Indian Dinner in Edinburgh

Just when I thought of a topic to write about for my first ever blog, my mind became blank. That’s why it took me these many days to finally post it.

This is about the third instalment of our gathering in Prof Grunde Jomaas’s house, for Indian Dinner party on 20 November. For the ones in Ghent curious about the previous occasions- the first was potluck dinner where we all brought dishes popular in our own countries, and the second was PIZZA night.

As Grunde mentioned, it is really overwhelming, especially for us first years- to come to a new city far away from home and continuously interact with new people in a new environment with totally new type of studies. It is more so for me- as someone who never was away from her family for more than half a month, until the day she stepped outside of her comfort zone and came to join the IMFSE family.

So these dinners served as “breather” for us. We got to know each other, got to talk about own country and culture, and just have fun without the care of the world (not literally, but well, we got to escape from doing our assignments and studies for a while). And this time too, we had yummy foods in front of us while chatting (with chips and drinks).

We wanted to do something for Grunde for taking care of us in this new place. So we got a small gift for our dear professor- a chess set (and a card with all of our names on it).

Interestingly, we got to celebrate Chamith’s birthday that day with a super delicious chocolate cake made by Fearghal and Leo. So we (I, who loves cakes a lot more than she should) had the chance to taste the cake, along with the Indian food of our own choices.

Thus, it was a great party for the third time to enjoy ourselves, just before the nightmare begins (exams are on the way… … …)

Picture Credit to Cathleen and Vicky 😀

P.S. I am bad at giving titles, apologies.

Finding the Story within the Data

Firstly, apologies for the reduced amount of blog posts recently. Whether you’re in Edinburgh or Ghent, the workload during semester three is um… let’s call it thorough. Luckily we have a new batch of blog post authors who have recently been handed the passwords to the site, so there should be a whole lot of new content coming soon.

Looking back through the IMFSE archives there’s a history of students writing about their experiences with the Fire Science Laboratory subject we second-year students undertake in Edinburgh. And really, this isn’t surprising given how much people enjoy watching things burn. However, this subject is about so much more than that. (To get a brief idea on the types of tests we undertake, have a look at Darko’s nice summary here).

 

The Fire Science Labs can best be described as doing a series of mini-thesis’ every fortnight for the duration of the semester. If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. But it can also be incredibly rewarding. Whilst we have a general brief of what is to be undertaken each session, what data we obtain, how we obtain it and most importantly what we do with it is entirely up to us.

Depending upon which literature each of us review, we can come up with our own pathway through the data to tell our own story. It’s always surprising discussing the report process with other students and seeing the vastly different, but still entirely valid, directions they’ve taken the analysis.

Whilst there have been more than a few late nights managing these tasks with the other coursework, I have been able to broaden my understanding of the mechanisms involved in fire, practically validate common design correlations and get a taste of fire safety engineering research.

No mater where we all end up following IMFSE, I am without doubt that the knowledge, experience and approach to thinking gained throughout this subject will frequently be drawn upon.

For now, I better get back to writing up this next report.

On the Other Side of the Screen

About one year ago I discovered this blog and I was reading every single post, as if I was reading a new book, chapter by chapter. As a result, this blog gave me an opportunity to immerse myself into wonderful world of fire safety engineering. Now, as a current IMFSE student, I became a blogger. Still cannot believe that now I am on the other side of the screen.

I remember how I was preparing application documents and was hoping that the local post will not lose it and deliver to the destination point. (If you are from post-soviet country, you are aware of the current status of local post services). I applied in the early November and then moved to another country and started new job. During these changes I completely forgot about my application. Likely, I always check my emails on the regular basis and one of them contained an invitation to the interview. Due to important project at work, I was not able to take a day off at that day; at the same time it was not possible to rearrange interview. Therefore, I was stressed a bit, because my interview went in inconvenient conditions: I just took my laptop and moved from office to a small canteen (hoping that no one will be looking for me during this 20 minutes time). My heart was knocking very fast and loudly; and it was challenging to switch from work to the interview mode so instantly. 20 minutes passed faster than I could imagine. I think, everyone tries to analyze his/her chances after the interview thinking that “it could have been better”. So, I quickly made a decision in my head and switched back to the work..

What a surprise was for me, when after sometime I received an email saying that not only was I accepted to the program, but also got Erasmus scholarship. I could not believe to my eyes! I closed the email and opened it later; fortunately, the message was the same. Frankly speaking, I finally realized what a change will take place in my life only after receiving post from Lies, with this warm welcoming:

This is my story, I do not know what your story is going to be, but in order to make it successful, below are some general tips for your application. Some of them maybe obvious, but still important to keep in mind:

• Go to IMFSE website and read it!
• Apply well in advance, because preparation of application documents can take more time than you expect (reference letters, translation, etc.).
• My personal opinion is that motivation letter is the key document, because only through it you can communicate with the reader. Therefore, I suggest starting it early enough to have time for corrections.
• And finally, be yourself in every piece of document you provide, because you are that unique person that program is looking for!

Good luck!

Free Walking Tours

Are you familiar with the concept of the Free Walking Tour? I was not, up until January of this year when I first arrived in Copenhagen. Free Walking Tour is a tip-based tour in most of the major cities in Europe, where you do not pay for the tour beforehand, but rather pay the tour guide at the end of the tour. The amount that you give to the tour guide is totally up to you. But most of the time tour guides work full time doing these kinds of tours.

Usually, these tours last for 2.5-3 hours and focus on the main area or specific area of the city. The guide stops in different areas of significance and explains the history, culture, and some fun facts about them. Also, they sometimes give political views of the region, local dos and don’ts, and tips on local food and drinks.

Ever since I got to know about it, when I travel to a new city, I always try to register for one of those and get to know the city from a guide. With my IMFSE peers, we have gone to three of such tours: in Hamburg, Budapest, and Prague and I have gone to the tours in Copenhagen, Malmo, Rome, and Barcelona. I did a little research and found out that there are free walking tours in Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, and Liege. As time permits, some of my classmates and I are very excited to visit these cities during the semester in Belgium ❤

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As a student, I think this is the most budget-friendly way of getting to know a new place because paid tours can get quite expensive if done frequently.