Well... blimey! I thought it was time I updated you 'orrible lot about what's occurring in my new life, but where to start?
Well, it's busy. Good but busy. And confusing, and overwhelming, and brilliant, and a little bit lonely in the moments when I'm not busy - but the more friends I make, the less I get that feeling. But it's crazy! I mean, besides the obvious stuff about doing a degree, there's the cooking, the cleaning, all the stuff to which I gave no thought before... like how long after the best before date can you keep bread, or whether you can convince your flatmates to move the toaster because it says in the manual you can't put it under cabinets or next to heat sources (and ours is under a cabinet next to the oven)... or remembering to lock your flat when you leave (admittedly of my three flatmates and myself, I'm the only one who hasn't broken or forgotten my keys yet. We'll see how long that'll last.)
But it's occurred to me that I've been here for three days now, and I haven't starved to death yet. Before coming here I hadn't really fed myself for more than one day at a time, and now here I am, "cooking" (cough cough) or at least surviving fairly well. My room is still tidy (three days is practically a record for me), our kitchen is spotless, I've done the washing up more times than I care to think about because we're all still getting to know each other and none of us want to leave it to build up in case the others think we're not doing our bit, so we're all washing up after every meal (actually I tend to leave mine for two meals otherwise it's such a waste of water). I hardly see my flatmates though really except the one who lives next door, because we've all got stuff at different times so we don't eat together - but we're living here for the next academic year so we've got plenty of time to mess the place up. Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that we're adapting pretty well (though our oven doesn't work and apparently the people upstairs burned something yesterday sticking it under the grill because theirs doesn't work either). But hey.
One of the things that is nice, though, is that I can basically do what I want. After my lectures yesterday I went home with a friend and then I brought her back to mine and there was nobody to ask, no permission to gain... I could come home at three in the morning if I so wish (though I might regret it when my alarm goes off at seven the next day). It's also a bit of a novelty for me being able to walk everywhere - I can leave the flat and be in the centre of town in ten minutes! Incredible, considering I come from the middle of nowhere and am used to relying on either irritating infrequent buses or the good old parents.
It would be highly irresponsible of me to post pictures of my room on the internet where any old person could see them, so I'll show you some pictures of possibly the most historical town I've ever been in instead. York's been populated by every invader England has ever hosted - and of course our own indigenous people as well - and apparently they're all buried under the city itself, so you're basically walking on thousands of years' worth of dead people. There is also apparently an ancient law which has never been changed, which states that it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman inside the city walls (I know - a walled city. Could this place be any more awesome?) on condition that it's not a Sunday or after dark and it has to be with a bow and arrow. And they do actually have a shop that sells bows and arrows so... Scotsmen, watch your backs!
No, I'm not actually a creepy weirdo interested in all this death stuff. However I did attend a "Ghost Walk" last night, during which we walked through the city listening to York's ghost stories and watching our guide (this guy - he was on stilts and in costume) -->
pointing out all of York's haunted areas. Apparently my new home is the most haunted city in the world, and with the enchanting and grand Minster right in the centre of the city walls, that's easy to believe.
(I'm quite proud of this picture. I was an idiot and forgot my camera last night but my BlackBerry did itself proud on this one... though no picture can ever capture the incredible building that is the Minster and certainly not the size of it. If ever you come to York, just go and look at it; it's truly awesome.)
At the moment York city centre is covered in marquees and stalls because the York Food and Drink Festival's on, and whilst walking back from the Ghost Walk last night, my flatmate and I stumbled upon a free charity acoustic concert, so we went in and had a nose. It's fantastic to actually live in such a beautiful city with so much going on!
On a random note: I was also pleased to discover that my Student Union bar sells my favourite cider:
but unfortunately not my favourite flavour. Oh well, can't have everything! It's exciting nonetheless.
OH and there's a very short street, literally one or two shops, one with the fabulous name of "1 1/2 Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate". I'll try to get a picture. Brilliant!
In a minute I'm off to the Freshers' Fair, and I'm going to chew a stick of that "mouth watering berry" gum that I got in my freebies when I moved in... just because I can.
