Trip to Holyhead

I had planned on doing absolutely nothing today, but Melisa convinced me that it was a good idea to get out. I met her after her class this morning, and we hopped on a bus to Holyhead. Or Caergybi if you are Welsh. I'm not certain why the city has two different names, but apparently it is really only one city. The sign said "Welcome to Holyhead" and the Welsh side said "Croeso i Caergybi." I know that "croeso i" means "welcome to." I will never understand this country.

Anyway, we went to Holyhead to do some exploring. It was actually pretty big. I'm excited to go back after break...we have to go to Holyhead to take a ferry to Ireland, which we are doing in mid-April. We wandered down some pedestrian paths. It was pretty, and the weather wasn't bad. Actually, the weather has been getting worse. These past few days, it has been incredibly windy. As in, I'm getting blown around a bit when I try to walk. It also rained a bit today, but mostly sprinkles. I shouldn't have straightened my hair this morning--between the wind and the rain, it was a giant waste of time.

We didn't stay too long in Holyhead. We came back, hung out, had dinner, etc. Nothing altogether too exciting. I did get to talk to my dad today, which made me happy. I really miss my family, and my friends. It's going to be hard not being able to talk to anyone regularly for the next few weeks.

Speaking of which, spring break starts tomorrow! We are going to London for the weekend (including a possible trip to Stonehenge), then Paris, Rome, Milan, Madrid, and finally landing in Bristol, and making our way back up to Bangor with a stop at Tintern Abbey. It's going to be chaotic, crazy, stressful, and exhausting. But I also think it's going to be the best part of my study abroad experience. And it'll be really helpful in forgetting about current life drama. I won't have regular internet access, though I am hoping to find computers and send updates to let my family know I am ok. Don't expect any blog updates while I'm gone--I'm planning on taking a notebook with so I can write down everything. I'll post it all when I come back, with lots and lots of pictures :)

Wish me luck!

Is it spring break yet?

Today was not exciting, and it was not fun. But that's ok, because my spring break starts soon. It's going to be long, exhausting, and wonderful. I'm really looking forward to not having time to think.

I went to the gym this morning, but wasn't feeling very motivated. Not the best workout :S I met Melisa for lunch, and then we hung out for a little while.

Class today was a joke, although I was impressed that most of the usual people were there. We had about 10 people, which is pretty normal. After class I stopped by the grocery store--neither Melisa or I really felt like getting alcohol, so instead I got a chocolate sponge cake. It was pretty good actually. Not the most exciting way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I've seen a lot of people running around wearing green--and with green marker all over their faces. Very classy.

I finished my sociology presentation today. It's due on Friday, and I'm going to print it out tomorrow. I'd like to avoid any technical difficulties, so I figure it's best to print it off in advance.

Here's to hoping my week gets better...

MAIL!

It was sunny out today, and warm :) It made me really happy, but hard to be in class. I did go, however--I was one of 7 people there today. I think people may have left early for spring break. It'll be a little bit weird to present on Friday to the handful of people that show up, but I'm kind of amused by it.

After class today, Melisa and I decided to go for a walk. It was so nice outside--I didn't feel like hanging out inside the gym. So we walked along High Street, and did a tiny bit of shopping. I bought a book to read :)

Then Melisa went to class, and I came back to my room. I spent most of my afternoon/evening either a) playing games on my computer; b) slowly putting together my sociology presentation, and c) watching House online. It's really hard to find motivation--I know that if I don't do anything now, I still have plenty of time to get it done.

I did do something productive today! I picked out my classes for next semester. We got the class list emailed to us from the registrar's office, since we'll be on our spring break (without internet) when registration is going on. So we're figuring it out ahead of time! It's not all that exciting. I have most of the credits I need for my major, I have all my breadth requirements, and I have the other random requirements. I just need credits now, and psych senior seminar. It made picking my few classes easy, but kind of boring. There were some other classes I was interested in, like a philosophy course--but it's during psych sem, so I CAN'T take it. Looks like I don't actually have that many options. But I do think I'll really enjoy the classes that I am going to take.

Also, I checked my mail today. I got a card from Lissa--postmarked on the 28th of January. I'm not entirely sure why it took so long to get to me, but I'm glad it got here :) I love getting mail!

A visitor!

