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Geek Culture / Wanting to go on exchange to the UK...best place for students?

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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 18:05
Hey there

So I'm kinda bored of being stuck in Toronto, Canada my whole life. Recently I've been hanging out at a friend's college res and it's mostly UK exchange students from all over. I've never interacted with folks from there expect on the TGC forums. They brought up trying out exchange for a year and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Just wondering if people here have done that or maybe live in a place that's a good option for North American students. (I'm in finance, if that makes a difference)
lazerus
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 18:15
Liverpool is alright bar a few scally places. We did get the Capital of culture award after all.

Student exchanges are pretty common, so dont expect the banter you get on Xbox live ^_^

Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 18:46 Edited at: 22nd Jan 2010 18:51
A girl who was in our University's Badminton club was on an exchange from America. She seemed to enjoy it and had no complaints. Foreign students seem happy and well looked after - our university seems to be 'big' on diversity, considering our student union really presses it forward.

I can't speak for any other Universities except mine, which is the University of Derby.

Pros

Nice, friendly city. There's plenty of Nightclubs if that's your sort of thing, as well as venues for gigs. A lot of open-mic too. It's a bus journey away from Nottingham, which has Rock City, a venue which gets the top bands in.

In terms of student activities to do and plenty to get involved with. With several sports clubs and teams, who for the most part are made up of friendly people, it's only the Rugby team that has bad rep.

Other activities, you have clubs and societies, the geeks societies are quite social. There's a full list of societies on the our Student Union's website. I am President of the Storytelling society and involved with the Radio and Anime (friends dragged me in and converted me), I am meaning to rejoin Badminton, but it costs more to be a member of sports team, so I'm thinking on it.

The student union is always holding events and organising things. We have stuff like RAGE week (charity fundraising), studentship festival (arts, performances and things to do with 'diversity'), Snow and May balls (the big event of the year), various gigs, and student lead performances too - we're performing for the studentship festival.

The University itself. I think it depends on your course, I'm loving the helpfulness of my lecturers, they're decent, they're cool, they're fun and outgoing. My friend who's studying English Lit on the other hand has a lot of complaints. But in general, I think good lecturers. For any problems, the student union is there to help. My advice would be to get involved with what you can, it's not only good CV/Resume building, but it enhances your experience.

Easy to make friends, even if you're a dweeb. No doubt people will want to make friends with a Canadian.

Cons

They've sacked the guy who makes the timetables and has replaced him with Hal, who seems to purposefully cause clashes for joint-honours students and places lectures at odd times. Such is the behavior of Hal, "Lectures at sensible times, I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that".

The University is slow to solve problems. The complaints process is silly.

The administration is flawed.

The University network system, UDO is an unpopular system that a lot of students have to use.



^That is all I can say about my university off the top of my head, if you have questions, I can answer them. But I can't speak for others. I hope this helps your decision.

BiggAdd
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 19:16 Edited at: 22nd Jan 2010 19:22
I'm at Liverpool University. Town centre is a bit rough at times, but the new Liverpool ONE complex that has opened is pretty smart.

In terms of facilities, I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than Engineering or Dentistry (and maybe Biosciences). Its got a top Engineering Department and apparently its the best in the UK for Dentistry. But it lacks in other places.
(I switched from Engineering to Computer Science, so this isn't a biased opinion)

I'm not one for going out drinking or clubbing, so I'm no expert on the Liverpool night life, but there doesn't seem to be anything going on other than...... going out and drinking.

The empire theatre is nice (Where I went to see Ross Noble) and it has the echo arena (Saw Eddie Izzard there), which always seems to have something going on.

But you probably won't find anything like London here.


Really depends on your preferences. But really if you are coming on an exchange, its partly a sight seeing affair, and there isn't really much to see in Liverpool. (and no, I've lived on penny lane and its ugly and boring)

Liverpool is a dirty place.

lazerus
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 19:20
I guess ill see you around Mr biggAdd, Ive got a Condiontional acceptance in Hope University and will be hopefully starting by the end of this year.

