Post 250

I am writing this while on the train from Leeds to London. This summer I have managed to top all my previous traveling hights.

As you already know I stayed in the UK after exams to say a last goodbye to Aston, go to Grad Ball and pack my ever-growing collection of random items and clothes. Then from Birmingham I flew to Bulgaria to spend a month with the family. I had the opportunity to go to Kosovo for the first time (and loved it) and to attend a real Bulgarian music festival. There was finally enough time to see all my mates and spend some quality time with my sister. This was not without a cloud of preparation for the graduation ceremony with my gigantic family attending but you already know all that.

So, on the 12th me, my parents and sister flew to Birmingham to join my cousin, her husband and my niece (with my aunt and uncle, and Nasko coming on the 13th). We all stayed at the Aston Business School hotel that proved great (especially with me and my sister being in the hotel's highest class room :P). The 12th and 13th were quite nice, actually. Then again I have always loved Birmingham. When I look back now the one thing that I remember very clearly is eating all the time, partly because I had booked restaurants for every evening while in brum. (So much food! Yes food!)

The 14th came in a glimpse. I woke up much later than I should have, quickly inhaled several croissants, and wearing torn jeans and t-shirt went to pick up my robe. Just imagine a room filled with dressed up, happy people and me, scrumpy, a bit hangover, probably with some breakfast leftovers on my face. FAIL!

However, instead of ruining my "special day" I ambitiously hurried back to my room and got dressed. This may sound weird but I felt great in my robe and hat. The robe could not have been more polyester and I could not have been sweatier in it BUT I enjoyed every minute of it!

Me and my parents took the coach to town and as they sat to have a "disgusting" espresso at Starbucks (:P) I went to the town hall with Nasko to try and get him a ticket for the ceremony. (Note that I had already received 6 tickets!) There were plenty of tickets for the area next to the massive golden organ (essentially behind the academics). With this settled I went to register. First, a lady from the robe renting company fixed up the robe so that it "follows criteria". I loved how she did that to every single person (note there was no queue) since it definitely gave out a sense of "we-do-care-about-how-you-look-no-matter-the-thousand-other-people-graduating-this-week".

From there I was escorted to my seat. The ceremony started spot on at 11 o'clock. The speeches of all the academics were incredibly inspiring. I have to say they could not have prepared better. That is excluding the name reading. My name was read out incredibly bad. All I heard was Vladimir Za-ga-za-ra-ov! Having in mind how nervous I was, this was a worst nightmare moment. However, the chancellor was incredibly warm and shaking hands calmed me down quite a bit. Call me crazy but I thought he gave me an "i-am-sorry-we-mispronounced-your-name" and "i-do-indeed-care-about-your-graduating" look.

From there I got my diploma and graduation ended quite quickly (I got my diploma in the middle of the ceremony, so the quickness must have been all in my head). I spent the afternoon socializing (:P) in Sachs and then had a bit of a grand dinner (14 guests). Indeed the perfect ending of a great day!

(have to get off the train now, will continue post from the tube)

***

(great my train is full)

So, Graduation Day was really well organized (and the Town Hall looked as glamorous as ever!). We ended it all with an Aston night out at Mechu where I had a chance to catch up with and say goodbye to the rest of my classmates.

(have to get off tube, will have to finish later)

***
It is the 21st July 2011. As incredible as it is I am now a university graduate about to move into my first long-term, self-paid, flatmate-less apartment, and in two weeks time I will go back to Intel to start my "real" job.

This is beyond all my plans from back in 2008. When I was starting this blog, I was a uni fresher that had no idea what to do with his life (or his studies for that matter). So, I think it is just appropriate to close this blog saying that I have absolutely no regrets about the last 4 years. The whole university experience has helped me grow so independent I can barely recognize myself. Also, I cannot stress highly enough how amazing all the people I have met in uni are. When I chose Aston, I did it simply because the student-life environment and Student Guild were ranked among the best and this has proven to indeed be the case. It has been my greatest pleasure writing this blog and sharing my experiences and I hope you have enjoyed reading about them.

Before I press "Post" I want to say thanks to James Rea who named this site "the galablog"; and, most importantly, a massive thanks to the person who got me writing and put up with me for the past four years, Pam Pinski!

Graduation Day 11:24

Thank god I have three names, the presenter managed to pronounce at least the first correct.

Graduation Day (10-11)

A whole hour of waiting. This is unbearable!

Graduation Day (8-10)

Went to get robe, was only one not dress up yet (torn jeans and t-shirt), barely got family together, took the coach to town hall, bought extra ticket at the box office for Nasko, checked in an currently @ waitin lounge.

