h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I was at Leeds uni in the early sixties. One year the temperature was below freezing every night from early October to end March. I was in digs in a bedroom that faced North East.Not only were the windows covered in pretty frost patterns, but my breath froze on the wallpaper while I slept. But stone hot water bottles DO seem to stay hot longer than rubber ones.
No heating apart from open coal fire in living room. My fellow lodger and myself wore layers and layers of (hand-knitted)wool and kept the blood flowing with our landlady's excellent breakfasts and masses of exercise. We occasionally even had to walk home because the freezing fog was too thick for the buses to run.
Eventually we moved all the bedclothes into Judith's room (had to move them back if a student welfare office visit was scheduled, much to our landlady's puzzlement. That winter neither of us suffered so much as a sniffle. And Judith is still my best friend

It's like Angela's Ashes all over again

This should be linked to the article on "Pappyisms" in the Peer Review!

I bloody froze in a shared house three years ago because the house was gas heated and we were convinced the fires were leaking carbon monoxide...No matter when you're born winter is still bloody cold!

Also, what's "student welfare"?...I remember debt and squalor, but not welfare and charity.

A good number of years ago at Leeds uni I managed to rent a room in the much coveted flat just opposite the Parkinson Steps (people who have been to Leeds uni will know the one I mean)
The upside of this was that it only took a few minutes to get to the lecture halls.
The downside was the bedroom window didn't shut properly so that in the winter I woke up each morning with snow on my face and blanket :>
It was kinda cool.

The lighter side of hypothermia...nice.

I know exactly where you mean, you lucky thing. I was at Leeds too and lived in awful housing for my second year (contact lens solution freezing, stuff like that). In a well insulated house, even now, I don't like more than one duvet - too hot!

Anna

Hi Anna :> The following year I moved to a warmer flat in the LS16 area only to find it was a popular place for riots... Came home late one rainy night to find the street filled with burning cars. It was just like a scene from Bladerunner :> This was in '97 (I think... memory is hazy)

Hmmm.

As a resident (when I'm not at Uni) of "the LS16 area", I sort of resent the entire area being described as "a popular place for riots" - most of it's all right. In fact, I remember in some survey, the "average" resident of LS 16 was a little old lady

I think I know the bit you mean though.

Apologies, I withdraw my statement about it being a popular place for riots... there was only the one that happened whilst I lived there, maybe I was just in the right place at the wrong time or something :>

Hi Zucchini,

I never lived as far away as LS16 - I was always in LS6. I heard that the rents are getting really expensive now, but the condition of the housing, didn't look much improved when I was last in Leeds a couple of years ago.

(Strikes me that this entry has sparked off much discussion akin to the Four Yorkshireman's Sketch - You know 'You were lucky...', 'Luxury...' etc

Anna

Hey Anna - discovered there's a lot of H2G2 peeps who are or were at Leeds uni - currently having a discussion about Leeds with Lizzy on the Zen + Orange peeling page! I remembered two other Winter related antics:
At Boddington Hall (in my first term) almost every single student there engaged in a massive chaotic snowball fight lasting several days. It was like Veitnam but with more snow and less jungle.
Writing 'SPAM' in 10ft letters in the snow in the pond quad outside the lecture hall. Can't remember why...

Hi Anna

Yes, you're right, the rent is getting expensive - the average rent in now somewhere in the region of the fifty pound mark. You're also right about the condition of the housing, I'm afraid. According to "Leeds Student" it isn't getting better - in fact, due to the annual scramble for houses in LS6, it might actually be getting worse, as the landlords (also known as Rackmanists) don't have to bother doing much more than putting on a new coat of paint in order to get in another lot of tenants. To be honest, demand is so high, they don't even have to do that much.

I've escaped the delights of LS6 for a while, as I'm studying in Germany this year. I'm paying *less* rent here than I would in Leeds, for something relatively palacial, even compared to Leeds Uni accomadation (I'm in Uni accomadation here, by the way). My friends who live out here have flats most British students can only dream of. It's going to be a *BIG* step-down when I return to Leeds next year. Fortunately (I guess) I'm going to be on vacation from Uni on 1 March, so I'll be able to join my friends in the annual house-hunting stampede (lucky me ).

What occupation do you have now that your student days are over? I've had a look at your personal space too and you say that you spent a couple of years in Thailand. What were you doing over there (apart from having a fantastic time)? What was your favorite thing about Thailand? I've haven't been there myself (yet), though I have been to South East Asia: I traveled through Vietnam for three weeks this summer with my boyfriend. It was an incredible experience.

Best wishes to you, your partner and to Dominic! I hope he's doing champion!

Yours,
Lizzy

Hello Zucchini, Hello Lizzy,

50 quid for such ramshackle housing! It's disgusting! If I were you I'd go somewhere civilized and idyllic, like York and commute! Not so much fun though - and I admit, I never lived further away than Headingly.

Going off topic...

All that Leeds stuff is rather far off these days. I now work for h2g2, and arrived here via working for trade and consumer magazines and my trip to Thailand. I was in Thailand because my other half got a job in a school there and it seemed like a dream opportunity. I got a job in a restaurant, writing all their promotional material and organising events. I couldn't choose a favourite overall thing - um - the food perhaps, but I brought back with me some wonderful memories: a day trip to a tiny deserted island; seeing monsoon rain fall from the sky so hard that it bounced back up off the ground; going to my local chaotic supermarket 'Supercheap'; receiving cheese and chocolate from a friend - not having seen it for months; eating papaya with lime juice; the deafening sound of cicadas in the trees; going to the beach after work...

By my desk I've got some pictures up just to remind me how lovely life can be!

I absolutely *loved* Vietnam. Whereabouts did your trip take you?



Anna

Hi Anna

Yes, I know, talk about Rackmanism. Apart from the obvious hassle of commuting, I wouldn't be living near my friends, which is part of the fun of Uni - even if it does mean burst pipes/broken fridges/ brick through the window, etc.

You *work* for h2g2? That's a very cool job. Though I guess it must be very hard work. How many of you are there on the h2g2 staff, then?

Thailand sounds fantastic - one to put on my 'to visit' list! It's getting longer and longer - to be honest, it'd be quicker for me to list the places I don't want to visit. After weeks of wanting one, I finally managed to buy a poster of a map of the world when there was a poster fair at Uni (I had one on my wall at Leeds, but I left it behind in Britain when I came to Germany). I love looking at it, seeing where I've been and where I want to go next...

When I went to Vietnam I traveled from Hanoi, down the coast to Ho Chi Minh City. On the way I went to Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba Island, Hue, Hoi An (including the DMZ), Quang Ngai (near My Lai) and Nha Trang. My favorite experiences were the boat trip thru Ha Long Bay and scuba diving in Nha Trang. I also enjoyed visiting Hanoi though, too, and the Cu Chi tunnels in HCM City. And if you ever go back to Hue, take the 'Cafe on Thu Wheels' motorbike tour, it's really excellent (details in 'Lonely Planet'). Though I guess you might have to postpone such trips until Dominic is a big bigger... Did you go on holiday this summer at all?

Take care, ttyl
Lizzy

Hey Lizzy,

There's seven of us on the team, all rather lovely people (they could be listening in )

When I was in Vietnam we started off at Hanoi, Hue, Hi An and Saigon. Did the Choo Chi tunnels too. Did you go down them?

We went to Dorset and Devon this summer. Lovely but by no means exotic... India's top of my wish list. What's top of yours?



Anna