Bangor - Week 1

As the saying goes, I am alive and well.

Because of reasons unknown to me (and my amazing father), I found myself in a business class seat from JFK to Manchester. There was REAL food, and REAL space to stretch out and sleep. So I did. After having dinner, part 2, I slept almost soundly for most of the flight. The only real downfall of business class had nothing to do with Delta at all. It have everything to do with the woman sitting next to me trying to get me, on the flight, after I had informed her I was going to Wales to study science, and how excited and important it was to me, to accept Jesus into my heart. She told me that she would pray that God would open himself up to me through my studies. And I lost count how many times she told me Jesus loves me. I listened with sincereity to her story of how she was raised Catholic and became born again when she was 25. That's part of her life and I was interested because we were sharing. But it's a bit abbrasive when someone gives you the stink eye because you didn't pray thanks for your microwaved (as good as it might have been) butternut squash raviloi.

If I did love Jesus, I'm sure she would have been a perfectly nice human being. But anyway...

We got the Manchester about 40 minutes early, so I had more then enough time to get to the train. The 2.5 hour train ride through Wales was mega pretty. I've never seen so many sheep before in my life. At the Bangor train station my new roomie Eilir (pronounced like Alien, without the n and a rolled r) was sweet enough to come and pick me up. All of my roommates so far are really cool. Beth is from Southhampton, Sarah is from just outside of London and Eilir is a local transplant. His first language is actually Welsh. Our fifth roommate, Ben, is currently in the Aritic doing research for his PhD. I'll get to meet him at the end of October. Eilir is also a PhD candidate while Beth and Sarah are getting their Masters in Marine Environmental Protection. The three of us will have butt loads of classes together, my schedule is just a tad different.

I live in a house which is a 10 min walk, max, from the School of Ocean Sciences where I will be practically living this year. There are only 8 people in my course, 7 girls, one guy. Poor him, huh? There's a load of course work, and it looks intimitating, but doable. As long as I stay ontop of it, I should be fine. If I fall behind... I'll just not fall behind.

Being as this weekend is one of the only free weekends we will have, Beth, Sarah, myself and some other coursemates of ours went to the Irish Sea. The water was below freezing (which didn't really stop a lot of us from going in. It's hard not to cave with a Scottish guy egging you on) but the sceniery was breathe taking. We walked all around the coast and climbed the rocky beach shore, barefoot, to a couple of lighthouses. One new and improved, the other as old as the land it looked like.

I've got to get a camera. When my roomies put the pics online I'll add a link.

But that's all for right now. I'm off to eat a good dinner because classes start tomorrow. And I want to be ready. :)

Love to all of you, I miss you tons.

Emily
15, Mount St. - The Isle of Anglesey.

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