Dispelling midwinter blues
A lot of people have told me that the post Christmas term is the hardest. They say it’s when people studying away from home are most likely to suffer from home sickness, or the dreaded ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’.
As far as I’m concerned this is nonsense. I’m willing to admit that waking from the bed of festive warmth into cold weather, long hours of darkness and a somewhat forlorn bank balance can easily get people down. However, it is a new year of opportunity and instead of thinking about how cold and dark it might prove, we ought to be looking optimistically towards Easter, and the inevitable summer sunshine. My policy is simple; if I feel a bit low I put on some happy music, do something productive and find something that makes me laugh.
January has been yet another exciting month for me. I have been ‘on air’ at BBC Radio Newcastle, ‘Hype’ is continuing to go well, my podcasts are receiving positive feedback and the new semester has begun.
Some of you may remember Martin Emmerson, the sports commentator who came up to Orkney last summer for Radio Orkney’s parish cup final broadcast. He lives very near me in Sunderland and he suggested a couple of weeks ago that I might like to come into Radio Newcastle while he was temporarily presenting their ‘drive’ show. As you may expect, I jumped at the chance and had quite an eventful week helping the show’s producer put people on air, take calls and usher guests in and out of the studio. On the Thursday I went in for the whole day and was lucky enough to be allowed to sit in the studio with the presenters for two consecutive shows before ‘drive’ started at 4 o’ clock.
After the first presenter realised I had some previous radio experience I was invited to talk on air about how long it takes to get from Sunderland back to Orkney. During the next show which is presented by TV actor and comedian, Alfie Joey, I was invited to chat to him on nearly every link throughout his three hour show!
I find being around radio studios exciting as it is, but getting to go live on air and chat about things as random as garlic crushers, which James Bond actor is the tallest and daft names for driving schools is, for me, pretty cool.
While I was on air, one of the senior station staff asked Martin who this student was that he had taken in to the station. To which he said; “He’s here as a fellow BBC employee from Orkney.” The senior staff member then asked why I didn’t have a proper BBC pass. Martin had to explain that having seen the relative size of Radio Orkney, a pass was not necessary!
I am very much hoping that this is just the beginning of my involvement with BBC Newcastle as I have been very keen to get involved in some way ever since I started studying in Sunderland.
The decisions as to who I’m going to live with next year, and where, are currently in full swing. At this stage it looks like I will definitely be living with two of my current flat mates, Andy and Phil as well as two girls that the three of us have been best friends with since our first week in Sunderland. Jo and Kate both study the same course as the lads and I, and they are also fun and up for a laugh. They have been living in private accommodation this year but this will be a first for the boys and I. We are currently making some final decisions about which property to rent and then it’s just a case of signing contracts.
I have been keen for a while to do some communal cooking in the flat. This is mostly because I like cooking and enjoy making a meal and having everybody sit around and eat it together. It is also a great deal more efficient and healthy than everybody shoving a frozen pizza in the oven every night. Unfortunately, despite being keen to do it, it hadn’t really happened much until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go.
I made sure the lads in the flat were available and invited Jo and Kate round for a beef casserole. It was the first time I had eaten boiled tatties and broccoli since Christmas and I think the lady in Tesco was about to give me a medal for the amount of veg on the conveyor belt!
The six of us had a great evening and my culinary skills seemed to go down well. I have to thank mum for the book of family recipes she made me for my 19th birthday!
Hype has been going well since we started again after the Christmas holidays. We have been doing some special promotions with free Absinthe, glow sticks and the popular ‘Guitar Hero’ Playstation game. We don’t think that giving away random unrelated free gimmicks is necessarily a good way to increase business, but we do believe that if something we give away enhances the night, it is worth doing. There are also plans brewing for us to book some big name bands in the next few months which is exciting.
I really enjoy recording and producing my podcasts every couple of weeks. It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to spend more time in the studio, as well as to find out more about some of my friends by inviting them to take part in the shows. It’s also a good vehicle for me to get feedback from people as to what elements of the show are entertaining as well as what things could be improved, or sometimes removed altogether! I’m hoping this will enable me to decide on a popular format for my show on Utopia FM this May. Don’t forget you can get the shows free by searching for me in your iTunes store! Cheers.
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