Diary of a Winchester Lady: Hippy Heroes

“There’s not enough hippies to save our lives!”

Who do you think stated this? A stereotypical stoner on a night out? An elderly person desperately trying to cling onto their youth as a free spirited hippy?

This was actually the bewildered statement of a 10 year old traveller and she and her family were evicted from Dale Farm at the end of last year which was aired on Big Fat Gypsy Weddings last week.  She was referring to the few activists trying to prevent the inevitable eviction of all the travellers.

What stood out for me the most while watching this was the way that the situation had been viewed by the 10 year old. She genuinely believed that she was accurate in thinking that the only people who would be able to save her would be hoards of hippies.

 It is common knowledge that children often view situations in a completely different way to what the reality is – perhaps this is through innocence or ignorance, or perhaps they have the ability to shield themselves from the harsh realities of existence, but as they grow up, through necessity, they lose this ability. Whatever the reason, adults have always found this amusing and even created programmes such as Kid’s say the funniest things as a form of entertainment.

I remember being told as a child that water is colourless – which I thought meant that it is invisible and we must only be able to see it in bottles because the bottles must be coloured. One day my mother asked me if it was raining outside and I jumped up excitedly shouting “I’ll check, I’ll check because I am the only person who can see it!”

My family began to laugh and my mother asked me what I meant. I explained that, even though water is invisible, that I had the special ability to see the rain so I knew I would be able to check if it was raining or not for her because no one else would be able to. This sent my family into hysterics and I had no idea why. Once they had stopped laughing it was explained to me that everyone could see the rain and I didn’t have any special powers. This baffled me as I had always thought that people asked if it was raining because they didn’t have the ability to see it for themselves because it was invisible. But I was grateful that I had been told the truth before I made the mistake again.

There have been countless other innocent misunderstanding and mistakes made throughout my childhood. I remember my sister riding around on her bike with stabilisers on singing “Stabilise, stabilise, ah ah ah ahhh stabiliiiisssssseeeeee” after thinking the Bee Gees’ song Stayin’ Alive was a song about bicycle stabilisers.

These all seem like harmless mistakes, but should we take amusement from children’s mistakes and move on or should we be explaining to children what the truth actually is? At what point does innocence turn into ignorance?

I think it is a necessity, but a great shame, that we have to point out children’s mistakes. I think that the world would be a much happier place if we all had the innocent outlook on life that children have.

Critical Reflection: To degree or not to degree?

The initial reason for writing this column was because of the conversation that I had overheard between two university students, one who claimed that Tuna was Dolphin meat. At the time I thought it was hilarious and could not believe that the comment had come from someone studying for a degree, when it is believed, for the most part, that university students are highly intelligent.

I was unsure about what angle I wanted to use in this column. Initially I wrote a column about how society happily ridicules the unintelligent in all aspects of life, and I looked into reasons why this might be. I decided that this was similar to the column I wrote last semester entitled "the awkward moment when...", in which I discussed the reasons that people ridicule each other and themselves on facebook.

I then started to think about what kind of people would find the boy's comment most funny. I thought that other university students would find it quite funny, but may well have heard comments similar to that frequently at university. I eventually came to the conclusion that the people who would be most likely to find it funny would be people who did not go to university themselves because they are continually under the impression that university students are highly intelligent.

I then began to think about the fact that it might be a relief for someone who didn't go to university to find that even students come out with unintelligent comments. This is because we live in a society where the belief is that the higher educated a person is, the more intelligent they are.

I then thought back to how I felt when I thought that I may not be able to finish my degree, and how pressure from society made me think that I would be thought of as unintelligent or a failure if I didn't have a degree. It was then that I decided to write this column as somewhat of a reassurance that having a degree is not the be all and end all, and that ultimately when you pass people in the street you can't tell who has one or not - and I highly doubt that anyone even cares.

This column was very personal and I tried to explain exactly how I felt whilst I was absent from university, and how I dealt with accepting the fact that I might not be able to get a degree. I hoped that by including such personal details, readers may take my thoughts more seriously. I also hoped that the column might be almost a guide to anyone struggling with their degree, or thinking of dropping out, and reassurance to someone without a degree that it is not the most important thing in the world.

I named the column 'to degree or not to degree?' to mimic the famous like from Shakespeare's Hamlet - 'to be or not to be?' In Hamlet, the character of Hamlet questions 'to be or not to be?' in reference to life and whether to commit suicide or not. (Although this is only one of many interpretations.) I chose to mimic this is my title somewhat ironically, to try and make the point that having a degree or not is not a matter of life and death. I also thought that it would be an effective title because 'be' and 'degree' rhyme, so it would not be difficult for the reader to pick up on the reference to Hamlet.

