Santiago de Compostela

Well I've been travelling again.

This time I went to Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. I went there with the aim to meet up with 3 of my Bangor friends and a school friend. The flight was easy enough, I'm very well acquainted with Alicante Airport now, it lasted 1hour and 20minutes with Ryanair and Santiago Airport was simply to get through also.


The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was the cold. My goodness, I could see my breath, and also, the landscape. I got on the plane in Alicante and got off in... well I dunno really... I immediately thought that I was not in Kansas anymore. It felt like I was in Dublin or Bangor! The hills were literally of rolling trees, definitely in a Celtic Nation. I questioned Franky and Lyd several times whether I was in Spain or Ireland. Needless to say it was beautiful.

Franky met me at the airport, 2 hours late though, which wasn't her fault, the buses were a nightmare, and my phone was locked due to being never turned off since I bought it. Thank You Elaine Spillane by the way for coming to my rescue. Once I'd put all my stuff down in Franky's hall, we went for little walk, in the rain (Welcome to N. Spain), to the old town and got something to eat. After our mountain of food, we met up with Lyd and Jack and went to a house party which was full of Erasmus and Spanish from Santiago! Met some great people there, quite amusing and drunk also.

After a late night in a club, Franky and I went back to her Halls of Residence and got some kip. Cue Hangover. What a stinker it was. However in my opinion I clearly had a good night! During the next day, Franky, I and her German pal Jessica, went for a walk to show me the sights of Santiago... or the lack of them. There isn't much in the way of sightseeing there, however I will say this, The Cathedrol of Santiago is amazing. Truely breath taking. We also went to Alameda Park which is very picturesque and has a great view of the city. Then later on, we went to the Shopping Centre "As Cancelas", and there I saw Camilla Dorothy Schmid, so strange to see her in Spain, but very exciting to see her and her sister Elsa who was visiting too. I highly recommend Santiago for Erasmus if anyone is considering or has chosen it. 

Soo little time left!

Hola todos.
So it's been a shockingly long time since I did one of these so I'll do one now. It's gonna be a long one so I'd sit down.

MONEY
Eeekk, so it's happened, in the overdraft. I've been pretty terrible with money whilst at university, and this year I decided to be good, which I have been, or at least I thought I had been. Checked the Bank Statement today and in the overdraft by 400GBP. So so so disappointed in myself, particularly with such little time to go and all the travel arrangements I have. It's going to be a a boring few weeks for Lukas. I'm avoiding spending, as I'll be so far into it that I won't get out. I received a cheque from Insurance for my stolen items, but due to payments going through for Santiago de Compostela and going home and Valencia and Rent, alongside general spending. I'm back into it. So very annoyed with myself. I feel like I can't do anything because of this.

HOLLY
So my buddy from Bangorland came to visit my flatmates and I from Mons, seeing as she will be taking over my room when she comes to Alicante, it was a good idea for her to come visit. I'd been hyped up for a while as I have nobody else from Bangor here with me and it would nice to see a friendly face. We had a ball! We went out and had a few drinks, watched the EMA awards.... but sadly the stupid bloody 14N Strike meant her flight was cancelled and she has to go back to Belgium two days earlier than planned. Was annoyed to say the least, but we had fun whilst she was here, and my flatmates really liked her too! So there's a bonus.

FLAT
Internet is still not present in my apartment. *insert annoyed and fed-up comment* We have two new flat mates in the form of our Irish girls. Ella and Elaine, moved in two weeks ago and are in the double room. That's right, they're sharing a bedroom, the room is fairly small and is generally taken up by the two beds but nonetheless they like it and seem to be getting on fine. Nora has been in England for nearly a week, so the flat isn't quite full at the moment. Having the girls move in though has added soo much banter to my daily life, which is good as I'm missing my Bangor banter. The purchase of Board Games too has added an extra feeling of home in that piso at the moment. Farrell and I bought Monopoly and Twister, which we played during the Huelga General (The 14N General strike) as Uni was closed and everywhere was basically shut. However playing Monopoly in Spanish and not sober isn't easy, especially when you don't remember the rules, needless to say I was the first to lose.

