Congratulations to me. This is my 400th blog entry!

I could say that everything is fine and dandy (and for the most part, it is) but I'm looking forward to coming home and getting my head out of this place for a little while more than you could think. I know I have to come back at the end of my week off, but I'm hoping I'll come back feeling better about everything having been given the chance to step back and write down everything my weeks are full of, and think about everything I've done so far.

Football was utterly brilliant last Thursday. We played outside, in my perfect conditions. The ground was wet and soft which meant control was key, and I happily put away at least six goals before netting the 'last-goal-wins' winner, too. Kirsty slide tackled me, leaving me to walk home with one leg compeletely brown from the mud but I didn't care.

I slept at Bryony's house last night. She lives in a tiny Cornish village called St Newlyn East, and I thought it was gorgeous. I've been re-reading The Hound Of The Baskervilles for about the hundredth time and it was very much like what I imagine Grimpen to be like. Anyway we stayed up late and watched Sherlock Holmes (of course) and discussed the more pressing matters in life, such as whether we'd still date a guy if he laid eggs like a chicken.

Madre has informed me that Padre was 'quite taken' with my idea of building a Hobbit-hole style door up at Grandma's house. They've got the planning permission to do the conversion at Easter and seeing as her house is called Bank End (only a wee difference from Bag End) it makes perfect sense to me. Can you imagine? With my plans for my own birthday treat (too early to tell) it would just be amazing. I'm not getting my hopes up, just sayin' is all.

Happy 400th Post Day!

Today, in shorthand, our tutor Sue decided that the next word she was going to teach us was TARDIS. So she wrote it out in shorthand on the board, and asked "okay?"

It was not okay for me. I didn't know what to do.

The shorthand only uses the letters T,R,D and S. There is no capitalisation. As TARDIS is already an abbreviation I was tempted to ask if you do still need to use all the respective symbols? She'd already moved on to the word ROBOT by this point so I ended up rather regretfully doing the shorthand as she'd done it, but making sure to put the capitalisation mark down too.

There are going to be serious problems if I ever have to interview someone from Doctor Who.

She also taught us the symbol to write BATMAN, and invited putting the capitals mark down because it's "his name". But it's not his name. And I said so, sitting between Paul and Mike who both agreed with me that it's his alias.

I was going to write out BRUCE WAYNE but she'd already moved onto TORTURE. How apt.

I feel like I should be doing something productive with my day. Currently it's 10:36am and I've been up for an hour because it's also my 'day off'. I have breakfasted (2 mini chocolate brioche, a roll with marmalade and a glass of milk) and now think it's important to note that I am eating properly again, or at least trying to. Chicken curry (out of a box) on Sunday night, and lasagne (out of a box) last night. I'll probably have to do a run to ASDA today because I'm sick of couscous and I have almost an entire tub to eat having pre-prepared far too much. I feel a bit perkier anyway.

As far as today goes, I think I'll watch Boromir die with the cast audio commentary after writing this while I digest breakfast. I'll then finish my shorthand crossword, pop down to ASDA and maybe go to the library. I don't know why I'm telling you all this.

For one of our projects this semester we have to set up a blog. Seeing as I already have this one my lecturer said there's no point setting up another one, but I'm not sure if by 'blog' he means a specific one, with a focus (e.g. film, reviews) or this, which is basically me rambling about rubbish and deciding how to fill my days. Is it a good idea to let my lecturer know that I spend equal parts of my day doing shorthand and then watching Aragorn lop an Uruk's head off? I don't think so.

Football training has moved to 5:30-6:30 on a Thursday for the next 5 weeks which is absolutely pants because my last seminar finishes at 5:30 and I have to get the bus to the sports centre in Falmouth itself. So I guess I won't be going until after the 5 weeks when I've been told they'll look to changing it to a Sunday. I'm not exactly pleased, as I've now told the guy taking the seminars that I'll be attending them all from now on after missing last weeks and I can't imagine he'll be best pleased if I vanish half an hour before the end to go and play football.

Urgh. Anyway. Back to Middle Earth I go.

Time for an update, I think.

At some point in the last week I stopped thinking about not being in my own bed. I guess this is my home now, and certainly my room has become my haven. I'm getting used to where everything is, in fact people ask me for directions so I must look as though I know what I'm doing. I think this is probably due in part to finally getting the ball rolling. My weeks are pretty busy and this week especially is full of excitement.

I went to the Freshers Fayre on Sunday and signed up for the student paper and radio, as well as women's football and judo. I spent the best part of this morning wandering around Falmouth searching for shin pads but apparently they don't wear them down here. Hopefully there won't be too much slide tackling going on during my first training session on Thursday. Signing up for football also meant I needed to buy new boots and astros, and they have been ordered and are (the last I heard) with the courier awaiting delivery. I did order them on Sunday night and it's now Tuesday so I'm starting to get twitchy. It's judo tomorrow night, so Ma and Pa have sent my green belt down in the post and I'm actually quite looking forward to it.

EDIT: Boots and astros arrived and they are b-e-a-utiful.

I've been learning the shorthand alphabet. It's actually quite simple once you get the hang of it but you have to get it absolutely right or you'll get your H's and P's mixed up and that's never a good thing.

I've got a bit of a cold so have been drinking water and eating soup. Yesterday I made the startling discovery in Asda that you can get spaghetti bolognese out of a tin. That's dinner sorted for tonight! Along with the Great British Bake Off final of course.

You know you want something so badly when adverts about it make you cry. Take this one for example:

Maybe I'm just emotional because I'm under the weather. Yeah, that's probably it. Pull yourself together girl.

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.