Yesterday was a fantastic day to say the least! This visit went so much better than their previous, mainly because we had more to do and I didn't conclude their visit by bursting into tears and begging them to take me home.
I did some food shopping at Tesco in the morning and whilst I was there, my nan texted me to say that they had just left the infamous McDonald's which lies about half an hour outside of Manchester. We always used to stop here for a drink when visiting my mum when she lived here. I threw some bare essentials into my basket and hurried towards the self-service checkout, the handles of the basket groaning and bending under the weight of my shopping.
I hurried back to my flat and after throwing things into their rightful cupboards, I pressed my face against my bedroom window, squinting against the low autumnal morning sun. I saw the car before it had even turned onto my road! I texted my nan to tell her I was coming and I literally sprinted down the hallway. Of course, the lift wasn't in quite the same rush as me so gladly took its time in arriving on the 11th floor.
Soon enough though, I was outside and running towards the carpark. Rounding the corner, I saw my nan and grandad emerging from the car. I rushed at them both and engulfed them in a huge hug. I hug friends at university but nothing's quite like hugging the people you've been hugging on a day-to-day basis for most of your life!
Back in my flat, I made them a drink each and I looked through the items they had brought from home for me, of which included three portions of vegetable korma (which even my grandad says is spicy!), a vacuum cleaner and oven gloves! I was extremely grateful for the oven gloves as getting the baking tray out of the oven has become a much dreaded task. Tea towels just don't seem to protect me from searing hot heat at all, for some strange reason!
Manchester is busy most days but Saturdays are the worst, so we decided it would be better to abandon the car in the car park behind my block of flats and take the train into town. Before we caught the train though, I gave my grandparents (well, it was more for my nan's benefit really) a mini tour of the university campus. It was a little bit awkward because it was an open day (Grandad and I reminisced about the open days we attended one long year ago where we got free biscuits) and people kept asking me if I was alright or if I needed directions. I lost count of the amount of times I had to explain that I was a student! Next time they visit though, I'm going to see if I can possibly take them for lunch at the SU Bar, which serves the most amazing paninis! I'm perhaps only making this claim though as they serve Quorn sausage which most pubs and bars don't.
The train was very busy so we had to stand. It didn't really matter though because Manchester Victoria is only two train stops away. Upon arriving, I walked them over to The Printworks where we had lunch in Lloyd's Bar. I had smoked haddock and mozzarella fish cakes which was absolutely delicious! My nan complained about the loud music though but out of the Wetherspoons' pubs, Lloyd's is the most notorious for loud music and drinking so perhaps we'll look for somewhere else to lunch next time!
We walked to the Arndale Centre afterwards and although we didn't buy much, I showed them the awesome food market which they were extremely impressed with. They were literally gobsmacked that I could buy 5 good-sized Granny Smith apples for a mere pound! They loved this fresh fruit and veg stall because it has such a huge, varied selection of fresh food for cheap prices! I think they were slightly envious of the fact that no stall such as this exists in Lincoln. My grandad particularly loved the fish market. There was everything from extremely generous tuna steaks to whole squids! Lincoln's fish market is...well, not exactly brilliant.
We wandered around town and I took them to my favourite haunt, Nexus Art Cafe! I had told my grandparents all about the popcorn and chocolate flake teas I had drank the day previous and they were quite curious. I think they were a bit dubious as we went down all the steps though as to begin with, it looks a bit ropey with it essentially being in a basement. It's so cute and quaint though with its little tables each mounted with a tiny tea light! Nan had a chocolate flake tea whilst my grandad stuck to his simple breakfast tea! I had a pineapple and banana milkshake which I consumed in about 2 minutes. I then took them to Affleck's Palace but with it being such a tightly compacted space inhabited by hoards of people, it became unbearably hot and humid so we left after about 5 minutes. We explored other shops though such as Urban Outfitters (which sell a Rubix Cube speaker that I might possibly purchase with my prospective birthday money) and All Saints.
I discovered some new shops and streets in our exploration of Manchester and in the Waterstones in Deansgate, my grandad bought me a book full of haikus! Here there was also an 'Absolute V for Vendetta' collection for £75. It's basically all 10 issues of the original comic along with some exclusive, never-before-seen art and prints! I had to tear myself away from it and mop up my drool!
