Life at Bellerbys College

The New Beginning

Posted by Ksenia

In all those posts that I wrote during the holiday I mentioned lots of great things which made this summer special (I firmly believe that every summer is special in its own way) – trips to Tunisia and Ukraine, searching for a flat in London, friends, family, some free time for my hobbies (finally!) - but one thing was absent from this blog and at the same time always on my mind – the 20th of August, The Day of Release of A-Level Results, The Big Day that was the aim of all the lessons, practicals, homework and tests, revising till complete exhaustion and endless patience of our teachers.

I did not want to talk or think and even would not dear to write about it.  On the 19th one of my friends wrote that whatever will happen the next day we will face it with dignity and regard it as destiny.  There was nothing we could do; and I was absolutely agree with her.

When I saw in my mail box a letter with a title “Congratulations from Imperial College!” the first thing I felt was an enormous relief: I’ve done it, it’s over, I do not have to worry about it any longer.  Then it was a feeling of absolute happiness and I just had to share it with someone – I run towards my mum crying out loud: “I got in! I got in!” and gave her a very strong hug.  Then I ran back to my computer to see the actual results on the Edexcel website and check UCAS – I could not believe that my dream has come true until I saw the official confirmation.  (Ksenia achieved an amazing six A Levels at grade A!)

Once I’ve check those two out I went straight to Facebook and Vkontakte to put “Hurrah!!!!” in my status and see how everybody else did.  My happiness was not fully complete till I realized that all my friends got in where they wanted to.  For the rest of the day we were all sending and receiving congratulations, speaking with friends and relatives over the phone and sharing our happiness with those who were next to us.  It was a great day and it was really worth the waiting.

The next big thing was to get the Visa and it's not as easy as it may seem.  I needed to receive an original Visa letter from university and the transcript of my results from Bellerbys.  At first I was just waiting patiently trying to familiarize myself with the thought (a very pleasant one) that I am a new Imperial College student.  But then I started getting a bit worried.  The visa letter should had been sent to Brighton and then sent to me by DHL but a week had passed and still did not receive anything.  Nevertheless one thing was comforting me – I knew that in my college there are people who care about me and my documents and will always be there if I need help and advice.

Here I want to thank again Ms Paula Pocock who helped me enormously in this situation – she was replying straightaway to my endless letters, answering my questions and sending me by email, post or DHL every single thing that I asked for.  While Paula was away Mr. Corcut himself (an extra busy person as I have already said) did everything to help me as well.  And after a few calls to Imperial and one more week of waiting I received all the documents and applied for my visa.

Two weeks and one day latter (seemed to be the same for all my friends who were doing their applications in Russia) I could go to the Embassy to collect my passport.  When I was flipping over its pages it felt a little bit like when I was opening my mail box on the 20th of August.  When I saw the Visa it seemed to me the most beautiful piece of art I have ever seen in my life.  Then everything was really over and the new life was about to start.

Now I just have to pack my stuff and catch a plane to London.  So how do I feel?  I guess that a line from one of the famous songs by Garbage would describe it better then my own words: “I feel ready and yet unprepared…”  So now it’s time to say goodbye to this blog.  But do not think that you will get rid of me that easily!  Nothing can tear me and Bellerbys College apart (I hope everybody understands that it’s a joke or maybe I got too used to English humour eventually?) so I will continue writing in the Life after Bellerbys College blog.

Hope that you will be following my adventures in the Greater London and wherever else in the world and I will try my best to make them fun to read!  Once again I want to congratulate all the Bellerbys graduates who got into the universities of their dreams and wish all the present and future students of our college to do the same thing.  Good luck everyone and let’s have a great year!

Facebook - Connecting People! (part two)

Posted by Ksenia

In one of my posts I have already mentioned how important is Facebook in the life of young people and the only thing I can add is that this importance becomes more and more significant – at least for me.  At first all the endless applications, silly quizzes, requests, flowers, kisses, hugs or whatever from people I have never seen before really irritated me.  But while the number of my friends - English-speakers was growing I realized that Facebook is really doing a great job.  It made possible for me to meet people who otherwise could never become my friends and, the most important; it gave me a chance to help some of them.

Answering a few simple questions was the best I could do for those who contacted me but seemed to be a good way to make them a bit more calm and confident about themselves and their future arrival to the UK.  It is a hard decision to make – to come and study in another country where you do not know anybody and leave your friends and family behind.  But at the same time it’s a big step up – a chance to get the top-quality education, meet new people and become more or less independent.  So I hope that I have helped a few people to make the right choice. 

On the 9th of September a new term started at Bellerbys Brighton.  Dozens (if not hundreds!) of new students will be joining ELPP, GCSE, A-level, Foundation programs.  One of them is Zuzka, a girl from the Czech Republic who I have introduced to you in one of my previous posts.  Before her arrival she asked me a few good (as usual) questions which some of you might find interesting if you are thinking to come to Bellerbys.

Zuzka
Well I wanted to ask you about bank accounts in England.  Because I think I will need a bank account over there.  I read that Bellerbys helps students with registering with a UK bank.  Do you have any idea about which bank do they register students with?  Because I would like to have a bank which is like close to school so I could easily access it to get some cash.  Is there any need of my parents signing some documents since I am not 18?  Ha-ha, I know, too many questions, but that is just what I am ... ;)  But anyway thanks a lot for all of your help :)))

Me
Banks are easy.  College prepare a letter for you (just go and ask in Student Services) and arrange an appointment.  You will need some kind of permission from your parents but it’s very informal- nothing to worry about - and can be done as soon as they will tell you what they need (I guess it was something like an e-mail in my case).  The easiest one to go for is Natwest.  It has an office very close to school (in the shopping center) and has a very easy to manage accounts designed especially for people like us (I recommend you sign up for on-line banking as soon as you get your account, then you do not need to go to the bank at all).  They will talk you through everything - but it’s really very easy).

