Sadly I still have two assignments to hand in this Thursday, and I must say, this exam season has been an all-time low in terms of stress. It’s like the stress was so much that I literally shut down and my mind couldn’t concentrate on anything. Usually I’m the annoying one who’s still reading right up until the last minute. Yep, I’m that person who enters the exam hall still trying to get some last minute information in, prepared to keep reading until the examiner says, “Put your flashcards away!” That’s me. But last week my mind couldn’t focus at all.
“But Nebz, you should have been prepared. -_- You’ve been through this before, blah blah blah…” That’s the sound of my thoughts lecturing me. And they’re right – having gone through three years of exams and assignment deadlines during my undergraduate degree, I should be able to deal with it all now. Heck, I thought doing a post-grad degree would be easier to deal with – but I clearly deceived myself there!
I know that some of you poor souls have been through exams already and still have more coming in June. Not wanting you to go through what I’ve been through, I’ve devised a fool-proof plan on how to avoid that black hole of doom that’s ever so easy to fall into. Just follow these 5 steps, complete with illustration!
1. Don’t decide you have to suddenly save the world. This is not the time, and you do not have the superpowers.
2. I know it seems more interesting right now, but don’t decide to concentrate on that essay that’s due in five months’ time, just don’t.
3. Don’t sleep. Yes everyone needs rest, but not at 9am, you just got out of bed.
4. If your room is not messy, don’t tidy it. Don’t try to mess it up in an attempt to tidy it either.
5. And when it’s really getting close and you feel like there’s no hope left, do not get involved in extreme sports in an attempt to get a minor injury and apply for mitigating circumstances. Chances are it’s too late to apply anyway.
At the end of the day I guess I’m saying – don’t procrastinate. But I’m sure you’ve heard that before!
Dorset is the location of some fine geological sites, known as the Jurassic Coast, and designated as a World Heritage Site so we spent a day there with Richard Twitchett, a geologist from the Natural History Museum. The evening before Richard gave an overview of some geological concepts and an introduction to the geology of the area.
Richard explains stratigraphy (rock layers)with the help of beer mats
The rocks of this area are the sedimentary type, which are formed by accumulation of material compacted and cemented together over millions of years. These type of rocks may contain fossils of plants and animals that died and became trapped and preserved between the layers. The exposed rocks of the Dorset coast are Jurassic (200-145 million years old) and Cretaceous (145-65 million years old) in age. The rocks of Cretaceous age would have originally lain on top of the older Jurassic ones but earth movements have titled them so they become younger as you move east along the coast – like a walk through time. This entertaining video tells the story better than I.
First of all, we stopped by the Square and Compass pub in Worth Matravers to visit it’s small museum, sadly it was closed but Richard gave us a tour of the garden furniture which are constructed from slabs of local rock, including examples of dinosaur footprints and mud cracks.
Can you spot the dinosaur footprint?
Fossil mud cracks table
Then we were off to Lulworth Cove, with Richard refreshing our minds on the age and type of rocks in this area from his introduction the night before. Lulworth is one of my favourite sites, but I’ve mostly had the misfortune to visit in the pouring rain, luckily today was beautiful day. Coves form when there are layers of rocks with different resistances, so a sea breach, maybe through a weakness in the rock, carves out the softer rocks behind. West of Lulworth Cove is Stair Hole, a smaller example which provides a glimpse of how Lulworth Cove formed.
Lulworth Cove with Stair Hole in the foreground
Stair Hole features some amazingly tilted and folded rocks (called the Lulworth Crumple), so that in some places they are completely turned over.
Stair Hole
Next we travelled West to Osmington Mills, were the cliffs form a rock sequence called the Corallian. As we walked along the shore Richard explained the different features of the rock and what this told us about the environments they formed in.
Hard hats required at the Osmington Mills cliffs!
Some layers were full of fossil shells, dumped during ancient storms. Others were finer grained mudstones with many fossil traces of burrowing animals.
Shelly fossils at Osmington MillsFossil wood and burrows at Osmington Mills
After a walk back along the top of the cliffs, admiring the views we set off back to the Old Malthouse for a very different evening activity – parasitology!
