Life after Bellerbys College

Unwritten

 (From a song by Natasha Bedingfield) 

I am unwritten, 

Can't read my mind I'm undefined I'm just beginning 

The pen's in my hand Ending unplanned 

The first year of Uni is officially over – term finished, exams done, results… well, I would not be studying in the UK if I had already known them. 

Last piece of coursework submitted, last book is given back to the library, last drink is finished at the end of the year party. By this time the halls are already empty, everyone had to move out at the end of last week. My dear biochemists who will be hugely missed all went home – irrespectively where home is – London, Durham, Spain, Germany or Luxembourg and indeed many others. 

 I went back to Imperial just a few days ago to submit a form I totally forgot about during the exam period. I cannot say it was empty - it’s never is - but the contrast with its usual state was too noticeable. Nobody is seating on a grass in front of Suicide Tower (that’s how most of us call the Queens Tower – the oldest building of the college- some students actually did commit a suicide from there that’s why now there is no access to the top. Usually when I am doing tours I tell people that none of those people were biochemists), people in the library watch video on YouTube instead of hectically trying to finish a lab report/essay, project (I have no idea why they do it in the library though… may be got very attached to it during the exam period?) and even no queue in the canteen (!). Nevertheless my Uni still looks very beautiful. 

 A year ago when I was asked what is my favorite part of London I would not be able to say anything specific – maybe Trafalgar Square (when you stand just opposite the National Gallery overlooking the fountains and Big Ben and feel that you are really in London) or Piccadilly Circus at night (with all the lights on and crowds around irrespectively of how late it is) – but now I can tell for sure, my favorite part of London is South Kensington. 

My love for London in general did not go away either. It has just transformed from a strong but immature emotion into a profound feeling and hopefully some understanding. Every time my head is not too preoccupied with other things I just take my time to admire my beloved city and feel extremely grateful one more time that I have a chance to live here. As far as I am concerned, one of my main achievements this year was keeping my old friends at the same time as getting new ones. 

 Back in June 2009 I really did not know how distance, university, new people and lifestyle will affect our friendship but now one year later I can say that girls from Bellerbys are still a big part of my life. It is not that important that some people go – the most important is that others stay. 

This year was also marked by a significant change in my lifestyle – after living in a host family for 3 years I was finally renting a flat on my own. Which was great – even when I realized that there is no milk in the fridge for a simple reason that I forgot to get some. Or that I really have to clean the flat if I still want to live there. Or that there are all sorts of bills to pay if I want to have water, electricity and Internet. And I can no longer moan about the way my host mum washes our clothes as now I am the one to blame. It was great because I had my own space, my little quiet part of London where I could escape when I felt I cannot do it any longer – talking or indeed seeing people, running around like crazy, studying or even partying. 

There are many things that I have done this year and even more that I wish I had time for. But this year is over and next one will be very different again. At least because this is my last post for the blog I have been doing since January 2008. I was sharing with you my experiences, thoughts and emotions like putting a tiny part of myself into every line of those endless Internet pages. I would like to say goodbye to everyone who was following this blog, thank you for all your comments and just hope that it was useful and fun to read. 

Today is where your book begins The rest is still unwritten. 

Good luck and have a great summer!

Ksenia achieved six A grades at Bellerbys Brighton in 2009

Summer Term at Imperial College

Hi everyone, wow, it’s been a while since the last post. 

Nevertheless, I can describe the whole summer term in just two words – revision and exams. Or actually what was supposed to be revision was seeing the stuff for the first time and thinking “oh, really, that’s what that lecture series was all about!” Library has become my second home and most of the people including myself were glad it works 24/7. 

Just a few weeks before the exams we got our biochemistry hoodies and everyone was wearing them all the time. As by this time almost every other student in this country has finished their exams the whole silent area was full of people in identical hoodies. It felt like a big happy (or not really) family. 

All of this might seem quite dull but actually the summer term was not that bad. Firstly we went to Brighton. We were extremely lucky with the weather, walked on the seafront, visited Brighton Pier, ate at Donatello (as usual we didn’t even had to look at the menu), ended up in our favourite shisha place before going to the lounge where we used to spend all the Friday (and sometimes Saturday as well) nights. This night featured missing the last train, meeting lots of people who are currently studying in Bellerbys, and eating fish and chips (classic!) on Brighton station in early morning. 

Secondly as my friends from other universities were finishing their exams they usually were coming down to my place or tried to get me out – basically did their best to distract me from my revision. Not sure what I would have done without those little breaks – so every time I was beginning to dream about curly arrows and moving electrons (they did not want to move and were talking to me with very funny voices) – chemistry students will understand what I mean - I knew it’s time for some more distraction. 

And finally my dear fellow biochemists whose serious concentrated faces motivated me to work harder and whose jokes and little chats helped me to survive the miserable periods when you feel you cannot do it any longer. Exam period itself was pretty intense – 3 hours a day, 3 days in a row. I am not even trying to estimate how many liters of coffee I drunk, how many trees were killed to produce all that paper that I wasted in writing endless notes hoping that at least something with stick to my head, and how many times I just wished it is be over. 

And when the exams were indeed finished it felt a bit weird - all that work just for 9 hours in total and now we can forget it all – until the next year. The same day the Royal School of Science organized a Summer Ball as most of Biochemists, Chemists and some other Scientists did not go to the main Imperial Summer Ball due to the revision (can you imagine? I did not go to the Summer Ball – and this is after 3 years worth of tradition of May Balls!). 