Zuzka
Hey Ksenia:)  Thanks a lot for your answer - do I get it right that there's no need of thinking about the account now and it's enough to solve it in the UK?  And does Natwest have some ATM near school to get to some cash without paying additional fees?

Me
Sure that you do not have to think about it now - anyway international students do not get many options.  If you decide to go with Natwest they will open for you two accounts - Reserve (the one on which all the money from your parents will be) and Step (for everyday use).  This system is very useful - though you get two cards you can only use one of them - the one from step account - and even if it gets lost or stolen you still can use the rest of the money – it makes you absolutely calm about your card when you are going out, for example.  That is why online banking is great - you can transfer money from Reserve account on Step in seconds.  Of course all of that is absolutely free.  They will explain it to you again when you will come to open the account.  The closest ATM is at Brighton station (1 min away).  As most of ATM’s in the UK it’s free to use.

Zuzka
I'm quite surprised about the ATM being for free; in my country most ATM’s charge some small fee from your account if you use it... :)  Thanks a lot for your information :)  Do most Bellerbys students have the Natwest account or it varies?  The system of two cards looks truly useful, I feel like that would suit me well :)

Me
Most of them have Natwest because it is the one suggested by Bellerbys.  You can also have Lloyds or some others but I have no idea about it :)

Zuzka
Haha thank you for your advice :)  Surprisingly, I have more questions (you know, only ten days remain and I still feel like I don’t know what I am going to do)....  Well, in regards to my question...  It might sound stupid but I’m interested in Biology and Chemistry exams.  I mean, there are practical ones, aren't there?  Could you please tell me how does a practical exam in Biology and Chemistry look?  It's just that I'm still thinking about taking subjects from both humanities and sciences and practicals are really something I'd be worried about - I have never done anything really similar.

Me
I perfectly understand that you are worried even though I know that you have absolutely nothing to be worried about.  Well, now the practical exams will be a bit different to what I have been doing because the syllabus (the exact list of what we had to know) might have changed and the college has changed the examining boards as well.  But I can give you a rough idea - for Chemistry it is not at all difficult and is real fun - you are given a few unknown substances and instructions of what to do with them and at the end you have to tell what is the substance which is always quite obvious.

Then you will either have to do a titration (mix a base and an acid together to find the point at which is mixture is neutral by the change of colour of indictor paper -it is a way of finding a concentration of acid/base) or an experiment connected with temperature - either to measure the temperature change in a reaction and find out how much heat was released, or to find melting/boiling point of a substance.  You will practice all those things for the whole year so you will be absolutely perfect when the exam time comes.  For biology we have not actually done the practical exam - we have done a coursework (you have to plan and do the experiment) and a written alternative to practical (when the experiment was already done for you and you will have to analyze the data).  So I do not actually know what you are going to do.

But anyway most students have not done any practicals before coming to Bellerbys and it is never a problem - everything is made easy and explained very carefully and of course practice makes perfect!

I think you really should take some science subjects – it’s very interesting and respected by universities.  Of course it’s not the easiest thing to study but so rewarding!

Zuzka
Hey)))) Thanks a looooooot for your answer:)  I still don't know if I’ll take science - do you think Mr Corcut would advise me about it during the interview?  And, yeah, surprisingly, that's another one of my annoying questions) what is this interview like?  Should I somehow prepare for it?  Oh my God only 5 more days, I am totally excited, though nervous anyway ;)

Me
Oh, you know that you are always welcome!  First thing – interview are NOTHING to worry about.  I won’t even call it an interview – rather an appointment to discuss you future studies in Bellerbys.  Mr. Corcut (as you already know the head of A-levels) will just ask you a few obvious questions – what are you interested in, what are you approximate plans for the future, which subjects you are planning to take.  It is not to assess you in anyway – it’s to help Mr. Corcut to understand how he can help you.  The only thing you can do to prepare is to try and think of what YOU personally want to do.

You should understand that Mr. Corcut is a very experienced man, he knows lots of facts about universities and he will probably advise you to take “serious’ subjects like Math and Sciences, Economic, English Literature or History – the ones that are the most respected by the top places and he will probably be right.  But it’s your life, your future and your decision.  I can tell you that doing an A-level subject that you do not like only because the universities do is quite wrong (unless of course you change your mind when you will start studying it) – it will be hard and boring for you and you will be unlikely to achieve very high results.

Personally I have chosen Sciences because of one simple reason – I love it, and I hope you will be able to decide in the same way.  Good luck and remember that one of the greatest experiences is about to start!!!! 

And to finish off this post one more question from Ange Chandra, Indonesia who is also thinking to join Bellerbys College.

Ange Chandra
What do you think of ELPP?  Do you think it's important for international students to take that course?  Did you, yourself, take ELP course the first time you joined Bellerbys?

Me
Well, when I first came to Bellerbys my level of English was really poor.  So I urgently needed some help and took a 3-week course.  It was real fun and helped me a lot with my communication skills in English and raised my IELTS score by a few points) I do not think that you particularly need it - in terms of English.  As far as I understand your level is quite advanced and will improve anyway during your studies in Bellerbys.

