just before football practice

I've got a few minutes before I head to my first football training and I'd like to take the opportunity to update you on my weekend and first day of class. Yes, you heard me right- football practice. I signed up to be apart of the women's club football team- British football, the kind with the round white and black ball. I haven't played in a few years, but it seemed appropriate while I was here. I'll let you know how it goes...

But as for my first week in Swansea and this last weekend... I spent most of last week finding my bearings, discovering the grocery store, unpacking and getting settled, meeting people.. You know, the usual. One of my tasks for last week was to seek out Claire, the other Rotary scholar studying at Swansea University, from New Zealand. We successfully found each other and immediately became friends. Talk about the stars lining up just right or however this all works-- we hit it off instantaneously. Claire is from the north island of New Zealand and here in Swansea doing her masters in Engineering.

So this last weekend Claire and I bought coach tickets and made the long (6 hours each way) journey to Leicester for the Rotary UK Link conference. The UK is the only branch of Rotary to have their own separate but still apart of Rotary International organization called Rotary International of Britain and Ireland. So they hold their own "Welcome to the UK" weekend for scholars. I will admit I was starting to question how worth it the weekend was 3 hours into the coach ride when I began to feel slightly nauseas, but the questions were silenced when we were taken straight to host families in Leicester for home cooked meals. The Symboroski family, my hosts for the weekend, lived in a beautiful country home 30 minutes outside Leicester surrounded by the rolling hedge-filled English countryside. The fresh veggies from their garden were my favorite! In addition to staying with families, Rotary also arranged for the 80-some scholars being hosted that weekend to visit the National Space Museum, City Hall, the local university, and to see and participate in a performance by the Morris Men (Britain's national dance). We got to see an Imax movie on astronomy, at city hall the Lord Mayor gave us the history of Leicester and hosted us for tea and cakes (which we delicious!), and most exciting, we got to meet other scholars from all over the world. I met not only other students from the US, but also from Japan, Denmark, Antigua, Italy, Germany and everywhere else. Did I mention it was really cool? I felt like I'd only blinked my eyes and Claire and I were boarding the coach home. I decided I would combat the motion sickness with sugar this time... 2 bags of sour gummies and some Smarties later... and I think I may have invented a new alternative to dramamine :). I got off the coach in Swansea with a bit of a stomach ache but at least it was better than feeling dizzy the whole way home!

Yesterday evening Paul (my host counselor) and his wife invited me to attend my hosting Rotary Club. Everyone was so nice and the food, again, was delicious. I had the opportunity to have my first Welsh cakes (a dessert) and they were awesome. I observed very closely to see if the Rotary Club of Swansea did things the same, similar or different from my home club in Waterloo. Aside from the meeting being in the evening instead of lunchtime, and possibly their food being better than the Sullivan Brothers catoring, the only notable difference was ending the meeting in a "vote of thanks" to the speaker, and they kindly toasted the club of Waterloo, Iowa to end the evening! I feel so honored to sponsor our club at home and so welcomed here in Swansea.

Well... off to football! Wish me luck :)

my address

The following is my mailing address here:

Laura Edwards
American Studies Exchange Office
Department of American Studies
Swansea University
Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP
Wales
UK

the beaches of the abertawe

<--- Swansea Bay... This view is from standing in Mumbles looking Northeast. The most left buildings in the photo are actually Swansea University. As you can see, the uni is right on the water :) This picture is taken when the tide was out (obviously). Swansea Bay has the 2nd fastest tide in the world-- it goes from what you see here to filling the bay almost up to the roads in about 20 minutes!

<--- Josh and I at a cafe called Ripples. I had yummy English tea there, which, by the way I am learning to love taking milk in my tea... Milk with tea is "very English." This place may become one of my favorite study/reading spots very soon.

croeso i gymru (welcome to wales)

We spent our last night in London at our favorite restaurant/pub we had discovered-- the Churchill Arms that I have wrote about previously. Pad Thai and a pint of Fuller's Honey Dew never tasted so good!

The next morning we began our journey through the countryside to Swansea, Wales. I have to be honest, it was a long day filled with several travel "issues" that, of course, seem to be magnified by anticipation and anxiousness mixed in with exhaustion. Nevertheless, I refuse to dwell on the negative, we arrived! And let me tell you- the pictures do not do this place justice. It is beee-A-ut-iful! (Pictures to come)

I am living in a student village about 2 miles from the main campus, in a flat with 9 other first year students: 3 American exchange students, 1 French exchange student, 1 Japanese exchange student, and 5 British students. We each have our own rooms and then share 2 showers, 2 toilets and a big kitchen.

