The Start Of Studying Abroad!

Well it’s finally here. I am now in Canada beginning the start of my Study Abroad experience. So far I’m beginning to settle in and get used to things over here. Right now it is currently the start of my second full day in Canada and I thought it was time to just share a few initial thoughts about how it’s going so far.

At the moment it sort of feels like I’m out here for a holiday and not here to study. Speaking to my fellow exchange students I’m not the only one who feels like this! I suppose at the moment it is sort of a holiday, classes don’t begin until Thursday next week and right now I’m partaking in the international students welcome events. Obviously academic work is coming up soon but right now it’s more about being relaxed, getting used to things and having fun.

The weather out here is lovely. Since I landed I’ve enjoyed more sun over the past few days than I did the entire summer back in England! Generally you don’t think of Canada as being a particularly sunny country however from my first-hand experience I can tell you that it definitely is sunny! I know that a long, cold, snowy winter is coming but right now I’m enjoying the sun.

There’s many differences between Canada and England, I probably end up writing many posts about cultural differences. However one of the biggest differences that keeps hitting me is just how big everything is over here. The campus is enormous! At least four times as big as my Uni’s campus back in the UK. I’ve walked across quite a lot of it and still barely scratched the surface of just how far it extends. By the end of the year I will have done so much walking!

So far so good and I’m looking forward to finding out what is going to come next!

Probably The Last Study Abroad Post Before I Set Off

Well the title says it all, this is probably going to be the last post about me studying abroad before I set off for Canada.

So, what’s happening right now? Well as far as I know I have now got more or less everything I needed to do in the UK before I set off done. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that something unforeseen comes up in the next few days, but hopefully not. The whole process from right back when it started seems to have involved not much happening and then suddenly loads of things to do at once!

At the moment the main thing I’m feeling is that I am just ready to go. It’s like when you’ve been revising heavily for an exam and you get to that point a day or two beforehand when you feel like there’s not really much more you can do and you just want to get on with it.

I have previously talked about what I’m looking forward to doing once I’m there so I won’t go over that again. It’s just going to be a really interesting experience.

I will continue to blog once I am out in Canada actually finally doing it. There’s probably going to be lots of posts about me getting used to cultural differences! However I think this is probably going to be the last post before I fly out on Tuesday.

My Haul – An Interesting Haul

Well I recently had a short break in my Uni city, one last visit before I fly out to Canada. Whilst I was there I did some shopping and ended up buying quite a lot of interesting things. It’s an interesting and varied selection that I thought was worth writing a haul post about.

First stop for buying things was Disney Store, currently there’s a collection of plushies on offer. Meeko from Pocahontas was included in this offer and I just had to get him. If you know me you probably know that I love racoons and Meeko is my favourite Disney animal sidekick.

I like Tsum Tsums. That’s probably become pretty obvious given just how often they pop up in My Hauls. As I went to Disney Store I added an Ewok from the recently released Return of the Jedi collection. I love that expression which both manages to look manic and endearing.

And the final item in Disney Store was the growing Groot action figure. I saw him first back when Guardiansof the Galaxy Vol. 2 was released and thought it was a cool idea for a figure however the price seemed too expensive. But just £6.29 in the summer sale seems good value.

In Build A Bear Workshop I found a bear Flash tee, given how much I love the Flash obviously I had to get it. I’m hoping this might mean that they’re also going to do a Flash bear for when Justice League comes out.

Doctor Who Mr Men books are a genuine officially licensed thing. They’re actually well done and funny, both an affectionate tribute to the various eras of the show and a parody of them. I added the Seventh Doctor to my growing collection of them.

An unexpected present was Nadiya’s British Food Adventure, the latest cookbook from the wonderful Nadiya Hussain. I’ve been watching the series and each week I have been thinking how good the recipes are and that I definitely need to get the book so I can cook them. And now I have the book!

Right at the very end of the break I found the Tiana doll by Hasbro on a really good offer. I do already have a Tiana however I absolutely love The Princess and the Frog and Tiana is my favourite Disney Princess. I wanted to get another one as my Tiana was not wearing the green dress and as this was on offer I decided to finally get her.

