some summer moments (part 2)

I started saying (good)byes to the people I've met here a couple of weeks ago. First, I had lunch with Jasmine (she's looking into doing a work experience period in Finland in December so perhaps we'll meet each other again soon!) but I didn't take any pictures unfortunately. It was lovely, though, and she gave me a little gift which was very sweet!

After that, I met Amber for bubble tea. It was my first time trying it, and although I wasn't entirely convinced, it may not have been my last time.

This was one of the warm summer days we've had a few recently, but not quite as many as I hoped!

A few days later, Ollie and I (and Sherry for a little bit) attended the last party at the university called the Summer Social: By the Seaside. The Students' Union was filled with "seaside attractions" like a candyfloss machine, bungee trampolines, a caricature artist and a fortune teller, minigolf (or "crazy golf") and later in the evening there was a silent disco (which was a lot of fun!) and other club nights. It definitely exceeded my expectations!

Two days after this, Charlie came up North and we went to Driffield to stay with his grandparents for one night. That was really lovely and relaxing, and we even visited the real seaside in Bridlington.

some summer moments (part 1)

Since Mum's visit and since I finished my academic year here in Sheffield (!) I've been doing some fun things and met up with different people before everyone leaves! I thought I'd post a selection of photos from the past few weeks.

Cocoa

A few weeks ago after my last deadline, my two friends and I went to this great cafe called Cocoa that's not too far from where I live. I had never been there before, but one of them, Mirjam, knew about it and wanted to show it to me and Jasmine. (Mirjam was in my Shakespeare class and Jasmine I know from the nail art society!) It was so beautiful and I'll definitely try to visit it again before I go.

Charlie's visit and Manchester

I also made cinnamon rolls for when Charlie visited at the end of May! I was worried the dough wouldn't rise (because last time it didn't) but I put the bowl in hot water and it rose beautifully! The buns turned out pretty tasty as well.

We went to Manchester to see the musical Avenue Q and afterwards we had great Italian food at a restaurant and the best cheesecake I've ever had!

 Japanese dinner

My friend Ollie cooked Japanese dinner for about 15 people one night and it was really good. I've never really had proper Japanese food before. There were fried vegetables and seafood, cold noodles to dip in some soup-type sauce, and my favourite: some sort of fried sweetcorn things. (I imagine that's not their proper name.)

Shakespeare in the Park

SUTCo (Sheffield University Theatre Company) put on a Shakespeare in the Park show, which happened to be A Midsummer Night's Dream! I was very excited to see that and got one of my flatmates and her friend to join me. For most of the show, the weather was great and it didn't rain until the last ten minutes of the play.

Charlie thought that Hermia, the girl in green, was me at first! I guess she kind of looks like me from the back!

Since I don't want this post to be too long, I'll continue in the next one!

Mum's visit

Again, it seems that I haven't written in ages! I have a few things to write about, though, so I'll try to write them today and schedule for the next few days! I don't have that long left in Sheffield, because I'm leaving my flat around the 5th of July (and flying home about a week later from London) so I had better make sure I write about everything before then.

My mum visited me over a month ago for a few days and I still haven't written about that, so I'll do it now!

It was so lovely to see her at the airport. When we got back, she brought me all of this!

So much chocolate, some näkkileipä and news! I was so happy. I miss home chocolate!

Then we proceeded to eat the makaronilaatikko I had made earlier with some Salkkarit on the side.

 

The next day, I actually had to go to my last class of the spring semester, while she walked around the university area and the city centre. We met there after my class and went to Meadowhall (the big shopping centre), which was good fun but I didn't really take many photos there. In the evening, we had some delicious pies in the nearby Nottingham House, where I've been a couple of times before. I think mine was steak and potato.

Yum!

The next day, we took the train to York. She didn't know, but I had booked us an afternoon tea slot for that day, which I told her about once we arrived! We had some time before the booking, so we looked around some good charity shops which are aplenty in York.

On the city walls

And then it was time for the afternoon tea! It was in a cafe called Kafeneion, which was my "next best option" after I found out that the famous Betty's Tea Rooms had been fully booked for that day. However, it turned out to be a very likely "first best option" as the tea was absolutely delicious, filled us for literally the rest of the day and was also half the price that Betty's would have been!

We had sandwiches (salmon and cream cheese for me and chutney and Wensleydale cheese for her), scones, and some decadent brownies and cakes. I wish I could have it again, it was so tasty!

The next day we had to wake up early to get a taxi for the train station for the airport. I'm also so grateful that my mum took a whole suitcaseful of my things back so I wouldn't have to bring everything back when I leave. It really was a lifesaver, because there's no way I could have brought it all AND bring everything that I still have here. Thank you Mum for the lovely time and for the great favour! It will be nice to go back soon and see her and everyone else again!