God why am I on here when I really should be working?

I have so much to do, and time just seems to fly by here.
Infact I think I only have 3 free weekends from now until Christmas!

Anyway, I'll start work at 5 so that gives me 40 minutes to do other stuff like blog, although should I? No one seems to read or write posts these days

Anyway - yesterday:

I met my cousin for lunch in Covent Garden. We arranged to meet at 1 and I so underestimated the greatness of the Piccadilly line. I ended up getting there half an hour early. To kill time I walked around Covent Garden Market for a while and past those weird people who dress up as statues and stand around, although one of them was reading a text message which I thought was hilarious.
After about 10 minutes of that I was tempted by the shops, especially the infamous H&M Covent Garden - my bank balance's worst nightmare. It has one of the best men's sections of all the Hennes and is so funky.
I was just browsing and having a look at a few things and ended up buying a jacket.

I know!
Im so bad.
But they had student discount for October only, and they accepted my anti-NUS Imperial card which was like a sign!
And plus I've wanted a blazer type jacket like that for ages and it was nice, and not bad for £36. Its courdroy and dark brown. Yum yum.
I don't think I'll be telling mum about it though. I will be murdered if she finds out I've been using my overdraft for unnecessary shopping.

After leaving H&M I met up with my cousin who had been waiting at the underground for 5 minutes (oops!) and then we went on the hunt for a nice pub to eat in. We couldnt find anywhere cheap and nice there so began walking towards Leicester Square.

On the way we came across the Avenue Q Theatre. I really want to go see it!
I was telling her it's meant to be really good and then we both laughed as we saw the poster advertising it on the side of the theatre - the one with the caption "something big is arriving" (wonders if Anyhoo knows which one I'm on about?).

We found a really nice pub just up the road from the theatre - The Round Table, where I had the nicest fish 'n' chips. Mmmmm!
Lunch was spent catching up and talking, and it turns out she's been on a few dates with my sisters friend who she met at my sister's birthday (a.k.a the night of poultry textation). It will be so cool if they get together!
After grub we went window shopping for a bit and then said our good-byes as I hoped on the tube at Piccadilly and she walked back to Leicester Square.

I got back home at about 4pm and then went to the gym for an hour before coming back to have dinner with friends in another corridor.

And that's about that.

Ooh and I also found out that a guy who I used to go to school with is staring in Wicked. He's the worlds biggest prick, but if he get's famous, there's my "guess who I used to go to school with".

Hehehehe.

That text was great. Even if one of you didn't fall for it.

When I got the reply message from another one of you I burst out laughing randomly in a crowd of people and then had to appologise for being weird.

Yup, "Karma's a bitch [Azuric]", but still, you fell for it, ner-ner-ne-ner-ner!

Okay I have to admit I fell for it too but it seemed a little more believable from my sender.
And my mum fell for it too, bless.

I was in stiches when she rang me back with, "you stupid idiot!".

Ooh who to send it to next...?

I had a very different day today.

B (remember B from school? My friend who is now at UCL) came down to meet me here in Kensington and then we went for a walk in Hyde Park.

It was nice to catch up and exchange stories of how we are now Londoners and the buzz has gone, this is home, blah-de-blah, and we were both in awe at the greenery and wide open space. It's going to be so nice at Christmas. I hope it snows!

Upon entering the park we headed in the direction of the pond where we sat for a while talking more and wishing we'd brought our cameras, and then made our way to the Palace after getting lost on the way and ending up at the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Garden first.
Obviously we couldn't afford to go into the Palace so left after B stole a rose from the gardens.

We made our way out onto Kensington High Street and spent quite a while there in the shops (just window shopping obviously) and lunching.

Urban Outfitters is so amazing!
I've been to the one in Birmingham but this one puts it to shame.
As soon as we both walked in the Graffiti books grabbed our attention and we both gasped with excitment as we saw Banksy's Wall and Piece.
We flicked through the pages admiring Banksy's amazingness and it was then that B told me she's planning to try graffiti because there's a wall in Camden where people do their own things.
I'd so love to but its hard to
A) do something that's actually art
B) not step on another artists toes

At about 4 pm-ish we walked back to my place and played a game of pool before I dropped her off to the SK Tunnel

Tomorrow I'm meeting my cousin (CD) for coffee and lunch in Covent Garden.
Although before I do that I need to do all my washing and try and get to the gym for a bit.
Oh and maybe do some bloody work.

I don't know what's happened to me, I used to be so organised and on top of my work.
I still haven't caught up with stuff because of missing things during Freshers and I feel so not in control of things.
Saying that I'm still ahead of most people. I think.

Anyway, all this points to the fact that I'm now really happy here. London is amazing. And it's my home!

