Back to College

It's been a little nuts getting settled in, meeting everyone, shopping for groceries and other necessities, learning my way around town, registrations, etc. so I haven't really had time to post anything without feeling terribly antisocial. But I seem to have some down time so I thought I would write a little about the University.

Durham is a collegiate university like Oxford and Cambridge. Every member of the University belongs to a college, mine is Hatfield. The college really has nothing to do with academics, it serves more of a social service. It provides accommodation, has a dining hall, a bar (yes, every college has its own bar), and often a library, gym, and chapel. At Hatfield, all of this is located in one spot we call Main College and I believe many of the buildings are from the 1800s.


This is a picture from the courtyard of Main College. The tan pointy building in the back is Durham Cathedral built in the 11th century and is about a 1 minute walk. I actually live in a college accommodation about a 10 walk from Main College with about 40 other postgraduates but as a member of the college, I'm free to come and go within the Main College buildings as I please.

The Univeristy buildings, including the other colleges and lecture buildings are scattered around Durham instead of having a central campus. Where I live is about a 10 minute walk to the Science Site where my classes will be, the Library, Main College, and shops. The only problem is that no matter where you are going, it is always uphill. I have not figured out how this works, but I promise, it's uphill both ways!

As a postgrad, I'm a member of the Middle Common Room (MCR) of Hatfield, while undergrads belong to the Junior Common Room (JCR) and tutors and other faculty belong to the Senior Common Room (SCR). I have 3 tutors. I'm not entirely sure why I need 3 of them but they are all very nice. What is a tutor you may ask? To quote Douglas Adams, having a tutor means he has "charge of [your] general welfare, told [you] when the exams were and not to take drugs." And that seems about right. They are the people to talk to if you are having any troubles and occasionally they invite you to brunch in the Senior Common Room.

Stay tuned for more posts and pictures on facebook/flickr as time allows.