IRISH
As you might already know, I have a few friends here who are Irish. Well I've managed to spend pretty much all my time with them now and it's awesome. I love Ireland as many people know, and these girls are like Spanish connection to good ol'Éire. Particularly loving my nice little supply of Barry's Tea that I'm receiving from them! I spent a whole weekend in Kate and Gemma's apartment three weeks ago. What a blast! Will miss them grately when I leave here.

UNIVERSITY
Nothing much is happening in Uni, other than I will have finished 3 modules by the end of this week! Woohoo!! I will only have my Catalan course left, which isn't going well I may add. For some reason I just don't gel with the lecturer and the language itself isn't easy, but after this week it's all I have left, which means only two lecturers a week, yay! However, they're both at 8am, nay!

TRAVELLING
So I have 3 journeys planned for the next 3 weeks! Santiago de Compostela in Galicia (TOMORROW), thursday to Saturday. Madrid, the capital, the week after, Wednesday to Friday. And finally Valencia, the week after that for the day on the Tuesday. Santiago I'm feeling really excited about! I'm going to visit some friends who are also on Erasmus there, Milly (a friend from School), and Franky, Lyd and Jack (from Uni). Santiago seems like a city which is rich in culture and architecture so I'm quite excited to see what it has to offer. Next, Madrid, Madrid being the capital of Spain, was an absolute must in regards to visiting, My friend Claire and I are organising it and we're hoping for about 2 more people to come with us, it's just finding them first. Whilst there we hope to see the Royal Palace, the Plaza del Sol, Toledo Gate etc. All in all, very thrilled about this one! :) Then the week after that, I'm heading to Valencia to visit another friend from Uni, Steph, seeing as Valencia is the capital of the region and not to far away I thought it would be ideal for visiting. I hear there is a lot to do in Valencia. I will keep you updated on my travels. Hopefully with some great photos too!! :)

Money, Money, Money....

Firstly, apologises for not being in Spanish... but I didn't have time to do the whole thing in both languages and I wasn't going to use a translator... I refuse.

ANYWAY....

Money. Money is such a big thing whilst living abroad, as it is in Britain too. However, when you're me, you're more worried as I have terrible money management, but HALLELUJAH!! This year, so far, I've managed to manage my money quite well! It's October and soon to be November and usually by November 1st, I'm waaayyy in the Overdraft worrying about Xmas. This time however NO! No no no no. I still have all my overdraft and a fair bit of money in my account! To say that I'm delighted with myself is an understatement.

So what has Lukas done with his money... trips. Having worked out my finances so that I couldn't touch my overdraft I decided to book a trip to Santiago de Compostela to see some amigos who are there. Also I've got my ticket home for Christmas. 22nd December I will arrive in Luton and hasta luego España!

Trips wise though has taken a down turn. I unfortunately could not afford a trip to Lille and Geneva to visit friends due to the expense. I planned to got to Geneva a while ago for around about this time, but the expense has got too great and I cannot afford it, but I plan to visit Switzerland some day, maybe when in Italy? ¿Quizas? I'm more annoyed about Lille as it was cheaper than Geneva and I wanted to Surprise my 4 friends who are living there at the moment! :( So very annoyed and sad about that.

Alicante wise, the weather is awful at the moment. Rain, cold. I have two blankets on my bed now. TWO!! I live in Spain and have TWO blankets on my bed... damn aclimatization. University is same old and no new annoyances have appeared. Laptop new! I have money now for my laptop (well not yet but I've been informed it's on it's way), so a new will be bought presently. I just wish I could say the same about the internet in my apartment... oh yes. You guessed it. Still no internet in my flat. Enough said, as you can probably imagine how I'm feeling. Stealing internet is still happening, but with two new flatmates moving in at the end of the month, our own Wireless is needed.

