London Ding Dong

I guess I’ll just pick up where I left you all on the previous post. Friday night we got the majority of the exchange group together and went out. There seem to be two “clubs” here where everyone wants to hang out. The Litton Tree and the Pure. On the way there I had already noticed that all of the pubs had hired doormen to check for ages and considering we were with a big group I could already smell trouble. Needless to say I was right. The first club we went to, the Litton Tree, the doorman didn’t want to recognize an ID card which had the date spelled out in a way he didn’t see fit. So the group moved on to Pure, where the doormen were actually nice and didn’t even feel the need to check out ID’s.

So our group was in, 4 Dutch, 2 Portuguese, 2 Swedes, 4 French, and I have the feeling I might have forgotten about some of them, if you’re one of them don’t be offended. We had a blast there; we drank a lot and made fun of the locals. It’s probably because they are locked on an island, but the British sense of “style” can hardly be classified as style. I won’t go into too much detail but it seems to be very popular to wear less when you are more, hope that makes sense.

After arriving home at 3 am, my Saturday was wasted basically. I spend most of the day sleeping and other than that I didn’t do much. I went to bed early as well again because the following day we were off to London! We had arranged that we would meet at the train station at 9:15 Sunday morning and the Portuguese people, who had been here since September, offered to give us a tour of London.

So Sunday morning we all took the train to go and see London. It was about half an hour before we were in London and then we took the tube (metro/underground) to Piccadilly Circus. When you see a map of the underground system in London it will look like just a couple of lines crossing each other at random places, but once you start using it you see that there’s actually a system to it, and that the system works. I must say though that even on the Sunday all the underground trains were packed, only at night did it calm down a bit. So yeah we were at Piccadilly Circus and only once you walk up from the underground do you realize where you have gone to. A big city, with lots of big buildings and a lot of traffic.

From the Piccadilly Circus station we then went off to see Buckingham Palace. On the way there we came across randomly scattered groups of people dressed up in 17th century battle outfits, complete with pikes, spears and swords. We thought that they would go off to do something interesting, but we didn’t get to experience it, although we came across them later on in London as well. So we arrived at Buckingham Palace and there were large groups of tourist waiting around and the police had blocked of the main road we decided to stay around for a bit and see if anything interesting would happen. After about half an hour of standing in the cold weather (it was sunny, but still very cold), a marching band passed by in what I guess what traditional clothing, followed directly by about 20 men in what appeared to be WWII nazi uniforms carrying machine guns. So what we had witnessed was probably the best protected marching band of Britain. Right after they had entered the gates of Buckingham palace we did see some big black hats walking around in the distance so we had also witnessed the changing of the guard from a distance.

We continued on into London and walked through a park, I must admit though that I can’t remember the name and pretty soon we were staring at the “Big Ben”. Walking up to it I don’t really know why they call it the Big Ben, I didn’t really find the size of it that impressive, they could have just called it Ben I suppose. We spent a good half hour taking pictures of the Big Ben and the rest of the group really got into taking pictures of themselves in the, I guess famous, red London phone booths. I found the temptation great to do it as well, but I ended up not doing it because it didn’t seem as original anymore. Oh and all the pictures I will just put at the end of the blog this time because I think it’ll be quite a lot of them and might keep this easier to read and follow. So from the Big Ben we continued on a little bit to see the Thames river and the London Eye from a distance. Only then did I get an impression of the size of London, all along the shores of the Thames was London and it literally was as far as you could see.

Now, as I am writing this I’m not completely sure of the chronological order of everything anymore. I might get things wrong and leave parts out, but that was just because there were so many impressions in one day. So basically what we did was walk through London the whole day. I think we saw everything there is to see basically for the typical tourist route through London. We had lunch in an Irish pub in what seemed to be the China town of London, they wanted us to pay for our food and drinks before we had actually gotten them, which was weird but it ended up being a real good burger and a very tasty pint of Guinness. I think it was after this that we went on to see the Tower Bridge and the London Eye from a bit closer. We did end up walking across the Tower Bridge, which really was an impressive bridge considering the size of the towers in the middle of the river. And right after we had gotten to the other side of the bridge we got in the bus because all of feet started to hurt. Public transport is arranged really good in London I think. We bought a 10 pound ticket which was good for the train to and from London, and it also included the tube and bus transport throughout London.

