Days 45 - 52: Short Recaps - Guy Fawkes Day, CU, Malaysian Food

Here are some study abroad recaps (long overdue...)!  Unfortunately, my memory can only go so far...so I'm going to have to update what I did on weekends rather than each individual day (that's more reasonable), unless I happened to have extraordinary happenings on a weekday!

I'll begin in the first week of November (which is where I left off from last study abroad related post).

To recap, I had broken my camera on the last weekend of October, when my friends from Penn had come to visit for Halloween in Cardiff.  I bought a new camera (which was such a necessity in my travels) sometime during the early first week of November.  Here I was testing it out on Day 45 (Thursday, November 4, 2010):

This is a picture of English Breakfast that I had at Cafe 10 at the Student Union with Alisha.

During the first weekend of November, we had plans to celebrate Guy Fawkes' Day while staying in the area, so on Friday, we had just stayed in Cardiff (a very rare weekend indeed)...

Thus, on Day 46 (Friday, November 5, 2010) Alisha and I allegedly (from what I can tell through pictures, at least) made dinner and ate Crepes for dessert (too typical).  Here's a picture of one of our 23974987293487 crepes that we made in the 3 month period:

Crepe with Nutella & Banana = Small Heaven

I miss how cheap Nutella was there!

Day 47 (Saturday, November 6, 2010):

I believe both Alisha and I had some sort of essay due the following week, so we were hard at work in that for the majority of the Saturday.  At night, we headed to Caerphilly Castle to see fireworks in honor of Guy Fawkes Day!

Fireworks at a castle! Almost too good to be true...

It was absolutely gorgeous!  Alisha, DeeDee and I went to Caerphilly via train (which was absolutely NUTS because there was a rugby match in Cardiff - apparently it is not advisable to travel on a Rugby day in Wales).  We had a blanket with us and some champagne to enjoy - it was almost like a mini 4th of July celebration.

I still find their celebration of Guy Fawkes Day a bit strange.  It's like, "oh hey, this guy tried to blow up Parliament but failed, so let's celebrate!"...although, I guess during the first anniversary of the event, they celebrated it, and then it just ended up sticking throughout the years.  It *still* reminded me a lot of our Independence Day (4th of July) celebrations, which is slightly ironic since we, as Americans, are celebrating our Declaration of Independence from the British...

(Anyway - going back to my adventures):

I felt terrible because Suwei and her boyfriend (who was visiting Cardiff that weekend) were supposed to join us, but they had just boarded the train to Caerphilly from Cardiff Central when the fireworks just ended :(  They ended up coming to join us when we were at a cafe enjoying hot drinks after the fireworks.

Dee Dee and I shared this "delux hot chocolate" drink which was heavenly:

Can you say 'omnomnom'?

Afterwards, we had to wait a very long time for the train.  It was....an interesting experience because there were a bunch of preteens/early teenagers who were waiting for the train at the same time.  They were clearly drunk and rowdy.  I remember missing America so much at this point, since we tend to have strictly enforced curfew laws with underaged teenagers.  At one point, they jumped onto the bench that Suwei and I were sitting at, causing us to have to move...it was just really ridiculous.  That is one thing I definitely don't miss about the UK.

On Day 48 (Sunday, November 7, 2010), I was definitely in Cardiff and must have gone to church for the first time in ages!  I went to CCCC, which was the church that I ended up sticking with for the rest of my time abroad (and during the limited Sundays that I was there).  I remember really enjoying the service there and feeling part of a community even though...I can count how many times I actually went there for Sunday service.  Nevertheless, I was happy that I was finally able to attend a Sunday sermon!

(Skipping a couple of days)...

Day 51 (Wednesday, November 10, 2010) was a typical day after classes because the Christian Union's weekly meeting was on that day.  While I was abroad, I went to CU meetings almost every Wednesday, where we typically did worship and heard a message.  After CU, a couple of the girls and I headed to the park in front of Cardiff City Hall because Winter Wonderland was opening that night!

Unfortunately, we came too late and missed the fireworks (which I heard wasn't that great anyway), but we did end up taking some pictures in front of the lit ferris wheel!

I remember that it was really exciting to see the ferris wheel and other stuff being lit up because we had seen the preparations for the opening of Winter Wonderland in the past few weeks!  Due to time constraints, I never ended up actually going into Winter Wonderland...but it was nice walking by it everyday :)  The Bute building (where all my classes were) was within 3 minute walking distance from the Winter Wonderland, so I got to see it all the time (even though I never actually went inside...)

