First week of school
Door: Samantha de Bruijn
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Samantha
11 Oktober 2010 | Verenigd Koninkrijk, Glasgow
Monday (20th of September) was our first day of school at the Glasgow University. Although I was curious to know what the lectures and laboratory classes over here will be, compared to the Netherlands, I didn't feel very excited when the alarm on my telephone rang at 7 a.m. I was actually quite happy to sleep in every day, make a lot of trips and act like a tourist. But (un)fortunately that's not why I'm here and in order to get my credits, I'll have to attend my (laboratory) classes and take my exams.
So at 9 a.m. our first lecture in Scotland started. The course is called Molecular Genetic Methods and for the MLW students from Nijmegen: you can compare it to DNA-technologie. It is about how you can genetically manipulate organisms. DNA-technologie was about manipulating bacteria, while this course is also about multi-cellular organisms like plants and mammals. This summer I had to re-sit DNA-technologie and I am glad I did, because it is supposed to be 'known knowledge' in the lectures over here.
After having a hour off after the lecture, we had a tutorial class where we discussed the exercises we had been given last Friday. We had to do some calculations you often have to do during your laboratory classes, to make sure everyone remembered how to solve them after the summer holiday.
In the afternoon there was a lecture about the library, given by the lady who works in the (bio)chemistry section. She told us that every year the University of Glasgow buys a lot of licenses of all kind of science magazines (just like the Radboud University), so we should be able to have free access to most of the articles we're looking for. She also told us that if we ever find an article that we need, but that is not free to access, the Glasgow University will ask other universities whether they have the article, because they think it is ridiculous you have to pay for it. What a great service!
Like Monday and almost every day for the next three months, Tuesday started with a lecture. Right after the lecture our first laboratory class started. It was all about getting familiar using the spectrophotometer and making the right calculations. Fortunately, we were off in the afternoon, so we could finally schedule some trips for the next few week-ends. We have now planned some trips until the end of October because by then most of the castles/nice buildings will be closed. We are planning to visit Inveraray Castle, the Isle of Sky and Scone Palace.
Wednesday we were allowed to 'sleep in', because our lecture was cancelled. The laboratory class was a lot harder than the day before. We had quite some trouble doing some of the calculations, which resulted in a shorter lunch break. Since Leoni has Ultimate Frisbee practice three times a week, we were in a bit of a hurry to get home and see if we could prepare some dinner before she had to leave again.
You might be able to guess what our Thursday looked like by now: lecture and laboratory class (this is not always the same for the next three months). Since our laboratory class was similar to Wednesday, we had less trouble doing the calculations and we were finished before 5 p.m. We were wondering where everyone eats their lunch, since there is not a place you can sit and eat your lunch within the Boyd Orr building (where the laboratories are). Apparently a lot of the students gather at the unions (GUU/QM) and since QM is much closer to the Boyd Orr building we went to have a look over there. We noticed that no-one really brings their sandwiches with them. Everyone just buys them at school. Although lunch at university does taste a lot better than my squeezed bread bought at the supermarket with a bit of chocolate spread on them, we did some calculations (we can do that now) and we came to the conclusion that there are better ways to spend 200 pounds while we are here.
I have been interested in learning Gaelic for a very long time, but I find it hard to learn it by myself since I don't know how to pronounce words and there is no one who can correct me, of course. Last Friday I saw a little advertisement of the Language Centre, so I went to get some information about the evening Gaelic course they offer. It turned out that it is a whole-year course and that it would cost me 160 pounds. They directed me to the Gaelic department to see if they could help me. They offered me two possibilities: attending a full course at university, 4 hours a week or an eight week evening class (both for free). Too bad the first option doesn't fit into my schedule, but I'm really looking forward to the evening classes! They also invited me to their 'Oidhche Failte' on Thursday. I think you know the translation of these two words, if not: try to pronounce it, it might help you. Haha, I'm just kidding. It means something like 'welcome evening/greeting'. Mathilde came with me, because she thought she might be interested in attending the course as well.
The evening started with a few people playing Scottish music and there were drinks and snacks. After about half an hour they started the 'welcome speech'. In Gaelic. It doesn't sound like any other language I know, but they do have the Dutch 'g'-sound as well. Fortunate for us, they gave an English translation afterwards. I felt like we were the only non-Gaelic speakers, but apparently about 50 people enrolled the course. Mathilde signed up for the course as well and I also signed up for the Gaelic society called 'Comunn Oiseanach Oilthigh Ghlaschu' (Glasgow University Ossianic Society). The course will start the 6th of October and I am so excited to finally learn a little bit of Gaelic!
Friday Eveline, Marie-Louise and I went to see Linda Buchan from the International Office of the Glasgow University. The three of us are IRUN ambassadors (as I explained a little in my first entry), so we had a meeting to see what we could do for them. They organize a fair about studying abroad in Europe at the 4th of November and we will give a presentation about the Radboud University and the Netherlands. There will also be a stall where we can give some more information to interested people. Students who want to know more about studying abroad or the Radboud University in particular may always contact us, of course.
