Opal House Residents

thank you, im a really sociable person and id be really sad if i couldnt have a chat with randoms in the corridors! you know when you try to talk to someone all cheerfully and they either ignore you or look at you in complete disgust/disinterest? *shudders.
hmmm.
are they improving it next year then?

Reply 4902

inferiormadbeing

1

Pah they aren't an honest bunch! The inner city is full of rogues and assains! :p:

I live in Halifax (Endcliffe) and the new site is currently a building site still from what I can see.
However I am sure it will be great once built.

I maraud this thread to keep tabs on my gf and her friends :p:

They are alllll offline so I am in charge mwahaha.

Opal is great the rooms are nicer than halls and the location is great for pretty much all depts , however it is a hike to goodwin (where a lot of the sport is played) which may impact your decision. However what i lacks is the community of a Hall of residence, there is a committee (someone will correct me when I am wrong) which organises things but there doesn't seem to be as much going on as there is in my halls. We have a JCR (junior common room) and they put on a lot of stuff for us which is great. Also all halls have their own bars which is great as the drinks are cheap and you dont have to walk miles!

If you want control of your food then go for self catered as catered is a bit dodgy (however I am lazy so will eat what they put in front of me :biggrin:

).

Opal people will comment on the good/bad points but from what I have experienced whereever people are put you will be happy. I know loads of people in halls and numerous people in self catered and haven't met anyone who hasn't found a circle of friends to fit in with.

Reply 4903

xoxo_GossipGirl

11

jade_anne

Hi,
i know theres lots of threads about accommodation on here but im filling out my form at the moment and am a bit worried! Please pity me!

I wanted to apply for city accom, but I have a friend who lives in stevenson hall and she knows a girl from opal (i think) who doesnt really like it; her flatmates are ok, but the neighbours dont really talk, so she finds it a bit uncomfortable being there sometimes, and shes found it quite hard to meet people.

As all of you on here seem to be an honest bunch i wondered if you could tell me how much of this is true? and:
some of the bad points and good points about living in opal,
and whether youre glad you ended up there or if youd rather have been somewhere else (and where)

Do any of you know what the new endcliffe village place is like also?

Thank you so much, i would be so grateful for your help! :biggrin:

Personally, I love Opal!! And can't imagine living anywhere else. The flats are lovely, and although my flatmate and I had a bit of trouble with our first pair of flatmates, two other girls have moved in now and they're great. I was lucky that the first person I actually dared make eye contact with when I was unpacking my car ended up being my flatmate! Our blocks the smallest block so there aren't as many people, but we made good friends with a couple of guys from next door, and the rest of the people in my block I know to say hello to or have a chat with on a night out.

My advice as far as meeting people is concerned is to get out there in the first week and just be as friendly as possible. We had an awesome party on the first night (thanks to chris and TSR) and most of the people I know now I owe to that.

I also joined the Opal committee, and although thats currently out of service, haha karen =p it was good while it lasted.

Um yeh so as far as meeting people is involved you should be ok, I don't really think its any harder here than anywhere else.

As for the actual accommodation, its great. I love having my own bathroom, the rooms are big, and everythings fine. Don't really have any complaints other than wishing my bed and wadrobe were the other way round =p

The management and security guys are really friendly. I think we're going to have to buy the all a card when we leave. I'm going to miss Richard!!

If you have any more questions you're welcome to ask :biggrin:

Reply 4904

xoxo_GossipGirl

11

ooh Karen, do you think you could handle leaving for Alton Towers at half 7? I don't know if i can to be honest but I'll just have to be in bed for 9 haha We're all allowed to veto one ride, so choose carefully =p I think mines going to be corkscrew, it hurts my ears

Reply 4905

what a friendly bunch you are!
im not into any particular sport that i would play in a team or train reguarly although i will be makin use of the gym and possibly tennis occassionally.
why doesnt anyone go to the socials at opal?! thats strange.

I reeeeaaaally want to go to endcliffe but its 15 mins walk to the campus, im thinking about getting back late at night from the city as well, plus will i be bothered to be invloved in societies etc if im so far out?
Do you mind travelling into the city? (inferiormadbeing-sorry, forgot to quote)

Reply 4906

-x-Squiffy -x-

Personally, I love Opal!! And can't imagine living anywhere else. The flats are lovely, and although my flatmate and I had a bit of trouble with our first pair of flatmates, two other girls have moved in now and they're great. I was lucky that the first person I actually dared make eye contact with when I was unpacking my car ended up being my flatmate! ...

Im glad you sorted that out! Im guessing the accommodation people are good with dealing with problems in that case?
I will be getting out there on the first week! :biggrin:

i just know il get really depressed if im with people who arent easy going- even though you have to accept that in life i guess :smile:

Are all the rooms in opal deluxe?

