Courses Sorted (Day 6)

I woke up a bit later than usual today and had to rush to make sure I did everything that needed to be done. We had an ID check (we had to enroll online, send in a picture for our Bangor ID cards and show up with our passports between 10am and 4pm) and the module form was due before 4pm. Of course I still needed 2/3 signatures around 2pm. (Faculty takes lunch breaks from like 12-2...what.)

I'm all signed up! Here are the courses I will be studying:

• Ethics: Religious Perspectives 

• Cultural Economy of the Media

• Global News Agenda

We were only allowed to take a max of 60 Bangor credits (20 UK credit = 5 TU credit). I'm technically taking 15 credits, but only 3 classes. I have classes on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll definitely be planning some weekend trips.

Since then, I've just been relaxing since and trying to catch up on here. I've decided I'm going to switch on and off with daily and weekly vlogs. I want to make sure there is a good amount of content in them, rather than me just walking the same hilly streets day after day.

I'm also probably going to do more general updates on here, because I'll be a lot busier once classes start on Monday. This means I should really start writing in my journal, but I think we are going out tonight again.

I'm going to need like 124873294 months (to recover) of just me, my DVR/Netflix and animal cuddles when I return.

I'm having so much fun, though, that I don't even want to think about my return just yet. Maybe I'll develop an accent in the next five months...a girl can dream.

Wales, Why You So Hilly? (Day 5)

My legs hurt. My feet hurt. All of these hills. They're so beautiful, but ow. 

I'm seriously not sure why I brought a pair of heels. I can barely make it up a hill in boots. My legs just want to dislocate from my body and run off so I will stop using them.

Today was a busy day. Harriet, Maddie and I walked what felt like the entire city of Bangor (in reality, we probably did considering we went to three different grocery stores in one day...don't ask why). 

We all live in the same hall on the Ffriddoedd Site, but we had to walk over to the Normal Site to get some department signatures...I feel so bad to anyone who has to live in a hall all the way over in the Normal "Middle of Nowhere" Site. Well, it's not the middle of nowhere, but again, ow. 

I had to go talk to one of the people in charge of the International Students regarding never receiving an email about a username/password to get onto the Bangor server and wifi (luckily, some guy gave me his so I could get on wifi the day I got here). But, that all got sorted easily.

I also booked some day trips through the University to Liverpool and Manchester in the upcoming weeks! They have a weekend Cardiff trip I'm debating about booking as well, but I'm afraid they wouldn't go to the Doctor Who Experience. 

(I'm having a mental block and a period of time escapes me...let's just fast forward to night time.)

Maddie's flat mates and their friends invited us to all go out to a club, which was a good time. I guess Wednesday is Uni night...which means one pound jagerbombs. 

I'm probably going to die since I have a 9am class on Thursdays. 

Welsh Dancing (Day 4)

I need to get in the habit of writing more down at the end of each day, because now I'm not entirely certain what happened or when. Everything is just a blur.

With all that said, here's what (I think) happened:

We had a welcome meeting at 10am. We were required to bring a paper emailed to us with information on it to the meeting. I had printed it out before leaving the States, but surprise! I forgot it. Oh well, it wasn't the end of the world.

The meeting was very informative, but overwhelming. We were told how to register for our modules (courses) and given a sheet of paper to have filled out and signed by each courses' head of the dept. This was all due on Thursday. Two days to fill this out, everyone. TWO DAYS. 

After the meeting was over, I headed back to go over the time tables and see what courses would fit best in my schedule/make the most sense to take. I had some courses equated at Towson prior, but now things felt up in the air. 

Plus, the time tables were all over the place and confusing and I was like "what"...so I decided to venture out and see if Harry could help. I literally couldn't have left my room at a better time because my other flat mate, Harriet (who is an exchange student from Australia), was just leaving her room. We got talking and she told me how we apparently have a tall Harry and a short Harry (she had met short, I had met tall) who we share the kitchen and bathroom with...(there's two other girls as well, but I've only met one still.) So it's Harry, Harry, Harriet and Heather. 

Then, Harriet and I went on a little adventure with Maddie (another exchange student from Australia) to the pier and did some shopping on High Street. 

That night we had a compulsory meeting (a "social gathering"), where there was traditional Welsh food and music. We did the "Twmpath"...some sort of Welsh dance. That was interesting.

After that, Harriet, Maddie, Alex (another Australian) went to a bar with some Americans (there's like a group of 45 here from Iowa). There was a Tardis wall decal in the bar, so I was internally freaking out.


Also, I go to school at Hogwarts. I have yet to find the beautiful library I saw online, but I'm keeping my eye out. 

