Week 5
Work
Work is interesting. Learning the processes themselves hasn't been difficult, but having the knowledge to know where to go, where to look and which resources to use, are. I've picked up a lot though, and it's nice feeling successful. I've started to know my way around the courses we offer, so I can now advise people accurately on the phone. I've started to learn about international students, course dates and fees, registration processes, the different departments and what they do. I have a lot of resources now; schedules, contact lists, course lists. I've worked my way through the MCAST websites, as well as the government websites relevant to us because of programs handled by the Ministry of Education. I've learned about the Malta Qualifications Framework, which handles foreign accreditations to correspond to the European Qualification Frameworks. I can advise people on part-time courses, so I don't have to transfer them to the part-time course department. I know my way around all of our files and more, to the point where I might be able to help someone else now, instead of the other way around. Alongside the front-facing receptionist work, I now also do more back-end tasks, usually sent to me by email; though it's still mostly following up on student requests, such as finding and posting certificates or simply contacting students with information. Unlike before though, these requests are now sent to me exclusively, rather than to my mentor. It finally feels like a lot of things are my field of responsibility, rather than me assisting someone else.
As the month starts, a new genre of questions has started to come in. There is another graduation at the end of the month, for Undergraduates, Postgraduates and Master certificates. I'm starting to get a lot of calls regarding the photography, dress-code and cowls, health regulations, guest restrictions and ceremony details, all of which I've now been informed of and can help with.
New Home
At home, I've now moved into the room I'll be staying at for the rest of my time in Mata. It's nice to finally have arrived. While this room is smaller than the one I had before, it is still larger than expected. I still have a double-bed, rather than the single I was supposed to get, and way more closet-space than I need. Unfortunately though, no option for blue lighting. It also means I've now started sharing the bathroom with my flatmate, and we've chatted a few times mostly about the household. The large room I was in for a few days is also now occupied, so the flat has all its inhabitants, but we rarely see each other. It's a nice place overall, very modern feeling, and I'm excited to one day make use of the bathtub.
The commute to work is shorter now, which is definitely nice. However, I find myself missing the view. At the hostel, I would always take the bus by the seaside, and I'd take a picture of the sky above the ocean almost every morning. With the wind coming in from the sea, it was always a really nice view, with really nice air. I didn't realize how much I'd miss it, but it always really set the tone for the day for me.
As far as the area goes, Santa Venera is nowhere near as interesting as Sliema was. It's comfortable, and I like that it feels more like a regular residential area, rather than a sea of restaurants meant to appeal to tourists; but I miss having the opportunity to walk to and alongside the sea, and sit down on public benches to enjoy the sun. I'm realizing now, as the weather is supposed to turn, that I have very little opportunity to enjoy the sun without travelling a decent amount. There's no terrace or roof to sit on, and nothing nearby either. So once again, I really only went outside to get groceries and spent the rest of my time at home. As of right now, I really don't feel like venturing out and doing anything particularly tourist-y. I have plans for when people visit me, but outside of that, I just feel like living regularly the way I would at home.
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