I GOT A JOB

Woop! TJ Hughes have given me a job! I am working an 8 hour contract, which gets me around £40 a week, so yeah. Happy Jo-Jo xD

Travelling Abroad

At some point, before I settle down or have to be too boring, I would like to travel abroad, especially around Europe. I would go on the ERASMUS scheme at university, where you spend your second year in a partner university (Copenhagen would have been my favourite choice). However, because I want (read: NEED) a placement year in a financial institution to help my job prospects.

It's sad that I've had to give up so much just to work towards a job I have a very slim chance of getting. I wanted to study palaeontology (http://motherboard.vice.com/en_au/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-first-year-paleontology-phd-student - this gave me serious FOMO) and travel abroad - better that, study palaeontology in a foreign university, but I can't, because I have to spend money to get a better chance at earning the money I need to do that. But, if I'm earning money I have no time to do that stuff, to live my life. It's all very unsatisfying. There's got to be more than this.

To counter this, I have decided to learn a language, notably Dutch on Duolingo. Not only do I really want to travel but my third favourite band, Orange Skyline (first place is The Heartbreaks, second place is the now defunct This Modern Youth) tweet and do their press releases and status updates in Dutch as they are from Groningen (I think. I'm sure it's not German). So it's not the worst reason to learn a language, the worst I find learning French to increase your chances of getting laid, but it's not the best.

I'm also using my £2 Challenge tin to maybe help fund a summer in Europe one year. The £2 Challenge is where you collect £2 coins, because it's a decent denomination - 5 coins is £10, so it's easy to build a large sum.

 

 

My £2 Challenge tin is an old truffle box which fits those coins perfectly - I now have 10 £2 coins, well on my way to the however-much-it-costs trip around Europe.

So...

I went out to buy shoes, a rucksack and Christmas presents the other day

Lexi & I lookin' super fly xD

 

I found this natty hat in Claires

 

I went out to get shoes!!

Oh yeah :D

So this happened

 

 

I'm sure my nose isn't that wonky

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT!! CHRISTMAS JUMPERS BABY!

 

I got this from the Village Store on my GeniUS card for £12

Crochet Gloves

It's started to get chilly, so I thought I'd make myself a pair of gloves. Brief searching on the internet did not bring up any patterns that I liked, so I've decided to make my own. I quite liked the look of Hopeful Honey's Puff Stitch Fingerless Gloves (http://www.hopefulhoney.com/2012/04/perfect-solutions.html) so I thought I'd do something that looks kinda like that. The first hill I reached was that I only had DK wool, and I also had no buttons. I started making these gloves and felt the bobble pattern was too holey for a British winter, so I scrapped that design. Instead I decided to make a Crochet Mag pattern for fingerless gloves that I have made before.

I have a Christmas Santa Hat (of my own design) and as it is getting colder round here I chose to do my fingerless gloves in dark red and white.

I don't know why this is upside down, but roll with it

 

By the end I hope these will be warm and won't fall apart like the first pair I ever made did :P

The Noodle Report:- Pot Noodle Original Curry

The Noodle Report

Pot Noodle - Original Curry

 

This was fairly simple to make - remove lid, remove sachet of sauce (sachet is an overstatement, it was about the size and volume of a postage stamp) and add water to the line. That was where it got tricky. There were two lines to start off with, and compounded to this befuddlement was the fact that the water was being absorbed quite quickly, leading me to assume that I had to keep pouring water until the water level stopped going down. This seemed to work, however, and it didn't smell half bad. The taste though, was curious. Then I realised...

 

 

IT WAS BRITISH CURRY

 

 

 

That's right, not Indian curry, not even Indian takeaway curry, but straight-from-the-pot school-dinner 'curry' flavour. I was not expecting that! There were also peas - PEAS - who puts peas in curry? Peas are disgusting! I had to flick them out before I could pour the water in. Still, I was starving and had a football match instead of dinner time so I ate as much as I could. There was a decent amount of noodles as well, but eventually I found the taste to be too sweet to eat with noodles.

Overall Score :- 3/10 (PEAS!!)

Alton Towers

On October 30th I went to Alton Towers with EconSoc, because the members of my football team were going and it would be nice to see them. It was great, I fully enjoyed it and would go again, though at £30 I think I'll have to save up for it.

