Last week... Where has my life gone?

So begins the end of the greatest time of my life. I began this blog just a little over 3 months ago and now I am sitting in my kitchen getting ready to attend my last going away party. It's amazing what all has happened and what is still to come with London only a couple days away. I hope that I have grown and I hope that I have learned but most of all I hope I can continue to do this. Living overseas is amazing and I can't wait for my next chance. For now I must say goodbye to all the friends I have made which hasn't been easy. Two big goodbyes down and still many to go. Tonight I will party with Chelsey for the last time and tomorrow night we say our final goodbyes. It is surreal to think that I am going home in 4 days and yet I am happy. I miss home so much but I will miss being here even more once I am home. I wrote my cards today and as I did I realized how little i really know about some of my friends here. It has not been long enough. I can only pray that we meet again someday. the last week has been eventful to say the least. Since Paris I have written a paper and skipped my last two classes of the semester. I have taken pictures of the place i now call home and I dressed up for a club like it was 2008 and I was at prom again. Over the course of the week I realized it was ending and I want to cry even time I stop to think about it for any amount of time. I know we have memories and photos to last a lifetime. And while they are amazing I don't know if it will ever be enough to encompass all that has happened. I am going to have to stop for now as it is time to party once again and I am emotional enough right now that being sappy will only make it worse. Now its time to party like I just turned 21 all over again. Wish me luck!

Lots to Catch up on...

Starting with Thanksgiving. What a crazy day. I had class so I got up and had lunch and went to class and then came back and waited for Summer to bring ingredients to bake pies for dessert. We ran out of time and had to bake them later lol. We had dinner with her study abroad coordinator and it was fantastic. I was so happy to be with people. Then we had our pies for dessert which mine didn't turn out that well but Summer's was amazing! The following day Tori and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I loved. It was the best movie so far! Easily. I can't wait to watch it again back in the states. Then on Saturday we went out to celebrate my 21st, which is so not as big of a deal as back home. But my housemates and Chelsey's house made it a fun night! I however plan to throw a big party back home!!! Then Sunday rolls around and Chelsey and I brave the cold to go to a Rugby game. It was brilliant and I loved it but I also froze to death. We literally left at half time because we couldn't take how cold it was. It was making the experience un-enjoyable.

The next few days drug by as I was attempting to start a paper I had no idea what I was writing it over. Looking back I wish I had accomplished something then so I wouldn't have to be doing it now. But on Thursday we left for Paris. Paris was a long bus ride. We drove for about 14 hours to get there and took a ferry which I found doesn't sit well with my stomach. Once we arrived on Friday morning I was geared up and ready to see things! We started the day heading out to Versailles which was absolutely gorgeous. We walked the whole building and then some of the grounds outside. Then we came back and went to the Louvre which was free at night to get into. I liked being the louvre. the whole atmosphere was nice. I saw the Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, and Winged Victory. Lots of other things as well but those 3 were the best! After the Louvre we went to dinner with Ryan and Moscar. We had a lovely meal at nice little cafe. I had lamb chops because I wanted to try something new. They were delicious and I am completely happy I ordered them. After dinner we headed over to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night!

 It was beautiful all lit up and we caught the light show that takes place every half hour. The most amazing site really. After an exhausting, long day we headed home and went to bed. The next day we made an early start back at the Eiffel tower. We had tickets bought already so the line was nice and short to go up. But once up it was freezing and windy!! We took photos quickly and moved on because it was so cold. We were expecting snow but it started early. so we stopped in a cafe and got a coffee. Then we headed to the Arc di Triomphe. When we arrived it was flurrying so bad we were getting pelted in the face. But the photos we took look so great in the snow. I even braved standing in the road to get the best possible shot of the arc. Literally cars were so close I could have touched them as they went by :

Then we had lunch and I have a lovely pizza and tart meal. the tart was amazing. I found quickly that I loved French cuisine. I was surprised since I expected Rome to be my favorite food. After lunch we sat until the snow slowed and then headed out to La Defense. Its a business district in Paris that has a modern Arc. It was a cool arc but what was better was the Christmas Market we discovered! It was so cute and had soooooo many booths. I loved being out in it. Although by the end my feet were soaked. So then we headed to the Louvre to take pictures in the day time. We got some good ones and it was cool to see the pyramid in the light. I was starting to get miserable and tired so I suggested we see the Cathedral at Notre Dame and then head back. At Notre Dame I was awestruck by the ambiance inside. There was a choir and the building and windows were majestic. I was in heaven just sitting in the chairs and listening to the music. Tori and I literally sat there for like 20 min just listening. I didn't want to move. But soon enough it was time to go. Instead of going back just yet we headed up to the Sacre - Coeur  which is the Sacred Heart Basilica. It was a picturesque photo opportunity. The place was again so beautiful but we didn't feel like climbing all the stairs. So tori and I got crepes and then we all did a little shopping in the markets there by the basilica. Finally I got to go home and dry off my feet!! Yay! Then Chelsey went to meet the other big group we had seen for dinner. Tori stayed with me and we watched a little TV before dozing off. Around 7 we woke up and went to dinner. We walked around by the hotel looking for a place. We found a nice little cafe again that had French onion soup. I ordered a duck meal and hoped for the best.
 I was more than impressed with the meal that arrived. It was the most delicious food I have ever put into my mouth. It just made my mouth water thinking about eating another bite. We then split a Crème brûlée for dessert. I was so stuffed I didn't think I could eat another bite, but when the dessert arrived I couldn't help myself. I ate my half and it was also delicious. We decided the cafe was the best place we could have hoped to find. After dinner we tried to find a shop we had seen earlier that we wanted to take pictures with. But we were a little off the path we thought and got lost. We found our way back and got our photos but it was definitely an adventure. Luckily no crazy guys came up to us this night. Back in the room we watched the Miss France 2011 pageant and i rather enjoyed it. But it was so much longer than the program run in the states. Finally after it was over it was time to sleep again. 
In the morning we woke up and packed up. Chelsey and I went down for breakfast and then packed up. We loaded onto the bus at 11 and began the 14hour journey home. Following another horrendously long trip, in which I didn't sleep once, we made it back to the Village. 
Another trip down.Only 2 weeks left. My heart is breaking just thinking about leaving. I have fallen in love with this place and with traveling around Europe. It is and always will be amazing to know I achieved a lot of my goals in life by the time I was 21 and yet the taste it has left with only leave me wanting more. I only hope that I can continue my world adventures soon. Until then I have a paper to write and one more London weekend adventure before I set foot back on American soil. So until next time, Au Revoir! 

