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