Term 1, Year 2

I went back to University on 20th September, two days before rep training began and the fun started. Freshers arrived sometime after that, then it was Freshers' week, then it was the start of term, 10 lectures and four seminars down for each module down, three KitKat ChitChats (don't ask), one Pub Golf night, one trip to A&E and too many "on a scale of one to ten"'s. The first term has gone and there are five days left till Christmas and my bank balance is at an all time low. So instead of shopping in the ASOS sale I thought I would go through some of the best moments of the first term - in pictures. woohoo! 

Here we go...

Freshersss

We were christened Welfare Reps with our yellow t-shirts - me sporting a very deep tan. Sadly its faded, everyone else having "welfare bombs" consisting of red bull and coke - yum.

The reps got close at Pub Golf - involving downing pints of cider black, me downing a J2O as I can't have alcopops - drama and several TC's and far too many attempts at Zoolander - of which pictures cannot be put up, they are dreadful

The pub golf couples 

I just had to add this photo - Apols. 

Not as easy as you may think! it was rather cold 

Talks were in full swing with one couple about how many children to have. 2?

It was the first house party at the end of Freshers' week and it was safe to say everyone got rather too tipsy, to the point where it was normal to drink out of teapots and read books about "sexual fulfilment" - Natalie and I were far too busy hiding ducks and taking labels of tins to get involved with that. There definitely needs to be more house parties. 

Becca's house party was pretty amazing too. There needs to be a big house with lots of stairs to fit a lot of people in. Our flat party at the end of term got a little crowded with a capacity of only 25 people. 

"I promise you it is only water" 

"smooth drinking"

this picture sums up the sober-ness of everyone

Creeps

 CREEPS! HOW COULD I FORGET CREEPS. Nestled at one end of Middlesbrough is a bar called "Medicine Bar" and the medicine they serve is incredible (just the drinks, of course). Still a place that most people from Durham will refuse to go to because it involves mingling with Teeside University students - but everyone needs to try it once in their life. Natalie and I go as much as we can (that is, when there is a theme that I actually know, Arctic Monkeys sing "chasing cars" right?). We went twice this term, once it was Motown theme, which NEVER fails to disappoint (even with high expectations from February) and the time after that it was 90's theme? - actually I forget what theme but it is incredible, and the cocktails are amazing!

Before the Motown theme - something was funny. 

We always get bombed. 

The second creeps outing - always getting creeped on

Outside Trev's - looking like right tourists - which we were.

The "rep social" that turned into six of us (admittedly the President was ill and had to go home) on a Durham Colleges Bar Crawl - a very interesting night which involved us all trying very strange college drinks (and wishing we hadn't), running from bar to bar before they all shut, not telling anyone we were from Queen's Campus and spending far too long in Castle bar, because, lets be honest it is one of the best, apart from Chad's - that one was very interesting too. With a London Tube map turned into a map of Durham - très clever. 

Halloween

Halloween. Now that was an interesting night - cue me finding a Winnie the Pooh bear in a charity shop and pulling it to pieces, the poor thing. However, it was a great find because it was also a bag! (winning) So I really did look like a walking zombie, or at least something demented. This photo still scares me. Sarah and Natalie looking beautiful, me looking like something off The Purge. 

The Parents vist. 

With the Grandma during her visit. 

This is always a happy time. They take you shopping to buy food, they pay for you to have dinner at nice places and you get to stay in a nice hotel (thanks to my perks from work). We stayed two nights at the Marriott in Durham and got thoroughly spoilt by my mother and grandmother. This photo was taken at Gadd's Town House in Durham - probably the best restaurant there, its incredible (save the pennies to go though! Its not an everyday thing!) 

Winter Ball. 

It was 9pm on a Saturday evening and myself and Natalie had got a Dine in for 2 for £10 from M&S and were watching X Factor when the call came that helped us make our decision to go to the Winter Ball. We were too late to go to the drinks reception but we quickly got changed and went to pre's and had a pretty good night in Middlesbrough and what I was told by Ben was an old cinema... still not sure about that, it was more like a pub. But it had a pool table, a huge dance area and one of those photo booths... which some people didn't realise the photos would be made public the next day. Cue a Masquerade Summer Ball. 

"This used to be an old Cinema" 

The last few nights and turning 20. 

It was time for our first house party. Who am I kidding... we live in a tiny three-bedroom flat. What you can see from this photo is pretty much the extent of the flat. We invited 50 people, only expecting 25 and that was plenty, because after people turned up who we had no idea who they were (Thanks to the flat door being left open) it got quite warm and cosy in there. We had a DJ, Red Bull practically on tap and two of us turning 20. We were celebrating the end of term, the end of teens and the end of the year. 

I cannot believe how quickly this term has gone, or the year. It feels like yesterday that I was writing my candidate number of my Biology A Level exam and now its 18 months later and I'm nearly half way through year two. 