Rome = my new love

So where to start. Wednesday rolled around and I couldn't stop thinking I was forgetting something and packing and repacking... When the time came I was pretty excited, although not as excited as Chelsey. We begin the journey to Roma at 5 pm. We load on the bus and take the bus to school and then another bus to the train station and then the train to London Paddington and then the tube to London Liverpool Street and then another train to London Stansted Airport. That was a long journey with many changes and no stopping for food. We get to the airport early around 11pm. We don't fly out until 6 am so it was a long night. We start with a late night dinner. I had a lovely Egg and cress sandwich. I love them here. Once we get done we walk the whole airport and I exchange some currency. I needed some Euro! After what seemed like forever with no sleep, we finally got to get our visas checked and proceed through security. I was getting excited again even though I hadn't slept yet. Once through security we all cleaned up a little and started getting ready for the day and Rome.
The flight didn't take very long at all it seemed and I slept a little then. We landed at like 9 am, Rome time and bought the Roma pass and a bus ticket into Rome. The bus took what seemed like forever to get to Rome and I fell asleep on it. Then we walked from the Train station where it dropped us off to our hostel. It wasn't very far and we found it pretty easily. I was happy to check in. While we were getting ready our room was cleaned and we were able to put our stuff in before heading out for the day. We got maps and looked where to go and get money from the ATM and what places we wanted to see that day. We decided on Spanish steps and set out. Lunch was first, because we hadn't eaten since the night before. Lunch was amazing! We all had coffee with it and it was the best of the trip probably. I had lasagna and I loved it. I ate it so fast tho... lol. We then walked back to the Metro to get to the Spanish Steps. After that we made our way down the Via dei Condotti which is the designer shopping road. It was so amazing to see all the fancy shops. We made our way to the Pantheon where Chelsey was meeting her friend from Wisconsin who was in Rome as well. It was gorgeous to walk around the streets of Rome and the Pantheon was very cool to be inside. It was a bit smaller than expected though. After that we made our way to the Trevi Fountain and gelato! Well we ate dinner of course but Gelato was my favorite part. We ended the night after that since it had been basically two days run together.

Day 2 We headed out early and went straight to the Vatican. There was so much to see and do there that we could have spent all day but we wanted to go to the Colosseum that afternoon so we had to kind of hurry through a lot of the place. Chelsey and I went up through the Cupola and it was amazing to see the view at the top. It was however like 500 steps to the top and miserable to walk up. The view at the Colosseum was absolutely the best part for me. Having studied all the Roman myth and being in Rome was just... breath taking. I have tons of photos uploaded to Facebook. I can't believe how many I took. After the Colosseum we walked around the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. All in all i would guess we walked 10 miles that day. It was ridiculous and my feet were dying. But we continued on and went to dinner at Chelsey's friend's house with all the other Americans were! It was so great to talk to others abroad and the food was amazing! I loved the pasta and ice cream. After dinner we went to the roof and checked out the amazing view up there. We could even see the Vatican from there. Then Jeremy called and we walked to meet the guys at the Castle of Saint Angelo. It wasn't that far but after all the walking I just wanted to sit down. from there we walked back to the Trevi Fountain and had some more Gelato and sat around there before heading back to the Hostel. Soooo much walking....
Day 3: Consisted of us doing everything we though we might have missed out on. It was raining basically the whole time but it was still great to see everything. We had Chinese for lunch which was delicious and so much food! but it also allowed us to dry off a little after being in the rain all morning. We went back to the Castle and Via dei Condotti and Spanish Steps. and last but not least we saw the Trevi during the day and did some souvenir shopping while down in that area! After an exhausting 3 days of running about Rome and eating all the food and the beautiful pictures I think I can say Rome is where I want to go back to the most. I summarized a lot of what we did but the pictures on FB will show better all the things we did. The next post should include Thanksgiving day, my birthday celebration, and a proper Rugby game hopefully!

Week 7 & 8: Ireland, Chepstow, and Tinturn

Well let's see what happened next... Nov 1 - Nov 5 I spent the whole time reading books and books and more books for research... I had a 3000 word essay i wanted to finish as soon as I was back from Ireland so I started it the week before. I was able to get an intro done and most of the reading done before we left on Sat for Ireland. Sadly Nov 5th was supposed to be the Guy Fawkes fireworks but due to rain was postponed until the 9th... So Saturday arrives and I am excited and packed up and ready to go! We leave the house around 1 and go to the train station and then head out to Bristol where our  flight departs from. We get there and get on the bus and head to the airport. It was a long day of travel. I grab a bite to eat and some coffee with Tori and Sophia and exchange some money over. We board the plane when the time arrives and we get our seats! I had window which was nice I like to be able to look out. The flight was so short! We literally felt like we had just taken off when they announce that we had to put our things away for landing. We land in Ireland around 730 pm... Jeff was waiting at the airport with a sign and all! Good times! It was great to see him! Honestly, I wasn't sure i would get to see any of the people I met in Korea again and now I have seen a bunch of them! By the time we land and get on the bus and get back to his place everyone is starving! So we order some, I think, thai food. mine was just rice and chicken and prawns! Delicious though! We stuff our faces and by the time we are done no one feels like going out so we play Wii! Sophia and I get really into and I love it! We start the morning around 10 and begin our walk in the sunshine which we didn't expect!