Swansea University has a reputation for being an international school-- 38% of the student body are international students. Also, the student village is very social. With a pub and restaurant located right in our village, everyone seems friendly and anxious to be making new friends. I have met loads people from lots of different places already!

Sunday I had lunch with Paul, my Rotarian host counselor, and his family in their home. Traditional Sunday roast-- it was delicious! Roast chicken, sausage, bacon rolls, potatoes and parsnips in addition to cauliflower, brocolli, mashed potatoes, carrots and peas, bread sauce and gravy. MMmmmmmmm. I had no idea I had been missing home cooked meals so much! Not to mention Paul and his family were incredibly kind. Not only did they welcome me into their home for family lunch, but Paul and his middle child, Edward, drove me to Tescos (the British equivalent of Walmart) to get a few things I needed for my flat, showed me around Swansea, and took me to get ice cream at Joe's. It was a great day. (Thank you Murray family!) I must insert here something about lunch-- being in a new home with people who are being so gracious towards me, I was racking my brain and using my very best manners that my dad has taught me relentlessly growing up. Even though Dad's training has been stellar, I was out of my element. They, the British, or we, the Americans.... well, someone is holding the fork upside down! As I attempted to cunningly copy my manners as the Murray family did, I have to say it was terribly awkward to eat with my fork upside down to what I'm used to, and to eat with both the fork and knife in use at the same time! Haha, but I think I'm going to like it as I get used to it. It was kind of like a new challenge :)

Today I had orientation at the University. We have to register in person with each of our proposed professors, and I learned mine with be available on Wednesday. For the rest of the afternoon, we opted to explore the bay... We started at the uni and walked in the sand westward to Mumbles. (Swansea proper wraps around the Swansea Bay and is basically an accumulation of several villages that have grown together. I am living in Sketty. The Murrays live in Dunvont. Mumbles is along the waterfront). We explored around a bit, stopped at a cafe on the water to have tea, and caught the bus back to our student village.

Again I find myself exhausted. Adjusting to new routines can be such a physical and emotional drainer!

Pictures to come soon...........

british dogs and pints in the street

---> Taken from atop a hill at Hampstead Heath, one of my very favorite parks I came across in London, you can see the city line behind me. If you look close enough, you can make out some of the building outlines like the London Eye and St. Paul's Cathedral. I walked around this massive park for several hours one afternoon. In addition to coming across this viewpoint, I also saw the Kenwood Estate and the Pergola gardens. Everything was so beautiful, I can only imagine how the locals love to escape the city life to walk their dogs and enjoy fresh air. Which brings up another interesting point-- unlike parks at home where dogs MUST be on a leash, hardly any dogs here ever are! Not to mention, all of the dogs I've observed are SOOO well behaved (maybe that's why they don't have to be on a leash). All I can conclude this far about my observations is that just as British people have a reputation for being extrodinarily polite and on the quiet side, this reputation appears to extend to their pets as well. My dog would never in a million years fit in here!

---> We had gone to the night showing at Shakespeare's globe theater and this was the view from the Millennium Bridge on our walk home in the evening. It was such a perfect evening! From this view, you can see London Bridge in the foreground and Tower Bridge in the background. The city of London is so gorgeous all lit up!









---> What a new experience it was to be able to enjoy our pints on the street outside of the pub! And let me tell you-- this was one popular pub-- with people spilling out of its doors all the way across the street, bitters in hand! I think we came across one of the local hangouts. This, the Churchill pub, was the venue that combined Thai food and the pub atmosphere. In addition to all the of the baskets of flowers you can see on the outside of the building, the entire inside was filled as well, from the ceilings to the walls to the toilets! We loved it! The sign behind us is a picture of Churchill throwing up a peace sign-- he's become one of our favorite characters we've learned up since being here.

bad food myth debunked

I was told I don't know how many times before coming here that I was in for it--simply put, British food does not have a great reputation. So far, though, this just has not been my experience. Maybe all the warnings set my expectations low enough I have avoided disappointment, or maybe I just love food so much anything tastes good to me. Or maybe London food is different... I don't think we've ate the same ethnicity of food twice since we've been here. Whatever the case... I've been properly nourished and exposed to multicultural London at the same time.....