I made the dceision to include five 'ephianies', or rather conclusions that I had come to when I realised that I might have to accept not having a degree, because of the positive feedback I had about the 10 life lessons I gave in my column last semester: "would you rather?". Due to the success of those lessons, I thought that giving five more would hopefully result in the same positive feedback from my readers.

With the exception of my column last semester, 'meeting with a medium', this column has been one in which I have been truly honest about revealing personal aspects of my life. I feel that this is something that the readers will be able to relate to and hopefully respond well to. I am happy with how this column turned out.

Diary of a Winchester Lady: To degree or not to degree?

Boy 1: Man I freaking love Tuna

Boy2: Yeah mate; it’s a bit weird having Dolphin though.

Boy1: What do you mean?

Boy2: Mate, Tuna is Dolphin meat.

Where do you think I overheard the about conversation? A bar? A primary school? Between hooded youths on a street corner?

 In fact this conversation was between two university students; students who are working towards a degree that will act as proof of their academic achievement and intelligence.

Recently I have noticed how almost everything in this world revolves around how intelligent you are, and whether you can prove it – for example by having a degree.

During the time that I was away from university because of my ill health, there were times that I was unsure whether I would be able to return at all. I began trying to accept the fact that I may not be able to get a degree – and the thing that scared me most about this was the thought that I would be seen as a ‘loser’ amongst my peers, or unintelligent in job interviews, and even the thought that I would think of myself as being a failure.

Logically I knew that not having a degree would not make people think less of me, and if it did then they are people that shouldn’t be in my life anyway. I knew that you don’t necessarily need a degree to get the job you want.  But this did not change the fact that throughout my education I have been made to believe that education is the be all and end all in this life.

It is only since I was forced to accept that I might not be able to further my education that I started to realise that it is not the only way to have a happy, successful life; and in many cases the stress of education leads to unhappiness and failure. I can certainly say that that has been the case for the majority of my life so far.

I have intended to leave education at every chance I got – when I turned 16, when I finished my GCSEs, when I finished my A-Levels, and even after the first year of university. The only thing that has stopped me every time has been my fear that if I didn’t follow the academic path then I might not be able to make a success of my life.

The majority of you reading this will be university students – and only you can honestly know why you chose to go to university. For those of you who aren’t students, maybe you decided that university wasn’t for you or perhaps you didn’t get the grades you needed to go. In most cases you will have made a conscious choice about the kind of life you wanted to have.

At the start of this semester, for the first time in my life, it seemed as though my choice to continue with my degree was going to be taken away from me. During the six weeks I missed of university, I spent every single day contemplating what kind of life I was going to have now that I no longer had a choice. Luckily, my health improved and I made the choice to return to university as soon as possible; but that did not change the fact that I had spend weeks contemplating the life I thought I was going to lead.

Obviously I cannot speak for everyone, but personally I want to share the five epiphanies I had during my weeks of contemplation.

1.       Never make a decision based on fear.

2.       If you want something enough, there is always a way you can make it happen.

3.       The greatest achievements in life will often involve great risks.

4.       Things will work out the way they are supposed to – but this does not necessarily mean that they will work out the way you want them to.

5.       Anything which compromises your happiness is not worth it.

So whether you have a degree or not, I urge you not to judge yourselves entirely on your academic achievements or failures.

Critical Reflection: Missing Mother

I decided to write a column about mothers this week because Sunday is Mothers Day, and so it would be relevant and in the minds of my readers. I also decided to include the fact that Mothers Day falls on my 20th birthday as a way of linking my separation from her to the fact that I am maturing and yet still have difficulties being completely independent.

I thought about what in particular I wanted to write about mothers, and decided that it would not be interesting to simply read about how I feel about my own, and instead wanted to write about something that the reader would be able to relate to. The majority of people who look at the features on http://www.winol.co.uk/ are students at the University of Winchester, so I needed to make sure that I wrote about something that they in particular would be able to relate to. That is why I made the decision to write about how I have found becoming independent at university and moving away from my mother for the first time, as many other students at the university have had to do the same thing.

I decided to focus on the task of laundry because during my time here this seems to be the recurring chore that students find difficult. I also hoped that I would be able to make the column humorous by including examples of other students' attempts at laundry that I have experienced and that I found to be funny at the time.

Although I had a target audience in mind, I also tried to include things which people who are not students would be able to relate to, and hoped that I wrote the column in such a way that the examples would be funny even if the reader has never been in that situation themselves.

I have to admit that with this piece, with the exception of the title, I did not focus as much on literary devices. This was because I wanted to share my own experiences honestly, without being sidetracked by trying to make it more interesting or relatable than it was in reality. I felt that the only way for the piece to sound as honest as I wanted it to was to write completely honestly! And so, in terms of critical reflection there is actually not much to analyse!

