UEA freshers (2019 starters) part 2

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Previous thread and hope you don't mind that I set up the next thread @juicy0. Just did it to ensure that we carry on chatting seamlessly

[Itscoldouthere]

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 I see on the other thread you mentioned buses going from the campus at UEA, I didn’t know this, is it National Express ?

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

National Express may well do but Megabus certainly does! Think DS got a return fare for about £10!!! Bargain!

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Enjoy your meals out in lovely, dog-friendly local pubs! We will be eating in a more obvious choice which the teens both love!

[icanbewhatiwant]

Ds is home. He says he's happy and enjoying university life. He isn't keen on the lack of cooking facilities. There's only really a microwave and hob. He says the grill is useless. Bed isn't comfortable. But only they are only minor.
The only thing he really doesn't like is the extra maths classes that run alongside biology. As he didn't take A level maths he got put in the bottom group. He said it's really basic maths and far too easy. I told him to speak to someone to sort it out. I'm not there to do things for him anymore. But apart from that he's ok.
He's now in the living room with his feet up wondering what to do with himself as he's usually heading off out about now.
He will go visit some friends tomorrow. Though apparently a local friend turned up at UEA last week and took him for a food shop in his car. Then at the weekend a few met him in Norwich to go clubbing. I guess that's a plus of being not that far from home, being able to meet old friends.

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Good to hear positive feedback from your DS @icanbewhatiwant. Hope he enjoys the clay-pigeon shooting this weekend.

DS has the same with the stats module for his Geography course. Will be interesting to know whether they will all be up to the same speed by the end of the year.

FWIW, DS said his coach was full on departure!

[MrsBartlet]

@mumsiedarlingrevolta excellent- I will look forward to your review Hope your dd has a great birthday and you have a lovely visit!

[mumsiedarlingrevolta]

@icanbewhatiwant shame about the bed- DD took a mattress topper and it really helps-huge range of type and price-like thisbeta.dunelm.com/category/home-and-furniture/bedding/mattress-toppers?gclid=Cj0KCQjw84XtBRDWARIsAAU1aM1KihYXbA2ign90wTfPILw07kfRq5xrXqrresuBxQYFXw2pAYIbYzEaArYLEALw_wcB

maybe Father Christmas will bring him one!!
Off to Norwich now!! woo hoo!!

[mumsiedarlingrevolta]

how annoying-

here it is again-one that actually works

beta.dunelm.com/category/home-and-furniture/bedding/mattress-toppers?gclid=Cj0KCQjw84XtBRDWARIsAAU1aM1KihYXbA2ign90wTfPILw07kfRq5xrXqrresuBxQYFXw2pAYIbYzEaArYLEALw_wcB

[juicy0]

To those of you visiting Norwich this weekend I hope you have a lovely time with your DC.

I've woken up for the first time in three weeks knowing that DD is asleep in her room upstairs and it warms my heart. She's loving uni and it was great to hear all about her first few weeks over a takeaway last night (her request). Although some of the tales about kitchen hygiene and food prep in her flat were not for the faint hearted 🤢

I feel reassured that all the hard work she did researching her course and the open day and applicant days we attended have paid off and the decision she made was the right one for her. She's settled in her flat, gets on well with people she lives with and has made some friends on her course too. She's joined two sports societies along with the cocktail making and the env sci society. She's also trialled for two teams and applied for a couple of jobs on campus. Not bad for three weeks and I'm so proud of her for the way she's thrown herself into things. I get the feeling she's going to enjoy the next three years much more than she thought.

[icanbewhatiwant]

@mumsiedarlingrevolta yes thanks. I did buy a mattress topper but it was more like a fat duvet. It might be worth investigating dunelm. I hope you have a great day with your daughter.

@juicy0 your daughter sounds like she's getting on great. She's certainly done a lot.

Ds has joined the badminton club. It was quite expensive, I didn't ask whether that price was just for badminton. The chap he initially played with from his flat ds isn't getting on with quite so well, or rather as they started their lectures they are both seeing more of the people from their course than of each other. But he's hoping they will still get chance to play. Or he can find someone else to play with otherwise.

I know ds was looking forward to a night in his double bed. He does have a very loud, barking cough. Apparently he's had it 2 weeks and it's much better now. He didn't get a cold as such, just a cough.

