The Nottingham Experience: week 1

"I don’t look good in no armani suits

No gucci shoes - or designer boots
I’ve tried the latest lines from a to z
But there’s just one thing that looks good on me"

Bryan Adams - The only thing that looks good on me is you

After a first weird week in Nottingham, the only thing I can think about is positivity. An Erasmus experience with two Spanish mates is not the best way to improve your english. Anyway, we don't have to do exactly the same things, or going together to the same places. There are lots of things to work in...

The first thing to do was to find some college to do some English courses. There were lots of them, including the university language centre, which offered us free courses. Any of them, anyway, were courses to get the Cambridge certificates. We finally decided to take part in a CAE course at university (it's not free, but hey, nothing is free here). It looks pretty good, actually. I think it's going to be worth...

The second point to check was to meet Gerald Schaefer, our FYP director. Sometimes, when you don't know someone, you picture him in some way, but you can never imagine how close or far you were... He's a young doctor. Maybe from some scandinavian country. Someday I'll ask him. The first homework: to read documentation about image retrieval. Let's just not focus on that for a while. Before talking with Gerald, we met Maria, the girl that enroled us into the NTU. Lucky she is Spanish, everything was quite easier.

But the thing we didn't expected was that we have to do two modules to reach the minimum amount of credits to enrol the NTU. So now, we have two more things to worry about. Nobody told us, so now we need to know if we can exchange the modules for some UAB modules. Never mind. There are things with higher priority now.

We've met a few people, but most of them are Spanish. What I mean with 'but' is that that's not why we are here. The aim of this experience is quite wider than this. However, they're great people. A couple of girs from Murcia searching for any job, just like two other girls from Madrid. A Catalan adopted from Zaragoza who I don't know what he's really doing here, and a boy from Cadiz, professional hamcutter who studied with Jesulin de Ubrique. Oh my God, what am I doing here...!

And the most important thing: what I hardly just began before taking off, and now it's paused in some point, somewhere only we know. I just hope we can some day resume it.

I hope everyone is okay in Spain.

Regards.

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The Nottingham Bylaw

"Listen to the girl

As she takes on half the world
Moving up and so alive
In her honey dripping beehive
Beehive
It's good, so good, it's so good
So good

Walking back to you
Is the hardest thing that I can do
That I can do for you
For you"

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Just like honey

So, this is the las post I'm going to write here in Spain. Next week I'm moving to Nottingham to... eeer... I don't remember, actually. Study? Fun? Both?

Anyway, I'm going to share a house with two friends, so this is basically the rules we've established to live there:

Preamble:

Wellington Street's house is a nation. It could be freely associated with the rest of houses of Weelington Street.

Laws & Rules:

These are the rules to apply once we get to Wellington Street's house.

1 - The first rule about the Nottingham Bylaw is to not talk about the Nottingham Bylaw.

2 - The first part of the Nottingham Bylaw is applied according to the first part of the Nottingham Bylaw.

3 - The last part of the Nottingham Bylaw is applied according to the last part of the Nottingham Bylaw.

4 - The house must be cleaned at least once a month.

5 - Kitchen is a common space of the house. All of us must take part in it.

6 - The fourth guest must be admitted by democracy. Only 1'75 meter blondes with long legs will pass the first selection.

7 - Individual rooms are not a public, common space of the house, unless they have permission of the owner. This rule is extremely important for the one who gets the upper room.

8 - Whatever the owner says, Playstation 2 is a public, common element of the house.

9 - If we are playing Pro Evolution Soccer 5, nobody can throw a penalty shot to the middle of the goal (See PES-5 bylaw)

10 - Gerald Schaefer must introduce us to his daughter/s if it is legal under the frame of the British Laws.

11 - Friends from Spain must bring us some food as an exchange for free accommodation.

12 - Intimate moments should be warned with a sock in the handle of the owner's door.

13 - Walk About is the meeting point for anything (see "What Brings You To Nottingham?").

14 - Food must be bought/paid equally by all of us.

15 - Any other suggestion can be added as a new rule under the consentment of each member of the house.

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