Semester in Wales: November 2012

Well 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..
xx-Kylie