We concluded our visit into town with a trip to an expensive patisserie where I had a sandwich, a muffin and a hot chocolate!
I'm going home next weekend! I CANNOT WAIT!!
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Money Management
My student loan made its nest in my bank account last Friday so I promised myself that starting the Monday just gone, I would become 'money conscious'; a phrase that most students would probably have to look up in a dictionary. I've heard horror stories about students blowing their £2000 in mere weeks and then having to live on Tesco Value pot noodles until the New Year.
My grandad calculated that I roughly have around £75 to live on every week, which is a damn sight more than I've ever had before. I have to bear in mind though that I also have to buy my food and other such essentials too, which I've never had to do before. Before, if I had £75, I would spend a majority of it on DVDs, CDs, clothes and other random, useless things.
There are two ways in which I could approach the management of my money and I'm giving one of them a trial run this week. If I kept the extra £5 in the bank every week, I could save up quite a nifty sum which I could ultimately use to treat myself with in a few months time or that I could use in case of emergencies. That would leave me with £10 a day. So far, this seems to be working well. However, it makes things like catching the train and going out for dinner a bit difficult as £10 is quite a tight budget to stick to. It also makes my weekly shopping trip difficult because that most definitely costs more than £10. However, if I have a good day, I'll have change left from my £10 which I can add onto the £10 of the following day. So far, I haven't managed to save enough change to warrant mentioning. Perhaps I just need self-control. I'm only in my third week of being independent and I sometimes find all the money I've been given overwhelming; we live in a consumer society where you can literally buy anything and I sometimes find myself buying food or other such things just because it's there and looks good. I don't actually need it.
I'm giving the second method of managing my money a try next week. Again, I keep that extra fiver in the bank but this time, I withdraw £20 a week for my food and essentials. That should be more than enough when I can buy cheap products from Tesco, Iceland, the Arndale Food Market and Bodycare. My weekly food shopping at Tesco comes to around £12 usually so that gives me £8 for everything else, including the launderette downstairs. Then I shall withdraw £10 for my traveling expenses...trains are £1.50 for a return into town (and that's without my rail card which is due to arrive soon) and even cheaper in the evenings, ranging between 25p and 75p, so in theory, this should be more than enough. This will then leave me with £40 for socialising and such. I won't be going out and doing something every night. There will be a couple of nights no doubt where I go to the SU bar or a couple of days where I have lunch out after one of my lectures or seminars. I'll probably also go to the cinema every couple of weeks or so too. Any change I have left over can go towards next week's fund or can go towards treating myself or my brother and sister.
Personally, I think the latter method will work best but I guess I'll know for sure in 2 week's time!
My grandad calculated that I roughly have around £75 to live on every week, which is a damn sight more than I've ever had before. I have to bear in mind though that I also have to buy my food and other such essentials too, which I've never had to do before. Before, if I had £75, I would spend a majority of it on DVDs, CDs, clothes and other random, useless things.
There are two ways in which I could approach the management of my money and I'm giving one of them a trial run this week. If I kept the extra £5 in the bank every week, I could save up quite a nifty sum which I could ultimately use to treat myself with in a few months time or that I could use in case of emergencies. That would leave me with £10 a day. So far, this seems to be working well. However, it makes things like catching the train and going out for dinner a bit difficult as £10 is quite a tight budget to stick to. It also makes my weekly shopping trip difficult because that most definitely costs more than £10. However, if I have a good day, I'll have change left from my £10 which I can add onto the £10 of the following day. So far, I haven't managed to save enough change to warrant mentioning. Perhaps I just need self-control. I'm only in my third week of being independent and I sometimes find all the money I've been given overwhelming; we live in a consumer society where you can literally buy anything and I sometimes find myself buying food or other such things just because it's there and looks good. I don't actually need it.