When we last left our intrepid hero, he was deep in the catacombs of Maple coursework, fighting to factorise some worryingly large semi-primes. Now, suddenly, it’s suddenly 2015.
10:49.
Wait, it’s 10:49.
~
After the initial wave of panic that I had missed my morning lecture passed, it dawned on me that it was still on winter break. Gone (at least temporarily) were the days of running to morning lectures whilst gorging through a mystery mix of whatever fruits I could find in my kitchen shelf. No more having to micromanage laundry, dinner, and problem sheets on a daily basis. Sounds perfect, right? Well, somewhere along the way last term, not only did I get used to the chaotic way university life works, but I grew to enjoy it.
The time surrounding New Year is meant to be a time where we reflect on the year that’s gone by. I stress the word meant because most of the time between great meals, mountains of presents, and global firework displays, self-reflection tends to take a back seat. When you’re blogging, you get all the time in the world to self-reflect but even then, it’s very difficult to try and summarise the last two months eloquently. Instead, here’s a 10 photo summary! (Seeing as a picture is worth a 1000 words, this is basically a dissertation.)
Abhishek in (Winter) WonderlandWho said students can’t cook?Christmas Dinner ReloadedAt this point, I’ve probably made it clear how much I love food.Spain, it’s December. How do you even manage to stay like this.Even the mountain towns look great!There’s definitely no shortage of breath-taking views.And plenty of market stalls.And there’s no way I could forget to mention Spanish cuisine.But at the end of the day, it’s always fun to be back in London!
I’m very wary when it comes to making resolutions. Most of the time, it’s something that just ends up being impossible to stick to. Nevertheless, this term I’m definitely going to be more organised than the last!
The Natural History Museum organises a field trip in Dorset for its postgraduates each year, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get out of London and spend a weekend in the countryside. A group of PhD students and post-docs from a variety of disciplines set of to the Old Malthouse on the Isle of Purbeck (which is not a proper island but a sticky out bit of the southern coastline of Britain).
After settling in at our accommodation and being fed a good lunch we set off to Hartland Moor National Nature Reserve with Museum botanist Fred Rumsey. We were introduced to the plants that inhabit the Moor, and I was particularly excited to meet Dorset Heath Erica ciliaris, a type of heather, which I had not seen before. We also learned lots about the different species of mosses of Hartland Moor. The UK is particularly rich in mosses and their relatives (bryophytes as they are collectively known) with 8% of the world’s known species found in the British Isles.
Fred Rumsey at Hartland MoorBog pools at Hartland Moor
In wet areas sphagnum mosses are particularly important, holding large quantities of water and as dead plants accumulate they produce peat. I knew there were quite a lot of species of sphagnum in the UK but was surprised that we found seven species within just a small area of the boggy areas of Hartland Moor.
In the evening, Eileen Cox, who is Head of Postgraduate Studies at the Museum and an expert on a group of algae called diatoms, gave us an introduction to the many varied forms of algae. We also had a look under the microscope at some algae which had been collected from the Moor.
Eileen Cox (3rd from left) enthuses about algae
The next day we went out with Fred again to the last recorded location of a rare moss called Habrodon perpusillus, to see if it was still there. Unfortunately we did not manage to find it, but perhaps a more thorough search another time will rediscover it.
To start with, here is a picture of a strange quark holding a glass of champagne:
This is my second week back at Imperial after Christmas, and this term is looking set to be a brilliant one. For a start, I have only one lecture course this term, as all my options happened to be last term. This lecture course is called ‘Physics of the Universe’ and is about particle physics and astroparticle physics, and the lecturer is a completely inspiring man who literally flies out from CERN to teach us, and who you can just tell absolutely adores his job.
