It’s been a bloody long time since I blogged, so here is a monster to make up for it.

I’m back in London after a trip to Copenhagen, Helsinki and Modbury. I’ve had a good Christmas, eaten too much, had too much to drink, and got some incredible pressies from my lovely family. Greg, of previous blogging fame was staying with the family for Christmas, and we did some amazing stuff. Have a few (ha) photos, many thanks to Ash for his amazing photography skills. (Some of the photos are mine too, hehe.) There is more stuff below the photos, so keep scrolling.

Ashton and Greg on Dartmoor being artistic.

Me on Western Beacon

Ash tobodying down Western Beacon.

Testing the ice on the way to Westcombe Beach

I found me a horsey friend!

The guys on the beach.

The sunset, with Ash's friend Tom being a starfish.

Greg and me recreating a photo from his previous trip.

Christmas Dinner; Beef Wellington.

Ashton got a dress-up box for Christmas - really scary mask!

Us kids playing dress-up again.

Also, I’m typing up my holiday diary and will share with you to delight you with while I get stuck into revision for an exam in two weeks.

So, here goes.

18th December 2010

COPENHAGEN

Finding Andrew and sister in TGI.

The journey to Scandinavia started yesterday, with last minute packing, a trip to Oxford Street and a panic at Earl’s Court. The first I knew of it was Lucia finding me waiting for her and Kathy, and just saying “We have a problem. Kathy’s lost her passport.” An urgent phonecall, the upside-downification of Kathy’s flat and a scolded shoe-rack later hiding the significant item, all was sorted and the three of us were all set. By this time, Lucia and I were ready to get on a tube to Heathrow, while Kathy got a taxi from London. We met at the airport, sent our bags off and were all ready to go to…TGI Fridays! Our flight was delayed by an hour, which facilitated a round of sesame chicken strips and chicken wings. We met Andrew and sister Louise in TGI, them on their way back to Lagos. By 8.45, the flight was ready to board; after about half an hour we got on the plane, with brief messages to everyone and a quick bye-bye England. On the plane, Lucia and I quizzed Kathy on planes we could see out on the runway (“what is that?” “Kathy, I think that one is the A380”).

Ready to go...sort of!

The plane sat on the ground for ages, with us raring to go. It finally took off – the sky was totally clear and we got the most incredible view of London at night as we circled right out of Heathrow.

We basically read all the way to Copenhagen. We landed at 12.30 am and met Lucia’s parents, Henrieta and Juraj, in the arrivals lounge, following a brief panic at the luggage conveyor belts (LHR belt 6 – eight minutes…twenty-eight-minutes…six minutes). We went outside into the snow, and walked to the car. The snow here has a totally different quality to any I’ve experienced before – snow in London crunches when you stand on it and forms a snowball really easily. Here, it doesn’t crunch but behaves a bit more like sand on a beach, and when you try make a snowball it just sticks to your gloves!

Anyway, we found the car, and after another brief ‘eeek’ moment caused by driving on the WRONG side of the road, we were off! Henrieta pointed out significant places in

London by night - plane moving too fast to take a good photo.

Copenhagen as we went – parliaments, palaces, lakes, the answer to Harrods in Denmark, the shopping street…I can’t remember any more specific names or anything. What sticks in the mind most is snow covering buildings covered in lights, showing every postcard fairy-tale you’ve ever seen wherever you look. There are Christmas trees literally everywhere (there was even one between runways as we landed!). They don’t have ornaments on them but are literally dripping with light. Incredible.

We had a brief conversation in the car about Materials Science (“They rent the cars with summer tires” “What’s the difference between summer and winter tires?” “Tread and rubber – they stick to the ground better.”) This can only be described as Materials geekery.

We went past the city centre and came to the residences of the Slovak embassy. This is where Lucia spent four years, and it was really interesting to see the flats. One of the

Toooo long to get our bags!

bedrooms in Lucia’s parents flat had all of her furniture in it from when she was a child. It was cool. We dumped our stuff in our flat and proceeded to sit in the lounge of Lucia’s parents’ and have some nibbles accompanied with champagne. We stayed awake until four in the morning, chatting and discussing life, the universe and everything. One of the topics of conversation was Ashton and I clicking at each other, which got renamed to clucking.

