The end is in sight! With less than two weeks before I fly home for Christmas, and only a few lectures left to go, my time in France is nearly over, apart from two weeks of exams in January. That's just crazy! Although at the moment I can't wait to go home and I'm constantly playing Christmas songs that make me nostalgic and emotional, I can't believe how quickly time has flown here. Still, there's a bit of time left, Vicky's coming for a couple of days, and we've got some Christmas baking to do. As well as the last few lectures and a couple of exams, of course! This week, on Tuesday, we went on another trip to the Irish pub for our customary ciders, taking a detour on he way to see the Christmas ... read more

Just as you start to become disenchanted with this place, it has a way of making you fall in love with it all over again. I was desperate to throw myself into things, partly to take my mind off leaving Britain behind and partly to make the most of my time here. We'd been told that there was a fair in town, and following Adam's vague directions: "You head towards the castillet and then carry on out of town" we finally reached it after wandering for a while and negotiating a dual carriageway. Charlotte and I, feeling up for an adrenaline boost, didn't hesitate to jump on a ride which seemed to be some sort of huge crane-like thing, with seats on either end. Now, I am not usually one to get stupidly scared on fairground ... read more

Last Monday feels like a very, very long time ago, because so much has happened in-betweeen. On Monday I seemed to be racing around preparing for my Mum and little brother Rory to visit, on Tuesday morning, Fiona and I managed to completely miss a lecture by standing outside the wrong classroom (this is why lectures at 8 a.m. are a bad idea!) and then on Tuesday evening, said family arrived on the Frogbus, a bus which takes you directly from Girona airport (just across the border) straight to Perpignan train station. It was wonderful to see them, and we spent a fantastic but freezing day together on Wednesday. Unprepared for the cold that had suddenly hit Perpignan (it had been 21 degrees on Monday, and on Wednesday it was in single figures), we wrapped up ... read more

I finally got all my paperwork sent off/handed in to all the right places this week! At last! With that out of the way, it was a case of turning up to lectures (I have finished an entire pad of A4 already - I think I used 2 during the whole of last year, they really make you write here! Although my doodles, which get ever-more abmitious with every passing modern history and Non-specialist Spanish lecture may also have something to do with my rapid paper-consumption), and then planning things for the evenings. On Tuesday we went to Tio Pepe's (where else?) for a pub quiz arranged by the English department. Despite the presence of tutors, which was a little strange, it was a good night, and a great oppurtunity to socialise with some French students. ... read more

Yet another week gone, I can't believe I'm writing up another blog already! The week got off to a fairly ordinary start, with lectures now seeming routine. In-between starting to sort out the mound of erasmus paperwork that has to be sent back to Sheffield and trying to get to the erasmus office during its opening hours (not easy when they are open for a total of four hours over two days), the working week passed in a flash. I had moments of homesickness, but by the weekend, I was on top of the world again when I heard from my mum that she and my little brother Rory have got flights and a hotel booked to come and stay at the end of October! It was difficult to get it all sorted, but I now ... read more