That's all for now readers! If anyone has spare €100 knocking about send it my way so I can visit my amigos por favor! ;)

This entry has no relevant title...

"Well Hey there!"
You respond
"How are you?"
You Respond
"Great!"

So I've not done a post for last week, and that's purely because nothing that exciting has occurred other than my folks came to Ali-Alicante para visitarme. So this will probably be a short and sweet post.

Firstly, last weeks events. Last week I started to go off my vegan diet, which some of you will be happy about. I seriously was missing meat too much. I caved. Sorry. I am a carnivore. I have also to the end of my two weeks of non alcoholic beverages, and started on the Beer and Tequila again when I go out con mis amigos. I also found a tandem partner in the form of a Spanish guy from my Translation class, so I will start Spanish Speaking sessions with him soon. Very excited. I beached a fair amount last week, the weather was however a bit dull towards the end of the week and I'm starting to feel the temperature drop a bit, which is disappointing as I came here for sun. Mi Madre y mi Padre were also here last week and we made a short trip to Benidorm, which was a nightmare travel wise. The tram took an age and was annoying as the tram station is nowhere near the sea front which was the location my parents wanted. So as you can imagine my mother was annoyed about this... which was fantastic... Dad was equally annoyed... woop. bonus. Although that all went away when we arrived at the front and we had a grand time. All in all, I believe my parents had a nice time in Alicante.

Secondly, today. A) Erasmus Grant is in my account. I'm buzzing. Literally soo happy that I can start travelling and seeing a bit more of Spain and maybe, just maybe go to Geneva/Lausanne to Toby (a mate of mine on Erasmus there from Bangor).  B) Miss Holly Charlesworth, is OFFICIALLY coming to visit moi in about 3 weeks time! Again, Buzzing! Soo happy to finally see someone from Bangor-land in the flesh and not just skype and Facebook. I'm hoping she's feeling equally excited! (check out her blog @  http://hollyseuropeanadventures.blogspot.co.uk/). C) I started my beginners course in Catalan today. Which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the fact I had to get up at 6am just I could get the bus for 7am, as the lecture started at 8am. 7am I have decided is a disgusting hour to be in Uni and should not be allowed in any EU country. The lesson, nevertheless, was brillant and I hope I can get the hang of it, it's going to hard though I think... There are a lot of elements from Spanish, French and Italian, all of which I use regularly and also Galician, which I have knowledge of, so I can I see myself 1) getting confused and 2) speaking one of the 4 aforementioned languages. D) We still have no Internet. I'm livid.

And Finally, I just wanted to send people the news of that my next post will be in Spanish, however I will provide a transcript.

TTFN!

Barcelona, Insurance, Vegan.

Ok, it's been a while since I've done anything on the blog recently so I have a lot to tell you Reader! It's a long one so bare with me. I would also like to just say a quick apology to my parents and grandparents who are reading this for my use of swear words in previous posts! Sorry! Lo Siento! Désolée! Tá bron orm! ;)

So firstly, I'm going to start with my trip to Barcelona, Catalonia, con uno de mis amigas mejores, Rachel. After the sudden shock of my laptop being stolen was good to get away from Alicante and see some more of España and more of a chance to practice my Spanish... the latter however was not the case. I was pleasantly and also unpleasantly surprised to discover that Spanish is hardly used in Barcelona (or at least it was in our experience) I found myself having to rely on my knowledge of French, Spanish, Galician and Italian to decipher the street signs and notices, however I got by and it made me look forward to learning Catalan to which I start in two weeks. Marvellous.

