I'm Alive, I Promise!

Luise and I representing our favorite Washington universities.  Go Cougs!

I owe everyone a big apology, I most definitely fell off the map after St. Patricks day.  So please allow me to offer my sincerest apology and a brief explanation on what I've been up to for the past seven weeks.

As soon as I got back from Dublin I had three major class projects come due.  Now, typically, this wouldn't be a big deal, but I lucked out and got three professors this semester that calculate my final semester grade off of only two things:  my mid-term project and my final exam.  Yeah, no pressure or anything.

So, the minute I got home I hit the books.  In the course of two weeks I put together a 22 page group project for my Marketing class, a 12 page essay on 'Criminal Transportation to Australia' for my Victorian Cities class, and 13 page in depth political comparison project on Switzerland for my Political Science class.  Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me.  Apparently, this isn't the norm for professors at Swansea--I just got really lucky.  Good news is, thanks to all of these projects, now I have plenty of material to choose from for my Junior Writing Portfolio (WSU's mid-education writing assessment).  I got them all turned in on time, and was able to leave for Spring Break with no remaining work hanging over my head, except to study for exams when I returned home.

I'll go into more detail later, but I spent my first week of break in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Talk about an amazing country (within a country--although, if they have their way, they may be independent of Britain come September) with a wild, natural beauty.  Now I understand why it's been the background of so many movies.  It was breathtaking.  I took a day trip into the highlands and Loch Lomond.  Only the pictures really do it justice, so check back soon, there will be lots!

I ventured onward from Edinburgh, back to London, to catch my flight to Frankfurt.  I was greeted by my favorite German person on the planet, one of my best friends, Luise, and her dad, Marc.  I spent two and a half weeks with Luise, her mom and dad, and her siblings Paul and Mathilde.  We spent the first week sightseeing, then the second week I attended German high school with Luise.  Quite the adventure!  I finished my trip off by spraining my ankle-I may or may not have tripped coming down a particularly vicarious set of stairs while visiting some friends-but luckily, Luise's mom is a doctor, so she patched me up quite nicely.  It wasn't too bad, and I was good to return to Swansea a couple days later, no brace necessary.

So now I'm back in Swansea studying for my final exams.  Lectures ended the week before Spring Break, so now we have a month to take exams (I will never understand why they feel three weeks is an appropriate length of time to drag out exams), then I'm off for some more traveling.  I'll finish exams on May 29.  One weekend in June, my flat and I are taking a weekend trip to London to do some sightseeing.  The following week I'll move out of my dorm in Swansea, and take off to Athens, Greece to spend a week with my next door neighbor whose family lives there.  I'll visit her for a week, then it's back to Germany to go celebrate my 19th birthday and Luise's high school graduation. On July 2, I will officially be safely back on American soil, and back to my family who are all beginning to voice their wishes for me to return home very loudly--Dad, that's 49 more days!

Just under two months left.  I fully intend to make the most of them.  I'll do my best to keep the posts a little bit more regular, promise.  Lots more to come!  Check back soon.

First Impressions

I made a list of my initial reactions and random thoughts I had during my journey to the Wales.

1.  We have to wear full seat belts on the RailAir bus from London-Heathrow to Reading.

2.  Wishing I had not left my sunglasses at home for Dad to ship me in a few weeks, because it was  bright, sunny, and cold when I arrived.

3.  Airplane food is awful.

4.  Queuing is apparently a big deal--just because you don't see the line doesn't mean you can assume there isn't one.

5.  Driving/riding on the wrong side of the road is terrifying!

6.  I have officially pulled an all-nighter plus about four hours.

7.  Buses have wifi?!?

8.  My mental voice has somehow morphed into a strange Southern/British hybrid.

9.  There is no easy way to get from Heathrow Terminal 4 to the Central Bus Terminal...I tried to find an easier way and failed.

10.  People actually wear those? (referring to the high heeled wedge sneakers Nike has been pushing on the normal population the past few years)

11.  The British really like their traffic circles.

12.  That is the biggest piece of fish I have ever seen!  (Someone sitting at a nearby table ordered fish and chips.  The piece of fish was literally a foot long.)

12.  Everyone is so polite!  It's great, but I'm beginning to wonder if my good manners are up to par.

13.  How does Subway not have yellow mustard?

14.  Yeah, I could definitely sleep on a train (it was 5 am PST and my jet lag was starting to set in.)

15.  Chicken Bacon & Welsh Cheese Panini for dinner? Yes, please!

16.  I'm officially a fan of art galleries--particularly impressionists and Alfred Sisley.

17.  Everyone in Wales is so friendly!

18.  The whole "Arcade" layout of the shopping centers is really cool!  It's like being able to shop outdoors minus the rain and wind.

19.  UK Public transportation is not sketchy.

20.  Apparently, the sunshine was a fluke...normal Wales weather is very wet.

Traveling Continued

A chill of excitement ran through me when I saw Big Ben and the London Eye for the first time.  My flight landed smoothly, and I was off the plane and down the jetway before I could blink an eye.