Day 52 (Thursday, November 11, 2010):


After classes, I went to CCCC ESF meeting (Cardiff Chinese Christian Church, English Student Fellowship) that occurs every Thursday night as per usual.  This time though, Suwei and Connie were cooking a Malaysian dinner for me and Joanna (a BBC - British Born Chinese)!  It was SO YUMMY.

My first time having Malaysian food, and I must say, they set the standards pretty high :)

Blogging about this while I'm already back in the States makes me miss the girls so, so, so much.  It's really amazing how easily bonds are formed in such a short amount of time.  I'm so thankful that God placed each and every one of those amazing sisters in my life :)

The weekend that followed this meal was spent in Edinburgh, where I invoked on an adventure BY MYSELF to join Alisha and Alana who were already in Scotland (they had the entire week off as 'reading week'...I didn't :( ).  More on that to come very soon!

Yay for updates!

Days 21-25: A week full of food, realizations, cultures...

October 28, 2010


Day 21 (Monday, October 11, 2010):


And the second week of classes begin! I had a lecture from 9am-11am and then another lecture from 2pm-5pm. (Yay for 3 hour lectures...)  My second lecture always has a screening for the last hour or so, but it almost always goes over the 5pm frame, so being the good student that I am, I've been leaving early! On this particular day, I had an arrangement to meet with my International Exchange partner; I had missed the actual International Interchange night because I decided to something else. I contacted my partner in advance and we scheduled to meet up with one another on this day instead!

The International Interchange event is basically something that the International Society here at Cardiff arranged for Internationals to get to know one another. Prior to the event, we were asked to fill out a form online indicating which languages we are fluent in and which languages we would like to learn. I put down that I speak English and Korean natively and wanted to learn Spanish (I really would have liked to practice the Spanish that I haven't practiced since high school). Our partners were emailed to us the night before the event - I was matched up with a Korean student and a Chinese student and sadly, no Spanish-speaker. :(

Anyway, so I met up with my Korean buddy at City Centre where we headed to Starbucks to chat! She is a postgraduate student studying business. She was really fascinated to hear about the fact that I was a Korean raised in America (since she was born & raised in Korea). We talked about our families, the Korean culture, what it means to be a 1.5 generation Korean living in Los Angeles, the differences between London and Cardiff...and it was really nice. I think she felt a different kinship just to meet another Korean so far away from home (and the size of Koreans here is...really small).

Day 22 (Tuesday, October 12, 2010):


I ended up missing my first lecture for my Media & Gender module this day (one of many to come). I had a massive headache and just could not get up! I did make it to my first Tele-fictions seminar, which was lovely. I met up with Alana at the SU for lunch...and I can't really remember what I did the rest of the day, but in the afternoon I met with my Study Abroad girls to go to dinner!

We went to Wagamama, a Japanese noodle chain restaurant. I ended up ordering some sort of fried rice with a bunch of different things in it; others got noodles. Everyone seemed to really enjoy their meal. I noticed that there were some differences between a British-fusion Japanese noodle restaurant and what you'd find in America. It was definitely less authentic here in the UK than in the US - they had fried soba noodles, which I had never seen! I was always under the impression that soba was meant to be eaten not fried, but I might be wrong.

Yummy Asian Food!

A really awesome pat of the meal was that they gave cups of green tea for free with every meal order! This free deal helped me save my money and not order Sake...hehe.

We ended up going to this Crepe place (I think they called it a Pancake House or something) for dessert. We got into this awful habit of always having dessert after dinner - BAD for the wallet and BAD for the health! But oh-so-good for the taste bud...

I ended up getting a nutella and banana crepe while the rest of the girls got some good Welsh ice cream.

Day 23 (Wednesday, October 13, 2010):

 I was supposed to go to the Medieval Village with Alisha and Alana on Wednesday but that ended up being canceled because the girls had some problem with their schedule. I ended up meeting Joanna (a British Asian yay!) at the Woodville Pub for dinner. At 7pm, I went to the CU meeting at Julian Hodge. The CU had a "fayre" (fair) with all the different ministries it supports! There were some really cool outreach projects, and once again, I felt that the Christian fellowships at Penn should really get a move on with this whole outreach thing. I ended up signing up for  Revive, which is this really great ministry that works with churches in the Valleys of Wales where there is extreme poverty and high unemployment.  I am not exactly sure if I'd be actually be able to do Revive since I'm only here for 3 months, but I really would have loved to get more involved if I had been an actual student here at Cardiff.

