University of Aberdeen Blog

As term has now ended, most of my fellow undergraduates have flown far from Aberdeen back to the many places they call home.  Campus is quiet and there are far less distractions. But that isn’t to say that this is a bad thing. There are many advantages to having campus to yourself! There are always spaces in classes at the gym, there is never a wait for a computer and best of all, you can always find some peace and quiet to sit and reflect on your day.

There are lots of things to occupy your time though even when the city is quiet. The Aberdeen Box Office puts on various events throughout the week, varied enough to entertain most people. And we have more than enough shops to occupy even the most fussy of shoppers!

Also, Edinburgh is only 2 ½ hours away by train and there is a plethora of things to do there. I was there only a few weeks ago to visit a friend, former blogger, Karen. We had a marvellous time wandering around the city. We explored the Museum of Childhood which is fun for people of all ages, and also the Museum of Edinburgh which was, well, small. There were also a number of restaurants to explore for lunches and places for Afternoon tea!

However, like all students I am looking forward to returning home this week for some pampering and home cooking. Home is currently in Lancashire so I don’t have too far to travel. I can go door to door in 3 hours flying via Manchester. But sometimes, my student budget doesn’t always run to expensive flights, so I shall be going by train. It does only take about 5 hours though.

While I am home I have lots of events to attend, such as church fundraisers and several birthday parties (including my own!). One of the downsides of being home at that time is that I miss the graduation of some friends, including former blogger; Karen!

Upon my return to Aberdeen, things shall be all go as it will be time to move out of my flat and into a new one. Having already started packing, I am overwhelmed by how much I have accumulated over just the past year, and how much I will have to transport. But I am sure I will find some willing friends to help!

Claire

Summer term has come to an end and as always there is a noticeable change in the atmosphere on campus. Firstly there are far fewer students wandering around and the whole campus feels quieter and emptier. Secondly, those students that are still around tend to be postgraduate students that do not have to rush from class to class and that go about their daily routine at their own pace and as such the whole campus feels more relaxed. No need to cue for your sugar-free caramel Americano or wait twenty minutes for your sandwich.

However, the campus does not fall completely dormant. There are always special conferences and events going on and postgraduate students still know how to liven up the place. One of the main benefits of summer, of course, is the fact that Aberdeen, contrary to popular belief, gets a lot of sunshine and has nice, warm days that are ideal for going to the beach and having BBQs. Most people find it hard to believe, but Aberdeen actually is the city with the most hours of daylight in all of the UK. During the summer it hardly gets dark at all. Unfortunately, not many students experience this as most of them leave Aberdeen during the summer months.

I really like this time of the year in Aberdeen. I am already looking forward to one of my friends having a BBQ in his massive back garden and this weekend I will be celebrating a friend’s birthday with a BBQ next to the river Dee in Aboyne. Anyways, I think I will stroll over to the Hub and get myself one of those “no-need-to-cue” Americanos to get me through the rest of the afternoon.

Until the next time, be well in all things

David

PS: Welcome to the blog team, Claire. Great first entry.

First of all, I would like to introduce myself as a new blogger! My name is Claire and I’m a 1^st year History student. Officially I’m in my second year here as I spent a year studying Law before deciding that it wasn’t for me. It was all rather serious!!!!  Much as I miss the Law department, the wonderfully eccentric lecturers, the serious friends and the unique smell of Law books, it was the right thing for me to do.

I’m also the Treasurer of the newly affiliated Catholic Society. Having not done maths of any sort since GCSE I’m not quite sure why! We have just been finalising the plans for Freshers’ Week which promises to be lots of fun! We hope to raise the profile of the Society over the next year and do lots of exciting events!

As it is the end of term, everybody has been facing the dreaded exams. My exams started a week after all of my friends finished! This unfortunately meant that joint revision ended too! Of course I had to attend celebration parties/BBQs etc, which meant that I pushed revision aside for a while! But the first of my results was released today and I did (surprisingly) well.

But what has to be the most significant event of the term isn’t exams or new jobs…… but the release of Sex and the City! I went with a group of friends and we all dressed up in prom dresses and beautiful heels. And we didn’t look the least bit out of place! Before the film we had dinner and Cosmopolitans. We even went as far as to make cosmopolitan jelly! Although it didn’t quite set, it still tasted good! But a warning to those who haven’t seen it yet: Be prepared to cry!

I’m getting a train straight from work down to Edinburgh for the weekend. I’m going to visit a friend who is about to graduate from Aberdeen. I do enjoy going to Edinburgh, mostly for the shops!! But I do prefer the smaller community that we have here in Aberdeen.

As most of my friends will tell you, I am ever so slightly suffering from OCD. Part of that means that I like traditions. One of the traditions that I have developed since coming to Aberdeen almost six years ago is that of having a little soiree in honour of the Eurovision Song Contest. This started on a very small scale in May 2003 when some friends and I decided to “indoctrinate” an American exchange student into the strange ways of European music. It was such a fun evening that we did it again in 2004. And in 2005. And in 2006. And in 2007. And in 2008 J I am sure you can see a pattern forming here. With each year the event has grown, so that this year there were almost 20 of us. I would invite even more people, but my living room space has its limits. The crowd attending this year actually reflected the spirit of Eurovision fairly well as there were people from the UK, Germany, Hungary and Luxembourg in attendance. Of course, none of us actually take the Eurovision Song Contest serious. It is just an excuse to get together and share some food, a bottle of wine or two and each other’s company. My friends and I were hoping for Latvia to win as we are all pirate fans, but unfortunately Russia was crowned King.

I spent the rest of the weekend helping my best friend deal with his recently broken heart, as well as meeting two of my sisters for lunch. Overall, it was a very good weekend. Of course, every good weekend is followed by yet another week of work and research. But I am really enjoying my research right now and I am making progress. I am hoping to have draft versions of chapters one and two ready by the end of June, so that I can take some time off when I am flying back home to Luxembourg in July. I will be home for an entire month and I am very much looking forward to it. There should be plenty sunshine and BBQs and meeting old friends and such.

Anyways, I hope you all have a fun-filled summer to look forward to. Until the next time, be well in all things.

David