As most of my friends were there the Science Ball was quite fun even though we were all pretty exhausted. And guess what, the next day we had a Biochemistry Open Day where me and my friend were student guides and had to represent our course! We really did our best and hope that we succeeded in showing them how great is biochemistry (even after 3 exams and a sleepless night) and that biochemistry in Imperial is even better. 

Then we spent our afternoon at the advice desk explaining everything about Imperial from accommodation to tutorial system to numerous extra-caring parents. After all of this we felt like we deserve a treat and went to a Japanese restaurant and then to have a couple of glasses of wine with other girls. Friday night was marked by going out to a very posh club – something we haven’t done for ages so felt extremely good realizing once again that you are in London – a city where everything is possible. 

So what’s now? Some of my friends decided to stay in London over summer and I thought it might be a good idea for me as well – at least for a month. So now I am staying here till the 2nd of August and will be doing some mentoring in a girls catholic school – if it doesn’t sound like me at all I will have to add – the subject I will be doing is my favourite Chemistry. I am also planning to do some volunteering and obviously have a great time here in London! 

My mum is coming soon as well and we have lots of plans including trips to Edinburgh, Bath and Cambridge and Brighton, classical music concert and obviously some shopping! It doesn’t seem like I am going to spend a lot of time in Moscow, as my parents are planning a visit to St. Petersburg, and I really want to go somewhere warm as well (even though at the moment I am a bit tired of the heat – it's getting too hot in London this summer!) So now the summer holidays have officially started, so let’s go out in the sun (while it’s still there – in UK you may never know!) and make the most of it!

Ksenia achieved six A grades at Bellerbys Brighton in 2009

Taking a Month Off From University

Posted by Ksenia

Hey, everyone!  The volcanic cloud has moved away from Europe and UK and is no longer considered that dangerous for the planes’ engines so now people can finally be where they want to and do not just sit in the airports and endlessly update their Facebook statuses ‘’Stuck in…”.

The situation which at first seemed ridiculous (who would believe that the planes in almost the whole Europe will just stop flying for several days if we haven’t seen it with our own eyes?) then suddenly turned really serious (basically when we found out that the last eruption continued for almost two years everyone started thinking about alternative ways to get to the UK – exams will not wait for a couple of years!

For most of the Russians that was quite problematic as almost no one has the Schengen visa required to travel across Europe by train or otherwise and getting one might take ages).  At some point the only thing we could do was wait, check BBC and Heathrow website every hour or even more often, looking at the ash cloud maps and watching the world getting completely mad.  And, as true optimists, just hope for the best!

Ok, now a bit about the holidays themselves.  At first I went to Moscow to see the relatives and friends, enjoy the home-made Russian food and get ready for the new trip.  This Easter me and my mum picked Thailand as our holiday destination – we have been there a few times before and each time was making the country even more attractive in our eyes – sunshine, warm sea, white sand, nice people, good service and total relaxation – what else can you ask for after a busy term in London?

For 12 days no internet, TV or newspapers (only a little bit of Biochemistry - my bible, the Molecular biology of cell, is with me, as always!) - that’s a dream!  In that country you feel you can afford being lazy - that’s exactly what we did with my mum – sunbathing, swimming, eating seafood (love it - mussels, crabs, squid, prawns, and fish - all totally delicious), having a massage (this time we tried a few types – Thai, Oil and Foot. 

The Oil massage was the most western-like, whereas Thai was quite different from anything I have experienced before – you wear a cotton pajamas and the Thai woman uses her hands and legs (!) to do the massage – this might involve standing on your legs and even walking on your back.  All of this is actually much nicer than it sounds or looks and you feel great afterwards.

I realized that I am not a particular fan of foot massage though – I am sure that the person tried to her best and it was supposed to do me good - but that was a bit over my pain limits).  I also had time to read a few non-Biochemistry related books and listen to all the music on my phone – before I was not even sure what I had on it.

We chose a great time for our trip as well.  On the 13th of April Thai people were celebrating their New Year.  The day started with pouring some scented water on the statue of Buddha standing in the reception.  This signified rejuvenation and the new start - and we also could make a wish hoping that Buddha will help us.

In the afternoon there was parade involving everyone in the hotel.  Staff was wearing beautiful traditional clothes; everybody was singing, dancing and playing with water guns.  The parade was followed by the water blessing ceremony (it seems that water is pretty important for Thai New Year). 

The main celebration was in the evening.  There was a huge barbeque at the pool side with lots of Thai food from different parts of the country.  We have tried quite a few things (including blue rice, deep-fried flowers and coconut pudding) but some of the dishes were simply beyond our understanding.  The show with singing and dancing again (to which nobody really paid any attention as trying to understand what one was eating seemed more important) was followed by the Thai Beauty Contest.  The guest of our hotel had to pick the three most beautiful girls which was not an easy task – we constantly got distracted by the gorgeous Thai clothes they were wearing and ended up judging the dresses but not the girls themselves.

The results were announced latter in the evening and I was pleased to see that the contestants I liked the most took the first and the second places.  After this everyone went to the beach and was given a small red hot-air balloon.  We then let it go into the air and could make a wish again - hope at least one of them will come true!  The balloons looked great in the air – once they flew high up in the sky they started resembling stars and as our hotel had quite a few of them we very quickly created a whole galaxy.  That was already the third New Year I have celebrated this year but when it comes to things like that - the more the better!