Rachel at Park Güell

Me outside La Sagrada Familia

The sights of Barcelona were fantastically breathe-taking! Of course for Rachel and I the main attractions were all the Gaudì archictecture as we have both studied him in School. We saw pretty much everything in regards to Gaudì but I must admit that my favourite was La Sagrada Familia and Park Güell, they were just superb, and the views were wonderful. Whilst we were in Barcelona, there was a famous festival going on throughout the city called La Mercè, which is a catalan word meaning Our Lady, and this festival is a celebration that has been going on since the Middle ages, there is music and dancing and loads of culturally catalan things to see, to which we saw plenty. There were music events going on in every plaça and square! Among other things we saw, we went to see the Picasso museum which gave me a new view on Picasso and I´ve decided that I quite like his work actually. We also started to a journey to the Castle Montjuïc, but did not get there as the cable car workers were on strike and we didn't fancy the walk all the way to the top. We stayed in a great little hostel which Rachel found and the staff were really friendly and it was very clean, which I didn't expect as I'd never stayed in a hostel before now, so Lukas can now add to his list of life experiences "Stayed in a Hostel". Overall the trip was marvellous and I would definitely recommend Barcelona to anyone.

Catherdal of the Holy Cross
and Santa Eulalia, Barcelona.

We arrived back in Alicante a few days later, and Rachel stayed with me and my flatmates in our spare room. The weather was great for her first day here and so we took this opportunity to go to see La Castilla Santa Barbara, which is the castle that oversees all of Alicante and swamps the skyline. The views from the top were amazing and awesome. You could see for miles, and see all the mountains, the sea, the town, even my apartment building. The clear skys made the view even more magnificent. Unfortunately these clear skys did not stay... As you've probably heard in the news some people died in Spain this week due to flooding, and some of you may have heard Alicante was flooded... Well Alicante wasn't flooded but we did certainly have some rain and it poured... and poured... and poured some more. The first rain I'd seen in a month. And it was bloody horrible. So due to this fact, Rachel and I didn't get any beach time which is sooo sad but I'm sure she got over it quickly. And so Rachel went home after 3 days and I'm back to my normal life.

Well not really... Insurance matters where the next of my priorities to sort out. A nightmare to start with, but I would like to thank my great pals, Domino and Simie for letting me use their computers and Printer/scanner for these purposes. All forms have now been sent off and I'm presently just waiting for the check to come in now! Which I can't wait for, I've missed my Laptop and Camera! However, on the news of laptops... Nora (my German flatmate/mi compañera alemana) has TWO laptops with her in Alicante and has lent me one until I can get my hands on my own. Danke Schön Nora! What's quite amusing about this is that the Laptop is in German to which I have absolutely ZERO knowledge of, it looks like this could be fun... I am however learning some German from it, but nothing of use, only things like "to copy" or "click here"... nevertheless I am grateful I have a laptop! However we do still have no internet... but Shhh!! We are presently stealing some from somewhere, no idea where it's coming from but it has no password and very slow... better than nothing.

Now finally, you may all be wondering why on earth it says "Vegan" in the title of this post. Well... I've come to the decision that I'm going Vegan for a month with Nora in an effort to loss weight and be healthier. Now I know what you're all thinking, "you need protein and dairy", which is correct and I don't plan to keep on being Vegan for the rest of my life, just this month as detox and will still eat diary and meat when I go out for meals and when my parents visit, so fear not I will get protein into my system somehow... I'm just a bit gutted that I can't get Cheese (the most staple part of my diet) I'm really missing that. Fortunately, I can still eat Marmite, HALLELUJAH! I'm also back to running again, which I haven't done since I left Britain and it's really nice to go running along to beach when the sun comes up.

Rachel and Gaudì had a great little chat about Moderisme.

Anyway Reader, more later :) Hasta Luego!

Disaster.

A very sad turn of events I'm afraid reader!

Last night when I returned from University, I discovered that my Laptop, my Camera and my USB stick had been stolen from my apartment in Alicante. My flatmates had also had there personal belongings stolen too.

As you can imagine guys, I'm distraught. I have the worse luck with Laptop's clearly, this being the second laptop problem that I've had this year.