BiggAdd
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 19:22
Have you got any idea where you are going for Accommodation?

lazerus
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 19:34
Staying home till i can afford a apartment. I cant get a job in most places since i have to say i have a bad back, so am left with only a few choices. Ill be paying rent + food stuffs and other bills so it wont be muching.

Zotoaster
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 19:59
Glasgow University. It's the nicest looking one of them all :p

But besides that (completely valid) fact, it's just really fun. It can be relaxed and can be exciting at the same time, depending on where you go.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 20:12
To add on Derby Uni. It's got some great new faculty, Richard Branson opened our Markeaten campus, which is great for art, media, motorsport and engineering. It also seems to be quite good for computing related courses. It has what seems to be a decent games programming course as well as 3D based-art (I believe), the university owns Unreal Engine 3 so that they're able to teach students games programming on some of the latest industry tools and their students for those course are puts onto work placements too.

There is an art campus, Britannia Mill, but I've never stepped foot in the building, but that campus seems to be more dedicated to courses like illustration.

Law seems to be a big thing and quite a popular course, heck the law society is the biggest and most professionally run society at the University. I assume from how knowledgeable some of the law students are, I imagine it's a good law university. It's also handy to make friends with said law students, especially when you want to cover up that murder.

Matty H
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2010 20:41
Quote: "Liverpool is a dirty place."


I would have to disagree with that, it was 10-15 years ago but it has come a long way since then, I have been to some cities in the UK recently that are just like the way Liverpool used to be(a bit dirty).

Out of everywhere I have been, Edinburgh is one of the nicest cities and there are lots of Americans, Australians, Africans, Asians etc, very metropolitan.
mm0zct
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 02:32
Come to Edinburgh! although to be fair I don't know much about our "finance" courses (I do computer science and physics, we're well known for our "informatics" department which is basically CS+AI+some linguistics and other information processing stuff).

You certainly used to have me on msn, but I guess you changed your msn address. If you're stuck for accommodation I'll probably be looking for a flatmate for my flat, you can speak to neofish if you want another person's view on visiting Edinburgh (and surviving a couple of nights in my flat). Feel free to add me again if you want to talk about visiting Scotland. Edinbugh is very welcoming of visiting students.

Have a walk round google streetview!

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Fallout
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 10:47
Dude, come down south to either London/Southampton/Brighton/Bournemouth. Don't go to Portsmouth. You will be stabbed. If you're gay, I recommend Brighton, though I would not sway you away from Brighton if you are straight. If you're a tranny, definitely go to Brighton! Brighton is where it's acceptable to be any one of the three legal sexes (male, neutral, female), while pretending to be either of the two actual sexes, while wearing any of the two sexually separated categories of clothes, in any combination. You can mix and match. My gran loves it.

Anyway, the south is where it's at. Warmer weather, higher standard of living, on average less crime, and I live here, so we can fight each other to the death whenever you like. I know you do martial arts, and so do I, and I have a chainsaw.

I guess if you're a city person, and you want to experience the UK, then London is the most stereotypical and therefore best choice. Not for me personally, but I am a rural kind of chap (hence the chainsaw). I would recommend against Manchester, as the chances of being shot there are 10 to 1 on ... and forget about being stabbed .. that's guaranteed as soon as you get off the bus.

Choose wisely my son.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 12:45 Edited at: 30th Jan 2010 12:46
There's always Cambridge. Beautiful city, plenty going on, sounds impressive, your mates will think you're a freaking genius and if you're lucky, you can hug Stephen Hawkings, if you're even more lucky, you'll get to hug me. (Home town is up the road)

However, if you're too think for Cambridge University, there's Anglia Ruskin, which is also in Cambridge, it's a nice University, good education, but I am unsure what it's really like, it was my reserve choice. My friend Nav seems to love it there.

It's in the South also, so you'll make Fallout happy. Derby here in the Midlands is awfully cold most of the year - though you're coming from Canada, so no doubt you'll call Fallout a fat wimp.

El Goorf
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 13:37
I recommend the south for many reasons, and as i've lived all over the uk, i think im allowed to express my opinions without being seen as a biased bigot.

