Durham & Newcastle!

Hello, hello!

Despite how late it is, I decided I wanted to do a blog post.  If I don't do it immediately after I get back from somewhere, I feel like I have something looming over my head.  So, here we go!

This weekend, I took quite the long train ride to Durham, England!  My friend Rylee from high school (and years of carpooling) goes to school at Durham University - no, not studying abroad, actual school -- this means that this is her final year!  And she's writing her dissertation, as most/all British university students do.  Quite impressive.  I left Swansea late Friday afternoon and arrived in Durham a bit after midnight.  I was originally going to go to Rylee's Halloween formal, but it unfortunately basically ended by then.  Rylee said it was kind of disappointing because she said/thought there would be stuff going on when I got there, but there wasn't really, which was actually totally and completely fine.  We went to her house and chatted for a while before going to sleep.

On Saturday, we - aka I - slept in.  Then we went to explore Durham!  We first went to Leonard's Coffee House for lunch, WHICH WAS DELICIOUS.  It's one of those non-chain, hidden gems of a restaurant.  I got a bacon, brie, and cranberry sandwich.  (Don't think bacon in the American way - more like ham).  We then split Victoria Sponge cake.  We also explored a little outdoor market and bought shortbread, which was delicious.  After lunch, Rylee showed me her favorite viewing spot in the whole city, which is where the third picture was taken.  We also went to see Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle, which is actually a college/dorm of Durham University.  The first picture is near the Cathedral, which overlooks some beautifully changing color trees.  The second picture is me in front of Durham Castle.  

After exploring the city, we went back to Rylee's house.  For some odd reason, I was so insanely tired that I then actually took an hour long nap.  This ended up being an incredibly good life decision because I felt so much better after.  Rylee and her housemate then made us fajitas for dinner, which were delicious, and we then proceeded to veg in front of the TV for about 6 hours.  It was honestly so relaxing and nice.  We watched Come Dine with Me, the X Factor, and Life Stories with Piers Morgan - all of which are British classics. 

Sunday rolled right along, and we decided to go to Newcastle, which is a fifteen min. train ride away from Durham.  Durham is incredibly far north in England, and Newcastle is even further north.  It's probably one of the most well-known, biggest Northern cities - I think?  The bottom two photos are from Newcastle.  We walked around, went to the mall and window shopped, walked around an outdoor market (I love these), we got free doughnuts (long story, quite funny, actually), and got Thai food.  We were both craving some good Asian food so this restaurant was a delightful choice.  What was funny was that we were the only people in the restaurant for the entire time we were there, and this was a pretty big, nice restaurant.  I guess British people don't go out for Thai food at lunch time.  We then headed back to Durham, hung out at her house for a bit, and then I made my way back to Swansea.  And here I am!

 You can definitely expect a Halloween blog soon :)

Family Dinners

Hello, hello!

One of my favorite (small) things about being here is the family dinners that my housemates & I have every week.  It's a way for us to come out of our rooms and our busy lives and all sit down together for a nice meal.  One person prepares it each week.  I also love them because the dinners reflect the person's culture, more often than not.  So, last night, we had Sausage and Mash.  My Welsh friend James cooked it.  It was sausage, mashed potatoes, peas & carrots, yorkshire pudding, and onion gravy.  IT WAS PHENOMENAL.  I've also had traditional food from Cyprus, cooked by my Cyprian housemate Nick, among other so many delicious things.

Speaking of family dinners, I also had a family dinner on Tuesday with my American friends to celebrate Kyle's birthday.  My friend Nick and I cooked tacos, and people loved them!  It was so incredibly pleasant and wonderful that we were all together.

Speaking of other pleasant things, yesterday I went to the American Studies Pumpkin Carving Social. hahaha.  Just can't get away from America.

And finally, tomorrow I'm off to Durham to see Rylee.  I have my snitch costume for the Harry Potter-themed formal.  It should be amazing.  You can expect the next blog post on Sunday or Monday!

xoxo

Still Connected to BC

Hello, hello...