In the first term you will have preparation for IELTS together with your other lessons so you could take the exam to get the grade required for the university (usually 7- 7.5)  But on the other hand it’s a great opportunity to see the college in advance and meet people.  So it’s really up to you - what you want)

This is all from me for now. I would like to thank Zuzka again for her huge contribution for this post and wish her all the best in future!  I guess you will hear from me quite soon and I will update you on the exam results and the university entry.  Good luck everyone with their studies in the new term and take the most of your time in Bellerbys College!!!

My Busy Summer in Moscow and London

Posted by Ksenia

When I got back home from Kiev I spent about a week in Moscow mainly meeting various friends – from Russia and the UK (well, they are all from Russia to be precise).

One my very good friend from my Bellerbys GCSE class also lives in Moscow but it’s the first time the two of us found time to meet each other during the summer.  There was so many things to do in my home city - shops, cinema, cafes and even my first driving lessons (not really lessons – but my mum allowed me to try on her car – at first I was scared to death that I will run into something, but after a few times I began to enjoy it!) so as usual I did not noticed how the time went by.  But the next trip was already waiting for me – I finally decided that I don’t want to live in the residence during my first year at university so I had to start looking for some sort of accommodation - more precisely a flat to rent.

The best way to do it was to go the London and see everything on my own.  We went there with my father who was obviously the brains of our little group and the one to make all the important decisions.  We found the flat I’ll be renting this and probably the two following years.  It is unfurnished so my mum and I are going back to London for a week again on the 10th to buy all the important stuff.  The flat itself is quite nice, not too big, not too small (at least for London), just a few meters from tube station but the window are facing the other way so it is perfectly quiet up there.  This factor was very important for me - back home in Russia our family lives on the 13th floor and in Brighton my room was facing St Anne’s Gardens so I got very used to sleep with open windows without any noise.  It’s very close to Chiswick with all the shops as well and the kitchen is small but very modern – in other way it is a perfect match for me! 

 

I got back exactly on time for my best friend’s birthday party.  The celebration wasn’t a usual one.  My friend organized a car to take us (me and four other girls) to the countryside where we were going to fly on a balloon.  The traffic was quite heavy as it was Friday and everyone was leaving Moscow but we were chatting all the time so it wasn’t a problem.  It was a very special feeling when we got inside the basket and started to take off.  It was nothing comparing to what I felt in the usual plane – here we were really flying!  We reached the height of 720 meters and went up and down a few times – from there the views were really fantastic.

The duration of the flight was one hour but we barely noticed it as a few bottles of champagne were there waiting for us and everyone wanted to say a few kind words to the birthday girl and wish her once more a happy birthday.  The landing was fun as well – very smoothly we stopped on some field and continued to take pictures and drink champagne until the car arrived to take us to one of the Moscow lounges.

 

On the way back I even felt a little pity for our drivers – for an hour or so we were talking really loudly, laughing and singing all the songs that was played on the radio.  In the lounge we met up with a few other friends and continued partying till late.

The next day we went to a restaurant to celebrate again with her relatives (except, my friend, I was the only person to be on the two parties).  The place was nice and I really felt as a part of a family as I already knew everyone and everyone knew me.  A very special present was waiting for the birthday girl there as well – they made a video where her entire family was singing a song wishing her all the best in her future life.  That was very sweet especially to see her little brother and usually serious father rapping).

I am trying not to forget my own family as well and spend with them more time as I don’t see them for the major part of the year.  Every weekend we go to the countryside with my parents where I am mainly collecting berries (and eating them straight away) and reading books (the pastime I missed the most in Brighton – simply did not have time for anything excepting science books).  I even had a chance to meet my distant relatives from Ukraine who came for a few days - I’ve never seen them before and was very pleased learn that I have a cousin who is the same age as me.

Enjoy your summer everyone!!! UK is waiting for us)

The Real Summer Begins – From Tunisia to Ukraine

Posted by Ksenia

The next day after my arrival from the UK we had a flight to Hammamet, Tunisia.  After all the packing, exams, good-bye parties and flights sun, beach and sea were everything I needed.  Plus to this our hotel had a very good Talasso Center so while we were going to have different massages and wraps I was constantly feeling very sleepy (and I was falling asleep almost everywhere). But then I got enough, I felt much better and read very quickly all the books my mum brought with us so eventually I had nothing to do and started taking pictures of mum and myself on the beach, in the pool – everywhere.

At the same time I was obviously swimming (for me the sea was perfect – warm and very clean but for my mum it was a little bit cold so she preferred to spend her time in the swimming pool with heated seawater) and sunbathing – taking the most of my summer holidays and total freedom that I could not get completely used to.

 

As we already visited Tunisia we did not take any excursion but still got lots of sweets for our family – mainly baklava, halva and nougat which I personally find delicious (well, everybody already knows that I have a sweet tooth so I have nothing to hide!)

On my way back from the Moscow Airport I received a message from my friend – the girl that was my neighbour in Brighton, inviting me and one more girl from Bellerbys for her birthday to Kiev.  I was a bit surprised as I was not expecting anything like that but it was definitely a pleasant surprise – firstly I have never been to Ukraine (which is a shame as I have been to many other counties which are much further away) and really wanted to see Kiev one day, and secondly, even though I was having great time with my mother in Tunisia, I have already started to miss my dear friends. To see them earlier then in September – what else could I dream of?

I few days later I got the ticket and the present and was ready to depart.  Me and my friend - the other girl who was invited to Kiev, decided to go by train which is the most popular way of traveling between the two counties.  A lot of people in Russia have relatives in Ukraine as both were once a part of Soviet Union so now the travel is made very easy – we do not need a visa or even a foreign passport – we can travel with the Russian one.