(The picture is a note I made in my lecture 😛 I think it’s a pretty accurate analogy…)
Particle Physics is an incredibly fun topic to study too, as even things you think might be boring like centre of mass energies, for example, turn into amazing things like ‘this energy is our time machine, and the faster we can wham these particles together, the closer we get to witnessing the dawn of our universe’. You can tell it’s an interesting subject when people feel compelled to say ‘our time machine’ and ‘the higher energies we can get’ like this is so important that it is a knowledge and theory that belongs to us all, even when we don’t really have the faintest idea of what is going on.
I still have comprehensive tutorials and labs this term too. A lot of labs actually—ten hours a week—I think we only had six in second year. I’ve actually missed lab work—the experiment we are doing at the moment is the famous photoelectric effect, which you will probably know like the back of your hand if you are doing A Level Physics. However, because the photocell we are using to detect our photocurrent (a load of electrons being pinged off a metal by light) is so dodgy, the whole point of our experiment seems to be: how are we dealing with the essentially bad equipment?
That makes it pretty open ended and interesting, so well done Imperial you have managed to turn terribly inaccurate lab gear to your advantage!
Now for the science baking section of the blog…
Here is a picture of some sailing ships on Titan cookies that I made:
(They are sugar cookies—if you have never made them before they are the best for holding their shape after baking, and are quite tasty too :P) If you’re wondering, the small round one in the front is meant to be the buoy mission that was proposed to float on the lakes, the sailing ships are what I imagine by ‘sailing on Titan’ (which might actually be possible due to the possible wind speed and composition of the atmosphere, the ones with balloons attached in the back are more buoys being let down from space. And the alien is the alien.
Putting a boat on Titan (one of the moons of Saturn) which has lakes of hydrocarbons and potentially underground/underice lakes of actual water(mixed with ammonia so it can be liquid at really low temperatures because chemistry) is one of my all-time favourite ideas for a space mission. It was actually proposed by NASA at some point but other projects were chosen instead.
Here is a really good article about what kinds of sailing would be available on Titan, or here is a limerick on it if you would rather read about space missions in silly poetry:
There once was a sailor on Titan
That the lakes did excessively frighten:
‘It is such a shame they are made of Methane,
And the land far too cold to alight on.’
That isn’t even the end of science baking news though! With Science London I am helping to organise a science bake off! It is an event for science week (organised by the British Science Festival) later on this year, and the idea is to get people to come along and bring a cake decorated with their best science to be judged by some scientists and cake experts. I really want to enter too!
There will also be a make your own bacteria cupcake area, and maybe a talk about the science of food, which is something I am already so excited about. Science. And cakes. What is not to like?
Guess who finished her exams this week guys… IT’S MEEE! I am so happy to have finished for this exam season. I had a great Christmas at home with the family but studying and having a horrendous cold at the same time was kind of sad. Last Thursday I sat my final paper for this exam period which was Genetics. I was expecting an absolute nightmare of a paper but it ended up being much better than expected so I’m very happy with that.
One thing that can be hard about starting university, especially at Imperial, is that you basically lose your holidays. The level of studying that you have to do over Christmas if your exams fall in January is quite intense and I know I get kinda sad that I can’t spend as much as time with my family and friends as I want to. Having a good work-life balance is really important and I think it’s really easy to get into a place where studying becomes your whole life and you let your friends and other commitments fall by the wayside. Ultimately it’s up to you how you decide to tackle this part of your university life but personally, I know it’s dangerous for me to put so much emphasis on my academic achievement. Yes my degree is important, BUT being happy, spending time with the people I love and having a well-rounded life is important to me to. At the end of the day, I put as much effort as I could have in to my exams and revision and I am well pleased 🙂
I spent the weekend post-exams chilling spending time with friends and having London adventures. I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with a group of people that I worked on summer camp with last August on Sunday and we had a great afternoon together in East London. I rarely have a reason to go East so spending time there with people who know it well was so much fun! We had a curry on Brick Lane and then wandered around the Sunday market, where you can find loads of amazing vintage clothes for really good prices, and went for a drink in a really cute French café. Brick Lane is full or quirky little places to have coffee and a French café filled with flowers, candles, trellises and bird cages in the middle of a street of curry houses was no exception!