Thankfully Bangor University Insurance have been grand, as well as helpful, and I'm arranging insurance matters as we speak.

In other news, I arrived in Barcelona this morning to begin crossing locations off my Visiting Checklist. I'm meeting up with una amiga from Britain, Rachel, she has yet to arrive though and I'm currently in the Hostel just chilling on their computer typing to you people.

Barcelona so far has been beautiful. I took the Aerobus from the, you guessed it, Airport, which took me along a really nice route through Barcelona and saw some great looking architecture. Unfortunately, I can't show you these, due to my loss of Camera :(, however I will try and get some photos taken for you on Rachel's camera when she arrives.

There is rather a lot of Catalan, of which I expected there to be seeing as I am in Catalonia... but there is more than I expected really. Many signs are in just Catalan and I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about speaking Spanish to the locals, seeing as I am in Catalonia and the aforementioned amount of Catalan. I am taking a Catalan module at Alicante but this doesn't start until 15th October.

Nothing much else to report on at the moment reader, so I will leave you for now and update you once I have returned to Alicante. ¡hasta luego todo el mundo!

Alicante.... busy

I'm Alive! Don't worry!

It's been two weeks since my last post, and I'm soo sorry about this reader. Alicante has just taken up all of my time and everything still isn't finished and I'm still not settled.
Where do I start.

The Move

My Dad and I left for Alicante from East Midlands and arrived in good time with out problem, everything was going well... until we went to rent a car. The woman was insufferable and was not helpful and basically conning us. We however eventually found a car. Next problem was getting to my apartment, we couldn't find it at all. My landlord was less than helpful and my Spanish was just as helpful as he was. We did find the apartment however and I moved everything in, paid my rent, and soon realized I hated it. My landlord had told me that my apartment was central... 45min walk to La Rambla (the central street)... not impressed as you can imagine. Anyway so I met up with some girls that I made friends with, Emma and Claire (below R-L). Had a great first night with a few bevvies and was introduced to the nightlife. My Dad and I checked out the town a bit more the following day and the day after we went to BENIDORM! I tell you it's so British it's shocking, but nevertheless we had a great day. Dad then went home on Thursday, and I won't lie I did cry a bit and feel a bit uneasy. But I felt even more uneasy when I discovered my landlord was leaving for Argentina for 3 MONTHS, he literally just told me and went, even more uneasiness, he grows Cannabis in the terrace as you can imagine, I was terrified. Thankfully my Dad did some research and discovered that it is legal to Smoke and Grow it in your own home but one cannot sell it... I avoid them. I don't even water them. Luckily, however I have somewhere new to live and I'll be moving there at the end of the month!

The University
Campus University, first impressions are very professional and well organised... but I was mistaken. So much paperwork you would not believe it, and I have to make my own timetable! Which has taken a few attempts but all done now. The University is however very nice and clean, everywhere is mapped well, there is a social club, several banks, 24 hours library with computer room and shops with a post office, so everything is very handy and very close at hand too. I met some great girls from England and Wales who live in the halls of residence here in Alicante, and they are magnificent. Clean, tidy and well equipped. The Uni is however in San Vincente which is outside of Alicante, but not to worry I just get the bus with my handy bus card and 20 mins later I'm at University ready to start my lectures. My modules are quite the miss-match but they're all taught in Spanish and I feel it improving as the days go on. I study Spanish for Erasmus Student, Catalan for Beginners, French Oral Communication and English-Spanish Direct Translation, making up nicely 22 ECTS. I'm also taking an online course in Basic Galician, which is nice and there's no exam and it's free!