It takes 13 hours to get from Moscow to Kiev – and train stops several times on the way.  My friend joined me several hours after my departure from Moscow as she lives in another city.  It was already very late when we got there so we chatted a bit but decided not to disturb other passengers who were already sleeping.  I could not fall asleep even though I felt quite comfortable lying in my bed so I was looking at the window and waiting for the customs (I could not read as lights were off). 

Then we came to the Russian and then Ukrainian borders and everybody was woken up so that their documents could be checked. Almost identical procedure was repeated at both borders though I was quite happy about it as people from customs were surprisingly nice and polite (I heard so many scary stories about them, so I was a bit nervous – that was probably the reason I could not sleep).

  

When the train continued its journey all the passengers fell asleep again and luckily I was one of them.  When I woke up it was already morning and we were arriving to Kiev.  My friend and her father were waiting for us at the station.  Her father took our bags so we could start exploring Kiev straight away.  From the station we walked all around the city center towards the coast of the Dnieper River.  I was particularly impressed by Independence Square and Khreschatyk Street – it looked a lot like Moscow (and the number of shops seemed even larger! ).

To tell the truth I was not expecting Kiev to be so European (one of the streets even reminded me of Regent Street).  I also liked that the central streets are pedestrian-only on weekends and public holidays.  Actually traffic does not seem to be a problem in Kiev at all.  During my stay I have not seen any single traffic jam which sounds like paradise after Moscow where it’s almost impossible to get anywhere by car.

During our walk we also saw The Golden Gate – the historic gateway in the ancient city's walls and a very beautiful building of the National Opera of Ukraine.  In the afternoon we took a boat and had a very nice time taking pictures of the Dnieper River.  As the right bank of the river is quite steep we decided to use the funicular to get to the top.  It was definetely a good idea as we were too tired to climb it on our own but the view on the city and the river from there was spectacular.

 

Then we walked across one of the parks and reached a very special bridge full of locks.  Luckily our Ukrainian friend explained it to us – in Kiev there is a tradition for the couples who just got married to come there and put a lock with their names on this bridge – people believe that then their love will be long and strong and the marriage successful.  The only thing that spoiled a bit a pleasure of walking around this marvellous city with my friends, chatting, and taking pictures was the weather.  Comparing to Moscow where it was cold, rainy and miserable (I don’t know why but it is always like it when I am coming back) – it was very hot and sunny in Kiev, so we had to stop every hour or so to get some cold drinks or ice-cream.

When we came home by the end of the day we were completely exhausted but full of new and inspiring impressions.  We were kindly welcomed by my friend’s family, shown the house and the garden and then fed with a nice dinner.  And even though everyone was feeling very sleepy we just could not stop talking.

 

The next morning we decided to go to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.  The word pechera means cave and lavra is used to describe high-ranking monasteries for male monks.  The Kiev Monastery of the Caves is composed of a very complex system of narrow underground corridors, caves with the imperishable relics of saints who used to live there and underground chapels.  Ortodox people from all over the world come here to pray to those saints and ask forgiveness for their sins.

After the visit to the monastery we returned back to the central Kiev and visited a few more cathedrals - St. Sophia Cathedral (first Ukrainian patrimony to be inscribed on the World Heritage List), St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral and baroque-style St Andrew's Church.  Then we walked along the Andriyivskyy Descent where tourists can buy souvenirs and and see the full variety of local art including paintings, sculpture, carvings and etc.

 

After all of that we decided to take a rest in one of the Kiev cafes and end up spending 5 hours there eating and talking.  It was already quite late when we got back to our friend’s house and even though we planned to go out and celebrate her birthday that night we decided to stay at home.  But we still had almost no sleep that night – opening presents, listening to music, looking at the pictures and of course talking again – we stayed awake till the sunrise.

Around the noon the next day our friend’s relatives came to wish her happy birthday.  The whole previous day and the morning her mother and sister were cooking.  So when we were all intoduced to the whole family we started eating and drinking.  The party continued till the evening when I had to pack my stuff ready for my train back to Moscow.  I thanked everyone for my wondreful stay and received an invitation to come back soon.  I really hope that I will in the recent future!

The Last Goodbye

Posted by Ksenia

I turn the page
My story ends
I say goodbye to all my friends
I know it's getting late
Now the light is on my face
I changed the clocks back again
And ask forgiveness for my sins
Cause I don't know where I'll go
Well this is all that I really know.

This is a part of the song by Alex Band which is called Last Goodbye.  I heard it for the first time sitting in my neighbour’s room and watching her putting last bits and pieces in her luggage. 

Just a few days ago this room was alive – full of various books, clothes and other stuff all in the perfect disorder.  So many times we were there studying at the last moment before a test, trying to finish a homework due in tomorrow morning, having a Chinese meal from our favorite take-away (I even leant to use chopsticks!), lying on the bed at night and talking about everything except the fact that we have to get up at 7 am next morning – and now the room is empty, faceless and looks very sad.

I loved the song from the first word – that was exactly what was on my mind at the moment.  Just in a few days our life has changed and nobody knows what is going to happen next.  But in this post I don’t want to think about future – I want to say goodbye to the past.

Firstly, I want to thank everyone in Bellerbys College.  This is the place that turned me into who I am.  Obviously I am quite different now from the girl that walked in the old reception of the college nearly 3 years ago.

 1st May Ball  Year 2  & year 3!

Now I can speak some English (hopefully!), I know what I want to do in future (you are probably already tired to read how fascinating is science and my favorite biochemistry), I’ve met people from all round the world which shaped my opinion about many issues, I’ve made so many great friends that I am even a bit scared to be so lucky, I learned so many new lessons – not only concerning my studies – and well, I guess I grew up ( do not worry, only a little bit!).

