Freshers Week: Expectations vs. Reality

One week ago today, I was experiencing a typical lazy Sunday and enjoying my last day with no uni obligations. During the day I tried to quell my apprehension about meeting brand new people, which I would go on to do that night at the Icebreaker Predrinks event, exclusive to non-halls dwellers. I didn't even know what the Icebreaker was at first; when I found out I had no interest in attending, but still made myself go to the meet up. The first of many buses during the week turned up fairly promptly, but I had difficulty finding the pub. Eventually I made it there, but couldn't find the group, so I sat with some second years for half an hour before making contact with them via Facebook. I chatted with the intended group for about an hour, but I didn't even get a drink. We did, however, agree to meet to walk to our induction talk the next morning, so that was something. Oh, how it's developed from there! Here's a retrospective list of the things I expected, plus what really happened.

Expectation #1

I would meet up with the home-dwellers once, go to the folk night alone, and do nothing for the rest of the week.

Reality #1
I went out every evening between Sunday and Friday, and went to the comedy night on Monday instead, which was probably a better decision. In addition to that, I went to the Archery Have-A-Go session yesterday!

Expectation #2

I'd make small talk with the people at the first event and one or two people at my course meetings, but not really get to know anybody.

Reality #2
I've acquired eight new Facebook friends and four phone numbers, as well as getting to know a good group of people!

Expectation #3

I'd have one small alcoholic drink per event.

Reality #3
I drank a pint of Guinness and most of a bottle of beer on Friday... enough said!

Expectation #4
I'd avoid clubs at all costs.

Reality #4
Seven of us went to a club on Tuesday night, and it was actually a pretty good experience!

All of this actually happened, plus more, and it's got my uni life off to a great start! With under 12 hours until my first lecture starts, I'd better finish off here, with the hope that uni continues to be this fun!

Studio l'italiano!

I'm learning Italian! After seven years of studying German at secondary school, which culminated in an A-level grade B, I've decided to try my hand at learning another modern foreign language. I chose Italian for a pretty superficial reason: so that I could attempt to read interviews with Sebalter in his mother tongue. Still, as time goes on I'm starting to really enjoy developing my skills. It's a nice change to be learning at my own pace and for my own personal interest, rather than for a qualification. The main resource I'm using is Duolingo, a free web/app platform which generates simple listening, reading, writing and speaking activities within discrete lessons, helping the user to gradually acquire knowledge of the target language. The focus is on learning through experience rather than explanation, although the comments section is useful for finding out the theory behind each sentence. Strength bars indicate the skills that need to be improved, and it's always possible to strengthen skills, which is particularly useful when I don't feel like learning a completely new topic. I also have a 3 in 1 book, the Collins Easy Learning Complete Italian, which has grammar, verb and vocabulary sections. So far it's been useful to clarify grammar points introduced on Duolingo, and I might use it to write notes and flashcards. I've been learning for almost two months now and according to Duolingo I've acquired 30 skills and learned 862 words. My next challenge is the perfect tense... oh, and I'm starting uni in a couple of days! Alla prossima!

Awesome August!

In less than half an hour it will be September here, so I thought I'd do a quick post to herald the end of the marvellous month of August. I've had painted nails almost every day this month, but only two different designs:

I've also spent about a third of the month on holiday; between the 10th and 13th I was in Derbyshire, and yesterday I came back from a week in Weymouth. Highlights of the past 31 days include being accepted into university, receiving another retweet and favourite from Sebalter [x], and seeing a shooting star - I really hope the wish I made comes true! By the end of the coming month, I will be a fully fledged uni student, which is both an exciting and daunting prospect. The preparations have already begun - today I chose my optional units. The overarching mood is eagerness to get started on this new chapter of my life, something I hope will be documented on this blog in the future!

The Big Day

After a wonderful few days in Derbyshire, today I returned home with a bang, because it was finally time to find out my A-level results. The last two years of my school life had been leading up to this day, so I was naturally nervous last night. As planned, I logged on to UCAS Track at 8:00 am, and I was delighted to find that the University of Bristol had confirmed my place to study MSci Pharmacology with Study in Industry! With that weight off my mind, I wolfed down my breakfast and headed to school to find out my exact results. The common room was already pretty busy when I arrived; I quickly spotted my envelope (yes, the school has finally invested in envelopes!) and tore it open eagerly to discover my grades, which were:

Psychology: B
Biology: A
German: B
Chemistry: A*(!)

I'm so happy with the A* in chemistry; I didn't get my fingers trapped in the door in vain! My Biology result was also very satisfying, and the B in German was expected, although I was only 4 UMS points away from an A. I had hoped to get an A in psychology, but I'm happy with the B. So far I've done little to celebrate, just ordering the Eurovision 2008 album on Amazon, but hopefully I'll do something soon.