The Town

Alicante is a great town, which is particularly good if you live in the city centre, which is where my new flat is.  It's fantastic and pretty much has everything, EVEN A PRIMARK! I haven't really explored yet, but I've seen a lot from the bus to Uni, e.g. Plaza del Toro and La Castilla Santa Barbara. There is a great beach, which I have spent most of my days on either before or after Uni, you can tell I have due to my horrific sunburn at the moment! La Rambla is where a lot of the main pubs and clubs are or at least it's the road where most there are loads of little alleys to loads of clubs, either way, it's rather lively and you can often find a good deal! There is a Marina with what must be billions of £/$/€'s worth of boats and yachts in it, which Simie, Dominyka (Right L-R) and I often gawp over, and leading on from the Marina/Port is La Explanada which is like a promenade of markets stands and restaurants. There is still plenty more that I need to see but I'll keep you posted with my weekly posts reader.

The People

Met some great people. A few names just for you reader. Claire, Emma, Simie, Dominyka, Farrell (left), Nora (right) etc. Plenty of Nationalities but as of yet not a lot of Spanish.

So for now that's it reader! More coming soon! Sorry for the delay, promise it won't happen again! :)

3 days to go....

Just a "Keep Calm" style picture I felt it appropriate to add. Enjoy.

Time to Say Goodbye....

Last night I went for a meal with a few from Secondary School, now this isn't a new thing for me, as we've been for meals before for various Birthdays over the years, however last night's meal was just so great because it was myself and two friends (L-R Milly Schmid and Alex Marchbank) whom are all leaving the UK in September for the great beyond which is Continental Europe. My friend Alex (www.eaudekoln.tumblr.com) organised the meal at Bella Italia in Milton Keynes and afterwards we moved onto Wetherspoons for dessert and a few bevvies. All I can say  is that I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, but all I can think about now is that how much I'm going to miss everyone who came last night! It was just such a great atmosphere, I haven't really thought at all about "missing" people for when I go, I mean I'll miss my family and friends, but I never miss them enough to get homesick and want to leave. However, last night and this morning, I felt like I was really going to miss them and I want them all to come with me. I know Alex will be in Cologne and Milly in Santiago, but I want everyone to come to Alicante and Mons and Florence, and just experience things with me and enjoy what I'm going to enjoy. And so when I got in last night, the only song I could think of and is now still stuck in my head is "Time to Say Goodbye".... It's now on a recurring loop on iTunes. Ultimately, I feel happy that I will be experiencing such a great opportunity this year and that my life will be will be changed as a result, but I saying Goodbye was difficult. C'est la vie. Qué Sera.

Say Hello to my little friend.

Reader, I would like to introduce to you my little friend and travelling companion for the next year, Jebediah José Jean-Michel Giulio Schildkröte, however he prefers to just be called Jeb. Jeb came to me about a year ago, in fact he was a 20th Birthday present from two great friends of mine Lauren Binley and Ryan Harper. So Jeb has been set a challenge for the year, which basically consists of the thing we all love to do when we see a camera, Photo-bomb. So his challenge for the year, with all the travelling we'll be doing, is to basically Photo-bomb as many of my photo's as he can. Let's see if he lives up to the challenge! He's particularly keen to see le Tour Eiffel, or the Eiffel Tower for non-francophonies, and La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Jeb will so have his own page on this Blog where he can express his own thoughts and opinions about our travels and hopefully you'll all be impressed with his shenanigans.

UPDATE!
A quick update for you all, my apartment in Espana is officially ready for me to move in in September, I paid the €100 last week and I'm very excited about it now, my landlord in Spain says I can move in as soon as I arrive so that's also a bonus. Speak of when I arrive, FLIGHTS BOOKED!! Things are starting to feel extremely real now! I cannot express how excited I am. I fly to Spain early than I had anticipated and I am in  fact leaving from East Midlands airport on the 3rd September 2012, allowing me a week to get to grips with the new environment and find my way around etc. However I'm a bit nervous about my flatmates as I don't know who any of them are. I don't even know any names for them. So thus far, that is my main cause of anxiety. My Dad is accompanying me to Alicante and is staying in a Hotel to which I have no idea it is... he's paying for my transport until he leaves though, so quite happy with that! And thanks to Tracy, I have further transport once my Dad has gone, with the help of a Bus card she has sent me! Thank you Tracy!

