it's been a while

I've gone off and abandoned this blog for quite some time now (so much so that it didn't let me publish immediately - thanks Dody for sorting). There were plenty of times I had resolved to sit down and type out something, but well the resolve was not strong enough and the posts never materialised. I had even actually started a post back in September but discarded it after a string of sentences. There was surely plenty to write about. This summer's backpacking trip alone surely warranted a page or two. Heck, if I put my mind to it, I could probably write a book about it. The journal I had started during those weeks had seen a considerable number of pages being filled, and I only managed to cover the first four days. Unfortunately, writing while travelling proved somewhat hard, and then coming back home the spark to write had somewhat died down. Not quite sure if it's back just yet.

Meanwhile, since coming back home, I've started full-time employment. That's surely been a change from being a uni student. The 40-hour week took a while getting used to. A different kind of busy. I must admit I was sometimes riddled with doubt if I chose the right profession, if it's what I really want to do or it's been a mistake. This niggling self-doubt tends to happen at least once a year...guess it's bound to happen with too many conflicting dreams or goals. Anyway, I am now part of the professonal world I suppose, and it's been mostly interesting so far, and at times can be quite satisfactory. Come January, we'll be faced with the really busy period. We'll see how that goes. Relating to the start of this new phase in my life and the end of student life, I had graduation almost a couple of weeks ago. Five years of study, which at the end of the day boil down to a large piece of paper in Latin script where you try and guess at the words...am I becoming cynical? :) Celebrations for this second graduation were also fun, although probably the novelty of the first time round two years ago, made the previous celebrations more exciting.

There were in this blog-less period other things worth writing about, some quite light-hearted, others not much so. In fact the last quarter of 2007 has been kind of tough at times. Mentioning 2007, I can't believe that this year is reaching its close. It just flew. Anyway, I think I'll stop writing for now. Not sure if I'll get back to the blogging routine. Perhaps it's working at a laptop all day long, or the joys and perils of facebooking (yes, I succumbed too, and now finally half of Malta) that this blog ended suffering, besides a lacking muse. Maybe, just maybe some inspiration is returning. We'll see.

conclude/begin

Yesterday, finals' results came out and I can now say I am a Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) graduate! The Class of 2007 has made it - a wave of 78 sparkling new accountants, or as we are joking, accounters! 5th December will be our official graduation day - can't wait for that week; if it's anything like the one we had for our B.Com graduation, it should just be awesome!

Since I kind of chronicled the process of my dissertation on this blog, just for the record, I got an A! At least, the hard work paid off.

These five years have just flown by, and now this stage of life at the University of Malta has come to an end. The memories of Freshers' Week are still fresh in my mind as if they were yesterday. I won't go as far to say that my student life is officially over, once and for all. I might still decide to pop into some oher European university a few years down the line, but well, that's just speculation for now. As of now, I can freely enjoy summer with peace of mind before I join the working world on a full-time basis in September.

Speaking of enjoying summer, next Saturday I'm set to start a bit of an adventure around Europe with my friend Marion. We're off backpacking and mostly inter-railing across central Europe and the Baltics. Between the 21 July and somewhere around 24 August (still no return date) we should be hitting Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Austria and possibly Hungary for the Sziget festival. So if anyone will be in one of these countries during that period and wants to meet up, just drop me a line. Looking forward to any possible reunions!

summertime...

...and the livin' is eaaasyy.

So it is according to George Gershwin, and well, for the most part I could say I agree. After finally finishing exams, summer enjoyment began. Even if most days have been packed with some errand of sorts, (not very fruitful) shopping, tidying and clearing up, planning and whatnot: ticking off from a rather long to-do list. However, days' contents have included:

• afternoons at the beach, whether cruising on a pedal boat to the next beach or lying on a sunbed, finally reading something other than a textbook;
• partying till the early hours (one ironic, yet amusing, episode was the powercut which hit Paceville on the night we finished exams and hence, the night of our after-exams bash - shift of location ensued, but it was definitely still a fun night);
• dinner with my closest circle of uni friends;
• experimenting with cooking and my new drawing materials;
• seaside cafes and restaurants;
• evening walks on the promenade;
• a relaxing day spent here - utter bliss

Ehhh, the joys of summer! But after three hellish weeks, this is just what we needed. Mind you, this sweltering heat wave this last week has been somewhat unbearable, but I shouldn't complain too much. Thank goodness for technology and water!

Tomorrow: Bryan Adams' concert.

Let the enjoyment continue!

mission accomplished!

Counting

That's what my days have been characterised by lately. Specifically, word-counts and count-downs. Count-downs to when we start final exams (actually, this is not really worth thinking about - too depressing), to when I finish exams and life as a UoM student (63 days to go!) and to the grand summer adventure. As for word-counts, these were a bit of a nightmare as I was bit overboard when it came to the stipulated word-limit of my dissertation, and believe me, it can be much harder to reduce words than increase them. But finally, I managed to reduce them to an acceptable level, and I'm happy to announce that my thesis is practically ready! What's left is the go-ahead from my tutor and a final proof-read. So unless my tutor drops a bombshell, which he shouldn't, I should be done. However, I won't be truly sighing with relief until I see it printed and hard-bound in all its glory. But I can say it feels good to see the document as a whole. Considering the marks that it's worth (just 1/8 of the final grade, in spite of expectations), my friends and I all put a disproportionate amount of time in our dissertations. But hopefully, the effort will pay off. At least, I can finally truly start focusing on my finals...2 years' worth of 14 subjects (eek!)

In other news...

• this weekend I had a much needed catch-up with Petra, one of my closest friends, who was back home for the Easter hols - great night. The last 3 weekends have in fact consisted of good nights outs - they were very much needed breaks.
• congratulations to my dear friend Maria who's been elected MCVP PD & ER in AIESEC Ireland!
• I succumbed to another book-sale and bought 7 books. I'm quite happy with my purchases: Two books by Ian McEwan: Atonement and Saturday (I read his Enduring Love and had absolutely loved it), Zadie Smith's On Beauty, A Rough-Guide on Women Travel, Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud (an autobiographical travelogue by a Chinese woman during the Cultural Revolution), The Seahorse by Tania Unsworth (set in India) and finally a collection of articles and writing for radio by Stephen Fry, one of my favourite British comedians, called Paperweight. It's described by the author as a snack book or a literary guacamole in which to dip one's tortilla of curiosity :) I already read the introduction and laughed out loud. Anyway, all these have been stashed away in a cupboard only to come out after 18 June. Instead, I must read IFRSs, ISAs, Company law, etc., etc.

By the way, I finally opened a flickr account. After encouragement from some friends and plenty of inspiration from flickr itself, I do hope to eventually take photography more seriously, hopefully even investing in an SLR camera. Just wanted to say that any kind of constructive feedback is highly appreciated :) And for anyone who was wondering, sea-crystal is actually a wordplay on my name.