Blogs from Wales, United Kingdom, Europe - page 150

I might as well admit it now - I'm really just sitting here typing very slowly so as to procrastinate as much as possible. The first term exams start tomorrow, and in typical AC style we were given an entire day free to study even though the faculty must know that we only plan to sleep, eat, and go to Llantwit or (for the real hard-core procrastinators) Bridgend. At least I'm not under any grade pressure (like I was, at the end of EVERY semester, at my old school); my extremely competitive roommate was desperate to hear my monthly grades from last month and then had a barely-concealed strop because my scores right now could get me into any college in the world. I'm a bit worried that I won't actually be able to keep them ... read more

My week both started and ended on Queen Street in Cardiff, although last Saturday there wasnt a gigantic Christmas tree and ropes of glistening icicle lights lighting up the entire city. Some other minor differences - last Saturday I was dressed as a soldier pretending to beat monks with sticks (some incriminating photos might soon become available of when the police pulled me aside and took my stick away) as part of the Amnesty international street theater against the violence in Burma, and this Saturday I just went shopping with my roommate. I had my third chance encounter with a famous person while we were waiting for the bus into Llantwit, when the Nobel Peace Prize winner who had given us the Friday Lecture the night before was just leaving campus and offered us a lift. ... read more

It's the middle of November (the CAVRA code word for the letter n), right? So why are the trees still green? Why is there no snow? I've sort of been comiserating with the Norwegians for the past week over the unfortunate Welsh lack of our favourite white fluffy powder; it sort of further creates the illusion that we're all living in a bubble, a sort of odd time warp where the leaves never fall and it's impossible to go skiing, EVER. I broke out my huge puffy down Vermonter coat for the first time tonight, causing a chorus of giggles from the Swedes who are still jogging about in tshirts but a smile of recognition from our lone Fijian girl, who is still miserable in five layers of furry jackets and scarves. Strangely enough, the onset ... read more

Down the local beach - nothing like aussie but it has its charm especially the pub... read more

Well, I've done it...I've explored the third most haunted castle in the United Kingdom, at midnight, on Halloween (but not alone. Otherwise, I'd still be shivering). Even though it's two days later now, nothing that's happened in the past 48 hours even begins to equal this TRUE STORY of my St Donats experience with two other Americans on lock-up duty. Granted, I admit that watching all of Saw with my roommate and my two best friends immediately before may have colored my perception of these TRUE, shall I repeat completely TRUE events, but still...on lock-up duty of the castle (which we signed up for in advance, of course) we are required to close the doors in all the most notoriously haunted rooms of the castle - the Old Staff Common Room where a fire in the ... read more