UK and Ireland

St. David’s Day!

March 24, 2015
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UK and Ireland Wales
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I remember when I was looking through study abroad programs and came upon Wales. It was the first time I’ve heard about the country and I knew that before I headed to the unknown I had to research it. Just from reading on the place, I was excited. Now that I’m here, two months later, I’m glad I made the right decision!

Wales is filled with nice weather, people, and places to see. Cardiff reminds me of a smaller version of New York City. Although there are differences, I feel comfortable and safe here. I have become accustom to my surroundings and cemented daily routines.

Recently, I headed down to the City Center to see their annual St. David’s Day parade, a celebration for the patron saint of Wales. I brought the Wales’ mascot hat (a red dragon) and joined the mixture of Welsh and tourists that came together for the celebration. While I walked through the streets I can see flags, flower pins, and hats everywhere I turned. In that moment, I felt like part of the community.

As I continued to walk the streets, I stopped for a moment to capture a duo dancing to music, while street vendors sold Wales merch. The street vendors always come out for special events like this. The only times I see them is during the Rugby matches that I had the pleasure of going to watch a game in one of the pubs for fun.

I didn’t know what to expect of the parade. I was so use to the ones at home that I just assumed it’ll be the same. But then I realize there were no barricades or security insight. Their parades were a bit smaller and intimate. Overall, it was a fun experience, seeing the people in the parades, the music playing, and the smiles on everyone’s faces around me.

Once the parade was done, there was free access into Cardiff Castle. Cardiff Castle is one of the key places to visit while you’re in Cardiff. I haven’t went inside before, so I was happy to had a chance to. Once I was inside, my jaw dropped at how beautiful it was. I felt like I was in a whole new place as I looked around at the many people crowding around the grass. Although many things were restricted (just an excuse to come back) I managed to go up to a part of the castle and look down at the sight. For a moment, I felt like I was in an episode of Game of Thrones.

It was a great to celebrate Wales! Events like this makes me appreciate picking such an interesting, historical and exciting place to study abroad. I can’t wait to plan travels to explore outside of Cardiff and love Wale even more!

Academic Adjustment: Cardiff Style

March 15, 2015
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UK and Ireland Wales
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I can’t believe I’m in my 8th week of classes! I only have three more weeks left until my classes are officially over and finals kick in. I remember how intimated I was on the first day. I didn’t know what to expect because I was so accustomed to classes in SUNY New Paltz.

In the beginning of the semester, I can already tell the difference between SUNY New Paltz and Cardiff University. I was only taking three classes (each count as 20 credits), Tuesdays became my off days, and the earliest class for me was 9 a.m. It’s also tough getting to classes each day, especially on Fridays. I’m so use to all the academic buildings being so close to each other that when I came here, I was in for a total workout!

It was beneficial to take courses that will count towards both my major and minor. So I decided to take two English courses called Graphic Memoir and Reading Old English. I’m also taking a Journalism course called The Making & Shaping of the News.

This where I have Reading Old English. I’m always the first one in the classroom :p

I decided to take Reading Old English, knowing it was a challenge. I like to say it’s the most challenging class I’ve ever taken in my three years of college. I’m basically learning a whole new language that I didn’t know existed. The first time I saw the text, I already had a feeling that this wasn’t going to be an easy A.

I felt at ease knowing the people around me didn’t have a clue on how to translate Old English. Without the guidance of my professor and the glossary provided in our textbooks, I would be lost. Thankfully I’ve been doing the coursework and taking my time to understand for the upcoming exam.

Long hours translating Old English!

Bute Building – This is where my journalism class is held.

When it came to The Making & Shaping of the News, I was learning about UK news, something I’ve never learned before. I was learning concepts that some students were use to since their freshmen year of university. It’s also cringe worthy to watch examples of ‘bad news’ coming from America. It doesn’t help that the professor looks my way every time America is even mentioned.

But overall it’s interesting to learn about UK news and the background information I wasn’t aware of with news in general. Although this class wasn’t my first choice, I’m glad I had a chance to take it.

