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) :)