Catch-Up Time!

So I haven’t updated for three weeks.  In my defence, it’s possibly been one of the busiest three week periods I’ve ever had, but it means that I have to post a long update.  But it’s fun, too!

Where to start?  The beginning I suppose. 

On May 21^st I finished my final exam of my degree.  This was perhaps the best part as it brought a lot of joy.  I was incredibly happy.  It’s like a gigantic weight – one that’s been around for a very long time – was lifted.  Now I can talk in French and Spanish when I want and how I want.  Now when I learn it’ll be for pleasure and not for an exam.  It’s so wonderful a feeling.

The following week included some great barbecues with course friends and other friends, as well as a trip to Aston Hall (a giant stately home near Villa Park Football Stadium) with my friend Virginie (who’s French) and saying a sad farewell, with the help of strawberry pancakes in the Selly Sausage, to my Spanish buddy, Anaïs, who returned to Valencia.  I also got back into the spirit of writing, and went on driver training for the Olympics.

Then I went to Salisbury for a week with my friend Emma.  We’ve just completed four-year degrees, with a year abroad, so we decided to give ourselves a relaxing few days.  We walked a lot, found the awe-inspiring Stonehenge, and saw the famous Cathedral, and Magna Carta, feasting on sausage sandwiches and potato bread (among other things), and trying to get into shape after the laziness exams induce.  However, we also spent hours writing under a very old cedar tree in front of the Youth Hostel.  This was a great way to get back into my passion, and it also gave us a chance to meet some great people from all over the world (mostly New Zealand and Canada, though). 

From Salisbury, I went straight home to Hastings, where the road I live on had organised a street party for Her Majesty the Queen’s sixtieth Jubilee.  I’ve always wanted a street party (I remember during A Level I announced (in French) that the world would be a better place if we had more street parties (and everyone laughed at me!)), and this one didn’t disappoint at all.  The weather was damp, with some rain (although not for the whole day), but it didn’t ruin the fun at all, with gazebo’s protecting us from the weather, music coming from one of the houses, and kids playing party games throughout the afternoon.   I really wished I was a kid again!   It was a great opportunity to get to know my neighbours (after eight years of living in the close ha ha ha) and helping the Queen celebrate her holiday.  I’m sure I owe her a gigantic thank you (and congratulations) for living so long!  We also watched the concert, which was OK (except I didn’t like seeing how old my favourites, Sir Cliff, Sir Elton, Sir Paul and Sir Tom, were getting.  It should be illegal for them to get old!).  There was an enchanting documentary, narrated by Prince Charles, about the private cinefilms taken by the Royal Family on holidays and during personal time.  It was so endearing to watch such a happy family.  And to see Prince Philip rolling down hills and things.  Just loved it!

My return to Birmingham was on Tuesday, as Thursday was the day of my Gradball.  This was an amazing day, preluded in the Radisson Blu (the giant blue hotel in Birmingham City Centre) with some friends.  The evening itself was very wet and rainy, but nevertheless I had a wonderful time on the fairground rides and in the silent disco, which I’ve always wanted to go, and was so glad Gradball gave me the opportunity to do it.  I enjoyed spending such a special night with some great friends, and enjoyed the compliments directed towards my eBay ballgown!  My only regret is that I didn’t see all the people I wanted to see, because it was so busy and rainy but as long as they had a great time then it’s OK. 

Finally, today Virginie and I made another daytrip, this time to Worcester.  I’ve been meaning to visit the city for the entirety of my degree, but I really can’t believe it took me so long.  The city, although more modernised than I would have liked, was really beautiful.  The cathedral was one of my favourites beyond a doubt, with a beautiful giant stained glass window, and the tombs of King John (which matches nicely with the Magna Carta in Salisbury Cathedral) and Prince Arthur (Henry VIII’s elder brother).  We also got to see the River Severn, which provided some amazing pictures of the Cathedral and water’s edge, and the swan reserve nearby.  There were also some wonderful Tudor-style houses, which were beautiful to see.  I just wish more of the older city had been preserved.

I’m so happy my exams are over, and I’m having the chance to enjoy life on a daily basis now.  I know work one day will dampen that a little, but I don’t mind.  I’m free to make my own choices in life, I have three languages that could potentially take me round the world, and I’m so optimistic for the future.  Let it stay this way!

Exam Season!

I realised I haven’t blogged for a while.  My life has been a mêlée of revision and exams, mixed with keyboard playing and a little writing every day to keep me sane.

I’m beginning to think beyond my final exam next Monday.  It’s extremely exciting.  I have an interview for a company called ‘Babylangues’ on Wednesday, which, if I get the position, may see me back in Nantes (where I spent my first semester of the Year Abroad) for a couple of months.  I’ve been applying for other jobs here and there, with differing levels of language usage.  I’ve had a couple of rejections, but that’s okay: the Olympics will last several weeks and it’s a long time to wait for a member of staff.  And teaching French kids English would be fun!

