First Year at UCL (part 1)

 Assalamualaikum, readers old and new! As you know from my last post, if you read it, I haven't finished my life recap! Now this section of my life deserved a post of its own (well, two post, hopefully).

I ended the last post with the day I finally flew across the globe to the city many of our little old ladies would mention when talking about sending their children overseas - that's right, it's no other than London! (This information may be inaccurate.) It was a comfortable flight, alhamdulillah, but I would probably say differently if my parents didn't have enough points to upgrade my seat. It was my first flight alone though, and arriving at Heathrow was a little nerve-wracking; I kept checking my passport and travel documents, in case they slipped out of my firmly zipped and secure bag. Who knows what might've happened, right?

I had arranged accommodation beforehand with KY super-seniors (a few batches above me whom I never met before coming to London), and alhamdulillah they had a room free in their 4-bedroom apartment, somewhere in East London. One of them came all the way to Heathrow to pick me up, and we rode an Uber in the evening traffic for about 2 hours, after which we hauled my luggage up two storeys (thank God for the lift) and there I met the rest of my housemates, and my new room, where I will be spending hours on end for the next 10 days due to quarantine. My 2nd and 8th day RANDOX test kits was ready on the table, which I had ordered after knowing my new address.

During quarantine, my housemates helped me figure out the transport systems and accompanied me to buy any room necessities. It was autumn, and the temperature only kept dropping, which was not very ideal for my Malaysian body. To make matters worse, the central heating wouldn't be turned on until we got closer to winter. In hindsight, I probably should've bought a portable heater. Eventually I bought a duvet thick enough to cocoon me and a pair of fluffy bedroom slippers to navigate around the house.

Now began my first year in UCL. I first stepped foot on the campus when my quarantine was over, with a little help from my housemate. Of course, the Portico building stood tall and proud with a banner welcoming the new freshers. It was a weekend, so I didn't go for class or anything. I was on my way to Hyde Park for a Malaysian freshers welcome party by a group of seniors under the organisation PRISM, and I met up again with KY friends from the 22.0 batch. There were also a few new faces from Kolej MARA Banting (KMB). Of course I had to ask if they knew my cousin Mai (who went there and had now finished her first year at University of Edinburgh).

Classes started during my quarantine, though only online. It was only afterwards that I attended physical classes, and the first one was for a problem solving tutorial at the pharmacy building. I also had to get my student ID card, so one of my classmates accompanied me to the main building to get it, and we went on a little detour to Lidl for some croissants. I was glad to have made a friend! In a week I had to go to campus 2-3 times for tutorials and practical classes (both labs and computing). The rest of the week were just online lectures, up until the mid-semester break. So far it went well, I had some outings with MARA friends (some that I met in the student centre prayer room) and went to the movies with my housemates. I also made friends with more classmates, who helped me through some assignments when I needed help. We also went on outings, one of them being to the Ancient Egyptian Museum at UCL, which housed many everyday things they used back then.

Some two weeks since I arrived, my housemate invited me on a day trip to Cambridge with the people I saw at the PRISM welcome party. I was so excited! I've been to Cambridge before but I don't remember much of it. When we went there, the weather was wonderful and definitely on our side. It was sunny and blue, accompanied by early autumn breeze so it wasn't too cold, in fact, I didn't have to wear my coat most of the time. First we went to the Cambridge Central Mosque, where the tour guide showed us around the rooms and ablution spaces, explaining the structure of the pillars (like trees branching out, inspired by the Masjid Nabawi in Medina) and their energy-saving efforts, which was very effective (the sunlight is the only source of light for the day and supplies energy source to store for the night!) My favourite part is the prayer space, which was vast and held up by these tree-looking pillars - the light spilling into the room made it more breathtaking! And the walls in the lobby were indented with designs that looked unassuming at first, but actually spelled out verses from the Qur'an! I'd really love to visit again!

We prayed there and then set out to visit Cambridge University, specifically King's College. One of our group actually does study in Cambridge, though not King's College, so she gave us a tour around the city and told us some facts about other colleges we passed. We ventured into King's College Chapel, which had very high ceilings, a beautiful set of organ pipes hanging above, and elaborate stained glass windows in it's medieval structure. There was a mini museum snaking through the corridors and we took our time reading of its history. We then had lunch on the grass clearing in front of the college, which was packed with picnicking visitors. The Cambridge streets was wide and bustled with crowds so it was a lively town.

Then came my favourite part of the day - punting! It couldn't be a better day to go punting the River Cam. We were split into groups to fit into the cosy little boat, with blankets in case it got cold. The punter (is that what they're called?) was also a tour guide, and all along the river, he explained the colleges we passed, the bridges we slipped under (one of them was the famous Mathematical Bridge, names after its elaborate geometric design), and the dorms, with their patios and students chilling at the riverbanks. It must be so calming to live here and watch over all the activity on the river. There were also people canoeing about. We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, treating ourselves to gelato and visiting a market to hunt for snacks and fruit juice. Before going back, we stopped by merchandise stores and I got myself a Cambridge sweater.

A week or two before reading week, my parents came for a visit! And to travel, of course. I still had classes at the time so we spent a day or two together touring central London before they went for a UK road trip and we planned to meet up at Edinburgh to see Mai. Right before reading week, my phone was stolen while I was walking with my friend at night near campus. The cyclist just snatched it out of my hand while I was consulting the map and it took me by surprise! We stopped at a hotel and they were kind enough to lend their wifi so I can contact my parents and call the police. In the end I didn't get my phone back, but let this be a lesson! Be careful when you walk around a quiet street and keep your belongings close to you. Good thing I had brought my old phone to London.

