It's 5.30, and I am finally back in the flat and unpacked. I left at 09.50. I love living in Exeter and studying in Norwich... Journey wasn't so bad, 7 hours instead of 12, but more switching around. I didn't get any lunch until 3.00, because everything from 12.30 was trudging around London on trains trying to get to Ingatestone for the final leg. I don't even know where Ingatestone IS! (Update: It's in Essex) Luckily, the only delayed part of the journey was the replacement bus service from Newbury Park to Ingatestone, and as most of the passengers were on the 3 buses, the train was held for us. In the space of that hour I went from surprised joy: 'I got on the bus early, so I'll get to eat before boarding the train!' to slight worry: 'There's an awful lot of traffic...' to extreme worry: 'My train is leaving in 10 minutes and we're still on a motorway' to resignation: 'My train is leaving now' to bloody minded planning: 'I paid for these tickets, and it's their bus service and I am darn well getting to Norwich for free!!' back to surprised joy: 'They held the train for us!' to contentment: 'There is a buffet cart and it's next to my carriage and they have bacon rolls *sigh* *munch*' Hectic day.

It is slightly odd being back. I've never had to do this alone before, so it's slightly daunting to come back to an empty flat (I was wondering where everyone was but realised it will only be Casey and Fran until next week anyway) and an equally empty kitchen. Inventory includes: 1 bottle of ketchup, 1 block of mouldy cheese, 1 bag of frozen chips, 1 bag of frozen peas, 1 small block of frozen mince and 2 bags of pasta. Notably missing from that list is butter, edible cheese, bread and milk. Dunno what I'll eat tonight, it's looking increasingly like Christmas chocolate and Roibos tea, because that requires no milk. Again it feels simultaneously like I've always been here and yet am only here for a short time, like a very intense holiday.

I've realised that I've forgotten the webcam. I am so, so sorry. It will come asap hopefully. In the meantime I should probably do some sort of character. thing... ummmm...   ...   Right, looking up D&D websites now.

So, here we are. It's half past midnight, I've had half a bottle of Archers and now can't sleep. Sigh. Peer pressure is alive and well and living  in my block. Tonight was 'toga party' in crazy party flat, 19. (Come for tunes, togas, togas and... togas!) I didn't want to go. I've been to bible study tonight, and got cooked for and met someone new, which was fun then came back in the full and happy knowledge that toga party was happening, and I wasn't there, and no-one would notice. I had just decided to go to bed when *knock knock* Oh dear. Someone let Sarah and her incredibly drunk friend Amy into the flat, and told them where I live. Lame. I was actually in my nightie, and opened the door like, "I'm not coming and you can't make me." Yeah, right. We all know how good I am at saying no. 1) They had been sent especially to come and get me, and were under strict instructions to not come back without me. Which is kind of sweet. 2) They said they would come back every 15 minutes until I came. 3) They said they'd bring Josh. Josh is well known for locking Sarah out, and tying her to bins for hours, and tying her up and gagging her. (Apparantly it's all in good fun, and not actually abuse. I'm taking her word for it) I didn't really fancy being carried out of the flat, down the stairs and into the party in my nightie, so I made a five minute toga, grabbed some shoes and keys and headed on down. Of course, it was rubbish. I liked dancing at the LCR 'cos there were loads of people and no-one could really see you. Here, everyone was just standing around, not talking 'cos of the music, and prob feeling a bit ill 'cos of the drink and strobe lights. Although the strobe lights were amazing, I was completely disoriented (Disorientated?) and I was sober! 2 people came on to me, both incredibly drunk, and of different genders. Although, to be fair, she was incredibly drunk, and probably had no idea of personal boundaries. Suffice to say, I could feel much more than I wanted to...