MONEY! 
What a faff I've had with Student Finance this last week. I received in a declaration in the post for my loans for the next year, however it wasn't as simple as that, as many of you will know with Student Finance England/Wales, I shocked to see on my forms that I was going to be paying half-tuition fees (£1725) next year. I was livid. I then decided to ring them to which I got on the phone some twat who thought when I questioned him about my fees that I was a first year, and continued for 10 minutes to explain why the tuitions had changed. Once he'd finished, I correct him stated my 3rd year status, he then looked at my application and said "we've given you more money", which wasn't what I asked about, so again I explained my situation, to which he then said "It's change this year and you need to pay fees". EVERY FUCKING UNIVERSITY IN THE COUNTRY THAT HAS A MFL DEPARTMENT DOESN'T PAY FEES IN 3RD YEAR! You would think they would know this, he then asked for a letter of proof from my University. I contacted non-other than Magical Moira, who sent a letter. This is now on the way the way to Student Finance, fingers crossed this will be sorted!

More soon readers... if anyone is there??

The Countdown begins

So Reader, the countdown has started until I commence my Erasmus. 5 weeks to go! Flights and Accommodation get a massive tick next to them now! After several weeks of looking for Accommodation, I finally found somewhere in Alicante for September. The feeling was such a relief I cannot tell you! I still have yet to send my deposit to him (€100) but he doesn't seem in too much of a rush for it. I'm living with 4 others and fairly close to the city centre and beach, and right next to the Renfe (Train Station) and a Parada del autobús (Bus Stop), so all in all, perfect really. I just want to go now, start my lectures and enjoy the lovely weather, despite the fact Great Britain has been receiving so much good weather recently.

At the back of my mind, I've been tossing about the idea of what to take... hmmm? It's a difficult one believe me. I've come to the decision that books and DVDs are a no, I will use the internet! Book wise, however, I'm taking a grammar book for each language, each one being French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. On the Dutch front, it's taken such a back seat recently I feel awful. Italian is improving getting to where I was in first year, and hopefully be a bit more confident by the time I do my ECTARC placement. I'm also taking my English Grammar book, because I know it's gonna help at some point, I dunno when, but I might.

Nothing much more to report at the moment, however I have a friend to introduce next time to you Reader....

Quick-ish Update

One is fully aware that I haven't updated this blog in a while. Trust me the Year Abroad will more up-to-date and current that now!

Anyway, so... due to unforeseen circumstances... I am without a Laptop and therefore unable to post the lovely photos of my time in Alicante with Ro and Tracy. However, I will fill you in on my time there. Well, what can I say, it was fantastic, the most wonderful time I've had in a while! The sun, sand, sea and Sangria, I cannot wait for September! Although, before I can start to enjoy myself and get ready, I need to find accommodation... dun dun duhhh! What a polava! If you think finding a flat in Great Britain is difficult, try doing it in Spain, and even worse, try doing it in Spain from Great Britain. I'm getting kind of desperate despite the fact I have two months to find somewhere. Halls of Residence, unfortunately, is not an option... the prices are ridiculous, so a flat share is, as the French say, necessaire! I have however had full confirmation that I am attending the University of Alicante in September 2012 now, so full steam ahead for Espana!

On another not, Belgium, like Alicante I have been fully accepted to the Université de Mons... Fantastique I hear you say? Yes. It. Is... I'm really feeling the excitement about this year now and I'm frantically trying to use my languages still on a daily basis. Reading has been the main source of my continuity of Language. For French I am reading a classic, Candide by Voltaire... and for Spanish I am reading La Lluvia Amarilla by Julio Llamares... I wont like to you readers, I hate it. One of the worse books I've ever read, and so difficult to get through, on the other hand Candide is wonderful, fairly easy to get through, a lot of Passé Simple for you buffs out there, but all in all, very good read.

