Some Catching Up... (continued)

Every person should be able to criticise him/herself, so let me say that in contradictions to some cases, there are occasions when people get an answer fro their company and a contract very fast. (even if it is a conditional one) 

Congratulations to Nasko, who got his placement today! (one day after his assessment day) 

To get back on the Aston University scene, there has been much coursework to come in the next couple of weeks. The library is absolutely over-pouring with hard-working people. Still, I have to reming you about my library-facebook theory. (remember that 70% of the people in the library are on facebook). Anyway, still people are doing work and don't really have a way around it since deadlines are coming. I have three deadlines in the first week after spring break, but I assume a lot of people may have even more coursework to submit. Therefore, maybe it is time for me to get bak to the debris of the Financial Management.

Everyone is talking about...

CHAV Night in the Student Guild this Friday (27/02/09)

Some Catching Up...

The past several weeks have been eventful and busy ad there is definitely much to tell but since I had the "Appreciation Week" Scheduled I let them pass by. Therefore, today will be my "catching up" post.

I have extremely lucky to sign the contract for my placement last year. After filling up I don't know how many different forms with identical information, leaving the final signature felt great. I always thought that once you get a placement offer you are all done, well, the reality is different. Let us look at three cases:

Viky got a placement offer three months ago. She was probably one of the first people to get an interview and a decision before the winter holiday. She will be working for the British government. Getting the placement offer, though, was just the beginning for her. There are six months of profile checks before she gets a contract sent!

After I got my placement offer and immediately accepted, I had to start filling up tons of forms with personal details: health-care, previous employment details, even a death form (concerned with who will get your salaries, bonuses, etc. if you die in the middle of the placement year). I received and signed a contract. While reading through the "Terms and Conditions", though, I fell upon a very interesting fact, the placement offer is, nothing else but a conditional offer. After submission of all the forms and documentation needed there is a profile check (just like Viky's). Thus, a placement offer, a contract, all don't mean a secure job until the end of the university year. Unfortunately, there is always a chance of getting sc*** up.

Another friend of mine got a placement offer this week. As happy as I was when I found out there was a small detail that struck me. She was not informed the exact amount of the salary ("We will call you and give you details on the placement later in the week."), no exact starting day ("All details will be explained to you in due course."), no exact proposal (you can imagine that just like in my case, the offer is conditional to her being allowed to work in the country).

In other news: 

- The mid-term exams are due to start next week. 

- The library is full of final years writing their dissertations. 

- The Business Game for the second years is in full speed with Europia's share price falling to £0.09 (that's my company). 

- D-r G.S. has given his second year students their writing task. Exam results have started to pop-out.

for more news, press the red button on your remote...

A Week of Appreciation... [UK Pubs] What Does Every Student Want?

LAGER!


I never knew the difference between lager and ale, I actually didn't know there is such, until I started working in a pub. Lager yeast ferments at a much colder temperature than ale yeast and settles on the bottom of the fermenting tank. As far back as the sixteenth century, Bavarian brewers made beer in this way, storing it in caves and some cellars, ofter under blocks of ice, allowing it to self-filter.

Because of the low temperature required, it wasn't until the advent of the refrigerator that lager was brewed in London, some time during 1880s.

A Week of Appreciation... [UK Pubs] Simply Wine!

No one knows who made the first wine. The Babylonians documented the running of a wine-shop, which appears to have been written in 18 BC. Yet, some think that the idea of wine may lead as far back as to the stone age man. He is said to have placed grapes in skin bags and allowed them to ferment by accident.

The word 'wine' has an equally mystifying origin, with roots searched in Latin and ancient Greek. It is said that Julius Caesar brought the vine to England. But scholars believe that this was more for the purposes of decoration, to remind the Romans of home. By the time of the Norman Conquest though, vines were grown and wine produced in a number of monastic institutions, especially in southern England.

Currently, in Birmingham you can find wines from every part of the World - Chile, Italy, South Africa, Australia, and even, Bulgaria.