I need a teacup like this, I have it on good authority that they come from the V and A so I might have to embark in a little adventure to find some…
A change at Gloucester Road, my closest tube station when I lived in halls!
Last night I went out for a good friend’s birthday dinner with all of my favourite people which was certainly an experience. We went to a Brazilian grill restaurant where everyone gets given a card by their plate and as long as you have the green side facing up, the waiters keep bringing meat to the table, which they carve right there!
So. Much. Meat.
Needless to say it was an intense, meat-filled evening (I didn’t manage to eat everything although considering there were fifteen different kinds of meat available I don’t feel like too much of a failure!) and a very interesting experience!
The weekend is over however, and I’ve had my first introductory lectures for my new course, Cell and Developmental Biology. SO excited about this course and considering that my intro lecture included a segment on why dragons can’t actually exist, I’d say we’re off to a good start. Basically, since dragons have six limbs (four legs and two wings) they would have to be classed as insects. Maybe insect-sized dragons could be a thing?
I really enjoying learning how to identify wildlife, so not only do I spend time identifying soil invertebrates as part of my PhD project but I like to attend identification workshops and courses in my leisure time. On Saturday I was at a workshop organised by the British Entomological and Natural History Society (BENHS) learning how to identify land Heteroptera with Tristan Bantock and Jim Flanagan. Many people use the term ‘bug’ to refer to any invertebrate but in strict entomologist sense a bug is a member of the order Hemiptera. These are characterised by having a straw-like mouthparts (a rostrum) which they feed on fluids of various kinds, often plant sap but some on other insects and even blood. They include familiar insects such as aphids, bed-bugs and shield (stink) bugs. UK bugs species are split into three major groups and today I was looking at the Heteroptera which include shieldbugs/stinkbugs and assassin bugs. There are some bugs that live in water, such as the pondskaters and water boatmen, but this workshop was just to identify species which live on land.
Like most insects bugs are identified using keys, which provide a set of questions about features of the insects, progressively narrowing down possibilities until (hopefully!) the correct species is arrived at. There are several types of identification keys but the most commonly used is a dichotomous key which offers two options at each step (called a couplet). Unfortunately keys can be problematic, firstly they rely on knowing what you are looking for, which in some cases can be straightforward e.g. leg black or yellow but in others subtle or open to interpretation e.g. leg thickened towards base or leg equal width. With small species you will need a microscope to see the differences! Keys also have problems that new species may have be found since the key was published, sometimes a very variable species will not fit the description, your specimen may not be an adult, missing the part that you need to look at, or even deformed or unusual in some way. On occasion the keys can just have errors!
Identifying using keys can be frustrating, but I rather despite this I rather enjoy it, it’s like a puzzle. It helps enormously to have someone who knows the group and a reference collection to refer to, and that is where BENHS is very useful, their headquarters at Dinton Pastures Country Park has a library and labelled specimens which can be used to compare against your specimen to check if your identification is feasible.
Shieldbugs in the Heteroptera collection at BENHS
During the workshop I identified a few bugs which I found in leaf litter during my MSc Taxonomy and Biodiversity project, I didn’t have very many but it is particularly satisfying to work on your own specimens, and I can add to the species list for the site. The first bug I identified was a small brown specimen which I found in leaf litter from a rotting tree stump}, I got stuck keying this specimen as the couplet asked if the head was heavily punctured (lots of small round dents) or less heavily punctured. Mine seemed to have a lot of punctures but I soon came to a dead end following that route. After asking one of the tutors for advice it transpired this was one of the less punctured species, but of course without the contrasting one to check against how would I have known that!
Bug finally identified as Drymus brunneus
I finally successfully identified the bug as Drymus brunneus, a common bug in leaf litter. Next I identified some even smaller bugs which I sieved from moss during my MSc. These were only 2-3mm in length, but under high magnification were immediately identifiable as a species of lacebugs (Tingidae), which as the name suggests have lace-like wings. These keyed much more easily to Acalypta carinata, which was then confirmed by Jim. The rest of the afternoon was spent practising using the keys on specimens in the BENHS collection, I will have to find time to go through more of my insect collections to see if there are more to identify!
