A busy, busy January...

What a start into the second semester! Upon arrival in the UK I was literally bound to the desk. I had to complete an essay for my module 20^th Century American Literature and Culture. I wrote about Jack Kerouac's On the Road. With a rugby intermezzo.

“Hey mate. The2011 campaign starts this Saturday. We have a pool game. Details to follow. Meet at Lordswood at 12:30 KO 14.15. Are you available. Frank” 

This was on the 15^th January and I gave my debut for the Dixonians as a left wing. It was a close game and we lost a bit unlucky with two men being down in numbers.

On Monday, 17^th Jan, I met with my new flat mates and we officially moved in. This is where I live now:

Selly Oak

The road is called Teignmouth Rd and I have marked it with a little red cross at the bottom of the map. It is incredibly close to the university and the rent is only 200 quid a month plus bills which is a bargain for UK student accommodation.

living room at night

The shopping trolley has now found its way into the garden … hey, common at the end of the day we are Erasmus students :D

Well, I should really write a little about my daily life here I guess. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I train with my rugby team. The training is not as hard as in Aachen, but the players are very experienced and skilled.

I attend classes 5 days a week and usually go to the main library in the breaks. Mondays, however, I skive one of my Italian classes, because I've got a job as a language assistant at a private school. I teach two one-to-one classes to one girl whose level is already incredibly good and she's super intelligent and another girl at an intermediate level. The last two times I went to the school I also taught a group of beginners and I really enjoyed that. It's a girls school, so in the beginning they were really shy and weren't talking a lot, but during the course of the lesson they really got into talking German: “Hallo ich heiße Laura (fiktiver Name/name's been changed). Wie heißt du? Wo wohnst du? Wie geht es dir? Danke, gut!”

As an Erasmus student I'm also obliged to maintain good social relations... by going out at nights. That can be quite demanding at times for I'm not as fresh as I used to be when I was young :D . Anyway, last time I went out I started off with Whisky-Coke and a few nice laid-back small talks before finally finding myself in a club. By the way, this is my party buddy Matti (who accidentally is also a teacher training student and born on the 17. December of the one and only year 1986!).

fellow party buddy Matti

Please drop me a message asap if you are planning on visiting me. I would be proud of showing you around my new home (city). Ohhh, and I've got a new room mate! Her name is Spathiphyllum:

She is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Araceae :)