Tons of reading for class!

By the end of my week, I have Graphic Memoir. I wasn’t expecting to analyze graphic memoirs! All this time, I viewed them as comic books, but there’s so much more to these work of arts. It feels similar to the English classes in SUNY New Paltz when it came to analyzing literature. However, in this case, we’re taking a closer look on concepts we learn each week on books like Maus and Fun Home.

This where I take my English classes!

Out of all my classes though, it’s weird to have Graphic Memoir on the same day at three different times. It’s different from SUNY New Paltz because Cardiff University breaks up their week by lectures and seminars. My lectures are in medium-size lecture halls, where we are taught in great detail the topic of the week. But, the seminars are small and intimate. Just like SUNY New Paltz, all three of my professors know who I am and it gives me a chance to interact with other students during the seminar time.

Overall, my classes have been great! It’s been informative, interesting, and overall fun! Although it’s weird being the foreigner in most of my classes, it’s great to interact with people from around the world.

Now final essays and exams are another thing…

Adjusting My (Budgeting) Life

March 3, 2015
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UK and Ireland Wales
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Roath Park

I can’t believe it’s been over a month and a half! I’ve been settling in Wales nicely with juggling personal responsibilities, academics, and a social life. Although I feel like time is moving fast, my life has been at a steady pace. It took a while to adjust to the calm atmosphere that Wales brings me.

I always considered myself an independent person. However, I realized I wasn’t as independent as I thought. It was a new challenge for me to start budgeting my life when it came to food, travels, and social events.

Although it’s fun to spend money on traveling and social events, it’s also important to budget money for eating. When I first came to Wales, I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know how I was going to use my money wisely. How was I going to eat and have fun at the same time? I realized I relied so much on a meal plan, that I forgot how to step out of it.

First real cooked meal at Wales!

By the next week, I was getting better at budgeting. I began writing my expenses down and focusing on what’s important. I only cashed out money once (even twice) a month. I used the cash when I really needed it or my purchases were less than twenty pounds.

When it came to food shopping, I began comparing prices. There are three (sometimes four) supermarkets I look into. By comparing prices of the items I buy, I’m cutting cost and getting an abundance of items that can hold me for a month or two. Before coming to Wales, I was afraid I wasn’t going to find anything I like. But that fear slowly faded with the variety of choices I was familiar with when I walk the aisle of the supermarkets. Oh poptarts, how I missed you!

With a focus on what I’m buying and how much I’m spending, I have enough money left over for fun stuff like trips, social events with friends, and delicious traditional Welsh food!

Traditional Welsh Breakfast

Welsh Rarebit & Earl Grey Tea

I always relied on the advice of my mother or on SUNY New Paltz for so many of things. It’s weird not being able to pick up the phone and call my mother (with the rates for international calling and the five hours difference it’s difficult). It’s also weird that my student id is nothing more than just identification. I never use my id except to let people know I go to Cardiff University or discounts at stores (there’s 20% discount at Krispy Kreme’s!).

From meals to printing, budgeting has become a major adjustment to my life.

My First Month At Wales!

February 23, 2015
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UK and Ireland Wales
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I can’t believe I’m studying abroad in Cardiff, Wales! I’ve been wanting to do this since I was little. I always wanted to travel to Europe and my dreams finally came true.

Now that I’m settled in. I thought I give you a recap of what’s been having in the past month.

I traveled six hours from New York (with Amsterdam being a layover) to Wales. I got about four meals, two hours of sleep, and one movie in (How To Train Your Dragon 2 anyone?). Sadly, I didn’t get to explore Amsterdam, but hopefully I’ll get the chance to later on. However, at one point, I was more excited to drop off my heavy luggage, shower, and sleep than anything.

It’s weird being known as an exchange student. I’m always use to people coming to America and now I’m the foreigner. For the first week there was so many things to learn and see. I felt like a freshman all over again. I got a City Centre tour (small version of Time Square) and of campus (3x bigger than SUNY New Paltz). The real challenge for me was to learn how to go from campus or the City Centre to my flat. It took about three days to get it right. The first time it took about two hours in the pouring rain with a ripped up map.