When I was at CU, I got a call from Elmira (one of the study abroad girls from America) who felt really sick after her volleyball practice and wanted to rest at our place (since Talybont is so close to where all the sport people practice). I directed her to my flatmate Alisha who let her in - I came home to find them having a cuddly chat with some tea. Elmira ended up sleeping over and (from what I can remember), all three of us had some interesting chats, which is always lovely.

Day 24 (Thursday, October 14, 2010):

I had my first Writing with Light seminar this day, where I was utterly surprised to find that we had not needed to do the readings. In fact, the readings did not even come up! This seminar was more like a supplementary lecture where we were able to put to practice what we learned earlier in the week. 

I was supposed to meet up with a British friend that I made, but that didn't work out, so...I really can't remember what I did (probably came home and napped).

At 6pm, the CCCC English Fellowship had a "welcome party" at the Chaplaincy - oddly enough, this reminded me of RCF back home. The main difference was that people here were much more willing to serve each other (yeah, we really need to work on that), but I hear that RCF has gone through some magnificent changes in this semester alone, which I am looking forward to joining when I get back in the Spring. GOD IS GOOD. ALL THE TIME. :)

It was also interesting to essentially become a freshman all over again. Since sophomore year in RCF, we were being trained to be an upperclassman so in welcome events like this, we were expected to bring food, readiness to be friendly (haha) and prepare a skit usually. It was nice to just observe and receive (that sounds really selfish...haha). I kept recalling our Ice Cream Social for the freshmen last year...

Another main difference! People in the States are more concerned with "classes", as in Class of 2012, 2013, and so on. People here don't really associate themselves with their graduating classes (not at all actually). So there is less of emphasis on "class unity" as we stress so much at Penn (and in RCF). I think a part of this has to do with the fact that people here have a great emphasis on their "courses" since it is much more rigid than our "majors and minors" system and depending on their course, the amount of time before graduation differs. It's a different system, but I do miss all the class-specific activities Penn would sponsor (I kept getting emails for Amy Gutman's 2012 Halloween Party and was massively jealous even though I usually never go to those events).  I also miss using the words "Freshmen", "Sophomore", "Junior", and "Senior" - sometimes these words slip out of my mouth, and people here look at me like I'm crazy!

Day 25 (Friday, October 15, 2010):

I have a 9 o'clock lecture in the morning on Friday (yuck...) but it's Tele-fictions, which is one of the more interesting modules so it makes it tiny bit easier to wake up in the morning. I was supposed to go to morning prayer at 8 in the morning, but that did not happen because I woke up with a massive headache.  I was proud to have made it to the 9 o'clock lecture, since I tend to miss class a lot in general (I can't even count how many I didn't go to at Penn last semester). 

After my lecture, I had a seminar for my Media, Racism and Conflict module, which was good. This class is looking to be very structured and such - here, we signed up to form groups for student-led seminars. I ended up being assigned in the first group to present (more on that on Day 32, a week from October 15th)!

I ate lunch at the Woodville Pub with Alisha and Alana - Alana and I ended up getting dessert (SUCH a bad habit). We got their Belgium Waffle which is so. darn. good. 

I ended up going to the Big Tesco's afterwards to buy some stuff for my WEEKEND TRIP which was to...BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND!! More on that on next update...

Sorry for this text-heavy, little-picture update...but I promise the next update will have lots of pictures from Ireland!

Days 18-20: Weekend here in Cardiff

October 22, 2010

SO BEHIND.

Day 18 (Friday, October 8, 2010):


I had my first seminar on this day for the module Media, Racism and Conflict - I actually like the system here better regarding seminars. Seminars are small groups the equivalent of "recitations" (as we call it at Penn) or "discussions" (as other US Colleges call it). The biggest difference is that here in Cardiff (I'm not sure about the entire UK), seminars are actually led by the "lecturers" (professors) that teach the "module" (classes).  In the States, recitations/discussions are led by TA's (Teacher Assistants) who are Graduate students. I like this system so much better, since in the States, in order for a professor to know your name, you need to actively go find them during their office hours.  Also, this forces you to make sure you have done the reading since you should be actively participating all the time during the seminar.

