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

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Previous thread.

DS home from Nottingham. 2nd load in the machine. He got changed and then off to an interview in a very posh restaurant, not sure hes their type, oh well their loss. He is now out with his mates and just called to see if they can all come over when the pub closes. It's so good having my smelly, untidy, lazy, spider-phobic son home 🧡🧡

DD arrived back on the train this afternoon that she thankful managed to board after a messy last night session. She arrived with 45 mins to spare before her supermarket induction. She is full of cold and promptly fell asleep on the sofa after dinner at 7pm so wasn’t interested in putting the Christmas decs up. So as usual it was down to me!

@Piggywaspushed I've just name changed and realised you're Piggy too! Will change again.

There's room for two of us piggie!

Chillywhippet
He is back on 22nd.
Cant wait to have him home.
I'm very impressed that some DC have found holiday jobs.

DD needs the job if she’s to fund her current rate of going out on the town. Will do her good and keep her grounded. Interesting conversation with her last night about her disappointment with her first election and the obvious privilege of many of her peers at Durham.

@Benjispruce, we must have had the same convo with DS on Friday night!

@Serin, all power to your DS

Your DS not going on the £800 skiing trip either @bigTillymint ?

Nope! He's not even mentioned it!

It’s certainly not what I expected university life to be. I guess it’s Durham and similar unis but I can see how they cater for the monied with the formals(dresses required) each month, expensive trips and even the sports team clothing isn’t cheap considering they are students.

Nothing wrong with wearing the same dress for every formal - can always wear different accessories / hairdo .

DS has missed train. DH not happy. Looking forward to this later...

@bengalcat yes she could wear the same dress, boys wear same suit/DJ, but if all the other girl have different dresses then there is a pressure to conform. I just don’t want her to feel like she does fit in. I didn’t expect to feel like this.

girls doesn’t

@Benjispruce doesn't seem like Durham has changed much since I was there from a very deprived area of the North East as an 18 year old then.

I'm back at uni as a fresher now and a very mature student and it's been a much different experience not having to fight the UK class system this time around constantly. I'm bloody knackered though (I commute in every day) and my back's gone after walking everywhere all term with a massive backpack on.

DS is lucky to be able to wear the same clothes for just about everything and hasn't bought all the kits for his team's - just the bare minimum. He was saying that some are spending £100s every week despite being fully catered. And aside from the money, the whole upper-class culture is a world away from his life back here But it's good life experience and I'm telling him to seize every opportunity he gets re friends whose parents have connections, etc

@Benjispruce if recollection serves me correctly Durham topped the board for the amount of money parents give their student DC every month (it was more than Oxbridge and St Andrew's which really surprised me).

@NewModelArmyMayhem18, that doesn't surprise me at all. And DS says most students seem to be from the South East...

I don't think anything like the same pressure has been exerted on Durham to become inclusive as has been on Oxbridge.

It’s probably just me taking this feeling of inadequacy upon myself. DD is happy, feels she is there under her own steam, which she most certainly is having been to state schools (1 in special measures) and had no tutoring or family connections help her along. It’s a new world. One guy has his shooting jacket with him so at times she feels like she’s looking in on an elite bubble. Having said that, her block of 20ish are all getting on great. There’s a mixture of state, grammar and private school students and most are down to earth.

Only 2 state pupils including DS on his corridor of 25. Maybe because he landed an ensuite it's even less mixed?

And I don't feel inadequate, and nor should you @Benjispruce. And definitely not our DC!

Benji and bigTilly - Dd is only 15 mins up the tracks from your two at Newcastle. Dd says there is a mix at Newcastle though she thinks less % from the south South than Durham. She’s one of the most Southern (we’re Midlands really) of her friends. There’s also a huge range of disposable income - many students are working. What is different is the social side - she has been to one ‘ball’ and wore a lovely £12 Asos dress. She is in a flat of 8, the international student had servants and ‘doesn’t do bins’!

It also appears wearing very little at all rather than gowns is still de rigour for most in Newcastle. I expect sub sections like the Agrics Society in Newcastle will have odd people with their shooting jackets.

In other news, Dd is home and has grown half an inch taller! Literally. She was the same height at 17 and 18 (birthday just before she left) and I thought I had put the last ceremonial mark on the doorframe. First thing she said to me was that I had shrunk!

Yes, DGodD is at Newcastle and DS has found it much more "normal" for him Plus proper clubbing

I don’t normally feel inadequate and neither does DD, just had a fleeting feeling of it on DD’s behalf. Head wobbled, thank you all.
Putting tree up now and DD feeling refreshed after 12 hours sleep .
She told me she sat next to a girl on a train(good idea for a book...) who was from Newcastle uni and her accommodation fees are £5k and next year’s house £90 pw and that’s not the cheapest! Will definitely be coming at it from a different angle if DD2 chooses uni.