My first month of classes went well. The courses I take are Reading Old English, Graphic Memoir, and The Making & Shaping of the News. So far, they’re interesting and small enough that my professors already know my name.

Overall,I’ve been enjoying my time at Cardiff! I also made friends from different countries 🙂 I explored the area near my flat and found a lot of food places from around the world. There are also places to visit like Cardiff Bay (It was beautiful!), Roath Park, and the National Museum of Cardiff.

I still keep thinking that this is a dream and that I’m going to wake up any minute now. I can’t believe I’m here

Parting is such sweet sorrow…

January 27, 2015
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England
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There is so much to see in London that I don’t think it can be done in 2 weeks. The city is alive with color and lights, the quiet bustling of thousands of occupations. It’s tall and wide and mixed with a diversity of buildings that are older than our country is.

I remember starting to sob when I saw the Globe Theatre for the first time in my life. I just felt overwhelmed and overjoyed, like it couldn’t be real. It was there and standing tall and beautiful. Even though I knew it was a replication theatre, it was just amazing to me.

On top of all that, I saw 9 incredible new and amazing pieces of theatre for the same price as one broadway ticket (crazy, right?!)

The biggest “tourist attraction” for me(besides the globe, that was just a life altering experience) was definitely the Tower of London. So much rich (get it? Crown Jewels?) history in every stone of tit’s foundation. It was absolutely incredible.

I remember walking through London on my own and realizing how beautiful it is. How old the city is and how it touched my very core. Everything gave me the chills, had me bouncing in excitement, or crying from sheer excitement. And now I am home, looking back on this brief moment of time where I lived in the most amazing city in the world… and know that I have to live there someday. So good bye for now, London. I’ll be back.

Back in the USA

January 26, 2015
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England
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The departure was quite sad, but I was ready to head back home. Packed up my mini London life, stuffed it in a suitcase, and finished off my trip with a delicious croissant sandwich. The flight back seemed much longer than the flight there, probably because I stayed awake most of the time. I watched 3 movies, ate a lot of food, and suffered through the turbulance, but overall it was a good flight. Going through customs was fine, but I don’t think I will ever get tired of the feeling I experience when I realize that I am home (by home- I mean America). I always feel this sense of relief and comfort when I get back to the U.S.

It’s been a little over a week since I have been back in New York. I have to say that transitioning from living in London and returning to school 2 days later was a bit tough. No time to relax, and not enough time to prepare, but school started anyway. The cold, ice, and the snow is a bit rude too. Don’t get me wrong, I love snow, but it was so much warmer in London where everything wasn’t covered in a sheet of ice. Today and tomorrow…. more is coming.

So I believe that this concludes it. London has come and gone, and now a new chapter begins. Second semester of grad school here I come!

Saatchi Gallery of Art

January 19, 2015
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England
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One of the assignments of our trip was to explore a modern art museum in London called the Saatchi. There was all sorts of very strange and very exhibits, from an exhibit of the world’s flags made out of human hair to a group of animatronic people praying.

But one exhibit that really caught my interest and had me start thinking was this:

Two skeletons in a sexual position. It was the combination of the sculpture and the shadows that really captivated me. It was like two shapes that fit into one piece. Sex is always seen as something complicated or something that one shouldn’t do until this and that have been fulfilled. But by bringing it into something as simple and everyday as our bones.

Here’s another interesting piece I saw in the gallery:

It was interesting to me for a few reasons. First, most of the piece seemed to be hidden by a cold metal wall, like it was keeping you out from what was behind. Second, a traditionally religious thing (stained glass) portrays very scientific images: a molecule, a heart monitor, the human brain, etc. It gives me the feeling that it’s almost a futuristic piece. Maybe saying something about scientology?

Last London Night

January 16, 2015
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England
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Today is our last day here. I’m all packed up and ready to go. It is the end of a great journey.

