In Bruges

Several months ago my girlfriend and I decided we should go on a holiday together. Initially we thought we would just go along the south coast towards somewhere like Beer or Lyme Regis, but soon became distracted by the promise of chocolate in Belgium and finally settled on going to Bruges.

Last Monday, after waking up early to catch a train, then a tube, followed by the Eurostar, then another train and finally a bus, we had arrived in sunny Bruges. It was stunning; we had been dropped off onto a cobbled street lined with chocolate shops, where the tranquillity was only interrupted by the murmur of tourists and the clip-clop of horses pulling carriages towards the main square, or Markt.

After arriving, finding somewhere for lunch and checking into our hotel, we were ready to orientate ourselves within the bustle of Bruges. We headed towards the Minnewater Park; a beautiful garden surrounding ‘Lovers Lake’, which itself connected to the system of canals that wind their way around the city.

The beautiful Lovers Lake is a great place for an evening stroll

On our way we stumbled across the very impressive St. Saviour’s Cathedral, one of three places of worship we visited, the others being the Basilica of the Holy Blood and the Church of Our Lady, which has the second tallest brick tower in the world and also features a sculpture from Michelangelo. On the second day we decided to climb the other prominent tower of Bruges’ skyline; the famous Belfry. The 366 steps required to reach the top gradually got steeper and narrower, but once you had a chance to recover your breath, the views across the city were spectacular.

The Belfry at night

We were staying in Bruges for four days, so we decided to buy a city pass that allowed free admissions into all of the main tourist attractions. Having this pass meant we could squeeze as much as possible into our stay, tallying up six museums and two art galleries amongst many other things. My favourite museum had to be either the multi-sensory, almost 4D, experience of medieval Bruges or the mouth-watering chocolate museum, featuring everything from the origins of chocolate in Aztec societies, to an unbelievably massive chocolate egg.

It’s hard not to succumb to the lure of chocolate and waffles in Bruges

It was incredible to hear how many languages many of the locals spoke – they all seemed to be fluent in at least four (Dutch, French, English and German) and they would ask you what language you would want to be spoken to in when you approached them. This was most evident on our canal boat trip, where the guide seamlessly switched between different languages pointing out the landmarks and maintaining an interesting dialogue, all whilst navigating the uncomfortably low bridges arching over the waterways.

A gorgeous view of where the canal meets Lovers Lake

The canal trip and Belfry climb are joined in my top three activities by the visit to the local and internationally acclaimed Halve Maan (Half Moon) brewery. After a guided tour through both the old and new parts of the production line and even a small science lesson, we were led back to their on-site bar, where we could try a glass of their handiwork for free.

After the brewery tour, we had time for one last waffle, piled high with chocolate and cream, before it was time to make the seven hour journey back home. It was a great way to end an incredible time in Bruges and I wouldn’t hesitate to go back there again.

James

Planning ahead

The last few weeks leading up to the beginning of summer were pretty hectic. Along with revising for my end of term exams, I also had a number of important decisions to make regarding what I want to study in my third year. Around this busy time all second year biological sciences students had to make decisions about the types of third year projects and preferred supervisors they would like as well as which modules they want to study in the next academic year. Things to consider included what type of third year project you would find most interesting, what would keep you motivated to work hard, what would best suit your future aspirations, what types of skills or techniques you might want to learn and so on. In addition, as a first for this year, a number of new projects were introduced in order to better cater for the various types of skills we might need depending on what we plan on working with in the future. For example, some of the new project types that were introduced as an option this year include a bioscience business project, bioscience education and a science communication project. So as an example, those students who already know they want to go into teaching after their degree might prefer to choose a project type such as the bioscience education module which could prepare them better with the types of skills they might need in the future. Originally the project types included doing a long lab project, a short lab project, a literature project or a long field project.

Choosing a project type does require some thought into the future and what you hope to do when you graduate. For example if you’re planning on continuing study with either a Masters or PhD then (depending of your area of research of interest) a long lab might be the best choice. After a lot of consideration I ended up choosing to do a field project which I hope to accompany with some additional lab experience, however I will save the details for a future post closer to the time I begin my project.

