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 :)