Today was not the most exciting day, but it was actually a pretty good day. I didn't go to the gym (I tried to wash my tennis shoes...they weren't dry this morning) but I met Melisa and Sarah for lunch. Sarah Anderson is visiting from Ripon--she is staying with Kat and Lauren. It's nice to see someone from home, and it definitely makes things a little more interesting than usual.

We made pizza for lunch. I really love stuffed crust pizza :) And then we walked down to the pier. We stopped a few places along the way. First we stopped at the convenience store--I was able to top up on my phone, so now I can actually talk to people. And then we stopped at this cute organic store, and were told by the shopkeeper that we have beautiful American accents. I really love that everyone can identify us as Americans.

We did make it down to the pier, but then I had to leave Melisa and Sarah so that I could go to class. I was really tired today, and I felt bad because I couldn't stop yawning. The lecture was about community health promotion, and we talked about different health programs--ones we could potentially use as models for our assignments. Several of the examples were from the US...the professor made fun of some of the city names. But he did mention that another example from the US was one of the best. That's right ;)

After class, I walked back up to my room with Melisa and Sarah. I basically sat around for a while, and then went over to Melisa's for dinner. Melisa and I made lasagna (and cookies!) for ourselves, Kat, Lauren, and Sarah. It was fun! Then the other girls left for some speed-dating at Bar Uno--Melisa and I opted out, and just hung out in her room for a while.

I've done nothing productive today other than go to class. Tomorrow, after going to class and to the gym, I'm going to finish up my sociology presentation. I have to print it before class on Friday, so I'm going to do that on WEDNESDAY to avoid any printing issues. They should make things less complicated!

Amlwch and other adventures.

These past couple of days haven't been my best. Things just don't seem to be going my way, really. But I do have spring break starting on Friday after class, and I really can't wait. It'll be a welcome distraction.

Anyway, let's start with updates from yesterday since my computer was quite dead last night.

Melisa and I slept in--kind of. I woke up at about the same time I normally do, which counts as sleeping in since we get up early on most Saturdays. We hopped on a bus to Amlwch. I asked this man behind me in line how to pronounce it...it's AM-look. Which kind of makes sense...the w makes an "oo" sound, sometimes but not always. I really like the local people here...the Welsh ones, not the British ones. I don't dislike the British people, but they aren't as fun or friendly as the Welsh. When I ask questions, the Welsh people take it as a sign to start conversations. They usually know right away that I'm American. The man I talked to wanted to know where in the US I am from--he's been to the US nine times. I couldn't understand everything he said, but I just nodded and smiled. He did say that he thinks Americans are incredibly nice people--and nobody likes the English. Ha.

The bus ride to Amlwch didn't take too long. When we got off the bus, we discovered that Amlwch is actually a very small town. There were only a few stores, and only one of them was open. They did have a post office, but it closed at 12:30, not long after we arrived. We had no idea what to do. We wandered around, and tried to get to the water. We hit one dead end, but eventually found the coastal walk. It was a bit windy, but absolutely gorgeous:

I really enjoyed the walk with Melisa. We have a lot of fun when we go places...I'm not totally sure what I'd do without her. It was a very long walk...according to my pedometer, we walked about 8 miles total around Amlwch, including our coastal walk. It was muddy at times, and kind of...rocky. They don't really take good care of the paths and walkways around here, but it was definitely worthwhile. Apparently people are able to see dolphins on that coastal walk--we didn't see any. We're not sure if there is a specific time of year when people are supposed to look for them, but it would have been nice to see them.

Our walk put us out at a random part of town, and we hopped on a bus back to Bangor. We were back before too late, and I took a nap. I didn't have much choice...my computer was dead. The charger finally stopped completely. I didn't take it well--the computer is my link to the entire world. Melisa let me hang out with her, and we watched a movie online (She's the Man) which made me happy. I went to bed kind of early, and Melisa and I made plans for today.

