Well, I’m here! And I have a lot to catch up on…
Monday 29th
Monday was the last time I could see Terry for around 2 months 🙁 so we spent most of the day together, and decided to go out for a meal which was quite sweet. First we laid on my bed for ages hugging, saying how much we’d miss eachother!! Then Terry was being really helpful, helping me pack (he’s moved house a lot and so is used to it), it was really sweet!! After packing a little, Mum told us to go out while she packed my last bag – so I put all the clothes, DVDs etc. that I wanted to pack on my bed (so of course Mum delves into my wardrobe and packs all the things I *didn’t* want. sigh…)
We drove to the lattice and had a meal there (2 for £5.50, bargain…) was actually really nice, and was nice to go somewhere just me and him and chat. I was apparently really quiet, to which he was getting quite paranoid, but it was just nerves. I couldn’t believe that soon I would be so far away from him, it was heartbreaking.
Then we went back to mine, did some more packing until finally I was ready. Terry stayed round until 10.30, hugging and kissing and saying how much we were going to miss eachother. When he was going to leave, he gave me ‘something of his to remember him by’, which was the toy dinosaur he had in his room! He got it 2 years ago, rescued it from one of his friends who was going to burn it, and has had it ever since. I could tell he was having difficulty with this display of sensitivity and emotion, lol, but it was really sweet. I have ‘Terry’ the dinosaur in my room right now 🙂
After texting Terry for a while, I went to sleep.
Tuesday 30th
After waking up at the ridiculous time of 6am (I didn’t even know there was a time before 11…) I did some last minute packing ready to drive down to Essex (it’s a 2 hour drive, but my mum likes being early). 2 cards slipped through the door – were from my next door neightbours, got a total of £20 from them, bonus! Nahh I’m very grateful 🙂
A few final pieces of packing and eating a sticky bun (which Vil got me from his new workplace, the Bakers Oven) we left the house. I said goodbye to Tia my cat, and even hugged my sister (!!) then we got into the car and started to drive.
Sitting in the backseat of the car, with Terry the dino next to me, I sat and texted all the people who I hadn’t yet told I was leaving – which was quite a lot of people lol – and also texted Lolly (Girl who I knew was going to Essex as well, she found me on the internet by searching for info on South Courts! Found out she would be in the next building to me!!) she was staying in the Uni Hotel, and was nervous as well, was good to talk to her.
On the way we got a bit lost once (lol) but then was fine for the rest of the time, and after about 2 hours we finally got to the uni. After picking up my keys, we found the place I’d be living for the next year or more, my flat in the South Courts! It was much better than I expected (never saw the courts on the open day). I have a huge room (much bigger than my room at home) complete with bed, desk, bedside cabinet, shelves, wardrobe (with full length mirror), radiator and Tv/Radio/Phone and Ethernet Network connection sockets. I also have an En Suit, the little bathroom is quite nifty altho I don’t get the shower – it kinda floods the whole room when you use it because there are no seperations for the shower. But it’s cool, just have to avoid wearing socks for a while after you use the shower! Oh and I have a heated towel rack which I have no idea how to turn on, yet it sometimes works on its own accord. I am on the top floor (4th floor) of my building, and share a kitchen with 5 others. The kitchen has 2 Freezers, 2 fridges, a microwave, an oven, sink, table and chairs, lots of worktop space and all other mod cons. We had to report that I had 2 rather large holes in my wall, lol, cracks in the plaster didn’t want them to think it was me! Also one of my drawers was loose, we found it on the floor. They said they’d get someone to fix it.
The first flatmate I met was Greg – he had already stayed there last night (altho he wasn’t supposed to, and later received an invoice for £10, lol). We talked a little bit, found out what courses eachother we taking, the usual. We also went downstairs to test out his swipecard – it wasn’t working so he went to get another one.
I went to register – didn’t take long and I got my Essex/Library/NUS card (with the dodgy picture of me on it lol) but could not get my cheque yet… was going to be poor for a couple of days!
Meanwhile, rents were helping me unpack, and had to go to Tesco to buy some things (Campus shop is very expensive) and realised I needed an ariel cable for my TV. We ate lunch at “Food on 3”, was cheaper than a MacDonalds and had more food, so thats good!
After ringing Daniel’s Mum we went to the Towers where he was staying – he told me to look up and he would wave. He is on the very top floor!! (Floor 15, so high the lift doesn’t even go that far). So then he came to mine and looked around my room, and I went back to his room to check it out.
Later on my parents went back to the B&B where they would be staying overnight to make sure I had everything before they went back home.
I met up with Lolly, we got on really well and decided to cling to eachother until we found more mates of our own! We had a look around the campus and chatted for ages, then went back to our rooms to eat. I cooked my first meal!! Wasn’t much – just some supernoodles lol. Had a bit of trouble with the electric hob, seemed to take ages to heat up and then was really hot. I suppose I’ll get used to it.
Tuesday night
Our first night out was a bit of a disaster. We met up with Dan, Dan (Dan’s flatmate.. confusing!), Lolly and some of her flatmates and decided to go to Mondo/Underground. Then we found out it was tickets only, and the tickets were sold out! So we tried the SU bar, which was packed full, you could hardly move. So Lolly, Dan and I decided to walk to Tesco, buy some booze and drink it in one of our rooms. After getting a bit lost finding Tesco we finally got there, bought some Smirnoff Vodka and Coke, and also some Reefs (were on offer) and proceeded to walk back to the uni. Daniel went home – the boring git – and left me and Lolly to go to her room and drink it ourselves! Was really great, as we drank the vodka and coke (had a bit too much vodka in, lol) and really got to know eachother, talking about random things!! At 3am I left her room and found my way into mine, then went to bed.
More coming soon…