Graduation Day (7-8)

I have decided to try and record at least some bits of this one of a kind day. So, I shall keep posting as often as I can to try and get you in a graduation day spirit.

So far, 7-8 AM Shower, check, shave, check, iron clothes, check, pick up robe, to be done (TBD)

My Last Month @ Aston (Grad Ceremony Prep)

May and June have not been all parties and tears, you know; I had a graduation to organise and having in mind the fact that I am from the Balkans, my graduation closely resembles getting ready for a big fat Greek wedding. I have my parents and sister, aunt and uncle, cousin, husband and child all attending my graduation. So, there were a few thing I needed done.

1) Make sure parents and cousing have rooms booked in the Aston Business School Hotel (since the price they offered me was epic)

2) Make sure that aunt and uncle (who changed their mind a hundred times as to where they will sleep) also have a room booked in the ABS Hotel.

3) Make sure plane tickets are booked and paid for

4) Ask for as many tickets as you can for the graduation ceremony (that's, at least initially, 2+2)

5) Book robe and hat

6) Reserve seats after receiving the 4 tickets you asked for

***7) Extra tickets go on sale, book more! With the extra tickets I now have six guests due to attend the Birmingham Town Hall ceremony.

8) Book a car to pick up from Heathrow airport

9) Book a place for dinner the eve before graduation

10) Book a place for dinner the eve after graduation

11) Discuss with family as to what they want to do apart from the ceremony (with my family, they wanted to spend a week in London, adding the additional item of agreeing on a hotel in London, and extra activities)

There you go people, if you have a big fat Bulgarian family like me, these 11 items are most probably going to be unavoidable. Then again, it is great to have your whole family attend your graduation ceremony. In this trail of thoughts, I was incredibly lucky that booking the Town Hall seats was really easy and that the ABS hotel desk was kind enough to answer a dosen e-mails from me :)

Now let's see if next week goes by plan.

My Last Month @ Aston (continued)

So, what happened after exams in Aston?

When me and S.S. talked about this post-exam period we called it "the ending of an era"; and what an ending! First, obviously, straight after exams I went for concluding drink with the one person I had sat next to at most lectures in Aston. Then, a party week filled with Mechu, Gosta, Broad Street and a whole lot of card playing started. I had the opportunity to (hopefully) start a tradition of Bulgarian party nights at B4. And finished the party season with a hire of one of BCU's photostudios for my "yearbook". On the 14th of June I finally took off to go back home as an Aston student for the very last time.

My Last Month @ Aston

As I on my way to book my hat and gown for the graduation ceremony I cannot help but to take you through the last one month of my student life. So let's rewind...

My final exam session in Aston was hell. Let me prepare all of you who are just applying to Aston or have just started, it will be a tough ride. However, is this not how it is supposed to be? I have to say that I have felt challenged with academic work through most of my time at Aston; the final exam session was the biggest challenge.

So, when the day of my last exam came I was over the moon. I was not stressed and had only one thing on my mind - it is finally over! This was definitely the general feeling one could draw from the crowd waiting in front of the exam room. There was no stressing or last minute revision; from what I saw, everyone was just excited to be finally done with school.

Of course, the first thing I did after the exam is visit Gosta for a "refreshment" but more on the post exam adventures tomorrow :P

50 Things to Do During An Exam When Your Going To Fail Anyway

1.Bring a pillow. Fall asleep (or pretend to) until the last 15 minutes. Wake up, say "oh geez, better get cracking" and do some gibberish work. Turn it in a few minutes early.

2.Get a copy of the exam, run out screaming "Andre, Andre, I've got the secret documents!!"

3.If it is a math/science exam, answer in essay form. If it is long answer/essay form, answer with numbers and symbols. Be creative. Use the integral symbol.

4.Make paper airplanes out of the exam. Aim them at the instructor's left nostril.

5.Talk the entire way through the exam. Read questions aloud, debate your answers with yourself out loud. If asked to stop, yell out, "I'm sooo sure you can hear me thinking." Then start talking about what a jerk the instructor is.

6.Bring cheerleaders.

7.Walk in, get the exam, sit down. About five minutes into it, loudly say to the instructor, "I don't understand any of this. I've been to every lecture all semester long! What's the deal? And who the hell are you? Where's the regular guy?"

8.Bring a Game Boy (or Game Gear, etc...). Play with the volume at max level.

9.On the answer sheet (book, whatever) find a new, interesting way to refuse to answer every question. For example: I refuse to answer this question on the grounds that it conflicts with my religious beliefs. Be creative.

