Clubbing

It's been a while since my last post. I have been at home for a few days now. After an amazing night out on Friday for my friend's 21st birthday, the last few days have been very quiet. It's nice to spend time with my family but it's such a contrast to the crazy night I had on Friday. I am not one of those that go out several nights a week. I couldn't be more the opposite. In contrast, I go clubbing about once a month. This is quite sad, I know for a first year. I have so much fun when I do go out though.

I started uni having never been on a night out. So I was completely out of my comfort zone in Fresher's week. I felt more comfortable with the quiet girls and ended up making quite sensible friends. I had always wanted to go clubbing but was so scared to put myself out there. I felt out of my depth and uncomfortable. It was a completely new experience. Hence I held back.

It was my flatmate that got me into clubbing. I live with two other girls. One loves going out and the other is a post-grad who loves going out but has done it all already. But after going on nights out with them, I started to enjoy it and realise that I love it! It is a great way to just relax and have fun and let yourself go. I can really do that when out clubbing. But I was eased into it slowly, by my flatmates who made me feel safe and comfortable. Clubbing with a load of people I do not know would have terrified me in Fresher's. Hence why I haven't made many friends on my course because I didn't go on any of the course nights out.

My friend's birthday was amazing. We started off pre-drinking at our flat with a few of my flatmate's friends. I had never met most of them before. We played drinking games and went into town about 10ish. We were joined by a few others. We went to a couple of bars then to a club. We had a few drinks and danced till about 4 in the morning. I ended up dancing with a few of my flatmates' friends for much of the night. It's surprising how much fun you can have dirty dancing with a guy you've just met hours earlier. Later we went back to one of my flatmate's friends' flat. You may think from this that you can predict what will happen next.....but I'm sorry to disappoint. I am not that kind of girl. We just chatted and went on the roof for a bit. You can see the view of the city from there. It was beautiful to the see the buidings all lit up.The skyline was amazing.  It felt quiet and peaceful up there. A great end to what was an amazing night. We then went back to out flat and I slept for a few hours and got my pre-booked train home to spend some time with my family. This is one of the best nights I've had since I started uni.

I have always felt very insecure about myself and going clubbing makes me forget that. It makes me feel sexy and beautiful for a night. Dancing up on a guy with his hands all over me makes me feel alive. More alive than I have ever felt in my life. That may make me cheap or easy but if it makes me feel alive when I spend much of my life just existing and drifting through each day then so be it! If it gives me a bit of happiness no matter how superficial - what is wrong with that?

Call the midwife

I thought I would write a little about the TV series that I am watching at the moment. Call the Midwife is a six part drama set in 1950s. It follows the working lives of a group of midwives working in the East End of London and sheds some light into the issues of poverty and hardship faced by working class women at the time. I am always a fan of period dramas and usually the ones that are shown on TV tend to be adaptations of novels by the likes of Jane Austen and Emily Bronte. I love those and find those quite refreshing amidst much of what dominates TV these days – but even then period dramas tend to explore romance and relationships rather than the gritty realities experienced by the majority.  

So far I have seen two episodes. There can be some rather uncomfortable childbirth scenes but the stories of the women highlight just how different the experience of childbirth was and how dangerous it can be without widespread easy access to healthcare. The drama is set at a time when the NHS had just been established (1948) and how it provided options that working class women didn’t have before. Caesareans and blood transfusions for the poor are addressed in the series which meant that unnecessary deaths could be prevented.

The main character Nurse Jenny Lee played by Jessica Raine is a girl from the upper classes who had never before seen the realities of inner city poverty. She is very shocked by what she sees and does her best to help those she can in difficult situations. The second episode introduces the wonderful Miranda Hart, who brings some light hearted humour to the series. Never having been much of a fan of her previous TV appearances, she surprised me in this role. She is a great actress who plays her character remarkably well bringing a mix of warmth, softness and empathy that makes her instantly likeable. I can’t wait to see more of her as the series progresses. She plays a newly qualified nurse who feels that she has a lot to prove to her seniors after a series of minor mishaps.

Based on the memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth, this series is a real delight and going by the 9.8 million who watched the first episode and the 8.9 million who watched the second episode – others must like it too! This is a must watch! And it helps me remember just why I want a career in the healthcare profession – so that I too can make a positive contribution to the community around me and help the individual with my knowledge and skills.

Spare time

I am off timetable to do my special study module, which is an important part of my course and find I have much more free time on my hands. This is good but sometimes I am so bored and have nothing to do. I have been waking up at 11.30 most mornings and after spending time reading random stuff on the internet, I do a bit of work on my essay and read my book.

I love books! I have always been a fan of books but had never had the time to read regularly and sometimes a book would take me months to finish. Now I am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. I don't have a set genre of books that I particularly like to read. I will have a look on the Amazon bestsellers list and look at the reviews from those who have bought the book and if there is a consistently popular book that is getting a lot of hype I will give it a go. That way I am up to date with popular novels which is always a great topic of conversation. I could chat endlessly about movies being made into films and whether the film version ever lives up the book.

It's been a while since I have read a book that has kept me hooked and this book certainly does. I try and read about 50 pages a day so that I can get through it and often I find it hard to put down. I want to keep going to see what happens. This hasn't happened since I read Harry Potter as a teenager.