After classes, I had a little pub date with the usual Study Abroad group girls - and then I decided to go out with Alana (one of the other Americans) and her flatmates. It was quite fun to dress up and get ready with friends (since I hadn't done this since the end of Spring semester at Penn). We ended up just going to the Student Union where a party was happening; I had fun but it got me missing Penn and APO unofficials...a lot.

Day 19 (Saturday, October 9, 2010):


Dee Dee (a new friend from Hong Kong!) and I headed to the marketplace that opens every Saturday in Cardiff to check out the food and to hang out! It resembled the farmer's market, but it was quite small.

Lots of people checking out the different booths

I ended up buying lunch from this place:

Welsh Mountain Meat!

I'm not even exactly sure what Welsh Mountain Meat is supposed to be, but the burger was really yummy!

I love, love, love meat that tastes really juicy not because it's been seasoned with a million different spices, but because it's fresh and natural.

Afterwards, we were supposed to go to the Cardiff Bay, but we went to three different bus stations and we STILL weren't able to catch the bus! Apparently, there was an event going on at the Millennium Centre (or Millennium Stadium, can't remember which one it was...) and therefore the bus routes were all messed up. Instead we ended up going shopping!

Town was bustling with people:

I ended up buying a casual dress and a short-sleeve cardigan! Oh, and this is where I ended up buying Caerddyd Dragonwhales (that I mentioned in this entry). Here is a recent picture of us, hehe:

I cuddle with him every night! He looks so goofy, I love it.

After shopping, I headed to the SU for the "welcoming party" for CCCC, the Cardiff Chinese Christian Church.  I know, I know...all of you at Penn are thinking: whattttt? It's kind of weird that I ended up joining a Chinese church all the way here in Wales, but I really feel that they have a tight-knit community that seems fitting since I'll only be here for such a short while.

The welcoming party was conducted in both Cantonese and English - I had no idea what to expect at first, but I think they were able to pull it off well. The party consisted of some ice breaker type games, dinner, mingling, introductory videos, a sermon, and small groups. To be honest, I was surprised that there were quite a few people who were not Christian but checking out a church event. I don't know if they were there because of free food or because they wanted to mingle with people from the same area, but it must be a blessing to have them just be exposed to the Gospel. I think Christian fellowships back at Penn are so internally focused whilst I have found out that the CU here is much more externally focused. I think I am learning valuable lessons from here - of course it is important for us to grow spiritually during our four years in university, but I think it is equally important to reach out to the communities surrounding us. I mean, Philadelphia is such a broken city and in every corner, we can find a need.

I guess that is why I joined APO, a community service fraternity, and while APO does reach out with soup kitchens and other events in Philly (and as much as I love APO), it isn't a Christian-based organization. The gospel is SO freeing and magnificent; I think God is really teaching me through my time for a new stage in my walk with Him. I think it's time to step out of my inner shell and be more active in kingdom-building.

Day 20 (Sunday, October 10, 2010):


An overload of updates! I thought I might as well finish up the weekend. On Sunday, I checked out another church - Mackintosh Church on (appropriately) Mackintosh Road. The church was very small and filled with really friendly elderly individuals. They were really welcoming and embracing. I enjoyed a cup of coffee and some biscuits before the sermon. The sermon was about defeating the monsters in our lives, just like David and Goliath.

I got lucky this day because it was the day of student lunch! Basically, a family from Mack Church hosts a student lunch every month. Thus, after service, a bunch of us headed over to a family's home down the street from the church where we were fed with amazing food. I mean, starting from appetizers to dessert it was amazing! I was really able to feel the dedication and love that went into this meal.

From my personal experience in the short time that I have been here (omg, a MONTH has passed by already - since I'm writing this entry on the 22nd of October...), the Christian community really seems to be willing to serve one another. It's really beautiful because I think this is an area that we really need to work on at Penn. I am certain that churches here have their own weaknesses as well, but (like I wrote earlier) I am realizing and learning so much from Cardiff.

Anyway, after lunch, I met up with my Study Abroad girls to plan for our weekend trips! We ended up not planning and going out for lunch instead (I just got a drink since I had already eaten). We then roamed around Centre longer, shopping (again). We ended up going back to Uni Hall (one of the student residences here) and cooking Mexican food! It was delicious, despite some initial problems with avocado:

hello burrito!

