Brussels, Belgium!

Last weekend, I went to Brussels with Jori, Cierra, Jake, Sean, and Ryan. It was such a blast! : ) This was actually the first time I traveled out of the United Kingdom. It honestly didn't hit me until I had to show my passport since we were going into Europe! How crazy! 

Well, our travel time was approximately 16 hours. It was crazy how it all begun. Since a few days prior to our trip, we had a big snow storm here. The UK hasn't seen snow like this in 20 years! Well, we all have purchased our tickets for the hostel and transportation previously so we had no choice but to make it all happen! The morning we woke up and met up at the bus stop, the ground was filled with snow and it was snowing that morning! There was absolutely no one insight.
Our taxi driver didn't show up, so after several minutes of contemplating what to do, we decided to walk down to the main bus stop and sure enough there was a random taxi cab by itself. He took the 5 of us down to the Quadrant to catch our bus for London while the other 2 guys stayed at the bus stop. After a few minutes, our bus to London came! : ) It was AMAZING! Also, during that time, the taxi driver dropped off Sean and Jake, the other 2 that were left back. So, it all happened perfectly for us! This picture was taken while we were on the ferry on the English Channel. Behind are the cliff of Dover. 

Once we arrived at our hostel in Belgium, I was shocked to see how nice our hostel was. I expected it to be a lot worse! LOL! I thought I'd have to purchase a lock for my belonging so it wouldn't get stolen. LOL! It was actually just a room for all 6 of us, so it was a lot better than what I anticipated. Well, we ended up going to the pub and just having a chill night. The next day, we went sightseeing on a tour bus. It was pretty great! I spent near 70 bucks on chocolate! : ) Belgium chocolates are the BEST! I purchased a lot for my little mommy! WHOO! I also enjoyed the Belgium waffles! My first one was with strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream. Ohhh my! It was DELIGHTFUL! : ) Definitely made my day even better! 

Overall, Belgium was gorgeous. It's a city that I know I would eventually want to go back to visit one day. The churches and monuments were spectacular! Also, Brussels is the capital of the European Union. So a lot of business gets accomplished there. : ) It's just different having to walk all the time to get anywhere. Every time we crossed the street, we'd have to watch from both directions, so it's certainly making me more aware of my surroundings and where I'm at. This trip definitely made me notice how difficult it was getting around the city in just a weekend due to the language barrier. They spoke mainly french and german in Brussels. It was more challenging just to read the signs and ask for help. While in restaurants and other public facilities, the employees were prone to speaking in english just because it was an area full of tourists. 

On the left is a picture of the Manakin Piss. Everyone made this statue such a big deal, so we went around the whole city to find this itty bitty stature of it. Sure did take me by surprise! 

Well, today. I just got back from Amsterdam during the wee hours this morning. The trip there wasn't as bad as the trip home. Getting there, Megan and I had 5 seats to ourselves on the coach. Goodness, it was definitely comfortable! The ride home was horrifying. It was hot like a sauna. For Amsterdam, I'm thinking about blogging about that trip next week. Lets just say, I would have to think twice on coming back to Amsterdam. I'm not sure if I enjoyed it as much as the other cities I've visited. 

As far as today, Jori, Ben and I went down to the city center to top off on our phones and just to enjoy the weather. It was gorgeous today. Too bad the sun never stays out for more than 3 hours! I'm jealous. The weather back in Oklahoma is like 70 degrees! I'm here struggling in the 10 degree weather! I am planning on dying my hair completely brown again. It's been quite sometime now since I've been dark, but I enjoy change! : ) Megan is going to dye it for me this week! YAY! As far as academics, I'm pretty sure I haven't read over 2 pages in any of my classes! The classes are completely different over here. We only receive one big examination at the end of the term and it's comprehensive. That, or having to write an essay which my generous professor for my International Politics of Space class decided to assign an 18 page paper due on April 27. So, looks like my trip home will be filled with days in the library! WHOOO!! (The picture on the right is full of fresh seafood and also the Manakin Piss)

Last week, I officially booked my flight home to Oklahoma on March 20-April 11. Soon after my short visit, I will be flying into Paris shortly after then on to Athens, Greece to meet up with the girls. I'm so so so stoked to go to Greece! We plan on visiting the Greek Isles!  I believe I am completely burnt out from traveling already. I still have a couple trips to do, then I'll be ready to come back home to the great state of Oklahoma. I miss everyone and lots of food! I'm having sushi, buffalo wild wings, and jamba juice withdrawals. It's unfortunate! LOL! Well, I'm also starting to attend bible study on Tuesdays and of course church on Sundays when I'm in town! I'm so excited to be able to attend even though I'm so far away from home! It's definitely a good thing! 

