Y1-19: Weeks 33, 34 & 35, the end of my Fresher year!

This might turn out to be a long post because it is going to cover three weeks: the exam period and my last few days at Bath before leaving for France, including the Summer Ball. I apologize for that, but I figured I might as well split it like this. And sorry for being so late, but life got in the way ;)

My first three exams were on Week 33: my Europe since 1945, Italian grammar and Italian Cultural Studies exams. I had pretty much studied for them already the week before, so I dedicated the week to prepping my French history notes. I did a lot of this in LimeTree with Amélie, since she was studying for her Psychology exam the week after. I don’t particularly like to study in busy places, because I need to be concentrated to memorize things, but I did enjoy doing my notes there because of the music and people coming and going. Not being on my own helped me not procrastinate, which is awesome. And I literally spent so much time there that I got to work out how the music on the speakers changes during the day, how LimeTree works… 

On Monday we had a meeting to learn how we were supposed to move out of our rooms at the end of the year. The process was pretty easy, but bittersweet because although I really wanted my exams to finish, that meant that I’d have to leave Brendon Court, and I’m going to miss living in halls. It might sound weird, but halls of residence force you to meet people and socialize, which for an introvert person like me is beneficial. And also it is just so convenient to be able to wake up ten minutes before your lesson and arrive on time… I will be posting a blog entry with tips about the first year and Brendon Court, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

I also met with Adalgisa to discuss my essay feedback and exam, and also about my Year Abroad. My degree involves spending at least three months in a French-speaking country and another three in Italy on my third year, and there are different ways to do this. I have to figure out more or less what I want to do during this Summer, but the option of being an English language assistant at a school is out of my possibilities because I don’t meet the conditions, which totally sucks. I wanted to see if there was a similar alternative, but it doesn’t look like it… Oh well, will see what I do.

Apart from running some errands on campus and in town (which also involved purchasing a bulky duvet for next year and three large plastic storing boxes and dragging them back to campus on a hot day), I had my exams. My first one was on Wednesday at one, in Founders Hall aka the Greenhouse aka the Oven. I was quite nervous so I tried to distract myself with Lost before my exam, but I was still quite uneasy. I knew that it was going to be ok because it was literally an exam with previously distributed questions but I was nervous anyway because it was my first official exam of the semester. It went alright, despite the heat. After my test I went to LimeTree to get some food and do some work, but it was so nice and sunny outside that Amélie, Vidushi and I just ended up outside on the lawn sunbathing (it was sunny for once, you can’t blame us). Amélie and I also had a picnic dinner by the lake, and managed to keep the ducks away. They are not scared at all, those feathered bosses of the campus… 

On Thursday it rained all day, which disoriented me. It was dark outside and I felt the time was not right. I worked at LimeTree for most of the day and then chilled for a bit before my Italian grammar exam at half past four. I was feeling pretty confident for that exam, however it turned out to be one of the worst I believe. Some questions were tricky and I managed to finish just on time. But once it was over I decided to just forget about it. Alea iacta est. That night I revised for my third exam of the week, Italian Cultural Studies, which was the one I was most worried about out of the three. The exam on Friday at one went ok I think. I did the best I could, now it is just time to wait for the marks. That afternoon I finished my French notes and started to sort out my stuff in my room, getting rid of unwanted literature and all that stuff. We wanted to go to the cinema to watch Pitch Perfect 2, but there were no seats left, so we left that for Saturday.

I took Saturday as a day off from studying. I slept in and then went into town to run some errands, had English breakfast for lunch (never a bad time to do that) and sorted more junk in my room. I can’t believe I had so much rubbish hauled up in my small B4.17 bedroom.  Anyway, Vidushi, Begoña, Amélie and I met for dinner and then went to the city to go to the cinema. We walked around for a bit and took a couple of nice pictures together since we had arrived pretty early. The film itself was awesome! I think the first one is slightly better simply because this one was kind of a “continuation” of the characters’ lives, but the musical numbers were just as good. I really liked Das Sound Machine, and genuinely recommend the film! Afterwards we felt so pumped we wanted to go out, but it was a Saturday = mature night out. Not our cup of tea, so we went back to campus instead. 