I’ve been doing a little research about Venezuela in my spare time in preparation for July and August.  The more I learn the more excited I grow.  I’m waiting until my Spanish exam is over before I look more into the differences between Latin American Spanish and Castilian (Spanish) Spanish and their different customs and idioms are.  I know there are some subtle differences, and something said innocently in one can be offensive in the other.  I don’t want to cause an international debacle! 

I’m finding the pressure of everything lifting a little as my degree completion bar looks more and more full, and I’m definitely starting to feel like myself again.

I’m starting to find ideas for post-exams – and, funnily enough, they’re all creative.

The list so far:

·         Write.  This is my passion (outside languages) and something I have missed doing since I finished a novella called The Conscription last summer (which is available on request!).  Luckily I’ve helped my longing by writing short 100-250-word flash-fiction in the evenings (which is also available!).  It’s been like nibbling on something when all you want is a big three-course meal: it just makes me hungry for more!

·         Cook.  Okay, so I can cook well enough to survive and feel good about what I’ve eaten every day, but I want to broaden my horizons a little.  Be able to cook something special.  I received a French Cuisine Cookbook for my birthday last month, and I want to learn to make tapas, too.  And desserts.  I love making desserts.

·         Sew.  I want to learn to make clothes.  I started to take the first steps last summer, but for some reason time sort of ran away from me.  My mother used to make my clothes when I was little and I’m still in awe of her.  I have a couple of patterns for tops I want to make.

I also want to make Spanish and French into a pastime.  It’s so much a part of who I am, and I want to enjoy it again.  I mean, with the amount of music I listen to and movies I watch I’ve never really lost that love.  But it’s always been part-enjoyment, part-studying.  I just want to be free to love it!

By the end of the summer/ my unemployment (whichever comes first) hopefully the creative juices will be flowing and I’ll have something awesome to do in the evenings and weekends!  I can’t wait for a life where I don’t have to worry about work after 5pm.  Of course, I am well aware that I am possibly speaking too soon.  Oh!  The delights of the unknown!

The unknown’s on my doorstep.  It’s so exciting!

It's Getting More Real

A very big blog update today – in length and importance.

Yesterday (May 3^rd) saw my return to London’s East End for my fifth Games Maker training meeting, otherwise known as the day I found out the country I was going to be linked to in July and August.  Alongside six others, I’m going to be an NOC (National Olympic Committee) Assistant to Venezuela.  I’m so very excited.  I love learning about new places!  The two girls I met are really lovely and I'm really looking forward to working with them and meeting the rest of my team. 

Any chance to speak Spanish is a godsend to me.  After enquiring a little and reading around the Internet, it looks like a great country.  I really can’t wait to represent the UK, and to be a cog the massive machinery that’s going to make the Olympics go smoothly and amazingly.  I’m truly excited.

Obviously, I have to pick and choose what I post here, but I shall share my experience, for people who are interested and for my own future reference.  Everything I put here will be honest.  In other words, if I’m positive, it’ll be me saying it and not just in case LOCOG find the time in their very busy schedule to find this blog and read it.

Today I returned to London – this time to the UDAC centre to pick up my uniform.  This is one of the many things that has convinced me that the Olympics are going to run very smoothly: if a simple uniform collection can be planned so well, with so much thought through, then the events are going to be marvellous.

I admit I was nervous about the Uniform.  It had received bad press and opinions, and I wasn’t too sure about the colouring.  However, I don’t know what it is, but it’s a lot better in reality.  It could be the excitement; it could be having adjusted to it.  But it’s wonderful.  It’s so, so comfortable and practical (non-iron!).  There’s something about knowing that it’s so sustainable (made of recycled material) that’s comforting as well. 

 

I also got my identity/access card, which is exciting but nerve-wracking.  I don’t want to lose it!  The photo on it is incredibly serious.  As photos are when they tell you not to smile!  It’s not quite as murderous as the one on my passport and driving license, more… ‘Don’t you dare mess with me’.   Ha ha ha.

On the way home, I took a detour to find one of the only two or three Chipotle restaurants in London.  It’s an American Mexican restaurant chain that does things like burritos and tacos, but the best thing there (that I can’t believe they didn’t invent in the UK yet) is the wonderful burrito bowl.  It’s literally a bowl full of burrito filling, without the messiness and calories of a tortilla wrap.  If I had some spare cash I’d certainly start a business!  It was as tasty as America, most definitely, if not as big a portion size (thank goodness!).

I’m genuinely very happy to be alive and British this year.  I came home to amazing plans for the Jubilee weekend (I’ve always wanted a street party!), and the Olympics are so, so close (according to the website, just under 84 days until the Opening Ceremony). 

It’s going to be a great summer.

