Examine that

On Wednesday and Thursday I had the pleasure of sitting some exams. I thought it was two three-hour papers, but I found out on Sunday that it was in fact three papers. So you can tell the extent of the preparation I did for them..

It’s a bit annoying sitting professional exams- necessary hoops to jump through in order to progress in any speciality. Unlike exams at university, there’s no-one else really going through the exams with you, and other people don’t really understand what the exams are, so there’s a distinct lack of sympathy for attention-seeking people such as myself. Again unlike at university, you don’t get any time off to revise/learn for them, so all your work is being done in the evening when you’ve just come home from a (usually tiring) day at work. There’s also no sense of relief when you finish or pass them, as you’ve gotta go back to work and again, there’s no-one else doing them. The benefit of them not being university exams is that you can resit them if you fail. It just costs you several hundred quid each pop.

I shouldn’t complain too much though. It is useful learning things, and I’ve found myself using some of the new information in work. And any difficulty with passing them is probably down to my laziness more than anything else. They were difficult, but they were always gonna be difficult, so we’ll see in a couple of weeks time how they went.

Work’s been going well recently. Initially when I came back I was piecing together one-off shifts to get some money in, but since the start of February I’ve been working on a full rota in a hospital in Belfast. It’s been nice having a steady routine and income, and as well the hospital is small and really friendly which helps with job satisfaction. Got on a work night out the other week after some night shifts and had the standard slightly-awkward conversations in work several days later when people comment on my unexpected dancing enthusiasm.

I’ll be there until the end of this month, when I’m doing a couple of weeks in a lab doing voluntary work (essentially a studentship) to try and see what I think of research and whether/how much I’d want it to be a part of my future career. So at the minute I’m in saving mode to try and prepare for being unemployed again!

A pretty major positive over the past few weeks is that my sister has been able to come up to Belfast a good number of times with my new nephew in tow! The wee dude is doing really well, and is a very well-behaved child, rarely venturing anywhere near crying. I was really honoured a couple of weeks ago when I was asked to be his godfather! I said yes, as I figured any opportunity to further my mission to become his favourite should definitely be taken.

M

Not Forgotten

Hello. Long while since I’ve blogged, trying to get back in the habit. Life has been good recently, work going well and time off work obviously going better. I was over in London at the weekend seeing a few people and the weekend basically involved drinking from like 11am and stuffing my face constantly in between uni-people catch-ups. Which was ideal.

Also had a nice time with the family the week before where we all went to my granddad’s old pub. He owned it during the Troubles so there were kind of mixed emotions with some of the generation above me, but obviously managing to get a large group of people together is a positive.

What I’m watching- Attack on Titan, The Walking Dead

What I’m playing- Ni No Kuni

What I’m reading- Twig, Clariel, Worm

What I’m hearing- The Corrs, Wild Nothing, Crystal Fighters

Need to step up my game in planning China. Tourist visas last for three months so I’ll likely go for that length of time, and am thinking of actually starting off in Japan for a bit! When in Rome, why not visit Sorrento. Exact plans will be confirmed a bit closer to the time, for now it’s about converting the pipe dream into some semblance of a pipe.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow, as I will be seeing THE CORRS. They were the first band I really listened to, albeit I was eight and had no choice in the matter of which casette was being played in the car. They’re doing a comeback tour and have released a new album; while it’s not amazing it has grown on me and I’ll happily hear new songs alongside the classics. That is if me screaming the words doesn’t drown out their singing. The only thing less cool than going to see The Corrs is going to see The Corrs with my parents. So I’m ticking that box.

Peace out bluds

M

Tie the knot

So it’s been two weeks or so now since my sister entered into the Super Grown Up world of married life! No more singe pringle ready-to-mingle for her. As he’s moved over to the Emerald Isle, the deal was that the two of them would get married where he’s from in Wales. And I’m not talking about Cardiff, I’m talking about the type of Wales where the family potatoes are served at the wedding (and great potatoes they were mind you)

As there was a lot of wedding stuff to bring, between various dresses, decorations and the like, and so we brought three cars over with us. Which meant we got to have a great amount of driving around the countryside and see the place. When the weather was nice it made for some beautiful scenery.

But yes let’s focus on the day itself. One brilliant aspect of the day was that family had gathered from all different parts of the UK, and people had come from other countries just to attend! My uncle came from USA, and my cousin with his family from Japan. So it was a great atmosphere because everyone was specifically there for the day, and our family pretty much took over every single B&B and pub in the area. The welsh contingent were so welcoming and there was just such a lovely vibe around the whole week.

With all the build-up and preparation that went into the wedding, I was expecting my sister to be quite stressed, trying to make sure that everything happened according to schedule and that nothing went too drastically wrong. But in her own words, she wasn’t so much Bridezilla as Bridechilla: I was so impressed by how relaxed she was, and she spent the day walking about with the biggest most genuine smile on her face, really seeming to enjoy herself. Spinning around with your veil while dancing to Robbie Williams’ Angels seemed to be a fun point.

But the whole day did (generally) go to plan very nicely. I’d made myself a chronological list of usher jobs and worked my way through them as the day went on, and thankfully all the effort my sister and mum/her bridesmaids put into the day paid off swimmingly. Apart from the minor issue of showing up at the church without any rings- I think that one caused a bit of stress. But thankfully they made their way up the aisle just as the priest was about to bless them, so no harm done.

The day was filled with so many personal touches, with references to Audrey Hepburn (my sister’s idol/hero/obsession) in the order of service, the groom’s dad getting up and singing Myfanwy & Danny Boy during the mass, and the venue sporting a 1897 steam engine that the groom’s dad had painstakingly restored and polished brilliantly! The speeches obviously had my mum and other sister bawling, and the food obviously had me making good-food-noises. Oh man the food, highlights include creamy garlic potatoes, cranberries and a huge platter of mini desserts that suddenly arrived and had my attention for at least 20 minutes. Apparently the caterers for one part of it recently catered for the Queen. Only the best for us of course.

There was a ceilidh, a band fronted by the groom, and a crapload of dancing. Needless to say I had to step outside to cool down from all my boogieing about five times throughout the night, and after we made our way through the choruses of Tell Me Ma, B*witched’s C’est La Vie and The Corrs’ What Can I Do To Make You Love Me (spot the irish wedding) the music came to a close at three in the morning. My feet were delighted but my sister was a bit heartbroken it was all over so didn’t let us go to sleep for another two hours.

Then the next day the two of them headed off on a tour of the west coast of America and a cheeky wee flight to Barbados. I’ve never liked them.

M