Moving, mid-term tests and new toys 29/3 2010

Last week I faced my first mid-term test, and the second was on this morning. It sure is a different way of assessing us used here compared to what I have been used to in Denmark. No aids, no nothing but a pencil, a non-programmable calculator and the 16 pages of answer sheets supplied at the test. The tests themselves have not been too hard, with a lot of open ended questions. The challenge is then to try and figure out what the lecturer wants to hear, and how much time it is worth spending answering each question. For the first time ever I failed to answer all questions satisfactory in a test today due to shortage of time; I have of course answered questions wrong or too short previously, but as far as I can remember I have always had the time to come up with a proper (guess of an) answer. Today it was all rushed and with no time for drinking water or try and let everything come together by taking a short break. But I am pretty sure that I did decently well, and it was sure nice to try out this form of tests before the final exam (even though the test results are part of the final grades, the exam counts for a lot more).

Thursday I changed room from my too noisy and dirty five-bedroom to a small two-bedroom apartment with exactly the same facilities as the bigger one. Same lousy kitchen, but at least I have room in the fridge now! And my new flat mate, a Maori guy studying education is nice, tidy and clean, as well as very friendly and in general much nicer to live with than the ones in the five bedroom unit. The catch is that it has become even more ridiculously expensive to stay here; a room in a private flat can easily be found at half the price of what I am paying to stay here, but they have cut me down to a one-semester contract without having to pay the penalty of 8 weeks rent it would cost me to get released from my original one-year contract now. I still have a few issues to solve with the accommodation office, but I feel so much more at home in the new apartment. If it wasn’t for the cost, I might even had considered staying the full year here, but since I can get my own one-bedroom apartment at the same cost I am out of here as soon as possible.

Moving between the rooms was carried out with the aid of a shopping trolley – so now I know what it must be like being a tramp, at least for four times 50 meters.

After having changed room it has started making sense to get stuff for my room again (I was getting a bit apathetic before since I did not feel comfortable in the room), which has resulted in a set of decent computer speakers, a bad-ass Japanese kitchen knife and the biggest set of LEGO I could possibly find. This was partly to celebrate surviving the two mid-term tests, partly to celebrate my tax refund and partly just because I felt like getting this stuff! The LEGO set should keep me busy for a few nights, since it includes four booklets with instructions on how to build the damn thing – I am SO looking forward to it!

Oh, and the last GREAT thing that happened this weekend was that Nic (my aunt’s partner) made me proper Danish rye bread to take home – my stomach and taste buds are absolutely thrilled! That, on top of another wonderful weekend at The Paddock means I am ready for the last week before my three week April break (where I have to do some studying though…)

Getting a feel for my research project 16/3

After a week and a half, today I finally managed to get a feeling of where to start on my honours-project. I have known for some days now what it is all supposed to end up with, but the starting point was somewhat blurred, perhaps because my supervisor does not really know the software that I will be working with, doing Monte Carlo simulations. I have spend around 9½ hours at uni for the past two days, but I have actually enjoyed staying late in spite of major computer issues (that I have now given up on, and written an email to the computer guy at the department). Next week I have my first mid-term test, things are getting serious now, and time management will be quite crucial for me if I want to spend a week or two off during the April break (2-25/4). It should all be possible though, and my supervisor told me today that he was confident that I would do well, especially since I am concerned about my time management. Apparently this is not a common thing to worry about after three years of tertiary studies here, which seems a bit strange to me. Who knows, maybe I am just way too serious about my studies…

I have been working on being released from my contract at the Ilam Village, since I do not see the point in staying here when I can rent a one bedroom apartment for the same amount of money as I am paying to stay here. It turns out that this is a major thing, and could cost me a penalty of up to 8 weeks rent plus $500, which would add up to something just short of $2500. I am meeting with the community manager on Thursday to figure out what options I have; he said today that it might be possible to be released by the end of the semester without having to pay the penalty. The ridiculous part of the whole thing is that every case is considered individually, and the penalty can differ with each case. I am thinking about consulting the student association to ask them whether they know of similar cases; being new to the country and the standard practice of renting property does not make it any easier to tell if I am being treated unreasonably (or even illegally), and I might just as well take advantage of the student association being present with the sole purpose of helping out students.

If I am going to stay here until the end of the semester (which will probably be the solution if the penalty really is $2500), I will see what options I have of moving to another flat. 4 flatmates is just a bit too much for me, often when I go to bed around 23.00, someone is just about to start making diner. The noise is not really keeping me awake, but it is just loud enough to irritate me anyway. Besides, it would make quite a difference being moved away from the ground floor, having to share a tiny fridge with less people, and maybe there is an opportunity of moving in with other postgraduates who are serious about their studies as well. All this is just speculations at this point, Thursday morning I will hopefully be able to make the right, informed choice on what to do.