Even though I said that we were lucky with the timing of our visit I could not say so on our first day – April is one of the hottest months of the year so… it was hot all the time – in the morning, evening and obviously in the afternoon.  Even the water in the sea was hot - seemed like you are swimming in the bath. 

We were not particularly careful with the sun either even though that was not our first trip to Thailand so we ended up having quite a few sunburns (even went to the hotel spa to do an after sun treatment which was nice but did not particularly help).

After that we tried to spend less time on the sun and either the climatic conditions have improved or we just simply got used to it – but it didn’t feel that hot anymore.  The journey back was ideal as well (as ideal as a nine and a half flight can be) – usually flights from southern destinations to Moscow are heavily delayed but this time everything was on time.  I came back to Moscow airport on the 15th of April – what I didn’t know was that the eruption in Iceland has already started.  So I was completely happy.  Fine, I am stating going in circles here!  Now time to go to London – back to my dear friends, Imperial and Biochemistry.  Have a great term!

Ksenia achieved six A grades at Bellerbys Brighton in 2009

 

Catching Up

Hey, everyone!!

I am back...again!

A few past weeks were simply a period of catching up with stuff – firstly with the revision for the exam (leaving everything till the last minute and then crying “omg, there is soooo much to learn!!!”), then with my family (my parents visited me in London, more on this shortly), then with my studies (trying to pass my exam obviously made me forget that we are expected to READ for our degree so sleeping on the lectures doesn’t count towards it), my social life (yeap, I was even too busy to party, can you imagine that?) and finally with this blog!!!

So as you can see I am now at the end of my “catching up list” so you might think I got it all sorted out but Easter holidays are approaching at an enormous speed and after one month in Russia I will have to catch up with everything from the beginning.

You can see that my life is just one big mess once again (even my New Year resolutions cannot help it) but that’s probably what makes it so much fun!

Okey, let’s take it slowly! The 19th of February was the last day we had to care about amino acids, stereoisomers, peptide bonds and various levels of protein structure (at that moment we didn’t know that we will have to come back to all of this once again in even more details in the Proteins&Enzymes course). The list might be continued with some more exciting topics including radioactivity, spectrometry, electron transport chain and metabolism – all can be forgotten now....well, until the next year!

Even though I didn’t manage to get a proper sleep the night before (to Bellerbys students: do NOT follow my example – to get my six A’s I actually had to sleep properly. Why not now? Well, when you will get to you first year at uni you will understand....) I was extremely excited, eating my dark chocolate and trying to feed everyone with it (“Come on guys, your brains urgently needs some adenosine triphosphate!).

When everything was over the feeling was rather strange – usually when you do your exams they are not simply finished within three hours! It was a bit unreal...too good to be true...nice weather, friends all around you...and absolutely NO work to be done over the week-end! So what could we do? Obviously go to the union, sit there for hours, go home, get changed and sit there for hours again (some alcohol is obviously involved).

We had a special rule that night though – if someone starts talking about the exam he has to finish his entire glass! The rule was really useful as listening to all the questions again is the last thing you want to do after an exam.

But what about the questions themselves? Well, I cannot say that they were extremely difficult – that would be unfair and probably scare people - but they were strange. While looking through my notes, there were a few things I almost spent no time on, basically because I thought that they will never include those in the exam... Well, they did... a good lesson for me – doesn’t matter how silly/difficult/irrelevant material looks we still have to learn it!

The results will only be published after Easter and that would only be an approximate grade with the final percentage marks out in summer (yes, that’s even longer than waiting for your A-levels!) so the only thing I can do now is forget about them and try to study harder for the ones still to come!

Talking about the summer exams – I guess here in Imperial we are the last ones to finish in the entire country (and Biochemists seem to finish latter than everyone else in the college!). All my friends from other universities will be finished in April- May, but we have to study till the end of June... And to make it absolutely “perfect” all the exams are one after another on the same week! Well, that doesn’t make me love Imperial any less but it is simply unfair!!! Hopefully, at least this summer will be nice in the UK...not that we will particularly have time to enjoy it but still...

So what else can I tell you about the college life? In brief (don’t want you to get bored), we had a few practicals that didn’t work (that should comfort Bellerbys science students- once you get to the higher level nothing changes – labs still don’t work!), a couple of presentations (For the first one we had to talk about one of the articles in Scientific American- my title was “New ways to squash superbugs” - just love this business about antibiotic resistance – how clever it is, not that it kills more people than AIDS and costs world economy billions of dollars!

For the second one we had to pick the greatest scientist of all times – but only with the name starting with the letters allocated to us. I ended up doing Pasteur who is actually a brilliant researcher and a cool guy at the same time!) and obviously lots of various assignments including write-ups for the practicals which didn’t work (Logic?).

Ok, now move on to more exciting stuff involving wasting time + money = having fun. Initially my parents wanted to come for my birthday as they do every year but this arrangement would completely disrupt my revision so they decided to fly to London as soon as the exam was finished.

Even though it was just a week we managed to do quite a few things including sorting out the delivery of my furniture (my table is pretty famous among my friends as I was waiting for it for half-a year and that was a main reason why I couldn’t do proper house parties), going to Windsor Castle, visiting China town (my father has never been there before and I never mind eating nice food), seeing “Sister Act” in London Palladium, obviously some shopping (me and my mum would not be ourselves if we didn’t visit Westfield) and don’t forget that I had to go to uni as well!