1) the weather is nicer, so people actually go outside
2) as a result of going outside, the girls are far more attractive: their tans are natural, they look healthy from not being sat infront of the tv all day, and are always smiling
3) the accents. 3 yrs in manchester, im still struggling to comprehend northerners.
4) Having lived in Brimingham, Manchester and near London, I'd say London's where it's at.
5) Europe. For someone wanting to see the wider world, from Kent (which actually has a good university on par with toronto [i know, i applied for both ]) is just a single train stop away from paris, and the majority of european students or post-grads working in the uk will be found in the south, so you'll meet plenty of international faces.
6) As a result of too many centuries being close to france, the south also has a lot of still visible interesting (mostly military) history going back to before Canada was even heard of.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 14:01
Quote: "2) as a result of going outside, the girls are far more attractive: their tans are natural, they look healthy from not being sat infront of the tv all day, and are always smiling"


Being at Uni in the Midlands, I disagree with this statement. Well, aside from tans. Hang out places normally indoors - cafes, bars, shopping centres (akin to Americans who love to go to the mall) or even just doing your hobbies. Some will sit outside in the cold. I wouldn't say it's typical from a student perspective that you sit in doors and watch TV instead of going out.

El Goorf
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 14:15
that said, students at uni generally come form all over the country, my problem is im at a poly, meaning the majority of people are local, ie unattractive northerners. the only place people know outside their accomodation in manchester is the night clubs. i joined the hiking club this year, lots of attractive outdoor types, and surprise surprise, all come from shropshire southwards.

i'll say again, there's is a definate trend that girls are a nicer down south and graduately get worse as you travel up the country, though the scenary does get nicer I'll admit. Scotland: stunning highlands, but by now you're so far north that all the lasses are ginger-haired deep-fried marsbar chugging alcoholics. see what im getting at here?

As for the important topic of finding a good uni, there isnt a particular area, from kent in the south and st andrews in the north, with oxbridge, durham, manchester (the other manchester uni to the one im at), etc in between.

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David R
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 14:25
Durham is awesome. Go there

Small beautiful place with all the amenities and benefits of a city

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 14:31 Edited at: 30th Jan 2010 14:32
So Scottish girls are ugly you're saying? Probably best that you stay in the South, lest some Glaswegian kisses you.


Well, remember too, he's going to University not moving. Besides I've met some quite attractive girls from the Midlands and well...lets be honest, you're not going to University in order to stare at girls.

To add, Kent and Sussex have great country sides, if that's your think. Great places to look at. Though you can find beautiful places all over the country, here in Derby we're only up the road from the Peak district and Dovedale is meant to be really nice, though I haven't yet been.

mm0zct
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 15:33 Edited at: 30th Jan 2010 15:38
If you want somewhere nice then go to St Andrews, it's a lovely old seaside town, that's managed to fend off all the crappy modern fast food places. Plenty of good pubs (and nice restaurants), as well as the cafe's and Janetta's ice cream. The population comprises of nearly entirely students and old golfers. If you want a university out of the cities it's a great place to go. Wherever you go I'd use your time to travel our country a bit.

Google is your friend when it comes to investigating a place to go.

[edit: don't judge Scotland by Glasgow! there are much nicer places here, and the deep fried mars bars are just a tourist thing, no-one actually eats them]

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BiggAdd
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 16:57
Quote: "I would have to disagree with that, it was 10-15 years ago but it has come a long way since then, I have been to some cities in the UK recently that are just like the way Liverpool used to be(a bit dirty)."


Yeh, but just because it has become less dirty (and I agree with you, they have really improved the city centre), doesn't mean it isn't a dirty place compared to other cities in the UK.

Places like Chester, Bath or Cambridge etc are really nice places to visit and they are a lot cleaner than places like Liverpool.

El Goorf
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 22:42
Quote: "Well, remember too, he's going to University not moving. Besides I've met some quite attractive girls from the Midlands and well...lets be honest, you're not going to University in order to stare at girls."


indeed, but my other 5 points still stand

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 30th Jan 2010 22:55
Aye, they do.

