Given the joint nature of my degree - BA Hons French and Spanish (Applied Languages) – it was necessary to choose two locations where both languages are the de facto/ de jure ones of the Countries in question. I have hence chosen the towns/cities of:

• September – January: Université de Mons (Belgium, Province of Hainaut)

• January/February – June: Universidade de Vigo (Spain, Autonomous Community of Galicia)

Both choices are subject to University approval, so we shall wait and see if I am to be placed there...

While I have not denied in the past that I have had some apprehension about the Year Abroad, I think I'm starting to be at ease  with it all, so fingers crossed I'll get to go where I want and that it will be an enjoyable experience!

A bit of background: I boarded the 1710GMT Garvagh 116 service from the Station in Coleraine, and presented my Translink Student Discount Card and gave the driver the regular fare for the journey.  I was then handed my ticket and change.  After a few seconds I went back to the front  and queried it with the driver.  He looked at the ticket again and admitted that he had made a mistake and undercharged me (the student fare should have been £2.70, but I was charged £1.65).  He then said to keep the surplus £1.05, which I offered to add to make up the proper cost, seeing as it was nearly Christmas and sent me on my way.  This time happened to be the complete opposite of my last dealings with Ulsterbus where I was grossly overcharged for the reverse journey.

It isn't often that when someone makes a mistake they let it pass - some in the same organisation would have acted in a completely different manner.

To the Ulsterbus driver, the name of whom I do not know, I tip my hat.

A few things have happened since then, most notably that the summer holidays are nearly 2 months old (well for me, at least!) and there’s 69 days left until the start of Semester I of Year 2 – can you tell that I’ve been counting the days?!

I haven’t been very active on HF or VHF of late, I don’t know why though as I have been known to say “I’m bored” a tad too often.  I finally got HRD installed onto the laptop and it makes a pleasant change from one of the very early v3.4 builds I used until fairly recently on a desktop and got a USB to dual RS232 9 pin serial converter so I can plug in the ZLP interface and have CAT control for the FT-857 on the go at the same time

I’ve also been footering with MS Train Simulator with the Irish Enterprise Route pack and designing a very simplistic NI route, in no way related to the MakingTracks Irish Enterprise Belfast-Dublin route, for my own amusement, the only difficulty is trying to lay the track graphically as close to the actual coordinates of the Larne, Londonderry/Derry, Bangor, Knockmore-Antrim, and Newry lines.

And in future I must remember to update here and my YouTube vLogs more often as I have yet to publish my 2^nd vLog after publishing the first in January past, whoops!

At leas there's only 10 full weeks left of Semester

That's right - after 14 years of a combination of Primary and Grammar School I've now progressed up the ladder to Full Time Third Level Studies following a programme which, at the end of, I will hopefully be a 'Bachelor of Arts of the University of Ulster with Honours in French and Spanish. Registration was on Monday 15 September 2008 at the Coleraine Campus and it was more a case of musical chairs (without the music!) as each student had to enrol for modules, have the form signed off, pay for tuition fees, send the form to the Registry Office and collect their ID/Library Card (which this year wasn't a pathetic piece of laminated paper!)

That done, there was an Induction for all YrI students in the Faculty of Arts, today - 16 September 2008 - whereby services of the University were outlined, tours of the campus and its facilites shown and queries raised. In the afternoon each had an interview with their Advisor of Studies. Al lthat remained to be done after that, for some, was to go back home and get pi*sed! Naturally I wouldn't do something like that...or would I?