It has been a year of the unexpected and if there is anything I have learnt from Uni is that everyone who I know has left is very jealous. So enjoy it while it lasts! I'm planning my second degree already... or not. 

Now it is two days to Christmas, I'm sat here after taking four days to write this post, watching Christmas films, supposed to be wrapping my Grandma's presents (bird food... and other things, obviously), getting ready for work and praying I don't get blown away when I leave the house. Where is the snow?!

Anyway, I hope however you spend the last week or so of 2013 is pretty amazing and I hope you have a fabulous 2014. 

I will say that at least twice more before the end of the year! But you can't hear it enough!

Love

RHS x 

The first house party

Lets just first get out the way how amazing College Colours was - Middlesbrough live, a massive dance floor, amazing lighting, average (vile) female dancers (but whatever, I can understand there was a budget), pyrotechnics and tunes that I havn't danced to since I was 16 - Amazing and all whilst I was completely sober - which is hilarious as you see everyone really really drunk and get to tell them "you're drunk!" and receive abuse back - timeless. You also don't have the hangover the next day.

On an even better note due to a week of running after freshers, dancing, no alcohol and drinking gallons of water I have lost weight (yahh) - "become a fresher rep bootcamp"- I am going to start it up. It works wonders

Ah so its now all over and the end of an amazing week would not be complete without a house party and there was one - seeing as most people had been drinking since 2pm everyone was slightly on the tipsy side shall we say - my friend and I hadn't had anything by the time we got to the party (ok one G&T for Natalie and a V&O pour moi (vodka orange - obvs) so we were quite sober-ish. Well after a week of not drinking, two glasses of wine soon went to our heads and the madness started...

We had to sit on my bed when we got home and jot down everything because it was all too hilar to forget. Now where to start - the last thing that will ever be relevant to me - I have a Maid of Honour - A little early, I know, especially seeing as marriage isn't on the cards - ever - and its very obvious who my MoH is, we both have the same talent. Anyway, we hugged it out after we agreed to be each other's so thats one less thing for me to stress about! 

The Tour

We were quickly taken on a tour by Andrew (thanks Andrew) which we were so impressed with because from a flat for 3 people to a 9 bedroom house we were slightly gobsmacked - no beds made, all windows open, don't even know if the floors were carpeted or not because we couldn't see the floor. However I was impressed by the size of the rooms and a very large stash of protein in one of the largest bedrooms and at least 3 guitars (Anthony's room if I remember correctly), shoes were very nicely lined up downstairs (has anyone checked in the brown leather pointy ones yet? I would), I was very impressed that I didn't see any posters of naked women on any walls - classy boys (we didn't enter the 2 girls rooms who lived there) and the kitchen was spotless - has anyone checked the freezer? #quack.

Things got messy 

sober as. 

I left my phone with several people whom I should not have left my phone - never a great idea leaving your phone with tipsy people - unless you want snapchats sending to everyone and having to play rock paper scissors to reduce the number of seconds a picture is sent for - I have lovely friends. I was approached by the DJ who was holding a turquoise tea pot and was drinking out of the spout - me thinking this was some sort of drugged cocktail concoction was mortified until I was told to try some and to my utmost horror it was tap water - and as Ben said it made for very smooth drinking. However it did remind of "drink me" in Alice in Wonderland and we all know what that film was based on.

The end

The night finished with a chat with a really sober, fresher rep, rugby playing medic who swore to be a "good boy" this year and pass - you pinky promised - the JCR Chairman saw (who was busy watching breaking bad - great show) and my MoH. I almost can't remember all of that conversation but I remember something was said about being "1/4 Congolese, 1/4 Ugandan, 1/4 Argentinean and 1/4 Egypt" (yes not Egyptian, just Egypt)- Sorry to disappoint! 

It was then time to leave - after shouting "KIT KAT CHIT CHAT" at my fellow Kit-Kat Chit-Chat partner (5 times too many) and leaving the Vice President reading a very, shall we say 'interesting' book about fulfilment - complete with pictures we hopped into a taxi - where I had the door opened by my rock paper scissors opponent - then we got hope Natalie ate porridge out of a mug with her hair tied up like a chav (she said it! not me) and wrote down everything that happened - and some of which is far too inappropriate for a blog - I kept this relatively clean. By the way, we found 3 rubber ducks and hid them...

sums up Freshers'

A quick note about Freshers'

A&E trip aside, it has been an incredible freshers' week (sick?), its so amazing to wear a yellow t-shirt and represent the college as a Welfare rep and I know the Fresher reps and Ticket reps will agree too (and the exec!). Its been just over a week of karaoke, acoustic nights, Hawaii, fairs, Matriculation, too many chants, too many stairs, long nights, early mornings, little food, no alcohol, sports bar crawls and painting by numbers, the lion king, Ku, Noah's Arc and about a million other things that I am honestly too tired to remember. Buts its been a great experience and I've made friends that I never thought I would.

ttfn

RHS x 

p.s. Mike. 

p.s.s. No ducks were hurt during the party