It was beautiful but still very very cold! We head to the city centre to get Tori some money and look about. We then proceed to Trinity College campus. It was massive and beautiful and I wish I went to school there! It was fantastic. Then we walked over to Christ Church Cathedral but didn't go in. We just walked around and took pictures and met a nice couple who took pictures of us all together ! We also walked through St. Stephen's Green park. Everything was so green and still amazing looking. We also walked in the city centre where all the street performers were and I bought some lovely souvenirs! For lunch we had mexican! It wasn't exactly perfect but it was close enough to satisfy me! I was so happy at that point and it was sooo good! although we found out food in Ireland is rather expensive. Next we try to get on a bus that would take us to a country village. It was a little wait to we went to a pub and grabbed a beer, well I had cider. But it was exactly how I pictured them to look and it was very nice to just get off our feet since we had so many km to walk still. Once we got on the bus I snapped shots all the way out to Enniskerry. It was so quaint. I liked it and we walked around and found a cemetary where I swear I saw and black and white horse but we never found it. Rather creepy lol... While out there our walk didn't take as long as we planned so while waiting for the bus we had a lot of fun taking pictures and being silly. We even found an old green and white phone booth! Sweet! Once we got back into Dublin we decided to see a mall which was great and packed full of christmas stuff already! and then we wanted to see a movie so we went back to city centre and got a ride from the eco travel things. They were basically modern horse and carts lol. We saw Due Date that night and the movie theater was huge! I took a picture with two random girls from the Netherlands because Tori and Sophia refused to come with me up there!

Rude! lol Sophia got in trouble for taking pictures with the curtain up later which made me laugh. The screen turned out to be huge and seemed a bit bigger than ours back home... Not sure if it really was, may have just been the layout of the theater. I really liked it. The movie was freaking hilarious. I laughed out loud just about the whole movie! Tori and spent the next day randomly quoting our favorite parts! When the movie was over we headed back to Jeff's to play some more Wii! It was raining which sucked a little but as a whole the day was amazing! 

Day two would also start in sunshine and end in rain as well. we started out back in city centre looking for cigarettes as souvenirs for people. We saw protesters in the square! They were dressed as father time it looked like but i am not sure. We stopped for coffee and found a little candy machine but instead of candy it dispensed Pringles!! How awesome is that?! After coffee and failing to find fags we went to the zoo! I love the zoo no matter where I am so I was super excited! We spent a couple hours wandering the zoo and looking at all the animals. it was super clean and didn't really smell like most zoos do. It was nice but it was also kinda small... I was just happy to see all the animals even though some made me sad. After the zoo we went to lunch at a pub which was delicious I had something healthy but it was still delicious and everything came with chips so less healthy lol... Next we made our way to the Guinness factory!

 It was legit there! I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I hated Guinness itself though. I spent forever in the shop deciding what to get! I settled on lighters for my friends that smoke and I couldn't get awesome cigarettes for. Then Jeff showed me some mustard which I had been looking for for a teacher! I was happy to have finally found some! Then we went to dinner at TGI Friday's which was amazing to get a burger and hot wings! But they didn't have Ranch which was lame! I also got a lovely cocktail. I love that I can order drinks here with dinner. I will be taking advantage of this same benefit when I am back in the states. After that it was another exciting night of Mario on the Wii! I am not going to lie I was an addict. But we also had to go to bed semi early since we had to be up at 5 to catch the bus to catch our plane to catch our train to catch our bus home... lol sorry i had to put that it amused me. 

Back in Swansea I did laundry Tuesday and tried to write some more and did nothing else until the fireworks. They weren't american sized but there were still impressive for a small town. We unfortunately walked back to the car right as the finally was going off and got crap falling on us... My eyes burned pretty bad after that. but that ended the longest day of my life lol Travel wiped me out completely!  Wednesday I started again on the evil paper that would consume the next three days of my life. But I finally finished it on Friday thank god! It was such a relief... I don't think I did anything else until it was done except maybe eat. So many hours at the library and soooooo much reading... but It is done and now on the editing phase... Saturday Tori and I went on the trip to Chepstow Castle and Tinturn Abbey.

 It was beautiful at both places. The castle was a lot larger than I expected and it was in a lot better shape than I thought looking at pictures of it. You could still walk into certain parts and along parts of the wall. We had a cool guide and he was dressed as monk for the Tinturn abbey tour. I loved it! After the tour Tori and I walked up a small hill and then back down through town. It was a lot bigger than we thought as well and it was such a cute little town. I would totally live in a place like that. Who wouldn't like to wake up every morning and open the blinds and see a castle?! Next up Tinturn Abbey which was again guided and sooo awesome! I took so many pictures there of the same thing because the sun wouldn't stop ruining them all. I did get a couple that were alright though. After the tour we looked at souvenirs and got a proper coffee and cake from a tea house. Tori had the strongest machiatto I have ever tasted! Ever! Then we got back on the coach and came back to the house. I skyped with my parents that night and couldnt go to sleep so I edited some pictures which are in an album on FB. I finally went to bed around 3 am to get back up around 9 to head to the library with Chelsey to get books for the next paper. So much for my freedom. So today I looked through a ton of books and finally settled on a few that seemed to be alright. I read through the chapter that I am critically reviewing... and now I am writing this blog. 

It has been an eventful two weeks and things don't seem to be slowing down. I am working on writing this paper and now I am totally going to get it done as soon as I am back from Rome. I am totally going to do it! But until then I am focusing on ROME!!! It is so close and it is going to be the most amazing thing ever! I can't wait and I can't believe how extremely lucky I have been this semester to be here! Well tata for now! I will write again when Rome if done!

