No place like home

Hiyaaaa J

So I’ve not long gotten back from Italy (see my previous blog post) and I loved every second of it!
Sun, travel and teaching! After a great deal of coursework, stressing, sunburn and language barriers, I can now say I have my Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.  So proud of it, and so proud of my class for all working so hard during my time there. Hopefully seeing them next year though!

Of course, it wasn’t all work and no play J

Got to see a lot of the scenery out there, and even had a chance to hit the beach in Viareggio – complete with a surprise visit from the other half!

(Well done us for finding the energy to climb the Duomo – awkwardly the least knackering part of my time in Italy).

Out of all of my time there though, the photo above has to be my favourite. It was taken on a day when I took my class out for an afternoon, to explore south of the river – and I had set them the task of speaking English to each other all afternoon while I attempted Italian. I learned that my Italian seriously needs improving, but the Ponte Vecchio is pretty!

CTEFL – Starting the adventure!

Hi Guys!

So I’ve arrived safely after a long day of travelling. After leaving at 4.30 in the morning, getting to Heathrow, two flights and a short taxi ride, I’m here in my apartment in Florence! The flight from Rome to Florence has to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, though, so it was definitely worth it. It’s a shame that the flight with the prettiest views was the shortest – the flight was allocated 1 hour, and we got from Rome to Florence in 20 minutes ><

I’ve spent the remainder of my day exploring and meeting my classmates – they’re all lovely, and also a little surprised as I’m the only Brit there. The other 11 people in my class are all from the USA, so they’re having a whale of a time with my accent. Luckily a couple of them speak pretty decent Italian, so we aren’t likely to starve while we are out here. Always a bonus. Although after spending the entire day hearing and seeing the language, along with experiencing the country for the first time, my (very) broken Italian is starting to come back! Hurrah! I managed to ask a lady for directions to the school from my apartment, which I was really pleased about as she understood me. In hindsight, it would have helped if I had thought before I asked, as I didn’t understand a word of the response.

 ‘Grazie’. *Hides around the corner and checks Google Maps*.

Also, the apartment is about a ten minute walk from Duomo di Firenze, which is amazing. I don’t think I've ever seen such beautiful architecture. Purely the fact that I've noticed it is a pretty good sign, as normally I don’t really notice that sort of thing, especially when I’m in a foreign country on my own without being able to speak the language and not knowing anyone. It all sounds pretty terrifying, but I reckon it’ll be a great way to find out more about other cultures and new experiences, along with being able to show myself that I can do this sort of thing.

I really can’t get over how much bustle and life the city has – or how friendly everyone is! I've struggled with my Italian a couple of times, and the people I have met up to now seem eager to help me learn, which is fantastic. A quick exasperated look and saying the word in English has caused a few giggles so far when going shopping, however, the giggles have been followed by a polite smile and being told the word in Italian, which seems to be helping it stick.

After a bit of administrative juggling, I’ve been switched across to the intensive programme, giving me a little more time to explore when I finish, which should be nice. Managed to alter my flight too, so direct from Pisa to Stansted, so even more exploring for me! 

Anyways, end of the first day and I already have homework to do – must dash.

Arrivederci!

Birmz - Part two

Eyup ducks!

So the adventures in Birmingham have begun. I took the flatmates and the boyfriend up to The Bullring – The shopping centre in town. Their reaction to how much cheaper stuff is in The Midlands was priceless. Also took them to a real Krispy Kreme place, complete with donut-producing conveyor belt and free donuts while you’re queuing. They were literally astounded, and it was beautiful.

We ended up going to a 90’s night last night at one of my old haunts, and it was literally like I’d never been away. We met up with my best friend from school, who is a fully-fledged grown up nowadays, as much as she won’t admit it :P. Naturally my parents were chatting with her for a while before moving onto the university lot. I’d sort of forgotten how much my dad could talk until we all got back to the house.

The 90’s night was an absolute blast. The nightclub was even better than I remember, and I've had the task of finding the least incriminating photo from that night out to put on here…

…and this was the best I could do. So lots of laughs were had, and the taxi driver who was taking us home took great pleasure in humiliating me. After stating that the song ‘Timber’ by Ke$ha is a bit of a life-ruiner (I have a habit of dancing awfully every time that song comes on, regardless of the situation), he decided that he had it on a CD in the car – so naturally I was trying to dance while cooped up in the back seat of a cab. I’m more of a dancing podium kind of guy, but you have to work with what you’re given I guess!

Anyways, I’m off to make a 1pm breakfast. The others are still all asleep somewhere in the house, so I probably should make some sort of attempt at finding them haha.

Ciao for now!

Birmz – Part one!

Eyup, me lovelies J

So this week, as it’s Easter and all, the flatmates, the boyfriend and I are headed to Birmingham for an adventure – figure I should  go with them, so they have a native there! 

Source: www.baus.org.uk

We arrived this morning, just about in one piece, and are literally all fighting to stay awake so we can go to a cocktail bar later on this evening. Not that I’m one to turn down a cocktail, but I do love my sleep :P.

A couple of them crashed at my flat last night, and even though we set countless alarms, we still had to dash out of the flat at the last minute! If that isn’t proof that I’m not a morning person then I don’t know what is!

So one two trains, a tube and 2 buses later, we are casually all sitting in my house doing a big slice of nothing, and it’s delightful. Even managed to get all of my work done before I left so I actually have this week to myself, which is delightful. Literally, funnily enough, as everyone else seems to have fallen asleep. Poor little tykes are all tuckered out haha.