The weekend before the break (which wasn't really a break, it was reading week, so I had assignments to complete), I took the train alone for the first time to Edinburgh and worked on an essay during the 6 hours. Perhaps I did romanticise that aesthetic a little. Edinburgh was a lovely city with old-fashioned medieval structures, which sated the academia aesthetic lover in me. We trekked down the streets at night with its pretty lights, and Mai and I hiked up the hill towards the Edinburgh Castle, where it was freezing cold but the light from the city sprawling below made it totally worth it. It was also drizzling a little, but it was a lot of fun! Now I miss Mai, even though I'll be seeing her soon. We spent a night at Hilton with Mai too, and the next day we all set out to climb Calton Hill early in the morning to catch the sunrise, which we failed to do because it was pretty foggy outside. There were ruins of ancient buildings, monuments and towers. The wind was much stronger up here, but it was refreshing, and the view of the hills and valleys beyond was wonderful! We then circled around town taking pictures of the hill with pretty structures and visited the University of Edinburgh, where Mai studies.

After saying goodbye to Mai, my parents and I set out for Middlesborough by car (thus stopping at Newcastle for some snacks and the toilet) to meet one of my mother's friends whose pursuing postgraduate studies there. Middlesborough is a quiet and cosy town, and the cafe my mom's friend (whose name is also Khadijah) brought us to the next morning served delicious cheesy tuna toasties!

We then drove back to London (stopping several times to take pictures of the scenery) to prepare for our flight to Zurich! I was really excited because it's where Albert Einstein studied and taught in ETH Zurich. We rested up and set out the next day to a park connected to Lake Zurich. The trees sported warm colours due to the season, dry leaves crunching beneath our shoes. There was a huge tree with drooping leaves that served as a gateway to another part of the park and it was beautiful! We also stopped by th elake, where docks stretched across the water and little boats lined both sides. Water sprouted from fountains further across the lake, which was a fantastic view! If I'm not wrong about the time, we then took the tram to ETH Zurich - it was a pretty normal university with modern buildings now, but we didn't pass the opportunity to take pictures at the Physics department.

The next day, we took a train to Uetliberg, a popular hiking spot whose peak looked over the city of Zurich, although we couldn't quite see that due to the cloudy weather. The trek up wasn't as tiring as I thought though, and the forest was cool and calming. We encountered a few funny statues along the way and reached the top to find a cafe-hotel, I guess a stop for hikers to enjoy the peak. Unfortunately our visions couldn't go very far due to the fog, but we took pictures of our achievement anyway, with the deer-shaped benches. We descended the mountain and returned to Zurich city, circling the Swiss roads and crossing a bridge weighted with padlocks of promises (I can't remember what it's called).

Our next stop is Salzburg! We rented a car for a road trip across Switzerland to Austria (passing through Germany along the way) and of course we made a few stops to enjoy the view of the Alps! We arrived in Salzburg at night, and in search of our lodging, we confused the instructions and unknowingly entered a bank instead, thinking it was the lobby. We thought the ATM machines were check-in machines but we couldn't understand the language and thought it declined our card because it's faulty. After contacting the receptionist, who was working at another hotel at the time, we wrote down (with difficulty in spelling) her location so we could personally collect the key card (now there was a bit more obstacles to overcome, such as finding the street, climbing up and down the hill to take cash and so on). Once that was done, we returned, only to find that the lodging was, in fact, right next to the bank, and we mentally facepalmed.

The next day we woke up fresh and early and embarked on our journey to the mountains and the trail leading up to the shooting of the film The Sound of Music! My parents are fans of the film and I had watched the movie myself not knowing it took place in Salzburg. It took us about an hour to reach the peak, though the trail itself is even and convenient enough for beginners (there were benches to rest and even a clearing with lounge chairs to admire the view below when we were halfway up). Sometimes we would pass key props they used in the movie engraved with quotes from their songs. Once we reached the summit, the scenery took my breath away. The vast field stretched across the peak, exactly like in the movie, and there was an are enclosed with fences where a sign announced "The Sound of Music", indicating our destination. There was a picnic table there and we wasted no time entering, although we were the only ones there. The landscape was beyond imagination! Mountains rose and fell, with patches of trees lining the greenery and the quiet town of Werfen sat below us. It was a magical view. Our Sound of Music hunt was not over as the next day, we also visited the gazebo where Maria sang "I am sixteen, going on seventeen" and took shelter in the rain.

The next day, we paid the Mirabell Palace a visit, and circled around Mirabellgarten, although there weren't many flowers blooming because of the season. It was also still very foggy but we had a good time taking pictures.We kept walking around the city a found another bridge of locks, passing through a market which was mostly closed and a plaza enclosed with shops. From here on I can't remember the exact chronology of events, but we visited Strandbad Bernau, where a vast blue lake lay still and housed several napping ducks. Narrow docks extended into the lake and made for good photos against the crystal blue waters! And I think we stopped at Lindau as well, where there was yet another lake and a few dogs scared me, chasing each other across the park.

The next day would be our last of the trip, and we rose early to visit Rheinfall - a stunning waterfall which we had to hike to, which sprayed its waters onto a clearing where visitors took photos. The breeze was refreshing! We then returned to Zurich and finally it was time to return to London.

Now I would love to continue on, but this post had only been about the first two months I came here, so I'll leave the rest to the next post. Till next time!