the art of distraction

It's funny how changing circumstances can change a person's perspective on things. Like how with the onset of a need to be studying for exams, suddenly so many things become important-- like cleaning the house, doing the dishes, and blogging of course! (Haha)

We students call this the art of distraction. Don't let me deceive you, exams are definitely important. Because of this fact, the student must frame the distraction in a light that portrays it to be more important. Thankfully, this term is offering much material to work with: given that it is my last weeks in Wales, not only is packing or cleaning a priority, but so is spending time with friends I may not ever see again. Thus, socializing becomes very important. :)

I am an emotional person (I can hear my mom chuckling already). I don't know who came up with the idea of putting exams at the end of the term, but don't they know that we students, especially international students, already have a lot on our plates this time of year?? Goodbyes are hard enough, let alone figuring out how I'm going to fit everything back into the TWO suitcases I came with, realization of how much less money I have, and then add to it the stress of exams. Not to mention that its finally been starting to feel like Spring/Summer around here.. Mom, can you even imagine the rollercoaster my emotions are on? It's no surprise my face has broke out a little bit!!

If you remember, at the beginning of this term I shared with you about how my American housemate and I made an "American dinner" for our international housemates. Well, we have continued the project to share our cultures-- My housemate, Jon, is from France and I have to be honest, his English isn't always the best (don't worry, he doesn't follow my blog), but he didn't quite understand the project and rather than sharing something French, made us one of his favorite new dishes-- fajitas! Haha! Christian, from Germany, made us a dish that he explained was really traditional and he'd grown up with his mom making it for him. It was meatballs in a cream of mushroom-type sauce over white rice, served it with a yummy cucumber salad on the side. Delic'! I have to admit that my favorite was our most recent-- Italian! Barbara is an amazing chef and she really treated us. Fresh bruschetta starter, pasta with a homemade cream sauce with mushrooms and ham in it, and marscapone dessert! Wowwy it was so good.

So anyway, these days have been filled with coming up with a packing strategy, beginning to say goodbyes to friends as they finish their exams and start leaving town, trying to enjoy the sunshine that Swansea has been offering lately, wrapping up paperwork from the university and my final report for Rotary-- oh, and studying for exams!!

one down, two to go

Completed my first exam this morning. Honestly, this blog is more of a distraction from studying for my second exam than anything. Not that you all aren't important, but my days lately have been filled with attempts to study and learn last minute things before being evaluated. I have to say, though, in my studying with my friends from the UK, we've gotten into a lot of discussions about coursework and grades and one thing I'm realizing is there are so many differences between the US and UK educational systems.

I cannot even begin to explain the high school system here to you. To me, it sounds like they are in high school for two years and then they do two years of courses that are more focused on their interest area and structured in a way that is more transitional to a university-style schedule. Then, university and college are not the same thing here. The way I understand it, college is more like a technical school education and university is like our universities and colleges. Some people go to "college" instead of doing the last two years of high school. I think I have discussed this before, but the concept of a liberal arts education is definitely more rare in the UK. The US university system requires a much broader spectrum of classes, and therefore takes longer to achieve an undergraduate degree. While it takes at least four years in the States, undergraduate degree programs in the UK hardly ever take more than three years.

The differences abound when you start talking about how things are evaluated. We call it grading, they call it marking. While we have the gradepoint system that we are all familiar with-- I never realized how complicated it really is until I tried to explain it to a friend here. Hah! Maybe I'm just not very good at explaining! Nevertheless, for evaluating a specific assignment or exam, our grading is based on taking away points while theirs is based on earning points. So our professors give you 100% and then take away points for what you answer wrong or are missing. Here, they start at zero and give you points based on what components you have.

On a larger scale, our numerical grades are converted into letter grades while theirs are converted into another numerical system. Our top grade is an A+ depending on where you go, and theirs is called a 1st (so the top grade is a 1st, the next is a 2-1 followed by a 2-2, and then a 3rd). Step back another step and while our grades are converted into the gradepoint system and averaged based on the credit hours and accumulated as you take classes, theirs again, is different. The first year of their degree program is pass/fail. Then the next two years are weighted- sometimes each year is worth equal parts, but sometimes it is split where the second year is worth 30% and the third worth 70%. Like I said, it is very complicated.

