Some pictures of campus

Today me and a friend went outside to take some pictures of campus and the school buildings. I know some of you wanted to see pictures of the area, so now I finally had time to take a lot of pictures for my blog. Campus is really big, and there are so many buildings! It reminds me of a little city, cause it feels like we have our own village.

Our flat block.

An other accommodation.

I have some of my lectures in this building.

The school focuses on trees and grass, which is really nice :)

The library, which is huge!

We found a squirrel while we were walking. It´s on the branch to the left.

School of psychology.

Charlotte :)

We are like a family

Our accommodation reminds me of a big family. We eat dinner together about six days every week, and everyone has a certain day they make dinner and clean the apartment. Everybody is really nice and get along very well, so we´re having a lot of fun together. We also go out as a group and look after each other, as well as watching films and playing x-box. I think it is amazing how well it all works considering that we are an incredible interesting bunch of students. We are very different! Despite this, our personality traits match each other to a certain point. People are aware the differences because it is important to remember that everyone is different when we´re living this close.

The things I sent from Norway finally arrived yesterday, so I have been spending a lot of time unpacking and cleaning. Now that I have all of my stuff, I have a few art projects going on. I will post some pictures of them when they´re ready. In the meantime you get a couple of pictures from the dinner I made for my 'family' on wednesday. Spinach pie and salad! :D

Charlotte

I´ve got the freshers flu!

The candy I bought :)

The milkshake made me think that
I was drinking choclate! So strong!

Yes, I am ill! It all started with a cold, but know I´m not only sneezing and coughing, I´m ill as well. I heard that each year people get sick during freshers week because there are so many people everywhere, and it spreads quickly. So since everyone is talking about the freshers flu, my conclusion is that I have gotten the fresher flu. Which by the way is really boring. I need a lot more sleep, and I feel like I´ve been running for an hour everytime I climb the stairs or walk up a tiny hill. I get cranky when I´m ill, so yesterday I went to the shop to get some chocolate to feel better. On my way home (after breathing like an elephant while climbing the stairs), I hit my head in the front door. And I got a bump on my forehead! But at least I got the chocolate! :)




Even though I´m ill, I was able to go to my lecture yesterday and do a little bit psychology at home about object recognition. I haven´t been so good at studying the last few days because I am very weak and don´t have much energy. I´ve mostly been sleeping and watching netflix. 'Modern Family' is the program I´ve been watching while laying in bed coughing. I love it, it is awesome! I have also been watching some films with my friend, which has been really fun. Two days ago we were watching Wall-E. It was such a sweet and amazing film! I almost cried several times, haha. My friend also got me to start playing candy crush again. It is such a boring and fun game at the same time, but it can be really frustrating!

Today I have been outside enjoying the sun. Me and my friend was supposed to study, but we ended up talking instead. Eventually we went home because there was too many wasps there. So now I´m going to study at home too keep up with my lectures.

Charlotte

One week in Brighton

Some of my work today.

I have been in Brighton for a week now, and I really like it. Even though I haven´t been studying for a long time in Sussex (only 2 days with lectures), I think I will like the course a lot since I already love psychology. This weekend I have been working with the material we learned in the lectures at the end of last week. It goes really slow because I want to make sure I understand everything and all the words. But as long as I get to practice my english at the same time, I don´t mind using a couple of hours to process and rework the lectures. Today I was reading and writing about Freud, who is the first person a lot of people think about when they hear the word psychology. Once I heard someone say that you either like Freud, or you don´t. And I decided that I really like him. Even though someone think we shouldn´t emphasize his theories too much, he made a major contribute to psychology. I think people often tend to talk about the fact that Freud focused too much on sex. If people interpret Freud and look past all the sexual metaphors, I think many will find his theories interesting. And also probably understand why I think he was really important for making the research focus more on the unconsciousness.

A T-shirt from my school.

This weekend my old school has a reunion for the students who went there last year. They have a choir which each year contains the new students. I joined the choir last year. I only did it for the fun, because I can´t sing!! And it was really fun. So this weekend it is not only a reunion, but also the last concert with the choir from last year. I couldn´t be there because I am in England, but I wanted to join and meet everybody! Even though I have met people in England, I miss my friends from Norway so much!

The choir from last year!

Last night some of my flatmates and I where just staying at home. We went outside to watch the fireworks from Brighton though. I am not completely sure why there were fireworks by the way. I ran in to get my camera and managed to take a few pictures before it stopped.

Charlotte :)

My first days in Brighton

My dinner today.
(Burned my hand while making this!)

My first days in Brighton have been busy, so I haven´t had time to update my blog until now. There are a lot of people to get to know, and a lot of things to arrange such as registration, accounts, etc. I have been really lucky with my flatmates, so I spend a lot of time with them. They´re awesome! :D An other boy moved in today, and he seems just as nice as the rest in this flat. I also met someone who had heard about Ylvis (norwegian comedians) and their song "What does the fox say?". They said it had become the theme song of their apartment, so I got pretty exited because I´m norwegian as well! I had to show Ylvis´ songs (because they´re so awesome) to some of my flatmates, so I would say that I´m helping Ylvis (a little bit) to get popular in England. I also met some people from my course, but they are really hard to find because there´s about 340 students taking first year psychology. I had my induction to psychology on monday and my introduction to psychology subjects on wednesday. Today I had my firsts lectures and my first seminar. It was three different subjects and a lot to remember at the first day. But I have been looking forward to the lectures, and I think it was really fun. Luckily I was able to understand almost everything the lecturers said, and I didn´t feel that I was having any big problems with language just yet. I am sure it will be harder when we have to write essays, but as long as I keep practicing I´m pretty sure it will be ok.

