Belfast or Bust!: cohort

Showing posts with label cohort. Show all posts

One month

Labels: acronyms, belfast, cohort, fulbright, GSU, IIS, northern ireland, PSTP, QUB, SE, UK | at 3:00 PM

Today, it has been one month since I came to Belfast. I'm feeling better, settling in, and getting used to the crazy life that is PhD. Looking at my calendar, I have only three days without something booked in the next month. Busy is not bad, but I'm just wondering where I will find the time for my own research.

I'm trying to do a bit of a front-heavy approach to the Postgraduate Skills Training Programme (PSTP), where we take personal and professional development training courses. My logic is that, if I get many of them out of the way now, I don't have to worry about fulfilling the requirements when I'm hardcore writing. I have completed 1.5 days so far (out of the requisite 30 over the 3 years), am negotiating some of my Fulbright events counting toward the practical hours (10 of the 30), and will have 6.25 days completed by the end of this semester. Those numbers don't even consider any department events that may count, and I know I'm doing a bit in the School of English in November.

However, today, I got to do a little practical shopping/adventure. Cristina (who is part of my PhD cohort), Cara (who is also in the IIS and in the MA Irish Writing course I'm auditing), and I traveled to the city centre to visit St. George's Market for the first time. It was fabulous! On Fridays, they have antique books and clothing, and Saturday is for fresh foods and handmade crafts. I hope to make it back next week to check out the Friday wares.

I bought the following: 1 bunch of carrots, 5 apples, 6 baby portobello mushrooms, 1 spaghetti squash, 1 container of stuffed green olives, 1 container of extra-hot black olive spread, 1 bag of ground roasted garlic, 1 bag of basil, and 1 bag of lemon pepper. I feel like there is something missing from my list, but I can't recall more at the moment. I am very happy to have a few spices (salt and black pepper just do not cut it when I'm used to my fairly well-stocked kitchen at home) and some fresh ingredients -- and to support local growers.

The next few days look like they will also be good. A professor (GSU), mentor, and friend of mine is visiting, and we are meeting for coffee tomorrow. I'm very excited, not just to be able to see her, but also because she is a huge part of why I'm here in Belfast. She got me in contact with the Irish Studies department here, she wrote letters for my Fulbright and QUB applications, and she never let me think that I wasn't good enough to get any of it. Last year, she also wrote the letter for my scholarship application to the Yeats School in Sligo, which undoubtedly guided me to choose a school here for my PhD. It is easy for me to say that, without her guidance and encouragement, I would not have even bothered applying for a Fulbright grant.

On Monday, there is a big event taking place. I'm not at liberty to actually talk about it yet. More details will come after it transpires. It is something of an honour; I know that I'm involved because of my Fulbright. It is just one of the ways in which the Fulbright has already opened doors for me that would be otherwise shut in my face with laughter from the other side. The event itself is a bit of a mixed bag for me, but I still understand the importance. So, wait on the edge of your seats for breaking news Monday afternoon!

Welcome to Belfast

Labels: banking, belfast, cohort, Dublin, fulbright mentor, housing, northern ireland, orientation, paperwork, PSTP, QUB, shingles, UK | at 10:10 AM

After the initial confusion and running about, I told myself I would wait to post about arriving to Belfast until it felt like Belfast. By that, I mean, when the weather felt like Belfast weather. I arrived on 10 September, and it is now 30 September. It has just now rained. 20 days of unseasonably dry and rather warm weather; it has varied considerably between wool-coat-and-scarf weather and short-sleeved weather.

As I said, I arrived on the 10th, and everything has been rather crazy from then on out. My mother and Aunt Deb in tow, we checked into our hotel and set off to explore Belfast. Unfortunately, the hotel was nowhere near the QUB campus, so much of that exploring isn't worth anything for me now.

However, we did go see Giant's Causeway, the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, Dunluce Castle, Carrickfergus Castle, the Bushmill's Distillery, the reservoir in the Mourne Mountains, and a bit of Dublin for the fun of it. I managed to get some good pictures of the fun.

I checked into my room at QUB on the 14th and actually moved into it on the 16th, when Mum and Deb left to go back to the States. It's small, and I don't really care for the people I've met who live in the hall. It'll do until December/January. At least I have my own bathroom.

I've also met my Fulbright mentor, who is absolutely fabulous. I have since learned that I was the only Fulbrighter who even knew we had mentors, let alone had spoken to and met mine. He took us out to dinner one night after a walk by the water. He also took us out to the Mourne Mountains, which is where some of those great pictures were taken.

I did the international orientation for QUB and officially enrolled in my program. Like I assumed, I am not taking any classes. I do have to participate in something called the Postgraduate Skills Training Programme, which has courses in honing skills such as networking, academic assertiveness, personal marketing, and even Powerpoint. There are also some interesting ones like "Doing it All: Academic Careers for Women (Being a Woman in a Male Environment)". We have to log 30 hours (10 of which have to be practical use) over the three year program. Not too bad at all.

I met two members of my cohort during international orientation. After returning from London (which gets its own entry, lest you think I've ignored my Fulbright orientation all together), we had a department meet and greet. I got to meet the rest of my cohort, as well as the staff/faculty, the MA cohort, and the research fellows.

My UK bank account is set up, and I have received all the information about it. However, I have come to the realization that there is no Citibank nor any of its affiliates here in Belfast, which makes actually banking rather difficult. I think I'm going to open another account with Ulster Bank since there is a branch just by campus. I don't know what to do with the Citibank account, though; I already told QUB they could take my tuition out of there. I might could get that changed, but I'll have to wait until I actually have another account and all the details before I could follow through with it.

I've ventured out in the town a bit, but not too much on my own. When I got back from London, I discovered that I have shingles. It makes me really tired, and so does the medicine I've been given. I'm trying not to let it get to me too much, but it is really depressing that I have to come down with something when I finally am here and settled.

On the upside, I'm pretty sure I'm buying a TV and the whole set-up for me to watch shows and movies and play my games. I also bought an adaptor for my Wii because the little blips in the video and audio were freaking me out a little. Besides the fact that I definitely need to tidy up the room a little (everyone gives me paperwork!), Belfast is starting to feel a bit like home.

Who am I kidding? That makes it exactly like home.

One month

Welcome to Belfast

Labels

Blog Archive