Uncarbonated beer-- growing up in the states we are definitely accustomed to highly carbonated beverages of all kinds. This is not the British way. This is mostly because the pump the taps by hand, but to some extent it is simply how they like it... and honestly, I didn't mind. I know one of my roommates has found the struggle for carbonated Coke a bit frustrating at times, but the lack of carbonation in a pint strangely seems appropriate here. (Maybe it just suits their local brews) I have to make a note here also about the drinking culture we've been introduced to thus far. Every day of the week around 6 (as people are getting off work or out of school), the pubs begin to fill and overflow out onto the streets. The atmosphere is social, friends getting together after a day to connect before they head home for dinner. The other drinking observation I have made relates to their laws. There is no "open-container" laws in Britain, therefore it is legal to walk about the streets, alcoholic beverage in hand. This caught me off guard at first, but after talking to a few of the locals, realized they don't worry about it as much because so few people drive anywhere.

British pub food-- of course, fish and chips. Every pub we come across, which is about three to every block, advertises their version of fish and chips. They also have a dish called the "plowman's meal," which never includes a description, but always comes on a cutting board with various meats, breads, cheeses, and fruit, that you can assemble yourself. I learned that it is supposed to represent a traditional meal that a plowman would take to the fields with him on a work day.

Thai food-- this meal was, first of all, delicious, but the venue caught us off guard. We ventured into a pub one evening literally covered in flower baskets inside and out. Once you passed the bar, you stepped into another section that was a Thai restaurant inside the pub! I never imagined the combo, beer and Thai food, together, but in that venue it strangely made sense.

Japanese-- we experienced authentic edamame, sushi and noodles in a lovely hole in the wall place really close to our home. Japanese culture seems to be fairly spread throughout the city, not really concentrated in one area like some cultures are.

Indian/Bangladeshi-- my first time having Indian food ever. Our professor took us to Brick Lane for our class the other morning. Brick Lane is the area of London where the bricks used to be made to be used to pave the streets of "the city." Back then, it was prodominantly a Jewish area. It is on the east end of London, and home to most immigrating cultures before they disperse throughout the city. It also has a reputation because of the artists and musicians who choose to create and perform there. Currently, it is prodominantly a Bangladeshi area. We had a traditional Indian lunch there. I have to say, it was good, but not my favorite.

French-- there is a little cafe on the way from our residence to our school here in London. On days when we're running ahead of schedule, we have occasionally stopped for coffee or tea here. Every time, we gaze into the case tempted by the pastries, breakfast dishes and desserts. One morning, I gave it. I also learned that I love croque monsieur! I had to indulge just one other morning, but its definitely something I'd like to learn how to make at home!

Italian-- Pasta and pizza.... Honestly, I've never met an Italian dish I despise. Mostly, though, we've discovered a cafe on the way back to our residence from the tube stop that serves gelato. Mmmm anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE ice cream :) So whenever my group has been up for it, we stop on our way home for a bit of gelato. It's the perfect night cap in my opinion.

Now that I'm hungry I suppose I'll go rummage through the small fridge in our room for something I can create for lunch. We've been trying to strategically use up all of our food before we transfer to Swansea. As such, meals around here have been a little hodgepodge. Almonds, green grapes, and a bagel it is!

on the banks of the Seine

<--- A glimpse of the cobblestone paths along the Seine in Paris. By mid-afternoon these pathways were packed with people soaking up the sun, reading, or resting.




<--- The iconic Eiffel tower...

parlez vous Anglais?

My roommate, Lindsay, and I decided at the last minute that it would be a great idea to sign up for one of the day trips advertised in the brochures in the lobby of our temporary housing. So Saturday morning, under the cover of darkness (about 4:30am) we ventured out onto the streets of London in search of the St. Pancras International Train Station. We were headed to Paris! Before we arrive on the streets of the "City of Love," though....

