University life for freshers (2019/20) - Christmas backpacking (or not) and festive homecomings with all the tinseltastic trimmings!

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Previous thread.

DS1 just texted to say I have done my duty. I am very proud that he located the polling station, went there in pissing down rain and cast his vote. We all know what a recluse he is and he did this all by himself.

Guess it's the Youthquake!

Very pleased to say both of my boys went out in the rain to vote today, I was worried that they wouldn’t go as they hadn’t received polling cards, although they had signed up in plenty of time. Thankfully they still went.
I’m rather dreading the result, but as I’m leaving the country soon I won’t be as affected as most. (Hope that’s the right word I always get affected/effected confused)

DD will be or has done her duty today. Her first time to vote! She registered to vote in her university town as soon as the election was announced.

DS has voted and he and a friend are staying up tonight to watch the results. He’ll be sleeping in the car on the way home tomorrow then!

@Ginfordinner Well done to your DD!

@RaptorInaPorkPieHat, that's a nice little bonus!

DD has voted, not sure about DS.... But he has done a wash before he comes home tomorrow!

DS looking at about £120pw plus bills for Bath accommodation next year. Anyone know if that seems about right? It’ll be around £7k (ish) all in. Doable but I don’t want to be throwing money away

It probably is MrKlaw, my DS is paying £122 per week in Nottingham, including bills. Bath will be more expensive , it is a lot of money isn’t it?

@MrKlaw My ds is at Bath too & his house next year will be £530 per month so your son’s house sounds like a good deal! I was taken aback at how much more expensive it is than the northern city my dd lives in

DS is in Nottingham and paying £125 per week inc bills next year.

Who else’s Dc is staying up all night to watch the results??? There’s going to be lots of lights on in their student village.

Not DD

I doubt my DS will stay up .... DH & I will, but as we vote differently it should be an interesting evening .

Well done @Ginfordinner on your DDs results.

@MrKlaw agree with others that sounds very reasonable especially for Bath

DD home on Saturday - DH going to collect her as she wants to bring her bike home - too many hills in Durham! She did a postal vote and sorted it out herself.

Thank you all. DD felt that her third exam went badly, so the result was significantly lower than the other two. Apparently the lecturer told them that the content had been covered at A level, except that DD did Edexcel for biology, and everyone else did AQA. DD had never studied some of the topics, so she did as well as she could have done.

I asked her if she could talk to her tutor about catching up. but she says she doesn't have anyone she can ask. It isn't like being at school where she can ask the teacher. Surely there must be a point of contact for students if they need to talk about their studies?

@Ginfordinner very well done to your DD, will make xmas all the more sweeter.
@Piggywaspushed Well to your DS. I confess I worried DS might forget about it and didn’t want to take any risk so got him to apply for a proxy vote at home which I cast for him.

@Ginfordinner I’d expect she can approach her tutor certainly. They do welcome students (at least the ones we saw on applicant day), who need help, at ds’s uni they have an open door policy and encourage them to pop in if they have any questions. She’s probably just a bit nervous as it’s still all new.

My DS rang me to say that he had not received a polling card at uni, though he did register. I told him to go to the polling station and see whether they had him on the list. Not heard from him again, though. He still has more than a week to go, unless they finish earlier than expected.

My DC stayed up judging by the posts on WA. No celebrating though.

One more week my till dd is home. She has a pretty full timetable too, to keep her busy. I forgot to arrange my rota so I'd be home on Saturday night, so am a bit gutted, and she's working on the Sunday, ready to start replenishing her bank balance. We'll have three weeks all together though, so I have to be a patient mamma. The most pressing thing now is to sort out her room, which has become a bit of a dumping ground. She's a neat freak so that won't do at all!

DS1 has just asked for £495 per month in Portsmouth presumably plus bills. Nothing from DS2 which suggests he hasn't started looking yet

Dd is applying for an on campus job as a representative to help other students. Ideal as it's a regular thing but not that many hours and will top up her funds.

DD home by train tomorrow but out tonight so just hope she makes it on time.
She voted in Durham but no celebration. Looking forward to seeing her. Just need to sort car insurance again. We used Veyago I think. Wasn’t too bad for temporary and means any accidents don’t affect my policy. Enjoy your returners everyone !

DD is off out tonight with the future house share group. I expect Newcastle on a Friday night to be pretty lively anyway, but with it being the end of term for the university it will be even livelier.

I've got my boy home Well he's off out with his old mates now - quite a contrast to his life at DU

DS back now and already emptying the kitchen even though he had dinner before he left :)

He’s off to the football with friends tomorrow - he’s been keeping in touch well with local friends after they’ve scattered to Unis all over which I’m glad about