Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Conwy Castle

I’ve been here about five days now and it’s been so continuous I have to stop myself and realize that I am actually in a completely different country half the time! The International Office organized a trip for us to visit Conwy Castle in Wales and it was absolutely amazing! If given any chances to venture outside Ormskirk, do it! (Especially if it’s free!)


After about an hour and a half bus ride we arrived to the castle and were free to explore the area on our own. To get to the castle you have to venture through a lovely painted tunnel and you emerge on the other side to the walls that surround the city. It’s absolutely breathtaking when you see the sheer amount of stone lying before you with the thousands of years of history in its depths. There are points around the base that actually allow you to walk up to the top of the wall and walk great distances around the city.
 


We paid around $7.00 to actually get into the castle and proceeded to walk up an incline and some stairs before entering into the authentic castle that King Edward I presided in. I was almost shocked by how much tourists were allowed explore without any kind of guard around. Another major shock was the sheer amount of winding stairs that guided you throughout the castle. (tiny stairs that are quite easy to trip on I may add) So, after we knocked around the castle for a while my group and I decided to take a walk around Wales itself and explore.


Near the entrance to the town a gentleman had set up a bird display that had domesticated owls, hawks, and owlets that you were allowed to pet and hold. Although many of the birds stared into the depths of your soul as you walked anywhere near them I still found them to be very intriguing and pleasant. One brave soul from our group chose to let one of the largest owls perch on her arm and it then proceeded to try and fly away before the caretakers took it away from the rest.

After this we mulled around and near the beach we found the location of the smallest house in Great Britain. True to its name, it was quite small and suffocating. (I forget the exact dimensions of the house at this time, but the bedroom itself was large enough to only hold a standard cot and small dresser….I have no clue how a man of 6’ chose to live there for sixteen years!!!)


We ended our journey to Wales with some ice cream on the shoreline. It was truly a beautiful day (It hasn’t rained since the day I got here!!) and it was a great way to finish the visit!


Well that's it for now! I can't wait to share more of my journeys with you all!

Cheers!



Monday, September 23, 2013

Arrival!

I must first begin this post by apologizing for getting it up later than expected. I bought the wrong kind of convertor and therefore had no way to charge up my laptop while I’ve been here. I’ve got it sorted now so I will be posting regularly from here on out!

The last few days have been such a whirlwind that I don’t know where to even start! The flight was definitely one of the longer points of the journey, but I found that it was much easier to book the flight with someone else because then you not only have the company, but there’s someone there to watch over your stuff so that you can wander off and use the restroom or grab a bite to eat/drink. Something that might also help make your transition easier could be to actually set up a meeting time for your group even before you leave the States. That way you not only know what everyone looks like, but you can start off knowing a few people when you actually get here.

Anyways, after the flight we arrived at the airport and just as Jason said there was a representative from Edge Hill waiting to greet us in the airport. We then proceeded to pack the lot of us into the van and traveled the hour/hour and a half to the university itself where we gathered our room keys and were sent off towards our lodgings for the next three months.
 Many of the study abroad/international students seemed to have been placed into the same dorms, so many of the rooms have been filled with Americans. The general layout of the dorms is actually pretty nice (though we seem to have been put into the oldest ones).
 You have your own room with bed, desk, nightstand, dresser, and bookcase in addition to massive closets that hold well more than you would most likely bring with you. The rooms also have their own sink and mirror which are fantastic when you’re getting ready for bed or getting ready in the morning.



The communal bathroom is much less intimidating than I figured it would be. Instead of a giant room with rows of showers and toilets you get two separate rooms, one with the toilet itself and the other with the shower. (There is also a random room with just a bath for those of you who enjoy taking their time getting clean!)  





Beyond unpacking and taking a bit of a tour around the campus and Ormskirk itself, the leaders let us go on our own way and frankly it was at that point I struggled not to fall asleep at six in the afternoon. Huge tip- no matter how hard it is, try to stay awake till a decent time, so then you won’t feel the effects of jet lag as much. I was happy when I woke up the following morning and didn’t feel half bad although the time difference is +5 hours here.

To kind of cut this blog post back I’ll stop here and update again soon!