7 Things I SHOULD Have Done Over The Summer Break (in Norwich)

My summer this year went by really slowly, until the very end when all of a sudden, without warning, we were half way through September.  The anticipation and the anxiety surrounding going in to my last year filled me with regret because there was so much I could have done over the summer that I just never did.  I often talk about how lovely Norwich is, but I have recently discovered that I have not even begun to scratch the surface of awesomeness, entertainment and culture that this City has to offer.  Here is my list of things I wish I had done over my last summer here in Norwich:

1.   SIGHT SEEING

I know that this a cliché.  Everyone that goes anywhere in the world that they have never been HAS to site see at least once, right?  Well not a confused lost student who, for the first time, was going away from home for an indefinite amount of time, to a place they have never been, surrounded by people they have never met.  Couple that with social anxiety and an irrational fear of getting lost (who would know you were missing if you know no one?), and you have me: the tour-less tourist, but my 'student' status vindicates me. Perfect places to visit are:

• Norwich Cathedral
• Norwich Castle
• All the Gardens
• 
• All the Churches

  

 2.  PARK ACTIVITIES

 

It brings me great shame to confess to this, but I live opposite Eaton Park and I've been there only 8 times in 3 years: 4 times to meet friends, twice to play tennis, once to read the MOST FRUSTRATING book and once for fitness purposes.  Now to show why this is shameful, here is a list of activities that lie right across the road from me:

• Boat Racing
• Golf: mini and regular sized
• Tennis (at least this I have done)
• Football
• Crocket (???)
• Café
• Long picturesque walks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. ENTERTAINMENT

 

If parks just aren't for you because you have an aversion to trees and grass and insects and flowers, there are other activities. I am more of an 'Indoor Human' myself, mainly because  I have a complicated relationship with nature, sometimes I love it, and sometimes it makes my eyes swell because I think I'm allergic to a plant in England that doesn't grow in any part of Southern Africa.  That said, there is still a list of things I could have done indoors that I just neglected to do:

• Gravity (Trampolines)
  
   

• Arcade
• Bowling
• 

  Movies
• Watching Football Live
• The Broads (Boat riding!)
• Theatre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  EXCERSISE

 

I know the idea of working out during the summer is ridiculous to most, but to be honest, Norwich is a really active city.  There is no pressure to have the perfect summer body, but when you see your 65 year old neighbour rocking active wear and power walking through the hood (looking all smug), you start to entertain the thought of exercising for no other reason but to rub your youth in Gladys' face.  It's shameful motivation, but its motivation nevertheless, and I wish I had exercised more than just that one time.  Here are just some of the ways one can work out:

• 24hr Gym (found everywhere)
• 
  UEA Sports Park (You can take classes and everything!)
• 
  Park
• Lake (you can run around it)
• 
  Run around the neighbourhood (All roads are connected so it is easy to map out a route) 

5.  WORK

 

Yes I do have a job.  I work for the International Office.  Hi, I'm Ashleigh your friendly International Student Ambassador (it's a mouth full)!  But I wish I had went out and gotten one of those city summer jobs that I have heard about on television.  Not only would that have added to my CV, but it would have introduced me to the Norwich society that falls outside UEA.  I could have made new friends, and extra money to do all those summer things I neglected to do.  There are so many student jobs available, I wish I had done just one that fell out of my comfort zone, like Bartender or a team leader for a summer camp.

 

6.  SUMMER SCHOOL

 

Okay hear me out, willingly going to school when you should be taking a break from school is worse than the exercise fallacy, but UEA does offer some really interesting options for summer school.  The programme may not have all the diversity of the term time UEA curriculum, but it is interesting.  I would have loved to learn something outside of my degree.  I would have loved to engage with students who I would not have ordinarily been able to engage with.  I would have loved to learn about other interests I have outside of law, like Creative Writing (which would improve my blogging skills), Digital Animation (I don't think I need to explain why this would be fun), and Shakespeare's England (I actually love Shakespeare, he invented the word 'swagger'): https://www.uea.ac.uk/study/international/international-summer-school

 

7.  BEACH

 

This is my least ambitious aspiration.  I have been to the beach in the UK intentionally, once.  I love the beach, I love the sun, I love water, and I'd love to have gone to the beach more.  It is only an hour away and the restaurants serve really nice food.  The only thing on this whole list that I could have easily done without risking inconvenience or discomfort was go to the beach.  How did I let time pass me by?


The craziest thing about all this is that everything on this list could have been done in just one summer, and I would have time to do nothing but to binge watch old series.  Nothing on this list requires excessive planning most of the things were no more than a bus ride away.  Don't be like me, don't sit in your room wearing you bat onesie lamenting over the lost summer (oddly specific).  I really wish I had done more but now it's just too late, winter is knocking down the doors of my happiness wearing a mask that says 'Autumn', but I can see right through its disguise, I know the truth, and I'm not leaving the house unless I have to (you know, for education purposes).

(Ashleigh Nyambirai - Southern Africa)