His dad suggested he stay till Sunday eve for roast, then go back rather than be dropped back Sunday after the shooting. (Midday) but ds said there's not much to do here in the evening and he wanted to get back. I suppose that's good news he wants to go.

He did say shopping for food at UEA isn't very easy. Not a huge choice in the local shop and bus seems to awkward for him.

[juicy0]

@icanbewhatiwant I'm pleased to hear your DS is also settling well. There looked to be plenty of people in the badminton soc, judging from the twitter feed, so hopefully he can find other people to play with. One of the things DD and I have talked about is that the friends she's made in these first few weeks may or may not be the people she spends most of her time with going forward and that's ok. It takes time to make friends and it's important to keep an open mind I think.
DD has also said food shopping is difficult. There is a small Tesco nearby but it's no good for a good weekly shop really. Aldi is better but it's 30 mins walk away and that's a long walk back with heavy bags! I've seen groups of students who walk there and then share a taxi back to keep costs down and I think that's a good idea. DD is using Aldi once a week and then topping up milk and other small items in the SU shop.

[icanbewhatiwant]

@juicy0 that's a good idea about walking to Aldi and sharing a taxi back. I'll suggest that.

I have a hospital appointment weds nearby so I'm going to collect ds and take him for a food shop. I don't know Norwich city centre that well. But I do know where the large Tesco is as that's on my main route in when I have been into the city. So I think we will go there.

[juicy0]

Just received the invoice for DD's accommodation in the post. I was beginning to wonder when I would hear something!

[MrsBartlet]

I also got an invoice for accommodation this morning which I am pleased about as I can't seem to get the evision thing to work for me but now I can just do a bank transfer.

Ds did a tesco delivery. They come to the car park near your accommodation and you collect it from them there. He was clearly very proud of himself as he sent me a photo of his delivery note and told me that he was now a proper adult

[Missyelliottsaysso]

I’m really enjoying hearing how all the DC are doing, my DD came home this weekend, it took two hours on the train so not too bad for us. It was lovely hearing about how she’s getting on and the friends she has made so far.
The only complaint so far is that her room is really cold...the radiator in her room doesn’t work and they’ve not had the meeting with their flat mother yet to discuss issues like that. Apart from that all going well, everyone in her flat tidies up after themselves so no mess though my DD has a reputation for having the untidiest bedroom!

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

DS says that the Aldi is a 45 minute walk uphill which seems to have put him off. Personally I think it's something one could get into the habit of doing. As suggested upthread getting a taxi back with food would make it less onerous. Or yes to an online delivery particularly if delivery cost shared.

DS expressing surprise at how many smokers there are and it seems to be the boys doing most of it (didn't ask if it was normal tobacco or weed though!).

[mumsiedarlingrevolta]

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 DDs flat having bit of problem with 2 smokers (both boys) smoking in the flat and noisily partying til dawn.

I did ask if it was cigarettes or pot (which caused DD to howl with laughter as no one calls it pot anymore) I think it's cigarettes. She hates confrontation and is very live and let live but the whole flat smells and DD has asthma so it's tricky.
One of the other girls leading the outrage I think...

[mumsiedarlingrevolta]

And for the doggy ppl-The Eagle was fab and very dog friendly-I think you'd feel out of it going without a dog

We ate lunch in Norwich at the Lamb Inn. Dogs not allowed inside but lovely covered area outside and lots of dogs and a cat determinedly sleeping on a table whilst ppl were eating!

So very easy with dog-going to have a big walk around campus today and take ddog to lake etc so DD can show us everything

[icanbewhatiwant]

Ds has gone off with dh already. Clay pigeon shooting then dropping him back at UEA. Ds was bored here as we are in the countryside and there isn't much to do. He did go to see a friend in the afternoon.

I'm going to take him for a food shop weds. They only have the hob and microwave to cook on. So they are limited with meals. Apparently someone tried to grill some chicken but it wouldn't cook. So apart from cheese on toast he says the grill isn't worth using.