Many of the biologists and zoologists who choose to do field projects take the opportunity to collect their data abroad (including travelling to exotic continents such as Africa and Asia) with an external company. The expenses are paid by the student but many find ways to raise money so that they don’t solely have to cover the costs. It all depends on what your interests are and what your project is. On the other hand, there are numerous interesting lab projects which generally revolve around an area of research in which your supervisor is working, which is why your supervisor choice can be very important.

In terms of the modules I have chosen for next year, I have decided on mostly plant-related modules, building on many of the modules I chose in my second year and on topics which will hopefully complement my third year project. My future modules include Applied Ecology, Applied Plant Biology, Global Change Biology and Spatial Ecology and Conservation. Again, choosing modules for next year required some thought into the future and what I might want to work with or continue to study after I graduate.

Now while I’m still at home in Sweden for another couple of weeks, I have some free time to really start thinking seriously about what I might want to do when I graduate (and what I want to do with my life!). I want to start thinking about this seriously now because I think it will be somewhat of a relief to have some sort of a plan ahead, even though it could likely change, especially seeing as you never really know what opportunities may arise and if this should happen I think it’s best to be flexible and welcome them with an open mind. Anyway, along with planning ahead and thinking of the future and about applying for jobs, I have decided it would be a good idea to start cleaning up my online profiles and hopefully represent myself better. During the last careers fair I went to, there was a lot of emphasis on how you represent yourself online with social media. It can be a valuable tool but if you’re not careful it might also cost you your dream job. So I have been gradually trying to clear away old photos and material, including old blog posts (from my old personal blogs) which now in hindsight I have realised I might have shared more information than was really necessary. In any case it has been quite amusing reading through some of my old blog posts as well as looking through old photos and seeing how much I’ve changed. It’s unbelievable how fast time flies and it feels like it only passes faster each year as I get older! I find it hard to believe that at the end of the summer I will be entering my third year at university!

Kristin 

Results Day

Despite being post-exams, last Thursday was one of the biggest days of my university experience to date. It was also the penultimate event in my university calendar, to be followed only by graduation next month. I am, of course, talking about results day – the moment that all of the hard work comes down to, and everyone gets to see whether or not they’ve done enough to achieve the grade that they had hoped for.

Results were released at 2pm, but luckily I had an interview in the morning which kept me busy until then – it would have been an anxious wait otherwise! Time seemed to slow to a crawl for the last hour, but 2pm eventually came around, and the results were in. Thankfully, I’d done enough to get the mark I wanted, and secure my place on the masters programme which I will be undertaking in 2015. It was a huge relief, and extremely rewarding to know that all of those hours in the library had indeed been worth it!

Needless to say, the weekend following results day was spent celebrating. On Friday, my boyfriend and I went down to the Real Food Market on London’s Southbank, which has a range of ethically and sustainably produced – and absolutely delicious – food to try out.

Chickpea Tagine in the Southbank Rooftop Garden – a great way to spend a sunny Friday evening!

I was working on Saturday, which for me meant visiting some new food markets that I hadn’t heard of before. The first was Maltby Street, a tiny street market near Bermondsey, and the second was the Urban Food Fest in Shoreditch, where I got to sample some more delicious food in the form of vegan burgers. Food markets are one of my favourite things about living in London – they’re a really great way to spend a few hours, with a great atmosphere, especially when the sun is shining, and more incredible food than it’s possible to choose from.

Maltby Street Food Market – definitely going back for a second visit soon!

Delicious burgers at the Urban Food Fest in Shoreditch

On Sunday, a few of us went down to the Rivington Street Festival, a free event with food, live music, DJs and a few interesting market stalls. The sun was shining and there was a real carnival atmosphere, with everyone dancing in the streets and enjoying themselves.