In the course of 2 weeks I have learned so much about the art scene and life in London. It has been an absolutely unforgettable experience and I am so happy to have had the opportunity to do it. I will miss the friends I made, the delicious food I ate, and the adventures I had. I am so grateful for every minute I spent in this gorgeous city.

However, I feel that it is time to go home. School starts in 4 days and reality must go on. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the opportunity again to return to London, but if I did I would in a heartbeat. The 2 weeks went by so fast and I have accumulated an incountable number of incredible moments.

Thank you all for making this such an amazing experience and thank you London for all of the memories I will cherish always. Back to my beloved America I go.

Exploring!

January 12, 2015
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England
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London is so big and so very difficult to navigate. It’s completely unlike New York City, where everything is a grid and everything is numbered. No, here there are loops and turns, side streets and alleys, all the streets are named the same thing (or similar), and without a good night’s sleep, there is absolutely no way to navigate this wonder of a city.

But oh, the beautiful things you can find when you’re lost. You turn a corner, and there’s an interesting street performer who wants you to stand on top of him while he lies on a bed of nails. Or you accidentally find Buckingham Palace while wandering through a beautiful park. A single trip up a curb has you accidentally lying on the stoop of the cutest tea room you’ve ever been in.

This city is so polite and calm in all it’s dealings, I constantly feel like I am safe and welcome here. I yearn for a day where I can call one of these flats my own or where I can stroll into work in the Globe. It’s just so beautiful here and I feel so welcome. What other treasures can I find? What other mysteries are waiting for me in this beautiful, old city?

I was walking to my next meeting place and accidentally found a house the Benjamin Franklin used to live in! Apparently, the only Franklin house still in existence. Who knew? What I find fascinating is the plaques on buildings and houses that tell us who used to live there. I found Thomas Wyatt, Dickens, some architects and artists. It’s really cool to just pass a house and be like, oh cool okay John Lennon lived here.

There is so much history here. All the way back to the Anglo-Saxons, which is just incredible. Everywhere I turn, I feel like I find something new. A new theatre, a new person, a new fact, a new curiosity. How to focus on just one thing and keep myself grounded in every new moment?

The Adventure Continues

January 12, 2015
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England
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It’s hard to believe we are so far into our trip already. The days are flying by, jam packed with things to see and do. It’s rare you find the time to just sit, think, soak it in, and relax. Since I last wrote we have gone to Westminster Abbey which is an incredibly ornate and impressive cathedral in which I stumbled upon the burial site of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary. Next was the Saatchi Gallery, which was so exciting!!! After each corner you turn, there is another famous artwork just waiting to be discovered. To me some of the most exciting moments are when you just happen to find one of the most controversial art pieces of all time and you’re inches away, or you literally just learned about an artwork a few weeks ago and there it is waiting for you.

As I believe I mentioned before the food is amazing. From pub/tavern food to Indian food to street food… so delicious.

We took a gorgeous walk through Kensington Gardens to 2 galleries- Serpentine Sackler Gallery and the Serpentine Gallery. We also had time to stop at the Princess Diana memorial, which was this circular stone river with gushing water and twisting turns.

We also made a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum, and what an incredible and very LARGE museum. The collections were stunning, and differed greatly from one to another. The building itself is a work of art. I could spend days in there getting lost in the galleries.

Burrough Market —- FANTASTIC and everyone needs to go. We had amazing cheese sandwiches and and if you like free samples this is the place for you.

Yesterday we visited some artist studios… and I have to say it was my least favorite part of the trip. I could not stay awake. I actually don’t think I’ve ever fallen asleep so much in one day. It was so long and uneventful, needless to say I found it boring. I feel that’s so terrible to say, but 2 artist visits would have been fine… not 4…. it was gruelling. (not sure if I spelled gruelling right, hmm…)

And today, which is not over yet, STONEHENGE!!!!!!!!!!!! So awesome!!!! I wanted to go so bad, and we did! What an amazing site. It was a long bus ride, but so worth it. It’s incredible.