I am extremely pleased with the finished column and hope that I succeeded in making it both humorous and relatable. 

Diary of a Winchester Lady: Missing Mother

In the run up to my 20^th birthday which falls on Mother’s Day at the end of this week, I have been thinking about the help my mother has given me throughout my childhood and teenage years.

For those of you reading this who are over the age of twenty, you will probably be cursing me for being quite depressed at the thought of my upcoming birthday. Twenty, to me, signifies becoming ‘old’ in the sense that I will no longer be classed as a teenager, and will have to officially start my transition into adulthood.

Something which has prepared me for adulthood since going to university has been having to run my own life without my mother around! While I was living at home it seemed to me that I was living some kind of Mary Poppins’ style life, where my meals appeared on the table in front of me each evening, my clothes appeared to wash and fold themselves neatly into my drawers and, if left in a mess long enough, my room would tidy itself whilst I was out.

Of course these were not signs of an amazing, mystical world; there were the results of my mother’s silent actions of love and care. I realise now that I should not have taken this for granted as I am now living in a world where I have to clean my room with a communal vacuum, which is always full, where I have had to expand my cooking knowledge beyond the usual limitations of a packet of super noodles, and where I have to wait two hours for my clothes to go through the tumble drier. I can vaguely recall my mother warning me of what a shock it would be when I would have to start being responsible for myself, although those warnings were often drowned out amongst thoughts of student bars and cheap shopping.

When my friends and I go to the laundry room it is clear that I am not the only person who failed to listen to their mother’s instructions before heading to university. Every week, without fail, at least one of us becomes overwhelmed by the fear of accidently mixing lights and darks, or washing our clothes at the wrong temperature and ending up with a wardrobe of clothes that are only fit for a Barbie doll. There are always awkward moments when you ask someone if they think it will be safe to put certain items together,  and instantly you can tell by the look of their face that they have absolutely no idea; the best they can do is guess and cross their fingers that the clothes don’t get ruined .

I am not sure if it is more surprising that people actually try to guess the answers to the puzzles of laundry, or that the person asking will take the advice even in the knowledge that their friend was only guessing!

I will always remember during the very first visit to the laundry, one of my friends became so confused that she rang her mother and described each item of clothing she was washing, while her mother told her which ones to put together. That may sound quite ridiculous, but was nothing compared to the boy who tried to wash all of his clothes by putting ‘Finish’ dishwasher tablets in the washing machine.

University life would be a lot more simple if you were allowed to bring your mother along to help with the chores – or even just one mother per 5 students would suffice. For those of you living at home with your mums, make sure you appreciate all the help that they give you, and that you actually listen to their advice, you do not want to be the person washing their clothes in ‘Finish’.

Critical Reflection: Island State of Mind

It is always difficult to get back into something after an absence as long as I have had, but while driving to university I knew that I wanted to write about the journey back for my first column this semester.

Initially I was uncertain as to how I was going to make the content appeal to someone from England because driving on the motorway is nothing unusual for someone who does it all the time. For this reason I decided to include information about Guernsey so that the reader could make a comparison between the two places and perhaps understand why I driving in England was going to be so difficult for me. I hope that by doing this the piece became more interesting to people from England as well as readers who are from Guernsey.

I called the piece 'Island State of Mind' as a reference to the popular song 'Empire State of Mind', which is sung by two native New Yorkers, Jay Z and Alicia Keyes, about their city and how living there has impacted on their lives. I think that coming from Guernsey is something which always have an impact on my life and makes me look at things, such as driving in England, completely differently, despite being British.

I decided to include changing my Satnav from Emily to Dan because I hoped it would be humorous to the reader and, although it is completely illogical, I have witnessed people do the exact thing as I did for the same reason. I also hoped that the reader would be able to relate to the joke because there is a long running joke that women don't know how to follow/give accurate directions.

The picture I used to go with the piece is one that was taken as I left for the ferry in Guernsey which was taken to go alongside my monthly column in GBG Magazine. A family member took the photograph so I knew that I would not have to get permission to use it.

I am still waiting for feedback from features editor, Becky Davies, on this piece but I am confident that there are no libel issues or anything along those lines because the piece is about my journey and does not involve anyone else. I also checked that the facts I gave, for example the length of Guernsey and the speed limits were correct before including them so I have not made any accuracy errors.

I enjoyed writing this piece and found it a good way to get back into work and start my column again. 

Diary of a Winchester Lady: Island State of Mind

Until the start of this semester I absolutely loved living on an island; but that was because I had never been stuck there without medical permission to leave before. But finally, after missing the first six weeks of the semester I am back in Winchester and ready to give you more updates on the antics of my life.

