Y2-17: Weeks 34 & 35, end of my second year at University!

Seems like forever, but I am now done with my second year at University, which is crazy! I can’t believe how fast time has flown by…

On Monday the 16^th I had my French exam which went well. The texts were not too difficult so it was alright; one more exam to cross off the list. After that I stayed on campus and ran a few errands before meeting with Cristina, the Erasmus student from Perugia, for lunch. We went to Claverton Rooms and had a nice chat while we had lunch. We’ve decided to go to Stonehenge and Lacock next week, and perhaps London depending on the prices. It is great to have a travel buddy. Nobody in my house is up for travelling around so up until now I’ve done most of it on my own, but I’d rather solo-travel that regret not going at all! That is one thing I’ve definitely learnt over the past years and I plan to live by that, particularly next year while in France and Italy. For the rest of the day, I just did the groceries and went to bootcamp later on. I’ve really become addicted to the workouts, I will have to figure out a way of keeping it up when I go back home.

I took Tuesday off before starting to study for the next wave of exams. I had a few errands to run but also went into town to do some shopping and watched some TV shows. I’ve now finished Modern Family and Orange Is The New Black and can’t wait for new episodes to air. I have now gone back to Penny Dreadful, but I have a love/hate relationship with that series… I’ll see how I get on. I also Skyped Sara and completed the ten compulsory calls for her submission. It has been a great experience (definitely improved my Italian or at least confidence while I speak) and I hope to meet her when I go to Italy next year.

Then the studying started, but it was certainly problematic because I had too much time and not enough content to review so after a few days there was not much else I could do. I spent Wednesday at home going through all the Italian notes and making vocabulary lists. Then on Thursday I went up to campus with Bego, Amélie and Vidushi to study in Lime Tree and managed to get through all the revision exercises we had been given, so I came back quite early and Skyped Erin because her graduation was the day afterwards. She looked beautiful in her tan romper and I can’t believe she has already graduated. Still my lil’ sis, I wish I’d been there to celebrate with her.

Anyhow, On Friday I slept in and finished some writing exercises in preparation for the exam so Sara could have a look at them for me. And that was it; I’d done all I could for revision. It was weird because I felt guilty for not studying but there was literally nothing else I could do. In the evening I met with Rebecca to go and have a look around Bath because it was the International Music Festival with lots of venues with live music. It was nice, there were things going on the in the parks, the Baths, the Abbey and quite a few pubs and clubs. I ended up in Komedia with Amélie, Vidushi and her flatmates and then headed to Turtle Bay for a couple of cocktails.

On Saturday morning I went to a cross fit taster session in a gym nearby. It was good. To be honest, the exercises themselves were not hard, but we used weights which I hadn’t used before so my arms were so sore afterwards… I decided to bail on studying and take a nap before heading into town for the End of Year Fencing Meal. The weather was horrid but we met at TGI Fridays and had dinner together. So much food, but that didn’t stop me from ordering a massive cookie sundae. Got to make up for the exercise, right? After dinner some people left and the rest of us headed to The Cork for a couple of drinks. It was a lovely night, going to miss those guys, I’ve had a fantastic year with them all and I wish I’d joined the club earlier!

On Sunday I went back to revision, particularly lab for the exam the next day. Bego’s mother had come over for the weekend so she made food and I didn’t have to cook lunch, so thanks so much for that! After lunch I alternated some revision with more Modern Family episodes, they are hilarious and just about the right length. Oh, and we had a double rainbow appear that evening too. Amazing.

On Monday the 23^rd I had my Italian lab in the afternoon. The test itself was fine aside from the fact that the computer I was in did not work properly so I had to start later than the rest, but I finished in time anyway. Then I ran some errands and grabbed some food and coffee at 4W before participating in a short experiment Phaedra is running. I basically had to interview a robot, it was so weird. She is doing a study about the importance of human interaction and anonymous interviews, which sounds really interesting. After that I went to bootcamp and once back home I did some Italian revision and watched Game of Thrones and was scarred for life by the last ten minutes of the episode. If you watch it, you’ll know what I am talking about. Oh, wait up, hold the door.

Tuesday morning and my last proper exam was done and dusted. The Italian exam went fine. There were a couple of words and expressions I wasn’t too sure about but I sort of managed thanks to the context and I think I did a good job. After that I went back home. It was sunny and lovely outside, I love it when the sun comes into the kitchen while I cook; makes me happy. Then I watched a couple of videos in preparation for the French oral the next day and received an email saying that due to the UCU industrial action, our Italian orals on Thursday had been cancelled and were to be rescheduled. Complete mayhem. The class chat lit up and everybody was freaking out because there was no way they could do it on Friday or Saturday. I mean, people already had plans or were even going back home because I have coursemates who started their placement in France on Monday. Insane. Plus, because of the strike, information on the subject was minimum. So stressful. And we didn’t know if it would also affect the French test the following day, but we got no email so we assumed they were still on. I watched ‘La famille Bélier’ as a form of revision for French and then went to bed.

