Demo-lition

The British government recently announced that they were planning on massive cuts to higher education in the UK. In addition to cutting university funding, they also announced that tuition fees for English students could escalate to as high as £9000 ($14,500) a year - triple than what most students are paying now.

Of course, students that are already in massive dept don't want to hear that they will not only have to pay more to attend university, but their universities would also have to have major cuts in the services and facilities on campus.

So, they decided to take a stand.

The National Union of Students (NUS), which is the overarching organization for all of the student unions around the UK, planned a demonstration in London to show students' disgust with the government's plans. On Wednesday, November 10th, students from all over the UK traveled to London armed with signs, banners, and lots of noisemakers in order to attend the aptly titled "Demolition 2010".

The planned route was to march in a peaceful demonstration from the Horseguards Avenue, through Westminster until reaching Parliament while shouting, protesting, and making their voices heard.

While I was unable to attend the event due to some lectures and meetings with university staff, about 200 Brunel students journeyed into Central dressed in top hats and demo-tape.

The latest numbers I've found online said than an estimated 52,000 people showed up on Wednesday from all corners from the UK. I even heard that a few buses of students even came from Belfast - in Northern Ireland!

In addition to the funding, many students were angry with Nick Clegg, an elected MP from the LibDem party. Apparently when he was campaigning for his election he and his party signed a pledge with the NUS vowing that they were against raising tuition fees. Students, of course, loved this idea and many think that the student vote is what won him the election. Months later, it turned out to all be a lie - Clegg voted in favor of raising tuition. So, needless to say, the students were just slightly pissed off at this blatant betrayal to the people that elected him in the first place. The punishment? A lot of angry students with very rude signs specifically targeting Mr. Clegg. Can't say I feel sorry for him. I'd be pissed too.

While I followed the events of the Demo via the Twitter hashtag #Demo2010 and the BBC, I was disappointed to see that the majority of the attention was being put on a small minority of protesters that broke into Millbank Tower, which is the headquarters for the conservative party.

People set bonfires, smashed out all of the windows, spray painted the walls, and somehow ended up on the roof. Now the police are on the hunt for some idiot who thought it would be a good idea to throw a fire extinguisher over the roof onto the crowd below.

But aside from the group of that destroyed the tower, the majority of students were peaceful while making their voices heard. And they were there for the right reasons and going about their protest in the responsible way.

Unfortunately from what I've read online, it looks like the Demo may have all been in vain. Because of all the media attention to the events at Millbank, many people are saying that it's "too late" to make any changes to the proposed tuition fees and funding cuts - saying that the country's debt has to be controlled somehow and that cutting education funding is how to start.

After seeing how massive state funding cuts to the budget at Virginia Tech last year, I totally sympathized with the students' plight. It sucks. Massively. And it makes the quality of student life decrease dramatically when you start cutting programs, arts, clubs, intermural sports, library hours, student jobs... the list goes on and on. I wish I had seen such a massive demonstration from students in the US over our funding cuts - but we just sat there and took what was handed to us, only whining about it to the media rather than taking a stand.

And while I admire the UK students' tenacity and supported them in their battle, sometimes David can't always beat Goliath. But at least they gave it a shot.



Thanks to Ollie for sending me pics from Demo for this post. And to the random people whose pics I stole from facebook.

Settling In

So my collection of books on my bookshelf is slowly growing. And with the addition of a couple of Kidrobot dunnies, and a newly purchased Boston fern, my room is starting to feel a little bit less like a concrete block.

Still doesn't completely feel like home, but it's getting there.

Oh, the life of a grad student.

One thing that's been really great about Brunel University is their activities they schedule for students. Especially postgraduate and international students.

Lucky for me, I fall into both categories, so I get double the school-sponsored fun!


You would think that the life of a graduate student is pretty dull. I've heard horror stories about late-night assignments and running around campus with no makeup on and wearing sweatpants (gasp!). But so far things seem to be pretty awesome for me. And I always go out fully dressed and made up - so maybe that's just American universities?

But in between my lectures, readings, and assignments, I've found plenty of activities around campus to keep me busy.

A couple of weeks ago, the graduate school hosted a wonderful cookout (or barbeque as they like to call it - but nothing like the delicious BBQ that Americans know and love) for all of the postgraduate students.

We all queued (oh man, check out my lingo!) for a long time, but only to be rewarded with a free burger and mocktail of our choice.

To keep us all entertained, the school hired a band, had giant versions of games for us to play, a big tent with decorations and a dance floor, and hookahs for all! I taught everyone there that you should never try to beat an American in Connect Four. I was the champion! haha

The afternoon was a lot of fun and went well into the evening, because the on-campus nightclub, The Academy, had a free post-grad student only club night following the cookout.