It picked up a bit when some music I knew came on, and the 4 girls I was sort of with, plus the gay guy, all danced in a circle. But overall it was pretty lame. I drank a bit, got bored, got rid of lame toga so I could feel pretty (!), danced a lot, fended off drunk guy, danced some more then left, asking James (Who looked like he was having as good a time as me) to fend off the others somehow. I've also put a pretty coloured note on my door (I'm asleep, and happy... Have a good night) and locked it. And no, I don't feel like a party pooper. I don't enjoy that sort of thing, and that's OK. I've tried it, and I just don't. I would rather be playing the K'Hali board game or the new Lara Croft (Which looks fracking amazing) and that's OK, darn it!!! And yes, it was nice to come in and be greeted like the prodigal daughter, but I think they were mostly pleased that they managed to get me to a party.

What it boils down to is: I don't enjoy being around very drunk people. I'm flattered that they bother, they don't with Graham or Rob, but I still don't want to go. And I'm sorry, but I place my happiness above the fleeting feelings of a group of drunk teenagers.

This all comes off rather harsh, but I'm not really annoyed. This has a lot to do with being in bed with Sol (My laptop, duh) and that it's trying to snow outside. It's been raining so it won't settle, but it's been forecast all weekend, so there's hope yet! Yay! Zack did slightly crush my hopes by informing me of the 10 feet of snow where he lives. Pah.
Other than lame parties, whch happen once in a blue moon, uni is amazing, and very much mind blowing. Pretty much everything I expected, but amplified by about 10%. Wicked!

Today has not been a good day, and t's only 3.00pm, which is quite tragic. I'll work backwards:
I just got locked out of my room by the cleaner. I just went into the kitchen to make some lunch, and didn't lock my room behind me. In my defense, I normally do, and no-one can get into our flat, and no-one else locks their door either! The cleaner must have come while I was in the kitchen to take my bin, and despite not having to unlcok the door to get in, locked the door behind her. Thus follows a farcical dance along the lines of "I'll call DOS - No phone", "I'll go down to the accommodation office - No shoes" etc. In the end I rang on Fran's phone, walked to accommodation in Fran's shoes and coat, with Frans key and campus card to get back in. I got there and the woman asked if I had my campus card, and I was like "Lady, I don't even have shoes!!"

This would normally be fine, and quite funny, except we got hit with an essay due in for Monday, today. OK, it's only 1000 words, and peer marked, but it's on a subject I know nothing about, and it's the first academic essay I've written for a long time, if not ever, and I really don't want to have to rush it. So I spent a frantic hour in the library looking for references, and coming up with not much. I also had to pay £516 towards my accommodation bill, which almost physically hurt.

And all of this comes after PD PBL, which is always horrific and more so today for many reasons. For one thing the lecturer forced us to discuss referencing for an hour and a half, because Group 1 were being thick. They simply could not grasp that if you're not an SLT it doesn't matter which system you use, as long as it's consistent. "So, the full stop comes after the comma?" "It doesn't matter, you stupid woman!!"
Also, the lecturer is the very same person who was the focus of an email I wrote yesterday, on behalf of our entire PBL group. It's basically the closest we can get to a formal complaint while still trying not to offend anyone. So the atmosphere was a bit frosty. I don't think she knows we've complained, but I was the most vocal in my anger on Monday, so she knows how I feel. At this point, I honestly don't mind taking the blame if it means that everything gets sorted, I can't bear for 9.00 lectures on Monday and Wednesday to be miserable and awkward.

So, by Monday I need to: Write an essay, post my PBL results (I can't find anything, and it has to be done by tonight!!), post my sribe notes for this morning, return the spare key to accommodation, food shop as I'm out of everything but bread, have an exam and 9-4 lectures tomorrow. Lower us in gently people!!

This is going to be a long and rambly post about the nature of cults and my reaction to them etc etc. Be warned

 

P.S. LJ was doing funny things to this post, and I've been trying to fix it, but need to sleep now! So sorry if the cutting didn't work, or the concusion is at the start. Just treat it like a very wordy jigsaw puzzle...