In the evenings I tend to catch up with some TV on BBC I Player and check out some of the films that are on. Hence the film reviews in previous posts. I also have skygo as well which is great. I love people and do love to socialise but after a while I like to be on my own reading or watching some TV. I guess having spent much of my A Levels and gap year on my own, I have gotten used to it. Before I would relish company and would always prefer to be around people. At the moment, I am watching the BBC Three documentary - Junior Doctors as well as Call the Midwife - the drama set in the East End of London in the 1950s.

But apart from that I do find myself bored a lot of the time. Sometimes I catch myself staring at the wall - literally and my mind would be lost in some distant thought. Then I bring myself back to earth. One of my flatmates and I usually have lunch and dinner around the same time each day so we see one another and chat for a bit over a cup of tea. It's nice to do that and we sit and discuss what we have been up to during the day. I love being off timetable - I feel well rested, having a lie in and watching lots of films but I do want to go back into lectures and tutorials again. I like the structure and routine that it brings and the focus that it gives me. When I am focussed on uni work I don't think about other things.

Films are my escapism. I guess it's great being lost in another world, feeling like you are part of another story just for a while. I am not that miserable. It sounds like I am doesn't it? But I'm not. At least not all the time. I have good days and bad days really. Ups and downs - the roller coaster that is life. Just like most people.

Titanic 3D

A friend of mine told me last month that Titanic was going to be re-released in the cinema in 3D. I was so shocked; I didn't know anything about this. Titanic is one of my favourite films of all time. I was very young when it first came out so I didn’t get a chance to see it at the cinema but I remember clearly the hype surrounding it. A cousin of mine who is a year older had seen it and was telling me about how amazing it was. Even my aunts and uncles were talking about it and were telling each other that it was a must see! They rarely ever discussed films. I was so excited to see it and when the DVD came out, I made my parents buy a copy and watched it when I came home from school. I loved it! Even from a young age I knew there was something amazing about that film. I was too young to have experienced love and heartbreak but I could still empathise and the story touched me and brought out feelings in me that I had never felt before. I went through a phase where I was watching it every day and eventually I knew the dialogue at the back of my hand.

More than a decade later, the film still has the same effect on me. The final scenes still bring tears to my eyes. Although I am much older now, the film is still special to me. It allows me to dream. I still dream like many young women, of finding my ‘Jack’ and having a passionate and romantic love affair! I think many girls like the idea of being rescued and swept off their feet and to be given a chance of escaping their troubles.The film is the second highest grossing film of all time and was a huge hit with a number of international audiences. This shows that people from all walks of life  related to the story of Jack and Rose and got something from it. Love shows no boundaries and is universal. It has no language.

I remember innocently re-enacting the film with my family trying to recreate the famous scenes and getting the dialogue perfect. I can’t wait to see it! I was too young to see it when it first came out and now is my chance to experience it in the cinema. It's out on April 6^th – I have marked the date on my calendar! Everyone get your tissues at the ready!

Decorating Cupcakes

I spent most of the evening decorating cupcakes with my friend. She's helping out at a charity cake sale tomorrow and we spent the evening making buttercream icing, which we used to ice the cakes with, while catching up on what we did this weekend. The cakes turned out pretty well. We thought they looked a bit plain with just the icing on, so my friend suggested we put some chocolate fingers in as a finishing touch. The idea seemed to me quite random but it looked quite interesting when we put them in the cake. We ended up licking the bowl and the spoons afterwards! I ate one of the iced cakes when we finished. It tasted so good!  YUMMMM!

Coursework

I hae been set an assignment to do as part of my coursework. I have 4 weeks to do it and I have 3 weeks left till my deadline. Older years students say that it only takes a week to do but looking at the sheer workload has put me in a constant state of fear. I have been doing a bit each day but I met my convenor today who gives us advice on how to go about it and I'm not at all happy with what I've done so far. I don't think I've gone into nearly enough detail and my sources aren't good enough. I really want a distinction in it. Because my mock exams didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped, I want to make up for it by doing well here. Panic never does anyone any good and it's making me so agitated whenever I think about it. I have decided to have some lunch now and then watch a film or something and have a crack at it later. I can't think when I am this stressed. There is so much to do. My convenor is great though. He breaks down our workload into manageable chunks and gives us mini deadlines. My next mini deadline is next Friday. So I have a bit to do before then. It doesn't sound too bad. We'll see if I can get it done by next friday.

Shopping for socks

I went into town for socks today. When I started university, I used to do my laundry once a week or at the latest every one and a half weeks whenever I ran out of essentials. I usually run out of socks so today I bought some so that I could do my washing at least every 2 weeks. I went around the high street looking for good quality cheap socks. I didn't want ones that go hard after a few washes and loose their colour. I saw ones in H&M which were 5 for £6.99 and the colours were quite nice, a pack of 4 for £5.99 in BHS, 3 for £7 in River Island! Eventually I ended up in M&S and to my surprise I saw 5 for £3. That was the best deal I saw. The socks are plain and don't have any patterns on them but it's just socks. I also saw some patterned ones in Dorothy Perkins as well that were reduced from £2.50 each to £1. With my 25% student discount I got 2 for £1.50.

It just goes to show that shopping around can save you money. I know it seems silly to shop around that much for socks, it's hardly buying a house but it's the little things that add up and you can save a few pounds that way.

Here they are. Please excuse my photography skills but if you need socks on a budget M&S and Dorothy Perkins are the places to go. I really don't know how clothing catalogues make socks look like a must have item!!!