It’s hard to mention everyone who made all those things possible and I perfectly understand that I won’t be able to write well enough to express how grateful I am.  So I will just mention a few names.

Mr. Corcut – the head of A-Level department – an extra-busy person who always managed to find time to speak with me (and everyone else who needed him), advise what to do when I wasn’t too sure myself or just to say a few encouraging words.  He always seemed to be a person who knows all the answers – you only have to ask. 

I guess the whole operation of our college will be impossible without Paula Pocock – everybody knows that we can trust her completely – she is the one to help us with the UCAS application, announce the exam result, advise what to do with them and take care of all the important documents. It helps so much when you have someone to rely on!

My studies were, of course, the goal and the main reason for my stay in the UK.  My teachers in Bellerbys were the most special people, who everyday tried to put some knowledge into my head, answer my endless questions, read my horrible handwriting – and still be cheerful and happy to chat after the class.

My personal tutor Dr Andrews who was at the same time my biology teacher was the person to help me with everything – from personal statement to past paper questions.

Dr Webber who taught me biology just for a few last months helped me enormously with the exam preparation - she was the one to read piles and piles of my essays and she was always making useful comments.

Dr Cheng – a magician who could make maths clear even to me (which seems to be a pretty impossible task).  Always so extraordinary kind and patient she was ready to spend long hours with us doing extra classes before exams, answering difficult ( for us) questions even during the holidays – she was always filling us with her powerful energy which made even the most lazy students hardworking.

Dr. Cameron who understood straight away that I have no idea what is physics about – and still did his best to explain to me at least something.  His jokes made me feel much less miserable as well.

Mr. Loft not only made me love chemistry as I do now but even enlarged our English vocabulary and cultural knowledge.  He was always trying to make us think on our own and find the solution independently and, if we got completely stuck, was always there for us. 

I also want to thank all those teachers who taught me during my GSCE and AS course – without them my further studies would be impossible.

Surprisingly I also became quite attached to the college building itself – it seems highly improbable because the building is very modern – made of glass and concrete and usually such kind of constructions cause me nothing but irritation.

 Cromwell Road  The new building at Billinton Way

At the beginning I just started to appreciate its good location just next to the train station, modern laboratories and IT rooms, space in the library.  But now I realize that it is more then just this.  The round tables and white chairs where we always used to sit with girls and drink coffee, classrooms – each associated with a particular subject or teacher, the beautiful view on the town from the 3rd floor, the lift where we had lots of funny little conversations, the exam hall – place of big happiness and big misery during The May Ball and examinations respectively… Every single corner of the building is linked in my mind with some memories or people.

There was one more thing I found very hard to say goodbye to – Brighton & Hove, the place that was my home for 3 years.  When I went to the seafront on my last day I did not feel anything.  Well, of course I enjoyed the sunshine, light wind, the beach, the views on the town and the Pier but it did not feel like the end.  It seemed that tomorrow I will be there again and, even if I go, I will come back, come back to Brighton.  And everything will be like it used to be.

I think that I still did not completely realise what happened and probably this understanding will come later – when I will come back to the UK, but not to Brighton.  I know that I will always be able to catch a train at London Victoria and be back to the seafront and college, eat my favorite ice-cream, say hello to all the teachers and my host mum.  But then I will only be a visitor.  All of this might seem a bit sad but actually it’s not.  When I am writing those lines I am smiling.  Yes, now its time to move on, but the happiness that was given to me by Brighton, my college, my dear friends will always be with me.  Together with all the experiences, thoughts, people I’ve met and the various things that happened over those three years.  Because there are in my memory.

 Who I was  ...and who I am now!

The May Ball and The Award Ceremony...again!

Posted by Ksenia

The last few day of May always seemed very odd to me.  There is no homework, no tests, nobody cares about reports but still everyone studies much harder then during the rest of the year.  People often miss classes but not because they were on a great party last night but because they prefer to follow their own revision program in the library.  Library, revision, past papers - those are the key words for the end of the spring term.  Really, if nobody forces people to work but they still do - there must be some very important exams coming up!  Why don't we always have this enthusiasm for learning?  It would make our lives much easier ...  But we are not looking for easy solutions anyway!

Even though everyone is so busy the fact that May Ball is coming soon just could not be ignored.  The ball is always associated with the end of the year - and this time it also reminds me that's my last year at Bellerbys College.  But there was no time for sad thoughts - on the 22nd of May we all get our dresses out (which we discussed so many times before) and went to college anticipating something very special (surely between those two were hours and hours of preparation for most of the girls!). 

 

This year's theme (every time it is different) was Venetian masquerade - so we all have to bring our masks.  Here the public opinion separated exactly in two - some absolutely loved the idea but others imagined how silly we all would look like on the pictures (which are always made in huge quantities on the ball and this year is not an exception!).  I and most of my friends were in the second group so we prefer to carry our masks around, however you may see that we decided to take several pictures with them to have a laugh in future. 

Even though I did not particularly appreciate the idea of the masquerade I really liked how Bellerbys was decorated - obviously I rather prefer to see a mask on the wall then on my face!  There was so much to do during this few hours so I was constantly running around the college - that's just some of the top priorities - see the performances by our most talented students (singing and dancing this year was better then ever), take lots of pictures with all of my friends and members of staff, dance in the exam hall and of course eat some of the traditional chocolate fountain (May ball is just impossible without it!!!)