Night out at Oceania! 

First weeks of school & Bath, England.

It has definitely been a while since I've blogged I've been occupied settling in my classes! Well, my first day of class, this is directly right after our pre-sessional course. 

The Dean of the Business Department wrote down the wrong room number for my Issues of Microeconomics class, so I was sitting in a class for 15 minutes that wasn't mine. It was funny. It was actually a class that people had last semester and continuing it for this semester. Figures why everyone stared at me! Well, the following day, Courtney and I ran into each other to go to our International Politics of Space class. We sat in the room they told us to write down. It was like 10 after, and there was absolutely NO ONE in the classroom. We decided to go to the Politics Department and see, turns out that class was cancelled and since we're the exchange students, we haven't been registered for that class quite yet. So, we weren't able to receive any e-mails from the professor. Great! So that Friday, we had that International Politics of Space class, I sat in the room that it was assigned. All these students had their books and print-outs. I turned to a girl next to me, apparently it was a history class. My class got moved without my knowledge! Of course, I ran into Courtney and we were definitely the lost ones. Once again! This was my first week of classes. What an experience! : ) 
I lost my $400 bus pass after having it for a week and a half. HA. How irresponsible. I decided to purchase another one because it's definitely not worth me buying day passes daily. It will just add up. A week later, I receive an e-mail that my bus pass was found in the Haldane Building! : ) How exciting. Not only that, I went to try to get a refund on my new one, since they found it and the lady was generous enough to give me back my money! Thank god! That's a lot for a bus pass! : ))) 

I went to Bath, England last weekend. Lets just say, I want to become a resident there in the far future. It was BEAUTIFUL! I fell in love instantly! The Roman Baths, Circus, and Royal Crescent were my favorite!! : ) The day we went, the weather was surprisingly pretty. It was really cool how our tours went. We each received a portable electronic device with numbers on it. Once we stopped at a point with a number, we just press it in and listen to the device and it gives us information the specific item. How cool is that? (Right: Roman Baths.)

Moving along, this past Sunday, Michelle, Carly and I went to church! It was good for the time we were there. We actually left right before the service begun, Carly is Catholic, poor girl. I'm pretty sure she was uncomfortable the whole time. 

I am going with Cierra, Jori and the guys this weekend to Brussels, Belgium this weekend! I'm pretty stoked about it! I'm not quite sure about staying in a hostile though! LOL! Brussels is the capital of the European Unions! How cool is that?! Then, I'm going to Amsterdam next for Valentine's day weekend! It's going to be such a blast! AHHHHH!! : ) Yay for traveling all over Europe!!

(Above: This is Church Abbey in Bath.) So, today I had plans to go on campus to drop classes, purchase books, and go to my classes. Well, we were SNOWED in!!! Can you believe it?! I woke up to the loud disruptive noises of students throwing snow balls at each other. Everything was literally covered in beautiful white snow. It was GORGEOUS. Who knew it snowed here in the United Kingdom?! Actually, this was the biggest snow storm in 20 years! AH!! Awesome! : ) (Left: Royal Crescent)

Since the BOB (Bright Orange Bus) is our only means of transportation 

and obviously it didn't operate due to the massive amount of snow, Jori, Ben, Emily, Erin and Andie decided to walk a short distance to a nearby restaurant for lunch. I had mixed vegetable soup. Oh goodness, it was delish!!! I am currently sitting here with the girls deciding on what we're going to do with our trip to Athens, Greece. When

Where and when to meet/stay. Yayyy!! I'm so excited!! : ) That will be my trip from Oklahoma to Athens. 

(Me in front of the main Roman

 bath.)

 

I just got home from dinner with the Colorado State students and their teacher from home. I had such a blast! Love food! : ) Well, I am going to start uploading the rest of my albums on facebook then I'm going to start reading my articles for class on Thursday! WHOO WHOO!
Unfortunately, I just got informed that my grandpa from Iowa just passed away this morning. He was such a great guy. He was very genuine and had a wonderful warming heart. Well, he passed away due to heart conditions. My mom and some of my family members flew out there a couple days ago when he was hospitalized. From what my mom told me, he was perfectly fine yesterday. He knew I was over here studying abroad and said he'd be praying for me. It's weird, he's in my prayers now. : ) It is just unfortunate that I will not be able to attend his funeral this Saturday since I'm on the other side of the world. I'm just glad he was able to know that. It's hard. Hard because I'm around a lot of fun and happy people and I can't help but to be happy with them when I am truly sad deep down inside. While my family members will be mourning at his funeral this Saturday and I'll be in Belgium, traveling. : (  (That is a picture of Emily and I at the International Fiesta day for all the exchange students!)