Time and money just fly by in this city...

Last weekend was so much fun, very busy, and er...strange.

I got back to Leicester at 4.10pm-ish on Friday and it was while waiting for my sister to pick me up that I noticed for the first time that winter is on the way.
The weather was awful, cold, windy and wet. So far in London it's been warm generally.

Anyway, Friday happened to be Kali Chaudas (Black Day) - our version of Halloween and the second day of Diwali.
On this day Hindus pray to the Goddess Kali to banish evil from their homes and no one tends to leave their houses after dark apart from to perform a ritual at the nearest cross-roads (or in the back garden in our case) to lure out the evil from our homes.

The first thing I noticed as we pulled up in the drive was that my dad and sister had put up the Diwali/Christmas/New Years/February lights up.
I was surprised that they did because my dad is never normally bothered and its always me pushing everyone to do anything celebratory.

It's so weird going home when you don't live there anymore.
My room just seemed so clean, bare, and empty.
The rest of the house was just the same and I only realised how much I'd missed things when I noticed them again. Especially the house at Diwali time.

And now for a totally random change of subject as this post has been written over a few days and I've forgotten most of the things I wanted to blog about from the weekend - oh no, wait...

...I did want to say that although I had an extremely fun and busy weekend at home I felt happy and relaxed to finally make it home to my "flat" in Lovely London, after lugging all my stuff on a train, two tubes (stupid no picadilly from Kings Cross!) , and a bit more across the city in the rain. And I didn't miss family or home enough for it to upset me which is such a good thing.

My mum asked me twice if I was missing them and then once more when I got back and it felt bad to say no so the third time I kind of lied and said I did. I guess I am, but thankfully not in a depressing way. And I explained to her that it was a good thing that I wasn't because that would be harder.

Ultimately it means that I love it here, and I so do.
After the first week and a bit of feeling a little lonely during the day time (and still having that feeling occasionally when I'm on my own in my room or something) I've acclimatised and got used to it all, and generally, life here is so much fun.

I do get concerned sometimes because I don't have one group of people that are my "posse" and most people do, but the Azuric doesn't opperate like that.
I'm a friend whore and like to have many people in many places.

Anyway, enough rambling because I don't know where I'm going.

Sorry for the lack of blogging (although it seems most people are like that at the moment - HINT HINT!), speak soon.

Where's the buzz?

God I can't believe this is my third week here. Time has just flown by.

And everything just seems normal now.
The excitement and buzz about coming to live in London just vanished.

Suddenly seeing the Albert Hall out of your kitchen window and having Hyde Park as your back garden doesn't seem so wow.

And the tube is now just...the tube. Hot, crowded hassle.

Here and Hammersmith don't feel like London. It could so easily be any city.

I want to go to tourist London!

I'm so doing that next week.
I want to meet up with friends and go for coffee in Camden or go down to the river or something...

So This Is University Life...

Okay, screw everything that happened last week because I've forgotten most of it and it can't be that important/interesting.
What's important is the now.

I can't believe I've been here a week and a half now, it's just flown by.

At the moment my mood is happy, I'm feeling good. Going to Medics Badminton tonight but not to the Hammersmith Palais after as I want a good nights sleep before the Medics Ball tomorrow night at Pacha - that night will hopefully be bombastic.
I'm excited too that the 2nd years will be there.
I had a good msn chat today with my medic uncle, he's so nice and helpful, and has promised to give me "The Magic CD" - which contains the legendary 3 sets of notes needed to ace the year.

I'm always okay during the nights when its busy and I know there's something to do or somewhere to go but feel a little down during the day sometimes.
I guess it's because this place still isn't "home" and these friends aren't "friends" yet.
But as I said, it's only been 11 days so far and I shouldn't expect things to feel normal yet.
I was told that you adapt and get used to it and everything settles 3 weeks in so I'll see where things go.

I felt really upset on Sunday night because I'd had such a fantastic weekend celebrating my sisters birthday with our cousins and her friends and then when they had to go and leave me it felt quite crappy.
We went clubbing on Saturday night in Camden at a place she'd put us all on the guestlist for and it was great - she got absolutely plastered after a "lethal combination" - the most alcoholic drink they served right after tequila shots, plus all the other drinks people were buying her.
And I got very "tipsy" too.
Infact it was the second time in that week and in my life ever that I drunk so much that I felt that if I had any more I might be sick.
And I'm very proud of that fact that that's never happened to me. It was also the night certain texts were sent.

Oh and I've just remembered - I did have chicken!

After the club we went to get some food in a fast food place and then waited 17 years for a licenced cab but couldnt get one and so settled for an unlicenced one. Naughty us.
By the time we got back to South Ken it was 4 am. CK, my sister, and I made noodles in my kitchen before finally getting to bed at about 5 am

At about 8 am it was a case of 3 in a bed and the little one said need water, need water, so we all got out and looked at the photos from the night before while my sister drank and my cousin ate. Then it was back to bed till midday and at 2 pm we had lunch with CD

After lunch they left to meet to drop CK at Euston to get a train back home and then to meet with everyone for Kareoke and dinner.

I couldn't go as I had my formal dinner at my halls.

Uni life is fun, and so very different, and I'm sure it will be comforting when the work starts and I have regularity too.

This weekend CK, CD, a friend, and moi are going to see Russell Peters so that should be really good.

The friday after that I'm going home for Diwali.
I'm looking forward to it and I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not.

It will be good to see my parents though. I miss them and my friends. It's like going to a new school, and at the same time going to a new home.

There are a few people I've started to gel with and I've also moved away from J and D which has made me feel better.
Thats a bad thing to say because they are so nice and do look out for me, and they were both saying how they haven't seen me much these days but I'm not 100% the same as them and don't really enjoy going out with their group and the things they do.

Anyway I'm so tired and need to wake up before badminton and wow, wasn't this a feeling splurge and a half!

Tuesday

Mum's and Dad's night - at the Medics bar in Hammersmith.

This night was so much fun.
I had already met my medic mum the night before but couldn't stay long as D was outside puking.
My mum is so amazingly great - she's short and sweet, so fun, and was really pissed when I met her again. But really lovely.
She introduced me to her friends (my aunties and uncles) and then we all got chatting.
It turns out that her friend (now my dad) has two daughters (now my sisters) from my halls so we spent most of the evening talking and getting to know each other better.
The parents were so funny, with mum and dad taking the piss out of each other loads, and I kept uninentionally taking the piss out of my dad too so my mum loved it.
After the night was over they both invited us to the others house but neither could decide whos house to actually go to so instead they dropped us off at the bus stop.

We did have good serious chats with them too.
They're going to give us these legendary notes that secretly go round the Imperial Medics, and they all warned us not to get into a relationship in the first year because it will be too hard to cope.
I think my uncle put it best when he said, "keep your studies at Imperial and take your dick elsewhere".

I swear I'm missing out things that I did want to say purely because I've forgotten them but I must be feeling better now if I cant remember them.

I remember that Weds and Thurs were periods when I felt down.
It wasn't that I was missing home, but that I was missing family and friends.
Everyone here are still alien. There is no one that knows you or no one you know.
It's nothing like school.
But it is getting better.
I guess I've just got to keep making the effort.

I am really tired now so am going to drink my Lemsip and toddle off to bed.
Comments please.

Sincere appologies to anyone who recieved any form of communication from me late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.
Incidently, I had to settle for noodles.

The Funky Great Big Oh My God I Live In London Post

*** Due to demand - here is the first post even before it's finished!
I guess it's going to take me ages to write up everything that's been going on, and of course the longer I leave it, the more it grows!
So basically this is Sat to Mon, and as soon as I can I will post the rest.
Forgive me for the randomness as there will be bits I forget and bits I remember later.
But, comments please... ***

Saturday

I got here atf about 3pm witoh my sister and CK and was shown to my room by the warden while CK and my sister unloaded the car, then CK and I moved my stuff to my room and unpacked while my sister went to park the car.
My room is so nice. I was impressed with the size of it as I was fearing it would be a box like the ones I saw at UCL.
I have a wall to wall window that views out into the centre of the halls and grass, and the the view from my Kitchen looks out onto the Royal Albert Hall.
After I was settled they both left and I went down to the common room to meet people and eat the free "dinner" (more like a snack) that the Halls provided. At about 8pm we went across to the union for "The Mingle" - the first ICU freshers event.
That was quite a good night and the five-odd older years guys who put on a breakdancing show were amazing. At one point, one of them slid across the floor on his head!
Before I came, I had already made friends with this Indian guy (J) on the same course and in the same halls and that was really comforting. It turned out his room is right next to mine.
He knew another girl (D) in our halls, and so the 3 of us, and a few other guys (R and L) formed a little posse.

Sunday

On Sunday morning I headed down to the common room for the free breakfast and to meet more people from my halls. Those guys were all still asleep. I got chatting with a few people including a Hall Senior - a 2nd year student.
After breakfast, I met up with J and after he ate we went over to the health centre to get registered, but I had to leave early to meet my sister, CK, my mum and CK's mum, and my dad who had all come to check out my pad, and drop off some extra essentials. I stayed with them till lunch and then said my good-byes and headed over to the campus centre for the Medics BBQ.
We were all given our ICSM 06 Freshers T-shirts which are so cool - its a green t-shirt based upon the iPod advert, with the black silhouette of a girl. But instead of the white headphones being attached to an iPod, they are attached to a stethoscope!
I then met up with the J and D and got chatting with the rest of the people they were with, including a few random others, asking the generic freshers questions - Course? Halls? Where from? and Name?
I started to notice here that J and D only talked to other Indian people, and that most of the Indian people there, were only integrating with themselves.
This made me feel a bit worried because I'd already clicked with this group, and so it was easier to hang with them rather than anyone else, but I didn't want to be stuck in a group like that, because I'm not like that, and frankly wouldnt feel comfortable there.
At about 3.30pm I headed back to the health centre to get my stuff sorted but the queue was so long that I ended up being there for 2 hours.
It was a great opportunity to meet other people though, and most of the medics had their t-shirts so that was an instant invite for conversation.

In the evening was the Pirates Boat Party. I didn't dress up, like a few others, but wish I had. Just for the looks we were getting on the tube to embankment. We were given shots on the way in which we had to down before we got on the boat, probably because they wanted to get people tipsy and knew most people weren't going to drink that much as the average price for a drink on the boat was £7!
The music was really good and for most of the night I was upstairs with J, D and L dancing (D isn't a medic but bought the Freshers Passport so got in to all the events).
Dancing on a boat moving down the Thames is an amazing experience, and it was the first time I was like wow, I live here!

Later in the night I went downstairs and got chatting to some other people, some from my halls and some from others, and I stayed there till the end of the night.
I met up with D again on the way out and she told me the her and J kissed. Hearing that was really upsetting, although I didn't know why, and I hid it well. J was waiting outside, and we got the tube back with a whole group of medics.

Monday

We had introductory lectures today. Starting at 9am. And during Fresher's week. How ridiculous.
They started off really well, with the lecturers introducing themselves and telling us how we were the "creme de le creme" of tomorrows doctors, the top 1% of medstudents, thanking us for choosing Imperial, and other ego-inflating flattery. Then it got scary. We were told that about 20% of the year (one in five!) will fail the summative exams and do resits, and then if those are failed, it's bye-bye Medical career!
We were also given heafty welcome packs with all our course matter and timetables and the like, then bought our scrubs and doctors coats before going off to register.
The Medics SU were also selling hoodies - the american style univeristy ones with "Imperial College Medic" on it. I so wish I got one, but didn't and now they've sold out of my size. Apparently the new design is much better though, and if not, the ICL ones are the same design.
I have to get one before I go home!

Monday night was the most fantastic event of my life so far - the Freshers Initiation Ceremony. J, D and I made our way to the Charing X hospital in Hammersmith (how confusing) along with all the other Medics, clad in our scrubs and freshers t-shirts. Upon arriving at the campus there we were split up into teams named after different sexual diseases (I had Crabs) which was good as it allowed everyone to mix (I was glad about this, especially to get away from J and D for a bit).
We played drinking games for the first hour, led by the 2nd years who were standing on tables, some with funnels and tubes, shouting things like, "Drink fresher! Drink!", and singing songs like, "We like to drink with freshers, 'cos freshers are our mates, they live for fornication, and never, never drink drink drink...."
The snakebite was flying everywhere, especially down our fronts.
After that each team got into a train, one behind the other, and we watched our "Welcome to ICSM" video, which dissed King's Medics heavily.
Following that the teams competed in drinking games on stage. At one point I was on stage with 4 other Crabs drinking beer out of an "Udder" (rubber glove, one finger each) attached to a funnel!
I wonder what my mum would have said had she seen.
Needless to say, we were soaked with snakebite, it was all over us, in our hair, everywhere.
And there were "Tequilla girls" going round pouring bottles down our throats.

After the games we were all partying and dancing. I felt a bit uncomfortable becuase J and D were dancing together and loads of other people were getting it on. I guess I felt a bit of a loser, like why them and not me? But I don't know.
Not even an hour later and I saw J on the way to the toilets with tears in his eyes - he was standing by the girls toilets and had L comforting him with SU people comforting him. D had drunk way to much and was so pale, throwing up in the toilets. He kept saying it was his fault, that he shouldn't have let her drink that much, and that he cared about her so much.
Personally I thought oh my god, calm down, she's just drunk too much. Nevertheless we took her outside with the help a few SU's where she sat down for a few minutes before being sick everywhere.
Then L, J, and I took her home, and J slept on her floor all night.
She was fine the next day, but the whole way back, and the next day I was still feeling uncomfortable and upset with their flirting. It just made me want to get away.

*** Tues coming as soon as possible - comments please - I know you must be itching to leave them, after waiting so long for the post! ***

The Funky Great Big Oh My God I Live In London Post

It's coming very soon...