Soliciting mail

Ooh, look at me! Two posts in one day!

If you wish to send me fan-mail, care packages, cookbooks, Vermont-y/Saint Mikes-y/American-y things etc, you can mail them to this address:

Erin Kiernan
House D Flat 8 Room 1
Talybont North
Bevan Place
CARDIFF (the lady I asked wrote the city name in all-caps.)
CF14 3UX

Because nothing would class up my room more than a giant American flag, amirite? The room would gain 1d8 points of FREEDOM.

Also, to give you an idea of what I'll be watching this weekend, I'll just leave this here.

Cheers!

Classes!

Figured I'd wait until I had some actually interesting material. Apologies for the wall of text to follow, there's going to be a lot of content.

Monday-
     Classes started! My first course was Horror, Fantasy & the Media from 12:10 - 14:00. It is a third-year (senior year-level) film studies course focusing on horror and fantasy movies. Screenings include: Thor (2011), Spirited Away, Hostel, and selections from Torchwood: Children of Earth (which I just happened to finish watching before I came to Cardiff!). Sounds pretty awesome, right? The intro lecture talked about common views on these two genres, why they merit study, and the origins of the two genres. Very interesting stuff. I have little background in film studies, per se, but I am very much in-tune to literary analysis techniques. I am incredibly excited about this course, challenges and all!
Immediately after, I had a mandatory 3 hour lab to learn aseptic technique (Technically, it was the lab of a course called Microbiology. I just needed to attend today so that I would be prepared for my real course in Medical Microbiology). We were practicing starting bacterial and yeast cultures, as well as making dilutions. I had some background in this, but I did get to learn how to pour agar plates and do slope cultures! Also, holding things with my pinkie and palm. Good thing I played violin for all those years or else my child-like hands would've otherwise put me at a severe disadvantage.
Immediately after this lab, I had a 2 hour screening for HF&tM. We watched the 1931 Dracula movie. My initial reaction: cheesy as all get-out. But if I put on my analysis goggles, I saw the use of chiaroscuro (influenced, no doubt, by German Expressionism), the female protagonist clad all in white (Would you believe she's a blonde too! Really going for the pure and innocent motif there!), the cutaways before Dracula bit anyone, the use of shadows of gruesome scenes/characters' reactions to them to show how gruesome they were. Maybe also some subtle xenophobia. Not bad for a film studies newbie!

Now, you may be asking, when did you have lunch? And the answer is that I just had a packet of salt and vinegar crisps from a vending machine as I ran back and forth from class. See, I didn't know that the lab would go on for three hours, and I didn't know about the screenings until the professor told us about it that very day. I also left for my first class very early so that I would get there with time to spare/get lost in. Now that I know this about my Mondays, I am going to pack myself a lunch.

Come to think of it, lab was a bit of a bummer too. Since I was just taking that one lab for technique, I didn't have a partner (odd number of international students). And to top it all off, my cultures were knocked on the floor as I was getting tape to seal them up. The frowny-face emoticon does not even begin to convey the gravity of this situation. Since I was feeling all sad, my homesickness decided to pay me a visit and the tears started welling up. Luckily, my London roomie, Kirsten, was taking the class too. She calmed me down and we got the aforementioned crisps from a vending machine. I figured that my film professor could deal with me missing the very beginning of Dracula instead of me fainting like that girl in Microbiology lab....

Oops, forgot to mention that fainting thing. I am up in the front of the class in my labcoat, waiting to be paired up with someone. I must have looked like a TA, because a girl comes in late. I show her where to put her bags and get a coat. A little bit later, she comes back over to me, drained of color (no U's yet, take that British English!), clutching the side of the lab bench, and saying "I don't feel so great". Classic "Holy S***, that's a bad sign" right there. Luckily one of the real TA's stepped in and attended to her. I felt terrible, because I am a lifeguard. I know what to do in those kinds of cases... I should have done something, anything. Still kicking myself for that.

TL;DR: Mondays are terrible, no matter which side of the pond I am on.

Tuesday-
     The day where I don't have any classes at all! I was able to sleep in a bit, which was very nice. I made a big, grand run to Tesco. For those not familiar, Tesco is the hybrid spawn of Staples, a grocery store, and Bed Bath and Beyond. Any basic thing which you need to live, they most likely have it. Since I had freetime, I decided to cook myself a dinner from scratch, instead of the miserable dinner I had the night before (chicken strips, spinach and my flatmates' pity).

Dinner! Salad and Pasta with hamburger and shredded-by-hand Cheddar cheese.