A Celebration

Many things have happened since I last posted here. I've done my A2 exams, been to two eighteenth birthday parties, and on Tuesday I went to the sixth form prom, which was absolutely brilliant! Months before the event, I began looking at dresses on the Debenhams website. Most of my favourites were in the Yumi collection, which was unfortunately absent from the local Debenhams store. However, I remained persistant, and using the instore wifi, I discovered that a Yumi store existed a short bus ride away, so we headed over, only to find that the shop had closed down. Feeling defeated, we trudged home, and decided to return on Sunday. Thankfully, House of Fraser sells Yumi clothing, so I was able to try on a few of the dresses I'd seen online, and I eventually settled on this one:

My dress!

I accessorized the dress with pink nails, my shoes from the year 11 prom and Em's silver bracelet!

Daisy's dad kindly offered to give Chris, Jade, Daisy and I a lift to the venue, a lovely hotel in the city centre. We inadvertently arrived about an hour before the teachers, but the time passed quickly while I marvelled at the hotel's splendour. Eventually, all but three guests arrived, so we made our way into the room, where the teachers gave us each a delightful party bag. The food arrived promptly, and I wolfed down the starter, tomato and basil soup, but had little room for the creamy tortellini main course, and couldn't even finish the sweet cheesecake dessert. After the meal it was photo time; I had 17 taken with Mrs Royall, some of which were hilarious. Soon after, people began to depart. We were among the last to leave, and while waiting for the others, I was very tempted to jump in the luggage cart à la Sebalter in the Hunter of Stars music video!

Temptation!

The walk back to the car was majestic, and the evening was one I will never forget!

Eurovision 2014: Chris's Grand Final Party

Conchita, Queen of Eurovision!

Held last night, Chris's 3rd Annual Eurovision Party was certainly the best ever! The twelve attendees cheered, squealed, grooved, joked, and sang our hearts out during the three-and-a-half hour extravaganza. Chris's decorations were second to none, with brightly coloured bunting, #TeamMolly posters and #JoinUs diamonds adorning the ceiling, walls and floor. When Austria's Conchita Wurst was announced as the victor, we were all delighted, especially Chris, who supported her from the start. We were also pleased with the UK's score, a respectable 40 points, which put us in 17th place. Here are the final standings in our group competition:

1. Chris - Austria - 1st place
2. Chelsea - Sweden - 3rd place
3. Jess - Armenia - 4th place
4. Wendy - Ukraine - 6th place
5. Steph - Denmark - 9th place
6. Jade - Finland -11th place
7. Emily - Romania - 12th place
8. Georgina - Switzerland - 13th place
9. Megan - United Kingdom - 17th place
10. Daisy - Azerbaijan - 22nd place
11. me - Malta - 23rd place
12. Rosie - Slovenia - 25th place

Yes, my beloved Firelight ended up four places above the bottom of the leaderboard, but I wasn't at all dispirited. Their performance was delightful, and I somehow managed to vote for them 50 times during the short interval. Amazingly, they were awarded 10 points by the UK, so the binge voting was well worth it! In total, they were given 32 points, which meant my pledge to eat one Malteser for each point they received was significant, yet easily doable.

32 maltesers

Daisy's tactical choice of Azerbaijan sadly failed to pay off; their 22nd place finish is the first time they've ever placed outside the top 8. After her win last year, Rosie was relegated to last place this time around. Chelsea and Chris both improved by 13 places on last year, and my first choice actually qualified this time around! The UK didn't do too badly, and the rest of the attendees' countries finished on the left hand side of the leaderboard. After the excitement of the contest, today I've felt rather melancholy, but I will look forward to Austria 2015!

Some of Chris's decoration

The artists we supported

Eurovision Grand Final: Initial reaction

Congratulations to Conchita Wurst!!! Chris's choice won Eurovision 2014, which meant he got to keep first prize - juggling balls! Conchita's performance was astounding and I was thrilled when her victory was announced! I managed to vote for Malta exactly 50 times, and in the end they came 23rd, but they received 10 points from the UK, so I feel like I did my bit! 

Eurovision 2014: Second Semi-Final

It's Eurovision Final day! But before the festivities begin, here are my thoughts on the second semi-final, which saw 10 more countries make it through to the final.