I'm giving the second method of managing my money a try next week. Again, I keep that extra fiver in the bank but this time, I withdraw £20 a week for my food and essentials. That should be more than enough when I can buy cheap products from Tesco, Iceland, the Arndale Food Market and Bodycare. My weekly food shopping at Tesco comes to around £12 usually so that gives me £8 for everything else, including the launderette downstairs. Then I shall withdraw £10 for my traveling expenses...trains are £1.50 for a return into town (and that's without my rail card which is due to arrive soon) and even cheaper in the evenings, ranging between 25p and 75p, so in theory, this should be more than enough. This will then leave me with £40 for socialising and such. I won't be going out and doing something every night. There will be a couple of nights no doubt where I go to the SU bar or a couple of days where I have lunch out after one of my lectures or seminars. I'll probably also go to the cinema every couple of weeks or so too. Any change I have left over can go towards next week's fund or can go towards treating myself or my brother and sister.
Personally, I think the latter method will work best but I guess I'll know for sure in 2 week's time!
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Three lectures in one day?! Way to throw me in at the deep end!
This title makes it sound a lot worse than it actually was. In fact, I have had a brilliant day!
My first lecture, entitled Narrative, Fiction and the Novel, was at 9am. It was held in this huge, ornately decorated lecture theater and was extremely interesting. Then again, as one of my friends said, I find everything interesting! It was basically an introductory lecture, explaining what things we are going to be studying during this first semester. We also looked at different genres of novel as well as the purpose of them. Some people found this boring but I'm a book worm so hung on to the lecturer's every word practically! Stupidly, I even wrote 3 pages of notes. I always worry that the one thing I don't write down will be the one thing I need at a later date! I know I don't need to write so much though and it's something I'm seriously going to have to work on. It caused so many problems at A Level! We'd be given sheets and hand outs to take notes from and I'd return the next day with about 10 pages of notes after spending three hours writing them! I don't really have the time for this at university.
We had a three hour gap between our first and second lecture during which we sat in the SU and had lunch before having a funny, random hour-long chat at my friend's house, which is on campus. I felt like I got to know the people I was with so much better and we all discovered that we have quite a lot in common!
Our second lecture was my favourite simply because we actually did some work. It was entitled Intro to Creative Writing 1 and for the first few weeks, we will be studying poetry, which is my favourite form of creative writing! We're looking at haikus this week. They're not as dull as I initially thought them to be. I kept wondering how you could fit any emotion or meaning into a three line poem. I discovered though that this isn't the purpose of this form of poetry. The purpose is to merely capture a small yet significant moment in time; the literary equivalent of a photograph. They're usually devoid of emotion because it is up to the reader to decide how the words make them feel. I found some of them quite amusing! Especially the one about the waitress simply smearing dirt around a table rather than cleaning.
Afterwards, Emma, Sinead, Ashleigh and I went to the Old Pint Pot (which is a lovely little pub by the river) where we bought much-needed drinks. We finally decided to do the works and had dinner too! I had a spicy mixed-bean chilli with nachos and rice! All for under a fiver too!
A good first day was had by all!
My first lecture, entitled Narrative, Fiction and the Novel, was at 9am. It was held in this huge, ornately decorated lecture theater and was extremely interesting. Then again, as one of my friends said, I find everything interesting! It was basically an introductory lecture, explaining what things we are going to be studying during this first semester. We also looked at different genres of novel as well as the purpose of them. Some people found this boring but I'm a book worm so hung on to the lecturer's every word practically! Stupidly, I even wrote 3 pages of notes. I always worry that the one thing I don't write down will be the one thing I need at a later date! I know I don't need to write so much though and it's something I'm seriously going to have to work on. It caused so many problems at A Level! We'd be given sheets and hand outs to take notes from and I'd return the next day with about 10 pages of notes after spending three hours writing them! I don't really have the time for this at university.
We had a three hour gap between our first and second lecture during which we sat in the SU and had lunch before having a funny, random hour-long chat at my friend's house, which is on campus. I felt like I got to know the people I was with so much better and we all discovered that we have quite a lot in common!
