31st Jan-7th Feb

Erasmus begins..
After a bus journey and a three and a half our flight (which consisted of a 35 euro baggage fine and sitting in the middle of Becca and Matthew sleeping), we finally arrived in a sunny malta airport. After ordering a taxi, Matthew and I were forced to sit with our luggage as the trunk could only handle Becca’s three large suitcases. On arrival to our residence, we were not exactly impressed with the standard of living, however we would grow to become very comfortable with our surroundings. The residence manager welcomed us and informed us of the rules and regulations, as well as issuing us with a timetable that displayed the times that the shuttle bus went to the university. Once we had got ourselves unpacked, we decided to go on a wee walk, which lead to an exploration of half of Malta as we got completely lost! As we had done no shopping at this stage, we treated ourselves to a meal in Sliema after walking along the promenade from St Julians. As Becca and Matthew had paid for the taxi into St Julians, I thought I would pay the way back. Just my luck, I was ripped off  again as I was charged 20 euro for a taxi that cost the other two 7 euro between them! 55 euro down in one day!!

During the first week we did a lot of walking, getting lost every time, and we began to familiarise ourselves with the transport system in Malta. We realised that every bus (which were old, shabby things) went to Valletta, the capital of Malta, and only cost 47 cent per journey. We also starting to become friendly with the other residents, although at times this was difficult as the majority of them were departing after first semester, but it was still evident that the residence was just like a ‘family environment’. Even though there were no classes on the first week, we thought (being good Stran students) that we should make ourselves known to the international office and have a look around the university campus. The coordinator basically informed us that we did not need to be in until registration, which was next week!
Knowing this, we put our feet up for a bit and even went on a hike, organised by one of the receptionists at the residence. Despite having a late Saturday night, we were up bright and early and made the most of what was the sunniest day I had seen in a while. The hike mainly consisted of falling and getting filthy, but the scenery was great, which made for some good photos to make friends at home jealous of the weather! The hike also provided another good opportunity to get to know the others we would be living with for the next four and half months.