Sandy's diary in Manchester (March, 2001)

Just click on any of the following underlined dates and you can get to know what's going on with me that day.

7th March, 01 (Wed)

Student discounts

One of the best things here is you can get back what you should have, if you've got sensible reasons and if you bother to argue or fight for it. My shopping at a local boutique is a good example. This afternoon I went back to the shop where I had bought a pair of sports shoes and jeans last Saturday, after finding that I had not been offered the discounts on my shopping, which I as a student was entitled to. The money claim back was achieved without any problem, to my surprise.

8th March, 01 (Thur)

A single room en suite

I always thought there was no big difference between a single room en suite and a single room with a washbasin in the university's accommodation, besides the fact that the former includes a private bathroom and thus it charges a much higher fee. But a visit to the flat where one of my classmates lives in proved me wrong to some extent.

A farewell party for one of our classmates who was going to German for her second semester study gave me a chance to visit my another classmate's flat, where the party was held. It was a twenty to twenty-five-minute walk away from the university. The student flats were in several-storey buildings with a car park. A bit like those for middle-class people in the News Territories of Hong Kong. Each flat was shared by four students (compared with those by eight), each having their own bathroom; the kitchen was nice and new, with everything included (e.g. TV). Perhaps there was nothing special but if you go to some other student flats (like mine), you'd understand why such flats as my classmate's were so highly rated by me and why it charged such a higher rent.

The farewell party? It was about eating and chatting with nice food and people. (typical description?!)

21st March, 01 (Wed)

No heating?! Are you kidding?

What will you do when you go to bed in winter? Cover yourself (including your head) with thick layers of blankets? Wear a pair of socks, though you're not going anywhere (maybe you are, in your dream)? Close all the windows to prevent any cold air coming in? You may not need to do any of the above, if one important thing has been done - turning on the heating. However, it (centrral heating) is out of our control and we could do nothing but the above-mentioned when it is out of order. This was what happened tonight.

The problem with the heating in our flat couldn't be resolved until the next morning when the engineers came to our rescue and we had to experience a night, which was the most chilly this week.

Another necessity which has also been absent in my life these days is my email account at lycos. I had no clue as to what had happened when I found I couldn't get access to it. Correct username and password but still no access. It was like a person being cut off from any communication with anyone in the world! Though I've got some other email accounts, this one is my main, most important and representative one.

25th March, 01 (Sun)

UK Mothering Sunday

The clock here moved one hour forward after midnight when the British summertime began. The longer daylight hours also signalled the coming of the summer, but the weather was still chilly (perhaps it would still be so in summer!)

Today was also Mothering Sunday in the UK. The merchandise at the shopping windows have already told us about that.

24th (Sat) & 28th March, 01 (Wed)

2002 World Cup qualifiers

The two days:

Common?

Crucial 2002 World Cup qualifiers (against Finland and Albania) for England, who in both matches got three vital points. Well done!

Difference?

I listened to the live radio broadcast on the match against Finland and watched live TV on the one against Albania.

31st March, 01 (Sat)

A big day?!

It is a big day for...

i) the Linguistics Department of the University of Manchester, which held the 10th Postgraduate Linguistics Conference, attended by around 40 people, 20 of whom presented their papers at different time slots. It is worth mentioning because I was one of the four-member organising committee.

ii) fans of Liverpool & Manchester United football clubs, who were concerned about the match between the two rivalry teams (result: 2-0)

iii) students of the University of Manchester and UMIST, who began their three-week Easter holiday

iv) me, whose email account at lycos was active again, and who got some chocolate croissants in return for her efforts at the conference.

This page was last updated on Thursday, 16 October 2003.

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