China; 7 days until departure

Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai campus, summer 2014

Whilst I still have a few final details to sort out before the middle of next week (picking up anti-malarials, printing my plane ticket, writing a packing list, getting the name of the place where I'll be staying in Chinese characters etc...) I'm excited to launch my China travel blog, Chinese Whispers, with a theme that I've been dying to try out on Wordpress. See the work-in-progress here;

https://nikitainchinablog.wordpress.com/

I'll be updating this blog for the next couple of months, with all of my antics and adventures in The Middle Kingdom (the literal translation of "China" in Mandarin Chinese). I don't know which I'm more hyped about; moving to China for half a year or setting up a new blog to document it all! Can't wait to see how the mosaic-style home page fills with photos and posts in the near future! 

2016 and what it might mean for me.

I've neglected this blog for far too long.

I'm in a strange sort of limbo at the moment, having been back from India a month, and heading off again in another month.

My noticeboard, which has evolved into something of a Travel Shrine. 

However, a few things to mention before I get into all of that;

• http://joyfulpostpanda.tumblr.com/ --> new artsy Tumblr thing, where I'll be posting edited images themed around all things India and travel. 
• This blog has officially hit 10,100 views! I can't really believe it, the little project I started at the age of 16 to showcase some GCSE Artwork is still going nearly 5 years later. I'd like to think that it's moved on a bit since then, but it remains a sort of hybrid between an online diary of sorts and a notebook of thoughts & ideas for me. Thanks as always to my regular followers, as well as anyone just dropping by (usually re-directed from Google Image searches, as my Blogger stats inform me!)

So, I didn't think that I'd been up to that much since returning from India, but I've actually been quite busy, travelling hundreds of miles up and down the country by train, visiting friends and family before I depart for another 5 months+ jaunt abroad, 

It's important to touch base with people in between these adventures, otherwise I worry that they'll think I've forgotten them. Plus so much has physically happened since they last saw me that I need to fill them in on some stuff (and vice versa) or we'll never be able to catch-up!

And what next?

Well, here's a small hint...

Not quite to scale, obviously. 

Edinburgh trip and my tips for Fresher's!

I think I'll start with my Edinburgh photos, consdering that I did go to Scotland 3 weeks ago, and I still haven't really sorted my photos out nicely. However, I've chosen the best of them, (I would like to point out that it was very dark some of the time when we were there, hence some of the pictures appearing so gloomy...I'd like to think that it just adds a moody atmosphere!) and here they are, showing some of the most famous and striking scenes of the Scottish capital;

 

Yet, due to a random turn of events, we also ended up being in Edinburgh during the hottest week in Septemeber ever recorded there - what are the chances?

 

Anway, some of the landmarks in the above photos are (from top); St.Mary's cathedral, Prince's Street gardens, the back of the Royal Mile (as seen from Prince's Street) and some of the oldest buildings of the University of Edinburgh. Scotland has a much more varied and interesting history than I've ever really thought about before, especially with John Know and Mary Stuart. The city was also in some parts just as beautiful as London, Oxford or Cambridge, and was a much quieter capital city than I've ever been to, but that turned out to be a very nice thing for tourists like us (the Primark in Prince's street was less crowded than my local Primark, in a pretty insignificant town!).

 

I've now been to the capitals of England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland all within 6 months! I think I've been to about 7 capital cities in my entire life; London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris, Paphos, Tunis and Palma (Majorca)...so that's not loads, but a lot of the places I've been to (Murcia, Barcelona, Crete, other Greek islands, Venice, somewhere in Mexico, Ibiza) are just big or famous cities that are not actually the capital of that country, although I think Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia.

 

So that's pretty much ended my travelling for the year, unless I win the lottery, because my student loan approval has arrived, and believe me, the lottery is the only way that I'm going anywhere in a hurry! That brings me onto my next subject, my tips for Fresher's (or should I say, Fresher's-in-waiting) which are by no means comprehensive, especially as I don't have much experience, but just a few things that I would advise any other people currently waiting to university to do;

 

