Feb 21, 2016

Y2-10: Weeks 19, 20 & 21, Erin takes Bath, Women in Leadership Conference and new semester!

I have a feeling this is going to be an awfully long blog post and I don’t want to spend the night typing it all up, so let’s jump right into it.
Week 19 was the first week of semester two, meaning classes were restarting and I would get back into the routine soon enough. My timetable is pretty decent – I have Wednesdays off and later starts (except on Tuesdays) and I finish at 4pm the latest (except Thursdays because I have fencing and then Arabic, finishing at 9pm). I like my new units this semester. I’ve always liked Literature so I’m enjoying the cultural unit for Italian. I also like the Introduction to English Language Teaching unit, even though it is three hours, early on Tuesday, with only one break, but I am really enjoying it because it is different from the other lessons I have, more like a workshop with a lot of interaction. I’m learning so much about English too! And the other new unit is La France depuis 1981, which is basically French politics since Mitterrand. I thought I wasn’t going to like the unit as I am not really into politics but I am quite enjoying it! The lecturer is also really nice and makes sure everybody is following the unit properly.
This semester I’ve also taken up bootcamp on Mondays. A colleague of Amelie’s is running an hour session on campus for 3quid, and the sore muscles I get after it means they are well spent. I love the workout sessions because, although they are hard, they are in a group and so make me push myself! I also want to go jogging on the weekends but I need some new leggings and trainers for that (can’t risk getting mud all over my other pair) and so that will have to wait until I can make a trip to Decathlon back home…
 
Throwback to that great Carnival back in 2012!
Anyway, Erin was coming over on Thursday night of that first week to spend a week with me in Bath. As it was Carnival back home and she had holidays (and I was missing Carnival again L).  I spent the days leading up to her arrival trying to get as much work done as I could so I would be free to go out with her and not have too much work pilling up. I also helped out the fencing club on Wednesday as it was Refresh Week and they needed some people to help them out and promote the club. I pretty much spent two hours in the Parade with Matt trying to survive because the wind was freezing! But we did manage to get some people interested so we can agree it was successful!
So, Thursday night was pretty intense because I came out of my class at four, then had a quick dinner and went to fencing training and Arabic class afterwards (I’m in the other group now which is a community class, meaning there are people from outside the Uni and not just students. I really like the group, a lot more than the one during the first semester tbh). After Arabic, I took a quick shower and headed to town to catch the bus to Bristol Airport and pick Erin up. I was starving! But fortunately I had food cooked and ready to warm up back home. Erin arrived on time (she was actually already waiting for me when I got there) and quite tired, but finally in England. It was great to have her here! I mean, it is weird because I don’t associate her with Bath, but it was great to have her with me – she was the first person to come and visit me and it was high time I got a visitor! We obviously didn’t do much that night as it was pretty late by the time we arrived and had dinner, so we just went to sleep asap, not without a couple of laughs and stories though!
On Friday, I brought Erin with me to University as I had a couple of classes and didn’t want to leave her at home all morning. She stayed in Lime Tree for my first lesson as she had some work to do anyway and then during my hour break I showed her around campus. She was amazed at the facilities we have at Bath. She had just been to the Open Day at the University back home a couple of days earlier and the difference is massive! Then she joined me for the other two classes- French grammar and French politics (although she did her work on the computer, mind you). On our way back home we stopped to do some grocery shopping and then just chilled at home as we were both quite tired and lacked some sleep. We watched ‘Bratz’ actually, total childhood throwback!
The plan on Saturday was to go to Bristol early in the morning and visit the Cathedral, and then head to Broadsmead to go shopping. However, it didn’t go so much according to plan as when we woke up we realized it was pouring outside – literally, raining cats and dogs. Anyway, we braced ourselves, got ready and headed out. We got soaked before even arriving at the station but it was the only Saturday she was here and so we wanted to have a proper full day of shopping. We gave up on the idea of going to the Cathedral and simply headed directly to Broadsmead from Temple Meads, getting even wetter on the way. The weather definitely didn’t help convince Erin that it is not always raining in Britain… We first went into Primark – the massive one- and spent a good couple of hours in there going through all the rails in every floor. We didn’t buy too much though… By the time we were done there, we were quite hungry so we popped into Greggs and grabbed some lunch before continuing with our shopping in Cabot Circus and The Galleries – New Look, Topshop, H&M,Superdrug… So many cool pieces of clothing but fortunately we didn’t break the bank and got some really nice goodies. Once we were satisfied with the amount of stuff we’d hauled, we headed back to Bath and took a nice warm shower and settled cosily in bed for another film session, ‘The Age of Adaline’ this time.
Luckily, on the Sunday the weather got slightly better (the sun even came out in the morning for a bit!). I took Erin into town and showed her around: the Avon and Pultney Bridge, the Roman Baths (entry included of course!), the Royal Theatre, the Circus, the Crescent (and No.1 Museum), the Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms,… We then stopped for a break and lunch at The Real Italian Pizza Co., just in time for it to start raining again. After lunch we went to Victoria Gallery and then to the Holburne Museum. I’d never been to the latter and really found the museum interesting! The collection they have is quite eclectic but very well set up, particularly the objects. Because it was raining when we finished there, we decided to go back home after that (grabbing some cookies along the way) and then just chill. We had done a pretty good job at visiting Bath!