The start of the new 2015 year definitely does call for a reflection of my time in the UK so far. Three months have flown by unbelievably quickly, and its been a roller-coaster of a ride. I’ll save you the entire shpeel of serious reflection, and instead sum up my entire experience in three words that have been my life these past few months. Time to start the year on a lighthearted, excited note 🙂
Public Health
Three months into this MPH program, and I have seen Public Health in an entirely different light. The impression of Public Health I knew has been questioned, reinforced, replaced and shaped into a much better piece to add to the worldly knowledge of different lines of work. My undergraduate definition of the term ‘health’ was the well-known WHO definition, “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity“. Interested in Medicine, and hailing from a hardcore science background, this made sense to me – curing disease outcomes to stay ‘healthy’ – it was my one-track explanation. But a few, curious college courses had introduced me to an approach that was so different, yet had the same goals. Managing disease outcomes with a preventive, holistic approach? That is when I realised there is a whole, other inter-disciplinary aspect to healthcare than just the Medicine I was interested in and the Biology I knew, that which works in tandem with it. Eager to question my traditional views, burst out of the science bubble and learn what more is in this Pandora’s Box of Health and Providing Healthcare, I took up this opportunity. And have never looked back since. Policy-making, statistical analysis, the economics of health, biopsychosocial approaches, traditional disease progressions, stakeholder analysis – a lot goes into keeping our population healthy than meets the eye. And the more you know about your field, the better healthcare provider you can be. Here’s to hoping 2015 continues to challenge my views, build new ones and keep the stars shining in my eyes.
Bhangra
Considering that making me go to the gym is a gigantic feat, those two hours of Bhangra practice with the Imperial College Bhangra team thrice a week have been a welcome escape from the rest of my crazy world. Dance was always a passion, but when it becomes a solace, the thrill is exhilarating. And add to it, the opportunity to meet and learn from a wonderful set of fellow dancers from Imperial’s diverse backgrounds that share the same passion. Here’s to many more exhilarating months of practice, performances and team bonding.
#tashaventures
Coming up with a personalised Instagram hashtag for the pictures I post on my Instagram account while in the UK was an absolute must. Social media, technology and I get along pretty well, and I want my friends and family to live the London experience through my eyes. Actually…in your twenties, its more wherever the world takes you! Be open to adventure, it’ll surprise you and there’s no better time then when you’re going through all the shenanigans of growing up, making new friends, moving for that first job/college and learning to love life. Not a mean feat, definitely easier said than done but very worth it when you look back on it ten years later. I’m grateful for getting this opportunity to teach myself to embark on the roller-coaster of life with open arms, an adaptive attitude and positivity. Here’s to wishing 2015 brings only more #tashaventures.
It’s inevitable that whenever a year draws to a close, people feel the need to constantly ram down your throat how amazing their year has been and all the wonderful things they’ve done. It becomes annoying and unrelenting, so that’s why I waited for it all to simmer down so I can ram this blog post down your throats. Actually I just procrastinated too much over Christmas so much that this post wasn’t ready yet.
This isn’t actually a joke, this is what I did on New Year’s…but mainly because I like cheesecake.
But in all seriousness, I decided it would be a good idea to review what has been an incredibly interesting year…I also realise the only entry in my blog thus far is a rant about missing a train. So I’d like to share with you some of my highlights from the past year and tell you a little about myself along the way. Here we go.
January
…what happened in January? I don’t even know what happened yesterday. I planned to review 2014 month my month but January to April escapes me. So after delving into the depths of social media I realised I went to Edinburgh. A deep freezer of a city where five layers of clothes are insufficient… and I’m from Newcastle. I really enjoyed exploring the city and catching? frostbite. Trying to cross the park in the city centre entailed standing still at one side, and letting the slight slope and frozen ground slowly carry you to the other side.
February
This month is slightly more firm in my memory, a lot happened this month.