We went to our flat and didn’t go to bed till five; talking too much! In the (snowy) courtyard is all the playground stuff Lucia grew up with. ♥ “See I may not be able to cluck like you but I can oink like a pig better than anyone I know.”

Lucia after too much champagne.

Fourth Year Friends

Short and concise title, what can I say? You may be wondering why there have been so few posts this week – I’ve been too busy. Deadline for literature review is next week, I had to get my research plan done, lectures to write up….argh! Anyway, last week was my first week without Sinfonietta, and I didn’t go to riding either. Still didn’t manage to get it all done – so far, fourth year is HARD! Although, we did manage to go see Inception in ICU Cinema last week. It was really good, and kudos to the team for pulling it off with only one minor glitch!

My typical week at the moment, in a similar style to how I did it last year will follow. My options this year are Nanomaterials II, Biomaterials II, Systems Physiology and Tissue Engineering. VERY Biomaterials related…can you tell what my chosen career path is?

Digger the Dog, relaxing like me.

Monday: Day off with official work – go to the finance office for an hour, then head to the department to work on project work, writing up lecture notes and revising for the comprehensive paper in May. When I get more into my project, the whole day will be spent in the lab. Head home for dinner and bed.

Tuesday: Work 9 to 10 am in FO, spend the morning on various projects. Lectures from 2 to 5 pm, home for the only evening Tom and I have together all week.

Wednesday: Work 9 to 10 am, spend the morning working. Riding lesson in the afternoon for an hour. Home to do some work, eat and sleep!

Ashton with two of the fish he caught.

Thursday: Lectures from 9 to 12, work in the finance office. Some work in the Materials computer room, project group meeting with supervisor. 5.30 to 7 pm, KnitSock! Cake, knitting and a drink from the union bar. Perfection.

Friday: Free day to do whatever I haven’t done for lecture notes/project work. Work for an hour, ICSE in the evening followed by social.

Anyway, on Friday last week mum got back from a month in Zimbabwe/Zambia/Malawi on a work trip. I woke up at 5 AM, checked the times for the flights getting in from South Africa…there were two, two hours apart which were meant to have arrived at the same time. I didn’t know which one I was supposed to be getting to, so in a massive panic I drove to Heathrow to pick her up and ended up sitting for two hours, working.

Just to reiterate how big it is.

We drove to Devon and relaxed at home for a weekend. It was cool – Ashton went fishing with dad, mum and I did a lot of shopping (I am now the proud owner of a TOOL-BOX!) and I knitted some stuff.

Missing the antics of the summer, dressed up in my festival gear.

We saw our Gran, did a lot of nothing, and returned on Sunday night to deadlines, late-nights, a lot of laundry and the harsh reality of real life. It’s not all bad though, I’ve been SCR breakfasting, and Tom and I completed Lego Harry Potter on the Wii last night. John came up for 90 minutes of amazingness the other day, and my knitting is coming along well. Just so I don’t scare you all!

Right, off to carry on with some work. Sorry for the photos, they are all I can get off Facebook for now.

My car, hanging out in Paddington after being driven around London lots.

This is the third time I’ve posted in a week, I’m on fire!

The week at work was good. I finished a literature review, and my drawing prototype was delivered. I tested it and it went well – yay! I don’t have much more to say here (basically, I can’t say anymore, so that closes that pretty effectively).

Socially, my week was awesome. I went out with some work girls on Wednesday and we did a photoshoot for a “Calendar Girls” style thing. When I got back, John had arrived from his extended tour etc and Tom had met him. We stayed up, basically all night (AKA I had two hours sleep) and watched films etc. On Thursday my mummy arrived, Tom and John made dinner for us and John’s Toby, and I had four hours sleep. On Friday, Tom and John left (home and to Edinburgh respectively), mum and I spent the weekend generally enjoying life. It was really cool.

I’ll post a few more photos, and wish you all luck for next week. Let me know how it all goes, if you’re coming to Imperial get in touch, and keep me in the loop. I’m very excited about the new Freshers!

Mum and I made me have extra-long eyelashes.

Playing with Maxy, Ross and Kims cat.

Gloves I knitted for my mummy.