Well, I'm trying to blog more often- I'm aiming for a daily basis, but we'll see how that goes!

I'll be back to update you all more on this weekend and next since I've gotten trips planned! YAYY!! WHOO WHOO!

My First Blog!

This is my first blog and I'm stoked!!! Thanks HSR for this idea! 

First and foremost, all my letters that my friends wrote me certainly made me cry a river. Well, more like an ocean. I waited until my flight from Chicago to London to read it all. Once I was on the plane reading them, I came to the realization that I will be staying in a completely different country for over 5 months. Insane! I'm truly thankful for everyone in my life. I am very blessed to have such supportive & caring family and friends. : ) 

My arrival to Swansea, Wales (home of Catherine Zeta Jones) was approximately a week and a half ago. It definitely feels as if I have been here for at least a month already. Traveling by myself was very lonely and difficult. Although I must admit, I have never felt more independent until this point of my journey. I honestly don't think the level of difficulty would have been like this had I had another companion with me from UCO. Not even a friend, just ANYBODY would have helped. There was no one at the airport to guide me which train lines I needed to go on. However, I was fortunate enough to have ran into another student traveling abroad that was lost as well. We both were definitely a 'hot mess' together. Hauling our heavy luggage from train to train and stairs/elevators was quite hilarious now that I think about it. I am truly thankful that I randomly met her. : ) My institution is, give or take 3 hours away from Heathrow Airport. Once I got here, I was pretty shocked. Lets just say that the brochure they sent me was photogenic. LOL. On my flat (floor), I have another American from Iowa State, 1 British female, & 3 British males. It's pretty interesting. We are all very diverse and unique in our own way. I believe a big part of studying abroad is living with at least another British student. This enables us to learn more about their culture, language, and style of living by experiencing it first hand.

Once I settled in, I had no means of communication of the outside world. My internet wasn't working since I have yet to enroll as a student at this point in time & my phone wasn't working either. AH! It was a nightmare. I decided to take out the trash and ran into a girl coming up to my building named Ashley-student from Colorado State University. I helped her bring her luggage up to her room. She invited me to go out to dinner with her and a group of CSU students that are also studying aboard. Of course, I went. :) I love people! Ever since then, I have been hanging out with students from Colorado state. They are a lot of fun and very friendly. Their advisor from home also flew out here to teach history @ Swansea for this semester. How awesome is that?! She decided to adopt me as an honorary CSU student. Yay! 

Lifestyle: Absolutely insane here. Words cannot describe it. There is a bar on campus in the student union. There is also another one in the Student Village, where majority of the 

students reside including myself. Since the age limit is 18 to legally drink, there are a lot of students out at pubs and clubs here. I feel as if that is all they do here, get shwasted. It's definitely a lifestyle that I would not recommend to anyone. I'm assuming they go by the saying" work hard, play harder". For the most part, it definitely has been such a blast since I've arrived. I know I will miss all of this once I leave after finals. Through all of this, I have made several friends. It's crazy to think we're all from different universities around the states! AH! 

Education: We all have to attend a pre-sessional course over British history and politics from 2 weeks and write a paper over here.  I find it pretty intriguing for the most part. Apparently over here, since the students are to choose 3 specific areas of classes to take in high school, they are able to specialized in those areas. Whereas over in America, we have to take like Science, Math, English, History, etc- all these basic courses. So when these British/Welsh students attend college, they can just jump right into their area they specialize in and do extremely well. They don't take general eds/basic courses the first two years, unlike us. So in other words, their education level is a bit higher than ours when it comes to college classes. In addition, they speak very proper English over here. It's neat. I love it! This gives me the opportunity to 

enhanced my vocabulary level! I'm excited! I start enrolling in my classes tomorrow. Which by the way, we have to go from building to building to get approval to enroll in that class. They aren't as high-tech as us. Registration doesn't exist online. No UCONNECT!! The picture on the right is a portion of the University I'm currently attending. Swansea University. 

We went to see the Swansea bay, Gower Coast, Rhossila Bay, and Mumbles lighthouse for Orientation. It was so pretty! I wish the weather here was a lot warmer so I can

lay out and get a tan. It constantly rains through

out the day! It can be sunny for a couple hours then rain would just pour the next second. It's unpredictable.  * To the right is a picture in front of Mumbles. It's with students from the University of Iowa & Iowa State University.

 I went to Bath yesterday. I'll post more pictures and blog about it soon! : ) Lets just say, I plan on being a resident in Bath in the far future!!