tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90394791498523252282024-03-13T13:27:43.456-05:00Semester in WalesRogers State Universityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07054433162245526364noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-11724449523950943082014-10-06T14:13:00.002-05:002014-10-06T14:13:59.505-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Easter Break </div>
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At Swansea they have about a whole month off for "revision" or studying for their final exams. Rather than studying, a couple friends and I used this time to travel around for a bit. We started our journey in Paris. It's quite pricey to stay in Paris but we found a good deal on a website where people can let out their apartments. The one we chose was really nice aside from the lack of wifi. </div>
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The first day our group split up. The boys had already been to the main sights of Paris on a previous visit so I was off on my own for a while. I walked though a beautiful park called Jardin des Tuileries on my way to the Louvre. </div>
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Once inside I got to see all the paintings it's famous for. I really enjoyed the pieces by Delacroix and Gericult. They are so large in person. After that I was feeling hungry so I got a huge sandwich that was really good from a brasserie close to the next museum I visited, Musee d'Orsay. This museum was my favorite because it held some of the most famous impressionist works. It was great. After that I met up with a family friend who lives in Paris. </div>
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He and his girlfriend took me on an awesome tour of Paris. We went up to the Basillica of Sacre Coure and got a great view of the city. We then went around the "gold triangle" which has some of the most expensive shopping in Paris and probably the world. Later that night I met back up with my friends to get dinner and see Paris at night. Most of the monuments were lit up and looked beautiful.</div>
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After too short a stay in Paris we headed to Brussels, Belgium. Here we stayed at a relatively nice hostel and had a nice time overall. We enjoyed walking around "Old Town" with a French roommate we made friends with. Most of the cities we went to had an old part that was generally more interesting to look at. Brussels also had a bohemian quarter that had interesting stores and coffee shops. </div>
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We walked through this part of town and ended up at the surprisingly grand Palace of Justice. It was up on a huge hill and after climbing it we had a great view of the city at night. While traveling we walked at least 5 miles a day and sometimes up to 10. This gave us a frequent excuse to reward ourselves with whatever the local treat was. In this case, lots of chocolate and waffles. </div>
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Chris was set on going to the European Parliament building (which was, perhaps, the whole reason we went to Brussels) but it was closed for tours when we were there. <br />
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As a result of the forced break from our phones and GPS technology, we had to use maps quite often. I suppose leaning to use a paper map is a valuable skill, but it is a skill I would have happily avoided the rest of my life. It takes so much longer to find things! </div>
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Next, we were off to Berlin, Germany. Berlin is a nice city and it seemed much more spread out than the previous two we visited. We ended up walking the most here and I had awful blisters for the rest of the trip. There were lots of cultural places to visit and learn from in Berlin. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUFxgHoYQt8/U29bR6gN1OI/AAAAAAAAAhg/VPo1WEfWlPo/s1600/IMG_1564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUFxgHoYQt8/U29bR6gN1OI/AAAAAAAAAhg/VPo1WEfWlPo/s1600/IMG_1564.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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We went to the National Gallery and enjoyed impressionist exhibitions when Chris wasn't getting yelled at by the security guards. Later we walked around Museumplien and the Tier Garden as well. The garden was massive and was adjcent to a zoo that we looked in on from the fence. We also saw the historic Book Burning Square where a book market is now held daily. </div>
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The next day we saw the Memorial to the Murdered Jews and the Holocaust Memorial Museum. I was struck by the amount of people who were jumping across and taking selfies with the memorial exhibit for millions of murdered people. It seemed a bit disrespectful to me. The Memorial Museum was unlike any museum I have ever been to. It had really intense internal architecture and certain rooms to go in that were designed to evoke feelings of isolation, abandonment, and awe. We also learned quite a bit about Jewish history and culture. </div>
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The Berlin wall was a much farther walk than we anticipated but it was worth going to. The art graffiti-ed on it was impressive. </div>
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Next we took a beautiful train ride to Check Republic. One of the benefits of using trains is getting to see the country side. </div>
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I think Paris and Prague were my favorite of the cities we visited. They are both so beautiful and we had great experiences in them. We ended up in Prague over Easter weekend and it was full of street vendors and pretty decorated eggs. We went on a great walking tour and the guide informed us about the most appalling Easter tradition I have ever heard. </div>
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Guys across the city purchase these nicely decorated whips (WHIPS!) of woven tree branches and visit their female friends' homes on Easter Sunday. They then whip the backs of the girls legs (so they can have good luck in life or be fertile or something) and then the girls are meant to give them alcohol as a reward for coming to "bless" them. Ridiculous. Monday is intended to be the girls' revenge and they go around throwing water on all the boys who whipped them. </div>
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This is a nice view of the city we had from up near Prague Castle. We attended an Easter Mass in Victoria Basilica in within the Castle walls. We didn't end up staying the whole time since the service was in Latin... I think we got the gist of it though. </div>
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Our tour through the Jewish quarter was one of the most interesting, There were lots of great stories and ledgens. This is the oldest functioning synagogue in the world (i'm pretty sure). </div>
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This is Prague's famous Astrological clock. I'm not sure about the functions of all the dials but its from the 12 or 15 hundreds and has impressive features for its time. At noon the Apostles appear in the little windows at the top and spin around while depictions of the 4 vices wiggle around towards the bottom. It seemed creepy and strange to us but we understood how entertaining that might have been hundreds of years ago. </div>
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I bought a nice old watch while in Prague. I'm never quite sure if something is actually old when the vendor says it's "vintage" but this watch says "Made in USSR" so I'm relatively certain she wasn't lying. </div>
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Our next and last stop for me was Vienna, Austria. Vienna was lovely and the streets looked a lot like Paris to me. </div>
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We went to a few palaces and several museums. I enjoyed the city and the weather was pretty nice while we were there. After Vienna Chris and Will went on to Italy without me. I decided to skip since I had already been a few years ago. I traveled back to England and stayed with my nice roommate from Swansea for a few days before heading back to Wales. I was then on campus for a few weeks before meeting up with RSU honors and PLC kids in Spain for two weeks. It was so much fun hanging out with them and getting to see people from home after being away for so long. It was also nice having Dr. Ford plan everything and navigate every where. After Spain my sweet roommates from RSU came to stay with me in Swansea for a few days before we all went to London together. It was such a great time and I was VERY happy to see them after 5 months without them. I might post some pictures from that trip and Spain eventually.... I wasn't as diligent with the blogging as I could have been. I was just having too much fun I guess :) My time in Swansea was awesome overall. It was an amazing experience and I am so fortunate to have had this opportunity to see so much of the world while being so young. I hope to travel again soon :) </div>
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Leah </div>
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<br />Leah Teclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05917927257579980187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-65192545149298378072014-03-07T11:50:00.000-06:002014-03-07T11:50:13.592-06:00Hello! Since my last post I've just been keeping up with my classes and assignments and making more travel plans. Two friends and I bought Eurail passes that will allow us to hop on and off trains throughout Europe over our Easter break. Our break is 3 weeks long! Right now our plans include starting in France, then going to Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria! I'm excited for this adventure but I am constantly realizing how difficult it is to make travel arrangements. When I went to Scotland and Ireland with RSU I just followed the group and didn't have to worry about booking flights, hotels, and navigating. There really is a lot to figure out before we can get to where we want to be! I was never very good at directions but I think I'm getting much better while over here.<br />
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It was a bit sad not being home on my birthday but my nice friends here surprised me with a doughnut cake and a small party. On our way to town we got on a bus full of tipsy Brazilians who decided to sing me Happy Birthday in Portuguese! It was pretty memorable!<br />
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February 28th through March 2nd I went to Amsterdam! </div>
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Thursday went to the Rijks Museum to see some of the famous Dutch paintings</div>
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Rembrant's Night Watch is their most famous painting. There is even a "Rembrant Square" in town that has most of the painting's characters represented in life-sized statues. The museum also put on a Flash Mob that depictied the painting to announce the reopening of the museum after it was closed for a while. The video is pretty good! You can watch it here <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ys2UCROU0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ys2UCROU0</a> </div>
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The Van Gogh museum was my favorite place we visited. They didn't allow pictures inside but it was great! It's usually a treat to see one Van Gogh in a museum but this was full of them! There were a few other impressionist painters as well. </div>
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I learned that there are more bikes in this city than there are people! It really is pretty dangerous to walk around and only look for cars. The bike come out of nowhere pretty quickly! </div>
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We thought about renting some to ride around but we didn't feel experienced enough. We settled for taking a picture on someone else's... </div>
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Some of my favorite parts about the city were the flower and food markets! Even though it is not Tulip season there were plenty of flowers out around town. </div>
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This is an outdoor bakery! We really enjoyed walking around the streets Saturday morning looking at all the fresh food. There are also some nice art and book markets! </div>
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It was a bit too cold for Chris when we got to the city</div>
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This was a really strange exhibit(?) of iron Iguanas in the middle of the city. They looked very lifelike! </div>
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Friday we went to the Anne Frank house/museum. I read her Diary in junior high but I don't think it struck me how intuitive and reflective she was at such a young age. In the house we were able to see the attic where they stayed in hiding for several years. The bookcase hiding the door to the attic still remains and we were able to walk around what were their small kitchen and bedrooms. </div>
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This quote from Anne's father reads, "We cannot change what happened anumore. The only thing we can do is to learn from the past and to realize what discrimination and persecution of innocent people means. I believe that it's everyones responsibility to fight prejudice."</div>
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This is inside the coolest library I have ever seen (sorry Stratton Taylor)! The library had eight floors and an amazing cafe at the top with lots of freshly made food and snacks, kind of like the one at Whole Foods in the States. There was also a movie theater that we wanted to look inside. While walking in we somehow got swept into a class tour. We were already half way in so we just sat down with them and their teacher started lecturing in Dutch while the kids started staring at us. We decided to awkwardly sneak out after 10 minutes. </div>
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The cafe also had an amazing panoramic view of the city. </div>
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Apple cake/pie and a cappuccino from the cafe! This was the first place we went where everything was actually labeled in Dutch. Everyone we ran into spoke English as well as Dutch, though. I read that 86% of the people in Amsterdam speak three languages! </div>
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Saturday Hannah and I split off from the boys to wander about the flower markets and shopping areas; they didn't want to stop and smell the roses! We decided to buy some fresh bread and cheese from one of the markets and have a picnic in this huge park! </div>
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Again, the labels were in Dutch so we were taking a gamble when purchasing this cheese. It turned out to be the smelliest awfullest (and most expensive) cheese I have ever tasted! Neither of us could eat very much of it. We decide to go back to the market and buy some fruit instead! </div>