Week 6 & 7 Oakwood Theme park, Horseback Riding, and Halloween!

Alright this week started out slow. Again I don't have classes on Monday or Tuesday and I find myself watching a lot of TV and being bored on those days when I don't have assignments to read. After those two days drag by Wed. Tori and went to town and got food and looked for some Halloween ideas... Nothing really sprang to mind. Thursday I had my usual favorite class and started ideas for my first paper which is due Dec 14th. I am going to have it done by the time we leave for Rome hopefully... lol unlikely but hopefully. Then on Friday I took a walk with Chelsey around Killay it was a nice relaxing venture which we need to do again this week. And Saturday well Saturday was my favorite. We went up to Oakwood theme park here in Wales. It's not a huge theme park by any means but it was still great fun. The picture is of Speed which was my favorite! that drop was amazing and it went pretty fast. We rode this one about 5 times throughout the day. Since it was a small park we were able to ride all the rides we wanted and then some. We even did one called Bob Sleigh which was like a tobogganing track and Tori and I almost crashed because we went too fast lol .all in all we probably rode ten different rides and most of them we rode twice or more. The operators were also very enjoyable and friendly since it was so empty they let us stay on the ride and just go again! Epic. My favorite (not really but close) part was totally when Tori got stuck in the first roller coaster we got on. In the states I have never ridden a roller coaster that required you to push down to release the lap bar but this one did. And Tori and I had pushed the bar as low as it would go. So when the time came she couldn't get it to pop lose lol. Finally I told her this might hurt and threw my weight down on the bar to push it low enough to pop it loose. It totally worked so yay us! Also we rode swings that were airplanes and you could actually steer with the ruder. I loved it and had a blast twisting and turning while spinning. We also played a shooting range game kind of like the one at Bass Pro Shop in OKC, only this game shot water at you if you hit the dead center. I got shot 3 times and i don't understand how hitting a bullseye merits getting water shot at you but at least i knew I was a good shot! the last ride which I refused to ride, was the water ride. It was literally the most massive drop I have seen on a water ride. The wall of water that flies up from it was amazing. The ones that did ride were all pretty soaked but I think it was well worth it to them. The video I have was pretty amazing I wish I had pictures but I opted for the video (which is on FB). So after that we drove back, well Liesje, drove us back to Swansea. And with that my week was over.
Week 7: Sun - Tues same lazy routine of sleep, watch tv, walk with Chels, eat, sleep.. the never ending cycle lol. Although I did pick a topic for one of my essays but it will be the second one I work on. and on Monday Tori and I went costume shopping and she got an awesome American Gansta costume and I bought leather leggings and Gloves and used my own clothes to assemble a Rocker/ Biker chick. It was pretty epic and I will post a picture farther down with my full costume on. Wednesday Christina and I set out and found her some black cat ears and a collar and gloves and she decided to rock that look. That night we went out with some of my house and the other Americans and went to Yates and Revs for some drinks and fun. This was a big week for me since i normally am a Home body lol. Thursday and I dragged myself to class and then took a nap. I was just not used to going out and found it hard to sleep after having had a drink. Not my idea of a fun time.

Then Friday rolled around. This was an exciting day! We were going horseback riding!!! We arrived and they had us fill things out and then we got instructions on how things would work. We started with getting assigned a horse and brushing the horse down, moved on to saddling the horse and the basics of riding. MY horse was the sweetest horse ever and was named Bottom. that's him there in the front of the group. He was beautiful. I really started to wish I had had a horse back in Oklahoma and had learned to ride. He was very good the whole time we were together. He didn't do anything like bite or head butt me like Mallory's horse Chico did. We got along great! He also didn't pretend to be nice and turn into a demon like Tori's horse Favor did. We had an epic ride with the most beautiful scenery around. We saw Three Cliffs Bay and Oxwich from a distance. We walked down a trail pretty much onto three cliffs it was lovely. I have great pictures from it too. We rode for an about an hour and half before heading back to the house. It was a tour of course and lead by a guide. It was fantastic and I wish I had time to go again. I think I would be up for it. Saturday was a boring day after which was probably the best since i was sore beyond belief. I went to the library and checked out 9 effing books for my research for my paper. It was dreadful to carry back to the house. then I went to Sainsbury's to buy a few things for rice crispies and they were yummy! Probably making more today. Afterwards Tori and I went to a house party at house 5 it was crazy packed in the kitchen and we mostly just took pictures of everyone on Chelsey's camera. She was a bit too drunk to notice so that is always entertaining. We only stayed a couple hours and then headed home to rest up before the big night, HALLOWEEN!