So, although I am many, many miles away from home - I still find myself very attached to my commitments at Boston College!  Stressful, indeed.  The most stressful thing has been coming up with an idea for an Honors Thesis for the Honors Psychology program.  The preliminary application isn't due until next Tuesday, but it involves contacting so many professors, and it sometimes takes about 1 million years for them to email me back.  HOWEVER, I am proud to say that the one professor who I wanted/expected to be my advisor has agreed to be my advisor.  AND I have essentially come up with an idea for the thesis.  I'm currently doing transcription/research assistant stuff for a project called the 21st Century Athenas, which studies the alignment between mental health/well-being and high achieving adolescent girls.  I have decided to go with the same approach but to apply it to college-age women.  Hoooray!  I still have a few other professors to talk to, but I am so pleased that I have an idea, especially because it's actually relevant to my life.

In other news, today was filled with lectures.  AND THE WEATHER WAS TERRIBLE.  It's hard to find weather that surpasses the perfection of Southern California; nonetheless, I guess I like to pick universities  in locations that are ridiculously far from the Orange County climate.  Anyway, this evening, I went out to The Potter's Wheel, a local pub, with my friends Nick, Bianca, and Bianca's boyfriend, who was visiting from Germany for the weekend.  Such a wonderful delight :)  

xoxo

Avebury & Stonehenge

Good afternoon blog readers,

Today has been a low-key day, but yesterday I went to Avebury and Stonehenge!  Avebury is an old city in England that has these stones, which are older than Stonehenge.  The problem with the remains of the stones it that people have absolutely no idea what they were used for - perhaps ceremonial or religious rituals?  They're just in a big circle.  The above 3 pictures are: the church by Avebury, Melissa & I in front of some sheep!, and part of the Avebury Stone circle.

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We then made our way to Stonehenge!  (This was a school trip, by the way).  Although the size and use of the stones was impressive, I honestly have to say that looking at big stones isn't as interesting as I had originally anticipated.  Nevertheless, I'm totally glad that I got to see these places!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Playzone Swansea - Adult Night

Hello blog followers,

Tonight was honestly such a fantastic evening that I just had to blog about it.  It started off at Chiquito Mexican restaurant, which naturally was the most un-Mexican food that I have ever had at a Mexican restaurant.  However, it was surprisingly quite good!  I went with my friends Courtney, Cristin, Nick, Dave, and Yushi.  We then made our way to Playzone Swansea.  As you may notice by the pictures, it looks like a McDonalds play room.  It essentially was this, but on the first and third Friday of the month, they have an adult night.  You have to be 18+ to enter (they serve alcohol and whatnot --and you use the equipment at your own risk).  This adult night was essentially college night.  You'd probably break a bone/hip/knee/etc. if you were any older.  And let me tell you, it was so incredibly fun.  Unfortunately, we were too old for the ball pit.  However, there were these 2 slides that were so incredibly scary.  I'm not actually sure how any small child would do it, given the fact that all 6 of us college students were incredibly intimidated by the fact that the slide went pratically vertically downward.  It must be the whole fearless sense in kids.  What was hilarious was that we got tired after about half an hour.  So we hung out and tried to take pictures of us going down the slide, but you actually go too fast for anyone to be able to capture a good photo. hahaha.  So very fun indeed!  Then we went home, and I've got to get to bed because I'm off to Stonehenge soon! -- Expect another blogpost soon! xoxo

This Week

Hello blog followers,

Just in case you wanted to make sure I'm still alive, as my parents often do, I just thought I'd share a few things about my week, although there is not much to report.

I've honestly been waking up so late here.  Try 12:30 pm every day.  It's such a waste of my life, but I guess I'm becoming nocturnal.  Not really a good habit.  I'm also going to sit down and try to do some work today, which hasn't happened as much as it perhaps should.  In other news, I went shopping yesterday.  Originally, it was just supposed to be for food, but the grocery store, bus station, and mall are all literally right next to each other.  Therefore, I couldn't resist and bought clothes.  I also bought train tickets to visit my friend Rylee in Durham, England.  We carpooled for years together - her parents are also UCI professors.  I am so excited!  I also bought plane tickets to visit Laura, one of my best friends from BC who is studying abroad in Geneva, Switzerland.  Also, so excited!!

And finally, my friends and I went to Wind Street last night.  It's a street with a bunch of bars and clubs in downtown Swansea, that also happens to be right next to the remains of a castle - honestly, I love that.  So Wales.  It was such a fantastic time. :)

Excited for Stonehenge on Saturday!