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It was much easier to get lost in Amsterdam than London! We often found ourselves on back streets and alley ways. We always figured out where we were going eventually! It wasn't so bad to be lost during the day but we were less adventurous at night. Our hostel was right in the middle of the Red Light district! It really was pretty scary trying to find it the first night we got there. It was really uncomfortable for me to see all the women in the windows as well. Our hostel was run by a Christian company that does some outreach in the city. They told us that many of the prostitutes are immigrants who chose to work there and send money home to their families while others may have been promised dance careers in Western Europe and ended up there instead. </div>
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I didn't realize there were so many canals in Amsterdam. They're everywhere! Apparently they had to reclaim some of their land, so some of it would actually be underwater. </div>
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While Hannah and I chose to eat from the bountiful fresh food, Will was adventurous enough to eat from one of the famous vending stores. There are lots of these around the city and they are just vending machines full of hot food. It looked a little too unsavory for me. The fried tube Will got was full of a chicken/beef paste. </div>
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I had never seen a draw-bridge working before so it was interesting to watch them go up and down. </div>
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Our time in Amsterdam was pretty good overall! Our flights in and out of Bristol went smoothly and the bus ride back to Swansea wasn't too bad. Like London, Amsterdam was a nice break from the Swansea weather that welcomed us back with characteristic wind and rain on Sunday. I have six weeks now till our European adventure. During this time I need to motivate myself to finish all my course work before we leave! I'll have to find something interesting to post about in the mean time.<br />
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Best!<br />
Leah
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Hello all! Since my last post I finished up my British Culture and Politics class and enrolled in my classes that I'll be taking for the rest of the term here. I decided on a Health Psychology class as well as a class on American Literature and Cinema in the early 20th century. (They have a whole degree on American Studies here! Strange.) I really like both of the classes so far and I think they will be pretty interesting. I'm used to taking 5 or 6 classes back home but they do the credit system here a bit differently. So I seem to have a lot of down time! I went to a "societies" fair to see what type of things I might fill my time with. There is one that trains you to become a first-aid responder at the Rugby games (which you then get free entry to) and all I'd have to do is be responsible for thousands of people in the event of a crowd fight or stampede... I also looked at the yoga club and the hiking club! So I'll keep you all posted on which, if any, of these I actually join. On a more academic note, I've started helping one of the 3rd year psychology students here with her research project. She is doing a series of reaction time studies to correlate to self-control and young adult drinking habits. I'm excited to gain some research experience as well as start thinking about what I'd like to do next year for my psychology capstone project.<br />
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January 6th through Sunday the 9th a couple friends and I went to London and it was great!<br />
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I was a little worried about staying in a hostel for the first time but it was surprisingly nice! </div>
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On our first day Hannah and I went across the Millennium Bridge here to Tate Museum of Modern Art and got a nice view of London while Martyne took a tour of St. Paul's Cathedral </div>
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Some of the art installations were... interesting. </div>
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I was excited to see this Rothko exhibition. The pieces were different from the ones I had studied but were neat to see nonetheless. </div>
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The view from the Tate balcony </div>
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You can kind of see St. Paul's behind me</div>
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Later we went to Trafalgar square to visit the National Gallery. One great thing about London is that most all the museums are free! </div>
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The National Gallery was definetly my favorite of the ones we visited. It had pieces from many of the Impressionist and Post Impressionist painters I like such as, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Picasso. We even got to see the Sun Flower paintings after waiting in line a bit. </div>
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A less cultural experience was found at the 6 level M&M store near West End. </div>
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The Soho district had a big China Town that we walked around later that night.</div>
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The next morning we made it to town in time to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace</div>
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They kind of just marched around and played some music. It was still neat, though. </div>
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Near Westminster Abbey we saw all of London's iconic monuments! </div>
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Here are some young Italians taking selfies with Nelson Mandela</div>
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The London Eye! It was a bit too much for us to take a ride but it was nice to look at from afar! </div>
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After the first day we were getting pretty good at navigating the tube system and could successfully get places without getting lost! It really was quite convenient. </div>
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At the National British museum we saw the Rosetta Stone! It was neat to see something so old and important! </div>
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The museum also had lots of stuff from the Pantheon in Greece. The remains of the sculptures were beautiful. </div>
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This is an altar piece from Nebakanezer's Palace. It was cool to see something from a place mentioned in the Bible. </div>
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While on a mission to do some shopping we ran into this cool marble arch none of us had heard of. It was supposed to be the entrance for Buckingham palace but ended up being in the wrong spot or something. </div>
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Turns out that it rains much less anywhere that's not Swansea. We had pretty good weather throughout our stay. </div>
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These are some unlawful pictures of the inside of St. Paul's Cathedral. It was normally like 30 pounds to go inside but we attended the 5:30 Evensong and it was free! We got to hear the choir sing beautifully as well. </div>
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After having packed peanut butter and honey sandwiches the whole trip we decided to go out for some real food. We decided on the historic Ye Cheshire Cheese where Charles Dickens used to hang out and write! It was a really cool pub that had about four different floors with narrow walkways and really low ceilings at some points. Parts of it are over 500 years old! I got a really good mushroom and chicken pie. I think it tasted abnormally good after so much walking around and peanut butter. </div>
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Sunday morning we again avoided an entry fee by going to Westminster Abbey's morning Eucharist service. They sang a lot and we stood up and down and then awkwardly avoided drinking out of the communion cup after 80 other people did! The inside of the chapel was beautiful though! And we stayed a bit for a passionate and almost scary organ playing performance. </div>
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After church we had some nice afternoon tea and warm apple pie! </div>
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Just before leaving we ran into the queen! She was very nice. :) </div>
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Saturday February 25th we went on our final excursion with our British culture and Politics pre-sessional class. Bath is about a 2 hour bus ride from Swansea and a very historical town in England. </div>
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A former patron of the baths. </div>
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The baths themselves date back to the 4th century! Other parts of Bath became more of a heritage site after several of Jane Austin's Novels. </div>
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There was a museum I would have liked to go to about her works but it was closed when we visited. We settled for buying discounted copies of Austin's novels from a not-so-historic book store in Bath. </div>
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After all our educational journeying we took some time off to have lunch in the town square. We were serenaded by a skilled Spanish guitarist! </div>
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It seemed like we weren't even in England anymore with the sun shining on us and all. We decided to stop off for some desert before exploring the rest of Bath. </div>
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After that we walked around to see this nice bridge! While we were walking it started to rain and got incredibly windy so we stopped in a couple stores to look around. I got a real British scone (pronounced scon... it think) and it turns out British scones are actually just biscuits... We then looked around an art museum and headed back to the bus. </div>
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I was waiting for a better (cleaner) time to post a picture of my room here. Its pretty nice actually! Its different using a radiator and not having air conditioning or ceiling fans. Not that I will ever need my room to be cooler... I would post some pictures of the rest of the house but it might be better to wait till the cleaners (yes, they have people clean the house and take out the trash for them here!) come in another week or so... </div>
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Best! </div>
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Leah </div>
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<br />Leah Teclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05917927257579980187noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-89803850802933658592014-01-20T07:25:00.001-06:002014-01-23T10:59:12.312-06:00First Week at Swansea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It has definitely taken some getting used to but I am almost settled in here at Swansea! </div>
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My fellow Oklahomans. We met on a FaceBook page beforehand and it has been nice having some friends here already. Here we are all waiting for our tour bus to take us around Swansea with about 50 other American exchange students. </div>
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This was somewhere on the coast... it all runs together! It was really pretty, though. The guide told us that this spot (I think) has the farthest natural tide in the world! The difference between low tide and high tide is 26 miles! Also, it seems to rain about every half hour, drop 15 degrees, and blow at my face. </div>
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There are lots of sheep everywhere! The countryside looks very similar to Ireland. </div>
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This was voted the 2nd most beautiful spot in the UK! The pictures don't do it justice. </div>
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Another thing about our tour, the bus driver had very characteristic British humour. From the very beginning he dryly joked about his marriage, pending divorce, dead grandfather (whom he said got tired of living with his grandmother so he up and died), and his low salary. It has been hard to understand both what people are saying and what they mean by what they say. </div>
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You can almost see the sun! It's a rare sighting. </div>
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Sheep have the right-of-way! Along with other livestock, I think. </div>
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After our tour and orientation we got our bus pass that will take us about as far as we went on the tour. It's very different relying on public transportation. I think it will be easier once I come to understand the time table for the buses. It changes on weekdays, evenings, and weekends? All I know is that I end up standing in the rain for quite some time each day. A genuine Welsh experience I guess! </div>
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This is the view outside my window! The sun comes out every once in a while and it rains almost every day. I've been drinking a lot of tea, though! </div>
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On Saturday we went on a field trip to a coal mine. Wales used to be the coal capital of the world or something. </div>
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There was a museum that had pictures of the workers. The original shower stalls and lockers are still there. </div>
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These are some neat figurines in the gift shop made of coal! </div>
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The Welsh flag! It has a dragon on it. </div>
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After the coal mine we went to a castle in Cardiff! </div>
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After walking around the castle grounds for a while it started to pour down rain. You can see rain spots on the lens almost always. </div>
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Not far from the castle there is a small town that used to be there. We stopped in for a "Jacket Potato"... a baked potato! </div>
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This hut is either where the pigs lived or were smoked...</div>
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This is the first cow I've seen! There is not nearly as much beef for sale here and it is kind of pricy. </div>
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We had a day off from classes on Wednesday so we went looking around the town. We're getting a little bit better at the bus system and usually only have to switch buses once or twice. </div>
