Things I have learnt in the past week:

- Seagulls are enormous. One came pelting straight at me earlier and I thought 'this is how I'll die'. A sea bird through the face and a bottle of Ribena in one hand.

- Microwaves are a Godsend. I honestly don't know how I've gone for this long without one. It takes me two minutes to make dinner. Dinner! I'm used to waiting twenty minutes and that's the quickest I can make anything!

- The world is very small. Today I got on the bus with someone who used to teach a gymnastics club at STAGS and has a friend who goes to Nicholas Breakspear.

- Falmouth is extraordinarily pretty. There is bunting! And lots of little boats and water taxis and clotted cream ice cream. Actually, on that note, yesterday I walked past a kiosk selling ice cream cones with jelly babies stuck all over them and they were MASSIVE. I dragged myself away as we were supposed to be working on a project.

- There is being lonely, and then there is being lonely but surrounded by people. Believe me, the latter is worse. This is really tough, much tougher than I expected. I miss having friends. I keep walking past things and thinking 'Laura would love that shop' or 'Caitlin would suit that jumper'.

- Freedom is actually becoming a nice thing. Once I've learnt to relax in my surroundings (it's happening slowly) I find I enjoy it a lot more. For example, this evening I sat on a wharf and read Doctor Who Magazine for an hour and half in the sun. I can do what I like and though it's scary I'm getting used to not worrying about what other people think about it. It is my three years of freedom, after all.

- Libraries are wonderful and quiet and this one is open 24/7 as of Monday so I expect I'll be spending a lot of time here.

- I didn't realise I'd missed academic work so much, but I do, and I'm desperate to get started next week on things like writing for the media and shorthand.

- And finally, pasties are fantastic.

Aragorn was right. There is always hope.

I got in from town on Saturday afternoon and there was an answerphone message waiting for me from Falmouth. I didn't really want to listen to it, if I'm honest, because I was still pissed off about the sharing rooms thing to feel amicable towards them but I listened to it anyway. And they told me some single rooms had become available. Did I want one?

So I screamed a little bit and sent an email to them pretty much straight after.

Then yesterday they emailed me saying thanks for getting in touch and my new offer should be in my inbox by tomorrow (Tuesday). Just before mum got home, maybe half five-ish, my offer appeared, dad and I sat through all the confirmation stuff again and I have now officially got a single room!

There is hopefully a lovely double bed and en suite bathroom waiting for me when I arrive on Thursday. You can't understand how relieved I am. I can take my DW calendar and not feel awkward about it!

I haven't blogged about anything 'me' related for a little while so I figured I'd do a little catch up. I have plenty to rage about but I don't feel justified to do so because of situations that are out of my control. Let's just say things have been a little up and down.

To start off, for those who don't know, I passed my maths GCSE retake. So that's more than a load off. I can actually go out into the world safe in the knowledge that I have standard required grades and can get a job I really want. If I'm offered it, of course.

I'll be sharing a room (bunkbed) at Falmouth in a couple of weeks. Don't even get me started. I'm actually getting angry writing this. Despite telling me, and I quote directly from the email -You will receive a formal offer of accommodation between the end of August and early September via an email alert asking you to check your room service account - that's an EMAIL. An EMAIL. So I take my laptop with me to Mallorca to find out that they RANG the house offering me a single but by the time I could get in contact with them (I got the message via a text from our catsitter on Friday night, the accomm. place is closed weekends, I phone on Monday) they tell me all the places are gone and I'm in sharing. So I'll be living here.

It's a positive thing to know that is the only picture on the entire website of a shared room. They are obviously so proud of their accommodation arrangements.

Hmm.

Anyway I got back from 2 weeks in Mallorca on Saturday which was very nice and incredibly hot. In between pretending to be a corpse in the swimming pool and accidentally speaking French in a Spanish supermarket I got a good tan and managed to unwind a little bit. We also managed to construct a sand toilet, much to the amazement of the Germans who we shared the beach with.

Only on a Jardine holiday.