Halloween is so epic that is gets its own paragraph. We woke up an started the day by running into town for odds and ends we needed. I really shouldn't have spent the money but I figured I live once and if I eat bread and water for a couple weeks its worth it. I plan to live on grilled cheese and soup starting this week once i go to the store. lol So we found me some awesome tattoos for my outfit and got some other things tori needed for her costume. Then we headed back to the house and started cooking a light dinner and getting things ready for the night. We had a little tuna salad and chips and watched Hocus Pocus and then it was time to shower and get ready. Starting at 6 we all showered and then I went to Mal's house for her to do my makeup. that didn't really take that long and it looked amazing for the photos. then I came back to our house and Tori worked on my hair. It was really easy compared to what I thought it would be and as you can see it turned out pretty awesome. I sprayed in some red Hair dye and it was complete. the part that took us the longest to get me ready was my tattoos. Those took like 45 min just to put them all on. Then it was time to figure out tori's eyelashes. I am no whiz with fake eyelashes so I was nervous. I also did Christina's makeup which made me nervous since i normally don't do makeup for anyone but myself. It turned out pretty good and I think we were ready. We started the pre-game 9ish and only had one glass here before getting the bus and heading to town at 10. Summer, Tori, Christina and I were all ready for a good night of fun and costumes and dancing. We were glad to have Summer come with us and at least experience the night life here. We started at Yates which was a nice place to start kinda quiet that night and then moved to Revolution. After drinks there and the most difficult bathroom break we headed onto Odyssey, where my life got completed again for like the tenth time since being here. We hit the dance floor immediately and it was a good crowd but not too packed. Tori and Christina and I rocked our dance skills and tried to bring Summer out of her shell. We got her dancing a little and we were proud. Next thing we know we are surrounded by 4 guys who were semi creeepy and staring at us. I think it was because A) we looked hot lol B) we don't really dance like girls here and C) They though we were drunk. We ignored them and rocked our dancing for a about an hour before we took a break and then hit the floor for a couple more songs before deciding it was time to get some food and go home. MCD is the number one place here and it was just what we needed. We get back and Tori and I looked at all the pictures we have taken for the night, including a very good Edward Cullen costume. It was completely epic and I wish they had more nights like that. Normally people don't go out in costume unless there is a Fancy Dress party at one of the clubs or for a society. but then again that happens quite often here... Well It was a good week and I can't wait because now the travelling begins. Look for my next Blog on Ireland, Then Tinturn Abbey and a Castle, Then Rome, Then Paris, then London again and Finally my trip home...

Week 4 & 5 Oct 4 - Oct 18th

So monday would be the start of classes.But I was still enrolling since History enrolled that day. I didn't have any that met that day... or so i thought. Tuesday was my first class. I had gotten into one I didn't know was going to happen so i went on tuesday and found the classroom. After waiting the appropriate 10 min past I went to find out why I was the only one that had turned up. It was because the class didn't exist. The teacher had resigned and the class was cancelled. Good for me to know. So I went and enrolled in Renaissance Venice. I stayed in it the first week but I knew I wasn't going to enjoy it so I looked for something else. Nothing turned up so I went to a class Tori was picking up in a random subject area for me hoping it would be interesting. It turned out alright and I decided to add PR Theory and drop the other. The other course I take is Re-thinking the South: American South 1865-1955. I like it a lot but the assignments for it suck. I will have to turn in two 3000 word essays before Dec. 14th. I have already gotten my material for one and am going to start looking at them today. So after i went to my first classes I had a 4 day weekend.

Friday 08/10/10 (I like the way they write dates. It makes sense to do day/month/year) we went to the Gower which is an area around here that is mostly coastal areas and cities. It is simply beautiful. My photos on FB show most the places I talk about. Saturday was the best. We took a school trip to Avebury (a stone circle much larger than Stonehenge)and Stonehenge. 

Avebury was first and it included a tour and explanation of the rocks and the structure they formed. It was believed that the Druids moved them there and that the circles (there were 3) were formed as fertility promoters. They still have weddings and things at Avebury to this day. Stonehenge was of course the main event though! We couldn't get very close which I didn't like. I was so tempted to run out n touch the stones. Stupid people defaced the stones and now you walk in a circle around them. Kind of a let down but eh that is life. I have some great photos from both places. Avebury had its up (tractor racing on kids toy tractors) and Stonehenge of course was the stones and I found a shot glass for my family's collection. Believe it or not Shot glasses are not common here like back home. I was able to get a shot glass from universal Studios in Orlando but not here... Awful. That night when we return Christina and i opt to dress up and go out clubbing with the other americans. We end up going to Yates and Odyssey. I like odyssey they play american style music which is better for us to dance to. Since it can be expensive to drink when going out I opt to drink only before and then just dance while down at Wind (wine) street.

So monday rolls around and I go to class in case I dont like the other one. but I end up liking it and am enrolled now. My weeks are a little slow since i only have class 4 hours a week. It is bizarre to have so much free time. I watch a lot of movies lol. The nest week we attend the cider festival which was cute but not all that I hoped. The cider was good though and much stronger than beer which I also like. I wish I could take Cider home with me. Its like sweet delicious beer and I love it. So as for these two weeks not a whole lot happened. Most of my activity is tv, walking around, reading, its just slow lol. The rain doesnt help matters. I am almost to the point I just don't care and walk around in it. Stick around when next week I talk about the theme park and Horseback Riding!

Kendra

Lori Orf, me , Jessi Riggs

Year one: memories burn like fire. 

Year two: a day of mourning. 
Year Three: Passes by.

Year Four: almost forgotten. Year Five: Reality set in. 

It has been five years. While I do not cry anymore, I still remember. I know she is watching. I hope she is smiling. I pray she keeps me safe. I love her just like she is standing here beside me. My memories are all I have left though.  I know it is futile to hold onto her, hoping someday I wake up, yet I want to.

My Becca

 Sometimes we want the things we cannot have. I want to find my place in the world. I know it will take some time but I know at some point and on some random day I will say to myself, "This is why I am alive". I have to live everyday like it’s my last and live with no regrets because sometimes there is no tomorrow. While sometimes I fail to tell the people I love that they mean the world to me, I hope they know that I do. I need to stop worrying about the little things and start focusing on my right now. I have a lot of me time here and it is in these moments when I have radical realizations, that I have to stop and think about for hours sometimes. Kendra would have spent everyday living life for the moment. There was no planning with her. I admire that belief, that faith, in herself. She wasn't perfect, as no one is, but she was always happy and smiling when it mattered. I need to take notes from her and try to learn the little lessons she left us. Because that is all we have left of her and she deserves to be remembered every year. I hope that this short post hits home for some people. Life is short and life is hard but life is really just one big adventure waiting for us take the leap and start living.

My Parentals

 in the pictures are a few people who I probably don't say 'I Love you' to often enough...

