Charlotte's blog

It seems like the new bloggers have been selected. Those of you who got it, WELL DONE! Looking forward to reading what you have to say

I’m not sure how long it’s been since my last posts, two weeks? A week and a half? It’s been very busy since, including long days of lectures, trying to maintain housekeeping and get some fencing done. The fencing club has been incredibly busy this year, with a great number of freshers, both experienced and novices. It’s great fun, but it means the time you get on piste is limited. Then again, it’s very much a first world problem. And when the Women’s first (which I’m now team captain of) went to Cambridge over the weekend, we still managed to do as well as last year (4/4 victories) and our confidence remains high. Life is, as said, very very busy but still lots of fun. As soon as Halloween is over, I’ll start promoting the Christmas Dinner I’m hosting for EESoc and get going on all the internship applications that have to be written.

And with this, I say farewell to this blog to leave space for your new student representatives. Thank you all for reading!

That went fast. I forgot how quickly time passes when uni starts! Freshers week seemed to be over in 30 seconds, including welcoming the Freshers in EEE/ISE with the Buddy’s lunch, recruiting new members for the fencing club, hosting try-outs for those who want to fence for the teams, getting installed in my new flat and preparing the upcoming year. Lectures started on Monday with introductions generally being held short and new content coming in more or less directly. I’m still trying to remind myself of all the things I have to do to keep up with the content as well as juggle the committee positions I hold. Luckily, I spent the weekend in Barcelona, trying to do as little as possible to just charge the batteries before it all kicked in. It was more than welcome, in particular the weather despite the fact that it made me look like a properly cooked lobster at the end of it (lying on the beach without sun protector and Scandinavian skin isn’t that smart I discovered).

As some of you might have seen on the Imperial home page, they’re recruiting new bloggers! Anyone applying? I remember I read Chris Fonseka’s blog before I came, planned to apply, forgot the date and was reminded by him during a course pub crawl the day before. So for those of you intending to apply, last day is this Monday (the 17th)!!! And of course, GOOD LUCK!

The last days before term. The weather is amazing, and I’m biking along the smaller roads between Hammersmith and college. Sunglasses on, summer dress and wind waving in the mild summer breeze. I have some stuff to do, which I know I’ll do more sufficiently if I’m sitting in college, but I would so much prefer staying outside, biking in Hyde Park, eating ice cream and/or drinking Pimms.

I have decided not to continue blogging this year. I don’t think I’ve been updating enough for the past year (in my liking), and knowing my workload and society commitment will increase this year I can see the number of post decreasing even further. I’ll try to write a few thoughts before the new bloggers turn up (DON’T FORGET TO APPLY!!!), but first I have to prepare for meeting the Freshers.

Oh look, my blog! This should have been updated ages ago, but I kept lacking inspiration, and there were other things to spend my summer time on. So what have I’ve actually been up to, that has stopped me from writing down small words to compose sentences? I think two words sum it up quite nice: work+tourism.

Let’s start with the work then. I’ve had an internship at a eCommerce company called 20:20 Technology, mainly working with project management but also given a hand with some testing. It’s been very interesting, and I’ve learnt a lot. I tried putting words on what I’ve actually learnt while on my way home the other day, but that might be a project of a larger scale than half an hour tube journey. Getting back to uni soon feels good, but it’ll also be weird leaving this place at the same time.

Then, tourism! I didn’t have the time to do very many touristy stuff during the year, nor was it that interesting at the time. Although, I’ve now been to London Zoo, Sea Life and Madame Tussauds. I’ve visited SOHO from a tourist perspective and tried to walk around in London more to get to know my way around. Maybe I haven’t taken as many photo as I ambitiously planned, but hey.

It’s been a good summer, but maybe not as relaxing as one could have hoped for. And the weather! Oh. my. good. I’m very, very disappointed UK. Don’t try to say “well what did you expect” because frankly, I’ve seen better. I’ve heard about better. I expected a bit better. I’m also feeling my Swedish genes craving sun. We might have long and dark winters up north, but it’s compensated by the ability to get some sun in the summer. UK skipped that step this summer it seems like, so despite it not being the most economic solution I’ve booked a weekend trip for Barcelona. Some travelling and hopefully some sun and less cold mornings/days.

How have your summers been? Any prospective students found their ways here, I’m curious to hear your expectations!