Before I could continue with my studies I needed drive off the ferry in Plymouth to Winchester, and I was more than a bit anxious about the journey.  For some of you this may seem like a fairly lengthy journey, but perhaps not something to be particularly scared about. If you are thinking this then I can almost guarantee that you are not from Guernsey, and urge you to appreciate that the maximum speed limit there is 35 miles per hour and I had never driven on the ‘mainland’ before. I was fortunate enough to be given a Satnav before leaving Guernsey, and on reflection there is absolutely no way I would have been able to complete the journey without it and I am extremely grateful to have it. There was only one problem with it. Emily.

Emily was the name of the automated voice on my Satnav and, although it is shameful to admit this not only as a woman, but in a society striving for sexual equality; I didn’t trust that a woman would know how to direct me accurately to my destination. After spending the best part of half an hour fiddling with buttons I came across Satnav Dan, whose deep voice and upper class British accent filled me the confidence to blindly follow his directions while completely ignoring the fact that Emily would have given me exactly the same instructions.

It took a while to get used to Dan telling me to drive over 30 miles in one direction, as in Guernsey you can only drive nine miles in one direction before reaching the opposite end of the island. Whilst it was extremely odd to continue past my nine mile marker where I expected to reach the end of the country, I managed to settle into driving for miles on end without having to turn around

Another novelty for me was seeing signs warning of deer crossings because as well as no motorways, dual carriage ways or a 40mph speed limit, Guernsey also has a distinct lack of wildlife. That is of course with the exception of rabbits and hedgehogs. Since starting University I have been excited every time I’ve seen a squirrel and nearly an elderly man a heart attack when I squealed to myself on the train at the sight of a passing deer. Something that I have always wanted to see, but never had the opportunity to, was a badger; but that changed on my drive.

Oh yes, I have seen more badgers that I ever imagined. Unfortunately what I wanted to see was a badger scurrying around in a wooded area – not scattered across the A303. In future I will be more careful about what I wish for.

Another revelation for me, besides learning that my car can pass 35mph without exploding as I had expected it to was the shock of the price of petrol in this country. Usually I am amazed by how cheap food, clothes, alcohol and property are in England compared to my home, but petrol is the massive exception to this trend.  Back home you can get petrol for 119p per litre, which I used to think was extortionate, but after paying £30 to fill half the tank of my 999cc engine I began to wonder how anyone can afford to drive anywhere here.

So after an three hour journey, dozens of badger remains and what equates to £50 in petrol I am proud to say I made it back to university and am looking forward to continuing with my column.

Diary of a Winchester Lady: The Awkward Moment When...

If you are reading this it means that you know how to use the internet – which means that it would be impossible for you not to know about Facebook. In fact with over 800 million active Facebook users, it is extremely likely that even if you don’t use the internet you will still have heard of Facebook before.

Facebook has revolutionised the way that people share their photos, their friends, their thoughts and essentially their entire lives. The recent trend on Facebook is to share your awkward moments with your friends and family by starting your status update with ‘the awkward moment when’.

Some popular examples of this craze are:

The awkward moment when you try to use your curser to shoo a fly off your screen

The awkward moment when it's quiet in class and your stomach decides to make that dying whale sound

The awkward moment when vodka robs you of your dignity

So when did it become cool to tell everyone our most embarrassing moments? I would argue that it is because by the time you are old enough to be a committed facebook user, we have reached the point in our lives where our desire to be funny over rules our fears of being laughed at.

I remember moments from my childhood that I thought were so embarrassing at the time that I wanted the ground to swallow me up. And now I have much more embarrassing moments yet for some reason I am happy to share these with my Facebook world because I know that they will make people laugh.

I think that the evolution of Facebook has meant that we are much more comfortable, or at least virtually comfortable, with expressing ourselves and sharing our experiences. In my experience, this is because even though you know the people who are making comments or ‘liking’ your status, you cannot actually see them so there is a sense of detachment to them; and the illusion that the people that you are sharing embarrassing moments with are not actual people.

Facebook has become an essential part in socialisation, particularly amongst younger generations, and I believe that this is because it allows us to socialise without actually interacting with another individual. You don’t have to pretend to look interested; you don’t have to reply instantly and if you forget something about a person of what they have just said you can easily read over past conversations.

I think that adapting to socialising in this way is incredibly dangerous because it makes you more accustomed to communicating virtually, which in turn makes it more difficult to communicate with friends or strangers in reality. I know this to be true because I have found it happen in my own life. I am more than happy to e-mail anyone, anywhere in the world at any time of day if I think they will be able to help me with something. However, I would never make numerous phone calls or visits to speak to the very same people who I happily e-mail. It would be incredibly for me to say that the reason for this is because e-mail is quicker and more easily accessible – but this would be a lie.