These were:
Malta (yay!)
Norway
Poland
Austria
Finland
Belarus
Switzerland
Greece
Slovenia
Romania

Only my sister's choice, Ireland, failed to qualify, but she wasn't too downcast, because she will now support Romania. I was worried that Malta's performance would be overshadowed by the later acts, but thankfully it wasn't! Israel's failure to qualify surprised me; I really liked Mei Finegold's "Same Heart", but it's position at second in the running order probably harmed it's chances. Belarus's success was also unexpected, but I do have a soft spot for Teo's "Cheesecake". I thought the Greek entry "Rise Up" came across really well on the show, and the trampoline was an effective gimmick. I was also happy that Austria, Finland, Switzerland and Slovenia got through!

It's now only 1 hour and 10 minutes till the Grand Final begins!

Eurovision Semi-Final 2: Initial reaction

MALTA QUALIFIED!!! I did not paint my nails and vote 27 times in vain!

Eurovision 2014: First Semi-Final

I intended to post this yesterday, but hey ho.

On Tuesday night 16 became 10 as the first Eurovision semi-final of 2014 took place.

The qualifiers were:
Armenia
Sweden
Iceland
Russia
Azerbaijan
Ukraine
San Marino
The Netherlands
Montenegro
Hungary

This means that Latvia, Estonia, Albania, Belgium, Moldova and Portugal failed to qualify. Latvia's song, "Cake To Bake", was very cheerful, but I think the stark contrast between it and the song performed before it (Armenia's "Not Alone", which featured a plethora of pyrotechnics) seriously harmed its chances. I was quite surprised about Estonia's fate, because the song is very Eurovision-y (it's title is "Amazing") and Tanja's vocals didn't falter at all, in spite of her acrobatic choreography. However, I felt that the dancing detracted from the song somewhat, and it was third in the running order, which wouldn't have helped it stay in the minds of the voting public. Albania and Moldova produced pleasant songs, but they were ultimately overshadowed by the other songs, many of which are favourites to win. Belgium's representative, Axel Hirsoux has a brilliant voice, but I wasn't fond of his song, "Mother". I enjoyed Portugal's performance, but the more modern songs were favoured by the voters.

In terms of qualifiers, I was delighted to see San Marino get through! This year is Valentina Monetta's third time representing her country, and her qualification with the song "Maybe" is the first time her country has reached the final. Likewise, Sergej Ćetković's "Moj Svjet" marks Montenegro's first qualification as a standalone nation. I really enjoyed this rousing Balkan ballad; I'll probably support it if Malta fails to qualify from the second semi-final (which I hope doesn't happen). Iceland's qualification surprised me, but Pollapönk's "No Prejudice" is a very catchy song with a good message, and I'll be happy to hear it again in the final.

The other seven songs were widely expected to qualify, and I'm especially happy that Armenia, Sweden, Azerbaijan and Ukraine made it through, because it means that four more of Chris's partygoers will have songs to support in the grand final. Now all we need is Malta, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Switzerland and Slovenia to qualify tonight!

Eurovision 2014: Country choices

Chris has continued his yearly tradition of getting each of us to choose a country to support, and this year, after much contemplation and soul-searching, I've gone for Malta! The song is called "Coming Home", and it's performed by the group Firelight, most of whom are siblings. I really like it's folky vibe and it reminds me of "Let Me Go" by Gary Barlow, a song I heard live at Gary's concert on the day we chose our countries. In truth, I can't see it winning, but I'm passionate about supporting it, which is ultimately the reason why I chose it, rather than one of the favourites like Armenia or Norway. I do think it deserves a spot in the final, and I shall definitely vote for it in the second semifinal on Thursday 8th May. However, as with last year, my choice will open the semifinal, which did not fare well for Austria's 2013 campaign, as the country did not qualify. Nonetheless, I believe Firelight has what it takes to earn a place in the 2014 final. I hope I'm correct!

Everyone else's choices are as follows:
Chris: Austria
Emily: Ireland
Georgina: Switzerland
Rosie: Slovenia
Chelsea: Sweden
Steph: Denmark
Wendy: Ukraine
Jade: Finland
Jess: Armenia
Megan: United Kingdom

May the best song win!