Our second lecture was my favourite simply because we actually did some work. It was entitled Intro to Creative Writing 1 and for the first few weeks, we will be studying poetry, which is my favourite form of creative writing! We're looking at haikus this week. They're not as dull as I initially thought them to be. I kept wondering how you could fit any emotion or meaning into a three line poem. I discovered though that this isn't the purpose of this form of poetry. The purpose is to merely capture a small yet significant moment in time; the literary equivalent of a photograph. They're usually devoid of emotion because it is up to the reader to decide how the words make them feel. I found some of them quite amusing! Especially the one about the waitress simply smearing dirt around a table rather than cleaning.
Afterwards, Emma, Sinead, Ashleigh and I went to the Old Pint Pot (which is a lovely little pub by the river) where we bought much-needed drinks. We finally decided to do the works and had dinner too! I had a spicy mixed-bean chilli with nachos and rice! All for under a fiver too!
A good first day was had by all!
Monday, 26 September 2011
Homesickness
The homesickness was horrible at first. I'd look out of my bedroom window, across the alien landscape of Manchester, and panic would quicken my heart until its beat was like the wings of a hummingbird. Or I'd come back to my flat after a busy day and I would sit on my little chair and cry as loneliness took me into its hard, cold embrace. Sometimes I'd even start crying as soon as I awoke from my dreams of home. The familiar sounds and smells of home were absent; there was no grandfather clock chiming on the hour, there was no smelly cat litter tray that needed cleaning out. It was all the small, seemingly trivial, things that I missed. Believe me though, nothing is trivial.
I'm still homesick now. I probably will be for quite a long time. I've learned to cope with it though. We live in an amazing world which is full of equally amazing technology. My cousin told me that when she was at university, back in the good ol' nineties, they had to use a pay phone to call home and email wasn't as easy as it is today because the internet was painfully slow and ran on a dial-up connection. Fast forward to the present, however, a majority of people have a mobile phone in their possession. Phone network companies provide amazing text and call deals too; I have unlimited texts, unlimited internet and 300 minutes a month. My family correspond with me through all of these outlets so I can quite literally carry my family around in my pocket or my bag. For my friends, who are more technologically advanced, there's things such as Skype, Facebook and Windows Live Messanger to communicate through. Everyone whom I know and love is only a click away and this thought eases the homesickness.
Lincoln's only two and a half hours away from where I am now so I can quite easily get a train home. I have to count myself lucky really. Some people I've talked to come from far flung places such as Romania and India! I can't really complain when my grandparents drive across to see me every couple of weeks, their car laden down with provisions and ready-cooked meals for my freezer! Sheffield, where my mum lives with my brother and sister, is only an hour away. In fact, it's probably closer to Manchester than it is to Lincoln. My mum lives near the Penines and I can see these from my bedroom window. When I look out, I sometimes wave in that general direction, jokingly, and I suddenly don't seem so far away from everyone. If she can see the sights I see, then we are still connected somehow. I guess I can take that approach with anything though. I will look at the sky tonight and I shall see the moon in all its brilliant, glowing white glory. My grandparents shall look at the sky tonight and see exactly what I see. The moon will look upon us all and in a really weird, mystical way, this connects us. I'm perhaps over thinking things though. I don't care. It makes me feel better!
Anyway, yesterday, my mum drove across to see me, along with Mani and Mia! She used to live in Manchester so she was eager to see how things such as the Arndale Center have changed. It was nice to be out and about with someone who knew exactly where they were going, unlike me. As a student though, she didn't have a car so yesterday was basically her first time driving around Manchester. Let's just say it was a bit of a nightmare and leave it at that!
Once we'd parked up though, we walked to Piccadilly and found ourselves in Bella Italia. Both my mum and I ended up having a three course meal. I started off by having two grilled mushrooms dressed in melted cheese, followed by pasta in a rich tomato sauce with grilled aubergines. Mani and Mia's childrens' meals included a ice cream after the main course (which was fish fingers. They're fussy eaters!). My mum and I thought it would be quite depressing to simply watch them eat a dessert so we thought we'd join in and have a dessert ourselves! We both have a delicious ice cream sundae, with honeycomb, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream and popping candy and drizzled in luxurious, dark chocolate sauce. To hell with calorie counting for once, that sundae was so flippin' good!