A Week of Appreciation... [UK Pubs] The Tale of Johny, Jim and Jack!

The name 'whisky' comes from the Gaelic word for water, 'uisge', interpreted as water of life. It was believed that both better health and greater longevity could be achieved by drinking whisky. In moderation, of course.

There are two basic types of whisky, malt and grain. (Since I have been a bartender for so long I should know, well I don't) Malt is made entirely from malted barley. Grain is made from malted and unmalted barley along with other grains. There are many jealously guarded distillations and maturation processes, therefore, you can currently have different whisky types. (Of course, each company states their whisky to be the best.)

When I went to Dublin a while ago, I found out that whiskey and Guinness, and even snuff, were regarded as medications some hundred years ago. There even were different marketing strategies for their selling.

A Week of Appreciation... [UK Pubs] A Brief History of Ale

The oldest recorded recipes for beer date back to the Sumerians, some 5000 years ago. But archaeological evidence from Africa and China suggests that forms of brewing existed long before this. Making beer is believed to be as old as making bread, although no one is quite sure which came first (just as the debate on the chicken and the egg).

Ale was an important drink in medieval times and the fermentation process was considered almost supernatural. Even the word "ale" has some Old English roots suggesting sorcery, magic and intoxication.

Drinkers in the bustling ale houses a hundred years ago had their ale in ceramic cups that had whistles baked into the handles. The customers would blow these to order a refill.

Today, of course you can get ale in almost any British pub. If you ask me, Ale is a winter drink, and the biggest variety of ales is found in the winter. You can have ales with different colours and tastes, whatever suits yourself.

A Week of Appreciation... [UK Pubs]

The has been one thing I have always wanted to familiarize you with and that is the rich history of the UK pub culture. A lot of people think that it is all about drinking but in seven short days you will see that is a lot more! Hopefully, you will enjoy it and I will repeat the "A Week Of Appreciation" idea further.

Before I came to the United Kingdom I didn't really know much bout the typical British pubs. All I knew was that they have draft and they are wooden. Well, when I came to Birmingham I found out some unbelievable places; there are some pubs that are just a must go to. (Plus there are three pubs on campus!)

If you want to actually understand the scene at Aston, you need to see the simple British world [as my mum says, see the little things], you need to feel the creeks of the old wooden floors in the semi-detached houses, you need to hear the wind hitting your deep window seal. So let me begin with a more relaxing part of UK culture, the drinking culture of course.

One of the most amazing thing about British Pubs is their names! [The Spat & Snail, The Newt & Cucumber, The Yard of Ale, Scruffy Murphie's, The Pitcher and Piano...] I never knew what is preferred, animal names, or maybe vegetables, or fruits; no matter what it is, every pub name is unique and memorable.

i.e.

Everyone is talking about...

Rag Week Two is ending...

Second years don't really have time to be sad because there has been a continuation of interviews with future employers on campus that will continue in the next several weeks. All the luck to the interviewees.

The Aston Student Guild: Aston Brook Green

ABG is the living quarters managed by the Guild. There is one great feature about Aston Brook Green - it is CHEAP; and by cheap I mean, it is the cheapest deal you can get for your second year!

The application process usually starts in February so check out all the details and apply. It has been extremely fun living here, and even though it is no Ritz, you can make it a home. Of course, still there are so many choices for less or more than three people around in Birmingham. TO live in ABG you have to be three. Good luck with everyone with their applications for an accommodation.

Placement Adventures # [One Last Time] !This just in!

I have to stop my trail of posts with some news I just found out that will be more useful for the current students, than the future, but still...

Almost every student in Aston, no matter what degree, will undertake a placement year. Once he/she finds a placement there are some questions that will come from the company, mainly concerning living and working permission in the UK for Non-UK students. Well, if you are from Bulgaria or Romania, here is what you need!

Now, as long as you have a work permit for just casual part-time work (i.e. up to 20 ours) you do not need anything else. Furthermore, if you have any kind of work permit (i.e. vacation work) and it is dated more than a year ago, you do not need anything else.

