Blogs

I've had many restless nights this term, disturbed by odd dreams and peculiar notions. The few opportunities I've had to sleep have been disquieting.

Wandering through cyclopean, desert labyrinths. Chasing misty lights through impossible forests. Being eaten.

I love binge watching TV series. Last year I binge watched all seven seasons of Game of Thrones in one week.

International attempts to secure the release of refugees from Libyan detention centres to Niger have come to a halt according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

A senior official from the UN agency told Members of European Parliament on 5^th March that if more refugees and asylum seekers were not dispatched onwards from Niger to EU states, then the country may stop taking in people from Libya.

Since the beginning of this year, over 4,000 refugees have arrived in Italy according to official Italian Ministry of Interior figures.

After almost 7 months in England, I finally feel at home.

It was the conclusion with which I had dreamed to finish the year.

My first months abroad were mixed in a flood of unclear feelings. The arrival in a university system different from all that I had known until then was a challenge, which I managed to overcome thanks to the cocoon created by the centre for journalism.

Never has a small piece of sandpaper caused so much trouble. When Cameron Bancroft took a small piece of it onto the field at lunch on the third day of Australia’s test match with South Africa, even he wouldn’t have anticipated the events of the following fortnight.

In our year group, a bi-weekly or even weekly MooMoos has become a tradition, much to the dismay of the first years (they believe Casino’s is better- don’t ask!). It works out perfectly for us; it’s literally around the corner from our house, so we host pre-drinks and the comedown, when everyone sits around in various states of drunkenness and the early stages of hangover to demolish a Ramzeys kebab. While no two nights out are the exact same, you can bank on a few things or people making an appearance at Gillingham’s finest establishment.

Trend-setting is all fun and games until you realise you're having to plan out outfits and shopping trips months in advance before the season even arrives. As a closeted super-fan of all things fashion - catwalks, supermodels and the latest releases of fashion houses - even I must admit it feels like we wave the upcoming season goodbye in order to say hello to the one which follows, as preparation for welcoming it in style begins.

I do love showing off my boobs in a ladylike way, scratch that, I meant in a not so ladylike way.

I had been learning English in school for nine years before I moved here and I was confident I’d be capable of having an everyday conversation. Turns out I was learning the wrong language the whole time. What people speak here is not English, it’s roadman.

But it’s calm, I’m slowly, but steadily becoming an expert.