12 February 2015

Going to Amsterdam for a long Valentine's weekend. I am so excited! I love art and Amsterdam has some of the most reputable galleries in the world, like the Van Gogh Museum.

Grabbed breakfast this morning with the girls. The pub outside the village we live in has all you can eat breakfast for three pound ninety-nine. Not a bad treat for a bunch of uni students- a status which is synonymous with perpetually, to some degree, broke.

The bus ride to Amsterdam took about thirteen hours, so I guess technically this post turned into 13 February 2015. We arrived at the majestic White Cliffs of Dover, which I am sure are much more majestic when not viewed through bleary, sleep-deprived eyes at 00:33, and we boarded the ferry to cross into Calais. I took advantage of the smooth ride by finding a chair in the corner and sleeping until we crossed into the continent.

A Typical Week in "Ze Life"

Okay. Yeah, this blog thing. I am supposed to write one, and it has been awhile. The main reason being that my presessional class is over, and I was throwing my self into my literature classes 100%. I also had a major essay due, which took a lot of my time, which kept me from posting. Also, day-to-day life is just that, day-to-day life. Though some of the finer details change, the structure of my week is usually pretty consistent, and  that is the theme of this post. So, here is the basic structure of my week.

Monday: By far my busiest day. I have two lectures in the morning, a seminar in the afternoon, and Christian Union in the evening. And sometimes the students at CU will all hang out together afterwards. So I am usually home for about ten hours on Monday and am on the go the rest of the time.

Tuesday: I have a seminar that runs from late morning to the early afternoon. When it is finished, I usually stay on campus to the mid or late afternoon working on the mountains of reading I have for classes.

Wednesday: I have a day off, and I am getting so spoiled because of it lol. Wednesday serves as my catch up day normally. If I need to go the market, I will go on Wednesday. I will take most of Wednesday to work on the coursework for my classes at NSU. I will work on the mountains of reading I have for my courses here. If the weather is nice, I will go for a walk around Swansea. Wednesday is the day I do laundry. Occasionally, Wednesday will also be used as a "day-trip" day. For example, Erika, my flatmates, and I are going to Cardiff for the day next Wednesday.

Thursday: I have a lecture on Thursday afternoon. I will usually take Thursday morning as "me" time. I will sleep in a little later. Actually cook a proper breakfast or brunch, whenever I decide to eat. If I do any work it will be just reading.

Friday: I have a three day weekend- did I mention I am getting spoiled?- so a lot of my trips throughout the semester will go over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If I am in Swansea, I will hang out with friends Friday night, and we will do something.

Saturday: A do-whatever-needs-to-be-done day

Sunday: Church in the morning followed by lunch either at the church or with a few friends. Then hanging out with friends in the afternoon, and I use Sunday evening to prep for Monday's lectures.

So, yeah. That is my week in a nutshell. Here are some photos from day-to-day life:

Jaime, Kaylin, and Erika at the international enrollment lunch a couple of weeks ago.

From when I was sick a couple of weeks ago. The tissues are significantly bigger than my face lol.

Erika and I celebrating finishing our essays with Joe's Strawberry Swirl, Nutella, and Banana sundaes.

31 January 2015 pt 3: Some various shots of Bath

Please note Queen Victoria on the building. To explain: the first time I was over here- and I do not know why I did this- I started what I guess can be called a sort of scavenger hunt for myself, in that every time I saw a statue of Queen Victoria, I would snap a picture. I guess that is going to continue on this trip because when I saw this statue the first thing I did was pull out my camera.

After the Baths and the Centre we still had forty-five minutes before the bus left, so we grabbed some coffee, pulled out our cameras and roamed the city for a bit. The above are some photos from that walk. I thought Bath was absolutely beautiful and would love to spend some more time there.

31 January 2015 pt 2

Those who know me know that I have what one might call a casual interest in Jane Austen. And by "casual" I mean that she has been one of my favourite authors since I was twelve years old; I try to read at least one book related to her a year; I own and have seen many times multiple film adaptations of her work and life; and I keep her action figure on my desk at home to serve as writing inspiration. So, it is safe to say that I was mildly excited about the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. And by "mildly excited" I mean that it was all I could talk about when Bath was brought up; throughout our day in Bath, I would exclaim at random "Jane Austen walked here!"; and the first words out of my mouth after the required tour of the Baths, themselves, was to ask for directions to the Centre. Yeah, this trip was definitely on my bucket list. After about a twenty minute lecture over Jane Austen's life and her time in Bath, I proceeded to spend about two hours in a museum that is just a bit bigger than my flat, and I loved every second of it :) 

The Centre Entrance: A Jane Austen figure and a nice man in costume. All the workers were in traditional costume.

Marriage Certificate of Jane Austen's parents

Look at that hat!

Tea Set- Because tea was so expensive, it was kept in a locked box, and only the woman of the house could have the key.

"Lizzie Bennet" Doll and Accessories

Letter written by Jane Austen to her sister, Cassandra

"Jane" at her desk

31 January 2015 pt 1

 Today our presessional class went to Bath for a field trip to see the Roman Baths as part of our cultural studies. I was beyond excited. Jane Austen lived in Bath. Two of her novels are set in Bath. Bath is filled with beautiful architecture. And the city is surrounded by beautiful countryside. I watched Northanger Abbey the night before leaving and read my favourite parts of Persuasion on the bus. Is it obvious that I was excited to be walking where Jane Austen walked?

 The countryside from the bus

 Entrance to the Pump Room: Jane Austen wrote about this place!

 

Ceiling to the Entrance of the Baths

 The Cathedral across from the Baths

Down into the Baths themselves

Ceremonial Mask of Minerva

We drank the water; it was metallic in taste, quite vile. On the bright side though, apparently we will never age or be ill again.
A word of warning: the Baths are a major tourist attraction; they will be packed with people. Also, some of the areas in the Baths, once filled with people, can feel very claustrophobic. I only had about two hours to go through the whole thing because I wanted to make it to the Jane Austen Centre and personally found the crowds to be quite overwhelming at times. If you are going be prepared for things to get cramped and try to have time to go through at a leisurely pace.