Moving In (Day 3)

Mission accomplished: I made it to Boots. Finally. Also, I walked up and down high street looking for a place that would sell bedding/bath towels.  And then I found a holy place called Debahams. I wanted everything, but I tried to go for the least expensive bedding. However, with the currency exchange, nothing is necessarily “cheap”.

I’m not a huge fan of flat sheets, but I picked one up (along with a fitted sheet) – then I decided to put it back. Guess who put back the fitted sheet, instead of the flat sheet, and didn’t realize until they got back to the hotel? Me. (Since writing this, and now actually posting it, I decided to get the bedding pack from the school -- which didn't include a flat sheet, so go me! On the down side, we didn't get to choose and the duvet is this hideous brown color.)

Somehow, I feel like I’ve gained another 20lbs. to my suitcase. Luckily, I took a taxi to the Halls Accommodations Office, as I was rather certain I would die by the time I made it there or I’d be watching my luggage roll down a hill.

I got there around 12:30pm (the email said to pick keys up at 1:00pm), thinking they would give me my keys just a little early...hahaha, nope. It then dawned on me that I was bound to meet other study abroad students who were trying to pick up their key and I did!

After getting my keys and arrival packet, it felt like the longest walk of my life to get my immensely overweight luggage to my building. I must have stopped to re-adjust a few hundred times. Upon realizing there were no elevators in my hall building (and my room was on the 2^nd floor, which was actually the 3^rd because the first floor was 0), I made a system of taking one item up a half flight of stairs at a time. Then, two guys offered to take my luggage up for me…praise baby Jesus.

It took me about 20 tries to put in the code for my corridor (which is a co-ed corridor with shared bath and kitchen), before I realized I was turning the knob the wrong way. (Good job, Heather. You didn’t get a degree in opening doors, so I will let this pass.)

As I was moving my stuff from the hallway into my bedroom, I met one of my flat mates, Harry from Yorkshire. 95% sure Harry was drunk, as he offered for me to join him and his buddies to "get merry" (it was maybe 2:30pm…on a Monday...the British go hard). But, he was really nice and showed me the kitchen area later. So, let’s hope everyone else in my corridor is just as friendly (update: they are). 

Here are some pictures of my new accomodations:

 

I'm going to try to not feel creepy while getting pictures of the kitchen/bathroom. 

P.S.: I seriously need to write in an actual journal. I brought one with me, but just haven’t found the time. Maybe if I write in big capital letters, I will do it. WRITE IN JOURNAL.

British Accents

I think the title speaks for itself.

Also, to me, this is the best post to begin with while catching my blog up on the last couple of days...

LOST: Season 7 (Day 2)

Exploring Bangor:

My UK phone is just a flip phone, which for all intensive purposes is fine. I was actually excited about putting my iPhone down and not being able to immediately access Facebook, Twitter, etc. (I turned off my cellular data).

I've become too accustomed to immediately checking and refreshing social media sites - from the minute I wake up/right before I go to bed. I use it as a safety net the second I feel vulnerable and out of place (aka walking down a street I don't know or eating alone in a restaurant), and sometimes I do it mindlessly out of complete boredom. It's become second nature to just grab my phone and be connected - looking down rather than looking up and being present in a moment.

I want to be disconnected from technology (which is ironic as I'm blogging my day-to-day life).
But, I don't want to be disconnected from Google Maps. Seriously, I am directionally challenged. 

A simple trip to Boots on High Street (which I looked up on my computer and took pictures of to refer how to get to and from the hotel) proved that I no longer know how to use a map. (My generation in a nutshell: "Siri, just tell me when I need to make a left or right, ok?")

I never found Boots or High Street, but I did find the BBC Cymru hub in Bangor, a pier and some nice waterfront/Mount Snowdon views, a street that in English is translated to "Love Lane", Bangor's Creative Studies & Media building, and a grocery store. So, all hope was not lost.

But, for real, I need to get to Boots tomorrow (they're closed now). A hair straightener and blowdryer are desperately needed. (I'm afraid I'm going to have to resort to asking a real life person for directions.) SOS.

Update:

Since writing the above post, I have inquired at the front desk about checking out at a later time (closer to when I can get into my hall) and the best route to get to Boots. The girl looked concerned that I was going out at night -- I'll take that as a sign that High Street may not be so safe at night (aka 6pm).

But, more importantly....

Netflix saga: the homepage says I can't stream because I'm out of the U.S. I know people who have been in England and didn't have a problem with it connecting immediately. Also, I've been advised to just change my country - but how? Google is not being very helpful, soo... advice, anyone?

