Hello, Deja Vu

It's funny how it sometimes seems that we've said, done or read something before...

It's a funny feeling isn't it. Deja Vu. It can strike when you least expect it and mess you up without a moment's warning. But, that said, it can also come as great help in certain situations. And two situations have come up over the past couple of days where Deja Vu has gotten the better of me but has actually ended up helping in the long run.

The uni I'm currently at is the second uni I've been to. No I'm no 30. And no I'm not clever enough that I first went at 13. I was at one uni in Wales and. although I met some brilliant people that I wouldn't have missed meeting for the world, it didn't work out. Then, after a mixed 2013, I ended up in my current uni. Where I've just started semester 2. And, seeing what I'm doing module wise this month, I'm seriously looking forward to it because, well, dayum these topic are good!

Anyway. The first reason Deja Vu has got me is because it dawned on me earlier what topic I'm doing on a Monday. I had it in the back of my head because I had to memorize some kind of timetable, but it wasn't until this morning that I realised what it actually was.

It's called Creating and Consuming History and it involves looking at various things such as museums, books, memorials, various heritage sites and various pieces of popular culture and how they influence the general public's view of history and certain historical events. Frankly, considering how bored I was last semester with the Monday lectures, I could not ask for a better topic.

But I have some advantage over most of my course colleagues. For the fact that, in another life, I've effectively done this module before.

When I was in my other university, I had to sit through a number of compulsory modules for the semester I was there. Two of which were 'Heritage' and 'History and Film'. This current module I'm sitting is, in effect, both of these previous modules combined. Even some of the sub-modules are almost the same ones I sat in Wales! (For any of my old uni pals reading this, we have to talk about the Divided Memory of Italy over its recent history, without watching Life Is Beautiful).

I must say, I'm actually rather happy at this prospect. I should, in theory, find this module really easy but, who knows. Only time will tell. But hearing all the stuff we were doing this semester in that module made me feel like I was back in Wales for a time. With a slight weird and depressing feeling that my Welsh friends Mary and Zeke weren't next to me. That was kind of weird.

But it should be a great module anyway! I know most of the practices behind most of what we're talking about and I've just chosen which essay title I'm going to do which I'm REALLY looking forward to.

"What should we teach children about the past?". 2000 words. TIDY!* (Needless to say, I'll be scrutinizing Michael Gove**. VERY carefully...)

Also, I have to visit a museum in week 4. Any museum(s) we choose. And, considering it's just outside Winchester, I think I might go and visit the house of one Miss Jane Austen?

The second Deja Vu shouldn't really be mine to experience, but it feels odd all the same.

The long and short of this story is that 2 of my flatmates are moving out, one of them having moved out yesterday. (She's my Kiwi blogger friend Frances. Check out her progress at http://acrystalsscrapbook.blogspot.co.uk/).

I'm not going to lie, when Frances told me she was moving out I was both surprised and a little sad. And a bit concerned given the who she told me initially who she was moving in with. (But I met him yesterday. He's a nice guy). But for the most part I was a bit upset. Especially when she writes on her blog that she was unhappy being in halls. I can understand that but, all the same, she was fun to live with. She can argue. God she can argue. But our debates were fun as it was, mostly, comparing cultures. And I am going to miss that.

Despite this, I hope she'll pop in from time to time for a cup of tea and argue some more about how New Zealand is "better" than the UK...***

But having her move out, as well as another of my flatmates, made me realise how my flat mates in Wales must've felt when I left. We had the exact same situation in our flat in Wales. 2 people moved out. I was the second. Leaving the 3 that were left on their own. Well, I say that, I think someone else got my room but anyway. It made me feel bad for leaving Wales. I know what I did was right for me, but like I say, I miss the people. And considering the second person leaving my flat is leaving uni like I did, it makes it slightly more familiar.

Still, times change and so must we. But it just felt stupidly weird how both these situations felt so familiar because, well, I've almost experienced them before. But this time around, the past experience has helped me deal with this events in an appropriate way. And this pleases me.

Because, if anything from my time Wales was going to repeat itself in some shape or form, I'm glad it was these events and not what happened to me in Newport's main bus station...

Tidy!


Oh, and before I go, I would like to publicly thank my friend Iska for her very kind words about me in her most recent post 'Daddy's Little Girl'. (http://squishedlife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/daddys-little-girl.html?spref=fb). I didn't know it was me who inspired you to start blogging but I'm glad as blogging is a great cathartic exercise! And your posts are very well written! I often enjoy reading them.


To finish off, here's a funny Monty Python sketch about the very subject of Deja Vu. It's funny and also one of the finest pieces of sketch comedy I've ever seen! Enjoy!

*For those who aren't Welsh or familiar with the TV series Gavin and Stacey, 'Tidy' is a Welsh colloquialism something (or often someone) that's good or pleasing.

**For anyone who does not know who he is, Michael Gove is the current Secretary for Education in the British Conservative Government. And, from what I've observed and experienced, he's not a very popular man.

***Already a foregone conclusion I know but it's fun to explore each others reasons.


It's funny how it sometimes seems that we've said, done or read something before...

It's a funny feeling isn't it. Deja Vu. It can strike when you least expect it and mess you up without a moment's warning. But, that said, it can also come as great help in certain situations...