 How does that look?! The pasta dish was a little bland, I should add onion/garlic powder, or cumin or oregano or something to it. Hey, I am learning though.
I also decided to get a four-pack of Kopparberg Cider (Raspberry and Black Currant flavored!). I had a chuckle to myself when I was carded.

Fun Fact #7: If you look/are under 25, you better show some ID to go with that alcohol!

After dinner, I went with my flatmates over to Flat 7 (across the hall from my flat) for a birthday party. Birthday party here meaning "predrinking before going to a club". I joined them for the party, but returned to my room. No clubbing on a school night. That's where I'm drawing the line. In other news: I'm not definitively saying that I'm going to the Doctor Who Experience very soon, but don't be too surprised if there are pictures with me and Kirsten there at some point!

Fun Fact #8: The only weekday I have off of classes is the only day that the DWE doesn't do their student discount.

Wednesday-
     Classes again! I only had one today, Cytogenetics and Human Genetics. Hoo-boy, was I out of my depth here. I know that histones are proteins that DNA wraps around and that together they make chromosomes, but I was not prepared for this! There are 4 different types of histones (5 if you're an avian RBC), scaffolding proteins, sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins, different placements of centromeres, and all sorts of stuff. Guess what I'll be doing in my spare time?

After class, I went to the student centre and treated myself to a Magic Wrap. It's like Subway, but with more variety, probably healthier options and with wraps instead of bread. I got one with chicken, BBQ sauce, hummus, carrots, mozzarella cheese, lettuce and grilled halloumi (a Cypriot goat/sheep cheese that melts at a high temp. It's like a better feta... betta). The wrap guy called me "lovely" but I'm not sure if that's just what he says or if it was me.

Fun Fact #9: I dressed really nicely today because I have been putting off laundry. Shame on me!

 I also stopped by a coffee place called Costa Coffee. Apparently, coffee culture is still in its infancy in the UK. I had fun trying to make sense of the Fratalian (French and Italian, the official language(s) of coffee houses everywhere) and settled on a strawberry lemonade.

Fun Fact #10: UK Lemonade is a clear, carbonated lemony-flavored drink. US Lemonade is lemon juice, sugar and water (or yellow dye #5 and "natural flavors"). So if, for example, you ask for a vodka lemonade here, you will get a completely transparent drink.

To my shock, it was US style lemonade. Just when you think you have things figured out...

I also got to submit my first maintenance order! My window was unable to close all the way on one side, leading to a weird draft. Also, the toilet seat in my bathroom became completely detached from bowl.

Fun Fact #11: Talybont North is nicknamed "Taly-Bronx". Make of that what you will.

Luckily the maintenance guy showed up and fixed it. He was super kind and, hearing my accent, told me about his American penpal from Milwaukee from back in his school days. I told him I was from VT (land of Ben & Jerry's, I always feel like I have to follow it with that) and showed him my free-handed map of the USA.

I am so good at daearyddiaeth!

Well, that's really about it for the moment. Time to figure out the laundry machines and reheat some pasta.

Upcoming stuff includes: pictures of my room/flat, class buildings, a list of the differences in British/US college classes and some more attempts at cooking!

Cheers!

Edit: Added dried basil (Bay-sil, not Baah-sil) to my leftovers. Satisfied with results.

Just a quick post

Classes start tomorrow (technically it already is the tomorrow of which I am referring to, but that's getting a bit picky)! And with that, my life will gain some form of structure.

Cardiff has some freaky weather. I was walking back from the Student Union building earlier this evening and encountered what can only be described as thunderhail. Observe:

Close-up on the bricks 

It accumulates!

It got so bad that I almost ducked into a store to escape being pelted with pea-sized pellets of ice and pain.

And now for something completely different:
Maple Syrup is for sale here. Honest-to-goodness syrup from Canadian Maples. I am on the hook for making American-style pancakes for my flatmates at some point (British-style pancakes are a bit more like crepes, whereas mine look more cake-y). Pancakes are a dessert here, and I got some weird looks for saying that they are a breakfast food. This will be the best Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras ever!

Another thing: Shrove Tuesday. The British celebrate the beginning of Lent by indulging in pancakes. Saint Mike's celebrates the beginning of Lent with drunken debauchery (I am genuinely scared to go into the dining hall during Mardi Gras weekend).

Yet another thing: I have become used to hearing British accents on TV and in ads. It was a surreal experience for me when one of my flatmates streamed a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game and there were all these American voices hawking products.

