Feb 2009

last week one of my classes travelled to Holbeck, a run down community right on the edge of Leeds city centre. it is amazing how fast the transformation from well kept city to litter covered Holbeck takes place. we had to go at a specific time so that our safety was at the least risk, and were told not to carry bags or wear any loud clothing.
I wasn't too keen on going around taking photos of the kind people of Holbeck, so ive grabbed a few photos off the internet to show you what it is like. this place used to be a big industrial area, when 40 years ago a motorway was put right through the middle of the community and it has been on the decline since.
some of the first things you notice are the prostitutes and amazing amount of rubbish everywhere. cheap beer cans mainly. but the place is relatively dead during the day otherwise.

Leeds city council plans to pretty much bulldoze the whole area and start again as they extend the city centre. and after talking to a community worker at a centre there i dont really see any other way to fix this. but then there is the issue of the few locals remaining.

So about a week ago i ran into an old man and was having the usual conversation about why the hell an australian would want to come to Leeds. I still dont have an answer to that question, but i'm enjoying it. the weather cropped up, and it ended in him telling me that Leeds never gets any snow so dont expect any.

the photos in this blog are several days after the 'worst' of it. so that guy was on the money. now it was awesome. i was just walking around in the fresh stuff to make that cool sound. the only downside is that windsor smiths aren't good for dryness or grip when trekking through crystalline water ice. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow)

Uni here is relatively similar to Aus which made things easy these first 2 weeks. what i have noticed is that the assessments are more practical. the worst part is how im going to classes in the start of feb. it doesnt feel right. well im doing four subjects this semester and I'll list them and what i need to do to take up some room yeh.

Sport Sponsorship - design a sponsorship proposal in a group for an event called 'Himalayan expedition 2009'

Event management - plan, promote and run a day of rounders and other things involving teachers & students.

Community Sports Development - this subject will bore the shit out of me. look at 2 underprivileged areas and design models to bring the communities together through local organisations. seeing as i dont know of any organisations around here it will also be a pain in the ass.

Sport & Leisure Events - create a bid for a major sporting event. not decided which event yet but something like the world cup or olympics. the thing Australian govt has just spend 46million on supporting. so, it should be a breeze.

enough of that, i've got a pub crawl today for some dudes birthday i met a couple of days ago.

cheers,