The Rivington Street Festival

My friend, Bec, and me enjoying the sunshine

This week, it’s back to reality for a few days, with another interview on Tuesday and some work on my personal blogs to do, before I head off to work at Glastonbury Festival on Wednesday night. Here’s hoping the weather stays nice all weekend, as I don’t yet have a pair of wellies to take with me!

Tayler

Until we meet again

And that’s third year… done! It’s been a strange couple of weeks in Southampton as I’ve hit the three-quarter mark of my degree; it’s been as incredibly enjoyable, varied and challenging as ever, but tinged with a curious sense of poignancy as, after a magnificent spell here, many of the undergraduates who started at the same time as me have closed out their degree programmes and are now looking for jobs or opportunities beyond the realms of Southampton. Frankly, it’s terrifying to think that’ll be me in a year’s time!

At the moment it’s just strange to think that these fantastic people I’ve come to know won’t be in the city next year, and things will feel all the odder for it. Whether I’ve met them through random first-year encounters (you meet so many people in freshers’ week it’s tough to keep track!), my flat, my house, performing arts, student media, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends, on the bus, coursemates, union activities, at a bar or club, through a mutual love of one thing or another, whatever, these people have come to define my University experience so far in all aspects of life.

It really wouldn’t have been the same so far without them and their company, and it’s going to be very weird walking around campus from September and not bumping into their friendly faces and chatting away – or sharing an understanding quick nod when late for lectures or stressed by an assignment or two! For me, they ARE the University of Southampton, so it’ll certainly be a different – not worse in any way, but different – place for me next year. It’ll also prove yet another example of how things in the world of Higher Education keep moving on and refreshing themselves, keeping the challenges of every day fresh while constantly introducing you to a huge variety of people at the same time – there are always new friends to be met!

The SUSU Theatre Group 2013/14 Leavers (and a couple of us from the year group staying on!) – some of the best people I’ve met, they will be missed!

The Leavers’ Meals for both Theatre Group and Showstoppers were lovely occasions at the Vestry in town – great food, even better company!

But at the heart of my experience has been one core group of people who have acted almost as a second family to me since I arrived in the city all those months ago. At a risk of maybe being too honest for my own good (as they’ll remind me of this at a later date I’m sure!), I feel like I owe one set of people in particular a great deal because of what they’ve brought to my stay in the city: my incredible housemates, who have been a huge part of University life for me since the very beginning in September 2011 – crikey, I really hope they’re not reading this!

From first year…

… all the way through to third (this was taken at Grad Ball last week!), it’s been a blast living with my housemates!

As an eclectic bunch of people with hugely contrasting backgrounds, subjects and interests, at first I wasn’t sure that we’d necessarily be great friends, thinking that perhaps these large differences would make us naturally quite distant, but I honestly couldn’t have been more wrong from the start. The challenges which adapting to independent life threw at us in first year brought us together strongly and, as I look forward to moving in with a new household for the next academic year at the end of the month, I take with me the numerous (usually procrastination-based!) hours spent full of happy memories, hilarious in-jokes and important life lessons (for example: don’t store milk sideways in the fridge – just don’t! As I learnt on day three…) they’ve supplied me with.

I’m sure I’ll see them again soon enough – we’re meeting up over the summer at some point, and they’d better visit Southampton often! – but for now, flat W2 of Montefiore 4 (and those of you who joined us in houses along the way!), it’s been one heck of a three-year run – so thank you! After all, the great thing about the time at University we’ve shared, along with that of all the other people I’ve met, is that I know that these memories, links and relationships will persist long beyond the current day, with the social network photos there to prove it!

And for everyone soon to join the University in September, know that you’ve got all this to look forward to – and I mean for absolutely everyone! When I first arrived in Southampton I can recall being extremely nervous that I would be isolated and alone, far from home (I’m from the Northern parts of the country!) and not knowing anybody else from school who’d enrolled. Being quite shy, I was afraid that I wouldn’t know how to meet people, and that I’d lost the ability to make an entirely new set of friends – after all, how often are you tasked with completely reinventing your life from scratch?