The three of them were eager to see my flat and upon arriving, Mani and Mia produced some classic one liners that had me chuckling well after they had gone. Mia looked up at the building after we had pulled into the car park and announced "That's a big university!" and Mani, upon entering the building, looked around the foyer eagerly and told us "I've never been in a real life flat before!". Even my mum was impressed, remarking on the presence of vending machines (which are too expensive to use!).
Here are some lovely photos from yesterday!
I'm still homesick now. I probably will be for quite a long time. I've learned to cope with it though. We live in an amazing world which is full of equally amazing technology. My cousin told me that when she was at university, back in the good ol' nineties, they had to use a pay phone to call home and email wasn't as easy as it is today because the internet was painfully slow and ran on a dial-up connection. Fast forward to the present, however, a majority of people have a mobile phone in their possession. Phone network companies provide amazing text and call deals too; I have unlimited texts, unlimited internet and 300 minutes a month. My family correspond with me through all of these outlets so I can quite literally carry my family around in my pocket or my bag. For my friends, who are more technologically advanced, there's things such as Skype, Facebook and Windows Live Messanger to communicate through. Everyone whom I know and love is only a click away and this thought eases the homesickness.
Lincoln's only two and a half hours away from where I am now so I can quite easily get a train home. I have to count myself lucky really. Some people I've talked to come from far flung places such as Romania and India! I can't really complain when my grandparents drive across to see me every couple of weeks, their car laden down with provisions and ready-cooked meals for my freezer! Sheffield, where my mum lives with my brother and sister, is only an hour away. In fact, it's probably closer to Manchester than it is to Lincoln. My mum lives near the Penines and I can see these from my bedroom window. When I look out, I sometimes wave in that general direction, jokingly, and I suddenly don't seem so far away from everyone. If she can see the sights I see, then we are still connected somehow. I guess I can take that approach with anything though. I will look at the sky tonight and I shall see the moon in all its brilliant, glowing white glory. My grandparents shall look at the sky tonight and see exactly what I see. The moon will look upon us all and in a really weird, mystical way, this connects us. I'm perhaps over thinking things though. I don't care. It makes me feel better!
Anyway, yesterday, my mum drove across to see me, along with Mani and Mia! She used to live in Manchester so she was eager to see how things such as the Arndale Center have changed. It was nice to be out and about with someone who knew exactly where they were going, unlike me. As a student though, she didn't have a car so yesterday was basically her first time driving around Manchester. Let's just say it was a bit of a nightmare and leave it at that!
Once we'd parked up though, we walked to Piccadilly and found ourselves in Bella Italia. Both my mum and I ended up having a three course meal. I started off by having two grilled mushrooms dressed in melted cheese, followed by pasta in a rich tomato sauce with grilled aubergines. Mani and Mia's childrens' meals included a ice cream after the main course (which was fish fingers. They're fussy eaters!). My mum and I thought it would be quite depressing to simply watch them eat a dessert so we thought we'd join in and have a dessert ourselves! We both have a delicious ice cream sundae, with honeycomb, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream and popping candy and drizzled in luxurious, dark chocolate sauce. To hell with calorie counting for once, that sundae was so flippin' good!
The three of them were eager to see my flat and upon arriving, Mani and Mia produced some classic one liners that had me chuckling well after they had gone. Mia looked up at the building after we had pulled into the car park and announced "That's a big university!" and Mani, upon entering the building, looked around the foyer eagerly and told us "I've never been in a real life flat before!". Even my mum was impressed, remarking on the presence of vending machines (which are too expensive to use!).
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Student grub
I have many recipe books. Approximately 75% of these, however, are specifically student recipe books. Most older people are under the impression that we young 'uns can't cook so feel the need to churn out book after book. 'Student Grub', 'Vegetarian nosh 4 students' and 'The Vegetarian Student Cookbook' (you may have guessed that I'm a vegetarian!) are but a few in my possession.
Whilst I'm grateful to the thoughtful people who purchased these books on my behalf (for I have used them), I have something in my possession that is far better than a mere recipe book...
...I have the most domesticated man in existence for a grandfather. He cooks, he cleans, he acts as my personal chauffeur and he's a pretty damn fine cook too. Over the past two years, he has been teaching me simple yet scrumptious recipes in preparation for my university life away from home.