On Monday I had class and Erin told me she’d rather stay at home and work from there than come with me, so she stayed while I went to campus. When I came back it was a pretty chilled night – there was a gig on campus but we decided not to go because again it was pouring outside and neither of us fancied getting soaked again… so instead we stayed in and I started to watch ‘Les Miserables’ which I really enjoyed this time (had previously attempted to watch it and gave up midway)! Tuesday was fairly similar, I had class since early in the morning so I left Erin sleeping back home. Once I was back, we decided to go to Alexandra Park as it was not raining anymore and there was still a few hours of light left. The climb is always worth it because the views of the city are amazing!
On Wednesday I was free again and it was Erin’s last full day in Bath so we were going to go do the few things we had left. First, we went into town and visited the Jane Austen Centre – the entry is pretty pricey but it is worth going in once as they have loads of information both about Jane and her family, and the epoch and Bath at the time. Plus, the staff were really nice and they gave us free scones (finally got to try them!). I also dressed up in a Regency costume because, you know, you have to look the part when you are taking a picture with Ms Austen!
We then headed to the Abbey and went on the Tower Tour. It was also my first time doing it and it was so worth it! It costs 6pounds and they take you in small groups up towards the tower. The hundreds of steps we had to climb were worth it – we got to see the clock, the bells and how they are rung, a hole in the dome used for knowing when to ring the bells during a wedding… And, of course, the tower itself with its amazing views. Honestly, a totally different view of the city. I loved it!
After the Abbey we had some English breakfast at the Guildhall for lunch and then went for a walk along the locks as the sun had finally come out. The weather was actually lovely for a few hours which was great because I didn’t really want Erin to leave with the gloomiest idea of English weather! After the locks, we went to a few more shops in town and then headed back home to pack and leave everything ready for her to leave the next morning.

