Needless to say, a lot has happened between now and my last update in March. The main news, I suppose, is that I'm now studying for a degree in English at the University of Winchester. I've been here since September and thus far am thoroughly enjoying it! But more on that a little later...
So, where were we?
Ah yes! March was the last time I posted on here so it would seem fitting to pick things up where I left off. The most immediate thing that springs to mind when I strain my mind thinking back that far would be going interailing around Europe in June/July.
Jack, Big K, Elliot, Carl and myself set off mid-June (as far as I can remember) for a month of travelling around Europe by train and, without going into too much detail, it was amazing! Although I ended up having to meet the guys in Prague (interesting getting the train there by myself!), we managed to visit a lot of really amazing places, and met some great people on the way.
Our journey took us through Prague, Bratislava, Krakow, Budapest, Zagreb, Split, Ljubljana, Lesse Bled, and finally Munich. The things that stood out the most for me were visiting Auschwitz and the world's largest underground salt mine in Poland, getting lost for eight hours on my own with no money or phone overnight in Budapest, and how beautiful Split and Lake Bled were... Not to mention the endless drunken antics and very strange people you bump into in Eastern Europe. We spent a lot of time sleeping on specialized 'sleeper trains', which usually hold a couple of sets of triple bunk-beds. They were so much fun!Anyway I could write a whole essay on all the things we got up to, but instead I've included a few of my favourite photos from the trip to give you an idea of where we were and what we saw. They don't do it justice, mind you...
The reason for my late departure to the continent, I forgot to mention, was because of my new found employment at the Odeon cinema in Aylesbury. I can safely say it's the best job I've ever had. A few of my friends already worked there and the rest of the staff are all friendly and funny in their own ways, plus the free cinema tickets for me and my friends are nothing to be scoffed at. I've even managed to get my job back there over the impending Christmas holidays which is an absolute godsend given my current financial situation!
After our travels in Europe it was soon time for Reading festival to rear it's ugly, filthy head again at the end of August. With an even larger crew going than last year, plus an even better line-up it was set to be a banger... And it didn't disappoint. Other than the torrential rain flooding half of the campsite and the gale-force winds blowing away the other, it was an incredible weekend. Suffice to say, lots of drinking and getting up to no good went down. But the real highlight for me was the line-up; my favourite artists being Arcade Fire who headlined on the Saturday. Again, I've included a few of my favourite photos...
On returning from Reading it began to dawn on me that I would be starting university in a month. Although a little apprehensive, I was definitely looking forward to it as I really liked the look of Winchester university and I was longing for a change of scenery. After moving in mid-September, I fell in love with the place instantly. All the people I've met are really nice, and the city itself has a great feel to it and isn't a bad night out either. Although I've had more work than I anticipated in the first term, I've made a lot of new friends so far and we've had some great nights out.
Although most nights are spent going out, Halloween/Bonfire Night and the build up to Christmas have stood out for me as some of the best times so far.
Halloween involved us dressing up for four days straight and going to a few really good parties. The best of these probably being a house party not far from the uni, which was decorated really well and saw the transformation of my good friend Zen into 'the punch king', an alias he's managed to keep up to this day... Even though his punch cocktails have been known to contain nasty ingredients, and even vibrators!
Bonfire night in Winchester was really nice. The whole city seemed to attend the official firework display, which was surprisingly impressive! The fireworks were a lot bigger than I thought they'd be, and the descending smoke gave the field a sort of 'Reading' atmosphere, which I really enjoyed. It goes without saying that everybody went out for drinks afterwards...
Although this first term has seen it's fair share of parties and even more drunken nights out, the build up to Christmas has been particularly enjoyable. There's been some good parties including my friends Jake and Hena's house party the other night, which was really really fun. But what's made the last few weeks for me is how festive the uni has become and, what with all the snow of late, it's been getting me very excited about going home for Christmas and seeing my friends and family!
Anyway, like I say I could have gone into a lot more detail about the last few month's happenings but my hands are starting to hurt from all this typing and I've got a film that needs watching. Hopefully this post will give you a little insight into my moderately interesting life of late, if anyone even reads this. But really I'm doing this blog for myself more than anyone else, so hopefully I'll be able to start updating it a little more now that I've got the burden of this long update out of the way! I'm off home for Christmas the day after tomorrow which will be great, I could do with a break from all this work. But no doubt I'll start missing uni a lot sooner than I expect. Right, time to stop rambling. Adios! X