I've been known to be wrong a few times in my life, I prefer to call it confused though. And apparently I had misinformed myself as to the whereabouts of the train station. Oops. Thank goodness Lindsay isn't one of those people who freak out! We bumped into a guard somewhere around the gates to parliament 5 minutes before we we'd been told to be at the station. Politely asking him where the station was, he politely told us we were on the wrong side of the city and speculated it would be a 40 minute walk. I felt my jaw hit the pavement and my eyes widen to the size of half-dollars..... The nice thing about spending time around a roommate you've only just met is neither of you know each other well enough to have a full-blown freak out breakdown in front of each other. Or get that mad at each other thankfully. So as I oppressed the desire to scream "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!?!", we calmly walked down the street and assessed our options. Buses? No way, too confusing and too slow. Tube? Maybe... but for whatever reason London does all their renovation projects on the weekends and you never know which lines will be open or closed on Saturday. Taxi? If only there were one around... we walked two blocks before finally flagging down a lone black cab on his way around a corner. Desperation must have squeaked through in my voice in my explanation of being lost and late for a train because, boy, that cabby flew through the winding streets! Luckily, the streets are not crowded at 5:35 in the morning. Whipping into the St. Pancras station in 9 minutes flat, we were feeling more relieved about only being 15 minutes late rather than whatever it could have been.

We made it onto the Eurostar on time. The Eurostar is the train that runs frequently between London and Paris through the "chunnel." I was fascinated by this underwater tunnel beneath the English Channel, yet somewhat dissapointed that while on the train, you can't really even tell when you're just in a tunnel or underwater. The wonders of modern technology! We were so excited our plan hadn't fallen apart under the early morning street light :)

Our first steps into Paris were the first time I really realized that I wasn't going to communicate with anyone. And, I learned that I do not have any percieveable ability to be able to spot other Americans. A deep sigh just to check if I was breathing... Yep. Again, I found myself thankful it wasn't ok to have a breakdown in front of people we've just met. We must have looked lost staring at a bus map, attempting to decode it. A kind Parisan stopped and informed us that we probably wanted to take the 31, towards the Arch de Champs... it would get us to the main tourist area and from there things should be easier. Our next question-- where is the bus? Laughing a little, he pointed us in the direction of the closest bus stop and we were on our way again.

The rest of the day was great. We saw the Eiffel tower, went on a boat tour up and down the Seine river, wandered the courtyards of the Louvre, looked for Quasimoto at the Notre Dame Cathedral, ate lunch a French cafe, and enjoyed the sun as we walked the cobblestone paths that line the banks of the Seine. Occasionally we found ourselves staring at signs, puzzled as to their meaning, but we got the hang of the flow of things in time. It was a full day. Needless to say, we crashed immediately when we got back to our London flat. What an experience!

Tomorrow starts our last week of class here in London before heading to Swansea. I'm going to try to pack the week full, attempting to leave no stone untouched-- at least not the stones I really want to see. We have a final paper due and a test on Thursday. My paper is on whether the National Health Service will continue to exist in the UK in the next 10-15 years, through the predicted party change in government, increasing budget and the populations demand for more choices in healthcare.

Until next time... Au Revoir!

ten day reflection

Being ten days in and catching a moment this evening to reflect on how much I've gotten to see and do and experience since I arrived in the British Isles... I can't help but devote a secton here to saying another thank you to all of the Rotarians that have made this oppotunity for me possible. I feel so blessed to have people at home supporting me and investing their time and money into my educational and personal growth.

I have already learned SO much. Navigating a foreign transportation system and money exchange, not to mention that by being in London temporarily, I have had the chance to be exposed to SO MANY different cultures and this alone has been been a dramatically different experience than I expected. I have to say that my expectation before departing was that I would be dropped into a world of British accents, royal etiquette and "high tea." London, however, has blown me away with its immense diversity. It seems you run into a different culture every three store fronts, if not more often. I have been told that once I arrive in Swansea in another ten days, the British/Welsh culture will be notably more concentrated. With that in mind, I feel my experience getting to be in London for a couple weeks has been unique and priceless. I've tried new foods (more on this later), chatted with people from backgrounds I've never been around before, and heard languages truly foreign to any of my previous exposure.

Thank you, again, Rotarians, for believing in the educational scholarship programs! I am so thankful for this opportunity!

lifestyles of the rich and famous

Ahhh, to do what American women do best--Shop! A day of shopping on High Street Kensington and a breeze through Harrod's department store... Don't worry Mom and Dad, I didn't blow my entire savings today!

