Days 11-13: Traveling Non-stop (literally).

October 13, 2010

Wow, it's been really way too long. A LOT of things have happened since I last updated - things have been quickly picking up speed, and I barely of time for myself! Picking up after where I left off...

Days 11 & 12 (Friday, October 1st & Saturday, October 2nd):


LA girl arrives in London. I went to London to attend the UPenn-Brown-Cornell UK Centre's first meeting (it was more of an excuse to go visit London). I woke up early on Day 11 to catch the Megabus at Cardiff City Centre (which takes about 30 minutes on foot from where I am staying). It was raining like never before, and the sidewalks are quite low here so I was literally splashed by cars as I walked at 7:00am! We left around 7:45am with the intentions to get to London by 11am (more on that soon). Here is a picture of the City Hall I took on the bus before leaving Cardiff:

You can see how dreary and rainy it was! Okay here it goes. I was happily listening to my iPod and falling asleep when the bus driver alerted us that there was an accident on the road and we might have to "divert" (I had no idea what he meant by this). Basically, we went around this one bridge where there was an "accident"...later we found out (the bus driver found out from a text message from his daughter) that a guy was threatening to jump off a bridge that stood between London and Cardiff, leading to the closure of lanes, causing a massive traffic jam! I was supposed to arrive in London at 11am, but I ended up getting there at 2pm. Poor Christian was supposed to pick me up at the London Victoria Coach Station, but I didn't get there until 2pm, and he had a seminar at 2pm. Thus, I arrived in London and had a few hours to kill on my own. Christian suggested that I head to the Natural History Museum of London.  He gave me directions on which subway lines to take on the "Tube", but I was too exhausted by that time and quite scared by the majesty of the city that I opted to take a cab instead.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Natural History Museum! It's really too bad that I didn't get to take a shot of how beautiful the exterior of the building was...it looks like this:

Credits to Wikipedia

But it was raining like crazy the whole time I was in London (go figure) so I really didn't have the luxury to snap a shot. I really enjoyed the exhibit on dolphins and whales since I think they're fascinating:

Inside the National History Museum in London

The best part of it all - it was absolutely free!! It was really amazing :)

After a couple of hours, I got a call from Christian instructing me to take the Tube to King's College (where Christian is studying abroad for the semester) - I ended up figuring out the underground subway system in London all by myself (yes, very proud of it)! It utterly shocked me when I found out that it cost £4 for a one way ticket on the subway (that's approximately $6.50)! This is a shot of King's College library:

It was quite beautiful, although I did not capture its beauty very well in this shot. I hate it when rain interferes with my ability to do anything...

Afterwards, we met up with some other Penn-ers and went to this trendy Thai-British Pub (it was kind of strange)...and then we headed to Jenn's place. Christian and I called a bunch of people on my phone that night (yay for free International minutes bonus plan with Orange UK) - needless to say, we had quite a bit of fun. It was awesome for me especially because I felt like I could breathe with people I knew from back home!

The next day (Day 12), Christian and I headed to where the meeting for UPenn, Brown and Cornell was located. We were on King's College London Campus if I remember correctly. The meeting wasn't too boring - we received a bunch of booklets and tips on safe traveling and successful studying (you know, the typical abroad stuff). Afterwards, we really didn't have much time, so we tried to look for a pub or somewhere else to grab a bite. It was nice to walk around and see the city a bit:

A train station, I think..

We took the Tube multiple times throughout, and I ended up getting this rechargeable Oyster card. Here is a picture:

You can't really tell by this picture, but I was utterly shocked at how many people were waiting for the train!

Here's the shocking news: It took another 6 hours for me to get home because of an accident (this time, a car accident, not a guy threatening to commit suicide). It took (literally) 3 hours to get out of London. I thought I was going to explode during my time sitting on the Megabus. I arrived back in Cardiff City Centre late at night, probably around 11pm or 12am; the bus dropped us in front of the Student Union, which is about a 25 minute walk from where I live, but by this point I was so exhausted and just wanted to go home that I opted for a cab instead.

