When coming here I packed a rucksack with clothes, tooth-cleaning tablets, toothbrush, bar of soap, book, pen, mp3 player, and so on. I was quite insistent that I should be able to carry my entire life around in one bag.

I don’t own very much, compared to other students here. I wear a plain digital watch and my phone is a cheap handset, bought in an underpass stall. The most expensive item I have is the netbook I’m writing this on, it cost about £300. The second luxury item is my ebook reader, which cost about £100. It takes up less space than most paper books and will store my whole library.

I have access to facilities: a bed, a shower, an intermittent connection to the internet. Since being here I’ve bought some warm clothing: a thick jacket and a thermal undershirt. This is in preparation for the coming change in weather, and it presents a problem because I can’t fit my jacket in my bag, maybe I’ll have to leave it behind. I’ve also bought a needle and thread and am getting into the habit of mending my clothes.

At least so far I’ve managed to fit everything I need into this one medium-sized backpack, and it’s working out fine for me so far.