This morning, Melisa and I met at 10:30ish to try to catch a bus to the Tesco area. Not many buses run on Sundays, so we weren't sure if we could find one. We couldn't, for a while. We had lunch at Subway (not quite as good as the US) and that was nice. Then we DID find a bus that took us to Tesco, which is near all the electronics stores. I have a presentation this week, so I kind of need my computer so that I can work on it. I gave in and bought a new charger. I didn't want to, especially since I'll have to buy a converter to plug in my computer when I get home. Plus it was really expensive. But let's not get ahead of ourselves--trip 1 to the store, Comet, was not successful. I wasn't sure that the cord I found would work, but the man working told me that it would be fine. He also wasn't sure if I could use my credit card because it was American. He had to ask his boss. That's the first time that has happened. Anyway, they took my credit card, and I was able to buy a cord. Melisa and I wanted to take a bus back to Bangor, but we asked the bus driver who took us to Tesco--apparently no buses run that route on Sundays, so he couldn't see us a return ticket. Then he got really confused, because he looked at the timetables in his booklet, and technically, his bus wasn't supposed to be running. I felt kind of bad for him...he had no idea what to tell us, and I don't know that he was sure he should be driving the route.

So, Melisa and I walked back from Comet to our dorms. The cord I bought had several different ends, and one of them was supposed to work with my computer. None of them did. I was a little bit upset. So, I walked all the way back to the store, knowing that no more buses were running. I think I may have talked to the manager this time...I just walked in and asked for help. I will say this, I've had excellent customer service here in the UK. He found a cord that would work, and compared it with mine (since I brought it with the second time). He also plugged the end into the Toshiba Satellite laptop that was in the store, and used my cord to double-check that it would fit. I was very happy. I walked back to my room (making my total for the day around 8 miles, again) and somehow managed to lose my pedometer on the walk back. I never heard it fall, but I have NO idea where it went. And then, I couldn't get the cord to work. I found the end that fit in my computer..but it didn't charge! Luckily, there was another end that also fit in my computer, and THAT one charged my computer. Now I have a fully charged computer, and working internet. Success, I guess.

It was a really long day. I just can't wait to get out of here and on spring break. 3 weeks of traveling and seeing some really great places should definitely help my mood.

And the computer fun continues...

Well, I don't think I have enough time to blog today, as my computer is almost dead and won't charge at all. I will be purchasing a cord tomorrow, though I'm not happy about it. I won't be able to use it in the US without a converter for the outlets. But I have a presentation due this week, and I kind of need my computer.

I did have some fun adventures today. Hopefully I'll be able to find a cord tomorrow that works, so I can blog and post pictures.

Printing troubles...

I have working internet again! Very exciting, I know. Don't worry--nothing exciting happened yesterday. It was a Thursday, so I didn't even have class. Melisa and I attempted to go to quiz night, but we got there 10 minutes before it was supposed to start, and it didn't look like it was going to happen. 1/3 of Bar Uno was reserved for a private party, and the guy who normally reads the trivia was serving food. So, we left...and later found out that there was indeed a quiz...and the picture trivia was (drum roll, please) state flags. Epic fail on our parts for not being there.

This morning, my internet was working again, but I had no intentions of waiting for it to stop again. I made plans to visit IT after class. However, I didn't end up going to class as it took me about an hour to attempt to print my paper. Most frustrating morning ever...I have never hated anything more. Noelia and I met to go to the library. I paid for some printer credits--1 pound will print about 20 pages. Then I asked where the printer was (since we couldn't find it last time). Having found the printer, I attempted to log into a computer. After about 10 minutes of trying to log in, I gave up. It kept telling me that it couldn't create a profile for me, and that if the problem persisted, I would need to contact the system administrator (something I don't know how to do).

So, Noelia and I went to a different building--the psych building, Wheldon. They have a computer lab there...full of Macs. Because I know how to work a Mac...not. I was, however, able to log in, which was an advantage to the library. However, the printers in the first room were down, so my attempts to print to those computers were an epic fail. A Maclab assistant told me to use the printers in another room. After opening the file on my computer, and pressing print, I had to go to the printer, and use the computer next to the printer to confirm that I a) want to print the file and b) have printer credits. 7 attempts to do this failed. It kept telling me that it was going to print, and then never did...

At this point, it was 11:05. Rather than walking 10 minutes to class and being 15 minutes late, I decided not to go. Instead, I walked BACK TO THE LIBRARY to try again to print my paper. I was able to sign in, which was exciting. And I was able to open my file to press print. I went down to the printer, and had to sign in on that computer, which is, by the way, ANCIENT. Once upon a time, I believe the computer frame was white, but had yellowed with time. It was a tiny little screen, but very old-fashioned. I enjoyed the flashing green font. I had to type in my user name, but nothing showed up when I typed in my password. I guess it's supposed to do that, and therefore I just had to press enter and hope that my password was correct.