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These are some pictures from an indoor market we found. They had food and various things for sale. We're eating some "fruit filled" savouries. They were actually full of raisins and dates, which are hardly fruit. They were pretty good, though! </div>
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Sunday we went exploring around Cardiff, the biggest city in Wales. </div>
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Cardiff Bay has a beautiful view! </div>
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But... there was also a lot of trash. </div>
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A huge community center we went in had this cool "paper" airplane exhibit. </div>
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The Castle! </div>
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It was a beautiful day in Cardiff! </div>
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These are two strange monkeys holding a book at the entrance to the library in the mansion on the castle grounds. They mansion was built around 1890. The family turned part of the castle wall into a bomb shelter during the wars. </div>
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The Mansion</div>
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There was an "Arab Room" with an ornate ceiling and walls that looked very out of place in the house. I can't imagine that the owners were Muslim but it looked very much like a prayer room. </div>
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From the top of the castle we had a very nice view of Cardiff. It was strange standing on something so old while looking at the metropolitan city. </div>
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Overall, it was a pretty nice week! I'll be enrolling in classes next friday and starting them on the following monday. They do credits differently here, so I only have to take 2 classes during the semester and the two week course I am currently in to qualify as full time back at home. It should be a good year! I do miss you all back at home, though! I'll try to post here once a week if I have enough interesting things to share. </div>
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Best, </div>
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Leah </div>
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<br />Leah Teclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05917927257579980187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-64860215067661757822012-11-09T19:21:00.005-06:002012-11-09T19:21:57.534-06:00Cheers from the land of eternal rainfall, public transportation, and all my other favorite thingsWell if I have found out anything this semester it is that I am not up to par on my blogging skills; which is definitely not because of my lack of interesting things to blog about. I have been so incredibly busy lately and am finally enjoying some downtime. In the last month I got to see Stonehenge, which was really cool because it is something that I have heard so much about in school but once you get there I realized it is just a big circle of rocks (no offense to any strong believers out there). I have stayed quite busy with cheer, especially with the Osprettes and getting to perform at a couple of Osprey's games which has been quite an experience, especially considered they were my first ever rugby games to watch. I must say I have become quite a fan and now understand when the Welsh tell you "it's a real man's sport." I wouldn't want to get near them considering one of their legs is probably about the size of my torso. Apart from Swansea I have done a bit of traveling; a couple of weeks ago a me and a few of my friends flew to Munich for a few days and had an absolute blast. I got my first taste of hostel living and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. We flew into Munich and spent the first day just roaming around the city: we went to Viktualienmarkt which is the city's largest outdoor market and went to the city center, Marienplatz, where we mostly just did some sightseeing. Since we had travelled all night we headed back to our hostel pretty early. The next morning we woke up early and went to the Dachau memorial site. It was a sobering experience, but we were all so glad that we got to experience it. It was well preserved and offered a fantastic museum that really helped you to better understand the reality of the Holocaust. That evening we decided to embrace life in Munich, home of Oktoberfest, and went on a beer tour, which is what Munich is known for. We had a great time learning about all the different beer brewed in Munich and visiting all the places, including the beer garden. The next day we had planned to go on an all day tour of a couple of castles but we found out that Neuschwanstein castle, which is the beautiful castle used as inspiration for Sleeping Beauty, was under quite a bit of renovatation/restoration so we had a change of plans. Instead we headed to Salzburg, Austria! This is probably one of my favorite things I have done since I have been abroad. On the train ride there we got to see the Austrian Alps and the beautiful countryside, plus we got lucky in that our entire trip offered absolutely beautiful weather. Salzburg is the home of Mozart and where they filmed scenes from the Sound of Music. Although; it is a very touristy town it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Unfortunately that pretty much sums up my trip to Germany, although I would have loved to spend more time there. The way back we had some mishaps with our plane, where we ended up being delayed about 4 hours..but it all worked out in the end. I never realized just how exhausting travelling is and was beyond excited to see the lights of Swansea, after about 16 hours of travelling in one day. I have come to really love Swansea and all of the people I have met. Although, I am trying really hard to avoid a countdown to the end, I know that it is coming quickly. I realized that today I am exactly five weeks from heading back to London and forever leaving my home here in house 003. I am trying to take full advantage of my time left becuase I know when I return home it is back to the real world of work, upper level courses, and cheer season. Tonight, a few of us went to "Play Zone" which on Friday nights is open to adults. As lame as it may sound we had an absolute blast and plan on going back, maybe even next weekend! Since I know no one wants to read a novel about all the things I have been doing I will cut it short there and leave my trip to Amsterdam to a later post. Thanks to anyone who is keeping up with me, and I am making an oath to become a better blogger. So until next time.. <br />
xx-Kylie<br />
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Stonehenge</div>
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Liberty Stadium, where the Osprey's play</div>
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Entrance to Dachau</div>
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Most beautiful cathedral, in Salzburg</div>
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Do-Re-Mi Fountain from Sound of Music</div>
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Pictures do no justice, absolutely breathtaking..Salzburg<br />
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Munich Glockenspiel<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-79878898390779448952012-10-05T19:40:00.003-05:002012-10-05T19:40:44.406-05:00The Real World: SwanseaThis is a true story of 10 strangers picked to live together...okay just kidding but if any of you have seen the Real World thats kind of how I felt the first few days here. Since my last blog I moved out of the comforts of University housing, with the Americans, into Hendrefoelan Student Village. It is about 3 miles from campus and is full of like 200 creaky old houses/flats. I was put into a 10 bedroom 2 bathroom house with 9 people I didn't know, talk about out of my comfort zone! But so far it has been awesome; I couldn't ask for better housemates (besides the one I have never seen)..So apart from my living accomodations everything else has been just as crazy! I finished my precessional class over "British politics and culture since 1945," which was surprisingly really great thanks to our professor! I have gotten to see the historic city of Bath, which was absolutely beautiful and also visit St. Fagans and Big Pit. Big Pit is an old mine and we got to go like 300 feet below into the actual mine and take a tour! Apart from all the fun stuff I suppose I should add that classes started just this week. I am taking Greek Romance: Sea, Sun, and Sex and Classical Athens which is really weird for me, as a Biology major but lets just say class here is MUCH different than back home. I am in lecture a total of 6 hours a week and my only assignments are 1 essay, 1 online Exam, and 2 finals for the whole term. Signing up for classes was a complete disaster considering there is no such thing as a university timetable and I didn't even know the times/days of my classes until the week they started, so thank you RSU for making enrollment so easy! I have lecture Monday at noon, Tuesday at 9, 12, and 5 and Thursday at 11 and 3. I came to the conclusion that they choose lecture times by throwing darts or drawing out of a fishbowl because they are so random. Next exciting news is that I get to cheer while I am here! Since the University cheer sqaud doesn't compete until March I am just helping them out but instead I get to cheer for a professional rugby team here in Wales called the Ospreys, so cool! This week cheer has kept me super busy but I have met the most amazing girls..I am so excited to be a part of it all. I have also started to plan a few trips; tomorrow I am going to Stonehenge, in two weeks I am headed to Germany, and in a month I will be going to Amsterdam and a few more are in the works! Life here is like a dream; I thought that I would be so homesick but apart from missing my family and friends I wish I could slow time down. I can't believe I have already been here an entire month. For anyone who is keeping up with me I am sorry I haven't updated more, but between housemate movie nights, wind street shenanigans, and other fun stuff I haven't been in my room much. Since I have to be up early to catch my bus I guess I should be heading to bed so until next time....<br />
xx, Kylie<br />
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Big Pit</div>
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Roman Bath</div>
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Pretty church</div>
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My house for the term, #3</div>
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Gil bought us all flowers in Bath!</div>
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I celebrated my 21st here and everyone made it so special!</div>
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(Thanks for the cake Liana!)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-60801115580922357902012-09-10T17:34:00.002-05:002012-09-11T11:04:30.826-05:00Here, There, and Everywhere!Now that I have been in the UK almost an entire week now I guess it is time to fill everyone in on my travels! I would have done this earlier but getting wifi on my computer hasn't been the easiest task. I should probably start by introducing myself: my name is Kylie Dent and I am now a senior at Rogers State studying medical molecular biology. I am captain of the cheer squad, member of the honors program, pre-health club, and a part time student worker in President Rice's office. My plans for after graduation are still up in the air, depending on where I get accepted, but I know that my future will lead me somewhere into the health field. I am so unbelievably blessed to be chosen to represent RSU at Swansea University in Wales, as a Brad Henry Scholarship recipient. I left Tulsa Airport on Tuesday of last week. After saying goodbye to my parents at security I immediately burst into tears; I have never been away from home, for this amount of time, and knowing that I'm not just a short drive away hit me at once. I soon recovered from shock and tried to set my sights on the amazing oportunity that was handed to me. I met two other scholarship recipients in Chicago and we boarded our 8 hour flight to London. On the flight I met a wonderful woman, Sarah, who after telling all about her travels in Europe, assured me I would have the time of my life. So, far she has been absolutely right! We spent the first day in London; since we were absolutely exhausted, from an overnight flight and hauling 100 pounds of luggage around (which was quite a sight I'm sure), we decided to take a bus tour that would drive us around London to see the most popular attractions. Luckily, we couldn't have had a more perfect day with blue skies and sunshine. We retired early to our hotel, after being up for about 36 hours we were ready for some sleep! This hotel was much unlike the ones here in the States. My room barely fit me and my luggage, next to a twin size bed and the shower was so tiny I barely fit; but I was so exhausted I was just happy for a room!The next morning we returned to Paddington Station where we took a three hour train ride to Swansea. At the train station we actually met up with two more Americans and luckily a student here at Swansea, who took us right where we needed to go! We spent the evening unpacking and had dinner at a pub here on campus. The next morning we had orientation for class and took a fieldtrip to the Gower Peninsula, which was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been..not to mention the absolutely gorgeous weather! We have spent the weekend getting to know everyone, which includes 27 Americans from coast to coast, a girl from France, the Netherlands, and a boy from Spain. We are currently living together in Langland Hall, here on campus, but will soon be transferred to the student village where we will be split up. I have met some wonderful people so far and can't wait til the campus is alive with students in a few weeks. I appreciate everyone who is taking their time to follow me on my semester here in Swansea! xx-Kylie<br />
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Westminster Abbey</div>
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Worlds tiniest hotel room (at a steep 54 Pounds)</div>
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Gower Peninsula.....beautiful!</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YiXUeHLEkdM/T7EuqM0VmpI/AAAAAAAAANw/o7PUP9aZAjQ/s1600/100_6908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YiXUeHLEkdM/T7EuqM0VmpI/AAAAAAAAANw/o7PUP9aZAjQ/s1600/100_6908.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KU9EnbE4FW8/T7EukZHmgoI/AAAAAAAAANo/LFVNpTLkwJw/s1600/100_6885.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KU9EnbE4FW8/T7EukZHmgoI/AAAAAAAAANo/LFVNpTLkwJw/s200/100_6885.JPG" width="150" /></a>So I’ve finished exams and am nearly done with my final
essay for my semester here in Wales. The last week…it feels weird. Being so
displaced from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">home</i> was a bit
frightening at first, you sort of go into survival mode and everything that’s
different from normal life becomes like a flashing billboard that’s on 24/7.