If you have never been to Windsor before I highly recommend you going there – the castle and the town are really worth it! It’s only taken us under an hour to get there and even though we weren’t particularly lucky with the weather it still could not spoil the beauty of the place.

We first took a tour around the castle and the chapel. The castle is just huge even though most of it is not open to public – it is actually the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world and is now the residence of the queen (sadly we didn’t have a chance to see her even though she was in the castle).

We learned quite a lot about the history of the place and the royal family itself, saw a part of the magnificent State Apartments (I wouldn’t mind living there) furnished with some of the finest works of art. When we finished with the castle we went for a walk around the town, had a look at the riverside, bought lots of fudge (my parents’ favourite sweet) and saw a place that reminded me of Brighton– Shakaway – where the best milk-shakes are made from everything that might come into your head from strawberry cheesecake to tic-tac. I miss you, Brighton...

The reason I bought tickets for “Sister Act” musical was that it is one of my father’s favourite movies that he used to watch all the time when I was a kid. Both of us (and my mum as well, as she simply had no choice) know the plot by heart and really wanted to see the alternative version. And we were not disappointed – the show was just hilarious (even probably a bit over the top – don’t forget that it’s still about nuns!), acting and singing was at a really high standard and songs made me want to download them straightaway!

When my parents were in London I didn’t have much time for my friends so most of the next week I spent in endless phone conversations (can you imagine how much can happen to a single person in a week time? A lot, believe my experience), parties (haven’t been to a proper club since the last term- if you don’t overdo it it’s actually so much fun) and going to friends halls (house parties for 3 days in a row –I now know lots of drinking games so can it be considered as exploration of the British culture?)

Ok, main points mentioned...time for a holiday! I am planning to go somewhere warm and exotic so you can start looking forward to some beautiful pictures!

Have a great Easter! XXX

Ksenia achieved six A grades at Bellerbys Brighton in 2009

New Year Resolutions

Didn’t write anything here for a long time – I know you missed me so I will no longer keep you waiting!  Actually at the beginning I thought that I won’t manage to update the blog till the 19th of February – the day of the true nightmare – the Biological Chemistry exam.  But then I thought that my revision (or re-learning to be more exact) would be more efficient if I distract myself from it from time to time. I must admit that I ended up not doing anything, but promise to start studying like crazy from tomorrow. 

So this brings me back to my first New Year resolution – introduce into my life some sort of a study plan. I really did not need it in Bellerbys – everything has been already organized for us by our teachers (thank you all very much again, it is greatly appreciated, especially now!). But university is the time to become independent and take your own responsibilities.  Staff from Biochemistry department showed this to us in a very efficient manner.  Obviously they were always telling us how important is to go through the lectures, understand and learn the material as the year progresses and do not leave it for the last minute. But we would not be students if we would have listened to them.  So they just gave us a test on all the examinable material in biological chemistry course with just one week to prepare. An important take-home message – it’s not GCSE or even A-level - it’s simply impossible to learn everything in a week, even if you are a genius as a couple of people in Imperial definitely are.

My second resolution is to finally start doing some sport – I have been thinking about it from time to time since the beginning of the year (if not since I came to the UK).  But there has always been something – fresher’s week, societies, friends, parties, essays or lab reports - to stop me from giving it a go. This term was about to start in the same way - the test followed by an exam – what a good excuse!  I felt that if I will not start now I will not do it until the next year.

I can tell you that the feeling was weird – I did not have a clue where things are in the sport’s center, had no idea how machines at the gym work (luckily after reading the instructions and with a help of a few boys I kind of sorted it out). It was painful – after the first class my legs were trembling so I could barely climb the stairs (surprisingly it got better after some time in the pool) and it hurt for at least three more days. But actually I felt good. Cannot say that I was very productive in terms of my study afterwards but I definitely felt better. Together with another one of my new year resolutions (yes, I have got a couple of them as you can see) – to sleep at least 8 hours a day - even my parents have noticed the difference during our traditional talk on Skype.

So far so good but then it was Monday and…it was my birthday (I am 19 now for those who don’t know and are interested for some reason)! And my entire perfect study/sleep/sport plan has collapsed. 

On the day itself I went to my friend’s house where we cooked, ate the birthday cake, watched a film and talked till very late. You might think that it was it as I really liked my new life according to my new rules…but actually breaking them felt even better! 

For the rest of the week I ended up wasting my time in endless phone conversations, watching movies for which I did not have time during the whole previous term and preparing for the big party. I decided to organize a cocktail night at my place and invite my dear girls – this obviously involved quite a bit of planning and even a bigger amount of shopping. But the party was definitely worth it – the pleasure to see everyone (my ex-neighbour even came from Edinburgh to attend the party!), some very kind words in the cards and do not forget the beautiful presents - this is just a perfect celebration.

Everyone seemed to like the food and the process of cocktail selection and preparation was just awesome! The birthday cake (#2) was very special as well. We girls just love Martini Asti - it’s simply the best sparkling wine ever! I obviously had a few bottles in my fridge but what I could not expect was one more…chocolate one! Ordered especially for me it was definitely the most unique and fabulous cake in my life (see the photos!!!). As you can probably guess we did not go to bed early.

