My awful day and the recovery

Yesterday I didn´t write anything, I know, but believe me that it was impossible to me.

The day started like that: the weather seemed to be hot and sunny (how gullible!) but I actually didn´t feel well. I had a headache and a principle of having a cold. Anyway, I was excited to find out how the new subject would be. I tried to draw strength to attend to Communication in Organisations as I told you.

Although the professor was quite nice and tried to encourage people to think as a PR would do, I was not motivated at all because I found it not interesting at all.

You can imagine my situation (sick, unmotivated and suffering from the worse weather I have ever seen, what it was a sunny day had become a depressing, grey, rainy day). I tried to talk AGAIN to my coordinator because I was dissapointed and worried because I had to choose another subject with the same credit points, interesting and acceptable for my home institution. Looking for my ideal new unit, I found some cool ones but I wanted them to fit in my schedule.

I have to thank to my coordinator who was really nice to me and help me to decide whether I should choose.
Eventually, I decided to try with Public Relations and Media Industries for Journalists because I like Public Relations but always related to Journalism. Fortunately, I will attend to these classes in the second semester so I´m even more free than I was before.

Having Making Magazines as my second lecture in the day was also a positive aspect because although I had never designed online magazines before I really liked it.

Despite the fact that I was sick and tired, I decided to have dinner with my friends from Alicante (I will upload some photos) but anything else. They went out and I went to the residence with the purpose of relaxing and forgetting the stressful day.

As you can imagine, I missed you all so much.


Today everything was different. Well, not everything because I am still sick ( the weather in freezing, as in winter) but almost. I woke up at 8.30 because I had to go to other new class: Broadcast Journalism at 10.00.
I just can say that it was great!! I am really happy because I found an appealing unit!

Although it was our first class on this subject, the professor gave us recorders to interview people from the university and make a vox pop ("The vox pop is a tool used in many forms of media to provide a snapshot of public opinion", http://www.mediacollege.com/video/interviews/voxpops.html). The lecture was very active, entertaining and something that I like because it is really useful (students here don´t study as much theory as in Spain, but degrees are more focused on the practical aspects).Besides all this, I've been lucky enough to do the interview with a very nice classmate who helped me to communicate in English.

The second lecture was Global Media Industries. It´s a subject of the highest level and I think it will be hard to pass but as I´m quite interested in this subject, I will try. The first lecture will deal with political economy, the Classical view of Adam Smith and the Critical Theory by Karl Marx.

I will tell you about about this in more detail but now I am going to take a hot soup and my medicines to try to get over completely.


xoxo

My first class

I talked to my coordinator and she said to me that everything is OK if I want to do another English class so tomorrow I´ll go to have my Learning Agreement signed in.

My first class was good because I could understand almost everything the professor said. We were about 15 students ( It is a quite notable fact because Spanish universities often have more students in each class) and it was just and introduction of the subject. I was a little bit worried when the professor started to talk about the work we have to deliver. I'll have to work hard because I have to write several press releases, write a story and a column of opinion but I hope to succeed with this course.

In short, I can say that I liked it =). And now I´m  going to sleep ( actually, today I´m not going out because tomorrow I have to get up early). My next class: Communication in Organisations.


I will tell you. xoxo

The expected start

Although I have been here for about one month, this week is the most important one. The university starts. Actually, I should have started yesterday but, fortunately, Monday is my day off so today, at 15.00 my 3rd year at Solent University starts officially.

I came here on Wednesday, 1st and I have been attended to English Classes at Lewis School (http://www.lewis-school.co.uk/), near my University. I could learn lots of things, and what´s most important,  I had the opportunity to review the English which I had abandoned since the end of second year of Journalism.

After having finishing these two weeks, I fully intruded in the university: "Freshers´ week" ( the term that UK universities and colleges give to the period immediately before beginning of a new academic year. Its purpose is to give new students a chance to meet their housemates, make new friends and sort out administration tasks, http://www.freshers-week.com/). And so did I. We were talking to our Erasmus coordinator who explained to us everything we has to know about the university and Southampton in general. It was a week plenty of meeting to establish our Learning Agreement,enrol and register in the university, get our student card and inform on the activities and sports offered by Solent. All this followed by a myriad of parties. 

Although it was a good opportunity to meet new friends and I have already made some in Lewis School and I could travel with them during my first two weeks. We went to London and Bournemouth ( I will upload some photos for you to see how well we had there)

Now I have to go. I need to meet my coordinator again because I have to finish my Learning Agreement and send it to my home university. Afterwards, I will be attended to my first class: Newspaper, Magazines and online Journalism. Wish me luck! xoxo