But I honestly needn’t have worried. University has been the best time of my life so far, but mostly because of the people there, as I’ve never felt under pressure to go out and meet them, my relationships with them have more just been a natural consequence of being around campus and getting involved with activities where I can – and friendships really have just sprung up out of the ground as a result.

So as the past couple of weeks have filled themselves up with leavers’ meals, the 24 Hour Show (as I wrote about last time - it went fantastically well this year, so thanks to everybody who supported it!), murder mystery dinner parties, informal meetings, SUSUtv film shooting, picnics on the Common, celebratory nights out including the pinnacle of the year which was Grad Ball (as James recently discussed in a post – it was amazing!), I know I owe it all to the amazing student body of the University of Southampton.

The annual 24 Hour Show raised hundreds for the charity ‘Future Talent’, and was a hilarious occasion for both casts and audiences to boot! Thank you to the fantastic production team, band and staging society!

A murder mystery dinner party involving old and new Showstoppers committees was also a fantastic occasion!

It’s been quite a year for me and the Performing Arts as a whole – thank you so much to everyone who’s made it such a special one!

So to those of you still around after the summer holidays, and also to those moving on to pastures new, thank you for an unbelievably fun and fulfilling one, two or three years, and I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon enough. It’s been a blast – until we meet again!

Robin

Adventure in Paris

I’m currently back home in Sweden, enjoying my summer break with my family. Before flying home, I travelled to Paris with my sister for a short but jam-packed adventure. We both want to travel as much as we can while we’re still living in Europe because travel is relatively cheap and easy and there is so much to see and do. So two days after my last exam ended, I jumped on a coach which took me from the University to London where I met up with my sister who had just flown in from Sweden. We each had large green backpacks with all our belongings for the journey on our backs which made me feel like we were pair of turtles walking down the busy streets of London. We spent the afternoon browsing the stores on Oxford Street looking for a white dress for my sister’s graduation which was taking place the day after her return to Sweden.

In the evening we made our way back to Victoria Coach Station where we checked in (which was a new experience for me, having never previously been on a coach journey which required a check in) before settling in for a nine hour long ride to Paris. I’m not going to lie, the journey was exhausting and even though we planned the journey so that we would travel in the evening allowing us to save on a night’s worth of accommodation, I just could not find a comfortable position to fall asleep in. We arrived in Paris early the next morning and spent the early part of the day finding the hostel. We were in Paris for a total of five days which meant we were able to visit many of the well know attractions including the Louvre, Palace of Versailles, Notre Dame, the museum of Natural History, walk up the Avenue Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe and of course the infamous Eiffel Tower.

Outside the Centre Pompidou (museum of modern art)

 Queuing to enter the Louvre

 Inside the Louvre

In front of the Mona Lisa

We spent hours in the Louvre and still didn’t manage to see everything. It was surprisingly huge and there was a great variety of art to admire. One thing which was really fantastic for my sister and I, both being under 26 years of age and a part of the European Union is that we were able to get into most museums and art galleries for free which saved us a lot of money.

View from the Eiffel Tower

Outside Notre Dame Cathedral. We also walked up to the top of the tower which was surprisingly not that exhausting of a climb

Outside the Palace of Versailles

This was an incredible establishment and I often felt like I was on the set of some kind of movie. The gardens especially left an impression on me. They were absolutely picturesque I found it difficult to comprehend just how gorgeous and enormous the layout was.

In the Hall of Mirrors

View of the gardens from the Palace

The gardens are much larger than you probably would have imagined, and extend much further than this picture reveals with many grand fountains and mazes of hedges leading to unexpected and secluded areas.

