Swansea so Far

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.

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.

Wales!

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!

Busy, 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.

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!

Technology represents all that is wrong with the world

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.
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.
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.
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).

What do I miss the most? Mexican Food!

Ketchup on nachos is just wrong! I don't know what to do with my hands :(

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.
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.

Instead of rice and beans I was given "chips" and ketchup mixed with salsa

There were potato wedges and ketchup in Summer's chicken quesadilla

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.

So much has happened lately I don’t even know where to begin!
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.
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.
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.
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!
I know I forgot something but for now that is all.

Field Trips :)

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.
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.
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.