Wednesday, September 24, 2008 @ 10:53 PM Author: clarinda
I am feeling so sad now because I have yet to talk to my family today. It has been a very busy day for me. I have to reach the Chem Engg Building at 9.30am, thus I have to start walking to school at 9am. So tiring. Anyway, there were lots of people in the room when I have arrived. The people there will either begin their first year, second year or third year for the first time in the University of Birmingham. So far, I know that there are going to be three people from China who will be studying Chem Engg. I asked the staff at there and found out that there are about 100+ year 1 Chem Engg students. I realised this is quite small as compared to other courses which can go up to 200+ or 300+ students. Oh ya, I met about 5 people from Malaysia who will be doing their third and fourth year of study at this university. This is because they were studying at a private college in Malaysia which has a tie-up with the University of Birmingham. Therefore, because of this twinning programme, they are here. These Malaysians that I have met are all very nice, unfortunately, they will only be here for two years. I have befriend with a China girl called Zhang Xun Yang. She had studied at a high school in Birmingham for the past two years, thus she knew Birmingham quite well. She has a plesant personality and most importantly, she is also a year one student. Before I forget to mention, I met my personal tutor today. He will be a personal tutor to five year one student. I think that because he is from China, an Asian country, his tutees are Asians too. And guess what? I am the only girl among the five people. One of them did not come today. Out of the three who came, two are from China and one is from Malaysia. I feel quite upset that I did not have the same personal tutor as Xun Yang. Nonetheless, it does not mean that in future projects, I will not get a chance to do them together with her, so well. The talks and meeting with your personal tutor lasted until about 3.45pm( Singapore time: 10.45pm). Mummy, Papa should be sleeping by then. In other words, I will not be able to talk to them. I was rushing for time in the morning because I overslept , thus I did not manage to speak to them as well. SO SAD:(On a side note, I went to Avanti for lunch with Xun Yang together because all the Chem Engg students who are studying here for the first time are given a lunch voucher. I orderd chicken cooked in Portugese style, fries and orange juice. I have drinking orange juice everyday because everywhere I go, there will always be free orange juice available. The fries are thick-cut, which was the main reason why I ordered them in the first place.
Oh ya, my DHL box has arrived today. I went down to the vale village reception to enquire, however I was told to come back at between 5.30pm to 6.30pm. Thus it is only in the later time slot that I managed to get the box. I was fortunate that one of the student mentors volunteered to carry it to my flat for me. It was really heavy as the student mentor stopped two times to catch his breath. I felt really bad about it. Thanks a lot for helping me:) I felt an immense sense of satisfaction after I was done with unpacking and cleaning up the room. YEAH!!!
Anyway, I managed to speak to three of my flatmaes today. It is quite a rare chance to see them. They are all very nice people. I shall take a group photo when all of us all present(hopefully). I hardly see them around as all of us have different programme. I think I have yet to mention about my flatmates in the previous entries.
Room 1: Theresa from Spain (an exchange student for 3 mths, reading MBA)
Room 2: Kerry from Bath, UK (Yr 1 student, reading Sports Science)
Room 3: Marwa from Syria, South Turkey (a student mentor, reading for a Phd in Civil Engg)
Room 4: Kellie from Adelaide, Australia (an exchange student for 3 mths, reading Archaeology)
Room 5: Darnia from Wales, UK (Yr 1 student, reading Geography)
Room 6: ME!!!
I received my timetable today. I shall post it here so that it is easier for people to know when to contact me. The time in the timetable are all local time. If you want to change it to Singapore time, you should plus 7hrs.
Timetable: Wk1
Monday
09.00-10.00: Chemistry for Engineers (CFE)
10.00-11.00: Modelling Concepts & Tools (MCT)
11.00-12.00: Welcome by the Head of Department, Prof Peter Fryer
Introduction to the year and to the Design and Professional Skills (DPS) Module
14.00-16.00: Introduction to the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
Tuesday
09.00-10.00: Chemistry for Engineers (CFE)
10.00-11.00: Introduction to Enquiry Based Learning (EBL)
11.00-12.00: Introduction to Information Technology
12.00-13.00: Information Services
16.00-17.00: Fluid Flow, Thermo & Heat Transfer (FTH) Lectures
Wednesday
09.00-11.00: Module outside the Main Discipline (MOMD)
11.00-12.00: Fluid Flow, Thermo & Heat Transfer (FTH)
12.00-13.00: Design and Professional Skills (DPS) --- AutoCAD Tutorials (Wks 6 7, 9)
Thursday
09.00-10.00: Module outside the Main Discipline (MOMD)
10.00-11.00: Properties & Applications of Materials (PAM)
11.00-12.00: Chemistry for Engineers (CFE)
13.00-14.00: Personal Tutorial (Wks 2, 6, 9)
14.00-16.00: Design & Professional Skills (DPS) (Note: Wks 6, 7, 9 --- 2-5pm)
Friday
09.00-10.00: Module outside the Main Discipline (MOMD)
10.00-11.00: Properties & Applications of Maerials (PAM)
14.00-16.00: Modelling Concepts and Tools (MCT) (Note: Computer based Labs from 3-5pm in Wks 4, 5, 8)
Chem Engg Building
Chem Engg Building 
Me!
Me!
Chicken cooked in Portugese Style and thick-cut fries
Xun Yang and Me
Chem Engg BuildingI have uploaded pictures of the University Farmer's Market onto Picasa.