Me and my buddy

This ride was the Sonic Pinball. We went on this one first (queue time 40 mins) because it looked like a good warm-up rollercoaster, something which was close to the kids area but also close to the adults. And jesus was it fast. It didn't look it from the ground, but my eyes were pressed into my head the whole way round

 This was Oblivion. I didn't go on this one, the drop looked terrifying

This was Air. It was the first big ride I'd been on that day and it was excellent. The different with this one, is when you sat in your seat, it tilted forward, so you were on your front. I had to take my glasses off for this one, so I couldn't see anything, but the girl next to me was screaming and screaming. The photo after showed her absolutely terrified and me grinning like a dummy because I had absolutely no idea what was going on. It was dark, I didn't have my glasses, so all I could see was black and all I could feel was the wind. So when the girl next to me (I didn't know her name, we just partnered) started screaming I was like 'what's going on'. It was great, I would definitely recommend this ride.

 

I didn't get any pictures of the next ride, Nemesis, because it was all well hidden, and in most places underground. This was the fastest rollercoaster i went on that day, and it was great. Again, I didn't have my glasses, so all I was experiencing was random flashes of light and the screaming of my fellow passengers. Cue me smiling like a muggins the whole way through. There was a loop in this ride, but I wasn't aware how dizzy I was until I got off, and then I looked like a drunk pirate on the poopdeck in a storm.

Someone pooped in my pumpkin

Films with the girls

Last night, I asked the girls in my flat if they wanted to come into my room to watch a film on my new monitor. It sounds creepier written down but I assure you I didn't sound creepy. Kate and Lexi joined me and we decided to watch Hunger Games - Catching Fire, which on the whole was quite a good film. I felt there was too much kissing and not enough 'DOWN WITH THE MAN RAAAAARRGHH'

Here is the list of films that Lexi and Kate, and myself have decided to watch. Most of these are on Netflix, the ones that are starred are not

• The Hobbit
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Safe Haven
• Skyfall
  Forrest Gump
• I am Number 4
• Defiance
  Brave
  The Last Song
• Angels & Demons
• The Da Vinci Cpde
  Snatch
• Princess Diaries
• Pirates of the Caribbean (all 4)
• Other Guys
• Snitch
• Cowboys vs Aliens
• The Expendables
• Hancock
• Stepbrothers
  Rango
  Hoodwinked
• Meet the Fockers
  Mean Girls
• Freaky Friday
• School of Rock
• Chocolat
  Groundhog Day *
• Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs
• Ghostbusters 1 + 2 **
• Spaceballs
  Frozen Planet
• The Last Nazis
• Avengers Assemble
• Tangled

Economics Test

Today I sat my ECN105 Economic Analysis and Policy test. Yeah I had no idea what I was doing, there was a question on expansionary fiscal policy which I hopelessly messed up but I have the potential to get 2 marks from it (It's out of 50).

In other news, Costas appears to have stopped doing it's hazelnut hot chocolate, for shame. And if they still do it, it was almost impossible to read the board, I swear they've made it tinier - there was just  a line of people squinting at the board so I know it's not just me.

And, check these out! Don't they look awesome? they're about twice the price of noodles, but about 5 times the weight so it costs in

It was very autumnal today, utterly beautiful and not quite cold enough that I would need my coat

 Weston Park when I first arrived

Weston Park now

 

Rollo

This is Rollo, the cat this blog is named after;

 He likes lying around on his back...

 

 ...and sitting in things...

 

 ...and sleeping on sofas...

 

 ...and various woollen items....

 

 ...and sleeping on various uncomfortable-looking items...

 

 ...he doesn't appear too fond of my sister picking him up...

 

... but he doesn't appear to mind being in odd positions next to my sisters...

 

 ...and I do miss him now I'm in uni

The Noodle Report:- Naked Noodle Teriyaki

The Noodle Report

Naked Noodle Teriyaki

I could have gone for the Sunday Roast option at the Edge canteen, but that would have involved going outside. I had this instead.

I've had Naked Noodle noodles before, my favourite is the Laksa flavour (which is actuALLY MILD BLUE DRAGON TAKE NOTE) so the preparation was relatively simple - pour in sachet and noodles, add the water, leave until you remember it about 5 minutes later and consume.

The sauce was quite sweet, possibly made more so by the presence of carrot and leek. Side note - I have just spilt milk down my jumper. Don't drink and blog kids. I also felt I needed to eat more, so I made myself some couscous using espresso cups as measures

Overall Score: 7/10

Brave

Recently my dad brought me up a bigger monitor to work on/look at. The best way to test it out, what with there being a test on Monday, was to go on Netflix and watch a film. I'd watched Spaceballs on Saturday (YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT IT'S GREAT) and tonight I decided to watch Brave. You'll probably note that I am writing this on Monday despite talking about events that happened on Sunday. Roll with it.