The truth is that I am no longer entirely comfortable starting conversations with strangers in reality. I would much rather communicate through a computer screen where I don’t actually have to see the other person, and I know that they cannot see me.

Similarly, it is easy for me to type out what my problem is because I am not imaging who will be reading this – all I have access to are the words on my own screen and my own thoughts about them.

If I were to update my status now it would probably be:

The awkward moment when you realise you will go to extreme lengths to avoid talking to people in reality instead of virtually.

It seems to me that the addition of those four words to a status gives us the confidence to share our embarrassing moments, secrets and fears with the world. Or perhaps sharing our awkward moments simply allow us to make fun of ourselves before others have the opportunity to make fun of us.

Diary of a Winchester Lady: BUS Disease

WARNING – This is a warning message to all members of the public, of a serious condition that affects all genders, ages and races. Brain Becomes Useless Syndrome, also known as BUS Disease, affects one in every three bus passengers. It is not yet clear what causes this bizarre phenomenon, and currently there is no known cure.

Symptoms include:

·    Memory Loss – most commonly forgetting where you are travelling to or when you need to get off the bus.

·    Disorientation – sufferers will find it nearly impossible to choose a seat on the vehicle.

·    Speech problems – you will talk unnecessarily loud to your friend or on the phone, you will be unable to perceive how annoying this is to other passengers.

·    Loss of spacial awareness – sufferers will find it impossible to judge how much room they are taking up in relation to the limited space available.

It is important to note that these symptoms only start once the sufferer steps onto a bus and only last for the duration of their journey.

The following case study is of a real person with BUS Disease and highlights the seriousness of the disease and how it can cause you to completely lose your mind.

Case Study: Mr Limp

In the case of Mr Limp the symptom of disorientation is particularly prevalent. Mr Limp was travelling with his wife when I witnessed his BUS Disease flare up on the bus last week.

Mr Limp entered the bus and sat down slowly in the seats provided for disable people and buggies. As Mr Limp was using crutches, this seemed to be the ideal seat for him to choose as it provided the necessary leg room and easy access needed by disabled people. However, this seat choice only seemed rational to someone who does not personally suffer from BUS Disease, and clearly Mr Limp felt that he had made the wrong decision.

He began to fidget continually and scanned the bus for a different available seat. He then glanced at where I was sitting, and asked if I would move so that he could have my seat. At first I was incredibly confused by this because I had minimal leg room and had found it difficult getting to the seat in the first place. However as I do not suffer from BUS Disease, it would have been impossible for me to try and rationalise the man’s decision, so I obediently moved to another seat.

Mr Limp then proceeded to hobble down the narrow walkway on the bus, which was not wide for him to use his crutches so he had to support himself by holding onto the backs of chairs on his way through. He then made three attempts to sit down before finally finding a way to pull his legs into the tiny gap between the edge of his seat and the back of the seat in front.

To my amazement, his wife followed him and asked him to move towards the window more so that she would have enough room to sit down – despite the fact that the seat on the other side of the aisle was free. By the time they were both settled, the man’s knees were pressed against the back of the seat in front of him, and his wife was sat with her back to him and her legs in the aisle with the crutches balanced on the chair on the other side of the aisle.

You may be wondering why on earth the man had made the decision to squeeze himself into a gap that provided only a miniscule amount of leg room in comparison to the seat he had first chosen. One can only assume that this was because he has a severe case of BUS Disease, and actually had no control over his actions. It is more than likely that he stepped off the bus and instantly questioned the stupid decision he had made.

It is worth noting that in this situation, the wife should not have allowed this behaviour to continue. One of the only ways to treat BUS Disease is to travel with someone who is not a sufferer, who can make you aware of your odd behaviour.

As a species we are incredibly successful. We have built skyscrapers and aeroplanes. We have decoded the human genome and can transplant organs from one person to another. We can build robots and can even predict the weather. We can do amazing, incredible things, and yet for some reason the vast majority of us seem to lose our minds when using the bus.

I believe that together we can find a cure for this phenomenon, but until then it is better to simply ignore sufferers.

Diary of a Winchester Lady: International Student Fashion

For those of you who don’t know, I am classed as an international student because I am from Guernsey. Guernsey is in the UK, so the fashion back home is pretty much identical to the trends here in England. I began to wonder what students from other international countries think of the fashion here and how it compares to their styles back home.

GQ UK Magazine highlights the top winter trends for men as:

·         Chinos

·         Knitted jumpers

·         Slim fit jeans

·         Leather boots

According to British Vogue, the current winter trends for women are:

·         Knee high boots

·         Tartan

·         Jumpsuits/Onsies

·         Sparkle and Shine

In the UK the images we see of American fashion are of celebrities or on programmes such as 90210 and One Tree Hill – but what are the trends for normal American students? As students settle into the fashions of winter 2011 I decided to ask some American students at the University of Winchester what they think about the winter style here and the defined must haves from British Vogue and GQ Magazine.

