17 January 2015

Today we did some more informal exploring of the city. First, we walked around campus a bit trying to get our bearings for  when classes start.

On the far side of campus, we found an oriental garden to walk through while we waited for the bus. The squirrels were almost scarily friendly; they followed us over half the park and kept getting really close to us.

 In town we went on to Castle Square and St. Mary's Church, where the lenses Jim gave me really came in handy. Thank you, brother, dearest.

16 January 2015

Today Erika and I went out to get groceries and other supplies, we needed for our dorms. It was nice to get lost around town for a bit. We met some really nice people who helped us when we were completely lost.

The most interesting part of shopping was the Swansea Market. Great produce, and so much to see! Just be sure to keep your wallet some place safe, as a vendor I got some fruit from reminded me.

My impressions of the people are as follows: some are nice and friendly; some are polite, and some are rude. So, basically, as far as I can tell, everyone here is human (though I may try to find myself a timelord when I go to Cardiff ;)).

15 January 2015

(We see stuff on the ground)

(We made it off the plane)

I ate my first cardboard sandwich while waiting for the bus. It tasted...interestingly, but not bad. It was cheap and filling, both good things. I get to ride around the countryside and actually see it! Last time I was on an overnight train, so did not get to see where I actually was.

Important Life Lesson of the Day: When booking a bus after your over-night flight, be sure to remember that your flight is OVER-NIGHT, so you should not book your bus on the same day as your flight. Remembering this little detail will save you one annoyed bus driver and five chaotic minutes of trying to get the ticket switched before the bus leaves.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the scenery for long before passing out for a much needed nap, but I still got a few pictures from the bus.

I have three flatmates, all engineering students from Brazil. They are very friendly and even let me join them for dinner, a traditional Brazilian cheese bread and homemade chocolate cake.

14 January 2015

(One the plane to London)
I have discovered something that surprises me.Apparently my ability to fall asleep on roadtrips does not carry over to airplanes.
 To my parents and my credit, no one cried at  the airport. The flight to Houston was uneventful. International airports are fascinatingly fun, so many people from all over. We started hearing a lot of British accents while we were waiting for our flight to Heathrow, which ended up being delayed because the navigation system was broken.

(Our plane in Houston. My Diet Coke from China. The In-Flight meal)

As a send off Aunt Peggy and Uncle Steve decorated our gate with neon streamers and signs filled with encouragement. I also received several sendoff texts from friends and family. The out-pouring of love was greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!

Erika is as wonderful a travel buddy as I hoped. I think we make a pretty good travel team.

A Quick Note on Formatting

I mentioned in passing on my last post thatI am working on an independent for one of my professors. The basic premise of of my project is to keep a detailed account of my experience as an American living abroad. I will be using a travel journal to keep this account.  In terms of the blog, I will be updating it with whatever entries I feel will be relevant and/or interesting to people in general.

6 January 2015

Eight days until I fly out. EIGHT!!! And I am stoked. And nervous. And not sure what to write about.
I am crazy busy. Those who know me know that is the setting I am usually running on. I am enrolled in my last semester of college and just wrapped up the craziest semester of my life.
How crazy? Well, here are some of the things that happened:
-I worked two jobs
– I applied for Grad School
-I applied for my Grad Program
-I worked on a thesis that I am about to finish.
– I enrolled in twelve hours of online coursework for the spring as well as the courses for Swansea
– I did all the paperwork that accompanies leaving the country
– I redid some of that paperwork because, as is usually the case with mountains of paperwork, some “i” did not get dotted or “t” crossed.
– I have begun working on my portfolio for one degree
– I have begun an independent research project for another
– I sat in on a Graduate level lit theory course (which was awesome)
– I planned a lot of my trip in terms of places I am going to visit (more on that later)
– I tried to stay active in my church
– I also tried to keep in touch with friends
– I also tried to see my family…and my cat.
-And, because of reasons, I took twenty hours of upper-level courses this past semester so that I could graduate on time despite leaving the country.
Now, I want one thing to be clear. That list is not meant to be impressive. That list is meant to serve as warning. DO NOT ATTEMPT!!!
For a while it seemed like everytime I checked my email or answered my phone my life got a little more complicated, a little more out of control. And I will freely admit that one of my greatest faults is that I have an obsessive need to be in control. I like to imagine God laughing at it waiting for me to rely on His grace more, and He has been quite gracious over the past few months.
And the craziness is in the past, and it was not as awful as I thought it would be. On to the future. On to Swansea, Wales!

28 October 2014

Well, the flight date has been set! January 14th to June 30th, and I could not be more excited. Please note the past tense. Due to some unforseen circumstances, I am now taking twenty-three hours, so I can graduate on time. 17 hours of regular classes, 3 hours of an audited course, and a 3 hour pick-up course, plus a thesis, which I recommend not asking me about in the near future. Great story on the pick-up course, I had twenty-four hours to enroll at a different college and get into a second eight-week course and…actually, do not ask me about that in the near future either. To simply summarize, it was stressful, but the actual work load is surprisingly manageable. I am just reminding myself that Wales is going to be my reward for all this work. As my research advisor is constantly reminding me, “just breathe!” Soon it will all be over, and it will all be worth it.