 

A few girls stayed overnight so I started my morning (or afternoon to be more precise) by trying to clean some space in the kitchen to cook the breakfast. The breakfast itself continued for almost the whole day starting with fried eggs and finishing with another piece of my gorgeous cake. Sitting there at the centre of complete chaos we chatted, looked through photos made yesterday and drank an endless amount of coffee.

As soon as the guests left I started cleaning and washing up - that wasn’t much fun and I did not finish till very late that night but the satisfaction I felt when I saw my flat returning to its initial state with every glass perfectly clean and shiny can only be compared to finishing a huge and awfully complicated assignment. Ok, I have to end it here or I will ignore my “8-hour sleep a day” rule completely one more time. Hope you all had a very nice Christmas and now ready to party hard, work even harder and probably change something in your lives as well.

Good luck to us!

Ksenia achieved six A grades at Bellerbys Brighton in 2009

Merry Christmas!!

Hey everyone!

If you were frozen to death during the past few weeks (it was pretty chilly here in London, don’t even want to think how it was in Brighton – I love the sea but not the wind!) then defrost yourself and get ready for the Christmas – Santa and (hopefully!) presents are coming! Hope that all of you who were to travel home or wherever else you were going had a safe journey which was not too disrupted by the snow.

When I saw snow in London I was just so happy – not even because I hoped that the University will be closed (can you imagine that?) – I love snow (the reason is my Russian origin I suppose…). The thing I could not predict was that my flight will be delayed by almost 6 hours – I would then probably be somewhat less happy. So it’s actually great that we cannot foresee the future?

Okay, back from philosophical questions to Life After Bellerbys College! Quite a lot has happened since my last post but it’s pretty hard to organize it my head - so I will just mention a few things that happened. Firstly, my mum came to visit me two weeks before the end of term – basically to check that the flat and myself are still okay… and do some shopping obviously (I did not take part in that – what a shame!- had lectures instead). It was fun – we had a look at a few Christmas markets (looking for fudge – my parents’ favorite), went for a few walks around the city (I realized that Thames is 15 minutes away from where I live and the riverside is actually very nice), ate in a few good restaurants – so far so good but I did almost no studying so had to catch up as soon as I could (well, after I have invited my friends to come over to my place on the weekend).

I also booked some tickets to see Phantom of Opera in Her Majesty’s Theatre. The balance between singing and words was exactly right to pass across the story, beautiful singling was carrying the audience away with it, gorgeous costumes and constantly changing decorations (the most famous one with the lake and the candles was really impressive) kept my attention for the whole time. The atmosphere of mystery and danger made the musical really special as well. My mum also liked it even though she did not completely understand what they were singing about (not to say that there was something important). So my advice to all who did not see this masterpiece yet – go and buy your tickets!

As the end of term was coming almost every society was organizing a Christmas dinner. As they were quite repetitive (sometimes even in the same place) I decided to attend the biggest one – The Biochemistry Christmas Party. The evening was great as almost all my new friends were there - I learned that cranberry sauce is actually delicious (even without turkey), had an interesting discussion about the British culture and took lots of pictures with my new friends (almost everyone was properly dressed up). We then went to one of the London lounges that was hired entirely for the purpose of our party and with great music and cheap cocktails (I love student parties) this night was the one to remember! Then we had to do the last push before the end of term as all the deadlines were on the same week (student’s destiny or just an attempt to teach us to organize our time efficiently that always fails?).

After all the essays, lab report etc. were finished (we got an essay to write over the holidays but at that time we were unaware of it!) it is party time again – Christmas was separating us for nearly 3 weeks! So now it’s time to sleep, eat, meet with your family, study (especially if you have exams in January, good luck to you A-level!) and look forward to the new term!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you one more time!

Ksenia achieved six A grades at Bellerbys Brighton in 2009

The New Routine At University

It’s only my first year in university but the phrase “party hard but study even harder” has already become my motto.  Actually it’s almost impossible to behave differently in Imperial where everyone is just sooo good and motivated and obviously when you study biochemistry which as you know is the best degree ever!

So what exactly is it like studying in Imperial?  Biochemists are quite lucky, as except for Wednesdays we do not have lectures until 10 in the morning.  I actually got used to it very quickly which means that I go to bed one hour later… and it’s ok as long as the next day is not Wednesday!

We have two lectures in the morning (always in the same lecture theatre, and I have my “own” seat there now) and as soon as they finish we ran to the library café (the best muffins served there... still remember that I am a chocoholic?).  We are constantly hungry – I try to convince myself that it’s because of intellectual work requiring high level of glucose but I suppose the only reason for it is that I oversleep almost every day and to be on time for the lecture I have to skip the breakfast (a lecture is more important than the food, can you believe it?).

In the afternoons we usually have labs or tutorials.  Two weeks ago for example we had a four-day experiment where we had to isolate, purify and analyze DNA from different sources – it felt like real science going on as we were using the techniques I could have only read about before.  We had to separate our DNA from all the other materials in the cell based on it’s different chemical and physical properties (I was using a centrifuge for the first time which was really exciting except for the fact that in some cases we had to wait for half an hour for it to work), than cut it with restriction enzymes into smaller fragments and finally sort them out according to their sizes using gel-electrophoresis (it might seem a bit pointless but actually is a very useful technique – search Google if you are really desperate to know).