Joe Gallagher, 20, from New Hampshire

Joe Gallagher

“I reject fashion and subscribe to the notion that if you follow fashion you will always be behind it. So I keep it real with solid colours.”

I asked Joe what his opinions were about the four trends highlighted by GQ Magazine.

After initial confused as to what chinos are, Joe said that he has seem similar trousers in the US, but they are called Dickies. He thought that chinos with deep pockets looked cool, but that he did not think they would ever catch on in the states.

Joe seemed to have a heightened sense of distain for leather boots and vowed that he would never personally wear them, and does not think that they are a good trend for British men to follow. He always wanted to comment on the trend of Ugg Boots here in the UK, which although he understands that they are comfortable, he does not like them. According to Joe there is a trend amongst girls in America who are so dedicated to wearing Ugg Boots and Northface jumpers that the term Ugface is used to describe them. It is no secret that Ugg Boots are incredibly popular in the UK as well; I practically live in mine during the winter months, but I am extremely grateful that the term Ugface is not one that is associated with wearing the boots here in England.

Joe was extremely surprised that a man in a knitted sweater or cardigan here is considered to be fashionable: “In the United States, if I may be so bold, a man wearing a knitted jumper is assumed to be childless and living with many cats.”  He explained how, in America, sweaters and cardigans have a scholarly look and are stereotypically “accompanied with square rimmed glasses and scarves.” 

It seems that the only UK fashion trend similar to men’s fashion in New Hampshire is slim fit jeans: “Slim fit jeans are catching like wildfire back home. They used to be denoted as flamboyant and feminine with a homosexual connotation, but they’ve spread from hipster/yuppie apparel to pretty universal.’

Joe described his style as mainly wearing jeans, with ‘normal’ t-shirts and hoodies. He does not believe there is any point in following fashion trends; he prefers to “keep it real.”



Rachael Holloway, 21, from Kansas



Rachael Holloway

“I've found, on the whole, fashion is much more important to young England compared to that in America.”

Rachael explained that the fashion trends for women in the United Kingdom is very similar to the fashion in the United States, but that she has found that being fashionable is more important in everyday life here than in America: “we tend to dress up fashionably when we go out to parties, but for everyday wear it’s pretty much jeans, t-shirt and a jacket.”

She said that the trend of knee high boots here is exactly the same as in Kansas, but that using boots as a fashion statement is more varied in the UK. “American girls love knee high boots and skinny jeans… it seems that girls here [in England] are much more interested in the type of boots they have, as well as having many different pairs of really nice boots.’

As well as boots, Rachael said that Sperrys (boat shoes) are extremely popular where she is from, but that she has not seen anyone wearing them over here.

Rachael thinks that ‘going out wear’ is the same amongst women here and American women; “Sparkle and shine is exactly the same. Short sequined dresses, club tops, shiny jewellery, it’s all the same.”  She maintained that the difference comes in what English girls wear to lectures and for everyday activities. From what she has seen she argued that “girls here tend to wear really fancy outfits for class, whereas many American’s just wear sweats, or even pyjamas.”

Tartan, or plaid as it is known in America, is as popular as it is here but for a different reason. Rachael explained that it is popular because “it is one of the most durable materials, as well as providing warmth for the cold winters.” She said that tartan has come back as a fashion statement in the past five years, and that they wear it in the same way we would for example on shirts and skirts.

I asked Rachael if there were any parts of British fashion trends that surprised here, to which she replied: “Onesies! American youth would not be seen dead in onesies. You can buy them but they are mainly for girls. It has amazed me the obsession guys have with onesies here. Hilarious!”

After speaking to Joe and Rachael I have earned that American fashion is much more relaxed that the media portrays. I think we would do well to follow their example and not worry so much about what we look like and just wear our comfiest clothes instead of trying to keep up with the trends. 

Diary of a Winchester Lady: Holiday Cheer, Henna and Happy Snapping

Santa, snow, sofas and saunas – it could only be the Ideal Home Show at Christmas.

As a student, it would be fair to say that I do not have unlimited funds, which is always difficult when you go somewhere with literally thousands of things you wish you could buy and the Christmas Ideal Home Show was no exception to this. To liven things up a bit I decided to give myself a theoretically £1000 to spend at the show to see how I would be able to decorate my room for Christmas on a £1000 budget.

I headed to the bedroom display that had been designed by Laurence Llewelyn Bowen for inspiration. I loved everything in the display, but with the bed alone priced at £4500 I realised I needed to be thinking less of a Laurence Christmas and more towards a limited budget Christmas.