On an unrelated note: I got asked the inevitable gun question. I sensed a slight cultural divide on the issue. Hahaha, understatement of the year.

Cheers! Wish me luck with my first day of classes!

I made dinner!

They said it couldn't be done. But I showed them!

Waiting for the water to boil

Making Tortelloni with Pesto

Oops, overfilled the pot. All part of the learning process I suppose. 

Almost done!

Dinner.

Cheers!

What's the rest of the week been like?

View outside my flat window in the morning

Day Three- Cardiff
We started the day with a couple lectures about Cardiff University (computer services and so forth). After a light lunch, we went on a quick walking tour of campus. I'll be the first to admit this, but I was too busy socializing with other international students to really remember the tour. Oops.

Slightly melty Snow-Dalek (villain from Doctor Who) near the Main Building on Campus

Someone had fun sculpting snow on the statues!

From the tour, a group of us went into Downtown Cardiff. We bought phones, visited Primark (a cheap clothing store)  and went grocery shopping.

Fun Fact #1: You have to pay for plastic bags when you shop. Bring a supply of reusable bags, cough up the extra cash or be prepared to carry it all home!
Fun Fact #2: British credit/debit cards have a chip embedded in them. Using American cards, like me, may confuse the cashier (the cards need to be swiped and signed for). Apparently, my credit/debit cards are more colourful than British ones. I got complimented for it by the cashier at Carphone Warehouse.
Fun Fact #3: They carry maple syrup in the grocery stores here. Yes, it is from Canada, but it's real. In the end, isn't that what's important?
Fun Fact #4: It is.

I was lucky moving into my room. The guy who lived here previously left me quite a few things (bedding, towels, pots/cup/bowl/silverware, bag of uncooked pasta). I did end up needing quite a bit of stuff though, like food, soap and TP.

In the evening, the Uni hosted a Twmpath (toom-path, "w" is a vowel in Welsh) for international students. A twmpath is traditional Welsh folk dancing. It was very much like a contra-dance. The lady leading it was nuts! She would call out non-participants (seriously, can't a girl just sit out a round and enjoy her cidre in peace?) and manhandle us. Needless to say, I had a bunch of fun. A bunch of us went to hang out at the bar in the student centre afterwards. It was such a great opportunity to meet and talk with other students. I talked with some French girls, Aussie girls, some Americans and I sang a song in Irish Gaelic (I don't quite recall what chain of events motivated me to do that, but they seemed to love it).

Day Four- Classes, Dinner and a Show

The Millennium Centre. All you Whovians should be familiar with this

Course Registration Day! It was like a throwback, technologically speaking. We met in-person with reps from each college (Biosciences, Welsh Studies, History etc) we wanted to take a course in. Schedules in hand, we went upstairs to register online. Way, way less stressful than at SMC. Does SMC give you welsh cakes and tea when you register? Slacking off there, Saint Mike's.
My course-list: Cytogenetics/Human Genetics, Genome Expression, Medical Microbiology, Welsh Folklore (pretty much all the internationals are taking it), and Horror, Fantasy and the Media.
Since I registered for classes, I could get my computer and phone hooked up to the CU network! I got lunch and hung out in the Student Centre for a while.

Since the Cardiff Crew left before we could go see Spamalot (like those lucky-duckies in the London and Bristol groups), our program leader took us out to dinner at Pizza Express on Mermaid Quay (said key). Afterwards, we went to see One Man, Two Guvnors. It was hilarious. They broke the fourth wall a bunch and interacted with the audience. The play had slapstick, innuendo, awkward audience members on stage, British-isms, improv, the works!

Apologies for the darkness of these photos.

The shiny thing to the right is normally a fountain (and the secret entrence to Torchwood). In related news, I want to buy an RAF jacket.

That blue arc marks a six-star hotel!

The white church is where Roald Dahl was christened.

The inside of the giant inscription of the Centre. It is in English and Welsh.

Interior of the theatre

The band that played before the show and during scene-changes

I heard Welsh spoken for the first time over the intercomms at the theatre. It sounds so... alien. It's pretty but unlike anything I've ever heard before in my life.

Day Five- Scavenger Hunt
We toured around Cardiff Uni and the surrounding area. We had twelve tasks to complete and we had to photodocument them. For example, we had to go to a post office and ask how much it would be to send a postcard to the Continent and how much to send one to China.
Fun Fact #5: It is the same price.

An Arcade. Honestly, I wanted a picture of that medieval-style building in honor of Professor Kinder and the Burgundy trip.

Leftover Christmas Decorations?

