I Will Remember *

2009-08-02 9:49 p.m.

The title on this entry, for those who assume it is a simple three word phrase, is actually the title of a Toto song. The song is emotive and reflective and will hardly reflect the following content but to me it is a more than appropriate title…

It was around September 2006 that I embarked on a journey to the British Isles armed with (and I mentioned this previously) armed with only facts such as Jamie Oliver, football, Tony Blair and certain sights of London. The minute I stepped on the soil of Birmingham/Brum, I was transported on a magical journey that would be forever etched in my mind.

Events that I will remember from year one:

Moving into Tennis Courts (the name of my accommodation) on a a wet afternoon.

Meeting my four wonderful flat mates: Phil, Paul Matt and Rhys.

Celebrating our first day together with Moet (courtesy of Matt) and a nice BBQ courtesy of the welcoming team

Missing Fresher’s Week (yes on hindsight I should have paid for the tickets)

Building up Flat 67 into a home away from home. Much of the “goods”—that is, cutlery, crockery and the works were contributed by my four British mate and I must state a big thank you to Matt and Paul for allowing me to use their frying pans, pot and kettle.

Visiting “upstairs” or Flat 72, where more magic began. To explain, that meant meeting Stacey and Heather and later Laura, Helen and Jenney, a wonderful bunch of girls that one could easily talk and gather with.

The scrumptious and unforgettable Sunday night dinners. Curry Night, Heather’s Night (no as in Heather cooking not eating Heather) and Helen’s Spaghetti night. The laughter was unforgettable and the taste would beat Shackleton hall food anytime.

The post it wall. The wall that described all the cute happenings of Flat 72 (and some of Block 12). Was touched to find my name at the bottom.

Academic wise:

Meeting my Economics and Political Science group for the first time. Sam, Chris, Matt, Alex, Daniel (from Holland), Micheala and Jeoren. That wasn’t exactly the whole group but this was the core group that got together. Based of timetabling, we were all together in seminars and most lectures and formed a great friendship. I learnt much from them not just socially but from their views on economics and especially political views, especially on British politics.

Meeting other counterparts in economics in politics. Some were really amicable others were just nice.

My first introduction to politics lecture. That may not sound that striking but in came a casually dressed lecturer who first question was “Which political party (British political party) do you support?” The different responses and his remarks could have made more sense to me had it not been for the strong Scottish accent. It was well daunting the first few lectures to understand him but soon I could comprehend the diverse accents.

Some of the economics lecturers including Dr. Jensen who had light banter during his microeconomics lectures, Dr. Robert Elliot and his much serious macroeconomics lectures and Dr. Barassi for playing the piano during break time.

My politics tutors in my first year—Ben, Chris Holmes and Valentina. All who went out of the way to help us understand every single term, argument and line. All who provoked robust discussions seminars, answers a range of questions inside and outside the topics and rigourous preparing us for the exams.

Campus: The Guild which I utilised more in my second year (see below), the University Centre which contained postal offices, card shops small outlets with boring food after a while.

Tennis Courts Life:

The continued “special relationship” between my flat and the girls’ despite the ending of Sunday dinners.

The challenge of walking to Shackleton (the hall where the food was)—walking through sticky mud and in the dark of winter. Later, this would be a factor for the Tennis Court President and the student Guild

The surrounding scenery around Shackleton (which made up for the walks). The massive amount of greenery and foliage as well as the lake (nothing compared park lakes but well) and the groups of geese and other birds which enjoy such a “natural habitat”

The food at Shackleton. It was well, I’ll give it a B+ to an A most of the time. The variety was excellent—Chinese, modern British, Indian, even Spanish. They would provide meals that matched the festivals—eg St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas and Chinese New Year. There was a wide spread of sandwiches, snacks and the works but on certain days the food was dull and the meal system needs improvement.

The other amenities in Shackleton, firstly Bar One, a student bar so that we Vale Village (the name of the group of student blocks) souls need no travel far for alcohol. Nice setting without loud ear shattering music and pub quizzes to keep your mind working. Second, well the toilets. The cleanest until I entered the medical faculty.

Tennis Courts hub bub. Which was present though I think I missed many outings to Birmingham’s bars. Within my block, the noise level was really decent for me and should it rise, it was usually due Rhys playing his variety of indie songs or the chattering hallway which I would usually join in. At night, the source would be Matt and his rugby players who while creating mess and quite a in, were really friendly chaps. There was once however, that I heard a loud rapping on my door. Outside was one of his friends, partly drunk enough to pull own his pants.

The termly flat inspections. The tiny annoyance that us students (or us boys) dislike. However, I’m proud to say our flat passed all flat inspections, including those just before our examinations

Our block’s ever super polite but ever annoying student mentor (I’ve forgotten her name). She would pop by unexpectedly and deliver us the usual drink in moderation, secure against theft and all the things that a mentor was obliged to o. it was fine, but her visits and her shrill was something not always appreciated.

The advent of Mariokarts, Star Wars: Battle Front II and Goldeneye. What I mean was theat comforts were further improved in the Spring and Summer term with Rhys kindly bringing in a TV set, a Xbox set and a Nintendo game set. Many of the games were alien to me but I soon caught on as Rhys, Paul and Phil were happy campers playing away. The first game I was introduced to was Star Wars: Battle Front II a game that was hogged constantly by Paul. The controls took sometime to get used to but I soon moved to the N64 Glodeneye, even though I never got the hang of first person shooting games. I did manage to get the hang of that game. However, Mariokarts was the one that brought us all together, especially when I managed to score the highest, which led to Rhys protesting. Other times, when the others were out, I would practice the game on my own

The sad event: Phil leaving us. Won’t describe much here.