Week 3 & 4 Sept 20 - Oct 2

The next weekend Sept 18 &19 I went back to Cardiff to visit Dan and Dave again and get my sweater, which is still in Cardiff. This time I took Tori, Christina, and Lauren met us on the train and came with us. We ended up going out to eat at Franie and Bennies which is Italian american and it was pretty awesome! We all ordered drinks since we don't ever drive anywhere we don't have to worry. We went back to Dan's where mikey and some of the boys from Dan's home were sitting in the living room. We had about 12 people shoved into a room and we were all talking and before we knew it, it was time to leave. We had to get back to the train station before the last train left. We made and I am pretty sure I saw a girl who was about 30 pounds too heavy to be wearing the underwear and top she had on. Yes, only underwear and a top. She lost her tutu we think. She looked to be my height and weigh a good 160 -175. it was an awful sight scared into my memory much like A Room with a View. lol Good times in Cardiff.
week 2 of the pre-sessional. monday starts with more lectures. it was actually a very empty day for me since I only had 3 lectures in the whole day. Monday's were not very busy for me, especially now that I am in classes for only 4 hours a week total. This is going to make me a very lazy student by the time I get home. Tuesday had to be my favorite of the lectures. We learned about Wales, Bond and a film called Scandal which was based on real facts. Highly entertaining movie as well as being politically interesting since the people were real. That night i had to pack up everything in my room and get it on a bus the next morning. that was a challege. But I managed somehow. So Wednesday we load up which took forever and barely had enough seats and space for the luggage. It was a bit ridiculous but we lived and Bath was beautiful and completely worth it! I loved Bath and I wish we had had more time. I hope to get back there before I leave the country but it will depend on whether or not I can get papers done. Rather unfortunate that instead of tests in January which I won't be around for, they just extend my paper or assign another one. ugh. So Thursday was the last day of lecture.And the longest day of my life it felt like. It was completely crazy how long I had to sit in a classroom and listen to Dr. Willcock lecture. We stayed in class from 9 am until 4 pm. I wanted to shoot something by the time it was over. It was awful having to sit that long. I made it though and I finished the paper that was due in a little over a week the Friday before it was due. That paper was so hard to write and luckily I had no classes the next week or I would never have survived. I have never worked so hard on a piece. It was only 2500 words and I can't believe I finished it early at all. I am still waiting on the grade but I think it was a decent piece of work. That weekend Tori and I headed to London for a couple days. We were going to see London Fashion Weekend. Now that completed my European experience and I have yet to see Rome or Paris or Dublin. We literally went to spend one day wandering around the place looking at all sorts of amazing fashion. I bought a few purses for gifts and a wallet I couldnt resist. We also got a bag that had goodies and mine came with Juicy Couture Perfume. It smells amazing and I wish I could afford a real bottle. The Catwalk was also pretty amazing and getting to see a real runway show after all the years of watching ANTM was pretty much the best thing! I could have died happy. So we return to Swansea and my life became consumed by the paper. I think during that week I hardly left the house because I couldn't get together the layout of the paper so I wasn't sure I could write it. By the time I was done I just wanted to run and scream I finished. So stressful. lol I am so thrilled to have to write another 10,000 words before I go. I wish one of them could be over my experience while i am here. Now that paper I could write. Where was I? Friday Oct. 1st, Christina and I went to London for the day. This was a long day lol We got on an 830 train and were in London by 12. It was pretty great to be back. I love that city. We went to the British Museum first and spent about 3 hours looking at all the things, I took more pictures there than anywhere else. I was so happy being in there. It was great. Next we went to Kensington Gardens and Hyde park which are basically the same place and miles long on the perimeter. Well we wanted to walk and saw the peter pan statue from the movies and Princess Diana's memorial fountain. It was a beautiful place, just not in the rain. I think by the time we got to Victoria station for the play we were frozen. Literally, Physically frozen. I was so cold I didn't think I would feel my fingers again. But it was totally worth it to see that statue. I love that movie and that was amazing to see it in person. So after de-frosting and eating a crispy creme donut I was happy again, well except for having to pay to use the loo. That was a bit ridiculous. I was so ready to collect my tickets for Wicked it wasn't even funny. I was ready to jump up and down. I have been trying to see this musical since Anita Hughes first told me about it while planning the Quiz Bowl National trip to Chicago in like February of 2005. 5 years I have waited. I wish I had had the opportunity before but sometimes things happen for a reason. Because now when people ask what was your favorite memory so far it is always going to be seeing Wicked in the West End of London. How much better does life get? Christina and I weren't seated together so we found our seats and I listened to the soundtrack (yes i had it on my ipod) while I waited. Then the announcement to turn off cell phones began and my world took a brief backseat to the musical that has taken top spot on my list of favorites.
Okay it's over and we are both jumping with joy and screaming about our favorite parts. We then had to catch a train back to Paddington station and then back to Swansea. we had what we thought would be an easy layover in Cardiff, for about 3 hours. Little did we know the train station in Cardiff is closed until 430 am. Well we arrived about 2:40... yeah that was a trip and we got hit on by more random people than I thought was possible. I also wished I was old enough to carry a concealed weapons license. I was so ready to kick them all in the balls and walk away. So annoying, so very very very annoying. But I just turned my back and let them try and talk to Christina who handled there retarded advances better than me. lol We finally got back into the train station and only had another hour to wait. At that point I had been awake about 23 hours and I was dying. The adrenaline from the play had warn off and I was ready to get to my bed and pass out... We got on our train which left by like 5:45 and were back in Swansea about 6:50... we took a cab back to the village. By the time I hit my bed I barely had enough conscientiousness left to change my clothes before passing out... So after an extremely long, tiring, amazing day my week ended.