P.S.: 

P.S. I love Wales (Day 1)

My first (and very eventful) day in Wales:

We went into a town called Llandudno and walked along the Victorian promenade and into the center of town. I know Wales was inspiration for Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" but I'm not quite sure if Llandudno played a significant role in his writing, as the town had some wooden statues of the Queen of Hearts and other characters from the book. It's about 20 minutes away from Bangor, so definitely worth another day trip.

(No pictures, oops. Just another reason to go back!)

After that, we headed to Conwy. We walked around the Conwy Castle's walls (1 castle down, 640 to go), saw the smallest house in Britain and ate some food at a Welsh pub (I had chicken schnitzel and chips, mmm).

Then, we made a quick stop to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a town in the Isle of Anglesey. Yes, that's the actual town's name. No, I have no idea how you pronounce it. It's the longest town name in Wales and one of the longest town names in the world.

It's funny because when looking at courses to take, I thought it might be interesting to register for an Intro to Welsh class...pretty sure I would fail.

Hello, Jet Lag

The past 24 hours have been a whirlwind of various mixed emotions - happy, sad, and a lot of denial.

From saying goodbye to the airplane rides to now sitting in my Bangor hotel room, I still can't believe I'm here. This is all just a dream, right? I'm just going on vacation for a week or so, right?

I still don't think it's hit me that I'm here for good (well, not forever), or maybe it has but I haven't noticed because of the jet lag. I think it will really sink in once I register for my courses and start attending classes (or, you know, maybe tomorrow when I'm sitting alone at breakfast/lunch/dinner - Hi, I'd like a table for one...)

Let's talk plane rides. While at the airport, I realized I hadn't been on a plane since 2010, and frankly, I forgot how much airplane/airport food makes me want to vomit.

• Flight #1 (BWI --> JFK): Seriously, I was expecting this plane to go down or break apart at any minute. I mean, it was sturdy but I was sitting over the wing and I heard some things. Minus the noises, possibilities of dying and the plane being really tiny and compact (it had a single row of seats, an aisle and then two seats), it wasn't that bad. 
• Flight #2 (JFK --> MAN): I read somewhere that JFK is one of the best airports to have a layover in. Lies. I ate a semi decent chicken caesar salad wrap and then wondered the gates for an outlet that would actually work to charge my phone. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. (Mostly the worst because there weren't little TVs on the back of each seat and therefore all my plans of movie marathoning were kaput. So sad.) 

Also, can I just mention that on the flight to Manchester, I accidentally sat in the wrong seat (I was 14A for the first flight and 15A for the second, but my brain was like "No, you're 14A again.") Anyways, I had to straddle some passed out guy to get to my (one row off) window seat. Don't worry, he didn't hear me say "excuse me" like 10 times, but he did wake up when I was trying to jump over him (because that would happen to me). Later, he was escorted off the plane for multiple reasons. Fun times.

So, now I'm in Wales(!!!) and waiting for some culture shock.

Speaking of culture shock, here are a few things I need to get used to in the UK:

• Driving on the wrong side of the road (left side)
• Also, I have to retrain my brain to look in the right direction while crossing the street to (preferably) not get hit by any and all moving vehicles.
• 24 hour/military time 
• What the what?
• Temperature (Celsius) 
• I feel like all I need to know is that it's mostly cold and raining.
• I'm sure there's more, but I'm tired.

It was really nice to have someone waiting to pick me up at the airport and show me around Wales (see previous post if you're wondering what I'm talking about). I'll do a blog post going a bit more in depth on my first day adventures (most likely with a bon voyage video montage included)!

I'm planning a trip to Boots tomorrow (well, today now) to get some things that I didn't pack and explore Bangor more. Honestly, I thought I packed pretty well, but my 69 lb. suitcase says otherwise. 

T- 1 day

Tomorrow is the big day.

I should probably finish packing, but...

Bangor had the wrong email address for me - since I never received my housing on time, I just booked my flight guessing when I should arrive. I was wrong. I can't get into my housing until the 20th, and I'm arriving on the 18th. Guess who's staying in a hotel on campus until then? This lady.

After flying into Manchester, I was going to have to catch a train or bus into Wales (since I'm going solo and the university doesn't pick me up at the airport). But, one of my British relatives (who my mom met on ancestry.com) offered to pick me up and drive me to Bangor.

I just watched this video (below) and I'm so excited!!!

Here's to (hopefully) not getting taken. (Because according to my sister, no one in our family has a special set of skills to save me.)

-Wally

PS: I'll try to vlog (video blog) while I'm gone, so subscribe for good times.
PPS: These exchange rates are hurting my soul. British pounds/Euros will be the death of me (and my bank account).