Bath, England

This week in Wales was a lot like the first week.  The American students finished up our pre-sessional course on Wednesday.  A lot of time was spent on learning about films made in the UK including various clips from James Bond movies.  The guidelines for our first paper were also put in place.  Six topics were given for us to choose, all of which relate to the history, culture, and politics of the UK from 1945 to present day.  My topic is this: How would you link the cultural and political changes of post-war Britain to music of the 1960’s?  This will keep me busy through the rest of the week! 

Our instructor was nice enough to schedule us a free day on Thursday, so of course the girls and I went shopping... Sorry Mom and Dad... The style here is a lot different than what it is back home, and I quite like it to be honest.  Needless to say, we had a successful day in town! 

After the fun of Thursday, we were back to uni to schedule classes for the semester.  The process was very different than registering for classes at The University of Iowa.  We had to hand write the courses we wanted to take, and go see a specific person for them to sign off your paper.  Then, someone in an office enrolls you.  At Iowa, we just get approved by an academic adviser and sign up for whatever classes we want from the couch at home.  In the end, I am registered for two courses at Swansea.  They are Rome and the Mediterranean, and Modern European Film.  These two courses, combined with the pre-sessional course, are equivalent to a 15 semester hour term at Iowa.  

Saturday was definitely the most exciting day of the week.  The American international students took a day trip to the city of Bath, England.  It was, once again, unlike anything I have ever seen, filled with old Roman baths.  The architecture was stunning, to say the least.  And, at the end of the tour in the Roman Baths, you are allowed to drink the hot spring water.   I will never make the mistake of drinking it again, but it was an interesting experience.

Our study abroad adviser at The University of Iowa recommended getting involved in a club or society here as well.  I'm working on this decision.  There are so many choices, but my top three are yoga, kickboxing, and netball.  Netball is similar to woman's basketball, so of course I'm interested in that!  We are able to try things out for a week before making and definite decisions.

That basically sums up week two here in Wales.  I hope you enjoy the photos, and wish me luck with my new classes starting this week! 

This is the view from inside the Roman Baths. So beautiful!

This man was handing people bird seeds and the pigeons would eat it out of your hand!  And afterwards, you had hand sanitizer for you to wash up.

 Ellysha and I at the main bath. 

The entrance into The Roman Baths.

Week One.. Check!

Hello, everyone!  It has been one crazy week here in Swansea.  The pre-session course has been in full swing for a week, and the adjustment continues!  Our schedules have consisted of lectures, seminars, and plenty of time to get to know our new friends.  It has been really fun to meet all of the other students from ISU and UNI that are on the same study abroad trip as myself! 

On Monday, all of the international students took a trip to the Gower Peninsula.  It was unlike anything I have ever seen.  We traveled on big coaches through the narrow and winding roads of Swansea, stopping to see some brilliant sights along the way.  At one point of the trip, the driver told us not to worry when he sounded the horn because we were approaching what coach drivers call the "wall of death," and he just needed to warn oncoming traffic.  The road was literally only wide enough for one bus to get through.

The trip to the Gower Peninsula is the only trip we were able to take this week due to some unexpected bad weather.  It doesn't usually snow in Swansea because it is a coastal city, but it ended up snowing a few inches (what would seem like nothing in Iowa) and classes were all cancelled on Friday!  We all accepted our day off with great pleasure!  We were scheduled to take a trip to the "Big Pit" on Saturday (a coal mine), but the snow was worse in the area of the mine, so we were not able to go.

In our course we've been learning about the history and politics of Wales and the UK from 1945 to present day.  We've covered topics from the government to the Beetles in only four short days.  Our assessment at the end of the two week long course will be a 2,500 word paper on one of seven various British Culture related topics. 

 The Gower Peninsula. Amazing natural beauty.

 Me at the Gower Peninsula. It was very cold and windy out there right along the coast.

 One of the buildings on campus at Swansea.

 Another part of the campus.  It's amazing how beautiful the walking paths can be. 

 The beach right next to Swansea University's campus.

 A view of the University from the main road.  (Better pictures to come)

Another beautiful sight on our walk.

This is all the exciting news this far from the first week.  I am in the process of planning my weekend long trip to London, as well as a few other trips over the three week long Easter break.  I will be traveling with other international students at Swansea to Dublin, Ireland for St. Patricks Day in March!  Stay tuned for more beautiful pictures and stories about my experiences!

We Made It!

Hello everyone!  We have officially made it to Wales and are starting to settle in.  The traveling went really well.  When we arrived at Heathrow airport in London, we grabbed our bags and there just happened to be a very kind woman who was a volunteer.  Her job specifically was to greet international students and help them get to where they need to be.  She showed us to the bus/train station at the airport and helped us get bus tickets to Swansea.  It was just that easy!  So after the seven and a half hour plane ride, we spent only one hour grabbing bags, getting through customs, and hopped on a bus for another four hour long ride.  Upon arrival at the bus stop, we took a cab right to the student village and got our keys to move in.  Needless to say, it was quite a day of traveling.

The village is really neat.  There are a large number of "houses" throughout.  The house I am in has ten bedrooms and then a kitchen and dining space.  There is no living room, but one of my roommates has a big tv in his room where everyone hangs out.  I have four girl roommates and five guy roommates, and so far they are very nice and helpful!  They are all students from Wales or England in my house, I think, other than one other girl from America. 

This morning, my roommate Lorn (pronounced "lawn"... He says "you know, like the grass!"), took us to town on the bus to buy some groceries and other things like clothes hangers and towels.  My room came with bedding, so that was nice.  The bus on the ride home took us past the beach and through campus.  It is absolutely beautiful!!  I am pretty much settled in now, just working on arranging things how I like them!

The only hang up so far has been connecting to the internet.  We got it figured out on our computers, but the wifi on my kindle or phone is not working yet.  Also, I can't get signed in to my Email account here at Swansea University.  We haven't had to use them for anything yet, so I don't know my password.  My roommates say to go to the IT desk at "uni" (campus or university) and they will help get it figured out. 

The first night here was a lot of fun!  Tomorrow we start our orientation and will be traveling to The Gower Peninsula.  Lorn said it's amazing and we will want to have a camera for sure.  I can't wait for the rest of the semester.  I have a feeling I'm not going to want to leave!! 

Cheers!

Let's Start Packing!

There are only eight days left until I'll be making my journey over to the United Kingdom.  I can hardly believe it!

Lacey started helping me pack, and I cannot begin to explain how challenging this is going to be.  At our orientation for the program, our advisor and a former student who went on the same trip strongly advised we take only one suitcase.  "Don't take anything you don't wear at home."  Well, I wear a lot of things at home, and I just want to take EVERYTHING!  It seems funny considering our stay is for five months!  I'm still not sure how this is going to end up working, but I'll do my best to stick to one suitcase.  0_0