Back in London Town

The past couple of days have been fairly uneventful. I have been concentrating a lot on getting ahead with my work since I plan to go home at the end of the week, and I have to say, I've never looked forward to a weekend more. Sure uni is great and I'm settling in loads better- its exciting meeting new people all the time, and always having stuff to do, but I miss my family loads. In fact I miss a lot about home.

I think in some ways, when people say uni is like a holiday, they're not far out. It's true obviously you have to do some work (even in first year!), but the sheer amount of activities there are, means you're running about all over the place 24/7. Being at a city uni (Manchester) also means not only are there loads of things going on at uni, but further, all over the city too. In fact, my first thought when looking around the university campuses was that they were exactly like Butlins. There was your swimming pool, the gym, the social activities, all within a two mile radius. Its great but holidays aren't meant to last for weeks on end, and by the time I get this far into the semester (3 whole weeks), I'm completely run off my feet and just want to hibernate for a month or so. So reason number two why I can't wait to get back home is that I can just sleep with no interruptions- no one knocking on my door asking how to turn the oven on or whether I've seen their lost pair of pants!

That leads me perfectly on to my next point- personal space. At home, I'm used to being able to lock myself in my room for hours on end if I want to. My room was my own space- my parents respected that, and let me get on with my own thing if I needed to. Uni however is incredibly intense. Its generally expected that you spend all your time socialising with other people- it becomes incomprehensible if you actually choose to spend time alone- even if its to sleep! In first semester that was great- never a dull moment. Now however, the novelty has worn away. Making conversation every minute of every day becomes tiring, sometimes I have to admit, I do take my dinner up to my room, or have a nap in the middle of the day, simply just to give my mind a rest. Living with people your own age is great but, in first year especially, its very demanding. Coming home brings me back to some peace and quiet.

All in all, I appear to sound extremely negative about uni at the moment- thats completely not the case. I love the lifestyle and freedom of university- being away from home does however make you miss all the things you took for granted. It is nice to go back to that haven where I can just be my moody old self again!