In any sense, I must be getting back to my studying. One down, two to go!!

sun in swans

--> You will never believe what I saw today-- the sun! Haha. I was starting to wonder if it even still existed... My Welsh friends got a kick out of my playful complaints about how my complexion has gone all wrong due to being so white I feel reflective and how I've just got to be vitamin D deprived.. They all laugh and say, "This is Wales!" The Welsh embrace their pasty skin tone and sing and dance in the rain... Ok, not quite. It has rained and rained and rained up until today. Today, the sun showed its marvelous face accompanied by none other than its lovely sister-- heat!! Today, it was summer. Ah.... finally the Wales that they put in the advertisements for the university online. :)

--> We all are in the midst of "revising" (the British word for studying) for our exams, but we felt compelled to embrace the day, "sharpen our saws", and head to the beach. What a wonderful choice we made!! My friends Jess and Ceridy insisted that I could not leave Wales without having swam in the sea, and I may not get a better day, so today was it. Digging my "swim costume" (as they call it) out, we packed our bags and headed for Caswell, a nice beach west of Swansea. And the water was COLD!!!!! So COLD. Probably the COLDEST water I've ever swam in in my life. It was also SO FUN. We took a frisbee, caught some rays, and prayed our toes didn't freeze off.

--> Reverse a couple of days... Tuesday I went with Ceridy and her sister, Immy, and Immy's boyfriend, Francesco, to stay a couple days at her grandparent's farm outside of Tenby. Tenby is a coast town in west Wales known for its stunning beaches. Of course, the two days we set out to explore the beaches some of the densest fog I've ever seen rolled in. We opted to bypass some of the beaches on account we wouldn't even be able to see the water or appreciate the view, but we made the most of it exploring other options. Wednesday we went into the Tenby village and shopped around at the surf shops and boutiques. This photo, in a way, tells a story for me. First of all, you can see how absolutely dense the fog was-- you can't even seen the water!! Second, the tide in Wales is unreal-- the second largest in the world! As such, when tide is out, the boats rest of the sand. The combination of these two things makes this picture almost sort of creepy...

--> Ceridy and Immy took us for several "traditional" meals. Tuesday night we got fish and chips in Kilgetty from a "proper chippy." Doused in vinegar and wrapped in paper to take home (like it traditionally was done), it was the best fish and chips I've ever had. Wednesday night, we went to a local pub in Tenby for dinner. They insisted that we experience "white bait," one of their long-time favorite snacks. Ehhhh.... while breaded fish is nothing new to me, I hope this picture is clear enough for you to see that the fish were whole!! I manned up enough to try them, and will admit that they did taste alright (like any breaded food), but I couldn't keep it up- it was just too much for me to see their beady little eyes, skin and tails!! Bleahhhhhhh......

--> Thursday we went to Pembroke Castle. Now, I have been to A LOT of castles. And the truth is they are starting to look similar. The significance of this castle, though, is that Henry the VII, the first king of the Tudor Dynasty, was born in Pembroke Castle. And even more significant in my little world, I did my essay for my Welsh History class last term on Henry the VII. Being in Europe this year has brought a lot of history to life for me, and this was yet another one. They had an exhibit set up in one of the rooms, marking the exact place where he was born. Very cool.

Between touring around, we spent time with Ceridy's grandparents. First of all, it was so good to be around a family, particularly out in the country around the animals. They had dogs and chicken and horses and ducks... "Bampa," as they called their grandpa, showed us how around the chicken pen, explaining how to know when they are about to lay eggs and how to get them to have chicks. He also got out the dogs and showed us some examples of the ways he trains them to retrieve when he's hunting. Lastly, "Batman," as they call their grandmother (who is usually called "Nan" by British people), was so hospitable-- it made me really miss my grandmas at home (Shout out to Grandma Jo and Grandma Emma! Can't wait to see you soon!). Over the course of three days, I think we had tea about a zillion times. I LOVE this British tradition. It is such a great way to sit down and have a chat with whoever is around and relax. Tea, tea, tea. All the time!!

When I get home and start getting together with all of you-- I think we should have tea!

busy busy bee

There is a magpie that lives outside my window. They say that magpies mate for life. The one out my window is always alone so I think his mate may have died or else he just never met the "one." Either way, he has decided that we're roommates because he's always sitting outside my window like the roommate no one ever officially invited in. I think he was uninformed about a few social "norms". He starts singing quite loudly around 4:30 in the morning! Maybe he thinks I should be getting up earlier? I haven't had lectures to attend so I don't have anything scheduled to be getting up for in the morning, but contrary to my magpie's opinion, I have been getting up plenty early! I have been seizing my days around 8 and packing them full of last minute sight-seeing, reading on the beach, packing in time with friends I won't see for who knows how long, visiting Rotarians I have met, and studying in between!