You're having trouble with Machester accents? In my first year one of my flat mates was from Doncaster.

El Goorf
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Posted: 31st Jan 2010 12:07 Edited at: 31st Jan 2010 12:08
nah manchester accent isn't so bad, its the surroundings like liverpool and bolton I can't stand. I have a friend who i just cant understand a word he's saying: "cave, cove and curve" all sound the same. I like geordie though. geordie sounds friendly. the worst is when I met a girl from Huddersfield, which I admit is a really nice place, but she sounded like the dog from the churchill advert ("ooorgh yues"), put me right off..

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Keo C
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Posted: 2nd Feb 2010 00:44
Quote: "your mates will think you're a freaking genius and if you're lucky, you can hug Stephen Hawkings, if you're even more lucky, you'll get to hug me. (Home town is up the road)"

It's certainly easier than asking for the man's autograph now isn't it?


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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 00:23
mm0zct: Sorry, it's just that I haven't gone on msn in years and prob never will. I've sorta quit the computer life as I'm sure many people who have known me throughout the years here have noticed.

I appreciate everyone here givin' their town props and suggesting locations that would be a good fit. I will definitely be looking at the south since I've been told London is expensive. Also gotta hit up my chainsaw wielding homeboy Fallout and make it back alive.

I am kinda concerned about the language...I have been hanging with English exchange students for almost a year here (where I got the idea to do exchange myself) and for the first few months I did not understand 50% of the sh*t they said. I thought a few of them were a-holes at first but they kinda grew on me over time. I don't find the UK version of The Office funny one bit, don't drink 6 days a week, and twitch when I hear "innit?" or "bag of sh*te" (with the "e" at the end) We do have lots of laughs though, including when they constantly claim Canada is still under direction of the queen. (She is on our dollar coins, so it's hard to argue there) Will I get along with people and make new friends easily?
Jeku
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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 00:50
Quote: "I don't find the UK version of The Office funny one bit"


Oh for shame. It might depend on which version you saw first


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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 00:51 Edited at: 10th Feb 2010 00:55
Quote: " I don't find the UK version of The Office funny one bit, don't drink 6 days a week, and twitch when I hear "innit?" or "bag of sh*te" (with the "e" at the end) We do have lots of laughs though, including when they constantly claim Canada is still under direction of the queen. (She is on our dollar coins, so it's hard to argue there) Will I get along with people and make new friends easily?"


Then you sir, are awesome!

The UK version of the Office is crap. (or a bag of sh*te ) At least in my opinion.
Innit annoys me as much as it probably does you. If not more.
^This is funny actually. In my first chapter of the novel, my characters are catching a flight to Canada, one retorts, "at least they're not idiots who says innit all of the time", and the other replies, "no, but the do say 'eh' a lot." At least I found it funny.


Bag of sh*te. Doesn't bother me so much.

That kind of language tends to come from Chavs and most people dislike Chavs. We have the US version of the Office too I believe, so you're not stuck with Ricky Gervais.



Also, you should have no problem making friends. It's so easy at University (I've found) and you're from Canada...it'll fascinate some people. I don't know if there are Unis where making friends is difficult. From what I've seen of Derby, even the nerdiest of the nerds has friends. There are no doubt a-holes, so it's possible that you'll end up with dorms with them, but from what I've seen, they're few and far between. In terms of dorms, in neither years I've stayed in them (last year we rented a house) I've not drawn the short straw. Whilst I don't chill with my flatmates this year, they're still legends, though sometimes a little bit noisy.

Jeku
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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 01:00
The Office UK is my favourite comedy TV show of all time. Ricky Gervais is my favourite comedy TV actor of all time. I'm sad


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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 01:01 Edited at: 10th Feb 2010 01:01
Lol. He doesn't appeal to my sense of humour. I'm more of an Eddie Izzard, Bill Bailey, Tim Minchin, Dara O'Brien, Franky Boyle kind of person.

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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 01:07
If you're doing a course at a university then you'll easily make friends. It's the first time most people get to meet and socialize with people from other countries, there'll be clubs and activities so you'll get to meet people and find friends. Language is not really much of a problem, it can be for some people but I always found it made for interesting conversation.