IT PRINTED! Let's not talk about how long and frustrating my morning was. I took it to the Alun building, filled out a cover sheet, and turned it in. I also had to turn in my paper online, via Blackboard, which was incredibly difficult. The file wouldn't upload, no matter what format I saved it in. Eventually I used the copy and paste option to turn it in. It has no formatting whatsoever, but the electronic copy is just used to check for plagiarism anyway. It should be ok, I hope.

Melisa and I had boxed macaroni and cheese for lunch :)  And then I boycotted the gym, since the weather was so nice. Melisa and I took a nice walk around Bangor, and stopped for some pastries at the Castle Bakery on High Street. We did some shopping too, which is always fun. Melisa got some really cute shorts. I also called the guy at the IT department, and told him about my internet problems. He was quite helpful, and told me that I could very easily get a new cord from the Halls Office, and if that didn't work, he gave me a number to call. So I got a new cord, and my internet is working perfectly!

Then we made tuna melts for dinner--I think my day just gradually got better. The morning may not have been ideal, but I do have some wonderful flowers in my room because...

...John sent me flowers yesterday :) Today we've been dating for 6 months. Not sure how that happened, but time really seems to fly by! We were unable to talk yesterday like we normally do, since I didn't have internet and all. But hopefully we'll be able to talk this weekend :)

And for tonight, I think I should head to bed. Tomorrow Melisa and I are hopping on a bus to Amlwch. It's a random town that looks like it could be fun. And we've gotten smarter too--instead of getting up early like we have been on Saturdays, we're going to take the 10:45 bus so we can sleep in!

Internet fail!

I'm sitting in Melisa's room, borrowing her cord for a few minutes. There might be no blog tonight. I've always had internet trouble, and it now appears that it will not work at all. After trying a different jack, and then Melisa's cord, I've determined that the problem is my cord. So I'll most definitely be taking my computer AND cord to the IT department to make them help me.

If I can get my internet to work later, I'll make a longer post. No worries, I don't have anything exciting to say anything. I can probably fit it all in to tomorrow's blog ;)

Mystery friend!

Wednesdays are not usually very exciting. I can't say that today was much more exciting than usual--maybe a little bit.

I got up this morning to work out. It's funny, because in my class today, we talked about reasons for going to the gym, and one of the girls (my friend whose name I don't know but MIGHT HAVE FIGURED OUT) suggested going to the gym for social reasons. But really, I haven't met a single person at the gym. There are a few people who I see on a regular basis. But we never speak--we're working out! As for the friend whose name I do not know, the professor (?) who leads discussion called her Kim. And she didn't correct him. So it looks like I may have found out the name of my mystery friend :)

Melisa arranged to meet me after class. She's feeling a bit bored, and wanted to walk around town. This entire week has been sunny, and fairly warm. But the temperature can sometimes drop about 10 degrees in less than an hour. It was pretty nice when I walked to class. It was SO cold an hour later when I got out of class! So, we made it a short walk, and didn't even stop anywhere. Fail.

We made some delicious fajitas for dinner, and then decided to go to the late night store for some candy. I also got an eclair, but it was definitely...expired. And not good. Luckily toblerone is always good, so that saved me. We decided to watch a movie online on my computer, but then my computer stopped charging at all and started to die. So we finished the movie in Melisa's room, and now I'm back. I just got my computer to start charging, so I turned it on again. But I'm going to turn it off in just a few minutes--just in case. Stupid computer.

Mom will be sending me a cord--it'll get here just after my spring break (since I'm not using my computer over break). At least, that's the plan right now. We'll see how everything pans out.

I don't have any classes tomorrow, so I have to find something to do. I'm going to visit the library and try to print my paper--that should be fun. It's a very complicated process, apparently. I'm not exactly looking forward to it, especially since we couldn't even find the printer last time (so we left).

I'm not sure what we will be doing this weekend. We are looking for something close by, since this is our last weekend before spring break! It's getting more and more difficult to find things that are open but not crazy expensive. I wish I could win the British lottery--we'd go on a hot air balloon ride. But unfortunately, those are really expensive. So, maybe someday!

Week 7...how did THAT happen??