My final reflections on my first visit to London: the city was way too busy for me. To be honest, it didn't seem like I was in London. I guess my expectations for the city was way too high. It was almost completely opposite of when I first visited New York. New York was everything I imagined: filled with majestic, towering buildings, busy streets, lights everywhere...London was just...not what I expected. I'm not even sure what I expected it to be like, but what I found was definitely not it. Granted, it might be because I did not have any time to do touristy stuff at all, and I was drained from the 6-hour journey. Whatever the reason might be, I'm planning to go to London at least 2 more times during my time here, so we'll see!

Oh, on a side note...to be honest, I was extremely frustrated with the whole situation when I had to stay on the Megabus for 6 hours instead of 3 because of a guy threatening to jump off a bridge in the middle of the day. I was so upset because I felt that he was so selfish and made so much trouble for everyone. On the bus back to Cardiff, I had a chance to briefly speak to another  Cardiff University student - we shared our grief for our 6 hour endeavor on the way back to Cardiff. I told her about what had happened on my way to London, and she sympathized with me...then she asked if the guy was alive. I told her that yes, I heard that he had not jumped - then she said something that kind of surprised me: "That's really great. I mean, what's 3 hours compared to saving one person's life?" I paused and thought about it. Her words kind of took me aback because I had not even thought of it in that way at all. She's right. One person's life is so much more precious than me being frustrated for 3 hours. I am glad he survived, although I really, really hope that he didn't do it on purpose to gain people's attention.

Day 13 (Sunday, October 3rd):

I might as well go on to include Sunday in this travel-heavy update of the blog. I initially wanted to stay in London until Sunday but had to leave early when I remembered that I had signed up (and paid for) a tour of Cardiff hosted by the Cardiff University's International Office. We went to the Caerphilly Castle and St. Fagan's!

The road there was absolutely beautiful. After visiting London, the ride was a nice reminder that I was back in Wales:

SO. MUCH. GREEN. I love it!

I really love it here. I am so glad that God put me here in Wales instead of London because London was way too busy for me. Cardiff is such a cute, compact city; it has everything you need in it, but is not crazy busy!

We first headed to St. Fagan's National History Museum. This "museum" was set-up like a village, with places that represented different parts of Welsh history.

You can't forget sheep when you're talking about Wales!

They had people dressed up as people from the specific time and everything! They were very friendly with us and talked to us about the history and everything.

They had the cutest little shops where I bought some Welsh cider and sheep figurines:

Here is a picture of the Celtic Village:

We got to make little pottery on our time there! Here is a picture of Alisha's and mine:

Then, we headed to Caerphilly Castle! It was absolutely gorgeous. The interior wasn't much to see, but the moat was so amazing! It is the 2nd biggest castle in the UK (and the biggest in Wales).

It was so magnificent.

the view from the Castle to the village

There was a festival going on when we went, which was awesome! They had a "fayre" with lots of little shops and people dressed in Medieval clothing. We enjoyed a lovely crepe made with Welsh organic honey and banana as well as a Shredded Pork Sandwich with stuffing and apple sauce (omg, I'm going to be addicted to these!) 

the top of the castle,  WALES represent!

I'm really happy here. Can you tell? :)

Sigh, I'm still a whole week and a half behind in updates! My "course" has started (basically, classes have begun), so I am overwhelmed with a TON of reading (even though assignments aren't due yet). I've also been busy with meeting up with people, CU stuff, and planning travels...it's been quite a busy few weeks! I hope I'll get a chance to update sometime tomorrow before my memory dies permanently. :)

Calm, Cool, and Wonderful

August 10, 2010

A little past midnight.  Sitting alone in the quiet apartment in front of the dining table with my work laptop out.  Focusing, brainstorming, scribbling notes - working late into the night for my internship meeting tomorrow.  Soft music playing in the background from Pandora.

Pausing to notice the tranquility that completely surrounds the night.  Feeling the cool air coming in from the slightly open window - the fresh, LA, summer breeze.  This year, we've been lucky that the weather hasn't been scorching.  The heat hasn't been unbearable, and the sun is wonderful as always.

Then it hit me: I love this.  I love working like this to the midst of the night.  This is the highlight of my busy Monday that starts 8 in the morning with a headache from the rowdy, puberty-struck middle schoolers that I teach until late into the afternoon.  The headache and exhaustion last such a long time that when I come home, I need at least a couple of hours to recuperate before dinner.  Then again, I work on my other two internships.  Yes, I have overbooked my summer this year.  But I love it.

