> Here I am at university. It's a really nice place. The meal hall is better than any other one I've been to. The library has books I didn't know existed, or at least never really expected to see myself ('The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature', 'Allgemeine Bücherkunde zur neueren deutschen Literaturgeschichte').

Ooh, big university libraries are the GREATEST. Mine, I'm sure, had all these transdimensional portals so it was bigger inside than outside, and the layout of the corridors kept changing, and the ordinary laws of time and space didn't apply. However, they renovated it towards the end of my degree, so it's not as good anymore - it has proper lighting now and formica where wood used to be, so most of the monsters have probably left in search of other dark cobwebby corners.

Also it had a mystic air conditioning system that blew hot air all summer and cold air all winter. There must have been a reason, but nobody knew what it was. Seven storeys of bliss, and that was just the main library. There were other smaller ones in the different faculties, too. Heaven.

I worked there part time during two years of my study. The hardest thing was working out which ragged smelly bearded insane old men talking to themselves were inner-city homeless guys trying to move in for the winter, and which were Heads of Department who would get annoyed if you called security.

> The university is small, but the students still practically double the population of the town. However, it's far larger than any place I've lived for a while. I think they can tell you're from the boondocks when they run across the crosswalk even if the nearest car they see is:
>
> a) a block away.
> b) parked.
> or
> c) non-existent.

The University of Auckland, where I went, currently has 26,000 students. Every single one of them is out there trying to cross the road, every time I'm in a hurry to drive somewhere past the university. They don't run. They don't even look. Being a student makes you indestructible, didn't you know? :-)

> Well, you can wake up now. That's pretty much it. I hope that wasn't too boring, but it was very exciting for me.

Hey, always interested in your experiences. It looks like you're having a good time. Glad to hear about it! If you're enjoying your first year, it'll just keep getting better. The first year is usually the worst.

Brunnen-"you know the Library at Unseen University in Terry Pratchett books? I can't believe he didn't base that on Auckland's"G