But after a while, my flat here became the new base of operations, my home away
from home. When I had a chance to travel, like during Easter holiday, if I
thought of “when I get back…” I would think of getting back to Swansea, not
Oklahoma. I really do think I’m going to miss this place (for more than just
the ocean view and distinct lack of homework). But yeah. Before I go
sentimental old lady on this post, I’ll turn the focus to a wrap-up of what
Wales has really been about for me. I’ve told you about the awesomeness of
university alongside the beach, all the great outdoors fun stuff to do, castles
to explore, house movie nights, and tea (and other liquids) that everyone loves
to drink. I have yet to describe the wonderful amounts of vacation time that
this side of the globe requires in the education system. Bank holidays and
three week breaks are littered throughout the calendar, and it is splendid.
Over Easter holiday, I went with a few friends to Spain and Italy. Memories are
made as much by the people you’re with as the places you go. We saw some amazing
sights, like the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">David</i>, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, and numerous other old things
that existed before our country. We planked on or in front of a lot of really
old or cool stuff. I punched over the Leaning Tower of Pisa. True story. We ate
tons of pizza and I nearly died as I found out I was allergic to Sangria (a
Spanish drink; never trust a Spaniard, unless his name is Inigo Montoya, and he
promises that you’ll reach the top of the cliff alive). The others I was
traveling with, luckily, found the witch doctor Mad Max and… okay, enough of
that, point is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I survived Spain</i>.
Spain was exciting and colorful, with dancing and nightlife and tasty tapas,
and Italy was like paradise, architecture and art and beauty and sunshine
(which the Welsh are continually deprived of). We eventually made it back to
Swansea and I hit the ground running, because apparently, most students use
Easter holiday to prepare for final exams and essays. Huh, who knew, right? I
made it through my “this-three-hour-exam-is-your-entire-grade-for-the-class”
Medieval Encounters exam without a hitch; actually, I’m pretty proud of that
one, I wrote enough to fill an entire essay booklet and half of another (they’re
sort of like blue books). And now I’m laboring away at my final Arthurian
adaptations essay on Jane Yolen, and trying to avoid running to the beach or
clicking the <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YiXUeHLEkdM/T7EuqM0VmpI/AAAAAAAAANw/o7PUP9aZAjQ/s1600/100_6908.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YiXUeHLEkdM/T7EuqM0VmpI/AAAAAAAAANw/o7PUP9aZAjQ/s200/100_6908.JPG" width="200" /></a>Netflix button on the toolbar. It’s been a struggle between the
show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supernatural</i> and academic
productivity, but I know I’ll start getting antsy in a couple days and develop
proper tunnel-vision for the essay. It always happens. Then I’ve got to pack it
all up, the shuttle launches in </div>
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T minus six days. I’ll be meeting up with some
other Hillcats in Dublin, where we’ll start our two-week Ireland extravaganza,
and then I’ve got a week in Egypt and a week in Israel. After the marathon
traveling is done, I’ll finally be back home and stateside. I’m looking forward
to the travel and to the eventual break I’ll get to take before classes start
back this fall. It’s all rather, well,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
big</i>. I don’t quite know what to do with myself. I do love it, though.</div>
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“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I
travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Louis_Stevenson" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Robert Louis
Stevenson</span></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-6865040140868465152012-04-01T20:06:00.000-05:002012-04-01T20:20:56.680-05:00Got 68 on the Essay? AWESOME!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i4tZlKx3e-I/T3j5jwSLTgI/AAAAAAAAANU/jxAAkNaUM4I/s1600/Wales+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hey there world, I know it’s been a while since my
last entry. I’d like to give some excuse that sounds relatable, like
overwhelming amounts of homework or a job, but I can’t. I’ve been busy, but it
has been the good, fun sort of busy doing stuff like beach BBQs and movie
nights with a bunch of my flatmates. Academic life here is very different from
back in the states. Besides the grading scale being funky, homework is nearly
unheard of. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t let it fool you though; it’s not as carefree as it might
trick one into believing. I don’t have assigned readings, journals, or research
anymore, but I do have to have a depth of knowledge and comprehension of
material on the subject matter. My lecturers and seminar professors introduce a
lot of material in class, and I have the choice of what material I want to go
more in depth in during individual study. I’m in Medieval Encounters and
Arthurian Adaptations, so I try to find material to study that is useful to
both classes. One might ask, if no homework, why study at all? Quite simply,
I’m scared to death of the finals, which count for nearly the entire grade of
the classes.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> At that point, the professors will know which students studied and
which one slacked off all semester. That and, of course, the fact that I am
here <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to learn</i>, despite the
overwhelming feel of this being an extended vacation. It really is excellent,
this whole Welsh experience. I highly recommend it. Let me build it up some
more. So far, I’ve gone on a camping trip with people from around the world, been
to numerous beach bonfires (that would be beaches along the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ocean</i>), gone hiking for seven miles in
the middle of the night, done a different daytime hike every Wednesday, lost
more pub quizzes than the Scotland rugby team has lost games, dressed up
as Captain America for a Thursday night social (everyone else dressed up as
something too, I’m not that weird), eaten delicious kebabs on the beach with
intermittent Frisbee time with friends, marathoned the extended editions of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord
of the Rings</i> trilogy with my flatmates, and am currently in London contemplating
my upcoming travels through Barcelona, Madrid, Florence, Rome, Scotland,
Ireland, and possibly Egypt. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And no
homework</i>. </span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i4tZlKx3e-I/T3j5jwSLTgI/AAAAAAAAANU/jxAAkNaUM4I/s1600/Wales+pic.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i4tZlKx3e-I/T3j5jwSLTgI/AAAAAAAAANU/jxAAkNaUM4I/s320/Wales+pic.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Again, I love Wales. I do miss home, but not so much as to fail
to appreciate the excellence of this semester abroad. There are so many
different opportunities to take here, from reading tons of books for the pure
joy of it, to joining a club that teaches one to fence or parasail.</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If not for
the wretched public transit, this would be paradise (seriously, two hours just
to go get a few groceries from Tesco? blegh). Those are my thoughts for the
day. More to come after Easter holiday. Later!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-62527746290927971422012-01-29T16:44:00.000-06:002012-01-31T14:13:41.915-06:00Love Churchill, Hate Thatcher, and Know Who Johnny and the Moondogs Were<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fjr56-qu1KA/TyXQh801vWI/AAAAAAAAAMw/6MdGJpRqAOE/s1600/100_5639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fjr56-qu1KA/TyXQh801vWI/AAAAAAAAAMw/6MdGJpRqAOE/s320/100_5639.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_UrNIhdxw4/TyXQRh0EdII/AAAAAAAAAMg/DF45ppFj-v8/s1600/100_5563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_UrNIhdxw4/TyXQRh0EdII/AAAAAAAAAMg/DF45ppFj-v8/s320/100_5563.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-08g48rC3y3s/TyXQpbj91bI/AAAAAAAAAM4/PUUbMM_SyGo/s1600/100_5686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-08g48rC3y3s/TyXQpbj91bI/AAAAAAAAAM4/PUUbMM_SyGo/s320/100_5686.JPG" width="320" /></a>My fellow Hillcats, I am writing to you from the rainy land of rugby and communal bathrooms. I've just finished my pre-sessional class "British Culture and Politics since 1945" and am currently working on the paper that's due a week from now. Despite how dreadfully dull it sounds, the class was actually extremely interesting and the professor was great at making the traditionally dreary topics exciting. We studied British music and cinema that coincided with political and social strife of the times, and took a few day-long field trips to places like Bath, St. Fagans, and Worms Head at Gower (seriously, Google it, it's beautiful). These trips included exploring old coal mines, a castle, gorgeous coastlines, and gigantic and ancient Roman bath houses. The wet weather was killer at times, but the trips were great. The students in the class are all American, and we all reacted with the gaping, wide-eyed look of tourists to our surroundings. Fun times. Such exploits have made me reflect on what attitude a traveler should have. Ought I to take it all in stride, checking my enthusiasm until it's finally squashed? Or should I instead leave my joy and awe sketched upon my face, showing that I truly appreciate the newness of the experience? With considerations given to the fact that the second option marks me as an easy target for pick-pockets and people that would take advantage of a tourist, I've decided that a little more subtlety might be merited whilst traversing the globe. That said, I think I've finally gotten to the point where I can blend in with the locals (as long as I don't talk) and enjoy myself at the same time. Another handy - and fun - way I've been acclimating is by hanging out with my flatmates and new-found British friends. We've hit the best spots to eat on a college budget (the Swansea equivalents of Wings to Go and Little Caesar's), went shopping at the city market, and relaxed at a few local pubs. They've helped me with stuff I never would have thought I'd have trouble with, like how to work the oven in the kitchen (don't laugh, it's harder than it sounds) and the shower (again, surprisingly difficult). It's taken two weeks, but I think I've finally got the place mostly figured out. The spring term starts tomorrow, so I'm off to bed (it's six hours ahead of CST here). Cheers!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-36828468765297908832011-05-29T07:04:00.007-05:002011-05-29T07:33:01.787-05:00May and My Last Week in Swansea<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dylPHA6ss_s/TeI7BapJt4I/AAAAAAAAAC8/gA6EGk4e9Rg/s1600/SANY0035.