High Stakes and Coffee Breaks

Unfortunately, I have spent most of the last two weeks in the library. My life has become a cup of Costa coffee with Pen&Paper on the rocks. With a mid-term class test and three assignments due, I have spent all of my time in isolation. Thus, there is little to blog about. Graphical examples above and below.

Beyond Knowledge: The Story of S, M & The Police

Aston uni has been my new "home" for more than three years now. Throughout this time I have been sharing with you the stories of my adventures, academia and social life but I have never talked about, arguably, the most important part of uni - the friendships. Some people say that the friends you make in uni are the ones that stick forever. I would like to agree with such a statement. The day-to-day challenges are the basis for the ever-flourishing and ever-evolving uni acquaintances. So, let's start with a graphic example, the story of "S, M and The Police".

I met S & M in the beginning of my second year in Aston. (Remember, my "Countdown to Year 4", M likes to think that she is one of the life-changing people I met on the 27 Sep 2008. I will, however, refrain from commenting on such a statement since it is not relevant to the current post. Please erase it from your short-term memory.) Back in 2008 S & M were just two students that were starting uni but they have by now merged in to one (in M's words) milawesome couple. Currently, S is doing his placement in Birmingham and M, hers, in London. This brings us to the events of the 11th November.

As the clock was about to strike 2200 and the icy wind was blowing down the London streets, M was on her way home. She was walking the irregular walk of a person who has enjoyed a colleague's birthday a bit too much, wine-wise. In the mean time, S was sitting in his Birmingham flat, reading the galablog, thinking how awesome Vlad is (I can just assume). M pressed dial.

M: Hey bebe, I am just on my way home.

S: Baby, I can barely hear you!

M: 2@18#%&^^...

S: What?

M: Baby... 29#$%9&*&575 ...it's too windy... 6745%$#%#... ...home in 10 minutes... ...call you from home!

S: OK, I wait.

An hour passed and S had no word from M. She seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. S sent Vlad a text; no reply. Was something wrong with S's phone?

Another hour passed and, as Vlad was waking up from his power nap, S called. He still hadn't managed to find the ever-so-missing M. Vlad tried calling M, nothing; S tried calling M, nothing; Vlad called R, R called M and, still, nothing. They kept calling and calling...nothing.

The clock struck 00:30 and they started considering the possibility that something bad had happened. By 00:40 S was on the phone with the police and Vlad was hurrying towards S's flat. They waited and waited but there was still not a word from M or the police.

At 02:00 S called the police again. They still had not been to M's flat.

At 03:00 Vlad called the police:

V: Hi, my name is Vladimir Galabov and I would like to report a missing person [...] she was on the way home [...] Yes, her boyfriend called you an hour ago [...] I am at his flat in Birmingham [...] No, he was the last person to speak to her [...] I understand [...] She's just not the type of person to disappear [...] I see [...]She's on her placement at the moment [...] I see [...] OK [...] OK, thank you.

As the time passed, they started seriously considering taking the 5 o'clock train to London. If the police were not willing to go to M's place, then S and Vlad would go on their own.

At 04:00 the phone rang:

M: Hey bebe...

I think what I am trying to say with this story is that trough my four years in Aston I have met, and keep meeting, people that I can count on to call the police if I go missing. This is why, uni is not just about the course, not just about the degree, it is about the relationships that you build and the way these relationships change you.

Old Blue Student Card - New Orange Student Card

I have had my uni card for more than three years now and, to be honest, have not been most careful with it. Don't get me wrong I haven't dropped it from the 7th floor of the main building or something but as I began this year I finally noticed that it is in not such a great shape. You could barely see my photo (my horrible, horrible photo) or my last name. To make it worse when swiping it last month I managed to break it in half. A little tape fixed the problem for the time being but I started wondering, could I get a new one? Today, I finally went to the ISA office to ask but a massive sign - £10 for lost or damaged card - hit me like a rock. I did not have £10 and even if I did have £10, I don't want to spend my £10 on a "plastic surgery" for my uni card (note that the cards are made from plastic, I know, hilarious :P). Being in front of the desk already I was asked if I need help (although I was actually thinking of the various uses of a £10 note). There was no turning back so I explained that my card is very old and the time (not me, definetely not me!) has damaged it in a very unpleasant way. Before I knew it I had a new (this time orange) card in my hands FOR FREE! So, if you ever have a uni card problem, it can be resolved surprisingly quickly and painlessly.