One of the free days last week offered us time for exploration of the surrounding neighborhoods which sequentially led to the discovery that we were only about 3 blocks from the reputable shopping on High Street Kensington. My roomies and I of course made plans to go back, strategically planning to make it to the area as close to opening time as possible in an effort to avoid the masses of people we'd witnessed on those streets the first time we'd come across it. Most British folk seem to be opposed to getting up and moving any time before 11 or so, so our plan to arrive, cash in hand around 10, worked marvelously. Stepping in and out of stores we'd never heard of, it never took long to size up just how far out of our price ranges the merchandise really was. I guess that's just part of the big city life! Needless to say, it definitely wasn't a "big haul" day like some I remember from back in the day when we did "school shopping," but I did find a really cute scarf (so I could better fit in with the 9 out of 10 people you see walking down the street with beautiful fabric wrapped around their neck), some shoes that were miraculously on sale, and some "English chocolates" to send home to surprise my brother-- don't worry, he doesn't read my blog!

Harrod's was an experience to say the least. By the time we reached the beautiful, security-loaded doors, we only had an hour of time before we had to be back. Let me tell you, even without spending ANY money, it was not near enough time to see all that this ENORMOUS department store had to offer. "The world's most famous department store," filling an entire city block and reaching several luxourious stories high, it was a window shopper's dream. We didn't have time to see any of the purses or clothing, but we did get to meander through the jewelry, fragrance, food and wine sections. I could never even imagine spending as much money as some of the watches and necklaces cost, but I sort of felt like I'd walked into a scene in "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." It was a great day :)

Tomorrow we're headed to the National Portrait Gallery for class, and the school that is sponsoring the presessional course I'm taking, Foundation for International Education, has gotten our class all tickets to the musical, 39 Steps, in the evening. Should be another great day...

the view from the top

---> My flatmates and me on Millenium Bridge with St. Paul's cathedral behind us. Millenium Bridge is nicknamed the "Wobbly Bridge" because the first time it opened the architects hadn't planned for the thousands of people who would cross it, causing the bridge to sway side to side and up and down. They closed it down, fixed it and reopened it once it was stabilized but the nickname stuck. Either way, its a great view of St. Paul's!






---> The view from the top gallery of St. Pauls. 537 steps up and being exposed to wind gusts that made you feel like you could be blown into the Thames, but it was totally worth it!

600 sq miles of area to cover

Whew! The first week flew by! Our 3-week presessional course began on Wednesday with a tour of the Imperial War Museum and a tour of St. Paul's cathedral on Thursday. I feel like I've learned SO MUCH in the last 5 days-- English culture, history, tradition-- that the brains inside my skull might burst!

This morning began with a beautiful walk around the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park, followed by an afternoon spent at the eclectic market in Camden Town. Before we left for the market, we were told that Camden Town has a reputation for being the origination of punk and goth styles amongst London teens. These trends, bright neon colors mixed with lots of black, big boots and bold hairstyles peppered the streets and market stands. Every weekend, thousands of people frequent the markets. Mixed in with the crowd, we looked at antique stands, clothes stands, fresh fruit and veggies, watches, hats... You name it, they had it. So much of it was incredibly unique!

As a part of our coursework, each member of our 5-person class was assigned a specific culture that has made part of London their home. We have a week and a half to visit an area of the city where our particular culture can be found, research their history, explore some of their culture, eat their food if we can, and then present what we've learned. Because of our class size and curiosity associated with our individual tasks, we've decided to do them all together. On our way home from Camden Town, we visited an Irish Cultural Center and learned about how some Irish immigrated to London seeking work in the 1940s and 50s. Tomorrow we're headed to a Jewish Cultural Festival to listen to live music and eat some food!

This city is so huge-- 600 square miles--so many different cultures that over 200 languages can be heard throughout the city! In an attempt to see and do as much as we possibly can, our days have been packed to say the least. Sleep hard, play hard is the motto.

The night is young, and tomorrow will not only include the Jewish festival, but also a visit to a local church in the morning and evening plans to attend Shakespeare's Troilus & Cressida at the Globe Theatre.

Pictures to come soon...

life in the "bor-ah"

<--- This is me and one of my flatmates at Buckingham Palace. We got to watch the changing of the guard, however, the queen and Philip are not there as they are in Scotland for the summer. We learned that you can tell this because the queen has her own flag that flies above the castle when she is there. When she's not, the Britisth flag flies.




<--- I am currently staying in the Royal Borough of Kensington. To the left is one of the tube stop signs nearby. The other tube stop nearby is the Gloucester Road stop. Gloucester, as much as I'd like to pronounce it like it looks, is actually pronounced Glouw-ster. I've also learned since being here that Borough is pronounced Bor-ah. Go figure:)