Immigrations and customs turned out to be rather easy to get through.  Luckily, I had all of my papers in order, and there were no other problems.  It had been smooth sailing the whole trip, that was until I got lost trying to find the bus terminal.  If I can make it through Atlanta airport by myself with time to spare, I can take on anything.  Come at me Heathrow!  Well, maybe I shouldn't have been so sure of myself...it's bad enough when you get lost prior to asking directions, but there is a very special kind of embarrassment involved when you get lost after you receive directions.  I'm still not totally sure how I got so turned around.  Somehow, I managed to lug my overstuffed luggage around in circles for about twenty minutes before I pushed my pride down far enough to stop and ask for directions, again.  The second time I managed to get headed in the right direction.  After wandering down a few lonely corridors, past a rather sketchy looking freight elevator, and through the Heathrow Underground station, I finally found the bus terminal.

My next adventure was figuring out how to get on the bus.  Yes, I am very aware how dumb that makes me sound, but I'm telling you, it's a lot harder than it looks.  My bus was parked outside in the terminal.  I found it with no trouble.  The buses were parked under an awning type structure with a fence blocking the waiting area from the boarding area.  I walked down to the end of the fence where the security guard was standing near the only visible opening in the fence.  I asked him to confirm which bus stand my RailAir bus was parked in, and he pointed me in the right direction.  Like any independent young woman, I took off in the direction of my bus ready to begin the next leg of my trip.  I marched right up to the front of my bus, only to find that my driver was nowhere in sight.  I looked around and saw the other drivers hovering near their buses.  I guess I'll wait.  A few minutes later I see my bus driver coming towards me, then I see the gate (I didn't see only moments before) being opened by what looked like my fellow passengers.  Here I am standing past the barriers, literally in front of my bus, watching the lady and gentlemen that were very obviously supposed to be first people boarding the bus.  Oh my gosh, I jumped the queue... Yep boys and girls, I broke the cardinal rule of British manners, I jumped to the front of the line.  In my defense, it was totally on accident.  I waited for the lady to board the bus, but the man behind her ushered me ahead of him.  He was very nice about it, but I'm sure he was thinking all sorts of lovely thoughts about stupid foreigners who have no concept of waiting in line...or at least, that's what I imagined he was thinking as he shook his head and let me pass.

I boarded the bus, bruised ego and all, to be pleasantly surprised by the cushy leather seats, free wifi, and full seat belts (which we were required by law to wear).  The ride wasn't bad, but getting used to riding on the wrong side of the road was a little terrifying at first.  After I survived what I perceived as several near death experiences (in all honesty, they probably were not as bad as they seemed, but I was a little concerned we could potentially run over the very tiny British cars) I began to relax and enjoy the country side.

We arrived in Reading, where I grabbed lunch at Subway (yay American food) and caught the train to Cardiff.  I really enjoyed the train ride.  My train had entertainment centers on the backs of all the headrests, like they have on the big airplanes.  It was a quiet ride.  I struggled to stay away.  The twenty six hours I had managed to stay awake was finally catching up to me.  Terrified of sleeping through my final stop, I kept busy until we arrived in Cardiff.  My hotel is literally a block and a half from the train station so I just walked over and checked into the Maldron Hotel.  It's an independent branch of the Best Western Branch.  I crashed shortly after I got in, my first adventure concluded.

The view from my hotel room.

My Journey Starts Here

Departure Day

I began my study abroad adventure two days ago (give or take a few hours. The time zone thing is confusing!), and I'm already beginning to understand why everyone pushes students to study abroad.  I realize this sounds like an overstatement, but just in the past two days I have done so much that stretched my comfort zone.

The initial goodbyes at the airport were hard, but when I walked down the stairs to catch my flight to Seattle and saw my plane (it was painted with the WSU Cougar logo) I knew it was going to be a good trip!  I arrived in Seattle with no problems, but my arrival gate was literally as far away from the departure gate of my next flight as you could get.  I've only been to the Sea-Tac airport one other time, and then I just had to find my way to baggage claim, not to another gate.  After taking three trains, and a lot of prayer (I kept reading signs and making turns hoping I was headed in the right direction) I made it to my departure gate in plenty of time to grab some lunch and check in with the family.

My flight to Amsterdam was rough.  Not because the flight itself was bad, but because I hate being cooped up for ten hours.  I was really hoping to sleep...no dice.  That being said, I survived and made it to Amsterdam in one piece, although pretty sleep deprived.  When we touched down at Schipol Airport (pronounced skip-ole, oddly enough) I was struck by the fact the airport looked very similar to dozens of airports I've landed in in the States.  My dad commented to me once that the rest of the world "...is just living life like everyone else."  Everything looked so normal!

Sunrise over Greenland

I was very relieved to find, as promised, that all of the signs were in English.  After hiking through the airport to my final flight, I noticed that everyone at that airport has to go through security twice.  Once, upon their initial arrival, and then again at the actual gate, just to get into the waiting area of the flight.  I was a little annoyed, since this would be the second time doing the TSA dance of removing jackets, scarves, shoes, liquids, laptops, and putting them all back on and in my bag without holding up the line.

When I sat down, I started hearing all of the British accents and conversations in Dutch and several other languages.  I looked around at my fellow travelers and began to feel very foreign myself.  Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.  It's funny how we get used to being in our own country.  I've been surrounded by fellow Americans my entire life.  It's a totally different feeling when you're one of a handful of Americans in the entire airport.  That's something I'm going to have to get used to.  When I moved to Washington I had to get used to being a Southerner in the Pacific Northwest, but at least we all shared a nationality.  I think it is going to be a very interesting experience learning to assimilate into life in the UK.

The rest of my journey to Wales can be found in the next post.  New pictures have been posted.  Check out my link on the left side bar.