Week 2

okay so week two begins on Monday Sept 13th with an introduction the course we will be taking for the next two weeks. we meet our lecturer, Dr. Bryn Willcock (i capitalize this out of respect for him cuz he is legit). he is probably the most entertaining lecturer i have ever had. i really enjoyed listening to him talk about the various topics. on monday it was 'where are you?' and post war cinema since the course ran from 1945 to the present. obviously i knew where i was and that its technically a country with its own governing body that just happens to be a part of the United Kingdom. but i assure you if you were to call a welsh person english they are going to be angry. that would be like calling an OU fan a cowboy. its just against nature lol. so memo to everyone when in wales dont call them english, british is okay though. so i learned something on the first day. i felt successful :) during the two weeks we have lectures everyday and most days they took up the majority of the time. we also watched a few films. on monday it was Passport to Pimlico. which i liked but some other didn't and they left the class before the film was over. kinda rude but oh well that's life. i enjoyed the film and its quirky humor. when the movie was over that was the end of lectures. Day 2 followed much the same with lectures although mine were only that afternoon so i got to sleep in. unfortunately for us the first couple weeks sucked without a kitchen that had pots or pans. we found the kitchen in the second week but none of us had a pot or pan to use except natasha so relatively useless... oh also pretty sure this was day we were shown a clip when talking about cinema that was men stripping at a club because they had no job... the censorship here in non-existent 
day 3 was field trip day. it was like grade school at the end of the year when they let us go on an adventure. i was excited for St. Fagan's which they call a castle but is really more of a mansion back home. and Big Pitt which is a closed mine now used to show how it was in the olden days. the mine creeped me out. i was pretty paranoid the whole time that 1) we were in a horror movie 2) it was going to collapse or 3) i was going to fall on my ass and be covered in the most disgusting dirt ever.  oh and they showed us a place that were set up like stone stalls for the ponies (horses). it was so depressing because they would leave them down there for 50 weeks at a time and if the horse were to die in the mine the miner that looked after it would have to cut it up and put it in the carts they used and push it to an empty part that was no longer used. i was almost in tears as he told us this. you would never hear about such things in the states due to animal cruelty laws. but times were different then and it was just an entirely depressing morning. after the mines and a packed lunch we headed to St. fagan's which is pictured above. i really liked it here it was beautiful. tori and i took lots of pictures and wandered the grounds and tried to get some good shots. i got a few. as of right now i have about 800 pictures taken in just over 5 weeks. pretty good even for me. there really wasnt much to the history of the place it was donated by a duke or something and they use it now for tourists. 
day 4 this has to be my favorite day. we had lectures in the morning and i liked the topics okay. then we talked about 60s music. so the beatles who i like and was glad to have a lecture on. then we moved on to another movie. for anyone who has seen a room with a view (1985) i'm sure you know why i love this day. the movie itself was okay it was a bit choppy and the budget was so low that extras literally wore their own costumes. but i love helena bonham carter and she was in this when she was just a teen. anyway at one point within the film three men (one teenager, one mid 20s and one older man) all go for a swim, naked. and well they somehow end up chasing each other around the pond. there is no censoring we see everything and the class erupted in a fit of laughter that went on for hours. we made jokes for days about why it was called a room with a view. it was just the most disturbing image. i put my head down and waited for it to pass no one wants to watch the men chase each other while there parts are showing. its just awkward. and we ended on that note as well 
day 5 more seminar groups which were smaller and covered topics like health care reform in the US and politics and things. then more lectures over 70s music and margaret thatcher was that day. i took lots of notes over the weeks which came to be of little use when i was writing the 2500 word paper that was our only grade in the course. evil. evil. evil. but i survived and hopefully did alright. this marked the end of the first week of lectures. i rather enjoyed them and actually took a course the professor teaches during term. i am hoping to report back in with the news of the grade soon! wish me luck 

Week 1 - Swansea and Cardiff

so day two begins, well three i guess, sept 8th. it was definitely surreal to wake up in a foreign country and realize that you are there for 3 1/2 months. i am pretty sure we went out back to city center this day. because we had only a little time the day before. everything here closes early. shops and even some places to eat are closed by 6 pm. i find it rather annoying but i was told it was because people start drinking earlier than we do back home so the shops close to keep out the drunks. but that may well be just a rumor. anyway we walked around and found castle square which looks to have actual castle remains and sits right in city center. we went shopping and i bought a raincoat and umbrella that day lol. lucky for me it had yet to rain. we had a couple free days since we arrived before the anything started. the first meeting would be thursday. for the most part that day was uneventful.

day 4, wed: we met chelsey that day. she along with the 6 Oklahoma girls made our way down to mumbles which is a quaint little town just west of Swansea on the coast. i had a blast with this place. we went down to the water and even climbed down the slippery stairs to walk in the ocean. the tide was so far out though we didn't really get to walk in the water. but i found a shark. it was tiny and didn't make it out to the water after the tide left. it was rather sad. i think all in all we walked the entire coast line and about 3-4 miles. it was gorgeous weather and we loved it so much. the pier was nice and we got ice cream which was yummy. Tori and i discovered we love ice cream and we tend to eat it whenever we see it lol. so after that we had a dinner to be at that night. we headed back after a full day out on the ocean. it’s so amazing to be able to see the ocean every day. obviously i never had the luxury of the ocean living in Oklahoma. i think i might fall in love with it and then be very sad to leave it. 

that evening we went to pub on the pond which is the pub that is right by the campus. it has good food and i like the atmosphere. we tend to go there from time to time still. i eat lunch there on days i have to be on campus for extended periods of time. it has an awesome lunch deal that is only 5pounds. on this evening we meet all the other Americans that are taking part in the pre-sessional. there is also a Canadian girl who got to participate as well. i think there were about 30 of us, mostly girls and mostly from the middle to eastern part of the country. after dinner and a brief greeting from the study abroad office we all were released to go mingle. a part of us went out to the ocean because we were told it was the highest tide of the year and the other half went out to wind street which is the party street with lots of clubs and pubs. not my favorite place but i have visited once or twice. it’s also where TGI Friday's is. i do hope to visit it before we go! so after the tide and a little wine we all headed back. i feel like i have more free time here than ever before. i am not enjoying not working like most people. work was always a nice way to take time up in the day and still earn money. i am anxious to get back to my job. well so that day was a success in my book. i am going to have to go back to mumbles one day and explore more. i don't think we spent enough time. the next morning kicks off the pre-sessional. 