So that’s it for this haul. I think it’s an interesting selection of stuff that manages to cover all of my interests and enthusiasms. I suspect that probably the next time I’m writing a big haul post like this I will be in Canada!

Study Abroad – Two Weeks To Go…

In two weeks’ time I am going to be heading out to Canada where I will be studying abroad for the 2017/18 academic year. It’s very nearly here!

So, here’s a few thoughts and feelings about where I am right now in the process of doing a year abroad...

·         August seems to be flying by. It really doesn’t feel like it can be two weeks since I was writing about it being a month to go.

·         By this point I’m pretty sure I have everything I need to do sorted. I’m sure there might be something else that comes up but right now I am on top of everything.

·         I plan to be using holidays, breaks and weekends to travel about in Canada and America.

·         I’m really looking forward to experiencing a proper Canadian winter. I might not be saying that in January 2018 but right now I’m excited about proper snow!

·         One of the things I’m looking forward to is finding out about various cultural differences. Not just the big obvious stuff but the little everyday things too.

·         I also want to experience holidays and events that I’m familiar with (like Christmas and Halloween) in another country to see how they differ.

·         There’s going to be a lot of differences, even in the stuff I’m studying. I decided to use having a year abroad to take a different selection of modules to what I usually do.

I think overall I still feel excited more than anything else. There’s some nervousness but that’s always the case whenever I try something new. Studying abroad for a full academic year is a really exciting prospect and I’m looking forward to living in a different country!

Disney Princesses as Doctor Who Companions

I’ve mentioned before that I like to sew outfits for my doll collection. My latest project has been making outfits inspired by Doctor Who companions for some of the Disney Princesses. Normally I don’t feel like sharing the doll outfits I make on my blog, however I am really pleased with how these ones have turned out so I thought they were worth sharing.

Merida as Amy Pond

Merida is wearing an outfit that is inspired by the one Amy Pond wore in Victory of the Daleks, to me it feels like a very natural fit to have Merida as Amy Pond. It was a relatively simple outfit to make however I think the end result is very effective. The boots (borrowed from Hasbro’s Pocahontas) finish off this one perfectly.

Belle as Clara Oswald

Belle is Clara Oswald, or more specifically Oswin Oswald from Asylum of the Daleks. The sleeves were quite fiddly to make but I think that ultimately this dress came out well.  I love the little detail of giving Belle a set of measuring spoons attached to her belt, this echoes the whisk in Oswin’s belt.

Rapunzel as Rose Tyler

Finally (for now!) we have Rapunzel dressed as Rose Tyler. This outfit is based on the one worn by Rose in The Idiots Lantern, it might not be the first outfit you think of Rose wearing but it’s certainly one of the most memorable ones she wore. I think this is the best cardigan/jacket I have made so far. I’m very pleased with how the sleeves sit on her shoulders.

I think these three princesses look ready to have adventures in time and space. They’re the only ones I plan on doing at the moment however I may well make more outfits inspired by Doctor Who companions in the future.

The Sarah Jane Adventures Appreciation

Recently I have been watching all of The Sarah Jane Adventures and I thought I’d write a blog post sharing some appreciation for this wonderful series.

If you didn’t already know The Sarah Jane Adventures is a Doctor Who spin off series that follows the adventures on Earth of former companion Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen). In the first episode – Invasion of the Bane - Sarah Jane adopts Luke. Sarah Jane, her son and their friends Maria, Clyde and Rani then save the world from various alien threats on a weekly basis. The series ran for 5 seasons from 2007 to 2011, it came to an end in 2011 because of Elisabeth Sladen’s death.

It was definitely a part of the wider Doctor Who universe. There are monsters that are familiar from Doctor Who – like the Slitheen, the Sontarans and the Judoon – who appear. There’s also appearances from former Doctor Who companions K9, Jo Grant and the Brigadier. The Doctor himself even appears in two different stories. There’s no doubt that The Sarah Jane Adventures is connected to Doctor Who. And yet The Sarah Jane Adventures also managed to be its own unique thing. The stories are usually self-contained and whatever the situation is it never really feels like the Doctor’s presence is missed.