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dylPHA6ss_s/TeI7BapJt4I/AAAAAAAAAC8/gA6EGk4e9Rg/s320/SANY0035.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612112981174892418" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>At the beginning of May, we started going back to classes. These classes were mostly review for exams that are held at the end of May and the beginning of June. I finished up my essays that were due and turned them in. The last three weeks I have mostly been experiencing Swansea, which has been nice. I went out on my last trip to the Gower Peninsula last week, which was beautiful. Specifically, I went back to Rhossili, which is first place I visited outside of Swansea. You can see a picture of me there in January in one of my first posts on this blog.<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> On the 14th, I went to London to visit everyone who went on RSU's London at Large trip. It was really great to see some familiar faces. We went to Harrod's, which is a famous store, as well as watch the FA Cup final. The FA Cup is a soccer tournament in the UK. It was a full day for me, as I left Swansea at 7 and returned at 12:30.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Now, I am entering my final week here in the UK. This semester has gone by very quickly. I'm definitely glad I got the opportunity to study abroad! It is truly a life changing experience. This week, I will start gathering my things and making preparations to go. It will be difficult to fit everything in the suitcase I brought with me, but I am going to try my best. However, the toughest challenge this week will be studying for and taking my exam on Friday. I have so much I need to do before I leave! I leave June 6, which will be a long day. My train to London leaves Swansea at 7. After the three hour train ride, I then get on a plane for 9 hours to Atlanta, then 2 more hours till Tulsa. I think after the time traveling, plus layovers, my total time traveling will be 21 hours. It will be tiring, but I think I will be glad to reach home.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Some of the things I think will take some getting use to when I get home are:</div><div>1) Temperature- It has gotten into the 70's here some days, but that is it. Usually it is rainy and in the high 50's. I'm sure I will be baking when I get back to Oklahoma.</div><div><br /></div><div>2) Sales Tax- They have VAT here, which is already figured into the price that is shown on a menu or on a label. At home, I will have to adjust prices for sales tax. This may seem like a 'duh' moment, but I think it will be hard to get use to that again.</div><div><br /></div><div>3) Shorts- The locals here wear shorts sometimes, but rarely. Young people here wear jeans, almost exclusively. </div><div><br /></div><div>4) Use of a Cell Phone- I have a prepaid phone I use here, but it is totally different from my phone back home.</div><div><br /></div><div>5) Car- As a part of my scholarship here, I received a bus pass that lets me ride any bus in Swansea for free. This has been invaluable. It will definitely be weird getting behind the wheel of a car. Even when I have ridden in a car here, it has been on the left side of the road instead of right. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-57533837377665059712011-04-30T09:55:00.003-05:002011-04-30T10:12:21.605-05:00My Last Trip: Milan<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RQHskHJkKf4/TbwmwRYRByI/AAAAAAAAAC0/e0jDgzHN35E/s1600/SANY0099.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RQHskHJkKf4/TbwmwRYRByI/AAAAAAAAAC0/e0jDgzHN35E/s320/SANY0099.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601394647282812706" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oHlvcAh6oAI/TbwmwLkdVVI/AAAAAAAAACs/RQn8Vy2ENbM/s1600/SANY0062.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oHlvcAh6oAI/TbwmwLkdVVI/AAAAAAAAACs/RQn8Vy2ENbM/s320/SANY0062.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601394645723338066" /></a><br />This week, I got back from my last trip out of the UK: Milan, Italy. We left Swansea Sunday the 24th of May for London Luton airport. Our flight was at 6:25 in the morning, so we stayed at the airport overnight, because there was no way to get to the airport early enough to catch our flight. We flew over the Alps on our way there, so that was really cool. Milan is situated in Northern Italy, and really isn't that far from Switzerland. We got to Milan about 9:30 their time (they are an hour ahead of the UK) so it was about a two hour flight. <div><br /></div><div>The weather in Milan was excellent the entire time we were there. It wasn't too hot or too cold. Just perfect. The first thing we did after we got there was eat some Italian food. How could you not? The food was very good. I had all of the pizza, pasta, and bread I could handle. We explored around Milan's central station for awhile and then went to a local park and people watched for about an hour. This was really interesting because you can learn a lot about a culture from watching people's actions. A lot of the shops were closed down because it was a Monday and I guess that must be a day off for people or part of the weekend somehow. However, we were able to find a gelato stand in the park that was open, so that was great. Gelato is the best ice cream ever. </div><div><br /></div><div>The 2nd day, we went to Milan's Duomo, which is a large cathedral. Also, Milan is a European hub for fashion designers, so there were Prada stores, Versace stores, and the like. We walked around more of the city and eventually came upon Sforza Castle. It was right in the middle of the city, so it was a very unique sight. </div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, I had a great time in Italy. I really want to come back there someday. Now, I only have a month left of classes at Swansea University before I come back to the United States. My flight home is June 6. Classes start back next week, but I can tell I am dreadfully out of practice because we have had a full month of break. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-30912138155721533872011-03-29T12:37:00.004-05:002011-03-29T13:09:47.151-05:00My Third Trip: Paris<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f_Zp8n0WYHM/TZIf5fGD14I/AAAAAAAAACk/qmYkewk98X8/s1600/SANY0001.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f_Zp8n0WYHM/TZIf5fGD14I/AAAAAAAAACk/qmYkewk98X8/s320/SANY0001.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589565159980128130" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />My third trip while I am here was to Paris. I left Thursday morning (24/3) from Swansea headed toward London. On our way to London, our train was delayed by about 30 minutes because there had been a fatality on the tracks ahead of us and all of the trains to London Paddington (a major train station in London) had been stopped. When we finally arrived in London Paddington, we had to hurry through the train station and hop on the Underground to St. Pancras International (the international rail station in London). They were announcing the last call for Paris as we were arriving at the gate. We were going to St. Pancras because we took the Eurostar train to Paris. It took a little over 2 hours to get there. Which is actually faster than Swansea to London, which<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hkjn2u3b4QA/TZIfuVc9YJI/AAAAAAAAACE/jXTbKztc3MM/s320/SANY0019.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589564968413257874" /> takes about 3. The Eurostar was very cool and went super fast. I think it gets up to a top speed of about 186 mph. This is the train that goes underneath the English Channel and into France.<div>Our total journey took around 5 1/2 hours. We had to set our clocks forward because France is a hour ahead of the UK. The first night we were there we walked around the area by our hotel and ate. The next day was probably my favorite. We woke up in the morning and went to Versailles. This is a huge palace with lots of</div><div> grounds to go with it. It is very ornate. Because I like French revolutionary and imperial history, this was particularly wonderful for me. The palace is over the top with decorations, pa</div><div>intings, statues, pools, and gardens. You haven't seen a real palace until you have seen Versailles. We ate lunch on the steps leading out into the main grounds. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Our next stop that day was the Eiffel Tower. We walked around the base taking pictures and eating our French desserts. After this, we went to the Musee de l'Armee and the Tomb of Napoleon. The tomb is very extravagant. It was great to be there. To end the day, we ate lunch at a French restaurant and sat by the Eiffel Tower at night to see if light up.</div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MWcwmFpUnAw/TZIfupTn78I/AAAAAAAAACM/aD_jqSVbLyY/s320/SANY0113.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589564973742813122" /><div><br /></div><div>Saturday we went to the Louvre (pronounced 'Loov'). This was great! I saw the Mona Lisa, Liberty Leading the People, Hammurabi's Code and much more. This museum was huge. We got lost a couple of times in there. Someone could spend days in the museum. Of course, we got to see the glass pyramid on top of the Louvre! It reminded me of the Da Vinci Code. We got to</div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UBl07zqVAzo/TZIfu0_ZkdI/AAAAAAAAACU/bQzeH2PMXtk/s320/SANY0274.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589564976879210962" /><div> spend 3 and a half hours in here, which was not nearly enough, but we had other things to see that day. Next, we went to the Arc de Triomphe (pronounced 'tree-umph'). We got to go to the top of this. The view was absolutely great. Around it is the famous roundabout that you have seen in movies before. It is a colossal figure. After this we went on down to Notre Dame. The architecture of this cathedral was truly amazing. It was also very ornate. We ate dinner in the Latin Quarter that night. After dinner, a couple of us went to go find the Moulin Rouge. It wasn't terribly far from our hotel so it wasn't a bad walk. We also went to Sacre Coeur. </div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AIghOuOYOPM/TZIfvV2gYeI/AAAAAAAAACc/sO_g-AqacVw/s320/SANY0282.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589564985700278754" /></div><div>The last day we were there we went back the Eiffel Tower. But this time we actually went up into it. We took stairs (very exhausting) to the first level. The view from here was great. Many restaurants are on this level and there are signs that give a lot of info about how the tower was built and what it has inspired. From here we went to the second level. We took stairs this time too. You have the option to go to the top, but there was a huge line and there is only one elevator, so we started back down. We ate our last meal in Paris at a great French restaurant at which I had a chocolate mousse that was so delicious! We then hoped on the train back to London and got back into Swansea about 11 at night our time.