We ended up in Convent Garden at the market place, which has a really nice feel to it, with lots of shops and a really cultural and lively atmosphere. Here we watched some street theatre comedy act, which wasn’t really all that funny but they were working the crowds properly so it was definitely worth our time. By now it was already 17:00 and we continued to stroll around London and sat down somewhere to eat and have a drink and then continued strolling and ended up back in Wycombe around 21:30 so we had spend close to 12 hours exploring the British transport systems and London. All in all I got the impression that after this day I already know what London is, but not yet who London is. I have gotten a taste of everything but haven’t yet explored deeper into some of the more cultural things that the city has to offer. I am sure I will though.

I will leave you now with some pictures, and hope I will be a little quicker with my blog entries in the future. It’s a really busy life though, to the pub, to the pub in London, to school, to the pub, and then to the pub again… Life’s tough isn’t it :P



(These are the crazy war dudes that didn't even really fight. Dit waren mensen die zich omgekleed hadden tot soldaten van zo rond de 17de eeuw, ze hebben alleen niet gevochten, jammer.)


(The road leading to Buckingham Palace. De weg naar Buckingham Palace, waar de Engelse konigin woont.)


(Buckingham Palace)


(So this is the might Big Ben. Dit is de Big Ben.)

(The London underground, the tube, a system that works and is really usefull. Dit is een van de borden van de Londense metro, een heel goed system die het erg makelijk maakt om door heel Londen te komen.)




(The group have lunch, almost everyone got the house burger :) Hier gingen we met de groep even lunchen, bijna iedereen had de hamburger genomen, die trouwens ook wel heel erg lekker was.)


(Me and two of the Dutch girls infront of London Bridge. Dat ben ik met nog eens twee andere Nederlandse meiden die hier ook op uitwisseling zijn bij de London Bridge.)


(So this is the group of exchange students, there we 2 Portuguese, 2 Americans, 2 French, 1 Swede, 2 Finns and 4 Dutch. I won't go listing the names, all the nationalities should be impressive enough. And yes I know that if you add these numbers up there's one missing in the picture, but that's the one taking the picture ;) Dit is de groep mensen met wie ik naar Londen ben geweest. Het zijn allemaal uitwisseling studenten en we hadden daar 2 Portugezen, 2 Amerikanen, 2 Fransen, 1 Zweed, 2 Finnen and 4 Nederlands.)


(Ofcourse the famous double decker, thought I'd share it with you. Dit is de beroemde Engelse dubbeldecker.)

This post was created under the influence of RX Bandit's 2001 Progress.

Wicked Wycombe

So here’s another update from Wycombe. Past couple of days have been full of new impressions again and I think that Wycombe has fully grown on me already. Thursday was my first official day at school with classes, and guess what, first class I have is taught by a Dutchman. Funny really, trying to escape the Dutch teaching at Inholland and then having a class from someone who used to teach at Inholland as well. Apart from the fact that he is ex-Inholland, he is a really cool guy and it seems that he really knows a lot about music events. But then again, someone with a lot of know-how and then teaching before hitting 30 must be a failed business man. But I won’t get to negative about him because he is a nice guy and really helpful as well. We have already made plans to organize a Dutch night in one of the local pubs since we are represented so well.

Another class I had was with local second year students and you can really tell that the level is lower than a third year class. (The study is only 3 years here, instead of 4, so we got to choose between second and third year classes). The students themselves aren’t as mature yet as I would have expected and the teacher was really bring all the theories in the most simple way, and then going on about obvious (for me at least) stuff for too long. But I think I will get a better picture once we get further in the semester. Other funny thing is that teachers have obligatory and recommended books and reading but you are not supposed to buy these books. Instead the library will have several copies of all the books, I hope the system works, at least it saves the students a whole lot of money.