My sister took hundreds of photos but I think I should probably leave it here. All in all we managed to do and see a lot, and with so much of what we did being free we actually had a lot of money left over from what we budgeted for, which is always nice (especially as a student). We returned to the UK by means of another nine hour coach journey however I was relieved to manage to get a good sleep on our way back. We spent about two days in Southampton before flying home to Sweden together to make it back the day before my sister’s graduation. I really enjoyed having my sister stay with me at my place in Southampton, which gave her a better insight into my life away from home. I also showed her around the uni campus which was fun because she had never really been to a university campus before and was really impressed with the fact that we have a large gym as well as a cinema which are so easily accessible. There is definitely a wonderful sense of freedom which comes with living on your own however I intend on enjoying my time at home for another few weeks before I return to Southampton to prepare for another new adventure – which I will tell you more about next time.

Kristin

The Grad Ball

Your time at the University of Southampton starts and ends, rather fittingly, with a ball.

Before you arrive at university you can select and buy tickets to a whole host of fresher events and activities, one of which is the Freshers’ Ball. I remember sitting down and scrolling through all the available tickets on the SUSU Box Office and then double- and triple-checking to make sure I had selected to attend the Freshers’ Ball.  Once at university, Freshers’ fortnight flew by and before I knew it the Freshers’ Ball was upon us and it signalled the end of the Fresher-orientated events and also the start of my life at Southampton.

Although, as I mentioned in my last blog, I am not quite at the end of my university life, it is the finish line for the majority of my year’s intake and hence I decided to attend the Grad Ball. I also decided to enter a competition run by the Students' Union where you had to nominate a friend to buy a ticket and if they did, you were entered into a draw to have the price of your ticket refunded. I initially didn’t hear back, so I assumed I didn’t get selected, but then to my surprise a few weeks ago I received an email congratulating me on winning. I was over the moon! Not only did I get to attend for free, but the friend that I nominated also received vouchers that could be redeemed for free drinks on the night.

After months of waiting, the Grad Ball was finally upon us. The evening began by dressing up in my smartest attire and then gathering with several friends for a lengthy photograph taking session, before we headed down to Oceana, which is situated down near the port of Southampton.

Smart attire means a photo opportunity!

The nightclub had been completely transformed to fit in with this year’s Hollywood theme. ‘Grad Ball’ was spelt out in the famous Hollywood-style letters and a red carpet had been laid down to welcome us in. Outside, a whole funfair had been set up, which included the dodgems, a very fast Ferris wheel with rocking carriages, a mirror maze and the twister, as well as burger and doughnut vans. Even though the Grad Ball suggests a sense of adulthood and maturity, we all instinctively made our way straight towards the rides and doughnuts, before we had even stepped foot inside. It would also be fair to say that the dodgems brought out all our competitive sides, which naturally meant we had to go on more than once!

You can’t take the ‘fun’ out of funfair!

The glitz and glam of the Hollywood theme carried on inside; there were three uniquely themed rooms which all featured a whole host of live acts to suit the mood. These included the Doritos Mariachi band, members from Blue and a variety of DJs, but my personal highlight was the swing band which played in the ‘Gatsby’ room, called Speakeasy. The group was joined by a troupe of dancers and really fit the grandiose nature of the Hollywood theme, because they felt special and provided something completely different to the normal songs heard on a night out.

The Grad Ball went on long into the night, so much so that we saw the sunrise on our way home. The ball was a fantastic way to round out the year and was a fitting end to many students’ time at Southampton.

James

The best laid plans

Much like Kristin and Robin, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks celebrating not only the end of my exams, but the end of my degree. One of my favourite things about summer exam season is the atmosphere when they begin to come to an end, and everyone is sitting out relaxing on the grass with a glass or two of Pimms. I headed straight up to London after my final exam, and celebrated with a delicious meal at one of my favourite restaurants.

There’s been plenty of parties, and enjoying the sunshine – my friends and I walked from King’s Cross to Camden Market along the Grand Union Canal, stopping to take advantage of the Discover Illinois festival taking place outside King’s Cross station. There was jazz music, free massages and a huge painting of Chicago that passers-by could contribute to which, of course, we did.

In the Bridge Bar on campus, celebrating our new-found freedom!

