Summer Antics

It has been three months since my last blog post. I hope you enjoyed the silence! A lot has gone on, good and bad, but I will save the negative bits for a later date. For now, a round-up of the good bits is in order...

I got my results at the end of June, and I'm delighted to say that I passed my first year with a 2:1 grade. I also got Firsts in a couple of my second semester modules, which I'm really pleased with. It's so nice to be able to look back on my work for the year with satisfaction and to look ahead to second year. I have to register in a few weeks and choose my modules, which I'm looking forward to. I've pretty much decided on everything I want to do this year, so hopefully my choices will work out as planned.

I've been to a couple of concerts this summer. Back in June, I saw The Who at the O2, performing my all-time favourite album Quadrophenia. I was so excited because I'd been hoping and praying for them to perform that album live for years. A couple of years ago, I saw Roger Daltrey solo performing Tommy and it was one of the best gigs I've ever been to, so to see Quadrophenia as well was something truly special. It was such a perfect night.

A few weeks later, I went to see Brian May and Kerry Ellis perform an acoustic show at the Olympia. I went with my friend and Multimedia comrade Adele, and we had a great time. It was such an intimate show; you could hear a pin drop. Kerry, for those not in the know, is a former cast member of the Queen musical We Will Rock You (which I have been lucky enough to have seen on more than one occasion) and she's an unbelievable singer. We bumped into her on the way in, and she's a lovely person. Afterwards we waited outside for ages hoping to meet Brian, but alas he'd already taken off, so that was disappointing. I met him a few years ago in London when I saw We Will Rock You, and that was an amazing experience. He's truly my number one guitar hero.

I was supposed to be seeing Blur a couple of weeks ago with my sister, but unfortunately I was sick so my ticket had to be sold. I'm still gutted about that, so moving on...

Last month, I went to Leicester for a few days to visit my best friend Mona. I had a great time. It was so nice to see her again, and to explore the city she now calls home. It's a lovely place; I was very impressed. We went shopping and sightseeing, and one of the most interesting parts was going to the Richard III exhibition. Mona is a History student, and I'm a big fan of it myself, so it was an enjoyable time.

I must mention that one of the highlights of my summer has been finally getting to see Monsters University at the cinema. As a huge fan of Monsters Inc., I was unbelievably excited about this, and it didn't let me down. While in Leicester, I ran into the Disney shop and bought myself my very own Mike Wazowski! Here he is below with his Minion friend, acquired by Mona on our trip to McDonald's.

As it's my 21st birthday soon, I have some nice trips to look forward to. My lovely mother and I are going for a spa treatment next week, and then I'm going to Manchester with my dad to see United play Chelsea at Old Trafford. It's David Moyes's first home game as manager, and I can't wait.

My living arrangements are all sorted for the coming year too. I will be living closer to town this year, which means that I will have to get the bus in and out of uni each day, but it's only about a ten or fifteen minute journey depending on traffic. I'll be living with family, so that will be nice. Living on my own last year was a great life experience, even if I wasn't Larkfield's biggest fan. I can cook without poisoning myself or anyone else, and I can look after myself convincingly. It could be a bit lonely at times though, so being surrounded by people I know and love will be nice.

I can't wait for second year to start.

Going Home at Weekends

I love my degree, especially this semester. I love the work and the modules and the whole experience of being here. That said, I also really enjoy going home at the weekends to see my family.

When I started this blog last summer, I talked about our move from Dublin to Wexford when I was twelve and why it was so hard for me. I talked about my lack of any emotional attachment to Wexford. That's still as true as it ever was, especially with my friends all being away at university themselves. But when I go home on a Friday afternoon and the bus pulls into Enniscorthy, I do feel content for one reason - I can see the family. Okay, and sleep in my own cosy bed for a couple of nights.

This whole 'going home at weekends' lark is an alien concept to many non-Irish people. As I've mentioned before, my best friend is studying in Britain, and she tells me that students there just do not go home very often during term. It seems that American students don't really do it either, unless they actually live nearby, in which case they probably live at home with their parents anyway. But we Irish seem determined to make the trek. I know people from Galway who have a good four-hour journey ahead of them, and they do it every week. Mine is not quite so bad; I can do it in two hours by bus depending on traffic.

Some people would argue that if you go home every weekend you're not completely independent. Well that's true, but I think that being semi-independent is good enough for now. I wouldn't say there are many students who are able to fund their own education - you're either on a grant or your parents can afford to pay your fees - so are any of us truly independent at this stage in our lives? Anyway, if your cooking exploits during the week are relatively successful (as mine have become) then it's nice to have a break at the weekend and enjoy Mammy's dinners. After all, you can't beat them.

I don't know what it's like at other universities, but as far as DCU is concerned, the campus is dead at weekends. The shop is closed, the restaurant is closed, so is the library on Sundays. Everyone living on campus is gone home, so there's no one around. There's only so much wandering around the city centre you can do - if there's no one to talk to, you're going to be lonely. I don't see the appeal in spending my weekends like that, so going home is the logical option.

It's funny what you take for granted, even just being away for a few days. My shower in Larkfield is perfectly adequate - it gets the job done, even if the water has an annoying tendency to heat up and cool down every few seconds - but having a shower at home is luxury. I've never been one of those girls who take ages to get ready in the mornings (at any rate I prefer evening showers) but I have realised that recently I've been taking longer showers at home than I would in Dublin. Also, the bed situation. I think I've mentioned before that my bed here is pretty comfortable, but there's nothing quite like my own bed at home. After a week in a single bed, a double bed is pretty damn amazing.

The only irritating thing about being at home is that my parents and sisters have developed a strange habit of forgetting that I've actually been present for certain events. For example, my sister might say, "X fell over on Dancing on Ice last weekend." And I'll say, "I know - I was here watching it with you, remember?" Sometimes it's like the only one who remembers I was there is the dog.

Back to the positives though. I really am very close to my parents and we get on so well. Some of my friends think that's really odd, because you're supposed to fight with your parents! But I can honestly say that the vast majority of the time, we get on fine. We've always been a close family, and I think that's probably the main reason why I love going home at weekends. It's a nice balance to have.