And then for today’s classes (Friday), they were cancelled… I don’t know exactly why they were cancelled but I do hope it’s not going to be standard practice as it was at Inholland. So instead today I did some cleaning in my room, my laundry and some shopping. I think I succeeded in cleaning my clothes, they weren’t really dirty but they were wet when I took them out of the washing machine. Only then realizing that I didn’t really have anything to dry my laundry on. The house does have a weird system from drying laundry, in the kitchen there’s a couple of bars attached to each other and you can move it up and down with a trolley system. To give you a better picture, I made a picture:

(Dit is het originele was droog systeem in het huis, heel strategisch geplaatst naast het fornuis)

This system has one big disadvantage though, once I start cooking all of the grease and fumes will go straight into the laundry, which would make it dirty again. So I went into town and bought myself a nice drying rack. Having that, and doing my groceries I was already 40 pounds lighter. UK is really expensive, even a medium pizza from domino’s is already 8 pounds. A good thing is that I’m still driving on the gas that I got in Holland, meaning that I’m not really driving as much as I used to and this is saving me money as well. Only now I have to replace my right side mirror which I smashed pulling in backwards to my house.

Here’s an overview of pictures that I made to give you an impression of my living here, and if I forgot to write about something, I’m sure I’ll do it some other day.

(Van boven naar beneden, spiegel kapot van de BMW... heel jammer, m'n spagethi van van de week, en mijn vernieuwende was droog systeem)

Getting ready to go the pub so g’night.

This post was created under the influence of Snoop Dogg’s 1993 Doggy Style.

UK Oddities & Classes

Apart from driving on the wrong side of the road and not being able to speak their own language, there have been some other things about the UK that have me puzzled. First off, their coins. The less value they have the bigger they seem to be. On top of that, there’s a coin which doesn’t even say how much it’s worth! Turns out this is the 1 pound coin, but if you don’t know this how are going to figure this out? To illustrate the weird coin sizes I made a little picture, see for yourself, it isn’t all of them but they are in order (left least value to right biggest value).

(Het Britse geld, heel raar dat het de munten niet groter worden als ze in waarde omhoog gaan, ze liggen hier op volgorde van waarde...)

Another thing that I cannot see the logic in is their water taps. Instead of having the convenient two waters pipes (one for hot, one for cold) come together into one tab, they keep them separate here. Of course there is the occasional exception, but it is rare. So we have one tab for hot water, and one tab for cold water, at opposite sides of the sink. So when attempting to wash one’s hands you have to choose between either washing them with cold (usually freezing) or hot (usually boiling water), the only way I have figured out so far is to keep both tabs running and moving quickly from hot to cold and so on. I am sure there is a better way to use this system but I have yet to figure it out. What I don’t understand is that when we have such obvious solutions for these things on the continent, they seem to refuse to adapt to these systems here.

(Het Britse kraan systeem, twee aparte kranen voor heet en koud, werkt voor geen meter)

Moving on, I have had my first day at school yesterday. And what can I say… the buildings certainly aren’t up to standard compared to Inholland, but the staff is just really friendly, helpful and well informed. Really a pleasure to see that I didn’t even have to introduce myself and they already knew my name from my application forms. At Inholland I think 90% of the teachers still don’t know my name although I’ve had class with them for almost 2.5 years. The information packets provided were also very insightful and helpful, not only concerning the school issues, but also on things in Wycombe and the UK in general.

After a general round of introduction and a short speech by the vice dean it was I think, we got to sit down with the head of the Music and Entertainment program to discuss our schedules and any potential clashes between the courses you had picked. Of course only 3 out of the 6 courses I had picked were compatible within one schedule, but atleast the two that I really wanted to do were on there. So in the end I got stuck with a class I wasn’t really interested in, but for the sake of getting enough credits I’ll take it anyway. So just to give you an idea, here’s an overview of the course I’m following.

Finance for the Creative Industry
The aim of this module is to develop knowledge of the range of financial planning, control and evaluation techniques available to managers in the creative industries and lead to a wider understanding of the role of finance in the achievement of the aims and objectives of a variety of types of organisation within the creative industries. Applications of these techniques are used in Royalty and Recoupment calculations, Tour budgets and Venue hire decisions. The techniques and concepts developed in this module are a progression from those studied at level 1 in the Music and Entertainment Business Environment module. In addition they will be particularly appropriate for modules such as Business Enterprise, Music & Entertainment Company Management and Tour and Stage Management at Level 2.