Back to academics:

The initial challenge of tackling 3 politics essays a term and the ruckus of almost constant economic tests and assignments. My room soon grew smaller as piles of books and photocopied notes filled up the every available surface. Political Science essays were the uphill challenge at first but again I was blessed with extremely helpful tutors. It was also then that I discovered the wonders academic journals and well intensive research. Economics wise was equally challenging but help was also present.

The rush to complete work as meant a rush down the library steps with books and the spraining of ankle. Thankfully, no bone was broken. Contrary to the rumours of the NHS (rumours spread from my home country), it was pretty efficient.

Non Academic Work:

The signing up for UN Society, though I hadn’t a clue about it. Debate was still enticing, and sadly I could make MUN sessions, a classier form of debating. Somehow, that was a blessing in disguise as I worked with the campaigns team culminating at the year’s campaign event: spreading the word of the eight MDGs. It would be this that fired up the advocacy spirit in me.

My ascension to the post of Campaigns head. That meant work immediately after the exams, planning for the Vale Festival booth on Climate Change. Again, despite the short time given, it was another campaign well run

Christmas stayover with my Pastor and his wife who is a fabulous cook.

Christmas in Brum—the German market and the quaint city decorations

Back to Tennis Courts:

How Ed campaigned so hard to gain his position as TC President but how he lived up to most of his campaigns promises. Then how he made TC into one of the cosiest student accommodations in our University with the Summer BBQ and….

Tennis Courts Summer Ball. A formal event that surpassed any—well maybe was on par with my ACS Seniors Night. Read my entry on it.

The lovely outing to Cadbury World with Stacey, Helen and Heather. Willy Wonka’s factory come true.

Finally, the long wait for results and how the notice board scared me.

Events that I will remember in my second year:

Moving in again. Sort of familiar surroundings but not familiar friends.

Meeting Paul and Tom at the Gun Barrels.

Meeting Rhys and Laura (Kimberley) and Helen at their new homes.

UN Society work: Getting the Fresher’s Fair Stall settled, the movie presentation edited, convincing members to join. Also, the memorable positioning of our booth between the Conservatives and Labour Party booths.

Academic wise: Getting back into the groove. Economics took a more mathematical turn and politics went deeper with the terms “epistemology” and “ontology”. IPE saw a new lecturer.

My first long research paper which tested

UN Society work kept me busy. The weekly planning for a hopeful event in the Spring term was the big focus. There was by God’s will a refugee conference down in London and after spending many pounds, I came back armed with greater knowledge on asylum seekers and refugees. Still there was the fun time at Marek’s place—read the blog entry on that.

The discover of Woodstock Café along Bristol road and my new eating outlet, away from the dull food at University. Read my entry on it but I must repeat how divine the lady’s hot chocolate is on an autumn’s or winter’s day.

The Student Guild. Yes it became another home as I worked on getting the UNA campaigns event in shape as well as handling other matters for that group. It was here that I came into contact with the dozens of other student groups, some whose objectives were akin to that of the UNA. I stayed long enough to remember the smell, most of which stemmed from the nearby toilets

Joe’s Bar, which was a student bar in the Guild and a great relaxing point for students. I would only venture there more often later but the songs played there were a great selection.

Dinner with the UNA group at Jimmy Spices, a multi-cuisine restaurant along Broad Street. Average but the conversation made up for it.

Handover dinner for UNA committee. At another multi-cuisine restaurant after which we had a wild time at Sissi’s flat.

Vale Festival 2008. Trying to get squeaky voices but failed event though we wasted a tank of helium. Hours of baking in the sun and utilising my sun glasses. Cosying up in the darkness to watch Shooting Dogs.

Internship 2008. A time to learn about all the cities in the West Midlands, the whole geography. Also a time to learn about Birmingham’s city centre and I found a great outlet in the form of a Weatherspoon’s branch where I would grab a sumptuous breakfast and dinner.

Events I will remember in my final year:

Moving into Victoria Halls.

Taking a trip to Vienna, Austria. Visiting the drabby UN HQ and eating Vienna Schnitzel.

Getting back in gear with academics. “This school is about getting grades. There are no points for second place” to twist a line from Top Gun.

Manning the UN booth for Sissi.

Participating in my first peaceful demonstration—Non Violence Day 2008. All in support of the UN.

Revisiting Woodstock Café and sampling the new dishes on the menu.

Moving onto the dissertation belt with much grateful help from my supervisor and Go who kept me sustained through out. The fun in piling up my tallest pile of notes, the walks to different sections of the “average” Birmingham library, and the hours spent on web research. (I shant say more).

Mini UN outing with Sissi, Faizan and Shab and some multicultural restaurant in Birmingham. UNA is notorious for dining in such places.

UNA outing in the spring term.

Stepping up in gear with the economics modules in the second term.

Job Hunting and applications.

The mental drain of the final exams as an undergraduate.

CPSU Conference 2009. Wonderful friends, all passionate about development, excellent range of speakers and nice time on Russell Square Park.

Of course, my graduation ceremony

previous - next