A part of my room :)

The weather in Brighton is surprisingly similar to Norway and my hometown Stavanger. It almost feels like it´s raining so much to make me feel like home, cause there hasn´t been much sun since I arrived. A day earlier this week, when it wasn´t raining, I went to Brighton by myself to get some stuff for my room. I got on a bus and was really confused because the bus driver didn´t want to drive where I was going as he was busy. Luckily I met some international students who were going on a guided tour in Brighton, which was arranged by the university. I followed them and got to learn the city a bit better. Sadly I didn´t bring my camera (because I had to carry stuff home), so I didn´t get to take any pictures from the city. Next time I might pretend to be a photographer in the streets of Brighton and post some pictures on this blog!

The weather in Brighton today.

Charlotte :)

I got attacked by a seagull!

Yes, I got attacked by a seagull today! Last night some people were saying that the seagulls were so aggressive in England. I didn´t pay too much attention because I kept thinking that they mentioned a few seagulls and not so many in Brighton. I also thought that it wasn´t a big deal as I have never seen it happen in Norway. But I was wrong!

A random seagull (a lot smaller than the one who attacked me).

Today I went for my induction lectures. I didn´t have time for breakfast, so I decided to eat between the lectures while we were going to an other building. In this group of about 350 students, the seagull chose me (probably because I had food, but still...) to attack from behind. He flew over my head, touched my hair, and tried to grab my food. I practically held him! He was able to get a part of my sandwich, and some fell to the ground. I saved the rest for later because I didn´t want to eat outside anymore. So watch out for seagulls and don´t underestimate them! They are used to being around people, and are not scared of them.

Charlotte

My travel to Brighton

The view the plane in Norway

I´ve finally gotten access to internet in my accommodation. It may be a little late to tell about my journey, but since this is the first time I am able to, I´m gonna do so anyway. At friday I got a text saying that my plane would be 2 hours late, so this made me prepare for a lot of waiting. Yesterday I woke up at 4 in the morning to pack the remaining luggage before going to the airport. I used a norwegian airline company called SAS. The waiting time was all right, but the delay made me late for my pre-booked place on the free coach to the university. I therefore had to go across the airport in London to find an office that was selling tickets to transport to Brighton. After a long time I finally got onboard in a coach that was going to Brighton. It took almost three hours, which I completely understand now since the coach was driving around the airport for 40 minutes. I know Heathrow is a huge airport, but at certain times I was wondering if the driver was driving in circles (hehe). After arriving Brighton I shared a cab to the university with a fellow student. So because I missed the free coach since the plane was late, I had to pay the same as my flight ticket for getting to the university.

The view from the plane in Brighton

When I arrived, former students helped me to my flat and answered all the questions I had. My room contained some furniture, but not so much else. I went to get the duvet, ect. for the bed, and went shopping for food. The kitchen didn´t contain anything (which really surprised me because it´s so different from Ansgar), so today I bought a kitchen package. I met some of my flatmates and used the evening to get to know them and some of the neighbours.

Charlotte

Preparing to travel

Tomorrow morning I´m finally leaving. I just found out that my plane will be 2 hours late, so there will be a lot of waiting. I have already bought my tickets and arranged everything (as far as I know), but there is still a lot to do with registration for different things. Planning, applying and arranging everything for going to school in England was a lot more complicated than in Norway because I am an international student. For example, there is so many different events the first week that I completly lost track of everything. I guess I´ll just move in and show up to see what events people are attending. But I´m pretty sure I will get everything I need ready in time though!

The past couple of weeks I have been visiting my friends at my old school in Kristiansand. I went to some psychology lectures even though I have already taken the subjects. I know some of the subjects at the university will be very similar so I need all the knowledge I can get before the exams. We did a lot of things like going to a birthday party and a farewell party. I drank tea with the girls, and the boys went swimming (I put my toes in the water, but I didn´t care for swimming though as I thought the water was to cold, hehe). Me and my friend Eldar made a cake for Hilde´s farewell party and we also made home made bread, which took three hours! I usually don´t spend much time in the kitchen, so I was proud afterwards.
I had a great time in Kristiansand and I honestly didn´t want to leave so soon. I started thinking about the fact that almost everyone and everything I know is in Norway, and I don´t know anyone at the university. But I´m sure I will be fine and get to know some really awesome people the next few days. So I´m looking forward to moving even though I am a little bit nervous and very exited!

Our cake to Hilde to wish her a great journey.

Home made bread. I made the one in the middle :)

Charlotte :)

About me

My name is Charlotte, but I´m also called Charlie. I am 20 years old, and I´m from the beautiful country Norway, which is where I have spent most of my life. I am moving to England to study at the University of Sussex, so the main reasons for me starting this blog is to practice my english and update my friends and family about my life in Brighton. I learned english in school when I was younger, so this makes it necessary for me to tell all of you guys that I know there will be writing and grammar mistakes. Hopefully my writing will improve!

I am a girl who finds a lot of different things fascinating. At school I took art subjects, and I like to be creative. One of my hobbies is sewing, and I like to make new clothes, especially dresses. I used to play handball and football, but because of a knee injury I had to quit. I still enjoy watching handball though! One of my other interests is psychology, which I have been studying at Ansgarskolen in Kristiansand for the past 2 years. I will be studying psychology at the university as well.

I expect that my blog will contain my experiences in Brighton and my thoughts about the new school and accommodation.
I will write about what I find interesting and what I´m doing. And probably also some random stuff. There will also be some information about my interests such as what I sew and about my course and lectures in psychology. All according to what I feel like writing about!

Charlotte