Vocabulary cards have been a great source of knowledge too, particularly when it comes to Italian. That's right. I'm back on the Italian bandwagon again. Hoping to develop it back to where I was at the end of first year, but we shall see. Dutch is coming along nicely too, I hope to have that to a sufficient standard maybe B2 level if I can by the end of my time in Belgium. And then that brings to my next language ventures, Catalan and Galician. As part of my time in Spain I am taking a free course in Catalan to build you up to GCSE standard, which I am happy about and then Galician, we shall see, I just would like a grounding in it as it's quite an interesting language and then I have 3 out of 4 official Spanish Languages under my wing at  either basic or advanced levels.

Well that is a lot! I'm gonna leave some photos of the places I am visiting so you can see for yourself! More later readers... if anyone is reading...

Alicante, Espana

Mons/Bergen, Belgique/België 

Firenze (Florence), Italia

Alicante Summer 2012

Estoy en Espana.... that's right, I'm in Spain! It is hot, seriously... I'm melting. However I cannot complain seeing as I love the fact the United Kingdom has lots of rain... Ha. As you know I'm staying with Tracy and Ro, they're so hospitable and Tracy's apartment is awesome, nothing as I aspected it to be, I hope I find somewhere just as nice.

The journey... well... it was easy enough to get through Liverpool airport and the trains and the bus, but it was looong. My feet killed. And still do. It was late when I arrived in Alicante and I met Ro and Tracy and then we went for Tapas. Yum. I had an aubergine for the first time, was very nice. I can safely say I'm not missing home and cannot wait to get here in September.

Here are some pictures of my time here thus far! To your left you are seeing the view from Tracy's apartment and the sun as you can see is shining!

 My host for the weekend there on the right Miss Tracy Donohoe of Cavan, Ireland. She was grand and as you can tell from this picture, very smiley! On the left is Miss Rozenn "Ro" Grainger, and what a babe she is, she was one of my peer guides in first year and just loves to have a good time. Both of them made my trip so good!!

Just some of the nice architecture of the town in Alicante. I say 'architecture' quite liberally here as you can see from the photo that there isn't much of it to be really seen at the moment, however I will show you some more once there... promise!

 This was the promenade down to beach I went to, which I think is the main beach in Alicante. Anyway, alongside this promenade were some marvellous market stalls which sold some awesome little bits and bobs, I got a Shot Glass of course so the collection! Picture of that coming soon...

La Castilla de Santa Barbara, is an old castle that dominates the landscape of Alicante. I mainly saw it from this angle on the beach, however I did see it again when I went out to a Bar at night in the Barrios of Alicante and saw it lit up and looking fantastic. I'm hoping that I will get a chance to see properly once I've moved to Alicante and that I can take some more in depth pictures for you all!

More coming soon readers... if anyone is there???

My Very First Post

So... My Year Abroad! It's currently a few months away yet and I'm nervous to say the least, but also excited at the prospect of being on my own in a foreign country, only having to speak, to us Brits, the foreign language.

At present I'm still form-filling and email-sending to Spain and Belgium, tedious and looooonnng! I just want to go now and start having fun and gaining new info and knowledge about Spanish and Spain, and French and Belgium! However, the idea of writing a dissertation is becoming daunting and 4,000 words in only French is embedded on my mind, need to do the proposal too.... such fun.

Anyway, presently still in Bangor, waiting for Friday as I'm flying to Alicante then! Not to start the year but to see what it's all about and to get my bearings with the place (I've never been before). I'm meeting two of my 3rd year mates out there, Ro and Tracy, and I'm looking forward to seeing them both. Then back to Milton Keynes on Tuesday... cannot wait... I'm planning to work and practice my French and Spanish over the Summer... What a great Summer I'm in for Eh?

Right, so this is where I leave this now. I'll keep you updated as I get new bits of information, if there are some readers out there?