It was a taste of home. I loved it.

Dear time, please slow down...

Tesco my life

September 27, 2010


This is a complete overload of information / entries, but I'm starting to forget things already so must update!!

Day 4 (Friday, September 24, 2010):

The American flatmate (Alisha) and I ended up waking up early yet again and heading off to the Student Union (the walk takes FOREVER) to check out the International Students Fair. We just ended up getting a bunch of pamphlets, including information on the HOST programme, which both of us are determined to be a part of. The HOST programme pairs up each student up with a family host for a weekend all across the UK. I LOVE the idea of it and can't wait to sign-up!

We dropped by the Student Union store, where both of us got hoodies...I debated for a long time whether I wanted the Cardiff Uni hoodie in English or Welsh - I ended up getting it in Welsh!

At noon, we headed to a cafe to meet up with Lauren, who is this super sweet girl that I spoke to online prior to coming to Cardiff. Lauren's a pianist (YES, this is super awesome since I played the piano at Hami) and studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (can someone say AWESOME)?? Lauren took us girls on a trip to the Cardiff Bay which was absolutely gorgeous.

On the way there, we got a glimpse of the Royal Welsh College and it made me SUPER nostalgic for Hamilton. :( I miss being around talented and passionate musicians all the time.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the Bay:

Starbucks actually serves like a cafe here, with real cups and everything:

It was so nice to just sit down and cuddle for a chat!

The Bay had these super cute shops and I ended up spending on the cutest scarf there!

After the Bay, we headed toward town centre where I bought some boots (yay for spending)! 

We had just enough time to head back home, drop our stuff, and then head back out to the Student Union, where they were having an International Students' Welcome Party. They taught us Twmpath dances, which are traditional Welsh dances.

Here is a picture of it:

I'm not much of a dancer, but it was all in good fun! We had to dance with a bunch of different partners, which is always fun. The "afterparty" following Twmpath was okay - nothing too special or anything. The SU bar has limited alchy!

Day 5 (Saturday, September 25, 2010):

I got to sleep in a bit, since the first thing on my agenda was at noon. Alisha and I grabbed brunch at a coffee shop and then headed over to the International Information Session, where they bombarded us with information - after, we went to Tesco's (yes again), where we literally shopped for 2.5 hours! That place was CHAOTIC. So many people!!

I ended up drinking with the other flatmates and was going to go out with them, but I had not bought a "fresher's wristband" (since I didn't think I wanted to party with the freshers very much) and the tickets for the night was sold out, so I couldn't go out with them. Instead, Alisha and I hit up a pub - it was nice bonding time as we had a great chat. OH, and at the pub they played S CLUB 7's S Club Party - I used to be in LOVE with this band in elementary school so it was pretty awesome to hear it! The entire pub sang along to it, I loved it.

Day 6 (Sunday, September 26, 2010):

Almost all caught up in the entries! Whew! I woke up at around 8am and headed to the SU again - the CU (Christian Union) was holding like a "try a church" event where church representatives were there to talk about their church. I was interested in three churches primarily (out of the 10-some that were introduced), but for some strange reason I ended up going to a Chinese Church (no, I'm not Chinese). The people were really sweet and it really showed that they had a small but close-knit community - although I had to tell everyone a hundred times that I wasn't Chinese and that I didn't speak Chinese. :) Afterwards we went over to grab lunch at a Chinese restaurant, and the people were quite friendly.

The sermon was gospel-centered, and something that was challenging - a part of me was concerned that the preaching here would be different from what I'm used to, but it was all good. The church was tiny though compared to what I'm used to in RCF and such, but it's so wonderful to know that God is moving in Cardiff :)

I was supposed to go with Alisha on a double-decker tour of Cardiff since there was a discount for us, but I ended up not coming back from church until like literally 4pm, so that went out the window.

I ended up meeting Kristin for dinner (she is also from Penn and had studied abroad the year before me - she loved it so much and is now here for her Master's!) and another American graduate student. It was really nice - we went to City Centre and grabbed some Italian food. The food was great, and I had an Irish Coffee for the first time which was pretty yummy as well.

I ended up getting TERRIBLE cramps by the end of the night and we had to cab it home, but after napping I felt a lot better :)

Alisha and I were looking into planning a daytrip to Bristol and I think we'll be set on going there on Tuesday :) Whew, all caught up!!