Corrie's blog

Very ancient history

Following a mudfight in Zimbabwe. Brother on the left, me in the middle.

Well, back in the times of the colonialists my ancestors….blah blah, I don’t actually know all this. I was born in South Africa to a Zimbabwean mum, and a dad who by a lucky coincidence was born in England and hence is British – though he grew up in South Africa. I moved to Zimbabwe when I was 5 and to England at 10.

We moved to Devonshire, the green land in the south-west of England (read “as far away from civilisation as we could go without still being in Africa”). I went to school, I did exams, I got into Imperial College.

The Green Lands of Devonshire

I don’t really have a lot to say about this, but I lived there for nearly 8 years so I feel I should. It has a lot of cows and rolling fields.

Beach time in the Shire with some of the crew.

We live in a little town called Modbury, which is where the Stetson hat was invented (Cowboy hat, to those of you who are uneducated). Much of my spare time was spent cycling up and down the hills (the local region is known as the “South Hams”, where ‘hams’ means hills. It’s no exaggeration) to get to the beach, my friends houses or just around. When I learned to drive it was spent going to and from the nearest big town, Plymouth, where eight o’ clock on a Saturday was the customary shopping time, and during my ‘clubbing years’ we visited Oceana…all this, however, is in the past, and that’s all I have to say about it.

Studies…

Oh RSM...is wonderful....

Well, I’m at Imperial College. I’m studying Materials and I’m in my final year of a four year course. I specialise in Biomaterials, though my options for this year are:

Advanced Biomaterials

Nanomaterials II

Systems Physiology

Tissue Engineering

I’m planning to do a PhD, and there will no doubt be a lot about careers on here over the next year. Materials is excellent – I really enjoy my course, though they keep us on our toes with some really nasty deadlines. If you have any specific questions feel free to email me – otherwise read all about it here.

Standard uni-branding.

Hobbies, Interests and … talents …

I play musical instruments (violin and viola to be exact). I’m a member of Imperial College String Ensemble, and am also part of a string quartet who play at weddings and such. (If you need someone, look us up). This summer, John, a friend who graduated this year, got me in to folk music. It’s changing my musical life.

I knit a lot, something my Gran taught me that made a reappearance in March 09, and has stayed. Good times. I also love horses, and ride with the Riding and Polo Society.

Photoshopped and vain, thank you.

I read a lot of books; I’m a little bit obsessed with some of my favourites and tend to read them over and over again. Things I have liked historically (and still like) include Harry Potter and the Twilight Saga. Yes, I’m one of those. However I also like classics (“A Picture of Dorian Gray” and “Brave New World” are two I definitely recommend) and just about anything that grabs my attention. Sometimes, I even read summer blockbusters.

I watch a lot of DVDs (normally in the background while I’m working) and have probably the finest collection of Disney DVD’s of anyone our age. I also love nature programmes (especially David Attenborough…he is the shiz….) and watch them for hours on end.

I try to paint things but am not yet very successful at it. It’s a new thing, prompted by my parents giving me an acrylic paint set and an easel for Christmas in my second year (I looked REALLY weird carrying that on the bus). I like to experiment with colours, and have discovered a really exciting range of metallic colours that I love.

I take a lot of photographs and yes, sadly I do that slightly vain thing that girls are prone to do of self-modelling. Sorry.

I am also able to ride a unicycle. I tried to teach all my uni friends how to but the boys protested at the pains it gave them and the girls were far too sensible to try for very long.

Those little button eyes are straight out of Beatrix Potter...

Between myself, boyfriend Tom, and ex-housemate Maddy, I own a third of a hamster called Twitch. He runs on his wheel a lot and eats a vast amount of sunflower seeds. We made a documentary about him one night when we’d been celebrating the existence of Southern Comfort, which might be shown if you all get lucky (and if they agree to it…pleeeease? o:) )

Tom and I also own three gerbils, Piper, Phoebe and Paige. You get points if you know where the names are from. They are rat-bags, but we love them very much. They are the only thing stopping me from getting a cat, also.

Finally, I spend a lot of time eating. I have a vast collection of kitchen appliances (bread in the bread-maker, ox-tail stew in the slow cooker as I’m typing this), and I have a huuuuge love for cupcakes.

Phoebe the Gerbil

If you want to be my friend for life, buy me a Jamie Oliver cook-book. Big love.

Home

My parents still live in Devon so I spend as much time as I can there, but owing to summer projects and jobs, have not been home for longer than two weeks in about three years. I think it’s safe to say London is now one of my homes.

I now live in Fulham, which is ‘one of the most desirable areas in London’ according to several reliable sources. It’s pretty good, there are shops in Fulham Broadway, we live in a street which is mainly occupied by ‘young professionals’ so the neighbourhood is decent and there are lots of good transport links.

I sound like an estate agent so I’m going to stop there.

I live with Tom in a flat above a Thai restaurant, but it feels like I live with a group of about 12 people, cos we always have company. Just the way I like it!

I blogged last year, so check out the archives if you’ve got time. I’m a prolific blogger, and I don’t plan to stop, although I think my pace will slow significantly this year. I don’t mind.