My new monitor in comparison to the previous size

 

 

But anyway, Brave was great, I really enjoyed it. It's about a Scottish princess who wants her independence yet her parents' attempts to marry her off fail. Primarily because Merida (the princess) either cheats or turns various members of family into bears, which is totally what you or I would do in that situation. Oh, did I mention? SPOILERS. The movie, despite being for kids, even managed to make me jump (I'm not a wuss, promise) and I cried with laughter so many times it would definitely be a must-watch-again film. Maybe I should call the films I want to watch again MWAs

 

The bigger monitor is brighter than my Surface, which kind of gave me a little bit of a headache at first but I soon got used to it. Seeing as Netflix have updated their film section I can see my productivity going straight down xD

Halloween

Halloween

I should have gone out last night, to 'ScaryTarts', which was the Halloween themed 'PopTarts' (a club night playinmg cheesy 90s and 00s stuff at the Students Union). I didn't go, because i felt so exhausted and tense, and I think this is because I went to the G Block halloween party the night before on a spur of the moment. My side was also hit with a random stabbing pain which felt like it was hitting my rightt hip, and the hypochondriac within was instantly panicking about an exploding appendix.

 

Kate told me after that I hadn't missed much though - it being Halloween, the SU was more akin to a rugby scrum than a nice enjoyable evening. Still, there will be other nights out. You have to bounce before you can fly and all that :)

 

 

The Noodle Review:- Blue Dragon Thai Red Curry

Is there a limit to the length of title? I have no idea how it will look until I publish it. Oh well.

The Noodle Review

Blue Dragon Thai Red Curry

I really need to learn how to crop these damn photos

 

 

Ok, strictly this isn't from the Village Shop/Store/Whatever I'm calling it now. This is from the 'war chest' that my parents bought me when I came up to Sheffield. At the time I think it was on offer in Tesco, at £1, though I don't know how much it is now.

 

Right, onto the product - It's well packaged, like it looks cool. It is also in the 'mild' range of heat, which I like. I enjoy the taste of spicy food but not necessarily the heat of it. There were chili flakes in the pack, cunningly labelled 'vegetables' (you may be correct Blue Dragon but you're not fooling me!), but I left those out. There was quite a large amount of powder in the sauce sachet but there was also a large amount of noodles which is good.

  The cooking instructions were fairly simple, the only bugbear was that the 'fill line' was not visible on the inside of the cup (where the water is poured). Also, when the time came to stir it, I found that the sauce was a lot thicker than I anticipated, and the top half of the noodle cake (whatever it's called) was still dry. So I turned it over and waited for another 2 1/2 minutes for it to cook. Still bad news - the noodle cake was now a slightly damp noodle cake. Breaking apart the noodles, I let them rest for a minute or two as they soaked up the gingery viscose goo that passed as a sauce, and had a taste.

  Well, it started off really nice - I could definitely taste the ginger and coriander, but felt it was a bit sweet. And then the burn started. It hit the back of my throat in a way that suggested I had swallowed incorrectly - yet the next gulp was exactly the same. I honestly felt I could breathe fire, though whether this was just because I was expecting 'mild' and not any spice at all is a factor I must consider. Sam, who takes Medicine, told me to stop being a wuss. Admittedly, when the pain had died back a bit it was actually quite nice, but by then I'd consigned myself to a meal of bagels.

 

Overall score - 6/10

 

 

 

Student Life So Far

I have absolutely no idea how to blog. How do I even use this?

So, I have now been in Sheffield as a first-year BSc Economics student for one month and ten days, having arrived on September 22nd. It has certainly been interesting. the experience is very much akin to being put in a tumble-drier, and as you're rotating, someone is standing on the outside with a sign saying 'JOBS'. There have been ups and downs but it is worth pointing out that each 'down' is never so bad as the one before.

I'm starting to feel more confident with my flatmates and the whole university thing in general, though I still feel like I need to find some fellow introverts so that various social boundaries like drinking til you can't stand and dancing can be overcome.

I live in Stephenson Hall. It's a catered accommodation with 10 girls, and I'm quite enjoying it. There don't appear to be any overt fault lines, and they're all really nice to me. I'm not sure why, I don't feel like I deserve it.

Being catered means I have to use a GeniUS card. I get £45 a week to spend at the Village Shop (the student go-to in Endcliffe Village), The Edge Bar, and the Edge Cafe and Canteen. Any surplus at the end of the week is carried over, though all balances are wiped at the end of term. I'm running surplus, to the despair of my parents. I have decided to buy and review food I can get with it. This will mainly be instant noodle type meals though as they are more likely to keep

 This is the view from my window

 

This is our kitchen. The sign has since been removed :P

 

Me chilling in Crookes Valley Park

aha