I like Tuesdays, mostly because I get to talk to John :)

I had my sociology lecture this morning from 11-1. Now that I have the book, I see that his lectures are straight from the book. But he does know what he is talking about, and he explains things much better than the book does. I would much rather spend 2 hours listening to him lecture than any hours struggling to read that stupid book. I think maybe that's why people aren't in class? Maybe they know it's all in the book, and they don't mind reading it...

I emailed the person who is supposed to present with me. She wants to know what we are presenting on. We decided that during the first week of class, and the people who weren't there just got assigned spots. In 8 weeks, she hasn't bothered to ask someone when she presents, or what she presents on? Wow. Anyway, I was very nice, and I explained that we were doing week 8 (ethnomethodology) and I volunteered to take the first two questions if she would take the second two. She hasn't responded, and I'm not sure whether she will actually show up to present next week.

After class, I went to the gym, and then I spent the afternoon watching episodes of House online. I did do some more work on my presentation. I have answers for my two questions, but I'm going to answer the other ones too just in case. I have no faith in other students, especially the ones here. I'm actually fairly certain that my presentation partner has not been to more than MAYBE one class. How do people do that?!

I talked to John for about an hour and a half, which made my day. And tomorrow I have a skype date with Becca, who I haven't talked to in forever!! I need to arrange more skype dates with people, because there are so many people who I haven't talked to in a while.

I also have been fighting with my computer today. TWO YEARS AGO I bent the cord that charges it, and it's been getting worse and worse. I have to have it propped a certain way with a book in order for my computer to charge, and sometimes it just stops. Looks like I'll be getting a new computer cord soon...that's not exactly optional. If my computer dies, I will be LOST. I can't even fathom what I would do!

Ok. I suppose I should go to bed tomorrow. Maybe I'll get some more stuff done. I'd like to finish up my sociology presentation so I can start actually working on my psych project. That would be exciting.

The hardest part of my paper = figuring out how to turn it in...

Today was the usual Monday. Nothing exciting, to be perfectly honest.

I woke up at 9:45, and worked out. I've decided to incorporate some weight-lifting into my routine, mostly because I have nothing better to do. Then Melisa and I had lunch together, and went grocery shopping. That's always fun, mostly because we can never find what we are looking for. Who knew that eggs would be next to the alcohol? We certainly didn't.

I had my psychology lecture from 2-4. We talked about workplace health promotions, which reminded me a lot of human resource management. I am not interested in human resource management. I know I probably should be, because a lot of it will affect me someday, when I'm in the real world, with a real job. But right now,  I just don't find it interesting. So I wasn't overly impressed with today's lecture.

I also find it really weird that people leave halfway through class. They aren't rude or disruptive--we always take a 10 minute break halfway through. But between 5 and 10 people always get up and leave. The class has gotten substantially smaller each week. I don't know where the students go when they skip class, but they skip class a lot. It's really weird. But I realize there isn't a lot of motivation to go to class--you aren't tested on most of it. It's kind of pointless, unless you actually are interested and want to learn. I get the idea that most of the students don't really care.

After class, I had a skype date with my mom :) I like talking to people from home, and I really miss my family. It's not at all the same as when I am in Ripon. Then I could easily call or text them. I can text people, but it appears that only John gets my text messages. And I can't use my UK phone to call phones outside of the UK. It just doesn't work. I won't pretend to understand. I just wish it would work! I'm glad that skype exists, even if it doesn't always work well. I'll take what I can get.

I finished editing my sociology paper. I'm just going to be done with it. It's 40% of my grade, but I've had three different people read over it, and tell me that it's good. Now I just have to figure out how to turn it in. I asked, last Friday during our discussion class. I was told that I have to bring a hard copy to the building that has the sociology administration. I need fill out a sheet in reception, and turn it in. I ALSO need to submit an electronic copy via Blackboard, which I can't currently figure out how to do. I emailed my TA after class on Friday to see if he could explain again, but he has not yet responded. I'll ask someone in class tomorrow, or I'll just ask my professor. He's been really helpful, so I'm sure he won't mind my question. It just sounds like a dumb question when I have to ask HOW to turn in my paper.