Molly x
P.S. Sorry again for the gaps! It seems Blogger dislikes posts with pictures in them. Oh well, it'll just have to suck it up.
Well, it's busy. Good but busy. And confusing, and overwhelming, and brilliant, and a little bit lonely in the moments when I'm not busy - but the more friends I make, the less I get that feeling. But it's crazy! I mean, besides the obvious stuff about doing a degree, there's the cooking, the cleaning, all the stuff to which I gave no thought before... like how long after the best before date can you keep bread, or whether you can convince your flatmates to move the toaster because it says in the manual you can't put it under cabinets or next to heat sources (and ours is under a cabinet next to the oven)... or remembering to lock your flat when you leave (admittedly of my three flatmates and myself, I'm the only one who hasn't broken or forgotten my keys yet. We'll see how long that'll last.)
But it's occurred to me that I've been here for three days now, and I haven't starved to death yet. Before coming here I hadn't really fed myself for more than one day at a time, and now here I am, "cooking" (cough cough) or at least surviving fairly well. My room is still tidy (three days is practically a record for me), our kitchen is spotless, I've done the washing up more times than I care to think about because we're all still getting to know each other and none of us want to leave it to build up in case the others think we're not doing our bit, so we're all washing up after every meal (actually I tend to leave mine for two meals otherwise it's such a waste of water). I hardly see my flatmates though really except the one who lives next door, because we've all got stuff at different times so we don't eat together - but we're living here for the next academic year so we've got plenty of time to mess the place up. Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that we're adapting pretty well (though our oven doesn't work and apparently the people upstairs burned something yesterday sticking it under the grill because theirs doesn't work either). But hey.
One of the things that is nice, though, is that I can basically do what I want. After my lectures yesterday I went home with a friend and then I brought her back to mine and there was nobody to ask, no permission to gain... I could come home at three in the morning if I so wish (though I might regret it when my alarm goes off at seven the next day). It's also a bit of a novelty for me being able to walk everywhere - I can leave the flat and be in the centre of town in ten minutes! Incredible, considering I come from the middle of nowhere and am used to relying on either irritating infrequent buses or the good old parents.
It would be highly irresponsible of me to post pictures of my room on the internet where any old person could see them, so I'll show you some pictures of possibly the most historical town I've ever been in instead. York's been populated by every invader England has ever hosted - and of course our own indigenous people as well - and apparently they're all buried under the city itself, so you're basically walking on thousands of years' worth of dead people. There is also apparently an ancient law which has never been changed, which states that it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman inside the city walls (I know - a walled city. Could this place be any more awesome?) on condition that it's not a Sunday or after dark and it has to be with a bow and arrow. And they do actually have a shop that sells bows and arrows so... Scotsmen, watch your backs!
pointing out all of York's haunted areas. Apparently my new home is the most haunted city in the world, and with the enchanting and grand Minster right in the centre of the city walls, that's easy to believe.
At the moment York city centre is covered in marquees and stalls because the York Food and Drink Festival's on, and whilst walking back from the Ghost Walk last night, my flatmate and I stumbled upon a free charity acoustic concert, so we went in and had a nose. It's fantastic to actually live in such a beautiful city with so much going on!
but unfortunately not my favourite flavour. Oh well, can't have everything! It's exciting nonetheless.
OH and there's a very short street, literally one or two shops, one with the fabulous name of "1 1/2 Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate". I'll try to get a picture. Brilliant!
In a minute I'm off to the Freshers' Fair, and I'm going to chew a stick of that "mouth watering berry" gum that I got in my freebies when I moved in... just because I can.
Molly x
P.S. Sorry again for the gaps! It seems Blogger dislikes posts with pictures in them. Oh well, it'll just have to suck it up.
1 comment:
I loved this post. That picture of the Catherdral was fantastic!!!! Like really! Well done, glad you are proud of it.
It's so interesting to hear what you are getting up to and all your living in Halls happenings. Soo cool. xx
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