Ok, ok, so I admit that I have lived out of cans and ate out at fancy restaurants since arriving here two weeks ago but tonight, I put my new found skills to the test. I cooked a stir fry! It wasn't just any stir fry either. It was a mushroom stir fry with Quorn pieces and peanut sauce served with basmati rice (which wasn't 'Boil in the bag'!). I was originally going to cook a pasta bake but whilst doing my weekly shopping, I came across a bag of stir fry mix that had been reduced to 45p. Bargain!
This success dulls the painful memory of when I made the pan boil over whilst poaching an egg...in front of two of my flatmates.
Voila! Here's one I made earlier, as they say on TV. It looked much tastier in reality. The flash on my camera doesn't do anyone or anything any favours!
Whilst I'm grateful to the thoughtful people who purchased these books on my behalf (for I have used them), I have something in my possession that is far better than a mere recipe book...
...I have the most domesticated man in existence for a grandfather. He cooks, he cleans, he acts as my personal chauffeur and he's a pretty damn fine cook too. Over the past two years, he has been teaching me simple yet scrumptious recipes in preparation for my university life away from home.
Ok, ok, so I admit that I have lived out of cans and ate out at fancy restaurants since arriving here two weeks ago but tonight, I put my new found skills to the test. I cooked a stir fry! It wasn't just any stir fry either. It was a mushroom stir fry with Quorn pieces and peanut sauce served with basmati rice (which wasn't 'Boil in the bag'!). I was originally going to cook a pasta bake but whilst doing my weekly shopping, I came across a bag of stir fry mix that had been reduced to 45p. Bargain!
This success dulls the painful memory of when I made the pan boil over whilst poaching an egg...in front of two of my flatmates.
Voila! Here's one I made earlier, as they say on TV. It looked much tastier in reality. The flash on my camera doesn't do anyone or anything any favours!
The flying of the nest
Two weeks ago (well, 12 days to be precise), I "flew the nest" so to speak. My grandfather crammed the car full of the cardboard boxes in which my life was contained and drove me to Salford, which is in Greater Manchester. The journey was agonising; as the hours passed and the distance between me and my beloved Lincoln grew, my mouth grew drier and the lump in my throat bigger. My heart was thumping in my chest so hard that I thought I might pass out. All too soon, signs were whizzing past, welcoming us to Manchester and tears pricked my eyes.
Within minutes, my home from home loomed over us. A fourteen-story, ugly, grey eyesore. It couldn't have been more different to the little bungalow I share with my grandparents, which, I've been told, looks like it belongs in a Christmas snow globe.
I tried to remain composed when the woman at reception handed me the keys to my flat and bedroom. I took them from her, my hand shaking slightly. I felt like screaming "Take me away from this horrible place! I made a mistake! I don't want to come to university! I want to live with you, Grandad, until I'm 40! Take me home noooooowwww!"
My flat is on the eleventh floor. The lifts are prehistoric contraptions. These two factors combined made the moving in process extremely slow. Luckily, we found a discarded shopping cart in the hallway so we took this out to the car and loaded it to the brim with my belongings. Unfortunately, it was a very windy day. It was the day that Hurricane Katia was caressing the UK with her tail. This made things very difficult; I was blinded by my hair whipping back and forth over my face, my scarf danced in the air like a snake, almost throttling me and the wind forced the cart in completely the opposite direction to which I was attempting to push it.
Slow lifts, bad weather...surely this was an omen? Surely this meant that moving here was a mistake? My grandfather isn't as superstitious as me and refused to take me home. He kept saying "You'll be fine. It's just a new stage of your life. You'll get used to it."
When I saw my room for this first time, I sobbed until my body ached. I don't care if that sounds pathetic. It bore no resemblance to my bedroom at home. Its walls were covered in cheap, cream paint and the bed looked smaller than my three year old sister's. Along with its single window looking out at the block of flats opposite, I felt sure that this would be Hell on earth.