Music & Entertainment Company Management
The aim of this module is to develop knowledge of the range of relevant theories and techniques available to managers in the creative industries. This will lead to a wider understanding of the role of management in the achievement of the aims and objectives of a variety of types of organisation(s) within the creative industries. The theories, techniques and concepts developed in this module are a progression from those studied at level 1 in the Management Principles for the Creative Industries Module and also expands on the Entertainment Industry Framework Module. In addition some of the theories & techniques used are also appropriate for modules such as Finance for Creative Industry Managers & Music & Entertainment Business Enterprise at Level 2. It also discusses issues that are covered in much greater depth at level 3 within Global Retail & Distribution and Application of the Law & Trade Practices.

Promotional Techniques
This module is a progression from the introduction to promotional mix theory covered in the marketing element of the programme at level one. It also compliments the Music Marketing and the Media module at level two, which provides a critical insight into media utilisation within the music industry. The Promotional Techniques module provides critical integration, knowledge and understanding of marketing communications theory and music and entertainment promotional practice.

Strategic Management of Live Events
To critically analyse advanced practice and the strategic organisation associated with live events. This module will focus on four areas critical to the development of the live event.

Lectures, seminars, workshops and assessments will allow students to consider a wide range of strategic practices related to the live music industry. These will be drawn specifically from the live music environment but can be transferred to other events where pertinent. The explicit link between the complexities of event strategic planning and the operational outcomes will be examined. The module content as a whole will be of particular relevance in the context of a wide range of other operational and strategic management modules that the students are undertaking during their programme of study.

This post was created under the influence of Millencolin's 2002 Home From Home.

Wycombe and Navigation

Time for an update. The past couple of days since I have arrived have been full of new impressions and things to reflect on. Getting the hang of a new town is always hard in the beginning I guess as it definitely was the case now. Getting so horribly lost trying to find places by car, I spend the majority of Thursday and Friday walking around Wycombe just to get a feel for the place. What really surprises me is the amount of cars that continuously drive through the town, it seems that every single person here owns a car and drives in it constantly.

Attempting to find the local Tesco seemed more of a challenge than it ought to be. After ending up in three different towns trying to find it by car, I decided to leave the Beemer at the house and try to find it on foot. After 45 minutes of walking I had finally found it! Funny thing is that the walk back only took about 20 minutes… yeah even on foot I am still a bit disorientated. So mission accomplished and I had gotten some of the necessary groceries. The price difference between the Tesco and the nearby Indian Deli was very noticeable though. I think the prices at the Deli are almost 50% higher and so I won’t return there. So yeah, that was basically my Thursday and Friday… sleeping a bit, trying to find the Tesco, eating a bit, trying to find the Tesco, and sleeping a bit.

Yesterday I went to drop off a bag that I had taken with me for another exchange student, and after the now so familiar navigational troubles I had found her house as well. After getting a tour through her house I offered to give her a ride into town so she could do some groceries as well. High Wycombe is located in the middle of what looks like a valley. The center of the town is at the lowest point of the area and then to the north and south there a big hills. I think they go up to about 100 meters at their highest point, but the roads are very steep and driving on them is what I imagine is the same driving through San Francisco (just to give you an idea).

Back to the story. Ok so we had arrived in the center of Wycombe and I had found a big parking garage close to the Tesco and to my surprise there was a shopping mall attached to it. There was a lot of construction going on to the place as well so that’s probably why it hadn’t caught my attention yet. But inside we thought it would be a good idea to get some English cell numbers right away, so we got that and then it was off to the Tesco once more. This time I had my car with me so I could take a bit more of the heavier stuff as well (read beer).

Car fully loaded with snacks and supplies we went back to her house and we chilled there for a while and then we decided to explore the area a bit more by foot. We looked for the school which supposedly was only two streets away from where she lives but it took us a good 45 minutes to find it and then figuring out on the way back that it was actually only two streets away and about 10 minutes to walk. But it was good that we went wrong the way there because I finally found a gas station in Wycombe. When we got back to her house the other girl had called as well and we met her there. We decided that it would be a good idea to get fish & chips in accordance with proper English etiquette. We went to a place that sold fish & chips and was located next to Mr. Chan’s Chinese restaurant; only when we came in it looked like Mr. Chan was running both establishments, so we ended up getting Chinese English Fish & Chips. Whether or not it’s any different from just English Fish & Chips I wouldn’t know, as I do, I’ll let you know.