Firstly, of all places, I visited Hull with some friends. Hull you ask? Why Hull? (or if you’re from Hull “stop hating on Hull”) A friend was going for an offer holder today so a group of us went to accompany her and make a weekend out of it. *totally didn’t go for free buffet*
Hull actually exceeded all my expectations, well I had 0 expectations to start with so it wasn’t particularly hard. Their white phone boxes are pretty cool. There’s alcohol there. Enough said.
Also in February I took part in my school musical, West Side Story. I had a lot of fun and I’d like to get involved with something similar at Imperial-he says uncommittedly.
My highlight of highlights for February (if that is a thing) was a German exchange in Berlin. In 2013 I travelled to Freiburg with my school for an exchange but this one in Berlin was a first. My German partner and her friends visited us for a week before we joined them in Berlin shortly after. Berlin is a very cool city.
One week of Schnitzel Brötchen, Ka De We and tequila simply wasn’t enough. I can’t wait to return to the city as soon as possible and visit the amazing friends I made there.
One more very exciting thing happened in February: I received an email inviting me to interview at Imperial College. The place I had written off for the past four months actually wanted to interview me.
March
This is the month where my university-related nervousness reached its peak. March being the month where medical schools give out most of their offers (and rejections), checking my emails and scrolling through student rooms quickly took over my life. Amazingly, one week in I received an offer. In that moment sixth months of fear and anxiety disappeared completely. Then the day before my interview at Imperial I received a second offer.
Travelling to London, I had no nerves at all, I didn’t need it. But within little time there I knew London was where I wanted to be… and anxiety quickly returned. I left my eight minute long interview not quite sure what to make of it.
April
I spent easter with family in Cyprus for some much wanted probably less deserved rest
Shortly after I returned to Edinburgh for a day, and to my surprise the place had warmed up a couple degrees.
Later in April my fear once again subsided when I received an offer from Imperial. I was quite awestruck that I would actually be studying medicine at Imperial College- he says modestly.
May
Early in May I returned to London but this time to travel to Germany for a kpop concert. Yeah you read that correctly, I traveled all the way to Germany for a kpop concert. Kpop is probably my favourite music genre (what do I mean probably, of course it is). Over the past two years it’s grown into a passion of mine, so much I was willing to travel to Düsseldorf to see one of my favourite groups (and stuff like this is pretty common in the kpop fandom) The concert was really cool and I got to spend the weekend in Düsseldorf and Cologne, which was really nice.
Meanwhile, at the end of May I finally escaped 6th form.
June
June was pretty uneventful. The majority consisted of A level exams. Bore. Bore. Bore. And then the usual things like Prom.
Perhaps the most exciting thing for me in June was joining au pair world. With three months of nothingness ahead of me I wasn’t really sure what to do, so I joined an au pair website. Within one week I was contacted by a family in Italy asking me to teach their children English over the summer.
July
After a few conversations over Skype and some organising, I set off for Italy, with no knowledge of Italian, not to return for seven weeks. At first it was quite strange living with a family I’d only known a couple weeks but it soon became normality. Living in Verona was amazing, it’s beautful, almost as beautiful as the food is delicious.
At the end of July I accompanied my host family on their holiday in southern Italy. First we visited their family in Rome.
I’d visited in Rome twice before, but the ancient city somehow never gets old. I got to see some of the things overlooked by a lot of tourists…I never knew you could actually visit the top of St Peters-the cupolone.
Also I got to help prepare a five course feast… most of the Italian I know now is food words.
August
Leaving Rome, we set off for Scalea, a small seaside town in the South. We spent the week by the beach and ate even more amazing food, with this amazing view from my bedroom:
Shortly after we spent the next week in Morcone, a little village in the mountains with the Grandparents. The village was so picturesque, with thin, winding cobbled streets and houses going back to Medieval times.
While there we visited Naples, my host family’s home town, and I was taught how to make lasagne by an italian grandmother!
In my last few weeks there I was lucky enough to visit Venice, Florence and Milan. All very beautiful but different cities.
While in Venice I also had my place at Imperial finally confirmed by UCAS.