• Get a student back account. Several of my friends have left this very late, and may miss out on a free overdraft, which can come in very useful when waiting for your next loan installment!
• Look in advance at which clubs and societies your university offers, and which you might like to join. Fresher's fair is going to be insane, you don't want to sign up for things in the heat of the moment, which could cost you a lot more than a whole load of annoying mail on your university email account! It could also decide what you're going to pack, like sports clothes or a swimming costume as the need may be.
• Get ahead. If your course has a reading list, with millions of books on it, don't be intimidated. Order a couple of the cheap books from Amazon or Abbebooks or similar and look through them in the days before you arrive, it'll make you feel better about doing nothing (educational)all summer and get rid of the "I don't know anything!" panic.
• Write a buying list and a packing list. The buying list is of things you need to get (think about the type of accomodation you're in, if you have an ensuite or a kitchen, this will be different to if you have neither, like me), and the packing list is for when you're making sure you haven't forgotten anything. Here's a great list: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/What_To_Take_To_University
• Make friends before you go? The Student Room is great for this, you can speak to people on your course, or at your uni, weeks in advance, so that at least in some small way, you don't feel like you're going it alone. The website is free to sign up to, and you can go on it as little or often as you want, or you can just lurk on threads, if you're really scared of talking to people...you never know, you might find your future flat-mate! This is also extremely useful, as I've been able to ask people doing my course which books are really needed, and which I can manage without, although I've still had to spend a lot of money on books, it's saved me about £20!
• Read this article as a great point of reference: http://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/freshers-guide-17-things-you-need-to-know-902619.html
• And lastly - enjoy yourself! Whether Fresher's (the drinking, partying side of it people always seem to focus on) is your thing or not, the main thing to remember is that it only ever lasts for about a week, and soon you'll be back into the oh-so-familiar routine of trying to juggle studying and your social life, except you'll be living somewhere entirely new, with new friends and all of your new societies and clubs to welcome you into university life!

 

 

Photos

I've been spending some of my time recently taking photos, of things that I know I can use on Polyvore, Tumblr etc. Anyway, I'm going to post these images up here because they're interesting in themselves (not merely a means to an end!) and they're for anyone to use if interested, just credit (I don't even know what that means...) or post a link back to here! (That's more straightfoward I think :)

Taking photos of random things I find in/ around my house is a good way to kill a couple of bored, job-less, hours a day, and I can convince myself that this is somehow productive, as these images may prove useful in later life...

I made the collage myself out of leaflets from my local library! Desperate times call for desperate measures! Also, the beautiful text and illustrations are from an old copy of my dad's "The complete works Shakespeare, illustrated".

28.04.12

  by nikigirl on polyvore.com

Well, the April showers have continued, and here we are a week later...I wish I had something more interesting to report, but aside from preparing for exams, schoolwork, and hearing people complain about the weather, this week has not been that eventful. Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily, but there you have it. I created this image ages ago, and for some reason having gotten around to publishing it before now, I think I've just had it saved somewhere and forgot about it. I hope that how my memory works, you know, during an exam when you can't remember something but then it appears really randomly, as if it's been "saved" somewhere, just waiting for the right thought to trigger it.

I think one of my favourite quotes that I have come across this week is by Mary Waldrop, she says;

"It's important that people know what you stand for. It's equally important that they know what you won't stand for."

I think for me this is a definite target, I have a horrible habit of saying yes to things, usually work, or something someone else wants, just for the sake of keeping peace. Although helping people constantly is a good thing, and let's people know that you stand for kindness and helpfulness, I think that there is definitely a time and a place to say no, otherwise you end up with nothing left for yourself!

Another quote I found (Einstein's extension of Parkinson's Law) is one that I'm writing up simply because it describes my life so well at the moment; "A work project expands to fill the space avaliable", it's the same with my revision for the next 6 weeks, it's not about getting a certain amount of revision done, it's about filling all the avaliable space I can with revision, and subsequently re-remembering and learning things constantly, rather than sitting down and saying "I have to do 5 hours a day" or something.

Wish me luck.

and......I'm 18! :D

And......I'M 18! :D by nikigirl featuring louis vuitton bags

So yesterday was my 18th and I feel so much more positive about life right now, which is kind of crazy considering everyone expects the day after a birthday to be depressing, but I always enjoy things more in retrospect! Seriously though, I had a great day, we're talking, family, friends, presents, champagne, cocktails, clubs, Nandos, a whole load of snow (resulting in some serious snow ball fights/ half-sober snow angels) and to top it all everyone else seemed to be having a great time too, which means a lot to me - my friends are so generous! <3

Oh yeah, and photo day was awkward, but it wasn't terrible - I guess some things really aren't as bad as they seem. ANYWAY, back to my 18th, I got a lovely new laptop which I'm typing this on now! I think it just became real to me that this is the year my adult life begins, and hopefully in less than 8 months time this very same laptop will be sitting in my university room with my somewhere! Exciting times ahead!

