You know how sometimes you can have very little in terms of plans for weeks on end and then suddenly it's everyone's birthday or party on the same day, that happened to me on Saturday. A couple of weeks ago my friend Becci texted to ask if I'd come to her surprise birthday party for her boyfriend Mike on the 3rd August in Southampton and I made the arrangements to go. Around the same time, my friend Cait who was my housemate throughout my time in Southampton, invited me to her birthday celebration on the same day. I'm the kind of person who will always try to fit it all in especially seeing as it was for two people who are important to me. So Cait organised her birthday lunch and theatre trip for the day time and I said to Becci I'd be in Southampton for the evening thinking that we'd be going out somewhere.
On Saturday morning I didn't really give myself enough time to walk my dog, eat breakfast and drive to Teddington station, so it was all a bit of a rush. I did make it into London just about in time to meet Cait and Harriet at around 12. Harriet was my housemate in my first year of uni. We walked through Covent Garden looking for somewhere to eat and ended up in a really nice restaurant. Lunch was really nice and the conversation was even better. I love meeting up with my friends from first year because we don't meet too often so when we do we have a lot to talk about. Both Harriet and Cait really inspire me. Cait is studying Physics and going into her final MA year and Harriet is studying Accoustical Engineering also entering her final year (but might take a PhD). Cait recently sent a teddy bear into the stratosphere with the help of her Space society and a weather balloon. They made the BBC News and the University were very pleased to promote their achievement. Harriet is currently on placement at Oxford University and she is excited about future opportunities there.
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| The Teddy Bear in the Stratosphere that Cait sent up |
They are both very strong and confident and I have every faith that they will both go on to do great things within Science and out. I love Science but the maths side of it has always let me down, probably the most important part, so these girls are a real inspiration to me and I hope that we will continue to be great friends in the future.
We then went on to the Theatre to watch 'Top Hat' which was fantastic. There was lots of wonderful singing and tap dancing. I took tap classes when I was younger but I was terrible at it, I'd go into the exams and the examiner would say, 'Ok, begin' and my mind would just fail me, right at the crucial moment I would forget every step ball change and every tap so the tap dancing on stage really impressed me.
After the show, we walked back to Embankment and I got my train back. I then had to drive to Southampton which was a bit of a nightmare because there was a lot of traffic. I'd told Becci I'd be in Southampton at 6ish which was probably a bit optimistic, but then I thought that it was Mike's birthday and that my friends would be excited for me to arrive but I'd just join in the party when I got there. Little did I know what they had planned! So whilst I calmly made my way through the traffic singing along to Black Keys, everyone was in fact waiting to surprise me.
I finally rocked up at about 7.45. I jumped out of my car, grabbed my bag and went to knock on the door. I rang the doorbell and heard a bit of giggling and shuffling about but I didn't think much of it. Then the door was flung open with a huge shout of 'SURPRISE', a cake was pushed towards me with sparklers on and sitting on the stairs and crowded in the doorway were most of my best friends from University. Needless to say I was completely gobsmacked. I think someone took some photos of that moment, but they all said my face was brilliant. I had not expected it AT ALL. I think I just said 'What?!' 'What have you done?' I was blown away by the effort that they had all put in to surprising me.
I was then shown into the kitchen and given a huge bunch of sunflowers, my favourite, and a handmade card. The cake they'd put sparklers in had a huge photo of me on it and 'Good Luck Ellie' written around the side. There were also cupcakes with the same photo of me on. AND they had even printed out hundreds of photos of us all and pinned them on the washing line and put them on the coffee table. Alex also gave me a bottle of wine. I was still in shock. They had already surprised Mike, Becci's boyfriend earlier in the day at around 2pm for his birthday so it was a joint party which was lovely.
We had a bit of a party at the house and then the group split up, some to go to the pub and the others to a gig. I went to the pub and another of my friends, Karan joined us. It was great just laughing and joking with everyone. We then headed to Lennons, our favourite bar and club in Southampton. Lennons is where we've had all our best nights out. It plays indie and alternative music which we love. The other group rejoined us and I was surrounded by some of the people I love the most.
It was an absolutely fantastic night, I couldn't tell if I was drunk or euphoric, probably both. Knowing that my friends had organised this for me and knowing that they support me made me unbelievably happy. So happy in fact that I ended up getting a bit teary towards the end of the night, just looking around and seeing all their faces and knowing that we'd had the best time at uni together and that we will continue to make the effort to have more good times together was all a bit much. Becci cried a bit with me. And then when it came to leaving Becci set me off again.
I'm really going to miss all my friends when I leave for Denmark but I know that they will be here and I hope that some of them will come to visit. It's strange really because I feel like this is the perfect time to go, everything at home is great, I have great friends, a great relationship and my family are happy so I know that everything is stable for the time being. I have the funds to go and I also have the love and support I need to go and do it. I'm also looking forward to making new friends. It's certainly going to be an adventure, but not one that I have to face all by myself. That's one thing I realised this weekend, I'm not alone and I can share my experiences through this blog and through skype chats and visits.
It's going to be great, but if it does get tough all I have to do is remember that moment when I opened the door to a huge shout of 'SURPRISE' and saw my friends grinning and laughing. That moment told me everything I already knew but needed to be reminded of, about my friends, that they're fantastic and I should never take them for granted.
To all my friends, you know who you are, you are all wonderful in your own way and I am inspired by you. Thank you for your continued support and I promise I will do my best to support you back. Thank you!
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