Eventually it all had to come to an end. The food I’d tried and the places I’d visited were lovely, but even more lovely were the family that I’d become a part of throughout. They’re like a second family to me now and I was very sad to leave them.
Nevertheless, I wasn’t long back in England before I set off for Cyprus with my friends from 6th form. We shared a great week together before everyone went their separate ways off to uni.
September
September mainly involved me preparing to move to Uni. But somehow I ended up returning to Germany…for a kpop festival.
The visit was slightly ruined when the Korean man organising it ran off with everyone’s money and cancelled the festival. Yeah.
But luckily I hadn’t bought my ticket yet…so instead I used the money to visit Amsterdam while I was there.
I got to explore more of Düsseldorf, and visit a friend au pairing in Münster. I’ve ran out of adjectives at this point. So here are pictures. Look at them
October
So finally after two weeks at home like a child waiting for Christmas, I finally move to London and start at Imperial. Fresher’s fortnight was perhaps two of the best weeks of my life *tries to avoid cliches* I made some amazing friends, learnt and forgot a lot of names, and did a lot of damage to my liver.
Uni life is a lot different to 6th form but I’m really enjoying it. There’s always something going on, whether it be with a society at Imperial or an event in the city. London is a really exciting place and I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.
At the end of October I attended MCM/Comicon/London Expo/whatever you wan’t to call it.
Anime is another passion of mine, like Kpop, my relationship with anime is verging on unhealthy. Nevertheless I was super excited to see many of my favourite characters in real life, and spend money on stuff I didn’t need.
Halloween was a very exciting holiday to spend online. It’s probably my favourite holiday, when else is someone going to walk past you outside Sainsbury’s dressed as Willy Wonka (their child was an umpa lumpa!) Personally I spent the holiday putting too much make up/face paint on.
November
This month I attended another convention-Hyper Japan. One especially weird thing was managing to get drunk on free sake samples at 10am… that convention centre was spinning. I got to volunteer there on Sunday too, working at the marital martial arts area. I didn’t get drunk this time.
November was also full of concerts for me.
One of the great things about Uni is being exposed to a loads of new music. Baby Metal, a great example, I ended up seeing in concert, which is best described as an experience, very different to other rock genres, but lots of fun nonetheless
My cancelled kpop festival was redeemed by a concert as part of the London Korean Film Festival. I got to meet a lot of cool people who make my passion for kpop seem like a casual hobby. There was a mini concert in Leicester Square, alongside a selection of Korean film
December
Finally my blog went live, and for those who read my last entry they know I had a really traumatising journey on a train *still slightly scarred*
this was also the time where a very stress free first term became not so. Seven assignments due in the final week resulted in half the medic year locking themselves in their rooms. And everybody had between one and six people not turn up to tutorials or PBL because they were ‘ill’.
Never have I had so many Christmas dinners in one December. Hall Christmas dinner. Floor Christmas dinner. Society Christmas dinners.
And finally the assignments stopped and I returned for Christmas and ate an obscene amount of food and caught up with a lot of friends.
So looking back on all of this, I’ve really enjoyed 2014. It’s hard to avoid those inevitable clichés when it comes to a New Year, but I really mean it when I say it has been a year like no other *shudders at cliché*
There’s a lot of things in this entry that I could write endlessly about. But shouldn’t. So I’ll save them for another time.
This year I plan to get a lot more content on this blog, so go on, bookmark me. You know you want to.
Hopefully my future posts will be less procrastinated over…like a post about New Year’s over a week after New Year’s. And I’ll come up with more adjectives, and say amazing less.
But I’ll leave you with this, we are now just as far from 2030 as we are from 2000. I’m not really sure how to deal with this information.
I’ve been writing emails following up contacts made at the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative Conference I attended back in December. Additionally I will soon start to customise the standard email that my research group (PREDICTS) uses to request data from researchers.
I find writing emails really stressful, worrying over every word, and whether I will be misunderstood, which I know is silly because the recipient is unlikely to read it in such detail. It’s good to know I’m not alone, thanks PhD Comics!