You do not need a work permit if:
"[If] you have been working with permission, and without interruption, in the United Kingdom for a period of 12 months ending on or after 31 December 2006. For example, you are already present in the United Kingdom as a work permit holder or in some other category that confers permission to take employment (for example as a student and you have been in part-time employment continuously for 12 months)"

You may be asked for a Student Visa or a document proving that you can study in the UK. This will probably be due to bad company information. The document that states your permission to study, live or travel in the UK is your passport (ID card).

This is it really, once you have these two, you are good to go!

The Aston Student Guild: Website

I have already mentioned the ASG website to you in my previous post but here are some of the features that I have not mentioned to you.

Definitely the best feature of the website is the "Photos" section. I was amazed to find photos from times I don't even remember. Every event in the Guild and in uni in general is recorded and there a hundreds of photos. In the same time the "Photos" section is extremely under-used and it is just a shame to leave the great photos just dust in some server.

The website is also the easiest way for any student to connect to the execs in the Guild. If you have any problem it is so easy to just write an e-mail to anyone and they are all happy to help. Don't forget that in the end of the day the Guild is managed by us students and there is no one that can understand you better than the Guild staff.

Everyone is talking about...

Rag Week Two!

The Charity week in which while partying you are actually helping someone, or the excuse to go out every day week, is hitting off on Monday!

The Aston Student Guild: Job Shop

The Job Shop has been one of the most useful resources I have used in the Aston Student Guild. Recently, I have been crazy about the job shop website. Basically, currently you don't even have to go to the Job Shop itself since everything is on the website. www.astonguild.org.uk 

You can also access the website from the main Aston University page by forwarding to the Aston Student Guild web-page. You don't need to be registered to view the adds but the registration process is fast and easy. I don't generally fancy registration processes for different websites because they just fill you inbox with junk but the Aston Guild website has not sent me a single spam message for the year and a half I have been registered.

The jobs in the Job Shop are mostly fun and all part-time and I would really recommed checking them out. Some of the amazing offers I have seen were:

• Mystery Shopper;
• Movie Extra;
• Web-Journalist;
• Music Event Organizer; etc.

Placement Adventures # 11 (The End!)

I have been postponing this post for two days now, because I didn't have Internet at home.On Friday the unthinkable happened, but let us go back a little bit...

This Thursday I was having a general lazy day when I got woken up by my phone. A company X invited me for an interview. This was perfect since I was still waiting for an answer from the assessment day. When I hung up my phone after the conversation with company X, I saw that I have about 7 missed calls from an unknown number. The number was very weir, non-standard and could not be dialed; so, after several failed attempts, I decided to just continue with my day.

On Friday morning, I was sitting in an extremely boring lecture in 9 in the morning when my phone rang. The sound of "I Like To Move It" by Will.I.Am filled the otherwise dead lecture theatre! Of course I hung up immediately when I saw that it was the unknown number that called me on Thursday. I had not choice, I had to get out of the lecture and try to dial it one more time. I asked my lecturer if it was all right for me to go out and he let me. Of course I could not dial the number, yet again... "Call failed"

I decided I cannot let this go; I stood in frond of the lecture theatre and was begging my phone "Please ring, please ring! I will never ever miss a call ever again!" THE PHONE RANG!

X: "Hello, Vladimir"
V: "Hi!"
X: "This is S., from Intel, we met on the assessment day two weeks ago"
V: "Oh, hi S."
X: "Are you OK"
V: "Well, I am having a lecture right now, but yeah I am good"
X: "Vlad we would like to offer you a job!"
V: "Oh my god! Oh my god! Thank you, so much!"
[...]
X: "I will call you later in the day to discuss details. Have a nice time at uni."
V: "Thanks, thank you so much!"

I still cannot believe it! Later in the day I had a longer conversation with S. and I confirmed verbally that I accept the placement job offer for a thirteen month placement at Intel.

The search was over!