Rather exciting week planned though! Due to be going out tomorrow night with some of my friends from school for a reminiscence session, that’ll be odd. Then typical touristy stuff, including, but not limited to a trip into Stratford-Upon-Avon (May as well try and get some culture in between the sleep and adventure haha) – plus the butterfly farm, and Drayton Manor which should be great. Expect loads of photos, including shameless group selfies.

Anyways, I really should wake this lot up – no sleep on tour!

Ciao!

Flawless

I woke up like this.

Eyup, Chicks J

Well, it has all been going on since my last blog post! I’ve managed to (sort of) wrangle my way onto the cheer squad (http://www.suug.co.uk/sports/cheerleading/) –both delightful and exhausting in equal measure. Despite the preconception of cheer (pompoms and squealing) it is literally one of the most intensive and exhausting things I’ve ever done. EVER. Oh, and no pom poms for me!

I also had all the fun of going to see Beyoncé! She was AMAZING, as expected – and after showing the photos to my other half, he was geeking out about how good the lighting was. Typical performing arts student.  So going to see Queen B left me with a croaky voice for a few days, which did not come in useful during student elections week >.<

Speaking of, my short-lived foray into the world of politics has happened since my last interweb-rant. I ran for the role of LGBT+ officer, a new role in the Students’ Union this year, and while I wasn’t successful, I learned a lot more from the experience than I thought I would, along with meeting an awful lot of new people through it too. No regrets!

Of course, I’m doing all of this around my degree. Sort of the reason I’m here, after all :’)

I’ve been given my exam timetable for this year, and to be honest it isn’t looking too bad! Three exams, and I’m feeling pretty confident about them – one in Statistics, one in Individual Difference and Abnormality, and one in Developmental and Social Psychology. While I’m confident about the material, I’m hoping that I won’t have to look too much into development again. Bah.

Anyways, that is more than enough ranting and more than enough with the selfies for one blog post. I’ll keep you in the loop with my goings on – keep an eye out for more posts!

Ciao!

My Single!

Eyup, Chicks J

So, it has been a rather exciting couple of weeks – hence the lack of blogs lately. Sorry guys! ><

So Italy is all confirmed, deposit is down, and accommodation and flights are sorted. Light change of plan though, I’m now being shipped off to Florence rather than Rome, which I’m rather pleased about. Honestly, I’m pretty chuffed, just because I feel like I’ll get more of a real experience of the place in somewhere not quite as touristy. Bring on the adventure!

Also, since the last blog, birthday adventures have happened! Having hit the ripe old age of 23, birthday celebrations happened in the form of a night out in SoHo with the best friends and my partner – what a night that was :’)

*tries to find least incriminating photo*

The single came out, too! Apparently now I exist outside of this blog and Tumblr;

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/gavin-may/id815807781

https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Gavin_May_Goodbye_to_You?id=Bfyd76lzu3he3zmaag66pjed7gq

…way too odd…

My course is going really well too, so serious business for that. We have just started getting marks back for our biology and statistics assignments – upper second in both, so it could be worse. Got plenty of exam prep to do for developmental and social psychology, too. As we’ve got all of the coursework done it is just a case of trying to learn all the material as best we can for the end of the year *eek*.

Doing really well at not hibernating, too, so well done me! The new Final Fantasy game came out last week, and ordinarily I would be indoors hibernating with coffee and the Xbox by now. Although I have warned my friends that if they come to mine, conversation will not happen if the Xbox is on. Nobody interrupts my FF time! 

CELTA, Singles, and UCAS

Eyup ducks! J

So, term two has started! Feels really odd being back, but I’m not complaining. After spending most of last month eating faaaaaar too many Christmas dinners, it is great to be back in the office living off of snacks ^_^

So, down to business. I’ve gotten around to submitting my essays for Individual Difference and Abnormality & Brain, Behaviour and Cognition. Took a good while for me to get my head around them but it all just sort of seemed to click when I started writing it all out. That’s the funny thing about psychology, if you overthink it, it just sort of stops making any sort of sense xD

Oh, before I forget! All the excitement of being a student at the University of Greenwich could still be yours! Applications really should be in by the 15^th of January, especially if you’re looking to do one of our more popular courses such as Primary Education or Nursing.  If you have any questions about the application process, or even questions about what it is like to be a student here, the University of Greenwich website has a LiveChat service, and people on there are always happy to talk about their experiences, from application to student life.

As much as I complain about how quiet my holiday was, lots of exciting things did happen. I got my place confirmed for my Cambridge CELTA course, so I will be in Italy for the entirety of June teaching English. Literally buzzing about it, to be honest, as it’s something I’ve wanted to do for years! Four weeks in Rome teaching English, it’ll definitely be an experience!

Now for a completely shameless plug. As I’ve said in previous posts, I used to be in a choir back at home, the CBSO Young Voices. It turns out that once the music bug has got you, that’s it – and it still has. I’m going into a recording studio on the 8^th of January to record my first single! So if you fancy having a listen/giggle at what that will turn out like, it is due for release on the 11^th of February on iTunes/Amazon/Xbox music/some other contraptions that I don’t know how to work. (Y)

Anyways, that’s more than enough gloating for one blog post, I reckon. Now, back to earth with a bump – statistics coursework awaits!

Ciao for now xx