Reply 4907

Darielle

Well for every flat of 4, one room is a deluxe (double bed, more storage, two computer chars (?!) etc) but the single rooms are amazing compared to other uni accom. The beds are comfy, there's plenty of storage, the bathroom is twee, but ever so easy to clean.

I'm curious what Opal 2 is going to be like, what that it's for a lot more people, and having a lot of facilities (gym, swimming pools etc) on site.

I liked Opal 1 so much that i'm moving back next year :p:

And the three people i'm moving in with, two from TSR and one I knew from school. So no matter what, you will find people to get along with. Remember, most people are in the same situation as you :smile:

Reply 4908

The reason I don't think the socials at Opal worked was because it took several weeks before the committee was set up, and then after that it took a couple of weeks for us to manage to organise something. By that time people had of course made friends by the many other avenues. So if there was an Opal social, I know for me it was likely I was either doing something with the friends I'd already made (and it would be stupid to cancel on current friends in an attempt to make new ones), or I was having a night off from going out. So even though I was on the committee, I didn't even have any interest myself in going to any social we might organise, and I guess it would be the same for other people.
There are reasonably frequent flat parties that go on, that you tend to at least know of someone who knows someone who is hosting it, so you can go if you're interested.

Being in a flat there's only three other people I closely share my living space with, as opposed to an entire corridor like in halls. By chance the people I'm sharing with just aren't the sort of friends I'd choose, so I don't socialise with them. Due to the social'ness of the first few weeks of term though it was easy to get to know the other people on my floor, in my block, and the rest of Opal so I don't feel at all isolated.

Despite being in self-catered accommodation, and despite not joining any societies - just through the people I randomly met in Opal, people I met through TSR, and people I met through my course, I have more socialising to do than I have time/money/desire for.
I don't think you'd have any trouble finding plenty of people to socialise with if you wanted to.

Reply 4909

Thanks,
ive come to the conclusion that the uni experience is what you make it
:smile:

Reply 4910

jade_anne

what a friendly bunch you are!
im not into any particular sport that i would play in a team or train reguarly although i will be makin use of the gym and possibly tennis occassionally.
why doesnt anyone go to the socials at opal?! thats strange.

I reeeeaaaally want to go to endcliffe but its 15 mins walk to the campus, im thinking about getting back late at night from the city as well, plus will i be bothered to be invloved in societies etc if im so far out?
Do you mind travelling into the city? (inferiormadbeing-sorry, forgot to quote)

Endcliffe isn't that far out really. You quickly get used to walking everywhere at uni, so 15 minutes is nothing. Now if you were the 40 minute walk (at least) away in Ranmoor, now I'd consider that an issue!
Being female it does mean you'd have to make sure you walk back in a group or get a taxi really after nights out on the town, whereas being in the city centre I've walked back on my own when I've needed to.
I don't see any reason why it should affect your being in societies.

I don't how long it takes Simon (inferiormadbeing) to get to Goodwin from Halifax, but I don't consider it far from here in the city centre! Because really, if you're going to the gym, swimming, or doing any kind of sport, a 20-30 minute walk shouldn't bother you!

Reply 4911

jade_anne

Thanks,
ive come to the conclusion that the uni experience is what you make it
:smile:

Yup, to summarise it simply :biggrin:

Reply 4912

do trams/buses run throughout the night? or until late?

Reply 4913

inferiormadbeing

1

From goodwin to the Fax can be done in 10 mins easy, much better than 30 mins especially if its raining :P

I had no idea Opal 2 would be all posh and fancy with gym etc, however I'd be concerned at shutting myself away in there and not going out to the town and to the halls/broomhill/endcliffe area if there was everything you would potentially need in one place.

As regard travelling into the city its not an issue really everything is there and you will make friends on your course who will live there as well so going out there is inevitable!! Plus all the big clubs are in the city centre, and taxing back is pretty cheap :biggrin:

Its only about £5 from the union to the endcliffe site.

Do get involved in societies its great fun!

Buses and trams run throughout the night but infrequently (couple an hour) however as the taxi is soooo cheap especially if you are with 2 or 3 other people.

And you are of course quite right university is what you make of it. :biggrin:

Reply 4914

pedro187f

the opal committee was good while it lasted. after they employed the new woman though it all fell apart. i got in touch with her about some of our project ideas and she never got back to me, instead much later on i got emails encouraging me join that sexplored thing. shame really.

anyway has anybody got any downloading programs to work on their internet? since ive come back from easter ive not been able to get anything to work :confused:

Reply 4915