On Wednesday I got up early and went to do my French oral test. My video was about the immigrants in Calais and it was Salomé and Eline examining me, instead of Eline and Nina (I have a feeling it had to do with the strike…). I think it went fine. I hate orals because I get so stressed and nervous! After that I went back home and took a nap and after lunch I headed to the ODEON to watch the new X-Men film with David. A bit of a let-down to be honest, there are too many incongruencies in relation to the original films. I just didn’t really like it, aside from Quicksilver, Magneto and maybe Nightcrawler. Then I came back home for dinner and got ready to go out with A, V and a couple more girls to “celebrate” the end of exams. I don’t know, it was an awkward situation because we were not sure if the Italian exam was to be rescheduled or not. So, technically, we were done but we were not. We went to Bump’n’Grind but I didn’t last there long and ended up coming back home with A quite early, not a fan of the music.

Eventually we were told our Italian exams were to be done on Friday at the same time we had been given but in a different location. It was alright with me but a lot of people complained which I understand. But at the same time I also understand the reasons for the strike. Anyhow, I didn’t really have to do any prep so on Thursday I chilled at home and in the afternoon met Vidu in town and got some iced lattes and went to Victoria Park to relax in the sun. It was such a lovely afternoon; Ebru came along and we listened to music, sunbathed and watched the hot air balloons be filled up. I left quite early and ordered some dominos because I was too lazy to cook, went through the vocab and watched Penny Dreadful. Pretty decent day. I went to sleep early but was woken up at like 2am because Joel brought some people over. Not cool. I was in such a bad mood after that due to lack of sleep.

On Friday morning I had the oral test with Wonnacott which went well. And then I went to the Library to print off some things and complete my application for Siena (it is real now, I am actually going to study there, the feeling is so bizarre). I came back home and then decided to meet the girls for a picnic in Queens Square so we got some falafel and then went into town to do some impromptu shopping and get some frappes. End of exams celebrations. Then it started to pour. To really, really pour down. So we pretty much ran back home and arrived soaked. I just relaxed for the rest of the day, I was exhausted.

On Saturday I woke up super late. After popping to the Co-op, Vidushi came over for pres before Bathfest. The day was sunny and warm which was great! We had cocktails and put on glitter and gems, true British-festival vibes. And then went into town to join Taneisha and Jenny and get the bus to the Racecourse. Bathfest itself was fairly disappointing; the music was really bad but we had a nice time on the rides and just sunbathing. We did give up quite early and decided to go get dinner in town so A, B and I ended up in Wagamama’s. First time ever, expensive but good. Managed to eat with chopsticks too! And then at home we decided to watch Léon, although Bego stayed in her room and Amélie went to bed before the film finished. Not that much of a success I’d say…

On Sunday it was BUSMSTag, the annual meet-up after the Summer Ball for those in the musical society. I slept in and did the groceries because Monday was bank holiday and I was running low on food. And then got ready and helped Amélie get some ice and limes (took us a while because they’d run out everywhere), and take it all to Victoria Park for a bbq she was going to. I left her to it and went to the Crescent where everybody else was. It was a nice afternoon in the park, sunny and hot. We played rounders which is sort of like an easy version or baseball and then they played some football and I went to grab some food. After that we went up to campus and chilled by the lake until the Open Mic night was set-up. It was a lovely evening, really long but we had a lot of great songs. I really enjoyed the first one (can’t remember it anymore, but it was Dario and Jonathan singing) and also Kit and George’s rendition of ‘Take Me or Leave Me’ and Graham’s ‘Unfortunate Souls’. Lyana also sang a song by Beyoncé and I wish I’d signed up, but I wouldn’t know what to sing! Next time, got to work on my confidence first… Beky fortunately drove us home and spared us the taxi as we are not in term time anymore and buses are not reliable anymore… I’m going to miss the BUSMS bunch, I’ve had so much fun this year!

Anyway, second year is over now. It has flown by but I still have a few things in the bag before I return home: visiting Stonehenge and Lacock, a short getaway to Amsterdam and Utrecht, and working in the Open Days. Will keep you lot updated.

Also, I feel like I should continue the trend and write an advice post for second years based on my experience. Let me know if you’d fancy that. (Warning: it will potentially end up in a soppy note because I’ve literally had a blast and cannot believe it is over, what will become of me in final year?).