I walked my grandparents to the car, hot relentless tears pouring down my face. My grandmother hugged me and whispered "Take of yourself" into my ear. My grandfather jumped into the car, seemingly not wanting to say goodbye. My heart sank. He soon reemerged though, clutching a big brown envelope. With a hug, he handed me this envelope. I held it against me as they drove away, almost as though it was my only connection with them. I've lived with my grandparents for my most of my life and I'm extremely close to them. It's almost as though a string ties my heart to theirs and the further into the distance the car went, the more taut this string became. I raced up to my room and hurriedly grabbed my photos and covered my wardrobe in them, refusing to let this string snap. No matter where in the world I may be, I will always love my grandparents unconditionally and when I look at these photos, this imaginary string slackens and they suddenly don't seem so far away.
I sat down on my bed and tore open the envelope. Inside, there were two things: a folded piece of paper and smaller envelope. I unfolded the paper and my tears ceased almost immediately. It was a letter from my grandfather, telling me how proud he and my grandmother were of me and how I'll always have a home with them as long as I want and need it. My grandad isn't a sentimental sort of man so this letter meant more to me than words can describe. In the other envelope, there was £100 for "pubbing, clubbing and society joining" and a Caffe Nero loyalty card with all six of its stamps. Another piece of paper instructed me to get the biggest drink I could because it was free!
So, I'm now officially an independent woman, fending for myself. This should be fun!
Within minutes, my home from home loomed over us. A fourteen-story, ugly, grey eyesore. It couldn't have been more different to the little bungalow I share with my grandparents, which, I've been told, looks like it belongs in a Christmas snow globe.
I tried to remain composed when the woman at reception handed me the keys to my flat and bedroom. I took them from her, my hand shaking slightly. I felt like screaming "Take me away from this horrible place! I made a mistake! I don't want to come to university! I want to live with you, Grandad, until I'm 40! Take me home noooooowwww!"
My flat is on the eleventh floor. The lifts are prehistoric contraptions. These two factors combined made the moving in process extremely slow. Luckily, we found a discarded shopping cart in the hallway so we took this out to the car and loaded it to the brim with my belongings. Unfortunately, it was a very windy day. It was the day that Hurricane Katia was caressing the UK with her tail. This made things very difficult; I was blinded by my hair whipping back and forth over my face, my scarf danced in the air like a snake, almost throttling me and the wind forced the cart in completely the opposite direction to which I was attempting to push it.
Slow lifts, bad weather...surely this was an omen? Surely this meant that moving here was a mistake? My grandfather isn't as superstitious as me and refused to take me home. He kept saying "You'll be fine. It's just a new stage of your life. You'll get used to it."
When I saw my room for this first time, I sobbed until my body ached. I don't care if that sounds pathetic. It bore no resemblance to my bedroom at home. Its walls were covered in cheap, cream paint and the bed looked smaller than my three year old sister's. Along with its single window looking out at the block of flats opposite, I felt sure that this would be Hell on earth.
I walked my grandparents to the car, hot relentless tears pouring down my face. My grandmother hugged me and whispered "Take of yourself" into my ear. My grandfather jumped into the car, seemingly not wanting to say goodbye. My heart sank. He soon reemerged though, clutching a big brown envelope. With a hug, he handed me this envelope. I held it against me as they drove away, almost as though it was my only connection with them. I've lived with my grandparents for my most of my life and I'm extremely close to them. It's almost as though a string ties my heart to theirs and the further into the distance the car went, the more taut this string became. I raced up to my room and hurriedly grabbed my photos and covered my wardrobe in them, refusing to let this string snap. No matter where in the world I may be, I will always love my grandparents unconditionally and when I look at these photos, this imaginary string slackens and they suddenly don't seem so far away.
I sat down on my bed and tore open the envelope. Inside, there were two things: a folded piece of paper and smaller envelope. I unfolded the paper and my tears ceased almost immediately. It was a letter from my grandfather, telling me how proud he and my grandmother were of me and how I'll always have a home with them as long as I want and need it. My grandad isn't a sentimental sort of man so this letter meant more to me than words can describe. In the other envelope, there was £100 for "pubbing, clubbing and society joining" and a Caffe Nero loyalty card with all six of its stamps. Another piece of paper instructed me to get the biggest drink I could because it was free!
So, I'm now officially an independent woman, fending for myself. This should be fun!
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