I decided the most important purchase for Christmas would be the tree, so I set off to find some fairly priced foliage. I was amazed when I came across a display of Christmas trees with a sign that read ‘Hire your Christmas Tree Today.’ At first I was confused as to how this would possibly work, but as I read on, I learned that The Little Tree Company hires out Christmas trees for the holiday period and then collects them again and replant them. I never had heard of this before and thought it was a brilliant idea so I decided I would spend £95 of my £1000 on a planet friendly tree.

With the tree sorted, I set my sights on decorations. I found a display of Christmas trees decorated to match different themes, for example children’s Christmas and Chic Christmas. I decided I would go for the ‘Classy Christmas’ theme, after all if I was going to pretend I had £1000 to spend on decorating my room, I might as well pretend I had the class to match. The classy Christmas tree decorative set took another £50 out of my budget.

As I moved past the tree section, a stand of artificial flickering candle lights caught my eye. I love candles, so the thought of having plug in candles that would never fade was too much to resist. If I had actually been buying them, I know I would have wanted enough to go all the way around my room – 100 would probably do it. £300 gone.

No Christmas would be complete without oversized light up snowmen and Santa’s. There was a stand selling different kinds of the light up figures. I narrowed it down to the five I liked the most which would have cost £250.

With just £305 left in my imaginary bank account, I decided to treat myself to a £5 Henna tattoo, which even though I got with real money I decided that I would also deduct the £5 from the fake money as well to leave myself with an even £300.

After much deliberation I thought that the money would be best spent on a 6 foot advent calendar, which instead of chocolates provided gifts of jewellery, make up and vouchers.

Me and Gino!

As I was imaging what it would be like to open a luxury gift everyday in the run up to Christmas, a very different kind of luxury item came into view, celebrity chef Gino D’acampo. I grabbed my camera and started ‘happy snapping’ – taking as many photos as I could without any regard for how poorly they were coming out, or how annoying the flash must have been to him as he tried to continue with this phone call.

He then started heading for the exit and I knew it was now or never. He caught my eye, and flashed me a smile with his dazzling white teeth and smouldering eyes; quite honestly I thought I was going to pass out. I managed to compose myself enough to shout ‘PHOTO!’ On reflection, this must have sounded more like a military command than a hopeful request from a fan.  He glanced at his watch before deciding that he had time for one photo.

The problem was that he was one side of a barrier and I was the other side of a second barrier but true love knows no boundaries. So I climbed over the first barrier, and to my surprise he climbed over the barrier on his side so we could meet in the middle. It was at this point that I decided not to confess my love, instead choosing to believe that he must have felt the same way. Of course, as a married man, he was not able to tell me this but I knew that climbing over the barrier was his way of letting me know.

As he walked away, I collected myself and went to see how the picture had come out. To my horror, it was extremely blurred and dark and he had already left so I could not take it again. Although I will not be able to use it as a Christmas card photo to send to friends and friends, it is good enough to print out and put in my purse for ever more.

The items I had wanted to purchase as the show may have had expensive price tags, but a picture with Gino D’acampo was priceless.

 On reflection I was probably a good job that I didn’t really have £1000 to spend otherwise all I would have come home with would have been 100 fake candles, a tree with decorations, a giant advent calendar and some light up snowmen; all the ingredients of an extremely tacky Christmas. So this year for Christmas, Santa, please bring me a sense of class in preparation for Christmas next year.

Critical Reflection: Would you rather?

I had the idea for this piece because my mum sent me a poster listing the Dalai Lama's 'Instructions for Life'. I knew that I wanted to the piece to end with my suggestions of similar instructions, but ones written by a young person for a young person because this is not something that I have seen done before; most wisdom is passed from older generations to younger ones.

I was having difficulty trying to find an opening to piece because I didn't want to jump straight into questioning why wisdom is only passed down generations instead of up or horizontally!

When playing 'would you rather' with my friends, and someone posed the question 'would you rather skip 10 years into the future or 10 years back in the past?' I knew it would be the perfect way to lead into my column this week. I have to say I was surprised to find so many of my friends had regrets, and more suprised by the fact that when I actually stopped to think I realised I had regrets as well.

I did not want this piece to be comical because I did not feel comfortable trying to make light of the fact that people my age already have regrets about their relatively short lives to date. I decided to compose 10 'instructions' because I felt that 5 were not enough, but the 19 from the Dalai Lama were too many.

I created the instructions by thinking about the things I regret, or wish that I hadn't worried about so much, on the assumption that other young people worry about similar things. I did not want the instructions to be really deep and meaningful about life, in the way that an adult would, instead I wanted to make them simple and directly relatable to the lives of teenagers today.

