Blogs from Vale Of Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

Just because I haven't written for a week dos not necessarily mean I have dropped off the face of the earth; this time, it means I've been to Oxford, London, Llantwit Major, and (today, for the CAVRA exercise) Rhoose Point, where I had to carry an extremely out-of-shape fifty-year-old man up a hill on a stretcher whilst he pretended to be unconscious. The long weekend - which started exactly one week ago and which on the whole required significantly less effort than dragging the fat man 200 yards - was amazing, mainly because my roommate has houses in both Oxford and Oxford Circus in London. I can't really say 'the heart of London', as I discovered that London is sort of mind-bogglingly huge and could not possibly be fully explored in the 24 hours that we ... read more

Well, my performance for the Dutch royal family yesterday was completely worth the effort, if only for the looks of shock and horror that crossed their faces as soon as I began to speak in my groggy, I-took-three-Strepacils-but-I-still-sound-like-a-12-year-old-boy voice. My equally nervous accompanist (who I had never actually practiced with before the performance) also gave me a five-minute long disclaimer, which was sort of daunting as I only ended up singing the one song anyway. The music department, thank goodness, had a Plan B,filling the 45 minutes with other (in my opinion, far more interesting and cultural) musical acts with me at the end singing Someone To Watch Over Me. Apparently I still impressed them, however, so I'm officially singing a full concert for the next royal and/or fundraising visit. I've also been chosen for Madrigals, ... read more

Basically as soon as I got here, fabulous oppurtunities started throwing themselves into my path like the deranged squirrels that flock all over campus (they FLOCK. I had never seen squirrels do this before, and it's quite creepy). Tonight I'm actually escaping the evil greasy clutches of the cafeteria for the third time today and going out to a reportedly amazing restaurant in Cowbridge, with my Zimbabwean roommate and her link family. Which really is a fabulous opportunity, if you knew how bland and fatteningly boring the cafeteria food was here. Going out for dinner also allows me to escape the Sports Week basketball game, which I was forced to join after the Ultimate Frisbee surprise, where I would easily be a foot shorter than everyone else on the team. However, the REALLY fabulous, completely unexpected ... read more

I always seem to be writing my blog when it's raining. Not that it rains ALL the time - just about 90% of it. Whenever the sun comes out I dash around like a mad thing getting my clothes on my clothesline, which remains the only one on the entire campus. Granted, since there's so much rain I sort of understand why no one else has one. Saturday was rather miraculous in that we had six full hours of sun during the CAVRA hike, which was stunningly beautiful, and a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I've got my hiking boots conspicuously sitting in front of my closet door now so that everyone can see how wonderfully rugged and dirty they are now. Saturday was also my roommate's birthday (the English one), so ... read more

I've never had a first day of school like this; for starters, it's quite obvious that no one plans out their outfits for hours the night before. Well all right, one person does - my friend Ollie put a lot of time into choosing his cornea-searing ensemble of bright yellow skinny jeans and purple sneakers. But as far as I can tell, he was the only one. After years of "classroom" discussions in which I was one of two people who actually spoke, it's such a relief to go to classes where everyone is interested and enthusastic about the subject. My English teacher, a 23-year-old ex-AC student whose two nose piercings reflect the energy-saving fluorescent lights, made us analyze a poem for an hour that sounded like something you'd put on a Post-It note, a grocery ... read more