Undoubtedly at the heart of the series was Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Her warmth, humour and friendship shone throughout. She was more than capable of carrying the series and was a very likeable protagonist. When I first watched The Sarah Jane Adventures I didn’t really appreciate just how good (and rare) it was to see an older woman being presented as a capable and competent hero. Capable and competent is definitely a good phrase to describe Sarah Jane, she knows what’s up and she knows how to handle the situation.

Throughout its run The Sarah Jane Adventures was regularly willing to tackle themes of tolerance, prejudice and acceptance. These were some of the key themes and something which played into multiple stories. In terms of tolerance the show also practised what it preached with an ethnically diverse cast of characters and a good mix of male and female characters. They were even going to have Luke come out as gay had the series continued!

The storylines within The Sarah Jane Adventures worked well for the series. Unlike Doctor Who it never got bogged down with big, dramatic, overblown arcs. Most of the stories are just standalone adventures with some connections from week to week. The stories mainly follow a villain-of-the-week format but the talent of the writers meant that it doesn’t feel repetitive. The tone varies throughout the stories, some of them - usually anything involving the Slitheen – are silly and lighter hearted and there’s nothing wrong with having a bit of fun sometimes. Then there’s the more serious stories.

The Sarah Jane Adventures was a very emotionally intelligent series. The characters are allowed to be emotionally complex. Everyone in the main team ends up growing a lot throughout the series as they either deal with situations that have a significant personal resonance or we learn more about who they are. The series doesn’t speak down for its younger target demographic. Indeed there are several episodes – such as The Mark of the Berserker, The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith and The Curse of Clyde Langer – which are incredibly moving and poignant drama.

Everything about The Sarah Jane Adventures just worked well. It had likeable characters, interesting storylines and it’s very entertaining. So if you’re a Doctor Who fan who has never seen The Sarah Jane Adventures then I would firmly recommend it. If (like me) you grew up with the series and haven’t watched it since then I would definitely say that it’s one worth revisiting.

My Haul – Space Stuff and a bit of DC

In this haul post I’m doing a bit of a roundup of some of my recent purchases. Funnily enough several of the things I’ve bought recently have a bit of a space theme.

First, in B & M Bargains I found this large Green Arrow action figure. As I found him in a B & M he was obviously a bargain, I paid just 6.99! He’s in scale with the Flash I bought in a previous haul, both of them are roughly in scale with the DC Superhero Girls dolls. With Flash, Green Arrow and Supergirl I appear to have inadvertently collected the lead characters from the DC TV Series!

Next, at an Antique and Collectors fair that I went to recently I found this wonderful Wall-E and Eve. I got the two of them for only £12 which is a good deal, especially given that they’re in good condition. As far as I can tell they were released back when the movie came out. Both of them are highly poseable. Wall-E also has light up eyes and makes sounds which is very endearing.

I found the Tsum Tsum of Finn from Star Wars for just 99p! At such a good price I decided that I had to add him to my collection. Previously I’ve bought Rey and Poe so now I have the complete team of the new resistance fighters that were introduced in The Force Awakens.

Finally I bought a new comic, the first DC Rebirth volume of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. DC Rebirth is the most recent relaunch/reboot of the DC Comics universe. I’ve read a few Rebirth volumes and they’re really good because they’ve taken the characters back to the core of who they are. As I’ve been wanting to try Green Lantern comics for a while this seemed like a good jumping on point.

So that’s some of my recent purchase, Space Stuff and a bit of DC.

August Life Update

It’s a week into August and I’ve been neglecting this blog a little bit recently. I don’t really have an excuse, it’s just kept slipping my mind and I’ve not been particularly inspired to write much recently. However as I’ve accidentally dropped it a little I thought it was time to do another life update.

·         At the end of this month I go out to Canada for my year of studying abroad. I shared how I’m currently feeling about this in my post on Studying Abroad – A Month To Go.

·         It’s strange to think that I’m now quite well over half way through my summer break. As always it feels like it has flown by.

·         I live in a small town when I’m not at uni and so there’s not a lot for me to do over summer break, however I have been keeping myself busy.

·         I’ve been doing a lot of sewing over the course of this summer break. I often tend to do a lot of sewing whilst I’m away from university.

So that’s a brief update on what’s happening in my life right now. I have some stuff planned to go up later on this week.