Intoduction to the HKU
It was so fun to finally have my introduction to the Utrecht School of the Arts. The School of Art is part of the HKU (ha-ka-you). At first i was really stoked because i thought that i lived so close to the school, because i had been given an address that was right in the city centre. But when i turned up to get registered i found out that the Art School is actually on the otherside of town, and that it is just the offices that are in town. So was a little bit guttered.
On the tuesday we had a meeting for all the exchange students, and an introduction to the Erasmus network, a network that provides many activities for international students. It was great to see Rosy and Aliki, the two other exchange students from Dunedin, and it was fun to meet other people from around the world who are to study in Utrecht.
We went on a tour around town, and the Erasmus people pointed out helpful things like good cheap places to eat and places to buy cheap bikes and stuff. Our first stop was the Dom tower. The Dom is the tallest church tower in Utrecht, and from the top you are meant to be able to see beyond Utrecht. But this was a cloudy day so our vision was cut off by low clouds. It is a long way to the top...like 400 narrow, windy steps to the top. Its really good exercise. We had this guy give us a tour, we stopped on each different level and he explained 
what each room was used for. My favourite room was the one with the bells. There are these huge huge church bells! Every day they ring and you can hear these tunes across the city. But we learnt the secret that it is not actually the bells that ring..but a giant music box. And sometimes the music box gets stuck and doesnt work. It didnt happen to work the day we went up the tower. It was really cold up the top of the tower, but the view was pretty cool...its a long way down to the bottom! (photos - The huge bells, Rosy at the top, Panoramic view of Utrecht)
After the Dom Tower, we all went to this pub for a free drink and a few bits of cheese. It was nice to warm up. Aliki, Rosy and I decided to go out for dinner. It took us a while to find somewhere to eat though that was within our student budgets. We wandered the streets for ages and then came across this nice Greek restaraunt right next to the canal. Aliki is greek so she turned on her greek charm and we scored the best greek meal ever for a pretty good price. I was loving it, because greek and other kind of middle eastern food is my absolute favourite!
My next appointment was on the Thursday, an introduction to the School of the Arts. I didnt really have a really good first impression of the school because i arrived half an hour late. It was a mission to find, and its about a half hour bike ride from my flat. I think i missed out on alot of relevant information, all i got was a quick tour of the IBB (what we call this part of the art school). I was most interested in the printmaking facilities, the computer room, and was most fascinated that they have a bookmaking department. I'd be pretty keen to learn how to make a book. We had a little time where we introduced ourselves to each other too. It was cool to hear where everyone came from. It seems everyone is in little groups. Three of us from NZ, about three from Ireland, about three from Leeds, about three from America. I think the only exceptions are a girl from Prague, and a girl from Bulgaria. Everyone seems really cool.
In the afternoon we had another meeting. This side on the complete other side of town at the 'Tractieweg' studios. About a 40minute bicycle ride. This building is where all the studios for third years are apparently. It seems a bit silly though that they would have studios on the complete otherside of town to the rest of the art school. I imagine it will be a bit awkward for me. It would be alot more convienient for me to have a studio at the IBB where the printmaking studio is. I'll have to suss that one out. We had a tour around the studio and a bit of an introduction to the year. A few lecturers introduced themselves to us. I expected to be given some sort of course outline but no. It seems that we basically just do our own thing, and tutors are available about one day a week to talk to if needed. There are no classes apart from a theory lecture every thursday from 5pm-7pm (awkward timing). We had our first lecture there and then. And i must admit it was very interesting. I usually hate art theory, but i must admit i got more out of this one lecture than i did out of any of the ones from second year. I think its maybe because these are more discussions than lectures, and its interesting to hear about students different opinions on different things. So school officially starts on monday. I expect this is going to be a very interesting semester.
On the tuesday we had a meeting for all the exchange students, and an introduction to the Erasmus network, a network that provides many activities for international students. It was great to see Rosy and Aliki, the two other exchange students from Dunedin, and it was fun to meet other people from around the world who are to study in Utrecht.
We went on a tour around town, and the Erasmus people pointed out helpful things like good cheap places to eat and places to buy cheap bikes and stuff. Our first stop was the Dom tower. The Dom is the tallest church tower in Utrecht, and from the top you are meant to be able to see beyond Utrecht. But this was a cloudy day so our vision was cut off by low clouds. It is a long way to the top...like 400 narrow, windy steps to the top. Its really good exercise. We had this guy give us a tour, we stopped on each different level and he explained 
what each room was used for. My favourite room was the one with the bells. There are these huge huge church bells! Every day they ring and you can hear these tunes across the city. But we learnt the secret that it is not actually the bells that ring..but a giant music box. And sometimes the music box gets stuck and doesnt work. It didnt happen to work the day we went up the tower. It was really cold up the top of the tower, but the view was pretty cool...its a long way down to the bottom! (photos - The huge bells, Rosy at the top, Panoramic view of Utrecht)
After the Dom Tower, we all went to this pub for a free drink and a few bits of cheese. It was nice to warm up. Aliki, Rosy and I decided to go out for dinner. It took us a while to find somewhere to eat though that was within our student budgets. We wandered the streets for ages and then came across this nice Greek restaraunt right next to the canal. Aliki is greek so she turned on her greek charm and we scored the best greek meal ever for a pretty good price. I was loving it, because greek and other kind of middle eastern food is my absolute favourite!
My next appointment was on the Thursday, an introduction to the School of the Arts. I didnt really have a really good first impression of the school because i arrived half an hour late. It was a mission to find, and its about a half hour bike ride from my flat. I think i missed out on alot of relevant information, all i got was a quick tour of the IBB (what we call this part of the art school). I was most interested in the printmaking facilities, the computer room, and was most fascinated that they have a bookmaking department. I'd be pretty keen to learn how to make a book. We had a little time where we introduced ourselves to each other too. It was cool to hear where everyone came from. It seems everyone is in little groups. Three of us from NZ, about three from Ireland, about three from Leeds, about three from America. I think the only exceptions are a girl from Prague, and a girl from Bulgaria. Everyone seems really cool.
In the afternoon we had another meeting. This side on the complete other side of town at the 'Tractieweg' studios. About a 40minute bicycle ride. This building is where all the studios for third years are apparently. It seems a bit silly though that they would have studios on the complete otherside of town to the rest of the art school. I imagine it will be a bit awkward for me. It would be alot more convienient for me to have a studio at the IBB where the printmaking studio is. I'll have to suss that one out. We had a tour around the studio and a bit of an introduction to the year. A few lecturers introduced themselves to us. I expected to be given some sort of course outline but no. It seems that we basically just do our own thing, and tutors are available about one day a week to talk to if needed. There are no classes apart from a theory lecture every thursday from 5pm-7pm (awkward timing). We had our first lecture there and then. And i must admit it was very interesting. I usually hate art theory, but i must admit i got more out of this one lecture than i did out of any of the ones from second year. I think its maybe because these are more discussions than lectures, and its interesting to hear about students different opinions on different things. So school officially starts on monday. I expect this is going to be a very interesting semester.
posted by simone marie at 12:40 PM
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