I've been exhausted today, so I'm going to bed early. I don't currently have the motivation to work on anything, although I have started putting together my presentation for sociology. It's due in about 11 days. I don't understand the whole presentation thing, because the people who present every week have literally sat in their seats and read their responses to the questions. That's a presentation? No. It's not. But apparently it's acceptable. I'm going to feel really weird sitting in my chair, reading my answers. But at the same time, I don't want to be the show-off, overachiever who has a nice little powerpoint and notecards. Why isn't this easier?!

Stupid textbooks give me a headache...

I am almost proud of how little I accomplished today. I didn't set an alarm, but my body thought it was a good idea to get up at 10. I read one of my books from the library, so I can return those this week.

I also read for class, but I got ridiculously frustrated. I checked out my sociology textbook from the university library, because I thought it might be helpful for my presentation on the 19th. The questions that we have to answer in our presentation seem very specific, so I thought the book might directly answer those questions.

I have never been more wrong. I've also never hated a textbook more. It's like the authors wanted to seem smart, so they made everything seem more complicated than it is. It's not that the vocab is over my head--that's not it at all. They just took really simple concepts, and explained them in a really wordy, complex way. The sentences are long, run-on sentences that I literally have to read out loud a few times before I understand. I don't enjoy it, and it gave me quite the headache. So...I napped.

After my napped, I did some research for my psych paper that's due at the end of April. I know it's not due for a while, but I'm not sure how motivated I will be to do work after spring break. I might be extra motivated at the thought of coming home...or I might be as lazy as I am now :S

It wasn't a total waste of a day. I got a little bit done. And I was able to talk (albeit briefly) to Amanda, Lissa, John, AND Leslie. I miss so many people, and it's hard because everyone is pretty busy. I am having fun, but I'll admit that I can't wait to come home.

Llanberis

This morning, Melisa and I hopped on a bus to Llanberis. We know there are trains that start in Llanberis, and go to the top of Mount Snowdon, but the website didn't say when they start running. It turns out that they aren't in operation until March 19th, which makes me sad. Nothing opens until late March! So we plan to go back sometime after spring break.

At any rate, we decided to explore Llanberis. Cady Cummings visited Llanberis when she was in Wales, and she highly recommended it. She also requested that I find a little tea and honey shop that she went to, since the owner was really nice.

We spent our day walking around Llanberis. There were a couple of cute shops, but nothing really appeared to be open. It was kind of weird, really. But Llanberis is really pretty, and I LOVE the mountains.

It was so pretty. Pictured above is Llanberis Pass. It was definitely worth a trip to Llanberis, and we're excited to go back when the trains run up the mountain! There was so much to see in Llanberis.

We literally just walked around town, and checked everything out. We saw a building called "Electric Mountain" so we went inside. From Electric Mountain, they give tours of Dinorwig, the world's second-largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. We had time...so we took a tour. We got to wear hard hats :) But we couldn't bring our cameras, so unfortunately you can't see how great I looked with my sweet hard hat.

Dinorwig is built inside the mountain. It's the largest man-made cavern in Europe. And it was pretty cool. They have a reservoir of water at the top of the mountain, and it runs down when they open up certain valves. It ends up in the second reservoir, which is at the base of the mountain. It's an interesting process, although the tour could have been a little bit more exciting. Apparently there are six engine-like things, and if they are all operating, Dinorwig could power all of Wales--but only for 6 hours, because they'd run out of water. From 12 am to 6 am, they reverse the process and send all the water back up to the top reservoir. It's not too complicated I guess--they only have 7 people working every day.

After touring Dinorwig, we wandered around town some more, looking for a place to eat lunch. We found some stray sheep, and followed them to a church. Outside was a bench, so we ate lunch there. It was gorgeous.

After lunch, we found the tea and honey shop that Cady recommended. It was cute, and the owner was very nice. Melisa and I shared some ice cream, which was a nice treat, although it was a little cold outside still. Then we hopped on a bus back to Bangor, and I napped for three hours. It was a great nap. We made taco dip for dinner--not the most nutritious, but it was very delicious :)

Tomorrow will be another easy day, although I plan on working on some papers that are due this semester. They aren't due for a while, but once I get them done, I have basically nothing to worry about. I also need to edit my sociology paper. As 40% of my grade, it better be a good paper!

Caffeine is not my friend

I did not sleep well last night at all. And in retrospect, I blame the pepsi. That pepsi I had at quiz night was the best ever. But I drank it at 9:30 pm...and I haven't had caffeine very often over here. So I'm going to assume that caffeine was the reason I didn't get to sleep last night!