<-- My housemate Lauren, and I at the Roman baths in Bath, England. One week ago today we took the train to Bath to explore the historical village. Bath was established around 43 AD by the Romans, who called it "Aquae Sulis," because of the hot springs. The only hot springs in the UK, they used the naturally warm water to heat the largest public bath in all of the Roman Empire. That's what is behind Lauren and I in this picture, and although you're not supposed to touch the water, I couldn't resist and it is warm! I have to say, now that I've been to Rome and see Roman architecture and remains in pretty much every city I've visited, I cannot help but be totally impressed. Those Romans were busy, efficient and obviously intelligent. I love going to the gym-- and they started the trend sooo long ago.

<-- Sunday, my friend Ceridy and I went to explore some of what the Brecon Beacons have to offer. The Brecon Beacons are the mountain range in South Wales, forming the centerpiece of the Brecon Beacons National Park. It was stunning and we got a perfect day. Our first stop was at the Dan-yr-Ogof caves. Claiming to be the largest show cave in all of Europe, it was massive. This photo is from inside one of the smaller pathways, but the next photo is from inside one of the larger caves.




<-- This is the "Cathedral Cave." They actually use it for weddings sometimes! It wouldn't be my pick of wedding location, but how unique! Truthfully, the photo doesn't really do it justice either because it turned a bit to the left so you can't see any of how big it is that way and all of what is behind me. There was a spot in one of the caves where you got quite a ways back and it was blocked off to the public. We found out later that only people a part of a special caving club can continue on because its not lit and a bit more rugged terrain, but that it continued on at least 20 more kilometers! These caves were the most amazing caves I've ever seen in my life!


<-- After exploring the caves, we drove to Glynneath, still in the Brecon Beacons and hiked along one of the rivers. It reminded me a lot of hiking in Oregon, dirt paths along the water up and down mountain sides. Every so often trees would open up to a breathtaking waterfall. We got to this one and there was a family sat down picnicing. Their dog, as you can see, was enjoying the water. It was picture-perfect. We were enjoying ourselves so much we didn't even realize we'd hiked for over two hours! It was awesome!


<-- Yesterday I caught the bus to Aberdare to visit Robert and Marilyn Bratman, Rotarians I had met when I visited the Aberdare Rotary club in November. We've kept in touch since, and I wanted to see them at least once more before I headed back to the States. Of course a simple visit is just not how the Bratmans roll. Marilyn took me to a cute little museum and art gallery in Aberdare, spoiled me with "study treats" from Tesco, and then we picked up Robert before going to a local pub for lunch. After lunch we had tea and chatted at their home until I had to catch the last bus back to Swansea. The Bratmans have been such wonderful people to have connected with!


<-- The pub that Robert and Marilyn took me too was out of fish and chips so I opted to try the "American burger" they offered on the menu. I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but it was THE BIGGEST piece of burger meat I've EVER seen in my entire life! I couldn't help but laugh-- it was 20 ounces!!! I think I maybe ate a fourth of it before calling it quits, but I couldn't help wondering where the pub owner had gotten the impression that American burgers are that huge?!

reflection is in the air

On the way back from Stonehenge last week, my friend Alex asked me what the best and worst things about the year have been. A fair question. I've been starting to reflect on my year and put together ideas for the Rotary presentations I will be doing when I get home and part of that has been thinking about the best and worst things.

There have been a lot of "bests." I mean, look at my entire blog! Daily routines, friendships, travels.. the entire experience has been amazing. Today, as I sit here, if I had to pick just one thing that was the best, I wouldn't be able to do it. I would have to categorize: Academically.. the best part has been the chance to take classes that incorporate literature. I have a re-inspired love for reading.

Socially... the basketball team. I've said it before, but these girls have become my best friends. Not only have we played basketball together, but we've hung out, shared meals, traveled together, studied together, laughed, cried... Most recently we went and did an "assault course" together. We crawled through tunnels and mud and water in not-so-warm weather, through tires and over walls and on rope walkways through the trees, laughing the whole way through! They say courses like this are to build a team. We already are a close team so the experience helped to create yet another memory...