Cardiff Castle!

Rugby store!

A couple of the Cardiff Crew made Tesco runs. Tesco is a giant store, the hybrid spawn of Staples, WalMart and a grocery store. It was nice to get some actual usable food and other supplies that I needed.
Fun Fact #6: You need a £1 coin to unlock the cart. You get it back at the end. I felt like I was being reimbursed for a purchase.
Upcoming: my attempts to feed myself!

Day Six-
After a brief spiel about the library, I had the day to myself! I visited a coffee shop and got a hot chocolate. Later, my flatmates and I chipped in for Domino's. Pretty quiet. Stay tuned for further updates.

Cheers!

What has she been up to?

As promised, I will start with my backlog of info about my trip!

Day Zero- NYC -> London
     Has anyone ever traveled to JFK airport? It has a layout that seemingly runs counter to all common sense. Go up these stairs, catch the airbus, get your new boarding pass. Eventually (after asking a couple people), I met up with the rest of the IFSA crew. The plane-ride out was nice though. We flew on Virgin Atlantic. I enjoyed being called "love" by the stewardesses. The flight was surprisingly empty. I had two seats to myself, luxury of luxuries.

Day One- London

Phonebooths in the snow

     We arrived around 6:20 am in London and headed straight to the hotel. The Bristol and Cardiff programs roomed in the same place. I roomed with a girl named Kirsten from MN. We wanted to see Big Ben, so we traveled there by the Tube.

Bayswater station, I believe. Look at the snow!

We struggled figuring out how to navigate it, but eventually we made it to Westminster station. We arrived around one, so we only got to hear Big Ben chime once. It was really cool, but I would've loved to visit at 12 or something. All that effort for one chime!

London Eye

Big Ben!

I bought a two-way ticket for Bayswater-Westminster, but the ticket reading machine didn't eat the ticket at the end. I choose to believe that the ticket is magical and will keep it with me indefinitely. Kirsten and I took a well-deserved nap upon our return. The IFSA reps took us out to dinner at a place called Côte Brasserie, which was French-inspired cuisine. I had Kir (Chardonnay and Creme de Cassis) as an aperitif. Dinner was Steak Frites. Dessert was creme brulee.

Fun Fact: the concierge at the hotel thought that Kirsten and I were sisters!

Day Two- London -> Cardiff

     The Cardiff Crew (Six in total, including myself) woke up early to catch the train at Paddington Station. I was worried that the trains here would be like the TGV, where you only have three minutes to get on before it leaves! Luckily this wasn't the case.

On the train, I spied the day's headline "Life in the Freezer". How sensational! It wasn't even that much snow! Once we got to Cardiff, we went to Cardiff University's International Student Centre. We had some talks about the differences between the US and UK educational systems. UK is less memorization and more essay-based and defending your opinion (at least for Humanities classes). I moved into my flat! I met two of my flatmates, Nicole and Rachel. They are both from southern England. I answered a bunch of questions about the States, and they answered some questions about Britain.

We didn't have any internet because we needed to register for classes (and get our usernames). We found a Starbucks and warmed up there.

The Cardiff Crew wanted Fish and Chips for dinner, so we got a taxi into the city centre. We ended up at this Irish Restaurant called O'Neills.

Fish and Chips (and mushy peas) and a Rock Shandy (Sparkling Orange and Sparkling Lemon sodas).

That's all for now! I'll write some more soon, but now I am off to a Welsh History/Language class.

Cheers!

Greetings from Cardiff!

Hello, one and all!

I finally have access to a steady supply of internet (that is not Starbucks wifi). It has been a very busy past couple of days. I have not forgotten about the blog though! I will be updating once I get some downtime (Probably Saturday...)

Cheers! (It's how you end a phone conversation here. I think I'll bring this habit back to the States)

Testing out some features

Hello Again!

I'm playing around with adding things to the blog.

Firstly, here is a link to Matt Smith talking about Cardiff and Doctor Who

Secondly, a picture from my trip to Burgundy this past May.

Pontigny Abbey. Location of St. Edmund of Abingdon's tomb. Place where the Edmundites were established. All around awesome spot to visit, especially at sunset.

And lastly, a video of me attempting to do one of those 360-view-things in the interior of the abbey.

You can see St. Edmund's tomb!

Well, that's it for today. I'll just be biding my time until the plane ride on Sunday.

Here we go!

Hello everyone!

To be recounted in this blog will be tales of my semester abroad in Cardiff, Wales. More details to follow as I get the hand of blogging-business.

Back to Packing!