Update:
I phoned home earlier when I knew Mam would be home from work: Dad was surprisingly okay for a guy who's never been good at being sympathetic where I'm concerned. Mum then took over the phone and kicked off a bit, but by the end (I suspect the bit where I started audibly crying again - yes, I know, this is getting ridiculous with the bloody waterworks - was probably the turning point) she'd stopped stropping and gone into sensible, this-will-all-be-fine-don't-worry mode, and I am now calmer than I have been all day.
Upshot: I'm going to France at the beginning of August for the three-week course. I'll be missing Morgan's birthday, but I should still be able to go on holiday with them, and I've been told that if I need the €250 urgently then I can borrow from the folks and get it out of my savings when I have chance: in any case, I'm not to worry about the money, it'll be fine.
That all done, they are guardedly willing to buy me Eurostar tickets (and maybe Barrowman tickets as well) to see La Cage Aux Folles for my birthday, on the grounds that the lectures are not overly important (the seminars, which start a week later, are the important bit) and it's entirely possible that I won't be missing any anyway depending on my timetable. And since September 14th is a Monday and Mum doesn't work on Mondays, I might get Bonus Parental Presence on my birthday into the bargain.
Further, since I'll be in France and on holiday for all of August and have exams up til June 1st, nowhere is going to be willing to give me full-time employment for under two months. Therefore, I won't have to get a full-time job this summer, which I hadn't wanted to do but knew I was going to have to. I'll just ask Halfords for more hours instead, which is fine by me.
All in all: not so bad. I still don't really want to go to France, to be quite honest, but I'm a lot happier about it now. I know full well that sobbing over not getting to see a bloody cheesy daft TV star is ridiculous, but to be honest it's more than just that: the amount of stress over France in general, the surprise expense of this stupidly useful course, missing out on things in general (especially Morgan's birthday), being painfully aware that I'm going to miss Cardiff horribly and I haven't even left yet, the fact that almost nothing has gone right today... the Barrowman thing has just been the icing on the top, the symbol of this whole bloody mess.
Anyway. I'm okay now. I think.
Upshot: I'm going to France at the beginning of August for the three-week course. I'll be missing Morgan's birthday, but I should still be able to go on holiday with them, and I've been told that if I need the €250 urgently then I can borrow from the folks and get it out of my savings when I have chance: in any case, I'm not to worry about the money, it'll be fine.
That all done, they are guardedly willing to buy me Eurostar tickets (and maybe Barrowman tickets as well) to see La Cage Aux Folles for my birthday, on the grounds that the lectures are not overly important (the seminars, which start a week later, are the important bit) and it's entirely possible that I won't be missing any anyway depending on my timetable. And since September 14th is a Monday and Mum doesn't work on Mondays, I might get Bonus Parental Presence on my birthday into the bargain.
Further, since I'll be in France and on holiday for all of August and have exams up til June 1st, nowhere is going to be willing to give me full-time employment for under two months. Therefore, I won't have to get a full-time job this summer, which I hadn't wanted to do but knew I was going to have to. I'll just ask Halfords for more hours instead, which is fine by me.
All in all: not so bad. I still don't really want to go to France, to be quite honest, but I'm a lot happier about it now. I know full well that sobbing over not getting to see a bloody cheesy daft TV star is ridiculous, but to be honest it's more than just that: the amount of stress over France in general, the surprise expense of this stupidly useful course, missing out on things in general (especially Morgan's birthday), being painfully aware that I'm going to miss Cardiff horribly and I haven't even left yet, the fact that almost nothing has gone right today... the Barrowman thing has just been the icing on the top, the symbol of this whole bloody mess.
Anyway. I'm okay now. I think.