Traveling... this one is hard to put a finger on because its really hard to compare a city like Copenhagen or Amsterdam to Barcelona or Rome. I loved every minute of the traveling I've gotten to do. I took advantage of every opportunity I've had to spend time in London and fell in love with that city. It has so much to offer! Barcelona definitely stands out in my mind though, it was just SO unique from all the others, and the architecture and art were probably the most appealing to my eyes. That one is hard!

Rotary related... My favorite club I visited was Aberdare. All of the clubs were warm and inviting and encouraging, as all Rotarians are, but I particularly enjoyed the atmosphere that night. That night I met Robert and Marilyn Bratman, who had me over for lunch a couple weeks ago. District conference was pretty fun too! Getting to hang out in Torquay with the other scholars, Emily, Andrea, Wendy and Claire and dancing the nights away was a blast. As I've been reflecting, I have to say that having a host counselor/host family definitely made this experience top notch. While I am confident that I would have been OK on my own, having the Murrays' help to get around, show me things, and just knowing that there is a family nearby willing to look out for me took my experience to the next level. I am forever grateful to Rotary for setting up the scholarship that way, and to the Murrays for being those people.

In Swansea... The beach! Swansea Bay isn't the absolute prettiest beach I've ever been to in my life, but having the chance to live a five minute walk from the ocean has rocked my world! I love getting up in the morning and going for a walk on the sand, or just peaking out the window during a lecture to notice that the tide had come in, or being able to go out and BBQ and sit around a bonfire with friends. What can I say?? There aren't many beaches in Iowa, and the nearest ocean is at least 1,000 miles in any direction! How can I not enjoy what is new to me?

You may be wondering how I responded to the "worst" part of the question. Overwhelmingly, my time on this side of the pond has been positive, but of course there were moments. Nothing negative related to people or the places though. The things I have found myself most frustrated with have been the rain and when I miss the convenience of having a car. When I say the rain, I don't mean rain in general-- I just mean on those days when it was pretty hard AND the wind was gusting, blowing my umbrella inside out, AND I had to walk the fifteen minutes to campus for class. Which is where the convenience of private transportation comes in. In those same moments, I missed being able to make the dash to the car and zip to class or zip to the store. But truthfully, in hindsight, I know those moments were "character building." I still made it to class and I didn't melt.

I've got a few more exciting little day trips planned for the next couple weeks before my return to the States... and the daunting task of preparing for and completing my final exams, but I can feel the adventure is winding down. Living in house full of international students, I can feel it in everyone's attitudes and emotions. Dreading the goodbyes, cleaning up the house to move out, and packing. Reflection is in the air, and I can say with a smile that my reflecting is full of great memories.

most fascinating old rocks

<-- I'm sure most of you recognized this famous circle of massive rocks known as Stonehenge. The bottom line is that they know they've been there for about 5000 years but they really don't have a clue why people took the time and effort to put them there. There are hypotheses of religious symbolism, the rocks also seem to line up like a giant sundial indicating the summer and winter solstices, or maybe it was a power thing. Then there is the issue of how did they get there? 5000 years ago, the type of rock came from over a hundred miles away, and they each weight about 5 tons. To be honest, I really don't know what I think. This massive structure is in the middle of a countryside field with sheep wandering around and it left me kind of speechless. Maybe they should have left an inscription for future generations?


<-- On our way home from Stonehenge we drove by the Westbury White Horse, a giant figure of a horse carved in chalk on a hildside in Wiltshire. As you can see, its huge. Sort of like Stonehenge, its another mystery in this part of the English countryside. They suspect it was originally carved in the 1700s and speculate it may have commemorated a battle of some sort, but they really have no idea.





<-- Coming over the bridge back into South Wales from our day out in the English countryside at sunset. My friend Alex, and another friend Claire, and I had made a whole day out of exploring around Wiltshire. It was so good and the sunset was the perfect end.