Tomorrow, I will return home once again exhausted - a different type of exhaustion, since I won't be seeing the kids but will instead be in a meeting for my internship all day.  I won't be able to spare a couple of hours to recuperate before dinnertime tomorrow, however, since I will come home just in time for the last meal of the day.  Then, a different task will await me - piles and piles of things to grade for my lovely but terrible students.

Yes, it's stressful.  Yes, I have to work throughout the weekend to catch up on my third responsibility this summer - my second internship.  But I love and embrace it.

Summer 2010 - this is exactly what I needed.  Isn't it funny how He always knows?

Perspective

July 30, 2010

The last two weeks have been insane.  My internship with GAP is getting exponentially stressful as the entire team is preparing for our fundraising event, scheduled to occur at the end of August.  Today, the three of us hit up LA "Beach Cities" to ask small boutique stores for in-kind donations.  This was the second time that we had gone around together; last week, we hit up the Melrose and Larchmont area.

It was extremely daunting at first to go around random stores asking for donations, but what really surprised me was this: everyone was extremely nice.  And by everyone, I mean literally everyone.  The places that said "we can't donate this year" were even apologetic.  Some gave us donations on the spot.  Even when we walked into a restaurant that was extremely busy, they paused and listened.

Today, a few of the stores told us something that our stressed-out team really needed to hear: "Thank you for doing this.  Somebody needs to do this, and you guys are making a difference."

And I thought that we were going to be shunned for being intrusive.


As I conveyed to the team as we ended the exhausting day, it's really nice to know that people are generally nice and do care for something more than just profit.  Even in such a huge city as LA, where people are thought to be disconnected, people still care.

I found that as I got caught up more and more into the whole planning the fundraising business, the actual cause of my efforts was long forgotten.  Last week, when the LA team went out to canvas for the first time, I came home absolutely exhausted to find this on CNN that put everything back to perspective.  That news story is exactly why GAP was founded, and why I am working hard on this event.  The voice of the mother in the 911 call is disturbingly calm, but I can't imagine how helpless she felt from this condition that penetrates entire families to the core.  We're looking to prevent such incidents that might and do occur around the world with regards to children with autism, to help educate and aid families through raising a child with such a difficult condition.

Again, I am forced to face the realities of autism every Monday and Wednesday when I teach at my parttime job at the Learning Center: one student in my classroom of seventeen has autism, and everyday is a struggle for us.  On good days, I can get him to write me a couple of sentences for Journal in 3.5 hours.  On bad days, he initiates arguments with other students who are still too young to understand.  Everyday, other students complain nonstop, "how come he doesn't have to do anything?!?".  Yet, there is something that sets him apart beautifully from the other kids.  Something pure and genuine.

Perspective.  It's really all about perspective.  Depending on the perspective, my internship can be a huge, stressful event.  Or it can be a tiny, small step - my little contribution to a cause that affects so many individuals all around the globe.

Emotional No More

Hello, February.

I never thought I'd see the day when the busyness of life would reduce me to tears. But it almost happened today.

I knew it was going to be a bad day when I woke up to the alarm ringing at 9am and realized that I could see the world around me clearly - a proof that I had failed to take out my contact lenses the night before, and had fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position with the lights still on.

I think waking up in the morning to find out that I had fallen asleep by "accident" is one of the worst feelings in the world. I do not know why I feel so inadequate after such occasions, but it must have something to do with things getting out of my control.

My Mondays and Wednesdays suck. I have classes and work from 10am until 7pm, with an hour break in between - my only free block of time, by the way, was spent at a TA's office hours today.

In the midst of it all...as I was rushing across campus to make it from one lecture to the next, I felt the burning tears building up behind my eyelids - a phenomenon that started only after college, something that might be psychological for all I know.

I thought I had to cry it out, since my past experiences with the unpleasant sensation had, without fail, led me down that pathway - however, this time it was different. I think I am now able to control my emotions (well, at least that one emotion) to cure myself out from such terrible feelings.

I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing...