Back to my accommodation

Tonight will be my last night in my mother and brother's house before I return to my accommodation. Tomorrow, I'll be registering for Year 2 of university, picking up the key to my accommodation and moving a few items over. My East of England uncle will be here on Saturday to help me move the rest of my belongings over.

Summer is over. Fall starts along with the new university academic year. Hard to believe that nearly four months ago I'd finished my sole exam of Year 1.

University year 1 - end of academic year

Last Friday, the 9th, marked the official end to this academic year at Nottingham Trent University. While the academic year is over, accommodation contracts don't end until late July and the campus libraries will remain open all summer, albeit at a reduced level compared to term time.

There we have it. My first year at university is complete. I now have the summer to enjoy before year 2 begins in October.

"Shine" - Years and Years

Here is one of the few new songs I heard during the summer of 2015:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXTAn4ELEwM

It's "Shine" by Years & Years, from Communion, the band's first studio album. I first heard of Years & Years in 2014 when their song "King" became popular on the radio. Beyond these two songs and another of theirs, "Desire", I'm don't know much about Years & Years themselves.

Pants for long walks

I recently purchased a pair of pants/trousers specifically for when I go on long walks. Back in the summer, I wore out a couple of pairs of my trousers because of the five-miles-a-day walks that I undertook back then; as we are starting to progress towards warmer weather, I anticipate more walking.

Also, I do sweat significantly when I walk in warm weather; rather than my everyday clothing have to be affected by my sweat, better for walk-specific clothing to absorb it.

Hucknall 6

For the first time since the summer, I set foot in Hucknall; in addition, it was also the first time since then that I walked to there. Today's walk is my sixth walk to Hucknall; however, what made this walk different from the preceding five is that that I was travelling from Clifton rather than from the Rushcliffe constituency. In addition, I cheated somewhat today by taking the bus from Clifton to the city centre and then starting the main walk from there. As the days are short currently, I figured it wise to do so on this occasion.

On my way to Hucknall, I encountered my Psychology teacher from when I was at Central. She was on the opposite side of the road to me and I only noticed her when I heard her call my name. I'm glad she called me! It was a delight to see her, even if only for a minute.

Once in Hucknall, I walked on an outer road for a while before walking in the town centre and then returning to Bulwell, where I ended up catching a bus to Arnold and then another to the city centre.

"Rush Hour" - Jane Wiedlin

Towards the end of the summer, I overheard this song on my brother's radio:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAsLDf-tYlg

It's "Rush Hour" by Jane Wiedlin and is from her second studio album, Fur; both were released in 1988. Wiedlin herself was a member of an all-female band called the Go-Go's, who were established in 1978, but she later progressed to develop her solo career.

Thanks to when I heard "Rush Hour", I now associate it with summer's end 2016. It's one of those songs I wish I'd had on my phone during my dusk trips to Long Eaton at the end of Access.

The spiders

This summer has been friendly to spiders. I have never seen so many around the house before; mostly they hang around in the ceiling corners to catch bugs and procreate with other spiders. What they don't appear to have been doing is catch the flies, who have also been having a good summer; nearly every day a couple of flies buzz around the house and are generally pests. Since there aren't screens in windows here, they fly in all the time through them.

Summer break 2016

As of this afternoon, I am back in Northamptonshire for the summer break. I will be back in Nottingham full time again in September to start university but for this summer, I will be helping Mum and my brother pack up the house for a move while at the same time sorting out what I need for university. I should receive my diploma for Access within the coming weeks; I already have my results, I just need the diploma - it's not like my GCSEs in which I was waiting for months to receive them.

Week from the walk

A week ago, I had completed my first walk to Hucknall in over a year and it exhausted me, due to my being out of practice with long walks. My left foot was extremely sore afterwards, which meant I was hobbling around; however, in the time since that walk, I have recovered from any pain and exhaustion it induced. Part of what I intend to do in the summer is catch up on exercise.

And that half-term concludes...

Today marked the final day of my final half-term break at college; my grandfather e-mailed last week and texted today to say that he'll be picking me up tomorrow. Upon this return to Nottingham, I shall be completing the last part of my two years at college, then it'll be the summer break and then it'll be university.

"Omen" - Disclosure featuring Sam Smith

This has been my favourite song from this summer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB63ztKnGvo

It's "Omen", by British duo Disclosure, with Sam Smith featuring. The music video is a follow-up to Disclosure's video for the song "Holding On", which features Gregory Porter on the vocals, and the "Omen" video notes a "To be continued" at its end.

This is the second collaboration between Disclosure and Smith, the first being "Latch". "Omen" is by far my favourite song from both artists; while I haven't listened to "Omen" as much for the past couple of weeks, during the summer I heard it on multiple occasions. It's an amazing track.

End of the 2015 summer vacation

Today marked my last day in Northamptonshire for the summer vacation; tomorrow, my grandparents will be coming down to collect me and in two days time, I will start my second college course.

I am surprised at how fast the vacation has flown by; it feels as though it were yesterday when I was preparing to leave Nottingham for the summer and now I'll be returning. Hard to believe it's almost been two months! At any rate, I am eager to start my second course.

A visitor from Hong Kong

My Hong Kong uncle came to visit today for a few hours. He is staying over here in the United Kingdom for a few weeks for part of the summer break and he wanted to see my family and me.

Usually I've seen my Hong Kong uncle when other extended relatives are around, so it was a pleasant change for my family and me to chat to him on his own - to hear his thoughts on various subject matters. We cooked lunch for him and had a fully enjoyable meal with him as company.

The summer return

The summer break officially began in Nottingham today; the next academic year begins in September, which is when my second college course starts.

Until then, I am back in Northamptonshire for the summer.

Walk to Wallaton Hall

Remember this place?

It's Wollaton Park and in the distance is Wollaton Hall. Prior to yesterday, I last visited here in the summer of 2013, when I was with my Nottingham aunt, uncle and cousins. When I visited yesterday, I walked all the way there; it's not quite as far as Hucknall but it's still a worthy walk.

The evening walk

For the first time in a long time, I went for an evening walk. Not a walk down to the bus, like on my nights out, but an actual lengthy walk in the evening. My day at college was productive and the weather was lovely, both of which put me in a good mood. As a result, I felt the timing was right for me to go for a walk after dinner.

I walked for an hour an a half, which brought the time to 9:10pm, and it was still light outside. One of the benefits of living in the United Kingdom is that in the summer, it doesn't become dark until after 9:30. The walk was very much worth it; there were a few people about and I listened to some music while walking.

Window screens (2)

I've complained about this before, but summers here in the United Kingdom would really be much more comfortable if we had screens in the windows. Having to evict flies and spiders is annoying, as is having moths land on your arms; having one's window near a large bush filled with wasps and bees isn't any better, either.

I know this is minor compared to other problems in the world, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't open windows in summer because of spiders and insects coming into the house. I'm also sure that a few heat-related deaths in summer caused by closed windows could be prevented if windows had screens.

The main reason that most houses here don't have screens is because the windows are pushed out when they are open, whereas American windows slide upwards. Unfortunately, new houses continue to be built with push-out windows and most people here probably won't be convinced to switch to a type that slides.

Rain in June

Today has been one of those days when the weather cannot make up its mind. It rained in the morning, sprinkled in the early afternoon, was sunny for the rest of the afternoon and as I write this it's raining again; just a few minutes ago it was chucking it down! It was hot two days ago and there were clear blue skies over three days ago; the sky is now filled with dark rainclouds. What a change.

The raining is cooling the area down, which is good; we need the occasional rain in the summer since nearly all houses here don't have air conditioning and constant heat would be uncomfortable. At the same time, my brother will be attending a carnival tomorrow; I hope this weather will blow through so that the carnival won't be spoilt by the rain!

Cold after returning

Prior to travelling to Nottingham to pick me up last Sunday, my family caught a cold. At first they thought that their symptoms (such as Dad's excess sneezing) were due to allergies; however, since I have started sneezing and have a sore throat allergies can be ruled out, as I don't get major allergic reactions.

Dad is relieved it's a cold, for he said that he'd have a terrible summer if for its duration he were to sneeze several times a day; at least this cold will be over soon. He started showing signs of improvement yesterday, which bodes well for the rest of us.

Still, if I'd known I'd catch a cold, I'd have stayed in Nottingham for another week!

The long walk and fitness

My brother and I went for a lengthy walk this morning, going to a park in another town. I used this as an opportunity to take some pictures with my new phone. What do you think of these?

In addition, I am officially fitter than I was a year (or even a few months) ago. Last time I walked with my brother, I had to ask him to slow down so I could keep up with him. During today's walk, I was not only able to match his pace without becoming exhausted, but on occasions I sped ahead of him. Since last summer, I have been both eating a little less (especially cutting back on desserts) and going on short-length power walks to help keep myself healthy. I'm glad to see that my efforts are paying off.