| My six months stay in the UK began on
Saturday 28th September, when our friends Michael and Rosemary took me
back with them to Hastings after a visit to my family in Schwerte. On
the Monday my big adventure began. I had won a scholarship for two terms
(1 semester in Germany) at Reading University! As Reading and
Düsseldorf are twinned, the two universities also support exchange
programmes. There were four of us from Düsseldorf University
participating in this programme during this university year. |
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Michael and Rosemary were so kind to take me to Reading and drop me off at my hall of residence St. Andrew's, an Edwardian style building, which has by now been turned into a museum. My room wasn't in the main house though, but in the so-called Garden Annexe. But I always went to the main buildings for meals at the central dining room and to study in the old library. St. Andrew's Hall was also conveniently located in walking distance between the university and the town centre. |
| In the evening of the 30th new students were invited to a reception and dinner with the university's Vice-Chancellor at St. Andrew's Hall. During the first week a Fresher's Fayre was held which provided information on the many societies and sports clubs at the university. I signed up for the aikido club (which became one of my major evening occupations) and the English Club (where I never turned up in the end). During my time in Reading I also tried out Taekwondo and Wu Shu Kwan. There were regular disco evenings at the university's Students' Union or the different student halls, one of my personal highlights was the Halloween disco at St. Andrew's. My best friends at Reading were Sophie from France, Lizzie from Belgium and Antje from Germany who were all staying at St. Andrew's Hall. The Spanish hall residents organized sangria parties from time to time which was fun and people often met for a coffee after lunch or dinner in one of the hall kitchens or just for a chat in the corridors. After aikido practice the club members usually went to a pub after training sessions and once in a while we even went out for dinner, most often a curry at an Indian restaurant which was quite affordable. I often went to the cinema and sometimes we organized video evenings or saw a live band at a pub. One night a hypnotist show with Michael Sutherland was organized by the Students' Union. It was really interesting what some people where asked to do who I actually knew as ordinary students!! One evening I went to see "The Importance of Being Earnest", a play from Oscar Wilde, enacted by students of the university. Sophie also had a part in it, as well as in "La Sauvage" by Jean Anouilh. I also saw "West Side Story" and Verdi's "Aida" which were also staged by students. |
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  Reading itself is not particularly interesting, but it's very conveniently located in the heart of the Thames Valley, very close to London and on most of the major train routes to all parts of England. The University of Reading belongs to the so-called "red brick" universities, meaning that it came after the old universtities like Oxford and Cambridge, but before the new 20th century universities. Founded at the end of the 19th century, the university moved from the old red-brick campus site on London Road (right next to St. Andrew's Hall) into newer and bigger buildings on Whiteknights campus in the 1960s. The campus is set within Whiteknights Park, a beautiful landscaped area with a lake and woods. |
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Canterbury, was murdered, but it also boasts of many
Tudor-style houses that scarcely seem to
have changed for centuries. Unfortunately the day of my visit was a very grey
day. I travelled on to Hastings where I spent Christmas and New Year's Eve with
Michael and Rosemary and their family. On Thursday 9th
January I bought
a train ticket to
highlights are Pulteney
Bridge, Bath Abbey, the Roman Baths and Pump Room, the Colonades, the Royal
Crescent and The Circus. Bath is also famous for its hot springs and spa water.
I climbed up to the castle on top of a hill and was surprised to find out that
it's just a facade. Jane Austen lived in Bath and set two of her novels in the
city. On Saturday the 11th I finally caught a train back to Reading
(£6.20).
4.5 months later, on Saturday, 31st October 1992, at 10:10 a.m. I took
a Lufthansa flight to LHR. From Heathrow I took a train to Hastings where I stayed
with Michael and Rosemary once again. On
Wednesday morning I took a train to London and in the afternoon I continued to Reading. I stayed with Lizzie
again,
visited friends and practised aikido. A friend of mine from Düsseldorf was now
also spending a university semester abroad. On Thursday the 5th Lizzie and I
went to