My first week in Bristol

Has it already been a week since I've been at the BBC? Starting last Tuesday seems like an age away, and yet it's never felt so right to be there. I've come to realise that I thrive on variety, and this job gives me that in abundance. I never imaged this morning that I'd be speaking to Jeffrey Archer for example...

Removal day was a bit odd really. It had taken me a day to get everything down in the front room ready to go, and the removal guy put it in his van in about 10 minutes! We were about to set off when he spied a woman at the end of my street trying to start her car, and without any luck. Cue half an hour of him with jump leads from his van, and me stood there wondering what to do with myself

BBC Radio Bristol

About 5 hours later, we made it to where my items were to be stored, and the removal guy managed to offend my friend's mum (Sarah) by jumping out and demanding that she made him a tea that instant. This was especially awkward since I had been told what a nice guy he was! In any case, my life was promptly unloaded and stored away. Suitcase, laptop and towel in tow - we went to my current and temporary residence, the attic of a family house.

The original Broadcasting House on Whiteladies Road, bought by the BBC in the 1930s.

This house is rather nice actually. It's a 4 storey Victorian property, with an Aga kitchen, original Victorian toilet in the basement (I kid you not!) and a nice bunch of quirky features. I was left alone in the house while they went to the cinema on Sunday, and for once in my life I actually felt unsettled. Here I was 200 miles from home, in a strange house - without actually paying them any rent yet. I still don't feel confident using their Aga cooker...

I had a few days to explore, before Tuesday 2nd April rolled around and my first shift dawned. I gave a great impression by turning up 3 hours late. In any case, it was an awful lot to learn last week. The studio configuration of some older equipment, their house style, the layout - and the most important lesson, not to eat breakfast in the morning because we have a cooked one at 9am after the show!

The later extension to the complex. It's great to walk through these doors with a BBC badge in the morning!

The team here at Bristol are great to work with, and have been very patient while I get up to speed with everything. For once I can feel the career progression possible here. I can write scripts which are actually read by the newsreader and presenter, arrange all sorts of guests, and meet some very interesting people. Essentially I spend half the day being a reporter, and it's nice to know where I'm going and what I want to do. When that alarm clock goes off at 4:45am, I don't complain and groan - I look forward to what the day has to offer me.

Of course, it isn't without sacrifice. I've given up my social life, proximity to friends and everything I know up north - just to chase this job. It was hard not to burst out crying when my 85 year old Grandad shook me by the hand and said "you've made it, I knew you would". They are so proud of me, and whenever I get homesick I think about how happy all my relatives are that I am finally doing what I wanted to do in life.

It seems the adage "do a job you enjoy and you'll never work a day in your life" may finally be coming true for me. University paid off, and it is onwards and upwards from here.