On Sunday I slept in again and was woken up by the sun hitting my face through the blinds and someone playing really loud music. That day I was planning to start studying but ended up procrastinating quite badly, chatting to Lara, having a frappe (omg Starbucks is so good), cleaning and simply sorting out the rest of my week once I realized I was not going to do anything efficient and just gave up.

I did not have any exams during Week 34, but I did have to study for my remaining two exams the following week: La France des années 1930-1981 and French grammar. I also had to run some errands, reply to emails, go by the Medical Centre to pick up some medicine, change addresses, pack,… because I had to prepare my things to leave them stored the following Monday while I studied for my assessments. I honestly procrastinated quite a lot that week. I was quite confident about French grammar and the résumé, only having to revise a little bit but I like grammar so that didn’t bother me, but I was quite worried about the French history exam, as it was made up of two essays and a lot of content to study. I spent a lot of time studying for it, taking breaks in which I watched Lost and Game of Thrones, and then tried to concentrate again on the exam. Really hard because I was already fed up of exams by the second week and just wanted to get them over and done with.

However, I did not only study and pack, I also got my feedback for my French presentation, which was fairly good. I had some pronunciation mistakes and have to work more on my argumentation but I was pretty happy because nonetheless I seem to be able to French à l’aise, so that is really good! We also had some nice chatty and gossipy dinners which meant procrastination but also helped to relieve stress… Although it was only the second week, some people had already finished with the exams and despite the noise rules over exam season, it was certainly a lot more noisy. The walls are so thin that I could even understand and hear all that was going on in Aude’s room one night that some people gathered there… Not that I was going to complain though, so I just put my earplugs on and slept like a log. I also went to Frontline, which is a hairdresser’s in Bath, to try the waxing service. It was alright, very posh and fairly expensive though. I can’t believe it costs so much to go to the hairdresser’s… I would like to cut my hair short but the money I’d spend keeping it up is dissuading me… Any volunteers for giving me hair cutting lessons?

On Friday night the Italian class and Enrico met for dinner. We went to Real Italian Pizza and had a great night. We told so many funny stories and laughed so much! Lots of false friend issues and language misunderstandings… I really enjoyed the night and will miss being all together as the group is apparently changing for next year, but it has been great to have all these girls as course mates this year!

On Saturday I woke up early to do the laundry, which ended up in chaos. The drier in Westwood was not working because the heating was not on, so I ended up spending a lot of money, having to call Circuit Landry, and having to go to the launderette near the Quads to dry my clothes. So basically half a day, a fortune and my nerves spent on washing the clothes. I will never get tired of saying how much I hate Circuit Laundry. Apart from the laundry disaster, I spent the whole day packing all my things. Literally, a whole day because I finished at about 11pm. Three large boxes, a large bag, two Sainsbury’s bags and two large suitcases filled with my things and ready to take to our new house for next year the following Monday. It was very sad to take down all my posters and photos and to have to pack everything (leaving out the things I’d need for the two following weeks before arriving back home). My room was left so empty and impersonal, and it was really depressing. I can’t believe 1)how much stuff one can have in a single room and 2)that I will not be returning to my lovely B4.17, my home #2. I will miss it there.

On Sunday I was genuinely feeling lazy, but I eventually got up, finished packing my luggage, took a shower and went to get lunch (in an effort to spend my credit before I left, thus indulging myself in muffins and frappes). I watched Glee while I had lunch, which has become one of my favourite shows at the moment and then studied for a while until the Brendon residents’ meeting in the courtyard to take a group photo. They came out great and, although a lot of people are missing, it was great to have so many Brendonians together again. We hadn’t been so many since Freshers’… Although I don’t get on with everybody, it will be weird to not be sharing the same hall anymore… I will miss those noisy (and sometimes disgusting) flatmates… After dinner Joel and I did some revision for the French history exam and then went to get dinner with B, A and V, when we finally sorted out our rooms for next year, using the ol’ pick-a-straw method.

Week 35 was my last week as a Fresher in Bath (how the hell did that happen?! So bloody fast!). On Monday I got up, feeling really tired, and did some revision, including a mini-panic attack because I was anything but confident with my knowledge for the history exam the following day. In the evening, Begoña helped me take my things to the ground floor and then Jason, a man with a van I had hired to take me and my things to the new house, came to Brendon. We loaded the van and drove to Beckhampton, with Jason’s son Alexander in the car too. They were really nice to be honest, and Jason reminded me a lot of Jamie Oliver! The way he acted and spoke haha He unloaded the van and stored my things and then drove me back to Uni, which was great.