Anticipation

4 exams down, 5 to go.  It's been a bit of a mix.  One terrible (apparently I came out looking pale), two good and one I feel great about.  So on average pretty good, I think.  Last night almost resulted in disaster due to our next door neighbours’ partying antics at 4am, but this morning’s exam turned out to be the best so far.  I think this was partly due to the desire for some form of (very) passive revenge, and, of course, mostly because of my excellent study regime!  And tea.  The importance of tea can never be forgotten in times of need.

At this moment in time I just can’t wait for the exams to be over and for the rest of my life to begin!

Tomorrow following my exam I’m back off to London's East End for my fifth module training for the Olympics.  This is the big’un, when I find out which continent and then country I will be a part of during the five and a bit weeks I’m working there which until now has been kept as a big surprise.  I’m really excited.  I don’t really mind who I get.  I just can’t wait to represent this country the best I can, and to be unofficially a part of another.  

I return to London to get my sexy Games Maker Uniform (including bag and the all-important umbrella) and Pass on Friday as well, so it’s a big week for me Olympics-wise.  Everything seems to be stepping up a gear, which is wonderful as it makes it become so much more real and gives me something to look forward to.  I booked my driver training for after the exams so I don’t have to freak out either thing anything more than I have to.

I’ve also applied for a couple of jobs – one in London, one in Nantes and one in Hastings – but I’m not really holding much hope because of my commitment to the Olympics.  Except perhaps for the one in Nantes because that wouldn’t start until September.  Plus, I mean, it’s Nantes.  If I could live in Nantes or Oviedo I think my life would be complete.

In the meantime, music, writing, friends and family are helping my plough on through my exams.  I can’t believe I’m so close to the end!

British Spunk

Sir Winston Churchill.

Even if many of us aren't old enough to remember this speech, we at least feel like we were, because we've heard it so often.

I'll set the scene: June 1940.  Nazi Germany seemed to be doing pretty well.  France was about to become part of Nazi Germany's spoils.  Dunkirk had happened, many soldiers had died or been captured (who are too-often forgotten) and others had returned home.  Morale was low.

Yet, this was just the beginning.  As this speech shows, Churchill was just getting started.  Somehow, with his way of words and many other factors, in five years the Allies' fortunes changed and the war was won.  The extent Britain, America, Russia etc were the reasons behind this are neither here or there for this small rant.  The point is we were down and we came up.  This speech has never been forgotten - for many it's the epitome of British 'spunk'.

So, all these decades later.  Well... where's it gone? Sure we're in a 'double-dip' recession and it's terrible.  Unemployment's high, many people are losing their homes.  I'm not denying it's a very bad situation.  But isn't June 1940 evidence that a little bit of British optimism is sometimes a good thing?  No one seems to be standing up and saying 'we're going to get through this'.  It's all doom and gloom.  For a Coalition Government, for a Labour Government.  For any Government.

I know people will laugh at my optimism.  Or my want of it.  But think back to those days.  I mean, sure, the recession isn't going to take a gun and shoot his mistress and then shoot himself in a bunker somewhere.  Sure the Russians aren't going to come from another Front and help (although that would be nice).  At least, I don't think that's the plan.  The recession's not going to bomb Pearl Harbour and prompt the USA to do something.  At least I hope not.  Bombs are bad.  The USA has too much to worry about.

But that's not the point.  In 1940 no one knew those things were going to happen.  The point is that someone should stand up and tell us we're going to fight this.  Sure, it's going to be a long struggle.  But without hope, how are we going to know it's going to get better?

Tah-dah!

In a moment of respite from my studies I changed the design of my blog in an attempt to make it more personal.  Surprise!

I took the photo on my twenty-first birthday.  My parents were visiting me in Asturias (Northern Spain) for a week and we decided that to celebrate my birthday we'd go for a drive around the East of the region, stopping in many coastal towns.  I believe the town we were in at this point was called  Tapia de Casariego, and I think at the time I wanted to live there.  This would probably be more feasible if the trainline wasn't just a single track.  Nevertheless, I'm not going to ever say never on that one - it's so beautiful.  The whole region was: it was difficult to choose a photo!

The completion of exams and essays is starting to become one month-long release.  Sure, I'm still getting nervous for examtime, but it's really just getting closer and closer to a time when this sort of pressure will be just a distant memory.  Unless I do a Masters...

In the meantime I've applied for a couple of jobs here and there.  I feel so grown up!  I mean, I've applied to jobs before, but those were just for saving money for Uni and travelling.  Now it will have to go towards things like mortgages and cars and other grown-up stuff I didn't have to worry about before.

Other than blogging and writing flash fiction (I'll come to that in another post) I've found a wonderful release in playing the keyboard.  I've had the pleasure of being able to play music since I was 7 years old, and it just fills me with joy every time.  I got a Disney book through whilst I was away for Easter, which has been fun to play through, as well as some older books such as Keane, Les Miserables and Wicked.

Alas, back to the grindstone I go...

WebCT

Our introduction in 2008 was disappointing to say the least.  Things have been rocky for four years since then.

But now I can conclude.

I hate you.  When I leave, I will not miss you.  Enjoy your life.