I was in Portsmouth for four years, never got stabbed, never knew anyone who got stabbed. Like most places in Britain (and the rest of the world), it's got good and bad places. It has nice open areas by the sea and it's easy to get to places like Brighton, Bournemouth and London or even France.

I wouldn't dismiss the north. I lived near Leeds for a while and really enjoyed myself there (the Royal Armouries Musuem is excellent, if you like swords, armour, guns and jousting).
Jeku
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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 01:22
@Megaton - Sorry for hijacking your thread, but I just have to say:

I downloaded hundreds of hours of XFM radio broadcasts with Ricky Gervais, Stephan Merchant, and Karl Pilkington from around 2001 and on. This is the funniest banter I have ever heard in my life. They all play off each other fantastically, and it is crazy addicting I recommend everyone who's a fan of comedy to look for this!


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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 01:34
Yes, to add, I've seen a lot of international students around who get on fine. We have a Cypriot in our class and we all get on beautifully with her. A few people do tease her about her being foreign...but those people are her friends, so it's for fun, nothing malicious.

Some ethnic minorities tend to huddle in groups and our University has an International Students Society, where international students can socialize, go out and get to know each other. So it's a friendship base for people who might be in the same boat.

But judging from your character, I doubt you'd have too much trouble. If it helps, an unlikeable fat b***** like me has somehow managed to rack up a good number of decent friends.

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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 01:40 Edited at: 10th Feb 2010 01:41
And isn't a North American accent kinda sexy in the UK? We tend to gravitate toward UK accents here, and I've heard it's the opposite over there. It could be great if you're single I could be wrong, though.


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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 02:38
I'd say more of a purring Spanish voice is the new hotness over here, though I probably speak for myself.

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mm0zct
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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 02:59
Edinburgh and St Andrews don't have such strong accents, mostly due to the mixture of people. Certainly in Edinburgh it's a very diverse population (at least the student one) and we don't all drink 6 days a week (I'm lucky to have a pint once in a fortnight).

Beware lots of pubs in Scotland don't really know what real beer is. The UK has lots of really nice ales if you get into drinking them, but Scotland's pub's tend to be a bit lacking, stocking generic lagers instead. Edinburgh and St Andrews have pubs with some good beers, but from what I've seen of England a pub is far more likely to have a selection of good beers than up here. ( it's not fair)

If you do find you're having problems telling what people are saying, don't worry, even I do and I've lived here all my life, it's what happens when lots of people come with different strong accents to one place.

As for prices, Edinburgh and St Andrews aren't "cheap" but they certainly don't compare to London prices, we treat London like it's own country when it comes to money, it's just insane how expensive things can be there. Also you will probably find some places people are a lot nicer than others. Generally Edinburgh and St Andrews are polite pleasant places, where as some places people just think swearing and acting like "a-holes" is a perfectly normal thing to do. Personally these aren't my sort of people, and "British humour" does get better than some of the crap that's on our tv's. Watch something like QI or Mock the Week, or Red Drawrf, for some different comic taste.

Lastly, since you're Canadian, you'll already know how to spell (probably better than the locals in some places, the prevalence of "txt" speak is quite appalling now)

One last plug from Edinbugh, if you can be here in August, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is something you won't want to miss:
http://www.edfringe.com/

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Dazzag
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Posted: 10th Feb 2010 21:23
I went to Aberystwyth. At the time (I left in 1994), they had something like 70 pubs for a town of about 10000 people (about 15k when Uni starts). Pretty much at least one or two pubs on every street. What else do you want for a Uni? Oh, and it's at the seaside

Cheers

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El Goorf
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Posted: 11th Feb 2010 01:32
yeh but aberystwyth is middle of no where, and theres no motorway to it either, it's literally a years drive to the next town!

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Posted: 11th Feb 2010 02:21
You also forgot...Aberystwyth is in Wales.