10.Bring pets.

11.Run into the exam room looking about frantically. Breathe a sigh of relief. Go to the instructor, say "They've found me, I have to leave the country" and run off.

12.Fifteen minutes into the exam, stand up, rip up all the papers into very small pieces, throw them into the air and yell out "Merry Christmas." If you're really daring, ask for another copy of the exam. Say you lost the first one. Repeat this process every fifteen minutes.

13.Do the exam with crayons, paint, or fluorescent markers.

14.Come into the exam wearing slippers, a bathrobe, a towel on your head, and nothing else.

15.Come down with a bad case of Turet's Syndrome during the exam. Be as vulgar as possible.

16.Do the entire exam in another language. If you don't know one, make one up! For math/science exams, try using Roman numerals.

17.Bring things to throw at the instructor when s/he's not looking. Blame it on the person nearest to you.

18.As soon as the instructor hands you the exam, eat it.

19.Walk into the exam with an entourage. Claim you are going to be taping your next video during the exam. Try to get the instructor to let them stay, be persuasive. Tell the instructor to expect a percentage of the profits if they are allowed to stay.

20.Every five minutes, stand up, collect all your things, move to another seat, continue with the exam.

21.Turn in the exam approximately 30 minutes into it. As you walk out, start commenting on how easy it was.

22.Do the entire exam as if it was multiple choice and true/false. If it is a multiple choice exam, spell out interesting things (DCCAB. BABE. etc..).

23.Bring a black marker. Return the exam with all questions and answers completely blacked out.

24.Get the exam. Twenty minutes into it, throw your papers down violently, scream out "Screw this!" and walk out triumphantly.

25.Arrange a protest before the exam starts (i.e. Threaten the instructor that whether or not everyone's done, they are all leaving after one hour to go drink)

26.Show up completely drunk. (Completely drunk means at some point during the exam, you should start crying for mommy).

27.Every now and then, clap twice rapidly. If the instructor asks why, tell him/her in a very derogatory tone, "the light bulb that goes on above my head when I get an idea is hooked up to a clapper. DUH!"

28.Comment on how sexy the instructor is looking that day.

29.Come to the exam wearing a black cloak. After about 30 minutes, put on a white mask and start yelling "I'm here, the phantom of the opera" until they drag you away.

30.Go to an exam for a class you have no clue about, where you know the class is very small, and the instructor would recognize you if you belonged. Claim that you have been to every lecture. Fight for your right to take the exam.

31.Upon receiving the exam, look it over, while laughing loudly, say "you don't really expect me to waste my time on this drivel? Days of our Lives is on!!!"

32.Bring a water pistol with you. Nuff said.

33.From the moment the exam begins, hum the theme to Jeopardy. Ignore the instructor's requests for you to stop. When they finally get you to leave one way or another, begin whistling the theme to the Bridge on the River Kwai.

34.Start a brawl in the middle of the exam.

35.If the exam is math/science related, make up the longest proofs you could possibly think of. Get pi and imaginary numbers into most equations. If it is a written exam, relate everything to your own life story.

36.Come in wearing a full knight's outfit, complete with sword and shield.

37.Bring a friend to give you a back massage the entire way through the exam. Insist this person is needed, because you have bad circulation.

38.Bring cheat sheets for another class (make sure this is obvious... like history notes for a calculus exam... otherwise you're not just failing, you're getting kicked out too) and staple them to the exam, with the comment "Please use the attached notes for references as you see fit."

39.When you walk in, complain about the heat. Strip.

40.After you get the exam, call the instructor over, point to any question, ask for the answer. Try to work it out of him/her.

41.One word: Wrestlemania.

42.Bring balloons, blow them up, start throwing them around like they do before concerts start.

43.Try to get people in the room to do the wave.

44.Play frisbee with a friend at the other side of the room.

45.Bring some large, cumbersome, ugly idol. Put it right next to you. Pray to it often. Consider a small sacrifice.

46.Get deliveries of candy, flowers, balloons, telegrams, etc... sent to you every few minutes throughout the exam.

47.During the exam, take apart everything around you. Desks, chairs, anything you can reach.

48.Complete the exam with everything you write being backwards at a 90 degree angle.

49.Bring a musical instrument with you, play various tunes. If you are asked to stop, say "it helps me think." Bring a copy of the Student Handbook with you, challenging the instructor to find the section on musical instruments during finals. Don't forget to use the phrase "Told you so".

50.Answer the exam with the "Top Ten Reasons Why Professor xxxx Sucks"

Facebook group here.

