I have a long list of work that I should be doing and limited hours to be doing it in but I thought I would take some time to procrastinate... This is what life has become like at university. Living away from home means that I've got so many more distractions and no one to make me sit down and study (although Callum does a pretty good job of taking my phone away and locking me in my room until I get "in the zone"). Regardless, I wouldn't change it for the world!
Before I came to university I didn't want to get my hopes up and be disappointed so I told myself that whoever I live with will be really messy and we might not click and that I'd probably get really homesick. In reality, although the kitchen occasionally needs a tidy, my flatmates are better than I could ever have imagined. They have become like a second family to me and although I'm missing my parents and Betsy, I haven't really felt homesick at all. My social life has never been better (which is probably why I never get any work done...)
The only thing that has taken some adjusting to is the work load. Taking a gap year meant that I lost the routine of studying and having the motivation to concentrate and although it's getting easier as the term goes on, I still struggle to get work done after 4pm (strange, I know). Saying that, I don't regret my gap year at all. It taught me a lot about my self and it's a year of my life that I will never forget.
A little high note to finish on: my first published piece of writing is in the Courier newspaper if anyone wants to take a look - there's a web link as they publish it online too.
If you go to pages 14-15 the article is The Rules of Bitching.
When I announced to my friends that I would be moving to Malta after year 13, as happy as they were for me, their initial response was: "What are you going to do in Malta? Isn't it for old people?"
Despite there being many elderly people who live in Malta, there is obviously a whole bunch of locals who were born here and are - believe it or not! - around my age. So yes, there are lots of things to do over here and here is my list:
1. Hit the beach This one is the most obvious because Malta is an island in the Mediterranean where summer begins in May and ends in October. (I was still swimming in early November last year to be honest.) There are plenty of water sports available around the island or you can just swim to heart's content in the many designated swimming areas.
Golden Bay
2. Splash and Fun Another water related activity except this one doesn't involve the sea for anyone who gets freaked out by fish. Plus it has awesome water slides, a wave pool and countless sunbeds for burning under the hot Maltese sun.
3. Malta Marine Park Swim with Dolphins and make friends with Sea Lions, Parrots, Iguanas etc. Do I really have to say anymore? Who wouldn't want to swim with dolphins?!
4. Lazy Pirate Boat Party For all my alcoholic friends, there are plenty of these "excursions" to pass as a "cultural activity" - the Lazy Pirate just being one of them.
5. Normal Boat Trips And by normal I mean ones that actually want to appreciate the culture, like sailing to Blue Lagoon, Comino or Gozo or around Malta. You will find plenty of people on the streets on the sea front scouting for potential bookings for boat trips. Prices vary depending on the company and the trip.
6. Eden Super Bowl Ten pin bowling complete with cafeteria and arcade games. Unlimited bowling - 14euros each Monday to Friday. Can't get a better deal than that!
7. Eden Cinemas Just like in most countries, Malta has a cinema - more than one in fact!
8. Paceville Malta's main area for bars and clubs, offering a diverse selection of music, fast food outlets and Gentleman's clubs.
9. Shopping Despite Malta being small and, as everybody seems to think, isolated, the island offers a large range of shops where you can buy anything you want. Yes, my friends, we are not cut off from civilisation. We have New Look. We have River Island. We have Debenhams and many, many more. We have plenty of Italian shops too.
Sliema
10. Horse Riding Open all day - I highly recommend going on a sunset ride. The route goes along the west side of the island, providing a beautiful view of the sun on the horizon.
Golden Bay Horse Riding
11. Paintballing I'll admit that I haven't tried this one... Only because I'm scared of it hurting me! I'm sure it's fabulously exciting.
Paintball Malta
12. Go-Karting Another one sure to give you an adrenaline rush!
Badger Karting
To be honest, I just wanted to make a point, simply because my friends seem to think that there's nothing to do here when actually, most of what I've listed can be done in the UK too. (I wouldn't recommend going to the beach in November in Britain...)
So don't assume that we're all going down to the local pub to play bingo. There's plenty to do so get yourselves on the next flight over and I'll show you how we have fun - Maltese style.