Part 2: Trip to Berlin, Germany

"Work sets you free" -- obviously some Nazi propaganda

(on the gate at Station A - the entrance - to Sauchsenhausen Concentration Camp)

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Hello, blog readers!  Because there are so many photos, I'll try to make this blog post not too incredibly wordy, and you can focus on the photos.  Basically, my trip to Berlin was one long history lesson.  It was also kind of heavy - as you probably know, Germany has a lot of heavy history.  The previous post focused on what we did at night, which was see the Festival of Lights.  During the day, I did the following:

Friday - most of the day consisted of a visit to Sauchsenhausen Concentration Camp  

(the next 4 photos are from the concentration camp)

-- Going to a concentration camp was a huge appeal for going to Germany for me.  WWII/the Holocaust is such a significant part of history that I just kind of had to see one.  It was, of course, very sad, but extremely interesting.  I didn't take pictures, however, of the shooting/crematorium/gas chamber areas that I saw with the mentality that those didn't deserve photographs.  Sauchsenhausen was also not an extermination camp, as Auschwitz was.  It was actually more of the central hub for all concentration camps; all intelligence regarding concentration camps went through Sauchsenhausen.  Political prisoners were also imprisoned here.  I think most people forget that it was not just Jews who were targeted at this time; homosexuals, mentally/physically disabled people, etc. were targeted as well.  

view from the inside

area right before the walls leading to the outside of the concentration camp

- this sign signifies an area in which, if prisoners entered - as if trying to escape, they were to be shot at without warning

memorial that the Soviets built after they liberated the camp (I think)

another memorial in the camp, next the crematorium/gas chambers area - Berlin has SO MANY memorials

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On Saturday, we explored Berlin.  We saw the following:

angel statue

me with the Berlin Wall

Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe (above and below)

 - the architect for this memorial is also doing the 9/11 one - 

me with the Brandenberger Tor (Brandenberg Gate)

- how one got between East and West Berlin -

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After exploring Berlin with a few people, the entire group of us (all 15 of us) went to a place outside of Berlin.  We knew there would be a palace, and we later found out that this was Frederick the Great's summer compound (haha he had a lot of money!).  

Frederick the Great's summer guest house

My friend Nick & me with some people dressed as royals

Frederick the Great's summer palace

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On Sunday, we explored Berlin, some markets, Museum Island, and went inside the German National History Museum 

part of Museum Island

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It was overall a great weekend.  One of the most interesting experiences was the hostel.  There was a man in my room with the worst BO I have ever smelled.  Hopefully he has showered since I saw/smelled him last.

Great adventures still await me!  It will be nice to be here for most of the week, but I'm going to see Stonehenge on Saturday!

xoxo

Festival of Lights (Berlin, Germany)

Hello!  I decided that my trip to Germany needed 2 blog posts.  I took so many pictures.  Therefore, this one will showcase the Festival of Lights, and the next will show all the historical stuff and a summary of what I did.  The Festival of Lights is an annual festival in Berlin, Germany, in which many of the historical monuments are lit up with various colored lights.  It took 2 nights of exploring to really feel satisfied with how majestic it was - actually, it took 2 nights because we totally went to the wrong spot the first night.  One of my favorites is the Brandenburger Tor (how one formally went between East and West Berlin).  That's the picture right above this paragraph with me in it.  It looked incredible!  Enjoy the pictures! 

Mid-week Update

Hello, hello!

I decided to change the background of my blog.  I wanted something different, and perhaps this makes it easier to read.

This week has been pretty slow thus far.  I had class on Monday and Tuesday.  I've been sleeping in until 11:30 or 12 for the past few days, with the exception of Monday because I had class at 9.  While this may seem nice, I think I'm getting too much sleep.  I also feel like I'm not spending my time productively.  It's weird to not have class as often as I do at BC, to not have a job, or to have meetings, volunteer hours, and a bunch of other commitments.  I feel incredibly productive when I travel because there is so much learning to be done outside the classroom, but I don't care how cheap anyone tells you it is to travel around Europe.  IT'S NOT THAT CHEAP!  I also want to make sure that I invest in getting to know Swansea and the people here.  I came to Wales for a reason!  Nevertheless, I'm incredibly excited about Berlin tomorrow!

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A friend of mine recently posted in her blog some cultural differences that she's noticed.  I thought it was really interesting, so I'm now going to steal some of her ideas!