On Thursday Erin sadly had to leave – the week had flown by but I hope she had a great time in Bath! I had class but was able to go with her to the station (actually missed an earlier bus by a few minutes, otherwise I would’ve actually seen her leave on the bus to the airport before I had to go to campus…). It was sad, but I try to think about the great time we had together rather than her leaving, it is not always that you get to have your little sister over to show off your University and Bath! Her flight was alright and she arrived back home safely. I, on the other hand, had a long day of classes and work, although I did manage to finally get my MTTA DVD which I couldn’t help but try out even though it meant I went to sleep super late that night…
On Saturday the 13th it was raining quite a bit again which made me want to stay in bed but I pulled myself out and got ready because it was the Woman in Leadership Conference 2016 organized by the SU and didn’t want to miss it. The day was great. First, we registered and had a short welcome speech by Lucy, the SU officer, and then there was a discussion panel with various speakers from different backgrounds which proved to be quite interesting! After the panel, a series of workshops were being run. There were two before lunch and two after lunch. My first workshop was Women in Leadership within PwC. The talk was surprisingly interesting and useful! I thought they would try to sell us the product but the speaker did no such thing, of course she talked about PwC but she focused on the roles of women within it and how to successfully pass the application process, dealing with tests that are applicable to other companies too. My second workshop was Networking with Purpose, which was the session I was most looking forward. It did turn up to be quite useful- we learnt how to break the ice and keep a conversation going, and also about resources available within the University and elsewhere to get into contact with people that might be helpful throughout our career. Definitely worth it. Lunch break was also good, they provided lunch and we had the chance to sit down and meet other conference attendees. I found Poppy and we managed to strike an interesting conversation with one of the panel speakers, so that was nice. My third workshop was Women Leading around the World, which was somewhat disappointing. I think it was the fact that the content didn’t match the title as the girl leading the workshop basically centred it around her experience of One Young World. I didn’t really like the session because of this but it was interesting to learn about the OYW summit I must give her that. My final session was Yoga- good and relaxing, what more could I ask for? Finally, the Conference was topped up by a keynote speech by Paralympic Swimmer and Bath Alumni Kate Grey. I think this was definitely the highlight of the day, her speech was so inspirational and she seemed quite a down-to-earth woman. I really enjoyed it and think she is doing a great job spreading her story around!
All I did the rest of the day was do the groceries and some cooking as I was totally tired from the busy week and needed some sleep.
On Sunday it was Valentine’s Day (not that it made much of a difference). I slept in, cleaned my room and worked on my French presentation for Tuesday evening. I wasn’t going to do anything else that day but Amélie and I ended up deciding to go and watch ‘Deadpool’ at the cinema so we went out after dinner and watched the film. It was hilarious! I didn’t really know what to expect of the film as I went into the cinema but it was really worth it and I laughed so much! Ended up being a fairly decent Valentine’s date!
This week I have taken it a bit slower as I’ve had to catch up on some work (and sleep) from the previous week. On Monday the sun came out which made me so happy! Seasonal Affective Disorder has never made more sense to me than after moving to England – the difference the weather can make in your mood is incredible. Anyway, on Monday morning I had the interview for the research study I have talked about before, the one about loneliness. And then I had class and bootcamp. The usual.
On Tuesday I had my French presentation for the politics unit. I was pretty nervous but it went alright. I have had my feedback for it already and am pretty happy with it. That night I had to catch up with two weeks of Arabic homework which took FOREVER to finish. Honestly, it was so frustrating!
On Wednesday I slept in, did the laundry/groceries/cooking and then spent the afternoon again catching up with work. There was a Spanish social that night which had been organized only two days earlier, so A and B couldn’t come but I did go with Vidushi and David. It took some time for it to get busy but in the end it was good. I met Khumbo and the Greeks there too and had fun dancing to some Spanish music. No regrets even though I went to sleep pretty late.
These last few days nothing really interesting has happened. We had a small competition in fencing this week – lost all matches but that isn’t a surprise haha And then Arabic was actually bearable – I’m getting to know more people and even though it is a late class, as I’ve said, I like the people a lot more and so it’s not as hard. I feel like the learning speed is a lot better and I don’t feel as dragged behind as in the other group. And this weekend I’ve been quite lazy and stayed at home. I have managed to do quite a lot of work, including reading the play for my Italian presentation, watching ‘La Dolce Vita’ (the nearly three hours of non-dubbed film of course) and updating my blog and watching the Drag Queen Gala 2016 at the same time – so happy I could watch it online, I missed it last year!
Hope you’ve enjoyed this pretty long post. I still have a month to go before the Easter holidays (can’t wait to go back to the sun and sea) but still have quite a few fun things coming up, including some volunteering this coming week and getting my marks back, so stay tuned for that! Thanks again for supporting the blog!

Zoe