Who wants to go to Wales? It's full of Welsh people. (Forgetting that I was born there and that my name is Welsh, but we can ignore that)

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Posted: 11th Feb 2010 19:54
Quote: "Eddie Izzard, Bill Bailey, Tim Minchin, Dara O'Brien, Franky Boyle"

How can you like all these guys and not Gervais Sep? He's basically a mix of Tim, Dara and Eddie... only a bit more dry.

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Posted: 11th Feb 2010 23:42
I don't know. I just find him boring and unfunny. I'll admit there's probably one or two jokes I've found funny, perhaps it's just his delivery.

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Posted: 15th Feb 2010 13:38
i agree, i never found the office that great, especially ricky gervais, but

Quote: "Eddie Izzard, Bill Bailey, Tim Minchin, Dara O'Brien, Franky Boyle"


hilarious

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Posted: 15th Feb 2010 13:48
The Office was never 'laugh out loud' funny, for me. It was just constant awkward amusement. Very few comedies actually make me laugh though. Some of the stand-ups at the Apollo are one of the few things that get me chuckling.

I find with sitcoms and series, it's more how they suck me in and entertain me, and the Office was very unique. It really helps if you have actually worked in an open plan type office, because it is just a melodramatic version of the complete truth, which is what make's it great. Everyone who has worked in an office knows a manager with that same awkward desperation for respect. You cringe, but you relate to it, and that's what's funny.

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Posted: 15th Feb 2010 13:52
Quote: "I find with sitcoms and series, it's more how they suck me in and entertain me, and the Office was very unique. It really helps if you have actually worked in an open plan type office, because it is just a melodramatic version of the complete truth, which is what make's it great. Everyone who has worked in an office knows a manager with that same awkward desperation for respect. You cringe, but you relate to it, and that's what's funny."


That's probably quite true. When we put on the office at home, it was only my Dad that laughed. He is the only person in our family that's done office work.


Live at Apollo has quite hilarious comedians, then you get some unfunny ones. I preferred it when Jack Dee hosted it.

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Posted: 15th Feb 2010 17:01
Yep. When I first saw it, having little office experience, it didn't blow my socks off. However, I did get it, and see what they were trying to do, and found it amusing. Having worked for 4 years now, I can relate to it too.

I agree about Live at the Apollo too. Sometimes hilarious. Sometimes not! I bet for each comedian we don't laugh at though, someone else is in hysterics.

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Mnemonix
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Posted: 15th Feb 2010 22:14
Quote: "students at uni generally come form all over the country, my problem is im at a poly, meaning the majority of people are local, ie unattractive northerners."


oi

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Posted: 15th Feb 2010 22:20
I suppose it's sort of similar to outnumbered, not funny in a laugh out loud way but a sort of knowing, 'Yup I've Been There' way.

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Libervurto
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Posted: 16th Feb 2010 09:22 Edited at: 16th Feb 2010 09:26
Quote: "It's also handy to make friends with said law students, especially when you want to cover up that murder."

What have I said about mentioning the murder!

What do you actually study Sep? You gave a long list of buildings you've never been inside and things you don't do.

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Posted: 16th Feb 2010 11:09
Sorry for mentioning the damn murder.

I, sir, am a Creative Writing student. The creative writing department is fantastic, the tutors are helpful and pretty groovy. Though I can see myself hating them over the next 2 months as I am stressing over my final year work and am going mad in the process.

In fact...that murder sounds...inviting. Tell me Obese, who are your loved ones? *Evil Laugh*

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Posted: 16th Feb 2010 17:29
Quote: "ginger-haired deep-fried marsbar chugging alcoholics"


I heard the fried marsbars are pretty good.Any one wanting to go on a exchange program to South Africa, you will get shot,raped stabbed and sodomized all before leaving the airport....*joke*

Seriously, pretty good place to visit we had an exchange student a year or two back from the UK on one of the farms here and he lived to tell about and he is coming back for the soccer world cup not like England will win.....

Thinking about it he kept on dissing our sorry excuse for fish and chips apparently staple food for some people in the UK....

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Posted: 17th Feb 2010 13:57
hey theres nowt wrong with a good fishcake, chips and curry sauce!

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