- Vegetables are shortened to "veg"


- Herb is pronounced with the 'h'


- There are no 1 pound paper bills, only coins


- I was dipping chocolate chip cookies in milk yesterday.  My flatmate started laughing hysterically and exclaimed "That's so American!!!"


- Cheers is some kind of universal greeting/word; I most often hear it used in place of thank-you


- In class, Americans participate more.  Seems to be a British thing to be more reserved.


- Meat & Potatoes.  Enough said.


- Rarely have class.  A British thing.


- Great Britain feels, and truly is in many ways, very different from mainland Europe.  I learned a lot about this in my pre-sessional class.  You can see this in GB's relationship with the European Union and the fact that GB hasn't adopted the euro as its form of currency.


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Alright, that's all for now!  You can expect a blog update about my adventures in Germany on Sunday.
Have a great week, everyone!

Hello, hello!

I am definitely exhausted and am not quite sure how I'm even still up.  I slept for about 40 min. last night and have been traveling back to Wales from Madrid all day.

Now time for an extensive report of my Spanish weekend.  What an adventure it was - I don't think I would have been able to handle it a year ago.

Wednesday
12:15am - my bus leaves for London Gatwick airport (6 hour bus ride).  Despite the length, this was quite convenient because it took me directly to the airport.  Then I had a stress-free flight to Madrid (all my stuff fit in my backpack - I'm surprised I could do it).  Upon arriving in Madrid, I was SCARED OUT OF MY MIND.  Here I was, in a foreign non-English speaking country, alone.  I wanted to save money so I decided not to take a taxi and figure out public transportation.  I was extremely apprehensive to use my Spanish skills so I found people who could speak some English and asked where to go.  Without much difficulty, actually, I made it to the Avenida de America bus station, where I then waited for 2 hours before taking my 6-hour bus ride to San Sebastian.  All my friends from BC were not meeting up in Madrid until Friday, and because I didn't have class W/Th/F, I decided to go early to San Sebastian to visit my friend Robert, who is studying abroad there.  (San Sebastian is on the northeast coast of Spain, while Madrid is the geographical center).  Once I FINALLY arrived in San Sebastian, Robert, his friends, & I went out for tapas, though they are called something else in that region of Spain, and gelato.  I was unsurprisingly exhausted so I went to bed soon after that.

Thursday
 Because Robert had to work on a paper, he let me sleep in until 11:30am.  Although I kind of felt like I wasted the morning, it was actually really nice to get the sleep.  We then got some DELICIOUS pastries for breakfast and did a short hike up to an old fort with a huge statue of Jesus at the top.  The first 3 pictures were all taken from the fort.  We then walked around San Sebastian, which was beautiful, got lunch, walked around some more, made dinner back at his flat, watched TV, and went to sleep.  It was a pretty low-key day but very awesome indeed.

Friday
7:15am bus back to Madrid.  I purposefully booked an early bus so that I could have as much time as possible in Madrid.  I was unfortunately the first person to leave Madrid because the flight costs were so high later in the day on Sunday.  I got to Madrid around 1pm, and to the most pleasant surprise ever, my friends Bridget & Conor were waiting for me at the bus station.  I was then told that Bridget's passport/backpack had been stolen, which was so incredibly, extremely terrible.  I'm not even sure how people can be that sneaky.  So, basically, we spent the entire afternoon in the Madrid Police Station & U.S. Embassy.  After an unfortunate use of the afternoon - though, we did manage to get Bridget a new much-needed passport - we headed to the hostel where we met up with everyone else.  We then headed out for tapas.  In case you don't know, tapas are small meals that range from ham slices to rice patty type things to salmon on bread -- kind of random?  BUT SO SO GOOD.  I think my favorite part of the day was that night when we were all sitting outside what I believe was an Irish pub, eating our tapas, and watching the line of prostitutes that had formed in the street area across from us.  It was, of course, so sad to me to see all the prostitutes (kind of shocking, really), but we laughed, we analyzed, and we caught up.  After we got too cold - and by the way, it was around midnight by now - the Spanish meals are SO MUCH LATER than American meals - we walked around the city and went to a few bars/clubs.  They were kind of weird so we headed home after that.