It was a fun afternoon and I got to hang out with my fellow postgraduate intellectuals and meet a bunch of awesome people. So now I recognize a few more faces around campus and I know a few more names. Perhaps I'll run into some of them at the Graduate School Coffee and Tea Tuesdays? After all, I'm sure all those late-night assignment writings will ensure that a lot of students arrive for free caffiene...

And yes, that is a bouncy castle in the bottom picture. And yes I jumped in it. I may be a grad student, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun!

The Language Barrier

One of the big positives of going to school in England is that I wouldn't have to worry about speaking another language in order to complete my assignments and understand what's going on in lectures. And for the most part, that's proven to be true. But I've found that there is a bit of a language barrier due to the huge number of international students.

If you come from a non-English speaking country, such as China, you are required to take an English proficiency exam in order to prove that you can speak English well enough to complete your studies. But I've found that even with those exams, a lot of the non-English speakers have some trouble understanding me. Especially the ones that have never really studied or traveled outside of their own country.

And what I've found interesting about that is that I'm forced to really think about what I'm saying in order to make it easier for everyone to understand. That and I end up explaining what different words mean - which has actually proved to be kind of difficult for me in some cases. Like, try and explain what "awkward" means to someone who doesn't speak English! And for anyone who really knows me, you know that "awkward" is a pretty prominent word in my vocabulary!


The most surprising language barrier that I've come across is not actually with non-English speakers, but with the English themselves! There's a whole 'nother set of terminology that they use to name things! And in a lot of cases, such as with chips and crisps, it gets kind of confusing sometimes when I'm shopping or out to eat.

So here is a short list of some of the vocab that I've collected so far. American English on the left, UK English on the right.

Chips = Crisps
Fries = Chips
Soccer = Football
Football = American Football (But no one knows anything about football here!)
Elevator = Lift
Mailbox (like one in the wall with a lock) = Pigeon Hole
Line (like you wait in) = Queue
Mail = Post
Movie = Film
Movie Theater = Cinemas
Reduced-fat Milk (like 1% or 2%) = Semi-skimmed Milk
Baking Soda = Sodium Bicarbonate
Marinara Sauce = Bolognese
Carbonated = Sparkling (they don't say Coke is carbonated on the bottle, it says sparkling)
Plain Potato Chips = Ready Salted Crisps
Professors = Tutors

Concert = Gig
Subway = Tube
Restrooms = Toilets (toilets to me is just a little too blunt... haha)
Checking Account (at a bank) = Current Account
Apartment = Flat



So as you can see, I've got some vocab to learn! And I'm sure there's plenty more, but those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure this list will grow as my adventures continue.

Fresher's Week

This past week at Brunel, and most other universities across the UK, was a week full of festivities for new students called Fresher's Week.

Basically, it's a week-long party across campus for students.

Brunel has three bars and one nightclub ON CAMPUS. That's right. There is alcohol sold on campus. Definitely something you wouldn't ever see in a lot of American universities. At least, not at any of the ones I've visited.

Two of the bars are run by the university itself (The Hub and Bar Zest), while the other bar, Loco's, and the nightclub, called The Academy, are run by the Student Union. Which means they are all student run. Again, something you would never see on campus in the States.

Fresher's Week had a lot of great activities during the day such as sports, meet and greets, club fairs, and lunches. But at night, the activities were basically school-sponsored debauchery. The freshly independent 18-year-olds (you only have to be 18 to drink here) went crazy while partying it up and swapping spit with each other in the nightclub. And for those who couldn't get a ticket into the packed-out club, there were other activities in the two other places in the student center that served alcohol. And for those that didn't feel like getting their drink on indoors - well many just stood around outside or watched the bands play in The Quad while toasting their first year of college using their tallboy cans.

Being the responsible postgraduate student that I am, I didn't really get involved in the total obliteration of brain cells every night. But I didn't just sit in my room all night either. Actually, I could be found on the balcony of the Hub, enjoying a pint of Guinness and getting to know a few of my fellow international students and people-watching.

After all, I'm used to campus-welcoming events such as magicians, free popsicles, and movies on the Drillfield. Not nightclubbing, binge drinking, and hanging out at the official "Hangover Hut" the morning after.

I knew that drinking was a big part of English culture but I always imagined it to be just a quiet night in the pub for a pint after work or after dinner with a couple of friends. So Fresher's Week was definitely unexpected. And while the majority of campus might enjoy their binge drinking, I think I'm going to stick to my quiet pubs and pints.