I have been exhausted all day. I went to class from 11-12. Noelia presented today. I present in a few weeks. And by present, I mean sit at the table and read my answers to the questions. That's what presentations are here. I'm really tempted to make a sweet powerpoint, and have my answers on notecards. But I really just want to do well, and I don't know how anyone would react to that. Awkward.

Working out today was the only thing that woke me up at all. That didn't last long though. I watched a movie online, and studied for the GRE. It's made me feel sleepy, and a little bit dumb. I haven't had to do any math in so long. Taking practice tests with algebra, arithmetic, and geometry are not fun. I'm really glad I started studying now. I definitely needed a review. But studying when I'm tired does not seem smart, because I don't feel like I am retaining any information. Oh well...there's always tomorrow, right?

Cawl = Soup; Leek = vegetable of Wales

I feel very accomplished today. No reason, really. In all honesty, I did nothing. I went to the gym this morning. I tried to take a picture of the mountains, but it was TOO SUNNY. I loved it, though. I can't complain about this weather.

I had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch :) It made me happy. Melisa made dinner today, as I was talking to John during dinner prep time. My internet keeps disconnecting me, and it makes me really upset. I plan on talking to the IT department tomorrow, but I don't know if they will actually be any help.

After dinner, Melisa and I went to quiz night. Kat and Lauren are in London right now, so we didn't have the usual help! Monday was St. David's Day, and St. David is the patron saint of Wales. So this week was Welsh week, and the trivia was all about Wales. We did just as terrible as we normally do. Not much worse, which was reassuring. We knew 6/45 answers. 10/45 were picture identifications, and once again, they were all people...Welsh people. BUT I KNEW ONE! Did you know Anthony Hopkins is Welsh? I didn't. But I recognized him. Melisa and I were very proud of the other 5 answers we got right too. The Welsh world "cawl" means soup. The vegetable of Wales is a leek. Roald Dahl wrote "James and the Giant Peach"--we knew that! Turns out he was born in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. One of the other questions was about a castle, and we guessed right. I have no idea what the 6th question was, but we were very proud of the things we have learned about Wales.

After quiz night, I decided to spend some time studying for the GRE. It's hard to do when you keep getting kicked off the Internet :( I took that as a sign that I don't need to study tonight, ha.

Melisa and I are not sure what we are doing this weekend. We wanted to go to Ireland, but if we wait until after break, the ferries leave earlier in the day, which would give us more time. We were going to go to Llanberis, and possible up Mt. Snowdon, but apparently the only bus to Llanberis leaves at 9 pm. That's no good. So we're on the lookout for fun things to do on Saturday!

Productivity at last!

Today was a pretty good day. I keep meaning to bring my camera with to the gym, just because the mountains are exceptionally breathtaking in the morning. I forgot again today, but will hopefully remember tomorrow!

After getting in a good workout, I went over to Melisa's for lunch. We went to the library (a school one, not the public one) so that I could check out a book. I actually checked out my main textbook for my class, so that I can do some of the readings ;) We also went grocery shopping, which is always interesting. We both have a habit of making a list...and then forgetting it.

I had my psychology discussion class from 3-4 today. I really like the guy that leads discussion, but I do kind of feel like it's pointless. We just keep discussing the project we are working on, and it gets kind of repetitive. I'm hoping the discussion will give me tips to make my project better. I haven't actually done a lot of work on it, but I have started it, and I'm planning on working on it some more this week. It's not due until April 26th, but I do want it to be quality work.

Speaking of work, I finished my sociology paper today :) With a title page and references, it's 11 pages. I've send it to Lissa for editing. It's 40% of my grade, so I'll take any editing and advice that people want to give! I'm a little worried, but I have over a week now to make changes and hopefully improve it. I'm going to ask my TA if he will just skim it and let me know if it's ok.

Other than that, I haven't done a whole lot. I'm really proud of myself for finishing my paper, 9 days before it's due :) Also, yesterday when I was avoiding my paper, I vaccuumed, and I am in love with my vaccuum cleaner. His name is Henry Hoover, and I want to keep him. It's a cute little vaccuum with a face on it, and it says HENRY on it too. Plus it works really well. I wish I could take him home with me. I think I'd be much more motivated to clean with such a cute vaccuum.