G∆L∆BIRTHDAY

The G∆L∆BLOG has now turned 3!

Thanks to everyone who is following the blog or pops by from time to time. For me it's been great to, this year, be able to reflect on what was happening to me when the Aston uni roller coaster started. So, the galablog is king of like a snapshot of some of the great experiences through the years.

When the blog stats capability came in, in the beginning of this year, I was blown away by the traffic from places I never expected like Portugal, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg and Australia. It's very motivational to know that there is someone out there who actually does read what you write, especially having in mind the amount of bo***king my friends have given me (cheers guys!).

So, thanks again, and enjoy the last couple of months of activity before uni is officially over and I am no longer an Astonaut.

Note to Webmail

For close to three years now I have been using this blog as a platform for not only sharing uni experiences but also giving advice (a bit too many, probably). Thus, you can consider myself something like a free consultant or what I prefer "the young student's whisperer".

This leads me to my inspiration for this post. It has come to my attention that many of the freshers don't really make use of their webmail accounts (particularly, freshwomen S.S. and R.A.). After the update that the webmail system has had, it is now using Microsoft Exchange. Thus, it gives us the option to have a sync'ed phone, outlook on main computer and online webmail account, with integrated calendar and e-mail. The calendar has proven to be particularly useful as now I get notifications wherever I am on campus while using any internet device.

For connecting webmail with your iphone see: this link

The Best of The G∆L∆BLOG pt. 5

Ania's Graduation Story (April, 2009)

31st March 2009

7 am

The alarm of my clock went on wakening up everyone in the room; the day of Ania’s graduation had come. We all got dressed as fast as possible; I shaved, the girls fixed on make-up and we left.

Fortunately, Ania had a schedule prepared and knew exactly when and what to do; first step was getting the graduation robe. Apparently, every different Aston University school has a different robe. The master programme from the School of Life and Social Sciences had a black and red robe prepared for the grduands.

One interesting fact I found out: once you graduate(i.e. pass exams or desertations) before the official ceremony you are called a GRADUAND; only after the ceremony you can call yourself a GRADUATE.

After taking the robe was time for us to head to the Town Hall. The uni always prepares busses for the graduands and their family’s but it is so much better having stroll down the town centre. As we discovered, there is such a thrill from shoving your success into the other peoples’ faces. I was only one of the guests and walking next to Ania still made me feel amazing and hyper successful.

10 am

One we got to the Town Hall, Ania needed to collect our invitations and then we had to join the guests, and she the graduands. Then the worst part of the day came. We sat in our seats in the Town Hall for about an hour. At one point I dosed off, shortly awakened by the kick of the little child behind me. Irena told me that normally it is not allowed for children under seven to attend graduation ceremonies. Anyway, there was quite a bit of kicking I got to enjoy. If Ania could only hear our complaining she would have never invited us.

Vlad: “No, seriously, I am going home! [..] I will fall asleep again! […]God, I understand now why you hate kids!”

Irena: “Seriously, I do not understand who let them get kids inside. On one hand it will not understand anything from the ceremony. One the other, it will not remember anything!”

11am

After a string quartet played for most of the time we impatiently waited, an organ player came on the stage and started playing the majestic instrument. At first both me and Irena were staring like little children at the organ player, magnified by the music. After ten minutes we were again bored out of our guts.

And suddenly the ceremony started. First we were asked to turn off our phones and use our cameras on non-flash mode. Then ceremonial music started and the university academia came out. First the lecturers, then the representatives of different schools and last the chancellor, and the vice chancellor sat on their corresponding seats.

Then everyone gave a speech and the ceremony started. Me and Irena were seating in awe mesmerized by the ceremony. (Then I spent some half an hour wondering how you spell awe.)

Every candidate was called, personally, on stage, greeted by the chancellor and applauded by the audience. After a good hour, Ania came on and we started screaming and cheering. She walked as fast as she could, greeted the chancellor and then hastily stepped off the stage. (Later, Ania told me that she was unbelievably nervous; she was not sure what exactly is going on; was surprised the chancellor actually talked to her; and was too nervous to talk back.)

Outside there was a group photo and then a procession towards uni. Once in uni we went to the party of the corresponding school, gave in the robe, and rushed home, already tired by the overwhelming day.

The Official BBC Article about the Demolition

click here

The Day of Destruction

I am closing the demolition posts with some awesome photography of the towers. Enjoy!









Thanks to Adam for the great photography! Check our his other work @ www.flickr.com/photos/adders0121

The Life and Death of Dalton Tower

Dalton Tower under construction...

Dalton Tower as I remember it...
Dalton Tower after being demolished.