Love, Samantha
-------------------------------------
Gaelic Department: www.gla.ac.uk/gaelic
Gaelic Class (beginners): http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_175403_en.pdf
Gaelic Society: http://oiseanach.org/
IRUN: http://www.irun.eu/
Study Glasgow University: http://www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/fbls/us/informationforprospectivestudents/subjects/biomedicalsciences/
So at 9 a.m. our first lecture in Scotland started. The course is called Molecular Genetic Methods and for the MLW students from Nijmegen: you can compare it to DNA-technologie. It is about how you can genetically manipulate organisms. DNA-technologie was about manipulating bacteria, while this course is also about multi-cellular organisms like plants and mammals. This summer I had to re-sit DNA-technologie and I am glad I did, because it is supposed to be 'known knowledge' in the lectures over here.
After having a hour off after the lecture, we had a tutorial class where we discussed the exercises we had been given last Friday. We had to do some calculations you often have to do during your laboratory classes, to make sure everyone remembered how to solve them after the summer holiday.
In the afternoon there was a lecture about the library, given by the lady who works in the (bio)chemistry section. She told us that every year the University of Glasgow buys a lot of licenses of all kind of science magazines (just like the Radboud University), so we should be able to have free access to most of the articles we're looking for. She also told us that if we ever find an article that we need, but that is not free to access, the Glasgow University will ask other universities whether they have the article, because they think it is ridiculous you have to pay for it. What a great service!
Like Monday and almost every day for the next three months, Tuesday started with a lecture. Right after the lecture our first laboratory class started. It was all about getting familiar using the spectrophotometer and making the right calculations. Fortunately, we were off in the afternoon, so we could finally schedule some trips for the next few week-ends. We have now planned some trips until the end of October because by then most of the castles/nice buildings will be closed. We are planning to visit Inveraray Castle, the Isle of Sky and Scone Palace.
Wednesday we were allowed to 'sleep in', because our lecture was cancelled. The laboratory class was a lot harder than the day before. We had quite some trouble doing some of the calculations, which resulted in a shorter lunch break. Since Leoni has Ultimate Frisbee practice three times a week, we were in a bit of a hurry to get home and see if we could prepare some dinner before she had to leave again.
You might be able to guess what our Thursday looked like by now: lecture and laboratory class (this is not always the same for the next three months). Since our laboratory class was similar to Wednesday, we had less trouble doing the calculations and we were finished before 5 p.m. We were wondering where everyone eats their lunch, since there is not a place you can sit and eat your lunch within the Boyd Orr building (where the laboratories are). Apparently a lot of the students gather at the unions (GUU/QM) and since QM is much closer to the Boyd Orr building we went to have a look over there. We noticed that no-one really brings their sandwiches with them. Everyone just buys them at school. Although lunch at university does taste a lot better than my squeezed bread bought at the supermarket with a bit of chocolate spread on them, we did some calculations (we can do that now) and we came to the conclusion that there are better ways to spend 200 pounds while we are here.
I have been interested in learning Gaelic for a very long time, but I find it hard to learn it by myself since I don't know how to pronounce words and there is no one who can correct me, of course. Last Friday I saw a little advertisement of the Language Centre, so I went to get some information about the evening Gaelic course they offer. It turned out that it is a whole-year course and that it would cost me 160 pounds. They directed me to the Gaelic department to see if they could help me. They offered me two possibilities: attending a full course at university, 4 hours a week or an eight week evening class (both for free). Too bad the first option doesn't fit into my schedule, but I'm really looking forward to the evening classes! They also invited me to their 'Oidhche Failte' on Thursday. I think you know the translation of these two words, if not: try to pronounce it, it might help you. Haha, I'm just kidding. It means something like 'welcome evening/greeting'. Mathilde came with me, because she thought she might be interested in attending the course as well.
The evening started with a few people playing Scottish music and there were drinks and snacks. After about half an hour they started the 'welcome speech'. In Gaelic. It doesn't sound like any other language I know, but they do have the Dutch 'g'-sound as well. Fortunate for us, they gave an English translation afterwards. I felt like we were the only non-Gaelic speakers, but apparently about 50 people enrolled the course. Mathilde signed up for the course as well and I also signed up for the Gaelic society called 'Comunn Oiseanach Oilthigh Ghlaschu' (Glasgow University Ossianic Society). The course will start the 6th of October and I am so excited to finally learn a little bit of Gaelic!
Friday Eveline, Marie-Louise and I went to see Linda Buchan from the International Office of the Glasgow University. The three of us are IRUN ambassadors (as I explained a little in my first entry), so we had a meeting to see what we could do for them. They organize a fair about studying abroad in Europe at the 4th of November and we will give a presentation about the Radboud University and the Netherlands. There will also be a stall where we can give some more information to interested people. Students who want to know more about studying abroad or the Radboud University in particular may always contact us, of course.
Love, Samantha
-------------------------------------
Gaelic Department: www.gla.ac.uk/gaelic
Gaelic Class (beginners): http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_175403_en.pdf
Gaelic Society: http://oiseanach.org/
IRUN: http://www.irun.eu/
Study Glasgow University: http://www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/fbls/us/informationforprospectivestudents/subjects/biomedicalsciences/
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