Well I don’t really feel like typing any more so I’ll leave you with some more pictures, this time from the outside of the house, and if I can find them, also some pictures I made in the town center. Other than that I’m starting school tomorrow and I’m excited to see what will happen there. Keep you posted.

My front door

The front of the house with my car next to it

Better view of the front of the house

Back yard, although not really accesable

Front yard

These are pictures I took from the top of the parking garage with my phone. Just to give you an idea of the area.

This post was created under the influence of Sublime’s 1992 40 Oz. To Freedom.

The Arrival

Well, who would have thought, I made it to High Wycombe! After an exhausting trip that took longer than it should have I have now settled in to my new room. As I currently do not have access to internet I don’t know when this will be posted but read as if it was written Wednesday the 17th of January at 15:00 (UK time).

Getting to the ferry Tuesday night was easier than I had expected, I didn’t have to turn around anywhere and got straight to the right place. When I arrived I still had to wait before I could check in but because of all the rain I spent that time in the car. By the time I had gotten the car on board of the ship I had probably already spent close to 1.5 hours in that general area (moving from check in line, to customs line, to line waiting for the trucks to get on the ship). Tired, I went to my cabin and debated on whether or not to get a beer or not. So I went to get a beer. It seemed there were only truckers on the ship, and they obviously knew their way around it already and then there was me, turning the ship upside down, not knowing where to go. I came across someone who looked like staff and asked where I could get a beer, I think the answer was in English but I didn’t understand a single word of it, so I was happy there were a lot of hand gestures accompanying the explanation. So I had my beer and then it was really time to get to bed.

At 5:30 (UK Time) the soothing voice of an obviously overweight captain woke me up by announcing on the speaker system that breakfast was available. So I got up, had a shower and went to get breakfast. Breakfast was big slices of finely cooked bacon, mushrooms, beans, and scrambled eggs. This all accompanied by a refreshing glass of orange juice. In a record time of 5 minutes this breakfast had ended up in my stomach and with a cup of coffee I looked over the road map again to make sure I knew where to go. By now it was 6:30 and the soothing voice had returned to announce that all car passengers where to go to the decks where they were parked and exit the ship. I willingly complied as the wave movement had started playing tricks with the breakfast I had.

Driving on the left side of the road came more natural than I would have expected. Finding directions didn’t… I only had a vague idea of where I was going as it was still dark outside and the British don’t seem to be fond of street lights. The road signs didn’t really help much as they only had names of towns on there that I think most of the British people haven’t heard of before. All well though I got on the highway I was supposed to and drove. Now came the tricky part. Roundabouts. They are really hard to spot and once you get on one it’s every man for himself and good luck. The way we know them in Holland is probably the upgraded version of the ones they have here, and if there is a system to it, please leave a comment explaining it as I have yet to figure it out.

While on the highway the combination of pouring rain, poorly lit streets and roundabouts that consisted of three roundabouts put together, put me in the complete wrong direction. I was now on the highway to Cambridge, which is North of London while I had to be West of London. The road signs didn’t want to list more than 3 towns ahead so it took me a while to figure out as well. I decided to stop at a gas station to stretch my legs and look over the map once more. Getting to a gas station was another mission by itself, you have to exit the highway, fight your way through another four “roundabouts”, take a side road, and then you’re there… By now I had seen that I was way off target and to make things worse there was no connection between the highway I was on and the one I had to be on, this meant that I had to go all the way back again, so much for my navigation skills.

Three roundabouts, 50 miles, and 2 hours later I was stuck in traffic on the M25 which was the road I had to be on. By now it was around 9:30, meaning that I had spent three hours already driving to a place that the Google Navigator said would only take 2 hours… and I was still 60 miles off. All well I continued through the still pouring rain and traffic and arrived in High Wycombe an hour or so later, but that didn’t mean I was at my new house already. Along with streets lights, the British don’t seem to be fond of signs with street names either. Spending almost another 45 minutes driving through High Wycombe, only by chance did I see a house that had a sign Wick Cottage on it, which was exactly where I had to be.