Photo shoot (God, no!)

We have all had these weeks when sadly nothing extraordinary happens. The routine seems to be directing our every move making any story on the topic "how was your day?" as boring as a game of chess.

I was having one of these weeks and was struggling with finding anything interesting to blog about. And as I lost all hope I was unexpectedly dragged into something mildly interesting that I am going to now elaborate on until it sound awesome (or at least long) :)

I doubt there is anyone in Aston that has not heard of the new fancy library ground floor; different opening events have been going on all through the past week, including official ribbon cut yesterday. Of course, having a new library meant new photos for the prospectus and various presentations. That is why I was not surprised to see people being photographed (in a relaxed, smart but cool fashion) when I went into the library yesterday.

I wanted in to fill in a missing book form and request a new one to be bought by the library. Finishing this surprisingly short task, as I was leaving I bumped into a girl from my course that had just done the photo shoot. We started the ever so popular discussion on how hard our course is. (for the record Applied Econometrics is the hardest subject anyone has ever created!) Then the photographer from the photo shoot came and asked K. to go back in for an extra round. I said bye and was just about to see myself out when...

The photographer asked me to join K. for the last shots. "No, no, I was just leaving.", "Come on, it's going to take a minute and we might not even use the photos.", "OK."

So there I am, in the middle of the library with K. having a fake chat, not loosing eye-contact for what seems like ages with a massive camera in my face. All I am thinking is "Stay straight!", "Did you even look at your hair today?", "Are your glasses even clean?", "Does this look fake?". Being a pro at this, the calm K. was trying to continue our previous chat. Of course, this is never easy when the person you are chatting to is a sweaty-distracted-constant-eye-contact-some guy.

As the photographer did the last shot, he asked if we would like to have one regular photo as a 'memory'. Before I could even answer, K. had said "Yes.", the photographer was behind the camera again and I felt K.'s hand on what seemed like the sweatiest back ever. Gross, no?

Half listening to the library assistant I put my jacket on. She was explaining about the potential usage of the photos (prospectus, website, TVs in library, presentation). I still have not actually seen the aforementioned photos but I guess I will. Hopefully, the rest of the uni will not.

Bureaucratism

What world do we live with? This is probably one of the most frequently discussed questions in society. Through the years the answers vary - capitalism, communism, nationalism, fascism, neo-anything-ism, anyone's-name-with-an-ism-in-the-end-ism, etc.(and this is a very long etcetera). Here I will define a new ISM, the ISM that has been ever present in our society - Bureaucratism. Can you think of any advantages of bureaucracy? (if you can please do share, especially today, I cannot think of any)

The first time I met bureaucracy is when I was ten years old and my parents had to get me a new international passport (that is how they were called in Bulgaria back in the day). They filled pages and pages of forms just to get a little piece of paper with my name and picture on it. Had I known this is just the beginning of my relationship with bureaucracy, I would have emigrated to a deserted island.

This relationship of mine has been like an unhappy marriage, every time bureaucracy shows her face I get a headache, the headache that men get when they are getting a divorce and have no prenup. When I was applying for high school, university, health insurance, work permit, bank account, travel pass, tesco clubcard, boots clubcard, H&M clubcard (I could continue with the shops for a while), credit card, (god forbid) a loan, accommodation, or any other card or piece of paper in my wallet, I would have an intimate meeting with bureaucracy that would test all my skills and senses.

To get to the point in this most important of post, I would like to give the non-UK students in Aston an advice that could probably spare them my bureaucracy-caused wrinkles. When it is time for you to get a work-permit (or whatever the certificate is called) do NOT open any of the government websites. They have no useful information, whatsoever; call HM Revenue & Customs and ask all your questions on the phone (just prepare for a waiting time of approximately 3-5 minutes).

If you do not have the phone numbers, and you probably don't, just go to the Careers Office in uni. They are supposed to be our point of contact for problems and questions connected with work and placement. Unfortunately, I decided to tackle the problem myself and only three hours later (after spending most of the time in various government websites) did I have the form I needed to fill in. The Careers Office must have answered a thousand questions like mine and most certainly would have effortlessly given me the phone numbers that I ultimately found.

So, to sum up, bureaucracy sucks, government websites are useLESS, careers office is useFUL, calling institutions on the phone is most effective (though pricey).