Back in Newcastle!!!!!

Hi all, so much has happened since I last wrote! So my last week in Hautefort was pretty boring and annoying. On my last day, the manageress let rip and managed to make me cry (thankfully it was over the phone so she didnt see!) Then the head caretaker thought it would be funny to upset me on my last day too, but this time I didnt cry, just got really really annoyed and after trying to defend myself in French while looking brave, finally decided just to walk away and tell him I couldnt be bothered to listen to him.

Heritage days were rubbish.

Also found out the manageress tried to fire me one week before the end of my contract (she rung my uni to discuss the possibility). Uni told her it was none of their business as my placement had nothing directly to do with uni and that she had to sort it out with me. I knew nothing of this until I got back to England and found an email from uni telling me theyd been contacted by her the week before. She obviously decided she had no good reason to fire me, so decided not to bother telling me about this said dismissal she wanted to carry out.

Stupid Chateau de Hautefort! So theyre getting a letter of complaint from me, my parents and my uni (once I actually get round to sorting it out). So got back to England (Worcester) on monday 17th around lunchtime. By wednesday night I was in Newcastle having unpacked and packed up again and been out for a nice Indian meal on the tuesday night with M&D. Thursday morning (20th) I started freshers crew training. Freshers crew are 230ish non-firstyear students selected from over 1200 candidates following crazy application forms and filmed dares during interview, who wear red tshirts all day every day for a week and help welcome the freshers. Moving them into halls, showing them round Newcastle on walking and bus tours, taking them on trips to paintballing, breakdancing, baltic/laing art gallery, poledancing, aquarium, bowling, archery, quayside culutral trips, golf, night golf, go-karting etc etc etc, helping to register them, and sign them up for above activities, entertain them with stupid dancing while theyre queuing to get into the union for evening events, leading overspill pubcrawls, organising shuttle buses from union to halls of residences at end of night, spirit-lifting and small-talking during night events (cabaret, ceilidh - probs not spelt right! casino night, heaven n hell night etc etc etc) v v v knackering.

Freshers week was officially from mon morn till tonight - have all of the metro radio arena booked out for GLOW tonight (although freshers moved in on sat and sun) but we crew had to be in Newc from thurs morn for 'training' and the supervisors, chief supervisors, drivers, chief drivers and 4 organisers had to be around from last weds morn (19th), and it unofficially goes on for crew (not for the freshers) until sun night. Tomo night is crew meal and night at solution (union night), sun night is official crew BBQ and beer party and sat will be sth unofficial too. However, I dropped out yest morn. Am tired, ill and still withdrawing from a stupid cocktail of alcohol, proplus, milkthistle, alcodol, vit C, lucozade and berocca. Dont worry I never took all the above at any one time!!!!!!!!!!! Just not cool enough!!!!!

Since then have had stress of registering for course, changing modules (of course, cos its never easy enough to get right first time!) liaising between school of English and School of Modern Languages to try and minimise the number of clashes I have, emailing several tutors to check things, signing up for seminar groups, realising the last one I need to sign up for which has only just been put up clashes with the first one I signed up for three days before etc etc etc (If I were still on crew god knows how I would have managed to do all this!) Also was on freshers stall for modern languages society on mon morn for 2 hours.

My crew time-table was as follows (there were 25 different crews):

Thurs 10 - 2.30 ish - meet rest of crew and supervisor, decide on fancy dress theme, have lunch together for team-bonding (didnt really bond with my crew, part of the reason I dropped out), buy costumes (our theme was bath-time, so shower caps, towels, rubber ducks, eye-masks and shaving foam), go for few drinks in the Hancock
5 pm onwards - meet for drinks on Osborne Rd, go to few bars before ending at crew launch party in Envy/Liquid

Fri 12pm - meet for lunch, drinks at the Hancock, make up freshers giftbags, using several small production lines (I was last in my crews line, adding the Endsleigh Insurance envelope after the Tyneside cinema brochure, nightlife guide, SCAN brochure, saville emdical info, Courrier (uni newspaper), tampons (what did boys need these for?) sweets and condoms). Few more drinks and later an unofficial night at Northumbria union. Instead I went out with Annas old housemates to WHQ

Sat - 12 till 1 or 2 Freshers start actually arriving. Move freshers into Windsor Terrace (carry lots of heavy suitcases and boxes and get lost in a building Ive never set foot in before in my life either!)
3-5 or 6 Register freshers (check name, address, age and date of birth, issue freshers wristbands)
8- ? Meet for drinks at Union, go to Ceilidh and encourage freshers to dance and drink, dance and drink, dance dance dance

Sun - 11-1 move people in Castle Leazes (Freemens hall so still got lost!), 1.30 - 2.30 Quayside cultural trip apparently, but never happened, 3-4.40 ish - move people in Henderson Hall
7.30 ish go to overspill event at Sam Jacks having chatted to freshers waiting to get into Heaven n hell event, escort few freshers to the Crows nest and Bar 42 on the way

Mon 9-1 paintballing supposedly, but I was on the Modern Languages stall instead 3-4 Accompany freshers to ASDA and bagpack for them supposedly but I had an introductory SML lecture so got out of it! mon night was band night at the Union, but we were 'on duty' at richardson Rd flats first, spirit-lifting, knocking on doors, and encouraging freshers to get themsleves down to the union.... Rest of crew went out afterwards anyway, but as was 'off-duty' after 10ish went home to bed!

Tues - was supposed to be Aquarium 12 - 4 but our crew timetable changed, so we did breakdancing from 1 till 2 (every muscle in my body aches) and then from 3.15 8 of our crew accompanied TWO frehsers (a german girl and a norwegian girl) to the Laing Art gallery.... Evening event was Viva Las Vegas. Drag Queen was good but rest of cabaret was a bit rubbish, Oasis tribute band were good too. Around tues lunchtime decided was definitely dropping out the following morn! From 7 till midnight we were officially 'on-duty' in Queue entertainment, standby and overspill

Yest would have been Aquarium and bowling for the bath-time crew plus the 'kiss it' event at the Union, some gig night hosted by Kate Lawler (ex Big brother winner) Instead I had 2 lectures anyway - introductory linguistics one and a careers talk. Last night would have been on transport (shuttle-bus) duty from 12 till 2.30 am i.e counting people in, keeping people in the queue and making sure freshers didnt vom all over the back of buses I guess! Today according to our timetable there was nothing during the day, but theres the huge GLOW night which I would have had to go to. So glad I dropped out!!!!!

So, my modules this year are:
French General language level D, Writing and Interpreting
Spanish General language level D Interpreting and Translating
Syntax and History of Spanish (semester 2 only)
Modern French Literature (semester 2 only)
Second language Acquisition of French
World Englishes (School of English)

Will be the first time Ive done a literature module since being at Uni! Have always done either film studies or linguistics ones, once I did a latin american studies module which was HORRIBLE

Right better go! Got to email Modern Languages societies mailing list, advertising events this year, and plan letters of complaint to Hautefort among other things!

Havent yet sorted out internet at the house, promise when I do will get some photos of Hautefort etc on here!