Cheers,
Our time with Singkey flew! It seems we were just collecting her from the airport, and now she’s off in Birmingham starting her life as a graduate student. DoraMac feels kind of empty! But she will be back during Christmas break with lots of stories to tell. Thanks to our, much too short< visit to Birmingham we’ll be able to picture Singkey’s life there.
Ru
(Birmingham University) Professor David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor "Winning The Times and The Sunday Times University of the Year represents a huge team effort. The quality and innovation seen across Birmingham’s bold and sector-leading initiatives has been noted and applauded by this national accolade."
Early Wednesday Randal, Singkey and I traveled to Birmingham. Singkey was about to begin her graduate studies in Education and Randal and I wanted to help her settle in. Not only did we go to offer moral support, but it took 3 of us to lug the luggage. Off in some dark corner of the London Underground, if you knew where to look, there might be some elevators, but the entrance to Tower Hill had lots of stairs as did other places where we had to change tubes. But other than being mashed a bit on the early tube ride, the Brit Rail had lots of space and was very comfortable. Arriving in Birmingham, we grabbed a taxi from the New Street station to Jarrett Hall where Singkey shares a suite with five other students. Each woman has her own room and bathroom/shower but they share a kitchen. From Jarrett Hall it’s a ten minute walk to the campus.
|
Singkey and Randal in the Reception Office at Jarrett Hall. |
|
Rolling the luggage to Singkey’s building…and carrying it up to the 3rd floor. |
|
Walking through campus to the office where Singkey would collect her student ID. During the afternoon, after Singkey had registered, we did some shopping for room necessities and also bought some food supplies so she could cook her first dinner on campus. Of course you walk everywhere so we got lots of exercise. |
|
At the end of the day we left Singkey to settle in and Randal and I walked to our B&B, located about 20 minutes from Jarrett Hall.
|
|
Then to make sure we truly got enough exercise for the day we walked over a mile to the Country Girl pub for dinner. (And another mile back!) http://www.emberinns.co.uk/the-country-girl-selly-oak/ We slept soundly and the following morning had a full English breakfast to start our day. Actually I skipped the bacon, sausage and beans, but Randal ate the whole thing. Very friendly folks run the place! |
|
Best laid plans of mice and men… Thursday we’d planned to visit the main police station as foreign students had to register. We arrived about 10:30 am and there was a long line of students. Randal and I went off to tour the city center and returned 2 hours later to find that Singkey had only moved about 2 feet along the way. The police office closed for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30….while the students waited in line. To make sure Singkey got a WC break and some food, I waited in line while Singkey and Randal walked off to take care of those necessities. The young people behind her in line were from Belarus and we had a lovely chat suggesting lots of ways to improve the system. Randal and I were to catch the 4 pm train back to London. With little choice we left Singkey in line with her food and we returned to her flat to collect our packs. We’d left our things there as we’d planned to buy more supplies, have lunch, visit some more….As I said, best laid plans.. |
|
We were in the university area of Birmingham less than 48 hours but I found all we saw quite charming. Lots of interesting sites to see if one had time and the campus looked quite inviting. Real England. http://visitbirmingham.com/this-is-birmingham/ “We’ve produced a 30-second film titled ‘This is Birmingham’ The film features a young woman walking through some distinctive Birmingham locations – from the Symphony Hall to the Custard Factory, Jewellery Quarter and the University of Birmingham. Our film is designed to tempt people who may have little knowledge of the city to explore its vibrant heritage, entertainment venues, culture and beautiful public spaces. So, dim the lights, open the popcorn and see how many places you can spot here… During shooting, model Chelsea Killarney: ◾Walked 7km across 43 locations ◾Was filmed for 60 hours during five days ◾Had 35 costume changes, and wore 10 pairs of shoes – See more at: http://visitbirmingham.com/this-is-birmingham/#sthash.p4aEoisg.dpuf “Uploaded on Oct 27, 2010 Our last glimpse of the Industrial Revolution – Heartfelt mood entrenched imagery and poignant moments captured on film represent the deterioration of the flag-posts of an era much forgotten — the canals and railways so integral to powering Birmingham’s industrial revolution and the development of England & the United Kingdom. Photographed by Peter Donnelly during the 1960s – decaying vistas, time-worn monuments, or simply sublime snapshots in time – this selection of imagery and verse is history with a heart. Birmingham and Black Country Nostalgia Award Winning Poems and Photographs. http://www.blackcountrynostalgia.com The photographs form part of a project Peter started in 1965, when he won The Daily Telegraph photographic competition with a unique set of images taken in and around "old" Birmingham & The Black Country, England. The judges included David Bailey, one of Britain’s best known fashion photographers, Emil Buhrur editor of the Swiss magazine Camera, Ian James editor of The Photography Year Book & George Rodger founder of Magnum Photographers Agency. Peter started to add the verse during the 1980’s-90’s. Two albums have been produced more recently after finding layouts Peter had created. He also produced a unique series of poems postcards and posters about "Old Birmingham" which featured on BBC News, Radio WM & Midlands Today. These captivating images are now available to order in a range of different formats. |