On Tuesday I again tried to fight the nerves before my exam at half past four (could it not have been earlier?). I got lunch, cleared out the kitchen and watched Game of Thrones, and then went to Founders to sit the exam. I think it went ok. I don’t expect a great mark, but I did my best. Once that was done, I felt like a huge weight off my shoulders. I had a chilled dinner by the lake with Amélie and then watched the second Percy Jackson film, which was average.

On Wednesday I got up early and grabbed breakfast on the go before heading into town to give some things I wanted to get rid of to a charity (decided for Dorothy House this time) and then go to Natwest to change my address there. I took the bus to the hospital from the station and arrived there an hour before my appointment. I didn’t really mind because that way I had plenty of time to update my details and get my weight and blood pressure measured without being pressured by the time. The appointment was fine, I did not get to meet my new doctor because he was on holidays but the doctor who saw me instead was quite nice and clear with me. I had a blood test done (which left me with a frickin’ bruise all along the inside of my elbow) and then returned to campus, which took forever because the 18 bus took really long to arrive. I binge-watched Glee for a while after lunch and then studied French grammar for a bit, with Amélie’s help, and further watched Glee before bed.

On Thursday morning I woke up with a nosebleed for no apparent reason, something which hadn’t happened to me in years! I reviewed some more and then had lunch in Wessex House to spend my catering credit (so yummy and expensive, specially the cheesecake). After lunch I watched some Glee and then had my test at half past four. All of us were simply bored of revision and just wanted to get the exam done and be finally FREE! So once I had finished, I felt so relieved! It was awesome! That night, Amélie, Vidushi and I went out to PoNaNa to celebrate (and I took heels which were killing me but worth it – gave them up half way through the night). Sweet freedom and summer holidays.

I was woken up on Friday morning by a man knocking at my door and opening immediately afterwards, who apparently had made a mistake and confused my room with room 4.17 in Wolfson. Quite annoying actually, as he knocked twice. B and A met me for lunch and then we went to explore the campus (yes, now, after nearly a year, we are still discovering new places). We had waffles at The Edge, visited the art galleries, the pool, bought a Team Bath hoodie, explored the accommodations and then went to Sham Castle and took some pictures together. Oh, we also complained about how fast the year has gone by, #notfreshersnomore. 

That night, some people from Brendon and Management met for Jacob’s farewell party, as he is leaving for two years for his compulsory conscription in Korea. We went to Bridge, and it was nice, although Jacob was nowhere to be found once in the club haha

Saturday was our last day in Bath before leaving to France. I slept in, had lunch and then finished packing, cleaning my room and loading my things into Amélie’s parents’ car. It was a bit awkward at the beginning to meet them, but it ended being ok in the end and, as the post about France will show, I had a great time at Amélie’s house. Then I watched some Glee and got ready for the Summer Ball. The Ball was amazing. A, B, Hannah and I hung out together and were later joined by James. The campus setup was incredible: acoustic music, talking robots, free Pims, a Casino, a chocolate fountain, fair rides… The only downside were the queues and that it chilled up a bit in the night, with some rain included…But we had a great time dancing, drinking Sour Pussies in LimeTree (so good), going on the rides, and listening to Kristian Nairn aka. Hodor in Game of Thrones, and Years & Years. Here is a link to a video from the Ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsc_xeq6Us A great end to a great year.

Despite this post being quite long, I hope you like it (and excuse it being late). I will post one more entry to the blog about my week in Paris, but I won’t cover the Summer holidays themselves, as the purpose of this section is MyUniversityExperience, and the Summer is pretty much the break between years. I will come back and strong in September to share my second year with you guys, so keep tuned for that! However, I do plan on posting some more generic posts, giving my opinion and advice on studying in the UK, as well as another post about Brendon Court, within the next few weeks, as I mentioned before. I feel they might come in handy for future students. And something else might pop up during the Summer too, but no promises.

Thanks a lot for following me this year, hope you’ve enjoyed my log-blog thus far!