 

When at 11 o'clock the celebration was finished in college we all took our coats and the party continued!  Everyone went to the hotel which is just a few meters from the college - some students rented a conference hall there and invited a DJ from London - the music was great so there was lots more dancing to do!

After midnight people who didn't have enough fun decided to move on - and one of the Brighton's lounge was already waiting for us!  Here we stayed until nobody could move any longer and then we finally took a taxi and got home.  It was a long night but definitely one of those we will never forget!   That was very lucky that we all had an extended weekend in front of us - on the 25th of May it was a bank holiday Monday, so we all had time to sleep, look, exchange and discuss the photos and even study (how good and responsible we are!) before the new week commenced.

On the 27th of May there was another big event (well, at least for A-Level students) - the award ceremony.  Mr Addison and Mr Corcut said some very nice and inspiring words (including that we are the best group that our Vice Principal have seen during his entire career) and wished us lots of luck in the oncoming exams.  Then the best students were awarded prizes.  I was very pleased to see a few of my classmates to get the awards including the principal award, best economics student and special librarian award.  I was also very happy to receive the best science student award even though I think there are many talented students in our department who are probably better in science then I am.

I have barely noticed how the rest of the week went by as books were completely filling my life.  But on Friday afternoon I could not resist the gorgeous weather that once again came to Brighton and went for a walk with my friend who came from London.  She has previously studied A Levels in Bellerbys so it was fascinating for her to see everyone in college and talk to her old teachers.  We had a great time on the seafront talking and drinking frappuchino (have I told you that I love Starbucks? Sure I had - if not I am telling it now!). 

Most of the Saturday was also spend on the beach - me and several of my friends took our books and were hoping to study but not we were not too successful as the sun, the sea and a company of your great friends may be very disruptive.  That is why (and also because I got sunburns - as usual!) I decided to stay indoors on Sunday.  Hope you all are having great time and taking most of your summertime - I have to wait for 3 more weeks until the exams are finished and then I will definitely join you!

The School Trip

Posted by Ksenia

For the Sunday 10th of May a trip to Seven Sisters was planned.  Basically it’s a huge country park on the south coast situated between Seaford and Eastbourne.  The sisters are a series of chalk cliffs formed where the South Downs meet the sea.  That was all I knew about our destination when our little group (Mr. Loft, Dr. Andrews and a few A2 chemistry students including myself) was getting on the bus at 2.55 pm.

The idea was given to us by Mr. Loft – my chemistry teacher (who I have already mentioned in my blog so many times so it’s absolutely unnecessary to describe how brilliant he is) – and he was the one to organize everything including the bus journey and even the entertainment (how great it is when at least someone is organized).  We played something which is called Salami Game (do not worry if you never heard of it – I didn’t have a slightest idea about it as well).  Originally it was played in some TV show and involved slicing sausages in five pieces.  Obviously we didn’t have any sausages (which some people regretted a lot) so it was suggested to play with 100 coins (imaginary as well – or do you carry a hundred identical coins in your pockets?).

We were all given a pen and a piece of paper – then everyone should play with a partner and write a number to show how many coins he is willing to bet.  At the same time the partner also writes a number.  The biggest one wins.  The trick is that you only have 100 coins and you have to win 3 rounds (so it doesn’t make sense to bet 95 in the first round – even though you are going to win it, you will have only 5 coins let and your partner will beat you in the next 3 rounds and will win the game.  So you somehow need to guess what the other person is going to bet.  Clever, isn’t it?).

Talking to each other and playing we did not even noticed how an hour went by and we arrived at a small bus stop not far away from Seaford.  So our discovery of the English country side has begun.  Everyone was very enthusiastic to know the names of all the plants we were seeing on our way (we were extremely lucky to have a professional biologist – Dr Andrews – with us) and when we suddenly saw a field with lots of sheep everyone started running around and taking pictures (this joy was quite understandable as one of the boys from Hong Kong has never seen a sheep before).

 

It was quite a while before everyone got together again and we continued our walk.  When we finally reached the seaside we took our cameras out again – the landscapes were absolutely fantastic and we did not know at that moment that the most breathtaking views are still waiting for us (or could just guess). 

The walk was not the easiest one – we had to almost run down the hills and then climb the next one, again and again – of course they were not that steep but it was quite challenging for people who are used to spend most of the time in their rooms (That was actually one of the reasons Mr. Loft decided to take us out – some of the Bellerbys students are simply not getting enough fresh air as they are studying so hard – poor people I really feel sorry for them – I obviously do not have this problem!).  But as the conversation we were having been so interesting (and quite an odd one sometimes – I guess people who would hear us accidentally would think that we were completely mad.  Imagine what a group of science teachers and students can talk about on Sunday afternoon – well, about everything including ecology, genetics and flame tests!) I have barely experienced any difficulties.

 

We were extremely lucky with the weather – it was warm, sunny and slightly windy – ideal conditions for a walk (to be absolutely honest I expected it to be quite the opposite - rainy and freezing - not because I am a pessimist – just trying to look at life and English climate realistically) so I took a warm coat with me – and I was absolutely right at the end!).  Our plan was to watch the sunset at one particular place from where the cliffs looked particularly beautiful – and we even reached the required point on time, taking lots of picture of the stunning landscapes surrounding us on the way.

 At first the plan was to go back to Brighton on the 8.30 bus but as anyone was in a hurry and were all a bit tired (we had walked around 10 kilometers by then) so we decided not to rush for it but to have a short break on a particularly picturesque top of a hill and then slowly walk to Seaford. 