Is it just me, or was 2013 the fastest year yet? In my opinion, time seems to be moving faster than I can appreciate the days. Even though 2014 has only just begun, summer will have been and gone (although I get a much longer and better one living here on this sunny island) and the festive season will be back before we know it.
The start of the new year brings me the opportunity of looking for another job as hotels are beginning to reopen and vacancies are appearing. Another opportunity arising is the availability of places at The University of Malta. I recently checked my emails to find that The University of Liverpool had declined my application. Okay, I had no intentions of going anymore anyway because I want to start my life properly here in Malta but the rejection has knocked my confidence severely. Not only am I waiting for a call that should have rang yesterday from a job interview that I had last week, I'm terrified that The University of Malta will not want me either. To be honest, I don't think I can take much more and if it weren't so cold outside, I'd consider throwing myself in the sea.
These lack of options are forcing me to look at new options for myself. But what I am supposed to look at when I don't even know what other options appeal to me? How, at nineteen years old, am I supposed to know what I want to do with my life when a degree might not be an option anymore and most employers value either a degree or 'life experience' and I don't have either of those things?
Granted, I might be freaking out a bit too much but when all these things happen at once, it kind of hits you a little harder than if they happened six months apart. There are part time and full time courses available at a college here but if I don't know what career I want, how am I supposed to know which course to apply for?
There is also an extreme option which could help me get into The University of Malta if my application is rejected first time... I could go back to school full time and sit exams until I get enough credits to be accepted onto the course that I want. Why is it extreme? Ever moved to a new school where everyone is already friends and you're the new kid? Try doing that at nineteen years old. I can't just walk up to someone and say ''Want to play tea parties with me?'' like a brave five year old would. Children are brave and the older we get, the less brave we are. Social expectations and caring too much about what other people think stops us from saying what we really mean and doing what we really want - unless you're the kind of person who has the balls to do those things.
So maybe it's time to break my unfortunate chain of rejection, be headstrong about the person I want to be and grow a pair!
How do you know if you're making the right decision? Do you have to wait and see if works out? Seems a bit unfair, in my opinion, that the only way of knowing is if it blows up in your face or not...
I love surprises, I really do. And that's what life is - a surprise. None of us know what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next year. If someone offered me the chance to see what my life would be like in 5 years time, I probably wouldn't take it. What's the point? If you liked it, you'd be conscious about every decision between the present and that future moment. If you didn't, you'd be constantly aware of the fact that your life is heading in a direction that you don't want it to go.
I can't speak for the entire population but I think people like to plan. I know I do. I take comfort in knowing where I'm heading, like it gives me a purpose. A levels, degree, masters, job. If only it was so simple. Life likes to jazz things up a bit. It throws curve balls at you and you can either hit a home run or strike out.
When I decided to take a gap year in a country 1,500 miles away from home, I didn't really think I'd gain much more than some extra cash, a few new friends and an impressive tan. Yet, the more time I spend here, the more I'm realising how much I actually am gaining from this experience. I'm learning so much - about myself, about life.
The first thing I've discovered out in the big, wide, working world, is the importance of my instincts. When I first came back in August, I got a job and after my first shift I had a bad feeling. But me being me, I chose to go back and stick it out. I wanted to give it a chance because, let's face it, I didn't have any other offers at that point. After another four hours of a gut feeling that was getting worse with every glass I polished, I decided enough was enough and made the decision to finish the shift and quit. People always used to say to me, go with your gut instincts. Now I realise how right they are.
I've also realised I trust people too easily. I'm too quick to believe that they're a good person and I need to be careful because being taken for a fool is a dangerous game to play. This is where my instincts fail me. Not all the time, but enough recently for me to feel the need to write about it. Maybe I need this post as a reminder so that I can change...
On a more positive note, moving out here has given me a lot more confidence than I thought it would. I'm slowly developing the ability to speak out for myself more (mainly at work - I'm still a mouse in a social context) and I'm also getting used to not having my family around. When we lived in Leeds, if I ever needed something I would go straight to my grandparent's house - here I don't have that option. Although I miss them immensely, I think the distance is what I needed. Otherwise I would have chosen to go to the University of Leeds and I might never have left. Now I feel comfortable with the idea of studying further away and I'm excited to see what the rest of my gap year brings me.
