University of California, Irvine

UCI is a public research university of just over 30000 students, founded in 1965 . Irvine is one of ten University of California campuses, with the others being Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Davis, Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced. During his time at UCI Will is working in the Department of Cognitive Science, carrying out some research on neurological systems. This place is pretty tough to get into, last year almost 89000 would-be freshmen and transfer students applied for 6000 slots for Fall 2015! Maybe that is why the students are so proud of their school... When walking around campus you can't go more than a minute or two without seeing people in UCI-branded clothing. There is a huge selection on offer in the campus 'bookstore'.

The UCI mascot is the anteater, and they appear all over the campus (not real ones, unfortunately). Now I'm not sure why you would want a semi-blind animal with a ridiculously long nose as your mascot, but coming from NZ which has the kiwi as our national bird, I'm probably in no position to judge...

'Zot' is apparently the sound an anteater makes when it eats its ants, and this also appears around campus a lot, with 'zot, zot, zot' being used as a rallying cry. There is even an accompanying hand signal that you make, which they taught to President Obama when he attended a UCI graduation in 2014!

Here is some more anteater action...

The campus is lovely, and only a short walk from our apartment. I've been spending a bit of time here, making use of free wifi. It's a busy bustling place, full of energy. There are often stalls set up on the ring road, either selling food or promoting various causes.

The campus is designed like the spokes of a wheel, with Aldrich Park right in the centre. This is a gorgeous park with beautiful mature trees. It's a lovely place to wander around.

A couple of weeks ago the student union erected a giant pop-up screen in the park and held a free screening of 'Interstellar' that evening which Will and I enjoyed. The Physics department had set up come of their high-powered telescopes, so after the movies we got to see Jupiter and its moons close up which was very cool.

The sporting facilities here are unbelievable. University level sport is such a big deal in America and if you shine at this level, you have a decent chance of turning pro.

I do like how bike-friendly UCI is (and, in fact, the whole of Irvine is). There is loads of parking for bikes available, and also maintenance stations with air pumps and all the tools you need to keep a bike running. There is also a cycle shop on the campus.

All in all, UCI is a very cool place, and I would be happy if, sometime in the future, Will could manage to get himself a full-time job here... Unfortunately, because this part of Southern California is seen as an extremely desirable place to live, there is just as much competition for staff vacancies as there is for students wishing to attend UCI!