When we got our results (I was a bit scared that me or my lab partner got something wrong at the beginning and have ruined the whole experiment but surprisingly we did not) we had to do the hardest bit – somehow try and make sense of the photograph of our gel.  For the following week we could not talk about anything else but our graphs, pictures of gels, tables and measurements.  Even if we started talking about something else we ended up discussing the questions at the end of our lab reports.  It was extremely crazy and you can imagine how happy I was when I printed the finished thing out.

Sometimes we do not have anything timetabled for the afternoon but does it mean that we are getting a free one?  Not all, if you thought that coming to lectures is enough to pass your exams or at least understand what the question is talking about… well you should realize that you are wrong and the sooner the better.  Lectures usually just introduce you the topic and highlight areas for independent study - sounds scary, doesn’t it?  And actually it is as sometimes going through a single lecture may take you many hours.  That is why you pass most of your time in Imperial in the library…  But there is much more to it than just study, right?  So somehow we still find time for the life outside college doors!

Meeting up with friends, socials with societies (a meal in La Tasca with Debating society was worth every penny!) some nightlife, watching new movies (featuring 2012 and the long-awaited New Moon, I guess everyone has watched them so no need for comments) and even some cultural events to remind ourselves that we still live in London.

Last Friday we went out with girls to watch Shawshank Redemption at Wyndhams Theatre.  I was impressed with the film which is often mentioned as one of the best movies of all times so I was really looking forward to this new interpretation on the stage.  It was obviously very similar to the film – the plot was not changed at all, but the feeling was completely different – that is exactly what the theatre is all about – it seems that you are there, in that prison among all those people who are actually talking to you.  The ending was done in another way to the film and was so emotional that a few people (including myself as usual) nearly started crying.  Overall it was a fantastic experience and I was very glad that I had a chance to see this performance.

Talking about other extra-curriculum activities, even though I am really short of time I still manage to go to the choir rehearsal regularly (I am gradually getting better and do not feel as lost as I was the first time though I still try to sing a bit quieter not to confuse other people) and trying to attend debating society meetings.

Another thing is that the Open Days for UCAS applicants have already started so I had a chance to be a student guide and show people around on one of them.  It was a very strange and weird feeling – it seems like it was yesterday when I first came to Imperial not sure of my future myself and at the same time it was ages ago.  I remember looking at my guide and trying to imagine what does it feel like to be an Imperial student knowing every corner of the campus and suddenly I found myself in this position answering people’s questions and wishing them good luck with their applications.  And I realized one more time how happy and grateful I am to be in this position.

So now Christmas is coming, London is already decorated and looks even more beautiful than ever and my mum is going to visit me very soon – life is perfect but I really should start doing some work now to enjoy it fully…. So that’s it from me now and have a good end of term!

Ksenia achieved six A grades at Bellerbys Brighton in 2009

From London to Edinburgh

Oh, so many things have happened after I have written the last post so I really struggle to remember everything…  Ok, I will just mention the most important events then (you should be happy at this point – it saves you from reading all the unimportant stuff I have completely forgotten about!).

Basically the study time has finally arrived – we have lots of lab reports to submit, an essay to write (can you imagine?  An essay for Molecular Biology – actually is more complicated than you may think – avoiding plagiarism when writing about the topic where everything has been already said before you even born can be a bit tricky) and do not forget that we absolutely must do some extra reading around the lecture material (I am not saying that everybody does but in principal…)

Obviously all of this does not stop me from having a great time here in London!  And not only in London actually…  We, poor Imperial College students, do not have any reading week (or in other words seven day of everything but reading) but if I really want to go to Scotland to see my ex-neighbour from Brighton a six-hour train journey does not make a significant difference especially if my new Bible (A2 Chemistry book looks pretty lonely and abandoned on the shelf now but I do not think I will ever be able to get rid of it) – Molecular Biology of the Cell by Alberts is accompanying me.

So on Friday afternoon straight after the Biological Chemistry tutorial I headed towards King’s Cross Station and at midnight I was already in Edinburgh giving a very strong hug to my dear friend.  But if I have come that far do you think that we were going to sleep?  I am sure you guessed correctly)

So as I was starving (as usual) we decided to order some Chinese food – following our old Brighton tradition.  After half an hour search we found out that all the local deliveries were closed but we could actually go and grab some food by ourselves from a restaurant my friend had absolutely no idea about.  But as we had no other choice we got out and my first tour around the Scottish capital has begun. 

It was much warmer than I expected (almost the same as it was in London at the moment) and even though I had no idea what the city is about it felt strangely a bit like Brighton however dissimilar those cities might seem – one is in the south another in the north, different architecture, different people (I did not have many opportunities to speak to local people as most of those we were hanging around were Russian speakers but all Scottish people spoke pretty good and understandable English) and even different money (I was so shocked when I saw them for the first time and tried to spend them all in Edinburgh as still could not believe that people are going to accept them in London) – I felt at home there, almost like I have been there many times before – and this feeling is very similar to what I experience when I go back to Brighton. So this night I was just so happy to be in Edinburgh (and become even happier when we finally got some food!)

We went to bed at 5 in the morning but at 11 we already got up as I was just so enthusiastic about exploring this new to me city and my friend was just so desperate about getting a cup of coffee from our favorite Starbucks. 

We then went for another tour, a bit more formal this time, around the city and my friend was showing me the main attractions – the central streets, numerous cathedrals, splendid university buildings and finally the Edinburgh castle. 

