The moon: still a torn fingernail

On Friday I went to Edinburgh by train for the university’s open day, and the following Saturday I made a similar trip to Manchester. I’ve got to say, it made me think a lot, scared me a lot, and sort of brought me back down to earth regarding university and generally moving away from home.

It’s so cliché, and I know it sounds like a load of bollocks, but I regardless of the actual facts and figures, the thing that made the most impression on me this past weekend was the feel of the places. Edinburgh was beautiful (especially as it was such an uncharacteristically clear day), and it’s obviously a well-respected university. However – and I couldn’t exactly place my finger on it – but something wasn’t right. I just didn’t feel like I connected with the professors, the campus, the courses, and so on.

Manchester, the next day, I had small hopes for after this. I took the constant rain as a bad sign as well. But as soon as my mum nudged me and said the campus was in sight, you know, I must’ve looked like such an idiot. It was exactly what I’d expected from a university in how it looked and everything; I just sat in the passenger seat with my head practically on the dashboard, eyes wide open.

Now, the two schools I’ve been at before haven’t been exactly elaborately furnished, usually due to financial issues (for those reading that know the first was a private school, allow me to dispel any preconceptions in another post!). So I’m easily impressed when it comes to hallways, lecture halls, and classrooms that aren’t falling apart. Needless to say, the stone and wooden interior of the language department charmed me almost as much as the genuine enthusiasm of everyone there.

I’m planning on taking a degree in French & Japanese (which are often considered totally separate subjects by universities), so I found out as much as I could about the two language areas while I was at the open days. And the Japanese department at Edinburgh was a little depressing. Everything was held in classrooms with textbooks and exercises, and the subject seemed to be approached from a practical angle rather than a linguistic one.

At Manchester, French, German, Russian, Chinese, you name it; they’re all put under one header – and granted, this is quite rare for a British university. And the department really felt like a much more key element of the place, where languages are actually appreciated rather than shoved to a rather dank corner of the campus. I just felt at home there, like I’d enjoy my degree and not feel like I’m compromising myself.

This is by no means the end of my university hunt – it’s only just begun! – but I have to say Manchester has left such an impression on me. I think the reason I say this is that, as previously mentioned, it’s one of the few institutes in the UK where East Asian and European languages are actually classed together. Sadly even Oxbridge takes the “Modern European Languages”/”East Asian Studies” route. Spoilsports!