In the weekend I went bouldering with the university climbing club. This was a slightly strange experience, and I was reminded that bouldering is not really my kind of climbing. Partying until 3 in the morning was not really my thing either this weekend, but people were nice and easy-going, and I got my introduction to the infamous Sheffield meat pies – pretty good stuff, I must say, but not something I could eat every day. After all, I do not think I will be spending much time in the climbing club, but this is perfectly fine since I have signed up for more clubs than the time allows me to get properly involved in. The really cool thing is that I can borrow climbing gear for free as a member, which pretty much justifies being a member even if I do not participate in the trips they organise.

Next weekend I will either be tramping or studying, hoping to do the other thing the following weekend. During the April break I am planning on doing a week of white water kayaking, plus a 4-5 day tramp. I am not sure yet if I will be tramping alone or with somebody, but I promise to stick to one of the great walks (or something equally busy) if I am going solo!

Ilam Village, 12/2

A week ago I checked in at the Ilam Village, apartment no. 83 room 1. I got to sleep in a proper bed for the first time in a month, and as from today, three of my four flatmates have moved in as well. My room is probably 4.5x2 square meters, and the buildings are only a few years old, making everything quite new and not worn out like one could fear when moving in at student accommodations. All of the rooms where I live are furnished with a bed (for unknown reasons I have only been given a single when I am entitled to a King Single – big issue, which apparently takes more than a week to solve), a desk and chair, a wardrobe without doors, two pin-up boards and a bookshelf mounted over the desk. Unfortunately, my room is on the ground level, so I have quite a lot of traffic passing by during the day, but as long as I don’t have to study full days in my room I guess I will be fine.

The apartment has two bathrooms, where the showerheads are mounted in the wall only 175cm above the floor. We saw this at a few holiday parks in January as well, but I still can’t figure out why they would do such a thing. It’s not like Kiwis are particularly short, and the money saved on those 20cm of water pipes can’t be much. But with a combination of bending down and leaning against the wall, plus a bit of limbo dancing, I am able to wash my hair, and I would rather have it this way than an old, mouldy tub in a dark brown bathroom from the seventies.

Our kitchen is very sparse equipped, and this is probably the one thing that will bother me the most. We have a tiny fridge, with less than one shelf for each of the five in the apartment, and instead of a proper oven we have a microwave with a convection programme. In addition to this, there is just one plate, one glass, one cup and one set of crockery for each of us, and the utensils are pretty much non-existing. I really do not understand how they can imagine us cooking for five with two tiny pots and a small frying pan… But we will be all right, I have already talked to two of my flatmates about getting extras for the kitchen, and they are more than happy to pay their share.

The most important part, however, is that my flatmates seems to be really nice people. So far I am living with a Kiwi girl and a girl and a guy from USA, and I have no reason to believe that it will be an issue living together with them.

The last week have been spent on getting a lot of practical things sorted before international orientation and enrolment kicks off next week, and lectures begin the week after. I have gotten a mobile phone, a bike and all sorts of different stuff for my room and our kitchen. I have been to visit Eva & Nic, have had the last visitors from New Zealand Explorer before they all moved on – thanks a lot for stopping by, I will miss you guys!, and been for a few walks around the proximity of the university plus a long walk to central Christchurch. My bike will come in very handy, since it is a half day project to walk to the city centre, do whatever needs to be done there, and walk back to campus. By bike I imagine the trip can be done in 15 minutes, making it possible to go on days where I need to study as well. Besides, Christchurch is absolutely flat, and thus the perfect city to bike around. I even managed to find a bike that is neither a road or a mountain bike,  but it took some effort to find the right shop with the hybrid I was looking for.

Tomorrow I am biking to The Paddock and staying there overnight. We will be going to Aprils 21^st tomorrow night, and I am looking forward to meeting some of the people that I will be seeing from time to time at The Paddock, plus seeing a bit of the Kiwi family traditions. Sunday we are all going to the Riccarton Market before Åse & Connie drops by to see my apartment, and in the evening the village offers “speed meeting”, where it will – hopefully – be possible to get to talk to some of the others staying at the village and have a bit of fun. So far, the only introduction the village has offered was an open lunchBBQ yesterday and today, and to be honest I expected a bit more in terms of getting to know the place and people around. I guess it will all come naturally in time, but it sure would have been nice with a tour around the facilities instead of just “Welcome, here is your room and your keys, any questions?”.

When I moved in last Friday, Nic and I went for a walk around the university, and I happened to meet one of my lecturers when we were looking around at the physics department. He seemed like a really nice guy, genuinely interested in why I am here studying medical physics, and just as down-to-earth as I am used to from Aarhus University. It is a big comfort to have met one of the lecturers and seen for myself that they are relaxed and helpful, and given the fact that we are only ten people following the medical physics classes, I am sure I will get to know a few of the staff pretty well, even before I start on my thesis next year.