Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

And so starts another year at Keble.  While Freshers Week is designed to help the new 1st year settle in and meet people, I’ve found that the week actually lends itself much more to returning students that to new ones in terms of making friends – last year, I was introduced to so many people that, by the end of the week, I could scarcely name more than a handful of people.  But this year, since I already know a heck of a lot of people, it’s been great catching up with old friends, and meeting new ones too.  And I can actually remember names.  Well, mostly.

So, events so far this term.  Posh Fish, McDonalds, Dominos and G&Ds have all already been visited, and they haven’t lessened in quality (apart from the fact that Posh Fish gave me a comparably smaller portion of chips when I visited, but I’m treating that as an isolated and hopefully rare incident).  I went to my first foam party, which was a bit messy to say the least, but it was really quite fun – it did look like everyone was going to drown in foam at one point, but thankfully everyone survived and my clothes look none the worse for wear, excluding my shoes.  Damn, I need some new shoes.  I also helped administer the freshers’ quiz in the Keble bar, saw some amazing a capella, and generally had a nice time.

My new room, 3510, is on the top floor of the Liddon quad.  It has a great view over Liddon, which is a good thing in some ways, but a bad thing when I think forward to the amount of distractions there will be when I’m revising for my exams in Trinity Term.  This year I get an en suite bathroom, a shower that actually works properly, and a normal sized sink – my sink from last term was so small that even cleaning a cup in it proved a challenge sometimes.  I’m currently in the progress of room decoration, which includes buying all kinds of posters and shiz.  Also, after buying a fridge from another student at the end of last year, I arrived in Keble this week only to discover that my room, having been recently refurbished, already came with a fridge, but I was able to sell it on rather quickly.  On the subject of fridges and the beverages contained therein, I’m going to try and make a resolution not to buy lots of Coke / other fizzy drinks at Sainsburys this year – my big belly will thank me for it!  I’ve also joined the Keble gym, feeble as it is, although it means that I may be more motivated to exercise when the weather outside is dreadful.

Work-wise, this term I’m only doing two modules – Algebra and (Complex) Analysis.  I dropped OOP (Object Orientated Programming), as did all of the other Maths&CompSci joint students, for the simple fact that it is a stupid subject which should not be taught or ever have existed.  So this term should be a little less busy in terms of work, and more busy in terms of FUN!  I have a new Analysis tutor this term, Dr Curnock, who was my LAII lecturer last year.  So hopefully that will work out… well.

I did have to suffer through a collection on Friday morning though, and I’m not sure that Jan will be best pleased about my result, oops.  Re-Freshers Fair was great, it’s basically Freshers Fair, but for returning students, I signed up to a few things, and am prepared to be bombarded with emails soon enough.  They’re already flooding in…

Apart from that, the week has seen the accommodation manager be annoyed at the entire block because some person left some doors open, no housekeeping (which means no bin being emptied, it’s overflowing twice over now I think), I had my first delicious, and very greasy, brunch of the term, and spent some very special family time with my new college “wife” and children.  Oh, and apparently I’ve been signed up to do ballroom dancing or something?  Who knew.