</div><div><br /></div><div>An interesting tidbit: the time change actually didn't occur over here when the US changed their clocks forward. It happened the weekend we were in Paris, so Sunday morning we had to move our clocks forward again and then move them back a hour when we got back into the UK. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-74681783604126832142011-03-08T11:53:00.002-06:002011-03-08T12:11:12.306-06:00My Second Trip: London<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kOoOV-JneIw/TXZxKy4EPJI/AAAAAAAAAB8/SJQlTFCr8Lo/s1600/SANY0014.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kOoOV-JneIw/TXZxKy4EPJI/AAAAAAAAAB8/SJQlTFCr8Lo/s320/SANY0014.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581773218441870482" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xBaHtQChZLg/TXZxK_ql6QI/AAAAAAAAAB0/64X6bZc0_2c/s1600/SANY0007.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xBaHtQChZLg/TXZxK_ql6QI/AAAAAAAAAB0/64X6bZc0_2c/s320/SANY0007.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581773221875017986" /></a><br />Hello everyone!!! Last weekend I went on a trip to London. I've already been there before, but it was great to see some familiar sights. And who wouldn't want to go to London?!?! Since I had been there before, it was very easy to navigate. We used the London Underground or the "Tube". The first day we went to Westminster. Here we saw Big Ben and Parliament, as well as Westminster Abbey. We started off by riding the London Eye. This is a giant ferris wheel which gives people a great view of London. Next, we were able to go inside Parliament and into the House of Commons. This was particularly interesting to me because my major is Political Science. We also went through Westminster Abbey. <div><br /></div><div>We then went to Trafalgar Square to eat lunch. Here, we saw the fountains there and the National Gallery. We also hiked on over to Buckingham Palace, which is always cool to see. It wasn't too busy, so we got a good view of the Palace and the grounds around it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next day, we woke up and went to Portobello Road Market. This is a huge market. It has nearly everything and stretches for some ways. We only spent about two hours here because we had to rush on over to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. This is where the Royal Guards switch and it is a very extravagant ordeal. Later on that day, we saw and went into the Tower of London. It isn't really a tower, but it is a castle. This is where a lot of famous prisoners were kept and executed like Anne Boleyn and Guy Fawkes. We also got to see St. Paul's and the Millennium Bridge, as well as Piccadilly Circus (that is like their 'Times Square').</div><div><br /></div><div>On our last day there, we went to the Imperial War Museum, which I had not been to previously. It was very interesting. Here, they had many exhibits about World War I and World War II. World War II is still a big deal for the British because of the amount of involvement they had in the war, including the German blitz of London. My favorite exhibit was one on spies throughout British past and how MI5 and MI6 came into being. Next, we went to the British Museum, which is one of my favorite places in London. Here they have parts of the Parthenon from Greece and the Rosetta Stone, which allowed us to interpret Egyptian hieroglyphics. </div><div><br /></div><div>Overall I had a blast in London. It's a great city and I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to travel somewhere. It has so much history and you can learn something new every time you go back.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-54309911488558434222011-02-21T10:02:00.003-06:002011-02-21T10:40:42.225-06:00My First Trip: Amsterdam<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HoDwNnbwGPc/TWKVbPPj7UI/AAAAAAAAABs/emTlGqMwJf8/s1600/SANY0021.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HoDwNnbwGPc/TWKVbPPj7UI/AAAAAAAAABs/emTlGqMwJf8/s320/SANY0021.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576183583818902850" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGLLEA-rTs4/TWKVKIaXbYI/AAAAAAAAABk/FOVWSnzaZrE/s1600/Untitled.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 137px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGLLEA-rTs4/TWKVKIaXbYI/AAAAAAAAABk/FOVWSnzaZrE/s320/Untitled.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576183289927396738" /></a><br />I went on my first major trip since I have been here. There is a student travel shop at the university that can help plan trips and they have pre-organized trips that they advertise at the beginning of the semester. When I first got here, one of the trips they were advertising was a weekend trip to Amsterdam and I was interested. The trip included a lot of Americans. There was about 40 or so students that went and at least half of them were from the United States. <div><br /></div><div>We left at 5 on February 17. Since we are in Wales, we had to travel across the entire UK. We drove to Dover, UK, which is famous for its cliffs. However, we didn't get to see them because it was dark. Dover is a major port in the UK and it services cars and trucks across the English Channel to mainland Europe. It took about 4-5 hours to get there from Swansea. We drove onto the ferry, which was really huge. It took about 90 minutes to get to the next port, which was Calais, France. There was no border stop here, since the UK is in the EU, we drove straight off the ferry and into France. We didn't stay in France for long; it took us about an hour to get to Belgium. We drove through Belgium and into The Netherlands. We got to Amsterdam Friday morning, at 8:30. </div><div><br /></div><div>The first day in Amsterdam was a long one. We were tired because it had been difficult to sleep on the bus. We jumped right in: we purchased tickets for the Canal Boats. Amsterdam is divided up by canals and you can use these to get around. The tickets lasted for 24 hours. Throughout the day, we used these as a 'tour.' We would take pictures from the boats because they went by a lot of cool things and areas. We also walked around the city. At first this was very difficult because Amsterdam has a ton of bike traffic. Nearly 1/2 of the city gets around on bikes. They have bicycle traffic lights and lanes. When you cross a street, you have to cross two lanes of bicycle traffic, two lanes of auto traffic and a tram lane. The trams would often go right down the middle of the street. We ate lunch at a Dutch restaurant that day. The portions are significantly smaller than in the US and even Wales but it was surprisingly filling. We walked around and saw Centraal Station, the main train station in Amsterdam, and we saw many other buildings. The varied architecture in Amsterdam was probably my favorite part. We also saw the Anne Frank Huis and went inside. That night we ate at an Italian restaurant. This may seem weird, but Italian restaurants were everywhere here and they are very popular. </div><div><br /></div><div>The second day we started at the Rijksmuseum ( I don't know how to pronounce it either). This had mainly Dutch paintings and paintings that depicted Dutch culture. The main painting of the museum was 'The Night Watch.' The building itself is very striking. We then ate at another Dutch cafe, which was good. We walked around some more and saw the sights. Here we did souvenir shopping as well. We saw the palace area and the main square which is called the 'Dam.' That night we ate a Greek place, which was very good as well. </div><div><br /></div><div>The way back seemed to take a lot longer, as we had nothing to look forward to, but they trip was fun all the same. We traced our route back to Swansea by going through Belgium and France and then up into the UK. However, we did get to stop at a chocolate shop in Belgium and I got some Belgium Chocolates. I haven't eaten them yet, but I think I am about to. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-13979465760752880402011-02-08T16:28:00.003-06:002011-02-08T16:44:15.032-06:00More From Swansea<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4trMjgwpuDo/TVHHNx9x4WI/AAAAAAAAABc/UgoGpOalm_c/s1600/SANY0105.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571453253598699874" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4trMjgwpuDo/TVHHNx9x4WI/AAAAAAAAABc/UgoGpOalm_c/s320/SANY0105.JPG" /></a><br /><div>I have almost been here a month! I can't believe it. It only seems like yesterday that I got here on the train. The days go by so fast! I am finally getting used to the driving here. It seems normal to me now to drive on the left. Haha. Let's hope that doesn't come back with me when I get back to the United States. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We started the actual term last week. I have two modules or classes: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age and British Atlantic World. Both have been interesting so far and I have enjoyed them. War and Peace in the Nuclear Age is basically an overview of international relations since 1945. It is interesting to hear a different point of view on the Cold War and I have heard of concepts that I haven't heard before. British Atlantic World is an overview of early modern Britain and its relationship with its Atlantic colonies. It stops at the end of the Seven Years' War. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>As far as travel goes, I went to Cardiff and Bath with my pre-sessional class. Those were really fun to go to. Bath was especially cool because of the Roman baths and ruins. It was terribly cold when we went there though. I am going to Amsterdam next week, February 17-20 with a school sponsored trip. This will be my first time to continental Europe! I'm really excited. Me and a couple friends here are planning a trip to Paris sometime towards the end of March. This is really exciting for me because I am a big history geek. Haha. I really want to go to Versailles. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-29693601572574938632011-01-26T12:01:00.002-06:002011-01-26T12:12:12.543-06:00Swansea so Far<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4trMjgwpuDo/TUBj67p61II/AAAAAAAAABQ/sjstaj2qGos/s1600/SANY0105.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566559003527009410" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4trMjgwpuDo/TUBj67p61II/AAAAAAAAABQ/sjstaj2qGos/s320/SANY0105.JPG" /></a><br /><div>I have been having fun in Swansea!!! I'm just about to used to everything now. Let's see.... I have been here for about 11 days so far. The introductory class that we have to take is almost over and I have to write a 2500 word essay for it that is due Feb 7. That isn't too bad. I am mostly worried about the format of the essay. I think I get it though. Last Sunday, a couple of us went to Mumbles, which is a coastal town about 3 miles away. We went rock climbing and hiking. It was really fun and was probably the best day I have had so far. Afterwards we were able to find the Bears/Packers football game. Most of the people there were Americans, as you could guess, but there were some British people there. It was funny because some of them didn't know about the game and we had to explain it to them. It was evening here when the game came on, like 8. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I think that I want to try hiking more. I enjoyed it a whole bunch and they have really beautiful places here to be outdoors. We might be going to Three Cliffs on Sunday, which is another place by the ocean.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-17145331914863394552011-01-20T10:05:00.002-06:002011-01-20T10:18:22.140-06:00Wales!<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4trMjgwpuDo/TThgNnozw2I/AAAAAAAAABI/rHzGaVDXnoM/s1600/SANY0112.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564303126710960994" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4trMjgwpuDo/TThgNnozw2I/AAAAAAAAABI/rHzGaVDXnoM/s320/SANY0112.JPG" /></a><br /><div>I got here last Saturday. My travel was kind of hectic at first. My original flight was scheduled to fly out from Tulsa at 6:00 Friday night to Atlanta, where I would pick up another flught to London. Well, it didn't turn out that way. I was notified THREE hours before my flight that my flight was delayed and that they had stuck me on another. One that was leaving on FORTY MINUTES. I was rushing around, but then I thought "Wait. A person can't even check in forty minutes before an international flight." Turns out I was right but we were already on the way to the airport. Good thing too, because the flight desk person put me on a flight to Detorit. So I was happy. Until I learned that the Detroit was delayed too. And that I would miss my London flight. So I went BACK to the service desk and they just put me on a different airline that took me to Dallas and then over. I then took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station (which was easy for me to figure out, thank goodness I had been through there last time I went to London in May), then on to Swansea. That was about a three hour train ride. When I got to Swansea, it was kind of dark and misty. Then on Sunday and Monday it rained quite a bit. I met the rest of the American students on Monday; orientation course on British culture together. I have made friends with all of my "flatmates" as well. I'm still getting used to the time change and the culture change. It is aggrevating when you can't find out how to do the simplest of things. And I get hungry at wierd times. And sleepy. But I guess that comes with the journey. We went to Rhossili on Monday, a point on the peninsula. I got to see the Atlantic ocean for the first time! </div><br /><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-502829079444080862011-01-13T20:44:00.002-06:002011-01-13T21:05:21.327-06:00Busy, busy, busy...Right now, I am preparing for my trip to Wales. I'll be gone for quite some time, so I have to pack for a changing climate. I've been really busy arranging everything and packing for my trip. I'm very glad that I have had time to see all of my friends before I left. Thank goodness for Skype and Facebook. Even though I am going to miss everyone, I am excited to go. I can't wait to experience the differences in culture and tradition. I am planning on traveling being an integral part of my study abroad experience. I want to travel as much as possible.<br /><br />My flight leaves tomorrow at 6pm. I'm going to Atlanta and then over to London; I will be in Swansea by Saturday night. I will be writing this blog during the whole time I am there!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-46001738637093038632010-11-01T09:55:00.003-05:002010-11-01T10:06:18.748-05:00Technology represents all that is wrong with the world<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7XPvXAwfI/AAAAAAAAAE4/G-TUA-QiFbc/s1600/SANY0218.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7XPvXAwfI/AAAAAAAAAE4/G-TUA-QiFbc/s320/SANY0218.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534597657495912946" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7XPfIfzDI/AAAAAAAAAEw/vjA6Jggu4qY/s1600/SANY0162.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7XPfIfzDI/AAAAAAAAAEw/vjA6Jggu4qY/s320/SANY0162.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534597653140065330" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7XO1hc9OI/AAAAAAAAAEo/WWSqxb7qXik/s1600/SANY0158.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7XO1hc9OI/AAAAAAAAAEo/WWSqxb7qXik/s320/SANY0158.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534597641970447586" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7XOoqOKPI/AAAAAAAAAEg/EnerhfBybXo/s1600/SANY0192.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7XOoqOKPI/AAAAAAAAAEg/EnerhfBybXo/s320/SANY0192.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534597638517565682" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7Wd6T4v_I/AAAAAAAAAEY/rIN1TSJG5_c/s1600/SANY0156.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TM7Wd6T4v_I/AAAAAAAAAEY/rIN1TSJG5_c/s320/SANY0156.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534596801442136050" /></a><br />Hello. I’m very sorry I have not posted in a while. My computer has decided to go into early retirement/die forever. I’m hoping it is just taking a breather but I fear the worst so please don’t be upset if my posts are a little uncommon.<br />So lately a lot has happened. I went to Stonehenge and Bristol. Bristol was a really nice city to walk around and I don’t really know what to say about Stonehenge. It is one of those things that is really amazing because you have heard about it all your life but at the same time it is a bunch of giant rocks piled in a circle so what is there to say? It was really pretty and I loved it. That’s about all I got.<br />My friend Summer and I have booked a ticket to Venice! We are actually going to go for five days and we are planning to make it a big trip and go through Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Italy. I’m ridiculously excited because it sounds amazing and I have always had this desire to be able to say I’ve been to Liechtenstein or “When I was in Liechtenstein…” or “Liechtenstein is lovely that time of year.” Liechtenstein Liechtenstein Liechtenstein! It is just a really fun one to say.<br />I know other stuff has happened but I don’t really remember it all right now so I will have to get back to you on that. Hopefully I will get a chance to post before I head off to Liechtenstein (haha I used it).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-34938530369479365702010-10-12T09:31:00.006-05:002010-10-12T10:11:23.885-05:00What do I miss the most? Mexican Food!Ketchup on nachos is just wrong! I don't know what to do with my hands :(<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR06M_PxmI/AAAAAAAAAC4/Wm28ZoJJONI/s1600/011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR06M_PxmI/AAAAAAAAAC4/Wm28ZoJJONI/s320/011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527171185958176354" /></a><br />Last week was my first week of classes and I think they are going to be pretty interesting. The class style is very different from what we have at RSU. Here everyone meets in a giant lecture theater and the professor talks for an hour and then we leave. There is no possible way the professors will know all of the students, luckily I am fairly easy to remember because I’m the yank (not really but I guess). I think it is nice for a semester but it definitely makes me miss RSU and all of my professors at home with our wonderful in class discussions.<br />Possibly my favorite experience in Wales so far happened recently. Last week was my friend Summer’s birthday so for her birthday lunch I took her to a “Mexican” restaurant. It was absolutely awful! Probably the funniest meal I have ever seen. I’m really glad I went just so I can honestly say I have had the worst imitation Mexican food ever. There was ketchup on everything. Summer and I laughed the entire time. It was everything I could do to hold myself together when the guy was taking out orders in his welsh accent. I don’t know when the last time you got ketchup in Mexican food was but it was a first for me. It was surprisingly decent to eat but I wouldn’t quite call it Mexican. I think the worst part was when I told the people I live with they didn't seem to see anything wrong with it.<br /><br />Instead of rice and beans I was given "chips" and ketchup mixed with salsa<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR068wbYPI/AAAAAAAAADI/YrXyZ6yZ04o/s1600/014.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR068wbYPI/AAAAAAAAADI/YrXyZ6yZ04o/s320/014.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527171198780924146" /></a><br />There were potato wedges and ketchup in Summer's chicken quesadilla<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR06gw8OPI/AAAAAAAAADA/yjCkGrQpnXs/s1600/012.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR06gw8OPI/AAAAAAAAADA/yjCkGrQpnXs/s320/012.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527171191266883826" /></a><br />On Saturday I got to go to a castle in West Wales. Apparently it was one of the last castles built by a prince of Wales. It was really neat and then I had tea in a fancy house on the castle grounds and walked through a little museum type of thing. You could tell it was a bit interactive for kids but I think I enjoyed it more than the two little boys I was there with. I really liked the castle because it isn’t a big tourist destination. It is mostly locals that go there for a nice day out so it was a bit less crowded and a little more laid back. I think my favorite thing was when one of the little boys wanted to play hide-and-seek. Turns out a castle is an amazing place for hiding. <br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR3KTpB8cI/AAAAAAAAAD4/IKB62fXleDY/s1600/046.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:left;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR3KTpB8cI/AAAAAAAAAD4/IKB62fXleDY/s320/046.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527173661645205954" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR3KBQL8sI/AAAAAAAAADw/Qtqqwau9H2w/s1600/032.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:right;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR3KBQL8sI/AAAAAAAAADw/Qtqqwau9H2w/s320/032.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527173656709165762" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR3LURnELI/AAAAAAAAAEI/2xvZm5fofa4/s1600/070.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:left;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR3LURnELI/AAAAAAAAAEI/2xvZm5fofa4/s320/070.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527173678995280050" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR3K9ExfAI/AAAAAAAAAEA/uhmZopJ0O6k/s1600/053.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:riht;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TLR3K9ExfAI/AAAAAAAAAEA/uhmZopJ0O6k/s320/053.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527173672767421442" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-62829665297437287912010-09-29T08:48:00.001-05:002010-09-29T08:52:05.935-05:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TKNEZM0tcWI/AAAAAAAAACw/NmNHGa9iTZw/s1600/089.