The Grand Union Canal

The Chicago mural, with our contributions

I also took part in the Colour Run, along with some other London fitness bloggers. A five kilometre run, with colour zones at every kilometre, where the staff throw coloured paint powder into the air and all over the runners. Luckily the weather held up, making for a really great event – loads of fun, and fantastic to meet some of the authors of my favourite sites. And, of course, some great photo opportunities.

Before the run with the other bloggers

Colour me happy!

Everything post-university was pretty much as expected, although it was really only when I came back home to Bournemouth that it hit me – no more assignments, essays or revision. I’m free to finally catch up on all the television I’ve purposely postponed until after exams, and to watch back to back episodes with no guilt that I should be studying instead. It’s not all fun and games, however.

Last week I found out that I won’t be leaving the UK until November – not July, as I previously thought. This means that I’m currently unemployed, hunting for a job and a place to live until I head off to Nepal. Not quite what I’d planned! But they say that everything happens for a reason, and the fact that I’ll be around for a while yet means that I’ll be able to run the Bournemouth marathon in October, something I didn’t think I would be able to do this year. With my plans not quite working out as anticipated, I’m having to accept that sometimes things don’t always go the way you’d like them to, and that some decisions are well and truly out of my hands. Nevertheless, there are positives in every situation, and no doubt there will be some opportunities over the next few months which this new situation will give rise to.

Tayler

Getting around town

Last time I wrote, I was firmly entrenched in the numerous trials and tribulations of the summer exam season, and with three still to go, was very much at the foot of a revision-based mountain – but all the work was worth it for the spell we’re currently in; the post-exam celebration period!

It’s one of the best months to be a student; with all your academic commitments (for now, at least!) being firmly behind you, but still too early for any internships, placements, holidays or other events to fill up your diaries. June is a pressure-free opportunity to just appreciate and enjoy the incredible lifestyle that the city and University of Southampton offers as a whole, alongside the brilliant folk you've spent the past academic year meeting, working in the library with, and bumping into every now and then, all in glorious sunny (well, most of the time, this is England after all!) weather.

That’s not to say that the month encourages you to be lethargic, or to not make good use of the relative freedom - I like to use the spare time to pick up extra skills, for example (this summer I’m planning to definitely work on my graphic design!) – but more that it’s just a time to enjoy and savour for every student, celebrating an academic year (fingers crossed!) well done. This is particularly the case as I’m aware that in a year’s time from now I’ll go straight from exams into job-hunting, and then onto trying to make my way in the ‘real’ world - a thought which is frankly terrifying at the moment! But having benefited so much from my time here so far I feel ready to tackle such challenges or, at the very least, do my best in attempting them; so for now I can afford to just sit back, relax and enjoy the presence of the sun!

And what better place is there to do that than the Southampton Common; a huge, open plain located close to both campuses? It hosts one of my favourite annual occasions, the SUSU Theatre Group picnic where, following a great crowd-sourced meal (crisps, crisps everywhere!) and the often hilarious awards ceremony, actors and actresses who have spent the past year cooperating closely on stage take to ‘competing’ valiantly on the sports field . Let’s just say that we’re quite unlikely to be invited to take part in this summer’s World Cup (although we’re naturals at diving and faking injuries)!

But I've been up to plenty to fill the time in between, most frequently going to loads of rehearsals for the upcoming Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, The Importance of Being Earnest: a gender-swapped twist on the Oscar Wilde farcical classic. There’s something really surreal about trying to learn how to sit, walk and talk like a “lady” (!), especially when, due to the great weather, the directors decide to hold the rehearsals outside – we get even weirder looks than usual during them!

Gender-swapping a play has been a good laugh for everyone involved! Here we are rehearsing inside… (Credit: Joe Hart)

… and out! (Credit: Joe Hart)

We've also been spending loads of time together as a cast and production team preparing ourselves for the trip (as we’ll be living with each other for a month up there!), making the most of our new-found time off. This has included, for example, trips to the cinema to catch a couple of movies we’d missed, and also earlier this week a visit to the Mayflower Theatre, in the city centre, to see a touring performance of the hilarious One Man, Two Guvnors. I’d never quite found the time, somehow, to see something there, but it was a beautiful theatre and superb venue, fittingly filled with a cacophony of chuckles by the comedic masterclass the show was – my body’s never hurt so much from just laughing before!