I finished my essays yesterday and got everything turned in which means that I have a little bit of a break before final exams start. Whooo!!! On another note, yesterday marked five weeks until I head home... I cannot believe it. With essays to work on, I hadn't really thought much about it, but today, on my first free day, I can't help but be a little sentimental thinking about how much I've learned and done and the people that I've done life with these last nine months. Ah... 'tis life :)

Colour my world

--> During my time in the UK, I have had the opportunity to visit the Hillsong London church several times. Well, this last weekend I attended the Colour Conference, a women's conference hosted by Hillsong. It was in London at the Royal Albert Hall and it rocked my world. It was two days full of inspirational speaking and teaching, workshops and great music. I was a bit overwhelmed so I have been pondering the last couple days what exactly I walked away from the conference with. First of all, from a tourism point of view, its worth mentioning that the Royal Albert Hall is breathtaking. The conference hosted about 5000 women hailing from 29 different countries.

One of the main initiatives that the Colour Sisterhood partners with is called A-21, and they work to help get women out of sex trade. My eyes were opened to the vastness of human trafficking on our planet. I had no idea. 27 million people, mostly women and children, and mostly for the purpose of sex, are in captivity on our planet-- more people in slavery than ever before in history! And they say its on the rise. My heart broke. One of the speakers explained that in instances like Haiti's earthquake and other natural disasters, often human traffickers show up before humanitarians and steal children off the streets. What kind of world do we live in?? I haven't been able to get these women and children off my mind since. I know I've got to do something, I just don't know exactly how that will manifest itself yet. Watch out world. Check this out for more: Click here and Here.

--> The keynote speakers were Bobbie Houston, Holly Wagner, Priscilla Shirer, Dr. Robi Sondregger, and Christine Caine. There was so much to take in. I found myself learning new truths about God's Word, inspired and motivated. One of the cool teachings was about the Israelites headed to the promised land. Priscilla Shirer pointed out that God offered the promised land to Moses among 2 million people. When God fulfilled his promise, of that 2 million, only Joshua and Jacob were the only ones from the initial generation to actually see it. The question presented was, what did Josh and Jacob have to be that one in a million? They acted immediately, acted fearlessly, they gave the glory to God, and they confidently expected the miracle God provided. I think, for me, I could stand to have a lot more confidence in God's ability to provide. I am ready to expect miracles :)

This last weekend was so enriching to my soul. Thank you to those of you who were praying for me to have a good weekend-- it was!

Welsh varsity photos :)

<-- My whole basketball team together before the game. We had a pasta dinner the night before at my house-- it was so much fun!! I love these girls, they have truly become some of my best friends here in Swansea.


<-- Like I said before, the rugby match is the biggest event of the day...











<-- ... And Swansea won! Yay!!

Welsh varsity

I don't really think there are words that can give this event justice. This last Wednesday was "Varsity," an annual university sporting event day in which all of the sports teams compete against all the of the sports teams from the other large Welsh university, our rival, Cardiff. (Boooooo....)

I have never been to an event that I can really compare to this. It sort of reminded me of weekend tournaments from when I was in middle school, but then add to it that there was every possible sport going on at the same time and all of the games were Swansea vs. Cardiff which really amped up the competition because people could walk from game to game and you were always cheering for your university. And I only mention it because it truly was a significant part of the day, (and Welsh culture in general) add a lot of alcohol.

It was a beautiful day out- perfect for watching the various football (soccer), lacrosse, or field hockey games. Plus there was netball, badmitton, squash and basketball going on indoors. Because this is a competition between the universities, the idea is that they keep track of how many teams from each side wins and the university with the most is the champion. The reality is that the finale of the day is the rugby match in the evening and the winner of that is the champion. I learned that Welsh Varsity has been in held in Cardiff for the last several years, so it was a pretty big deal that it was in Swansea...

Of course you want to know how my basketball team did... not so pretty. Cardiff women's basketball were some of the strongest, most fit girls I've ever played basketball against in my entire life. I am not, and have never been a girl that gets tossed around easily, and I felt like the Cardiff girls could have smashed me like a bug if they wanted to. Needless to say we lost by a margin that does not even need to be recorded. BUT we had fun. It was my last basketball game of the year and the girls on the team have become my best friends.

And now, the information you've all been dying to know, who won the rugby match-- Swansea!! It was so exciting! The crowd was loud the entire game, chanting back and forth between opposing fans, the game was close, and Swansea pulled it off! All of the students rushed the field, jumping around screaming "Swansea!!" The Varsity event concludes with the buses that take all of the students from the rugby stadium to the bars to celebrate... The rest is history.

Pictures to be posted once I get them uploaded. The whole essay writing thing has gotten in the way of keeping up on posting photos-- but I'll get to it soon!