I'm a bit ashamed at how nasty ds2 and ds3 were to ds1 last night. Ds1 has a very loud cough and was coughing quite a bit. Apparently it's almost better. But every time he walked in the room they said get the diseased person away from us and ran out. They refused to sit at the dinner table with him. I did make them of course, but they huddled up one end.
Ds2 wouldn't even speak to him. I think he's enjoyed being the oldest for a few weeks and was annoyed at his return. My boys have hated each other the past few years. They constantly fight and bicker. It's never ending. So I felt a bit unhappy last night, I feel my parenting must be awful to have created such hateful children. Our family holiday in July was a disaster with their constant arguing. I can understand young boys, but the older 2 are 15 and 18. Surely they should know better by now.
Anyway, ds was looking forward to his return. Hopefully not just to get away from his brothers. He'd already said he was happy there before his brothers started being pests. So that is good. The brothers did stay in their rooms both evenings, so I could talk to ds on our own.

I hope the rest of you seeing your dc's has gone well. It's nice that they all seem happy so far.

One girl had already left ds's accommodation. She wasn't happy, so was going to apply for a university closer to home.

[mumsiedarlingrevolta]

Has anyone set up a printer at UEA ?? Help!!

[CointreauVersial]

No idea on printers, I'm afraid. Do they not have printing facilities in the library?

@Itscoldouthere - you were asking about buses - both National Express and Megabus run directly from the campus into London (plus a few other cities). National Express goes to London Victoria coach station, but Megabus goes to Stratford City, so it's a shorter/quicker bus journey, but it all depends where you need to get to. Stratford tube is direct to London Bridge, so perfect for us.

DD1 has landed on her feet when it comes to food shopping, as her flatmate has a car, so regularly takes them all to the supermarket (one advantage of being in the Village is that there is car parking on the road behind the accommodation).

Sorry to hear some of the siblings have been less than welcoming to their returning freshers. Both of my other two have said how surprising it is how quickly they've "forgotten" they have a sister, even though DD1 and DD2 are pretty close. DD2 seems to have matured overnight now she's not fulfilling the annoying little sister role. Anyway, she's back on the 25th for a week - I finally finished doing up her new bedroom, which looks pretty nice, though I say it myself. And she's well used to a single bed by now!

[mumsiedarlingrevolta]

@CointreauVersial DH had one going spare so thought DD could use-I think the answer is you can't connect it to the wifi!!

@icanbewhatiwant DD is my youngest to leave the nest-I think the sibling relationships evolve a lot as they grow up-my DS's dipped in and out of brotherly love, mutual loathing, alpha competitiveness and have had phases where they have had very little in common-they are really chalk and cheese. They now get on really well now with a shared sense of extremely sarcastic and caustic humour and a bond over tormenting DD seems to have cemented the deal.

I think your DS's will find their way back to each other-those teen years are testosterone fuelled and can be tricky. Keep the faith. And have a

[icanbewhatiwant]

@mumsiedarlingrevolta thanks. I often wonder if they will ever like each other. The youngest is only 10 so not too much testosterone yet. They are always much better when one child is not with us.

Ds has already messaged from UEA "where's my butter?" He took a few food items back with him. He got up late and it was a rush to grab his things, I packed the food up and forgot butter, he didn't have any left. Never mind. I nearly sent a message back telling him he should have got up and done it himself. I am sure he'll survive without butter.

I'm sure he's only going to message when he wants something. But I feel much happier for seeing him.

It's going to be a strange week as ds3 is off on his year 6 residential trip this week. So only one child in the house. He's the one who never comes out his room. So a quiet week ahead.

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

@icanbewhatiwant I feel your pain re the siblings not getting on. For years DS and DD would spat all the time, resulting in arguments every time we left the house to go out. It was such hard work. Just recently they've 'clicked', so hoping that at some point your DC resolve their differences.

We had a great but super busy weekend - it didn't feel as if DS was home for more than 24 hours in reality. He's been well fed, watered and sent on his way with supplies. He seemed on very good form and said he's unlikely to come back again before the Christmas hols (which I think is an indication he's enjoying his life there). Getting his washing 'turned around' was a challenge though!

[juicy0]

@icanbewhatiwant hang on in there, hopefully the relationships will take a turn for the better over the Christmas break. It's so hard isn't it when you know how you'd like a situation to play out, be it a holiday or a night out, but end up disappointed with the reality.
@NewModelArmyMayhem18 I agree getting the washing turned around in such miserable weather was quite a challenge? I've just dropped DD back to halls with a weeks worth of shopping, clean clothes and caught up on some sleep 😊