The pre-set for One Man, Two Guvnors featured a live band as you walked in; the show was incredible, one of the best things I've seen!

And as for what’s coming up, we’ll soon be going around the Civic Centre making the most of Southampton’s varied and well-stocked nature once again, as we seek to shop in plenty of fashion outlets – for Earnest dresses, of course! Another group of my friends have even looked at booking in some outdoor laser tag nearby, organising some ten-pin bowling or maybe even arranging the short trip to Bournemouth beach to make the most of the sunny weather (while it lasts!).

This weekend also sees the arrival of the annual 24 Hour Show run by SUSU Showstoppers, the Students’ Union’s musical theatre society, which I’m looking forward to taking part in again. Given only the titular 24 hours in which to learn a whole show before performing it for the first time, it’s always manic, chaotic, and a heck of a lot of fun (particularly as the audience are in the spirit of things – they tend to forgive a lot)! With all profits going to charity, it’s one of those great events where everybody wins, so if you’re free at 5pm or 8pm on Sunday 8th, we’d love to see you at the Annex Theatre on Highfield Campus (although sorry in advance if we, or the musical, is a little lacking in sleep at the time)!

After that, I’ll be seeing off my graduating housemates (whom I've lived with since first year!) at next week’s Grad Ball, before heading back up North for a bit, third year well and truly completed – crikey! Time seems to have absolutely flown by in Southampton and I've loved every minute of it, so I can’t wait to enjoy this great spell in June by getting round town and making the most of everything this incredible University, city and home has to offer while I can.

Robin

End of exams weekend

I had my last exam on Friday and now I’m finally free to get some much needed sleep, catch up with friends, and start enjoying my summer break! My weekend started with the Green Action handover on Saturday morning, making me officially the new president of the society. I was given a lot of useful information about how they’ve been running the society over the past year and some great links to people and organisations I might want to collaborate with next year. Following the handover, I actually spent the afternoon in the library which might sound completely insane to some considering I had just finished exams (and therefore have practically been living in the library for the past few weeks)! However I was motivated to start early in planning and looking into some Green Action events for the coming year.

In the evening I caught up with a friend for a few hours before joining my housemates to celebrate the end of exams with a night out! I spent the early part of Sunday afternoon shopping with one of my course mates and just chilling in the city centre which was surprisingly relaxing, especially in the sunny weather. I later met up with a few of my dance friends to watch Maleficent in one of the cinemas in the city located near the waterfront. We then did some exploring around the older parts of the city and took a walk by the waterfront. I actually haven’t taken the time to really look around the central part of Southampton yet and with the lovely weather we had yesterday it was really nice to spend time outside (especially after exam period during which most of my time was spent sitting inside).

Our walk by the waterfront

 We later did a little exploring in the grander side of the city, a side which as a student I haven’t really taken the time to appreciate, and found a restaurant for dinner.

There’s never a lack of things to talk about with my uni friends. Not having seen them for a few weeks feels like a few months with the amount of things we had to catch up on. We ended up talking until the early hours of the morning! But I suppose that’s uni life, there is always so much going on so you’ll always have a dozen things to talk about. It was nice seeing so many of my uni friends over the weekend before we all break off for the summer.

Tomorrow I’m leaving for London to meet up with my sister who is flying in from Sweden. We’ll then spend the afternoon in London before buckling in for a nine hour coach journey to Paris. Last summer my sister and I also took a nine hour coach, but to Edinburgh, Scotland where we spent four days trying to cram in as many sights as possible. We’re definitely not the relaxing holiday kind of people.

On top of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh last summer

I’m incredibly excited to travel with my sister again and hopefully I’ll have a great adventure to fill you in about when I come back.

Kristin