We then visited the Museum of Illusions that was so much fun – together with all the kids and adults we were looking at various mirrors, moving pictures, solving mysteries of various objects and finally going to the “world famous” (at least they say so – I have never heard of it before) Camera Obscura – the principal behind it is pretty simple - through the hole in the roof at the top of the tower using a few powerful lenses you can actually see everything that happens in the city and one is able to do some funny things with people on streets. As we just did not have time to see everything I was very happy to have this little tour around the town and learn a few interesting facts.

During our walk we managed to buy costumes for the Halloween party that was to take place that night so after we had a traditional Scottish meal (haggis!!!  Tastes much better than it looks or sounds) at a pub we went straight back to my friend’s place, dressed up and here we are – two angels – black and white.

I was obviously the good white one (how could it be different?  I am just such a good girl!)  Everyone liked our costumes and some of our friends had very funny ones as well (one of the boys dressed up like a female prostitute – and got lots of undesired attention by the end of the night when people stopped seeing it as a joke).  There was a good crowd everywhere, the music was nice, we were surrounded by friends and even managed to take a few decent pictures …what else could we wish for?

The next morning it was raining heavily and one more time I realized how lucky I was as the weather was simply gorgeous on Saturday.  We did not mind really just sitting and chatting with a cup of coffee and a few toasts as I had leave soon anyway.  A long journey back home was ahead of me but with the Molecular Biology of the Cell in my bag I did not have a chance to become bored.

London was waiting for me as usual – for the rest of the week I was making all the possible efforts not to fall asleep on the lectures, attend the clubs and societies meetings where it was possible and Thursday was the Guy Fawkes Night!  If you don’t know, it’s just one more reason to have a party and watch the fireworks).

We celebrated on a boat floating on a river Thames with UCL Investment Society.  Cannot quite see the link between myself and the investment society?  Well, my best friend who is now second year UCL student invited me along.  It was real fun: unlimited champagne, nice company and gorgeous views of central London…but I guess I should mention here that we did not have a chance to see the fireworks themselves eventually!

But we decided to have a look at them on Saturday though!  Bonfire and fireworks at Battersea Park were just awesome and the apple in caramel really made my evening.

So what happened next? Ha-ha, not telling you, wait for the next post!

The Fresher (Part 2)

On Thursday we had the first introductory lectures in Molecular Cell Biology and Biological Chemistry. Together with Molecular Cell Biology those are the main subjects we going to study this term.  I really liked the professor for the Molecular biology – his presentation was interesting and very stimulating to start studying straight away.  At the same time he was constantly making jokes which made us perfectly awake during the whole lecture.

The professor in Biological Chemistry was completely different – he concentrated straight away on the subject and after a quick insight into the main areas of study we had to take our pens out and start writing notes.  I really enjoyed the lecture – professor was explaining everything very carefully and was writing some very clear and well-organised notes on the piece of paper that was projected on the screen for us.  The way he taught us remained me of the classes in Bellerbys and his serious approach was exactly was I was expecting from a Chemistry teacher.  After one of the lectures I even had a chance to ask one of my usual silly questions.

Molecular Biology of the Cell is a very broad subject so it will be taught to us by various people and each of them will be a specialist in a particular field.  I found this system fantastic as we will have a chance to listen to different people and learn about the subject directly from those who are passionate about it.

On Thursday evening there was a first meeting with the choir.  I was only singing at the age of seven or eight and cannot really read music as three years of piano classes were a complete failure (either  I absolutely lacked any ability for it or I just did not work hard enough).  But I was not the only one like it and when everyone started singing I could not really hear how bad I was which made me feel much better.

One of the pieces we sang that evening I found particularly hard to follow especially because I had no idea which part I should sing - soprano or alto.  After the rehearsal we all had some wine and cheese and a chance to meet other people in the club.  I even saw a girl Jessica who used to study in Bellerbys there.  After that we decided to go to a pub to have one more drink.  Initially I was planning to just take part in the rehearsal for about an hour and then go home and have an early night, but at the end I stayed till 11.  You can understand how hard I was trying to sing by the fact that the next morning I almost had no voice

It did not stop me from going to the Fresher’s Ball though.  This great occasion was definitely not to be missed.  We all dressed up in very smart clothes and once again had lots of fun.  It was very nice to see that I already know a few people and I felt so comfortable sitting and chatting to my new friends.  The way home was an adventure for me as well, as previously I used the tube or a taxi but that time it was already quite late and I knew that there must be a night bus somewhere out there.  I guess it looked pretty funny to watch me running backwards and forwards along the Hyde Park trying to find the stop I need.  I was very happy when I finally got on the bus and made sure it’s going into the right direction.  People on the bus were quite friendly as well (except those who were really drunk) and even advised me the right stop.

On Saturday we decided to meet with my dear girls from Bellerbys and go together to Brighton.  It was so great to see them – I missed them enormously over the summer and still haven’t had a chance to meet them since my arrival as we were all very busy and live in different cities now (or even parts of UK – one of my best friends is now at Edinburgh).

We walked around Brighton, drank our favourite milkshakes, went to the seafront – it was just perfect as weather was great – sunny and warm.  In the evening we went to one of the Brighton lounges where we were having such a good time while we were at Bellerbys.  We just could not stop talking – so many things happened and we absolutely needed to share them with each other.