The house looked like most of the other houses in the area and was probably build in the early 1920’s. Maintaining the outside of houses doesn’t seem to be a priority here as most have things growing on them and look poor. Little did I know what to expect inside the house. After greeting the landlord he showed me around the first floor of the house which I share with another exchange student whom I’ve yet to meet. My guess was that the house was probably built around 1920, and judging the interior of it, it could have been before that time. I’ll list a bunch of pictures so you can see how nicely decorated the house is and make your own judgment.

Where to begin? The smell of the house, my room included, can be compared to an attic that hasn’t been opened in 30 years. It is this smell that you’ll find in places that aren’t cleaned very well or in the houses of older people. It is hard to put into words but once you smell it you’ll know exactly what I mean. The heating system of the house is tank boiler with two radiators strategically placed away from where anyone would come. My room is currently being heated by a mobile barbeque, it is nice and warm and definitely needed, but the simplicity of it all bedazzles me. The landlord told me that there was a better heater in the room, but it had broken. It turned out to be the yellow stained machine ironically placed in what looks like a fireplace. The furniture that is here is nice and quaint, except for the bed which with its steel bars stands out between all the wood. Before I started unpacking I had this urging need to vacuum the room first. I thought that my old room in Holland was poorly kept, but it was nothing compared to what I found here. Everything was covered in a layer of dust nearly big enough to see a height difference once removed. So the next hour or so I spent cleaning and unpacking.

In the end I like the room, it is big, roomy and hopefully soon not as smelly. I haven’t met the other tenant yet, but I think it will be fine. At least I feel a little bit at home already with my senseo (first thing that as unpacked and installed). I’m off to the shop now as I don’t have any food with me, and I will keep you all posted!

Pictures!:

(In line for the ferry... this is the second line out of the three)

(My cabin!)

(Room part one, desk, I am currently sitting on that chair)

(Heater that doesn't work, and heater that does work... this is the only way of heating in my entire room!)

(My bed with a view of the garden)

(You guessed it! ...that's my room as well)

(My sofa!)

(Can you feel the heat? I can't)

(Main hall, the red thing is the outside door, to the right is my room door and the door to the left goes to the bathroom)

(The kitchen!)

(The kitchen heater! it saves refridgerator costs I guess...)

This post was created under the influence of A.F.I.’s 2003 Sing The Sorrow.

Today's Journey

Well that's it, no turning back now. At 22:00 tonight my ferry will leave and I better be on it. Right now just finishing up the last business and before I pack up my laptop I thought I'd make anther post.

The trip itself will total almost 12 hours, which is silly really since it can be done in less than 7, but atleast I will arrive in England well rested and all. Here's an overview of the journey...



And then hopefully I'll be at my new house around 10 or 11 a.m. tomorrow. Well back to packing, I'll probably add more later today.

Uhhh....

Just three more days and I will begin one of the biggest adventures of my life so far. That's right, I am moving to England for a couple of months. Me and my most trustest ally (BMW 318i) will board ship Tuesday evening and wake up in a whole different country. It's weird to think about it now, but I'm pretty sure it will all feel natural once I arrive.

Now you might be wondering, where exactly is this guy going, let me tell you. I will be going to High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Ahhh that place! My thoughts exactly... well here's the map location... (for those who didn't know)

If that doesn't tell you enough, here's a couple of wikipedia highlights on High Wycombe:

- There has been a market held in the High Street since Medieval times. (good to know, right?)

- Quite surprisingly for a town in "Leafy Buckinghamshire" Wycombe contains some considerably deprived areas. (uh oh)

- High Wycombe was the site of a minor English Civial War battle featuring John Hampden. (Yes!, the great John Hampen!)

- During WWII, from May 1942 to July 1945, the U.S. Army Air Force's 8th Air Force Bomber Command was based at a former girls' school at High Wycombe. (US Air Force makes base in girls school, go figure...)

- A traditional ceremony of the town since the medieval period is the weighing of the mayor, where at the beginning and end of the mayors serving year, they are weighed in full view of the public to see whether or not they have gained weight at the taxpayers' expense. (This should be put in EU law)

- The town made national and international media after anti-terrorism raids were carried out across the town on August 10, 2006, as part of the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot. Five arrests were made from three different houses in the Totteridge and Micklefield areas of the town. (I thought I'd end the highlights on a positive note...)

If you want to read the full story and more interesting things about High Wycombe, click here!

(This post was created under the influence of Deftones' 1995 album Adrenaline)