A Catch up With Friends

This week has been a busy one for me, in the nicest possible way. I finally started working on my dissertation in the lab which was really exciting, and managed to get all the uni organisation stuff out of the way. But, I also had time to hang out with some of my lovely friends and have a proper catch up.

Me and a couple of friends decided to meet up for lunch at a cafe they have just discovered in Aberdeen, called Cup. If you live in Aberdeen I completely recommend it. The decor is insanely cute, the food is yummy and the loos are Alice in wonderland themed! We all had iced tea which came in glass teapots with ice underneath to pour the tea on when it had brewed. I had a goats cheese and roasted vegetable panini which was yummy, and came with a gorgeous salad full of fruit and a tiny cup of soup. And we managed to have a well deserved gossip as well!

It's Always Sunny in Freshers Week

This is what I was told when I first arrived at Aberdeen University, and this year is no different. On Saturday all of the new students arrived for a week of bonding and partying before they start their degrees, and the weather could not be better. Seriously, yesterday I went out in a crop top without a jumper. In Aberdeen. Insane. (I should point out that all the poor freshers are in for a shock when the weather changes and we are plunged into a cold rainy hell).

I decided to take advantage of the sun and so took a walk down to the beach. Here are some photos I took, because it was just so gorgeous.

I hope this weather sticks around for a bit longer, I need to soak up as much vitamin D as possible before I go into hibernation. 

University Life

I mentioned in my last blog that I had left home for the wilderness of Scotland, to return to university. I am now a fourth year student, which brings with it new challenges (Yes yes, I am freaking out about my dissertation already, please don't remind me), but also means that I have settled into university life. I know a lot of people are just starting university this year (including my brother. God I feel so old), so I thought I would share what I have learnt these past few years:

1.  You will get massively homesick. I still miss home loads, especially my family and my hilarious friends. I try to keep in contact with them as much as possible, and I try to make my uni home as homely as possible. My favourite thing about my room is my photo wall, full of pictures of all the people I love.

   

   I love photos and this wall just makes me smile. I have added to it over the years to include all of my family and friends from different parts of my life.

2. You will make friends. I was sure I was going to become a social outcast and nobody would like me, but everyone is thinking the same thing so you all kind of bond over mutual terrifidness.                        
3. Doing things that terrify you is a good idea (unless its like, walking somewhere dodgey alone at night. Don't do that.) I went to Madagascar for a month with a bunch of people I hadn't met before and it was the best thing I have ever done. University is such a good time to do something crazy like that, and you will remember it for the rest of your life even if your bank account hates you at the time. Do it.

   

   Me with a baobab tree in Madagascar

4. You probably shouldn't be allowed full responsibility of your life. The other day I realised I still didn't really know how to use washing powder and I have been washing my own clothes for THREE YEARS. (I am actually pretty certain that this feeling of not knowing how the hell to be an adult will always be there. I have realised now that everyone else is just winging it).

   

   Seriously, what are all the different draws for? I hate washing.

5. Going to university feels like the most daunting part of your life when you do it. Then you get to your last year and you realise that deciding what to do afterwards is about a million times worse.

Summer Memories

I have arrived back home in Aberdeen after a summer in Norfolk with my family. I had such a lovely relaxing summer, which already seems to be fading into a distant memory now that it is time to start university again. I thought I would share some lovely sunny pictures of some of the things I got up to while I was at home to try to keep the summer alive for just a little longer.

Framlingham Castle is a lovely place to visit with a picnic in the sun. 

I loved Somerlayton Hall, especially the maze.

Southwold is my favourite place to go in the sun. The town looks so pretty from the pier.

I am definitely sad that summer is over, especially after looking at those pictures. I have also left friends and family behind in Norfolk whose company I am already missing. But now I am in Aberdeen, and am excited to catch up with friends here that I haven't seen all summer. I am also really looking forward to pretty autumn leaves and crisp weather, and to the academic challenges ahead of me.