I am really happy with the piece, particularly because it was a change of pace from my usual, sarcastic mocking columns.

Diary of a Winchester Lady: Would you rather?

This week my friends and I engaged in a game of ‘Would you rather?’ the game which offers two hypothetical situations and players must pick which of the two situations they would rather do. Amongst the proposed situations of having a toucan beak attached permanently to your face and losing half of your body, someone posed the question ‘would you rather re-live the past 10 years of your life or skip 10 years ahead into the future?’

The answer was unanimous; we would all rather re-live the past ten years of our lives. For all of us playing the game, this was not out of fear of missing the next ten years, it was out of a desire to correct our mistakes and resolve our regrets. With all of us being less than 23 years old, it was quite surprising that we already wish we had the chance to do our lives over.

There is no shortage in our society of nuggets of wisdom passed down through generations, of inspirational stories of how to overcome adversity or the best way to learn from our mistakes. But where is the information that prevents us from having regrets before we even begin our independent adult lives?

In my room I have a poster of Instructions for Life as stated by the Dalai Lama, including:

Judge your success by what you had to give up to get it

Share you wisdom; it is a way to achieve immortality

I am inspired by the wisdom on the poster, but found that the instructions for life read more like instructions for reflecting on your life, accepting the regrets and appreciating the lessons life has taught you rather than helping you not to end up with regrets.

An alternative set of life instructions are found in Baz Lurman’s song ‘Wear Sunscreen’; an attempt to set out guidelines for younger generations to try and live by throughout their adult lives. So while the Dalai Lama offers instructions for coping with the past, and Baz Lurman offers instructions for coping with the future – where are the instructions that will help us with the present?

As my teenage years draw to a close, I have decided to create a list of instructions to help teenagers with the challenges of a modern life.

1.       Do not break the rules unless you fully understand them.

2.       Ask questions. Do not waste your time guessing answers.

3.       Your parents will never be as angry at you as you image they will be.

4.       Only make friends with the people you like, not the people you think you should like.

5.        Do not fear disapproval from teachers. They are only ordinary people.

6.        The memory of a bad night out is better than no memory of a good one.

7.       Remember that logging in online means logging out of reality. The internet will always be around – family and friends will not.

8.       Be an individual if you want to.

9.       Be a lemming if you want to.

10.   Do not follow these instructions if you know you can make better ones for yourself.

Critical Reflection: Confused and Concerned

Initially my idea for this column had been to go to the torchlight procession and write about better uses of money than fireworks, or about the stereotypically members of the public who attend events such as this. However as soon as I saw the torches being handed out and being given to children I decided that it would be better to change the angle of my column.

The issue of health and safety is something that is often in the media, but more often than not policies draw media attention because they are overly cautions. I thought that writing about the total absence of health and safety would make my piece more interesting because it would be different to what the reader would expect.

I wanted to include some ridiculous health and safety rules with the piece to act as a contrast to the violations I had seen at the event. At first I included the examples in this way:

It seems absurd to me that in a world where children are not allowed to play conkers without safety goggles, take a pencil case into the classroom or use floatation devices, that they were being allowed to hold flaming torches.

I was not happy with the way I had done this because I felt that what I had written was too lengthy and did not read as dramatically or humorously as it could do. For this reason, I decided to start the piece with the extreme health and safety rules. I did this so that the reader would expect the column to be another piece about how out of control health and safety rules have become, and would then be surprised to find it is actually about the lack of health and safety.

I chose to state the health and safety rules in a FAQ style. I did this because I thought it would be more interested to read than a block of text stating the rules. The first three questions should make the reader expect the answers to be yes, and the fact that the answers are no would make the reader assume that the answer to the last question would definitely be no.

I thought it would be a good idea to include the fact that, even at 19, I found the torches difficult and dangerous to carry to give a sense of how dangerous it would be for a child to be holding one. I described the children as 'weaving through the crowds, in a hyped up, squealing frenzy holding what one child described as a "fire gun"' to highlight the chaos of the situation, which added to the danger. I decided to include one child's description of the torch as a 'fire gun' to make the point that the children were aware of how dangerous what they were carrying were, and that, at least that one child, was intending to use it as a weapon in his game.

When describing the father who had his child up on his shoulders, I made the comparison of the child's jacket to making him look like 'the Michelin Man'. I thought that this would be a comical comparison, as most readers will recognise the image of the Michelin Man, and would then be able to picture the jacket I was describing even if they had never seen a child in one before.

I ended the piece by describing my genuine confusion between whether it would have been better to health and safety regulations in that situation, or whether it was better to let people have one night where they could be careless. I did this partly to share my feelings about the whole night and partly to get the reader to think about whether it is better to try and prevent accidents or to just live carelessly and deal with accidents if they occur.