As the night approached it was turning quite cold (that’s when I was so happy to have my warm coat!) so we were all extremely pleased to get on the bus and used our time to look through all the pictures from the different cameras taken that day (the photos you see here are mainly by Mr. Loft – besides his other talents his a very good photographer). It’s only when I finally got home I really felt how totally exhausted I really was – the only thing I could do is to say hello to my neighbour, set my alarm clock for a bit earlier to collect everything I would need in college on Monday and fell asleep immediately.

And the next morning, even though my legs were refusing to go anywhere I realized that it was the best school trip I have ever been on.

Two Weeks Full of Sunshine

Posted by Ksenia

Straight after our arrival back to the UK we had to get out our books and go back to study as soon as possible - which was quite a shame taking into the account the gorgeous weather in Brighton (after Moscow it was such a pleasure to go out and just enjoy the sun, flowers and spring smells).

The reason to work hard was simple - all of us had mocks in the first two weeks of the term.  But even though the piles of papers to read and things to learn was still huge on Sunday (my first mock was on the next day) I still could not ignore the Russian Easter.  Personally I am not particularly religious but I just love this celebration.

We got together with several other girls and started to prepare a variation of the traditional Easter meal.  As we did not have almost any of the ingredients we had to use all of our imagination to do it.  The easiest thing to do was to cook the eggs and to color them.  Then we wanted to buy something similar to Kulich which is a kind of Easter bread but we could not find anything so we just bought pancakes and put some sweetened condensed milk on it (“sguschyonka” - essentially cow's milk from which water has been removed and to which sugar has been added, but believe me it tastes much better then it sounds!  You can find it in Europe but the best one is definitely made in Russia - a can of it was brought by one of my friends from home) forming some kind of sweet sandwich and then decorated it with multicolored icing.  You can see the result on one of the pictures!

 

The next three days seemed just like a very long one - write one mock, come back home, find the notes and read, read and read again until you just cannot keep your eyes open.  But then on Wednesday, after the last test was finished I felt a great relief and was very happy that everything was over already (some poor people still had mocks on Thursday and Friday).  And that was also a very good reason not to do any work for the rest of the week - I was comforting myself with a thought that I really should get some rest before starting studying again.  But the real reason was a bit different - the weather was still fantastic and I much more preferred to spend the time outdoors.

On Saturday there was a big event - Bellerbys Football Cup.  We met up with friends next to the college and then went to the Preston Park all together (mainly because the majority of us could not remember the way even though we all have been there several times).

Some of the teams were already there doing some sort of exercises.  We were the first supporters to arrive but very soon the space around the football field was full of Bellerbys students. The cup started at one and when we left around five o’clock it was still not finished.  11 teams took part in the competition (even though every game only lasted 15 minutes the choice of the winner was a very long process as everybody took this Football Cup very seriously) and in almost all of them we had our friends playing.  So me and other girls who came to watch the Cup had a big job to do – we were shouting, singing, jumping around trying to support our favorite teams as best as we can.

 

In the breaks between games we were taking lots of useless pictures of ourselves lying on the grass in all the possible positions, eating ice-cream and chatting.  For the whole day it was very sunny and warm but in the afternoon it became a bit chilly due to the cool wind so we decided to leave earlier.  But it was still a pleasure for us to know that a team Ragazzi won and we all went out that evening to celebrate the victory (I think you can guess that we would do this irrespectively of who wins and who loses – all the teams played fantastically and we were very proud of our boys and had a great time – isn’t a good enough reason to celebrate?)

 

The next day was full of sunshine as well though I wasn’t particularly happy about it when I looked in the mirror first thing in the morning.  It may sound very improbable but I got sun-burns on my skin.  That reminded me once again of how special is the place where I live – in the middle of the spring the sun is strong enough to make your face totally red!  But despite this fact I went to the seafront as soon as possible – I just could not resist the Brighton beach in such a gorgeous day.  And even though my face was even redder when I came back I did not regret any single minute spent in the sunshine – I was filled with energy, enthusiasm and infinite love for Brighton.

A Place Called Here

Posted by Ksenia

(Even though the heading was inspired by the novel by Cecilia Ahern I am not going to talk about missing people – luckily everyone important in my life can be easily found).

For most of my friends in Russia two weeks of spring holidays seems a real luxury – they do not get any rest at all.  But for me it was still not enough – I wanted to get so much done, but as usual left everything (especially the revision for the mocks) till the last moment where I had to pack my bags again (I am becoming a real professional in that – practice makes perfect!).  Nevertheless I had time to do a few things in Moscow.

When our plane landed on the Russian territory and everyone started to switch on their mobile phones (even though it is strongly prohibited till the passengers leave the aircraft – but we won’t be Russians if we would listen to rules!)  I was sitting there totally shocked.  Even though I expected it to be colder in Moscow then it was in Brighton, but snow at the end of March…  I got so used to flowers, sunshine, 15 degrees Celsius and wearing light shoes so almost forgot that spring in England and spring in Russia are not the same things.

It was quite cold – around 0, cloudy and terribly messy on the roads.  At the same time I heard one Russian woman speaking on the phone and being very surprised that it is… so warm in Moscow!  Suddenly I felt a bit foreign in my own home country.  The feeling disappeared very quickly though when I saw my father waiting to pick me up in the airport and speaking to my dear mum and grandparents on the phone.  I was still welcomed and loved here – isn’t it the definition of home?

On my first weekend we went to the theatre with my mum to see “Dangerous Corner” by an English play writer J.B. Priestley.  The action takes place in a house in London (since I went to the UK everything seems to be connected with London – people, films, books and even plays!  Someone, very long time ago said that all roads lead to Rome.  Well, I guess all my roads lead to London). 