Day 5: we have to be up early for the first time since we arrived, the orientation begins at 10 and we didn't want to be late. however some of the group here doesn't seem to be as keen on the academic half of being here. i guess since those of us from Oklahoma had to apply for a scholarship to get here we take it a little more seriously that we do well. also some of the people that came get graded purely on pass fail and not a letter grade, which takes off a lot of pressure for them. so we get a brief rundown of the way it’s going to work for two weeks and then we get to take a lunch. one thing i don't like very much about the school setup here is that we were forced to enroll one week before classes began. and some of us even had to enroll the day lectures began. it is not very well planned out and i don't understand why we could not enroll during our pre-session. that afternoon we took a fun trip out to the Gower specifically rhossili. it’s probably the most famous part of the Gower where you can see king Arthur's rock i believe it is. i have been unable to go again since the day we went it was spitting rain and cold and foggy. we weren't even able to go down to the ocean or see worms head. all in all it was another great day in my temporary home. since it was friday we were ready to go out and have a good time. i didn't join them since i had a train headed to Cardiff in the morning to visit my friends i made in Korea the summer before.

Day 6 saturday: cardiff this day. tori and chelsey and i went to cardiff to visit dan and dave! it was fun being on a train for the first time and we got boarded alright and it was even a cheap ticket. as we made our way out to the platform we saw a train that was only one car long. i thought it was a joke. how can a train be one car long especially when it’s hauling all these people. ended up being just the one car and we were all crammed in it. that first ride was tough lol but we made it and i was happy to see dan and dave! they met us at the train station and we started out with the mall. apparently cardiff has many malls and they are all huge like ours. we did a little shopping and by the time we were done we starving for some lunch. (oh i also got a phone :D) so we walked back to dan's car which was a long ways away from where we were. it was crazy how far he parked just to have free parking lol. once we got to the car we got to endure dans crazy driving skills. i honestly was scared for my life lol. he drove us out to the pier to look for food. we ended up eating Wagamama's which is a japanese restaurant it was really delicious. i couldn't even eat all mine. well worth the money we spent on it. we walked around the pier and tori and i got ice cream again. we seem to find it everywhere. after that we decided to go back to dan's house. we had a good time just sitting and talking and making fun of dave when he fell asleep. and the evening plans began to unfold. we went and got something to make drinks with and had more time at dans house just chatting away while we waited on his brother mikey and his friends to come into cardiff for the night. he arrived with jordan and greg and we all headed back into cardiff to go to a pub before it was time for me and the girls to leave. we went to the Prince of Wales. it was amazing inside and i loved the drink we got there. when it was time dave and his girlfriend sasha who is so sweet walked us back to the train station before they had to leave themselves. we waited and watched all the crazily dressed drunk people. they were a show all on their own. the train was a little bit late and we were so tired and ready to get back. once on the train we tried to find a quiet compartment and just rest until we got to swansea and hour later. it was about 1 am and it was the most amazing day so far. i had new clothes and a phone with unlimited texting and i had gotten to see two guys i wasn't sure i would ever see again! and with the end of saturday so ended my first week in swansea. it was a beautiful week and i got to see amazing views and had the time of my life. with week 2 i will start lectures for the pre-sessional. 

here we go

so i am a little late starting on this. okay about one month and ten days late. so bear with me as i recap the last month.


 as most of you know i left the u.s. on  the 6th of sept. well that day was hectic to say the least. i dont think i have been more anxious for a trip. korea was close but this was the beginning of my new life. let's just say i love it here. we flew out that afternoon and after a pit stop in detroit landed safely in london, u.k.. we gathered our luggage and attempted to find a snack and where to find a coach (bus in the u.s.). i bought a phone card to call home which ended being the best £5 i spent. shortly after my phone call we got our tickets for a coach. oh and when i say we i mean me and the five other girls who won the same scholarship as me. christina isom, tori strecker, summer hill, valerie vernon, and aleshia richardson are all here with me until december when we return to our respective uni's. (uni = british word for university which is different than college, i will explain later) by this point i am pretty sure i was awake for over 36 straight hours not including the time change. it was such a long day but we got on the coach and i passed out. 4-5 hours later we are in swansea, wales. my new home for the next few months. we get dropped off and we get a taxi to take us to the university. from there we check into our rooms and kind of but not really unpack things. we first try to get internet since we need it to contact home and set things up. that didnt take very long so we then make a run to tesco and city centre that needed to be done for supplies. after shopping around for things we needed at the time (phones) we ask this nice looking old lady where is a nice place to eat. her answer= pizza hut. seriously?! we came all this way to eat more american fast food. but we decided that was safest being we werent sure how we would react to the food around here. so far i must say i like it. a little on the bland side but that is just like korea. after dinner we head back and get more settled. i unpack all my things and set up my temporary room. i actually quite liked the room i had because it had a decent view of the park behind the campus. which is above i dont know how to put it right here yet. anyway it had been a long journey and i was just happy to have a bed to crash into and sleep. everything seemed like it was going to be alright. maybe even amazing since i am kind of on a once in a lifetime adventure. but the details of some parts will show not all things here are fun, most but not all. until next time where i hope to condense the first week, nos da (goodnight in welsh) :)