Saturday  
I guess it's not surprising that with a large group, it really takes a while to get people moving.  We also slept in and basically did not get our day started until mid-day.  It was a bit frustrating, but after we sat down for breakfast at a lovely place in the middle of the bustling city, the day just got better and better.  After our breakfast, we walked around Madrid and saw the Palicio Real (famous banquets/royalty weddings/etc. happen here - last King to live there was in the early 1900s, I believe), the gardens next to it, the cathedral next to it, Plaza Mayor, a cool market where we got paellas, Puerta del Sol, and some awesomely busy streets of Madrid.  The city reminded me of a combination of Tokyo and NYC.  We continued to get tapas and ate at a great outdoor area in Plaza Mayor.  We then went back to the hostel around 7 and rested until 10ish, where we went out for tapas and drinks AGAIN.  We had such a lovely time and eventually made our way to a club called Joy at 1am. I then enjoyed great music, very cool Spanish nightlife, and a unbelievably fantastic time with my friends.  I've made great friends in Wales, but words cannot express how nice it was to be with my Shawmily (friends from my Shaw leadership program - we call ourselves family... aka Shawmily).  We left the club around 3, got back to the hostel around 3:45, allowing me to pack and sleep for about an hour before heading to the airport.  

Sunday
After an incredibly long day of traveling back to Wales, I'm back!
An awesome adventure indeed.

San Sebastian in the background

Robert & me with San Sebastian in the background

San Sebastian

BC friends in Madrid! -- garden area next to Palacio Real

Hannah & me (my sophomore year roommate, if you didn't know)

Palacio Real

Plaza Mayor

Statue in front of Palacio Real - this picture brings me so much joy

Cathedral next to Palacio Real

I'm off to Berlin this coming weekend!  Hopefully I don't get sick.  Traveling/no sleep really takes a lot out of a person!

Until next time, much love!

Off to Spain!

Hello blog readers,

Just an FYI - I'm off to Spain tomorrow!!! It will be so, so, so nice to meet up with my friends from BC :)

I'll be back on Sunday so you can expect a post Sunday night, unless I fall asleep the second I get home.

Had another class today.  It is quite nice to not have class until 3 in the afternoon.  I slept in until 10:30, after a night out last night.  Some of my lecturers, however, are a bit monotonous.  It makes class difficult to sit through and pay attention the whole time.  Ah, well.  The material is interesting.

Much love! - time to enjoy some nice weather.

A Few More Punting Pictures

Jeffrey uploaded these.  I think they're funny and cute.  The first one accurately depicts my frustration with how difficult it was.

Trip to Oxford & the first day of class!

Hello blog readers!

This past Saturday, some friends and I took a day trip to Oxford.  It was such a delightful day, and I owe many, many thanks to my friend from high school Jeffrey.  He goes to Princeton and is studying abroad for the semester at Oxford.  He's only been there a week but had all the right connections and knew all the right places to go.

First, we went to the Ashmolean Museum.  I believe this is the oldest one in Britain?

Me outside the Ashmolean Museum - I'm a fan of the nice flowers, Oxford flag, and British flag.

We then climbed up the bell tower of St. Michael's Church, one of the oldest in Oxford.  I believe it's about a thousand years old.  Here is the view from the top.

At noon, we met up with Jeffrey at the Eagle and Child Pub.  This is where Tolkein & C. S. Lewis met every week to discuss literature, perhaps? (I had Fish & Chips for the first time in England - honestly, wasn't that good!)

In the afternoon, we did a very typical Oxford thing called punting.  I lounged around for a lot of it, and Jeffrey was an excellent punter. 

In the evening, we visited Christ Church, which is part of Oxford.  (Oxford is made up of about 39 or so different colleges spread out around the city).

HARRY POTTER STEPS!!  Part of the movie was filmed at Oxford.  Recognize this staircase?

I'm pretty sure that everyone can agree that it was an awesome day.  Jeffrey got us into stuff for free, and it was fantastic.

In other news, today was my first day of class!  It was kind of a joke.  My first class this morning was Social Policy.  While interesting in theory, it was kind of dull - and kind of very easy.  I have noticed that British students really don't like to participate as much as American students do.  Then I was supposed to have my Eating Behavior class, but the professor never showed up and didn't email us about it.  Someone called, and apparently he was sick.  So really, an uneventful morning.

I think I'll take a power nap before heading to my next class. Lots of love!