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TKNEZM0tcWI/AAAAAAAAACw/NmNHGa9iTZw/s320/089.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522332767816085858" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TKNEY0RqL8I/AAAAAAAAACo/n0qMZ6ZV6GI/s1600/059.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TKNEY0RqL8I/AAAAAAAAACo/n0qMZ6ZV6GI/s320/059.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522332761226620866" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TKNEYYqCaGI/AAAAAAAAACg/whab0-4Mx5w/s1600/025.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TKNEYYqCaGI/AAAAAAAAACg/whab0-4Mx5w/s320/025.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522332753812678754" /></a><br />So much has happened lately I don’t even know where to begin!<br />1. I finished my two week class on British Politics and Culture (Post WW2) on Thursday so I am trying to write a 2,500 word essay for that. The good thing is we had the option of choosing one of six questions to answer and one of them is about literature. I am not too concerned. The writing style and formatting are going to be a little different but what I am the most nervous about is the British spelling. Honestly I’m not that great with American spelling so this could be a disaster.<br />2. The other day I went to Bath. It was so amazing! I walked through the Roman Baths and even got to visit the Jane Austen Center. I read Persuasion over the summer in preparation for this trip and it was wonderful. I think I gave myself away as a nerd by the excitement I showed about going.<br />3. I moved into my house in the student village on Wednesday. Each house has three floors and holds ten people. Six other people moved in yesterday. Five are from England and one is from Northern Ireland. I like everybody so far. We all hung out in the kitchen yesterday and talked. I was informed by one person that if I had not been there they probably would have all sat around in silence because British people are “reserved”. Oops. Well I’m American and I can’t survive an awkward silence.<br />4. I booked my trip to Paris! It’s the first weekend of December so I hope it is decorated for Christmas at least a little. Christmas is my favorite!<br />I know I forgot something but for now that is all.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-22069188908460852772010-09-16T15:53:00.004-05:002010-09-16T16:55:51.655-05:00Field Trips :)<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TJKR7_oVNYI/AAAAAAAAACY/m1-ZVmrqX98/s1600/018.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TJKR7_oVNYI/AAAAAAAAACY/m1-ZVmrqX98/s320/018.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517632953361184130" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TJKR7b1hB3I/AAAAAAAAACQ/ACsvicBXOGk/s1600/010.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TJKR7b1hB3I/AAAAAAAAACQ/ACsvicBXOGk/s320/010.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517632943752808306" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TJKR6r31C5I/AAAAAAAAACI/P8FGkbcT3qA/s1600/021.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TJKR6r31C5I/AAAAAAAAACI/P8FGkbcT3qA/s320/021.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517632930877606802" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TJKR6LElARI/AAAAAAAAACA/4sePpdZRPEU/s1600/007.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TJKR6LElARI/AAAAAAAAACA/4sePpdZRPEU/s320/007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517632922072711442" /></a><br />So today the weather decided that it would not rain but it was completely necessary for it to be cold. There is no use arguing with it so I bundled up and I am glad I did because I went to Big Pit and St. Fagan’s. <br />Big Pit is an old coal mine that has been transformed into a museum. We took a tour that was guided by a former miner through the actual mine. So we went down the mine shaft and walked all through the tunnels. At one point the tunnel kept getting smaller and I felt like I was in a really dirty version of Willy Wonka. The farther down we went the colder it got. It was really creepy but also very interesting. Mining was huge in Wales and is still to this day a pretty big deal.<br />After that we went to St. Fagan’s which is this area where they have taken old buildings from all over Wales and reassembled them. It represents a wide span of time. My favorite part was the castle. It was so pretty. I also really enjoyed the chapel. It was really cute. We only had two hours there which is not enough time to see even half of the buildings so I definitely plan to return. It really did feel like a place right out of a movie. There were tall hedges on both sides of the path for quite a bit of it so I felt like I had entered the Triwizard Tournament.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-2530236659827837022010-09-12T15:50:00.002-05:002010-09-12T17:06:02.877-05:00Easy like a Sunday Morning<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OLoyw2UI/AAAAAAAAAB4/UGPkq9pe-ck/s1600/031.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OLoyw2UI/AAAAAAAAAB4/UGPkq9pe-ck/s320/031.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516151080434587970" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OLeJ8ECI/AAAAAAAAABw/BQXjjRk78RE/s1600/047.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OLeJ8ECI/AAAAAAAAABw/BQXjjRk78RE/s320/047.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516151077579001890" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OK7MSf5I/AAAAAAAAABo/XU_utM326T8/s1600/015.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OK7MSf5I/AAAAAAAAABo/XU_utM326T8/s320/015.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516151068193619858" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OJmmd82I/AAAAAAAAABg/H0n4EG-EBU8/s1600/013.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OJmmd82I/AAAAAAAAABg/H0n4EG-EBU8/s320/013.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516151045486408546" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OI2bvTxI/AAAAAAAAABY/SQX_IVCPaJE/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TI1OI2bvTxI/AAAAAAAAABY/SQX_IVCPaJE/s320/003.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516151032556506898" /></a><br />Today was a great day! I went with a few friends to church. Afterwards they invited us to stay and have coffee and tea. I had tea and they put milk in it. I thought that was odd but it turned out to be pretty good. A guy named Owen said “Okie” sounds like some sort of dog biscuit. It was really funny.<br />After church a couple of friends and I went out to the Gower Peninsula. It was quite the challenge to make it to the bus on time. We walked from campus to the bus stop that would take us out there. We had to power walk to make it and as we came around the corner the bus was about to leave. We thought twenty-five minutes would be enough but for future excursions I’m going to say it isn’t because we were booking it and barely made it in time.<br />It was so pretty where we went. I can understand a lot better now the joys of taking a drive in the countryside because it is gorgeous! The thing about driving is the roads are tiny and the busses are huge. At one point we were six inches from a stone wall on one side and six inches from another bus on the other. That was after reversing until we found a place in the road both busses could fit. The good news is we made it. The place we went had these tall cliffs with a beach below. We didn’t have enough time to go down to the water because we had to make it back to the bus in time but we climbed all over the top. It might just be the prettiest place I have ever been. I just wanted to lay in the grass and listen to the ocean all day.<br />When we got back to town we grabbed food from “Yummy Yummy Chinese Takeaway” for dinner. I love the food over here because they have everything. Chinese, Dutch, Indonesian, Indian, Thai, Italian, and just about anything else you can think of except Mexican. This is sad but I get a kitchen in a couple of weeks and will probably try to make something mexi-ish then. Tomorrow I start my two week class about British culture. I’m pretty excited for the class but I’m not looking forward to being stuck inside instead of out exploring. The weather has just been so amazing I feel like I’m wasting it every time I set foot indoors.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039479149852325228.post-555952851975101632010-09-10T17:45:00.004-05:002010-09-10T17:50:10.265-05:00Sunny Days :)<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TIq2Cp4rKCI/AAAAAAAAABQ/JvHeNoR5P-0/s1600/081.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TIq2Cp4rKCI/AAAAAAAAABQ/JvHeNoR5P-0/s320/081.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515420850388150306" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TIq17oqXzoI/AAAAAAAAABI/OPTyXugPOqs/s1600/069.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TIq17oqXzoI/AAAAAAAAABI/OPTyXugPOqs/s320/069.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515420729800642178" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TIq10Y-VjyI/AAAAAAAAABA/A1eVcf3J-v8/s1600/068.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TIq10Y-VjyI/AAAAAAAAABA/A1eVcf3J-v8/s320/068.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515420605330329378" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TIq1q4_O4_I/AAAAAAAAAA4/wYFvWB93JqA/s1600/067.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dR0IXCJSdUc/TIq1q4_O4_I/AAAAAAAAAA4/wYFvWB93JqA/s320/067.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515420442125329394" /></a><br />I have made it safe to Swansea and the weather has been amazing so far! I was expecting it to be horrible, cold, and rainy from the moment I got off the plane but that has definitely not been the case. I have done so much already that I don’t even know where to begin. For the past couple of days we have been exploring Swansea, a few wrong turns can go a long way. We got lost a couple of times but I think it was all part of the experience and now we know our way around a lot better.<br />Today we went to Mumbles. It is a cute little part of Swansea right along the rock beach. It was a really low tide but it was still really pretty. We walked along the rock beach and ate ice cream on the pier. I guess there is a really big Italian influence here so the ice cream was amazing! Then we had to go back to get ready because today the rest of the American students arrived and we were all supposed to meet for our welcome dinner. We went to a place called Pub on the Pond. It was pretty good and most importantly right by campus.<br />For the first two weeks I will be taking a class that is for American students studying in Swansea and we are all living on campus. The class is about British politics and culture. At the end of the two weeks I will be moving into my real housing and will be living with anywhere from eight to twelve people. That is when the real term will start. I’m a little nervous but mostly excited to get started.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0