter to make any changes, and possibly write the conclusion if I haven’t done it before. Fortunately my “read” pile of books is JUST higher than my “to be read pile”, although I seem to keep adding to the latter with things I stumble across so will need to stop that soon.

As much as I moan about it though, it can be quite enjoyable to have the opportunity to investigate one topic in depth. As a joint honours student I was allowed to do my dissertation in either History or International Relations and I chose History because of the dissertation alternative course I wanted to do, which is an IR one. My question is a comparison of elite British and Asian women during the Indian Mutiny. Although I have taken a course in the Indian Mutiny before, I’ve never really taken an interest in gender history before, but I’m finding it fascinating!

Karen