Winter Wonderland!

So I've headed back to university, about to begin my final semester here at the University of Southampton. I cannot believe how quickly time has flown! Although it was difficult to leave my family and home comforts, it has been lovely reuniting with my uni friends and catching up with one another about what we got up to during the Christmas holidays.

Unfortunately, since A-level, I found that my Christmas holidays are never really a time to relax anymore, and were instead devoted to cramming in revision, assignments and this year's dissertation!

However, I am a huge advocate of the work hard play hard ethos and always take time out to relax, take part in activities, or go to social events I enjoy. For this post, I'm going to share one of my highlights from my Christmas period and something that makes my 'holidays' just a little bit more bearable... going to Winter Wonderland!

It is a family tradition of mine to visit Winter Wonderland in London each year and, living in London, it is especially easy for us to get to Hyde Park via the Underground. In fact, I know of quite a few of my friends who take the train into London from all over the UK (especially from Southampton, which is a relatively short train or coach ride away!) purely for a day out at this spectacular festive event.

About the event

Winter Wonderland is filled to the brim with a marvellous array of festive activities and entertainment. Taking place in Hyde Park for six weeks each year, there are over 100 thrilling rides and attractions - including my favourite, the Helter Skelter! One of the major advantages of the event is that it is completely FREE to enter, so even if your budget is a bit tight due to present buying, it is still worth going to have a look around the beautiful displays and witness some sparkly winter magic! Given the extreme popularity of the event, the majority of the major attractions such as ice-skating and the Giant Observation Wheel need to be booked in advance.

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of this leading London attraction. As a result, there were a few additional attractions such as The Nutcracker on Ice show and the Sooty Christmas Show for the little ones.

The day itself

My dad very kindly bought tickets to see The Nutcracker on Ice show, so on Wednesday 28th December my parents, my sister and I set off to Hyde Park to watch it.

Splendid backdrop and lighting for Act 1: The Stahlbaum Home.

The show was incredible. I was fascinated at how fast the performers could skate, and how they managed to do such fantastic stunts on ice! Fire breathers and aerial acrobatics also made an appearance. After the show, we spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the markets and just enjoying the festive atmosphere.

A typical street in Winter Wonderland.

As you can see we all wrapped up warm in as many layers as we could because it was freezing. I am usually always cold anyway as it is, so I found walking around outside a real struggle and I could not feel my toes for the entire afternoon.

The Arora family prepared for a trip to the Arctic in all of our layers!

Winter Wonderland is London's largest German-style Christmas market, hosting a wealth of tasty food and drinks, which made it very difficult to choose what I wanted to eat for lunch. I decided on a large box of freshly-made piping hot vegetarian noodles from one of the street stands. It certainly did the trick of warming me up from the inside.

Yummy noodles.

Part of Winter Wonderland is a miniature theme park, however the rides were quite pricey (£9 per ride!) and the queues seemed never-ending. Instead we decided to end the day with a trip to the Bavarian Village, where we bought delicious chocolate churros and mulled wine to share.

Bavarian Village beer garden.

A wonderful day out for families, couples or friends, Winter Wonderland really is a spectacular experience for all ages, and year upon year never fails to impress me.

I can't imagine the festive season without it!

Aditi

Balancing the fun

It comes as no real surprise that now we’re somehow already three weeks into term, things are starting to heat up. Every single time anybody, staff or student, asks me how I am, I end up replying with just one word: busy. And right now, I really mean it, for a whole number of reasons.

I should probably point out now, before we get any further, that I am very much one of those people that enjoys being busy. I actively seek it out and thrive on the very act of being busy. Not everyone’s university life will be this hectic; that’s the beauty of your time here, it’s exactly what you make of it and if you don’t enjoy that sort of thing, you really don’t have to follow such a path.

But for those who enjoy wrapping themselves up in as many activities as humanly possible…well, this is your time to shine.

As my last post will have no doubt indicated, lectures are now in full swing - all of my four modules (dissertation included) are well off the ground and the corresponding reading/writing/doodling is ticking away nicely. Thus, in a dramatic turn of events, I have well and truly found my feet with work. Everything else however, is a little more up in the air.

This past week has seen me broaden my horizons further and take on an exciting new project in the form of a Surge Radio show. Having conquered print and visual media, radio seemed like the next logical step. With the University’s award-winning student radio station attracting attention from BBC hosts Chris Stark and Scott Mills last week, it seemed like the perfect time to get involved. So, our SUSUtv-lead film opinion show ‘Reel Opinions’ made the jump from the screen to the airwaves, and despite a few technical mishaps (soon to be ironed out), playing music and chatting live on air was a surprisingly exhilarating experience.

So much so, in fact, that it’s about to become a regular occurrence; make sure to tune into Surge Radio at 8pm every Tuesday to hear yours truly playing some of the best music film soundtracks have to offer!

