Another University Residence Hike

Ray from the residence organised another fantastic hike from Popeye's Village to Ghajn Tuffieha stopping at Golden Bay for an ice cream.

Do you fondue?

As the exam period is ending and the first semester of 2008/9 is drawing to a close, some of my fellow students (who came to Malta as Erasmus students for one semester) are packing and preparing to leave Malta.
Yesterday evening a large group of us went to 'Fra Giuseppe' a restaurant/wine bar close to Balzan church to enjoy a 'last supper' together. We ate various platters of cheese, cold meats, traditional Maltese dips and cheese fondue. This was enjoyed with a side order of cheesy jokes and picture taking: "Say cheese!"...

First Swim of 2009!

My friend Ania and I were revising for our upcoming exams when during one of our breaks Ania suggested that as it was nice and bright outside (a mere 16 degrees!) we should go for a dip in the residence pool...I foolishly agreed! We got our swimsuits and recruited Alex who was reading in a deck chair outside to join us.

The pool is NOT heated and so it was refreshing to say the least but worth it!

Pre-swim team photo

Alex testing the water.

A couple of lengths after lectures...

The cakes and pastries here are delicious and I fear I am indulging in a couple more than my jeans will allow... so, in order  to save my seams I have joined the national swimming pool (as a university student I enjoy a heavily discounted membership fee).

The national pool complex is located just off the university campus in Tal-Qroqq and enjoys a 50 metre olympic sized heated outdoor pool, a diving pool, squash courts and a fitness centre. The pool also hosts waterpolo matches during the summer months.

Linguistics Circle

A view of Valletta from the University of Malta campus:

Last week I went to a talk organised by the Linguistics Circle. The talk was given by a German translator working at the European Commission. As Maltese is now an official language of the EU he was given the opportunity to learn Maltese and now translates the few documents the commission receive in Maltese into German (he explained that most Maltese documents sent are written in English).

During his talk he outlined the difficulties he faced whilst learning the language and gave some suggestions for current students of Maltese. He highlighted a common problem students face in that whenever they try to address people in Maltese they get a response in English - I have not yet really tried to speak to strangers in my basic Maltese yet but judging from the response from the audience his point was a valid one.

Most people in the audience were from the Maltese for Foreigners course held in the evenings at the University and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of Brits in the audience. 

AEGEE Halloween Party

AEGEE is one of the biggest interdisciplinary student associations in Europe; it is represented by 15,000 students, active in 232 academic cities in 43 countries across Europe! AEGEE is a secular, non-profit organisation, not linked to any political party and all projects and activities are based on voluntary work of its members.

The aims of the organisation are:

1) To promote a unified Europe without prejudices

2) To strive for creating an open and tolerant society of today and tomorrow

3) To foster democracy, human rights, tolerance, cross-border co-operation, mobility and European dimension in education. 

Here in Malta AEGEE are working really hard to make sure we international students feel welcome. So far they have organised a Maltese language lesson/orientation, a diving course, the trip to watch the football at the national stadium and plenty of parties. Their latest party was the Halloween party - we started off in Buggiba and then went on to Paceville, return transport was provided for a small fee and everyone had a great time! Viva AEGEE! 

Pens and the PM

Freshers' week is in full swing with many different University clubs and societies seeking to persuade students to join. 

As a result I think I now have enough free pens to last me until graduation!

University of Malta 'Gateway' and welcome banner.

Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi visits the campus.