What's APA?

I find the education system here to be weird, and very unstructured. I really don't think I like it. It's a little bit too different from what I'm used to.

One of the first things I did this morning was go to my sociology lecture, from 11-1. My professor is always at least 5 minutes late, which I find odd. And then when he walked in today, he noticed that, of the 35ish students in the class, there were only about 15 people there. His response? "Oh, it's the faithful few!" He was surprisingly cheery about it...I think I'd be a little bit annoyed if only a tiny bit of the class attended lectures. At any rate, he lectured today on symbolic interactionism...which I learned about last year in my deviance course.

After class, I stopped my professor to ask him a few questions about the upcoming paper. I wanted to know what kind of format to use....APA, ASA, MLA, Chicago-style, etc. At first he didn't really understand the question, so I told him that the psychology department at Bangor uses APA. He doesn't know what APA is, but once I told him that it's basically a way of citing sources, he understood. And he told me that it doesn't matter as long as I am consistent. He showed me an example on an in-text citation, which looked like ASA, so I've decided to use ASA. But now I'm unsure about the format of the rest of the paper. Does my title page matter? Margins? Do they double-space things here? Ahhh! I'm so used to having a strict set of rules to follow that I'm really uncomfortable with this.

I went to the gym after talking to my professor. That crossramp machine will be the death of me. I've figured out how to stay balanced, and I figured out how to adjust the angle (so I can just run and not prance). But I'm incredibly sore. That should fade as I keep working out, but it definitely makes me want to take it easy rather than push myself.

I finished going over my sources for my paper, and I now know exactly what I'll be writing about. I made a very detailed outline. So, basically, I'm making the whole paper-writing process incredibly simple. I even started my paper...I have a title page, and a paragraph. Ha. I should probably work on it more, but I'm really tired today. I have a lot of time set aside tomorrow, so I should be able to continue working (and hopefully finish it).

New experiences at the gym

I had a very interesting experience today at the gym. I normally use the "ladies-only room" because it's smaller, so there are always less people. When I got there today, at my normal time, all of the machines were in use. The only exception was the one machine that I don't know how to use...

I was not deterred by this, but went upstairs to one of the regular fitness rooms. There was a row of treadmills, two rows of bikes, and one row of unfamiliar machines. I'm not a huge fan of treadmills, so I headed toward the unfamiliar machines. They slightly resembled elliptical machines, so that was what I was expecting.

To be honest, it felt like a mix between a stair climber and an elliptical machine, but not in a good way. It was the most awkward machine I have ever been on. I felt like a pony, prancing around. It was like doing knee highs, but with a machine to help. I couldn't keep a steady pace, and my knee kept buckling and I almost fell a few times. It was...strange. I almost got right off, but felt like I would look dumb, so I did it for about 5 minutes before getting off. I decided that the treadmill isn't too bad, really. And now, my thighs are sore, and I feel like the "cross ramp" (as that machine is called) works different muscles, and I might actually like to try it again. I looked it up, and apparently it is supposed to be like an elliptical machine, but you can adjust the angle at which you "run." So I don't have to do knee highs. I think I'll try it again tomorrow, and see how it goes.

That was probably the most exciting part of my day. I went to my psych lecture, and it was interesting. We talked about social support, and how it can be helpful in encouraging positive health behaviours. I just spelled behaviour without the "u" but it looked wrong. I hope I'm not turning British!

After class, I kept getting distracted by people. So...I didn't get much work done. But I'm going to read another one of my soc articles before bed, and then plan on finishing them tomorrow, even if I have to disconnect my internet! I should be able to actually write the paper either tomorrow night or Wednesday morning. Then I can send it to my trustworthy editor, Lissa, to make sure it's a good paper and all that. I'll be excited to get it done, even though that means I'll have to work on my presentation, which is due the week after my paper. My work is never-ending! It's funny to think about it, though. If I was in Ripon, I'd have this paper done in a matter of days, without a problem. But in Ripon, I have so much other stuff to do--I don't have time to procrastinate. Here, I can basically do whatever I want. I'm still working on the whole will-power and self-control stuff. I'd like to be able to get stuff done when I want, not just according to someone else's due dates.

Ok...I'm off to do work before sleeping!