Excursions in Bath!

Hello all!
Apologies for not updating in a week...I've been pretty busy! On a good note, I am finally over (hopefully) my cold from hell. It was miserable. OK. Where to start..let's start with Tuesday. In our class,we watched a pretty good movie called "Last Orders". It was a movie based on the bestseller by Graham Swift. Read/watch it. I enjoyed it, but that might be because Helen Mirren is in it, and well, I simply adore her. Wednesday was another field trip day. We went to Bath. It was AMAZING. I think I found my new home. Bath is simply the most gorgeous city I have ever been to. There we went to the Roman Baths, the Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey, and Sally Lunn's- a resturant from 1680! I am already planning on going back many more times, since it is only a 2 hour bus ride. And the city is worth it. I will add pictures later. When we returned, we moved into the student village. It was less than desirable. Living in Penmaen was awesome- we all bonded and became great friends. Then we got seperated and moved to rooms that were dirty. But, me being me- and if you really know me then you won't find this suprising- I cleaned my room, organized and put up pictures (and by pictures I mean postcards), so now I am quite happy here. I live with 10 people- 2 of whom are fellow Americans from Penmaen. There's also a girl from Spain, a guy from England, another guy from somewhere in the UK, and 2 guys from Asia. We're pretty mulitcultural here.

A night on the town= an early morning fire alarm.

Hello again all- and let me say- the past two days have been a busy and eventful two days! Let's just start at the beginning of yesterday. Ok? Ok.
Wednesday: This was our second field trip day.  First, the gang and I went to breakfast at the Fulton House (the commons on campus) and then we went to two locations in Cardiff (about an hour bus ride from Swansea)- the Big Pit coal mine museum, and St Fagans. Big Pit was a coal mine from the mid 1800s, that closed in 1980 and was converted into a musuem showcasing coal mines and the miners lives. Because many towns in Wales started as coal mining towns, this not only looked at the history of Big Pit mine itself, but at the history of Welsh towns and livelihoods as well. It was very interesting, and I learned so much about miners and their lives that I had previously not known. It was also dark, cold and slightly depressing. Sadly, cameras were not allowed inside, so all I have are landscapes (and really, any outdoor picture of Wales is postcard worthy).
Next, we went to St. Fagans, which was by far my more favorite of the two. This place was goregous. Lush gardens, walks, a CASTLE, and a mini town (showing Welsh country life, adorable). Allison and I had many, many photo oppertunities. We actually went overboard. I'll include some in this so you can see the gorgeousness of St. Fagans.
Wednesday night, we went to the dance club Oceana- which is one of the greatest clubs in exsistance.We all had a blast dancing, and the drink specials weren't that bad either. We left the club at 1 am via taxi.

This brings us to today, Thursday.
Now, I didn't make it to bed until about 2 am (when I got home from Oceana, I naturally facebooked for an hour.), so when I did go to bed, I was exhausted and crashed. Also, I'm almost positive I'm getting sick- sore throat, constant headache, runny nose, body aches...yeah lets hope not, but its been here for a week..I broke down and bought some meds today at the local Tesco (supermarkets on steriods). And, how did I wake up? Fire alarm. at 9am. The worst part is- that both times we've gone out to Wind Street and let loose, a fire alarm has woken us up way before we needed to be up. Its a sign.
After that unwanted wake up call, class was a mess. We got into class as usual, however, the projecter was broken, which then hindered our schedule, so we had to rearrange and move to different rooms. Blah. Class today was about 1950s and 60s British Politics- which actually does interest me, and also about 1960s pop...and I'm not at all a Beatles fan ( I was raised on The Beach Boys, JUDGE ME.) We also watched the movie "Room with a View"- which showcased Edwardian class systems at a time when Britain still ruled the world. It wasn't half bad.
Tonight we went to The Potter's Wheel for curry..there was a deal. Food and a drink for 5 pounds. Not bad! Then we went grocery shopping at Tesco..I hate carrying groceries on the bus from town to campus. It's very inconvient. But I did meet a cute French exchange student, so it wasn't that bad :)

Until next time!

British Culture and Politics: Day One

Number 1: Going to bed at 1:30am and being woke up at 7am by the fire alarm- and standing outside in pajamas in the cold rain for 20 minutes in never a good combination.

Well, to-day (the Welsh spelling) was my first day of our 2 week presessional "British Culture and Politics" class. This class's main goal is to give us Americans (and those 2 Germans and that one Canadian) an educated primer on life in Britain- teaching us what has happened politically, historically and culturally the past 60 years. Today's lessons included look at the political system of "The United Kindgom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"- which is quite complicated (to me at least) followed by an hour lunch break, and then we resumed and watched the film "Passport to Plimlico".

After class, Caleb (who looks like Prince Harry- see for yourself in the picture of myself at Oystermouth Castle, last post) and my ADORABLE German friend Bianca (whom I refer as my Welsh Mum)went grocery shopping at Tesco and Wilkinson's. I think I have finally bought all the utensils, towles, things I will need for the next 4 months. THANK GOD!

Also- on an exciting note- I paid for my weekend trips to Amesterdam and Paris, and my day trip to the Bath Christmas Market! YAHTZEE!

Finally, I'm ending with a picture of me at the historic and nationally acclaimed and preserved Gower. Later!

A sneak peek at life in Wales.

Here in the land of gingers and bays

Well I am finally here in Swansea! And it is gorgeous. Pictures cannot do it justice. Getting here was a mess, though. I flew Cedar Rapids- Detroit-Amesterdam-Cardiff, then took a bus from Cardiff Airport to the train station, then a train to Swansea. Then, a taxi from Swansea City Centre to Campus. In all, I left Iowa at 10 am Wedneday, and got into my flat at 1pm Thursday. So yeah. Very little sleep! But it was worth it. On our first day here, I met up with some fellow Americans- the majority being from Iowa and Oklahoma, and we wondered around our new city. Then Friday, we had our first orientation and took at tour of Mumbles (a small adroable costal village) and went to te Gower. It was so beautiful. I'll post pictures later. Then, for dinner we went to the Pub on the Pond. Saturday was a day of going back to Mumbles for lunch at this amazing Italian restaurant called Verdi's. It was on the pier and had some amazing views of Mumbles and the bay. Many, many, photo opertunities. We actually sat outside on the patio. Then for dessert we went to Joe's Ice Cream Parlour. It was DEVINE. Amazing. I had Turkish Delight..lust. We after went to Oystermouth Castle- which is the castle from the 1200s, and it is in ruins, but it being restored. This was followed by some grocery shopping at the local Tesco's.
Saturday night we went out "pubbing" at DIVA'S- the dance club on campus, then SinCity, and finally-the best dance club in existance, Oceana. It was in all a pretty good day.
Today, Sunday, my flatmates and I had a dinner party- chicken parm. It was nice to have a homecooked meal after a week of pub food. Well, classes start tomorrow at 9, better be off and running! Later!