In Brighton we also met a few current and ex-students from Bellebys who we knew and it was interesting to hear how they are doing.  The next morning after a full English breakfast we went back to London where a new exciting week was waiting for me. Find out what was going on in Imperial in the next post soon on Life after Bellerbys College!

The Fresher (Part 1)

“A fresher is a first-year student in an educational institution” (Wikipedia)

But does this really describe what is it like to be a Fresher?  Not in a slightest, so in this post I will try to give a few insights into the greatest week in the life of every undergraduate.  Do not try to understand or imagine what it’s like – to feel this vibrant atmosphere you have to be the part of it.  Just read and be jealous!

The official start of the term was on the 3rd of October.  On the same day there was a meeting for students not living in halls of residence (yes, we do exist) followed by the first event of the fresher’s week – the Mingle.

While standing in a queue I met people I spent much of the night with and even one Biochemist! I was amazed how easy it was to approach people - just ask a few banal questions (by the end of the week I was pretty tired of endless “what’s your name?”, “which course are you doing?”, and finally the most annoying “which hall are you in?” but at the moment I really excited about it) and 10 minutes latter it seems like you know each other for ages.

We went in, got a few drinks and sat down in one of the bars in the College Union (an organization run by students for students where all the main events are held, club and societies are getting together and relatively cheap (well, nothing is really cheap in London) drinks and food are sold.

People kept coming and joining our table and even though most of us already could not remember each other’s names we were all involved in a very active conversation.  We were changing our location around the Union (mainly to find a place with less people waiting for the bar), dancing, chatting to everyone who happened to be next to us and still had an ability to speak, exchanging phone numbers and facebooks promising that we going to remember each other the next morning.

I was told by one second year student that you actually never see again the people you met on the Mingle – I’ve no idea was he a pessimist or was I lucky - but I am in touch with quite a few of those people now and it does not seem that they going to disappear any time soon.

The Sunday was a little bit less crazy (at least definitely less drinking involved) as I met up with a few friends from Bellerbys who are now in their second and third years at UCL.  But the start of the day was something I have to mention – I had an International meeting at 10:30 but decided that I will definitely not able to make it after the Mingle so decided not even to try and set up an alarm clock.  What I did not take into the account was the delivery of my sofa (as I told you already I do not live in a hall of residence, so rent a flat with some furniture missing).

They rang on my door at 8 o’clock and woke me up completely as I had to ran downstairs to open a side door for them (at least the sofa was nice).  After this it was pretty pointless to go back to bed so I decided that I may as well go to meeting.  Eventually I found it to be fun and quite useful – I got the forms to register with the doctor and met a few cool French and German guys.

On Monday we all had the introductions to the department, degree and personal tutors.  I felt extremely lucky with my tutor Dr Leak – not only he seems to be a nice person but he is also extremely passionate about biotechnology and is currently doing an exciting research on alternative sources of energy.  What could be a better match for me?

Tuesday was the Fresher’s Fair.  It was raining so the Union has to change the location of all the clubs around the campus which was pretty confusing at first but as there were plenty of people around ready to help or looking as lost as I was we quickly found our way to the societies we were interested in.  I have joined the mailing lists of loads – many more that I would actually have a physical ability to attend.  Just a few of those I remember are Choir, Dance, Debating, Cheese, Film, Russian (there aren't actually many Russians at Imperial which I am quite happy about as I can mix with more English-speakers but on the otherhand I did not want to get completely isolated from the Russian community), French (as I have already mentioned I learned French at school and continued to study it in Bellerbys but after a one year break communication is no longer easy for me so I am hoping to get some practice from those meetings and probably learn something new about the French culture and obviously meet people!), Film, Book etc.

On Tuesday night there was a party for Biochemistry Freshers organized by the Biochemistry society the head of which I had a chance to meet on the fair.  Joey not only told me about the party but even sold his second-hand book to me which was great given the cost of the new one.  The party was held in the Zoo club next to Piccadilly Circus.  I really loved the place and the people I’ve met there even though most of them were not freshers and not even biochemists.

On Wednesday after a few more introduction lectures on timetables, course structure, examinations and coursework there was a free afternoon like in every London University especially designated to sports.  I decided to go on the first meeting of one of the societies I joined on the fair – Gaelic Football and Hurling. Not surprised if you have never heard of it – personally I did not – which was actually the main reason I joined the club.  I was told that everybody in the club is a beginner so I won’t feel like I am completely useless compared to others. 

The people I‘ve met at the union that afternoon were really friendly and even gave me some uniform but the weather was just appalling - raining and windy and as the uniform was quite thin and short we could be all frozen to death unless we started moving straight away.  That’s what we did and started running towards Hyde Park where the boys were already waiting for us with all the equipment.

After a quick explanation of the rules we started practicing and even though everyone was a beginner I was still completely useless as the only one who never played football or netball before.  But guys and girls did not allowed me to feel miserable – everyone was very supportive and was explaining me the obvious (for them!) things like how to kick a ball correctly (yes, I am that useless, and that’s not funny!   Well, actually, it is...)

Playing a match was real fun even though we were completely wet and we were constantly falling into the mud.  But just imagine how happy I was when got home and had a hot shower!  That night there was a disco at the Union and a sport night with free beer so everyone had a great time once again.

Too much partying for one week would you say?  But that was just Wednesday and the culmination of the Fresher’s week – the Ball was still to take place.