It was a detective story which totally captured my attention from the beginning to the end.  The ending was sad (a suicide of one of the main characters which was the only predictable event in the whole play), but an important conclusion could be drawn from it – sometimes its better not to know the truth (So do not ask too many questions – you might not like the answers.  Let sleeping dog lie!).  The other one was that if people spend too much time together in a close circle of friends the relationship between them may get very complicated – and its better not to be married in that case!

An alternative ending was suggested at the end where all the characters were safe and sound so the story did not make us depressed but definitely made us think.  Should we tell lies?

My ex-classmates are already on their first year at university (sometimes I feel a bit jealous about that but I remember straightway how lucky I am to have a chance to study in England) and they had lots of new experiences to share with me.  So I spent hours and hours seating in our favorite café listening to all kind of stories – funny, romantic, sad and sometimes quite odd.  I really appreciate my friends from Moscow – even though I left two and a half years ago and we do not have much time to communicate while I am in the UK, we get on together as easily as we did when we studied in the same class – always happy to see each other and discuss everything from studies to boys without any secrets.  I only feel pity that I cannot take them with me to Brighton.

Anyway, those people make my stay in Russia even more enjoyable!  On my last week we went to see an exhibition devoted to Christian Dior.  All sorts of photos covering the history of this fashion brand from the beginning in 1947 to present were shown together with the videos of the recent fashion shows (those are real performances – it almost impossible to get your eyes off the screen.  An extraordinary combination of colors, shapes and cloth, beautiful music created a magical atmosphere.  There you fully understand that fashion is real art and people who created those amazing dresses, shoes, accessories and make up are geniuses.  It is almost impossible to imagine somebody wearing these clothes in the real life – they are so complicated and unpractical but every detail seems to be exactly on its place to transmit what designer had to say.)

It was very interesting to have a look how the style of the collections changed over years but I was particularly impressed by modern photographs made by world-famous photographer Demarchelier who worked with the best models and chose dresses from the Dior collection inspired by the Asian culture.  Full of color, exotic themes and ornaments, sensual and mysterious at the same time, those photos were the real representation of the merge between the East and the West.

The other photographers also used the masterpieces by Dior to express their views, feelings and emotions in their own creative way.  Surely, it’s just impossible to describe them - you just have to see it!

I hope that everyone had a very good Easter but now its time to go back to Brighton and get on with our studies.  See you there!

Time Out in Brighton and London

Posted by Ksenia

So here we go again –the last week of the term, spring sunshine with showers and Easter eggs (the fact that the Easter day itself is still more then two weeks away does not really make any difference – it's just one more good reason to enjoy some extra chocolate!).

Bellerbys College is half-empty as all the Foundation students and quite a lot of people from other programs have already gone back to their countries or somewhere else to have their extended holidays. The ones who stayed (including myself) do not seem to work really hard – the tests were done last week, the homework is already finished and its quite hard to get out of bed on time especially if you are the only person who is expected to come to the class.

The teachers, very understanding as usual, do not demand too much but give their students piles of past papers to do during the holidays.  I feel I will have to persuade myself to work at least a bit during the holidays which I always find very challenging to do.  I will really need to train my will power to succeed in my June exams!

The last week was quite busy as well – between the preparations for the end of term tests there was a cultural evening at Bellerbys.  By 8 o’clock on Wednesday the 18th of March the Exam Hall was full of people – those who came to present their country and have done lots of preparation and all the others who have just come to enjoy the evening and get to know a bit more about other cultures. Some people even organised a table representing their country with some local food dishes (which was for others to try and absolutely delicious!), musical instruments, pictures, souvenirs (one of the tables was even selling postcards – business skills learned in college applied to practise!) and even a hand-made model of a house (Kazak people were as usual the most hard-working to praise their country).

Then the concert began with songs, poems, computer presentations and very hot dancers from Turkey and Nigeria.  At the end nobody could stop dancing so the disco began and the evening went on for much longer then I was expected.  Thank to everybody who put in their efforts to prepare this fantastic event – it was lots of fun!

After the celebration of the end of Foundation exams on Friday (if I am not a Foundation student does it mean that I do not have anything to celebrate?  Definitely not, at least my friends who were leaving the next morning did not think so) my dream was to have an early night but life is too short to spend the time sleeping.  So on the Saturday evening we went to see a play “Woman in Mind” in Vaudeville Theatre which is right next to the Charing Cross tube station (I guess that there is no point to mention that I was in London again?).

 

The main character is Susan, a middle-aged housewife who after a minor head injury starts to live in two different worlds – the real one full of unpleasant duties, annoying people and family problems and the imaginary world with a perfect husband, house, child and everyone constantly drinking champagne (probably she had a hidden drinking problem as well as schizophrenia?), wearing white clothes (which never get dirty apparently) enjoying themselves and loving each other.  Susan finds it progressively harder to distinguish between the two worlds and imaginary characters start to affect her behaviour with the real ones.

The play is full of witty dialogues; the jokes are funny even for non-English people (no comments about English humour!) so we found this comedy really amusing.  However the end is not quite what you might expect, and a rather sad one as well – Susan gets completely mad and as one of my friends said (who studies psychology so really approached this problem from a professional point of view) probably commits suicide.  Nevertheless we were all in a perfect mood and decided to go to see something else after our return back to the UK from holidays.

Well, I’d better go and start my packing now - I always leave it for the last minute and at the end forget lots of things (hopefully excluding my head, passport and mobile phone).   I hope you all have a fantastic holidays and happy Easter!!!