Prüfung und Pesto

Almost two weeks ago I sat my German A2 speaking exam. During the night I dreamt that I completely messed up, as documented in this tweet, but as morning rolled around, I became unusually calm. We were able to meet our examiner at the start of the day, and it was reassuring to find that she was just as jolly as we'd been told. After this brief introduction, Chris, Nilloy, Daisy and I left, while Rosie began her fifteen minutes of preparation. The remaining four of us returned to the Study Area, where we nervously carried out last minute revision and I correctly guessed that the word for sadness is "Traurigkeit". Over the course of the next two hours, Rosie returned, and Daisy, latecomer Lily and Chris all completed their exams. Finally, it was my turn. When I arrived, I was somewhat thankful to find that Chris was still in the examination room. Upon leaving he seemed content, which was encouraging. Before I could begin my exam, the examiner had a quick break, but she soon returned, and allowed me to choose my card. After this, the invigilator ushered me into the planning room. The time went by rather quickly, but I did manage to plan all three questions, so it was already going better than the dream. Thankfully, the topic was interesting and I had a lot to say about it. I recalled my Exposé faultlessly, then I only needed clarification on one of the questions during the discussion. Afterwards I couldn't stop smiling, and psychology breezed by in the afternoon. Later on Daisy drove Chris, Emily, Georgina and I to meet Rosie for a celebratory meal. Earlier, the examiner recommended that I have a big meal to commemorate the effort I put into the exam, so at the restaurant I chose the Rigatoni al Pesto, which almost put me off pesto for life, then later I shared a lemon meringue dessert with Chris. Coming home we realised just how great a driver Daisy is; her concentration never faltered despite the noise coming from her passengers, Chris in particular. It seems really odd that I'll never do another German speaking exam, but it's also a relief. Now I just have the three hour written exam to complete, as well as six exams from my other subjects... not too much!

An Awesome Achievement

On Friday evening, Chris, Chelsea, Rosie, Jade, Emily and I were once again the only student team at the PTA quiz night. Despite protest from Rosie, we incorporated this into our team name, selecting the moniker, "The Good, the Bad and the Sixth Formers". We weren't expecting much in the way of success, due to our prior inability to place any higher than last, but we were hoping for a fun night of revelling, snacking, and completely failing at the music round. Peculiarly, the picture round was delivered to us at the beginning of the night, and the largely recognisable faces were just the motivation we needed when our team captain, Chris, fell ill and had to leave a quarter of the way through. Our performance was satisfactory, with four being our median score; however, we soon found ourselves in the dredded last place. Nevertheless, things began to look up after a  round featuring school-related photos, which  garnered us six points. This score was in part due to Chelsea's guesses of "Grange" for the ones we didn't know, as one of the answers was Grange Hill. After the interval, we continued to maintain a five point deficit, even after scoring just three out of twenty in the music round. As the end drew near, the leaderboard was displayed less frequently, so we were unaware that our score of eight in the joker round on the subject of "days" had brought us level with the team above us, "The Winos". The final round focused on history and with my and Chelsea's knowledge, we were able to snatch up four points, while "The Winos" obtained… two! We were delighted with the result, and we also made history, being the only student team ever who had not placed last! Woo!

The Big Reunion snubs girl groups in favour of boy band only tour

In contrast to the excitement of last year, this time around I will not be attending any shows on the Big Reunion Tour, because the powers that be have decided that the groups Eternal and Girl Thing are not what the public wants to see. Instead, fans will watch the four remaining acts from the 2014 line-up, 3T, Damage, A1 and 5th Story, as well as the three boy bands from last year, 5ive, 911 and Blue. While I would be happy to see the groups from this year's series, I begrudge paying more than £50 per ticket for a show I've seen almost half of already. It also seems incredibly unfair on Girl Thing and Eternal, who have worked just as hard as their male co-stars to make the reunion work. Various news articles state that the girl bands were dropped to boost ticket sales, but for me it's had the opposite effect.

Post title

Why won't my drafts save on the blogger app? I almost finished a post on Thursday or Friday, but now it's nowhere to be found...
At this moment in time I am about to commence thorough, timetabled revision for my A2 exams. I will soon complete my chemistry coursework practical (finally), and I am also preparing my Exposé for the German oral exam. One week ago today Muse Watson retweeted my tweet, which was delightful! Midweek I ventured to Cardiff again to check out the university, and I was bowled over by the brilliance of the Students' Union complex. This uni decision is harder than I anticipated, and it's becoming a question of what I want most: freedom or family. (Incidentally, both of these options are also titles of  NCIS episodes.)

One down, eleven to go

A month has passed since we rang in the New Year, and for me 2014 is already shaping up to be a great year. During January I received a third university offer, and attended a visit day at another institution, which is likely to be my firm choice. Yesterday we purchased our first concert tickets of the year, which will allow us to see some of our favourite groups performing together including Backstreet Boys! We've also discussed going on a family beach holiday, something we haven't done since 2010. I'm undoubtably excited about these developments, but the notion that the events won't occur until after I've finished my A levels is mildly frightening.

Happy New Year and all that...

It's 2014! It's been 2014 for 16 days already, but until today I hadn't managed to write a blog post. I've had a pretty uneventful start to the year; revision for mock exams has taken up some of my time and so far it's gotten me an A*, A and B but other than that, nothing much has happened. Despite the unexciting start, 2014 will be an important year for me, as it marks the conclusion of my school life and my transition into life as a university student (results permitting). Whatever happens, I hope it will be enjoyable.