I'm literally sitting here surrounded by birthday cards/ balloons whilst typing in bed (for me, this is new - I've never had a laptop)....feels surreal, but good, especially with all of the snow still outside!


I love this image, I made it weeks ago in preparation for my 18th, I just thought it looked so chic and outgoing, it suited 18 as the age when you really start to live your own life (even though I don't normally like red) so this image, as well as being on my Polyvore, is also my desktop for my new laptop <3 !

Everyone reading this - have a great day!

People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.

People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges. by nikigirl

Feeling a bit down this week :( I hate uncertainty......

In a week I'll be rapidly approaching my birthday!

This doesn't cheer me up at all, I have nothing arranged whatsoever :/

Even worse, we have school photos next week! As if it wasn't bad enough, we have to dress up. I don't like fancy dress, and I don't own anything suitable either...
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Drawing a line under all of that; this image is all about having your own style, and not being afraid to be yourself, even if you aren't bold or sassy or even particularly fashionable. It's supposed to be about the art behind the fashion, not the money, not the culture or the marketing. About the ideas people used to have and the way that they expressed them.


Things can't always be as bad as we imagine they are, can they?

Simplicity

Sometimes the basics are the best.

Only 2 more days in school, 2 more exams, then it's Christmas!

The wait is hard, but it will be worth it, just a few more hours of revision, a few more cards to write, presents to wrap, decorations to display, and time will pass before I know it!

But I do love black & white photographs, and Paris, and pink things, and of course, the beautiful Emma Watson to set it all off :) this image is a reminder of why I should persevere - once it gets to the Christmas holidays I'll have loads more time for image editing!

Simplicity by nikigirl on polyvore.com

I'm back! I have some great photos of my holiday to Croatia (Rovinj) and day trip to Venice and can't wait to start editing them for use on here, however I have about 10 days worth of emails, work, schoolwork and general sorting out to do as is always the case when returning from a long holiday :( this image is made up of photos I took from a mini-break I had in Hayling Island, on the South Coast, a lovely few days of sunshine and Great British scenery which I must say I missed slightly in the hot climate of Eastern Europe.

In other, amazing news I achieved AAAA in my AS levels and am still celebrating! It seems a year of almost solid hard work was well worth it and I'm now aiming for AAA next year, and being able to apply to some really great universities! Nothing beats this kind of feeling (even if I did have to open my results in front of loads of people in Stansted airport terminal!) and right now I am just so happy - bring on the rest of the summer holidays!

For the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Despite having visited Girton College Cambridge in February, and staying there for a few nights on a shadowing scheme (which included my 17th birthday!) this image which I made some time back has now gained new significance after the Royal Wedding two days ago, in which William & Kate gained the titles Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, given to them by the Queen, as is often done upon Royal marriages.

Although they don't seem to have an obvious connection to the city, I really like those titles, and am happy I have a relevant image to show made from photos I took first-hand!
I hope everyone got to watch the wedding, which was spectacular, and wish the new Royals every luck :)

I just love this. It's my current desktop background, and it just about stops me from getting completely stressed out when I look at it. Just about. I found several stunning scenic photos and blended them, using the sunset colours, and am very happy with the result, so I thought I'd share it with everybody :)

Ready for another Spanish piece? This time the photos are all of the lovely house + surrounding landscape of where we stayed in Mallorca/ Majorca in Ses Olleries for 2 weeks this summer :)

I love using the "duplicate" effect on GIMP to make the different parts of the collage look like they're moving...

I'm back! After almost a month in Spain I return, promising more artwork updates before school starts again in a week :s

Anyway, one of my favourite parts of visiting mainland Spain was being able to visit Barcelona, so I'm very excited about this picture as I took all of the photos I used in it! Yay, firsthand resources! I just had to made something that included some beautiful shots of the famous Sagrada Familia (foreground) and other great buildings in Barcelona. (background)