I'm moving from England to China

Way back when in 2010 when my hair looked like this



and I was still at school, I went on a ten day trip to China with my mum and sister to visit my brother.
During my short stay China had made a serious impression on me and I wanted to get back as soon as I could, to work, to study I didn't care! I briefly looked into studying at a University in Hong Kong when deciding on universities aged 18, but didn't pursue it beyond looking at their website, I suppose I got daunted by the thought of moving out for the first time without the thought of moving to an entirely foreign country!

So despite this, I couldn't shake the feeling that I wanted to get back and an opportunity arose when my current University offers an integrated placement year into the degree, where I could essentially do anything that I wanted, as long as it was a form of skilled, challenging work!
In November 2013 an opening came about that I fell for, and by January my job for 12 months in China had been confirmed!

I have a one way flight booked and a visa tucked neatly into my passport, I begin work in July and arrive in China a few days before to settle in.

I may be sounding all casual and blah-say about this whole thing when writing it down, but since December I've spent many nights wide awake staring at the ceiling, so fizzy with excitement that I cannot sleep. I thought that I would feel a lot of fear and anxiety by now, but that hasn't set in yet, perhaps it doesn't feel real, perhaps I'll collapse under those feelings a week, or night before I leave, or when I start having to say goodbye gradually to friends and family.

What does all this mean for my blog and YouTube?

Well, I hear that there are some pretty strict rules on accessing all that out there, it extends to Facebook, Spotify, Netflix, so I have no idea what my life will consist of in my spare time? Perhaps I'll go outside? Get some hobbies? Who knows?
For now I have around a month to prepare before I get out there, in the mean time I will be filming videos like a crazy person to pre schedule to upload, preparing blog posts, in between packing and spending as much time in the real world, being able to savour using English and have other people understand me!

I've also heard mutterings of being able to 'get around' such restrictions, I'm hoping frantically that they will materialise into something without like, breaking the law!

A week since I moved...

It's been a little over a week since I first moved into my new dorm room, I've not got everything in it's place yet, and some parts still need rearranging, but this is the little overview and before and after of the chaos! The after is pretty blurry, I didn't realise until afterwards- sorry about that!

I still have some parts that I can't decide where they should go, for example the room has no drawers whatsoever, my old bedroom was full of drawers- so I'm finding it hard to get used to not having a designated pyjama drawer and such!

You can't tell from this angle but there is a door leading the bathroom right behind, the bathroom is very tiny and when you have a shower the water gets over everything which can be pretty annoying to wait to dry.
I did purchase some really cute Flash 'vintage edition bottle' style bathroom cleaner which I think is really fun, oh the small perks of responsibilities! It cost like £1 from Tesco which was the real reason why I bought it.
So there you have it- a little peek into the goings on in this new place

22nd of Spetember treating me kindly!

On the 22nd of September last year (before I'd even begun my blog) I passed my driving test, I've been fully licensed for a year woo!

This time last year I didn't know...

Where I was studying

Who I'd be studying with

What I'd be studying

Where I'd be living

and now today, on this very same day the following year is my official 'moving in' day

Nothing could describe the anticipation and excitement bubbling in my belly but the feeling of being a 'child' having to be left in my old bedroom as I move onto the first stage of being an 'adult'. At that point I still didn't feel like a 'proper' adult as I'm moving into what feels like boarding school for grown ups, a land between childhood and adulthood, where the university still watches over you, and you live in a kind of gated community but you have the first taste of no parental rules, full responsibilty for every last chore and no one giving you consequences or punishments for not handing in work on time

This is the view from my room out my window! I'm several stories high, and the UFO shaped thing in the clouds is only a reflection on the window of my ceiling light!

Who left the rubbish in the hallway?

You would be forgiven for thinking that 5 black sacks, 1 box of fragiles, 1 hot pink suitcase and one giant blue laundrette bag are all set to go out the rubbish but no... this is infact my most essential items from the past 18 years packed up into bags, cases and boxes and if any of that went out the rubbish I sure would notice!

　

My room here at my family home still looks just like my room, it's only until you open the wardrobe and cupboards that you see that the cupboards are a little bare

I can't believe that the next time that I see my things it will be in my new room, in a new flat with new roomates!