The Reel Opinions team feeling at home in the Surge Radio studio. 

Now drifting back to my first love of print media; the past few weeks in fact have seen some interesting and exciting developments. Back at the University’s own student entertainment magazine, The Edge, we’ve been working hard on gathering together the designs for our future print issues, whilst the second of the year has finally arrived in all its glossy glory.

Our first printed magazine of the year flew off the shelves during the Bunfight and the Freshers’ fayre - so much so in fact that we don’t have a single copy left - and we’re hoping for equally great things from this latest effort. Wrestling with Adobe InDesign for many, many hours is definitely worth it when this is the end product!

The cherry on the cake, however, is something that has been stealing almost every free hour of time I’ve had since late September. Yes, in spite of warring lectures and design deadlines, the last month or so has been largely populated by trips into our nation’s capital in order to cover the 2015 BFI London Film Festival for The Edge.

One of the many perks of being the magazine’s Film Editor is handling press contacts, and this year we were granted an all-access press pass to all of the films screening as part of the festival, meaning I’ve been to a lot of free screenings, and have been writing a lot of corresponding reviews. It’s a pretty hefty undertaking, and it has meant cramming in work at every available opportunity (even whilst standing up on trains), but that’s all part of the fun.

My press badge for the festival - my most valued possession. 

After all, this is what University has really been about for me recently; juggling responsibilities and balancing the fun. There are so many incredible opportunities being offered up by the University, and with this being my (deep breath) final year here, it seems only sensible to embrace as many of them as physically possible. I’m sure that soon enough I’ll have a bit of a rest - the festival comes to an end this weekend so there’s plenty of sleep scheduled for then - but until then I’m still firing on all cylinders, and loving every minute.

Ben

Searching for private accommodation

In July I made the decision to move to the Big Smoke.

Granted, my move from Southampton to London is only a temporary necessity for an internship. An everyday commute to the capital would’ve been impractical and I’ve found myself settling in just fine in my double life as a metropolitan woman.

So today I thought I could tell you about my experience as a Southampton student looking for private accommodation in both cities. The comparison may be helpful for you one day!

Obligatory Big Ben photo 

Finding a room in London

The first step was a room search. I found my London room through a free house search website. The website allowed me to post an advert of myself which meant landlords were able to contact me themselves. This was probably a more efficient way of letting people know I was looking for a place – landlords are always looking to fill spare rooms. I went to about six or seven viewings and most rooms were decent sized with utility bills included in the rent. I was even able to customise my search based on my maximum budget and other preferences - look out for the ‘advanced search’ option when you go on these websites to do this!

For students with internships, house shares tend to be the cheapest way of getting accommodation. However there are other types of accommodation too; from bedsits to studios or one bedroom flats. It goes without saying that you must always go with someone you trust to these viewings or meet with whoever is showing you the place at a public area.

I was fortunate enough to find a room fairly quickly. The problem was that I was also unfortunate enough to get a room that suddenly became unavailable three days before the big move! That was pretty devastating. If, like myself, you get some work experience in the city and become unlucky in your accommodation search, there is never any harm in speaking to your manager about starting after you’ve secured yourself somewhere to live. The most important thing is that you find a place that is safe, comfortable, and within your budget.

The University has some valuable tips for those looking for private accommodation, wherever it is you're moving to. Looking through them really did help so you may want to check it out!

Monday morning motivation - courtesy of Transport for London! 

What to pack? 

The most challenging thing about the move was traveling with all of my things. I had to travel via coach so I stuck to the bare minimum. So I packed my clothes and shoes for work, pots and pans, a pillow and my alarm clock. I was surprised I managed it myself!

My entire life packed into two suitcases.

How different is the search for accommodation in London compared to Southampton? 

The University has plenty of advice outlets for students who need help in their search for accommodation in Southampton. The Students' Union also have a Housing Advice team to support you.

Southampton even has SASSH – a university-accredited student accommodation search engine. Made in collaboration with Southampton Solent University and Southampton City Council, it lets you search for student houses, flats and lodgings in Southampton. You can get in touch with the landlords themselves if you prefer not to go through an estate agent. It even lets you search for rooms in other towns and cities.

My student house in Southampton for this year, found through the SASSH website. 

A similarity between the two cities is that a deposit will almost always be required whenever you move into a new place. It is a good idea to sign a tenancy agreement between you and your landlord or whoever is letting you the room before you hand over any money to them.

It is a universal truth that moving homes is quite possibly one of the most stressful things we have to go through at one point in our lives… but this needn’t be the case! If you plan in advance and go to some viewings you are guaranteed to find yourself a nice place to live in regardless of what city you may find yourself in one day.

Stay safe and best of luck in your search!

Rylyn