The past few weeks

Me and some of my cool friends



I have been here for more than one month here and I'm still feeling as if I'm in a dream, the experience has just been so fantastic, although there have been many up and downs, overall its very very positive :) So what have I been up to? I have completed my first module which was Fundamentals of Multimedia and for me that was very difficult, in fact I am a bit worried about the other module we have later this semester called Computer Vision, because it builds upon the things we've done in this first module. Alot of Maths and programming was involved, and I can't really say that these are my strong points so I was struggling a bit. However we managed to get through the group project and now I have to study for the exam which is around 30% of the mark for that module, and for which I have to sit in January after the Christmas holidays. Now I've started another module this week called Object oriented development for E-Commerce, which is basically about UML diagrams and systems analysis. I'm actually finding that I like this topic although I always fall asleep during the lectures. I guess I'll just have to learn it on my own following the notes and other resources as usual.














Anyway I've also been meeting lots of new people and going out pretty regularly :D There are some fantastic parties at the Students Union and also in town, and I've made myself a regular patron of these clubs :D Together with the other European guys we have really rocked some parties, and I'm really enjoying spending time with my two party buddies Rafael and Alex as well as the rest of the group. I've also been to some places such as the National Space Centre in Leicester, next up is hopefully Oxford next Saturday, but I'm not sure if I'll get a place on the trip as it might be fully booked. The weather here has been bearable, with many cloudy and rainy days but not too cold. There have also been some really nice days, when the sun comes out here it really makes this place look beautiful as there's lots of greenery and there is a feeling of positivity in the air. My bike is proving to be the best thing I've bought since I've arrived here, being my main means of transport and also a recreational tool. Unfortunately I lost one of my padlock keys a few days ago, and my chain broke yesterday and I'm still trying to fix that. It's really frustrating when things like that happen, especially when you have to dig deep in your pocket for a replacement as things are so expensive here :(

My language craze is getting crazier, Im still happily learning Chinese and Spanish, and these last few days I also bought and downloaded some books and audio files for learning Arabic and German, but those will have to take second place after Chinese and Spanish. Some of my Spanish speaking guys are helping me out by talking to me on MSN in Spanish, and Im very thankful for that as I find it very useful.

I'm also started going to Mass regularly every Sunday with Rafael, the English mass here is actually very well attended and it is quite hard to find a place if you go late. However next Sunday I think I'll try to attend the italian one, to make a change and also because it is at 4pm which makes it more convenient than the English (11AM).

Sports: Im playing table tennis regularly now and have found some good players, however I'm not really being very much challenged till now. I enquired about joining the table tennis club but it was too expensive (around 60quid), so I'm trying to find more players who can play at harry french or university. Tomorrow I'm playing against a guy from Pakistan who says he's really good so that should be interesting :D
I've yet to play football although I'm trying to start organising some matches in the coming weeks, should be quite easy to find players as many people have told me that they're interested in playing :)

Anyway I think that's all for today, as usual watch out for new pics at www.jpgalea.com and I'd like to say a big HI! to all my friends in Malta and to the rest of my relatives back there :) Hope to see you in December for the Christmas holidays! :)

Photos updated!

I have put up more photos of my experience till now (mostly pary photos of course), so check them out at www.jpgalea.com :D

Beginning the course

After 2 weeks of super partying it was finally time to begin my course this week and I must say that I found the going tough, we have lessons everyday from 9am to 4pm and there is alot of maths which i dont understand, so I have to work extra hard on my own to understand it. I have nonetheless kept going to the parties and the main highlight was of course the foam party on Wednesday for which I waited an hour in the queue with sleeveless top and shorts in freezing weather, but in the end it was worth the wait cause it was great inside hehe. Another great party was that of Gina G last friday, lots of people and great tunes. We also had some receptions with free food which was quite good. I am also enjoying cooking my own food here at my flat, but I am still at the amateur level, lets see how far I can go :) Yesterday I was lucky to be invited to my Chinese housemates upstairs, all the people in the house gathered there to eat Chinese food which was very good :D Today I decided to stay in and I almost have everything settled in my room now which is good. I also bought 2 posters to brighten up the look of my room but I have not put them up yet as they are still at my friend's room.

New format for my blog

From now onwards I wont necessarily be writing down a day by day blog but will just pop in to highlight any particular events that happen during the week :)

Pre-sessional course and moving into new accomodation

Tuesday was the last day of our presessional course and was also the day I bought my new bike :D Its a very cool Diamondback and I bought it second hand for only 50 pounds :D Anyway people were moving their stuff today but strangely I was not allowed to move to my new accomodation so I had to pack the stuff and wait until tomorrow. In the evening we had a really great farewell party for all pre-sessional people at Incognito and I think it was the coolest evening since I came here, lots of dancing and meeting people and having a really good time :D

On Wednesday we finally left Elvyn Richards to new better pastures, myself going to my new flat at Harry French where I met Eric my new flatmate. Rafael and Raquele kindly helped me move my stuff to the new flat, so it was quite pain free :) I must say that my new accomodation is really cool, I even have a double bed all to myself lol! In the evening it was time to go to the Students union for the freshers party which was so totally cool, great place and 3 dancefloors, its like axis but on a much bigger and cooler scale :D I think I'll be frequenting this place quite often during the year eh!