Days 40 & 41: Penn Londoners' Adventure in Wales

Day 40 (Saturday, October 30, 2010):

The day started out with a large brunch at the Taf.  We each had a version of the English Breakfast:

This is a typical English Breakfast meal - beans, eggs, toast, bacon, sausages, and tomatoes!  It's similar to the American breakfast, minus the pancakes plus beans and tomatoes.

I had originally planned to take my friends to Tintern Abbey and another castle that I had never been to, but due to transportation issues we just ended up going to Caerphilly Castle instead.  I had already visited Caerphilly Castle (as can be noted by this entry), but it was still nice to visit.  We were blessed with gorgeous castle weather.

As I had mentioned on the previous entry, I managed to break my camera in the pouring rain in our venture to pick Christian up from the bus stop.  We discovered that the camera was still functioning but the screen was broken.  Although I couldn't see what I was taking pictures of, I ended up clicking away anyway.  It was interesting to just let go for once and have some fun while taking pictures - I feel like often I get so caught up on how it looks that it becomes more like a chore.

Gorgeous Caerphilly Castle

Picture credits to Jen

Photo credits to Jen

I feel like I rarely take pictures of the ruins; I always try to take pictures of the gorgeousness instead of the damages that years have done to these historical sights.  Jen's pictures have given be a different perspective on things, which I guess is good if you've already seen Caerphilly before in my previous entry.

We have some hilarious pictures from this trip; we spent literally 20 minutes trying to take a 'jumping' picture of the 4 of us.  We put Christian's camera on auto-timer and tried to jump at the correct intervals.  We utterly failed.  It's quite hilarious to see the pictures on Facebook, where you can click really fast through the album - it looks like we're doing some sort of weird dance.  I wish I could share it on this blog, but I don't put up pictures of people due to privacy reasons - if you are Facebook friends with me, try to go find it!  I think Christian put that particular album to public...

We headed back to the Cardiff Bus Station in time to go to the Medieval Village.  We were joined by Alisha, Suwei and Alana - but the trip was actually quite disastrous!  The Medieval Village was having a special Halloween event on that night, but due to the rain we ended up coming back early...and we were completely soaked.  Waiting for the bus to come in the pouring rain with only 3 umbrellas to spare among the seven of us was quite momentous!

We came back to my room and somehow managed to fit all six of us (Alisha had gone to see a movie) in my tiny little place.  We were all drenched from the rain so it probably worked to our benefit that the room was so cozy :)  We had plans to go out to the Union that night and although none of us felt like going out after the adventure in the rain, the tickets were paid for so we had no choice.  We pre-gamed a little bit in my room to our song of the night - Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA".  Yeah, I know.  I think all of us had been missing home...

We then headed to the Union; I almost always have fun with people from home, so it was really nice :)  Christian and I did the usual routine of calling friends at home - we definitely took advantage of my free bonus International minutes that night ;).  I think Christian left Brittni (one of our friends back home) a song on her voicemail about how she wasn't picking up...that's our group for you.

Here's a picture of the party scene, stolen from Alphonse's album:

The rest of us except for Alana came back to my room to play some games afterwards :)  We had fun, to say the least!  Christian and I ended up walking Suwei back to her 'student accommodations' (aka dorm); we then had a nice chat on our way back where I realized how much I had missed a good friend's company. I'll forever appreciate such walks when I get back to Penn!

Day 41 (Sunday, October 31, 2010):


The day started early despite the fact that we had stayed up quite late because Alphonse was leaving at 9am.  I took a quick shower and walked him back to the station; then, I walked back to wake Christian and Jen up.  We ate at Wok to Walk, which was an interesting British fusion Asian food...we then got on a bus headed to St. Fagan's!

It was my second time going to St. Fagan's...but this time around, we discovered the Buttery Castle, which somehow I had missed on my first trip there.  St. Fagan's was gorgeous with all the fall colors:

We also had toffee apples there, which were absolutely delicious:

Christian even had two :) I bought one for myself and one for Alisha, which we enjoyed after dinner that day.

When we came back, we had some trouble with the bus so we couldn't have dinner.  I escorted them back to the bus station, came back and had dinner with Alisha at the Taly Social.

That pretty much ended the weekend!  I'm so, so behind on updates but hopefully I'll be updating again soon :)

Days 35-39: Budgeting, Studies, Korean Food, & London Visits Cardiff :)

Days 35&36 (Monday, October 25, 2010 & Tuesday, October 26, 2010):


This Monday was a typical Monday - two lectures and hall group meeting! I can't remember what we did at hall groups.  I started budgeting this week after realizing how ridiculous my blind spending had become.  I was literally draining away all the money I had saved over the summer and during the school year from working nonstop. I started writing down everything I spent and keeping track of where the money was going - it really helped me to be conscience of my spending.

 On Tuesday, I attempted to actually get some work done (surprise!) by going to Starbucks with Alisha.  I had such difficulty focusing that I think I read only about 2 pages of my article.  It really didn't help that I had brought my laptop with me either.  On a side note, I really love that the Starbucks here as a more of a 'cafe' feel to it since it has real cups!  I don't understand why the Starbucks's in America don't have that system - after all, Starbucks is American.  Also, the McDonald's here is so much nicer.  It looks so fancy inside, and the workers wear these super formal skirts and everything.  There's a more elegant feel to it, which is strange.  A McDonald's I went to in London even had digitally streaming news headlines on the side; another one I went to in Paris even served fancy macaroons.  I don't understand why our McDonalds' are so broken down and often really uninviting...

I also bought a travel mug from Starbucks so I could make coffee from home to bring along to my classes (yes, I'm one of those people who live on coffee).

Anyway, I have written on my notebook that Alisha and I came back from Starbucks to cook spicy Korean noodles that I bought from the Cardiff Japanese and Korean Market!  It was her first time having Korean food, and she absolutely loves it now :) Yay for introducing new people to the cuisine!

Days 37 & 38 (Wednesday, October 27, 2010 & Thursday, October 28, 2010):


On Wednesday, I had my debriefing for my previously mentioned seminar group presentation; we got a '65' on the score (which means a D in the American system but is actually equivalent to like a B+ here...), which wasn't bad (but of course I would have liked an A).  Honestly, I don't understand why they work on such low percentages, but I guess it means there is always room for improvement.  I knew that the system was different here, but my heart still sank when I saw the '65' - at home, my heart would sink at like an '80'!

Afterwards, I went to the CU International Cafe, which is always a nice place to grab lunch and meet people from all around the world (mainly Malaysia...).  I headed to the Korean market again this time around to grab some more stuff; I bought some instant rice packets, gochujang (spicy sauce), sesame oil and some dried seaweed.  Mixed together with rice, this sauce is heavenly - I discovered this quick fix during my freshman year at Penn, and it has saved me once again at Cardiff!  So simple, yet so heavenly.  I also bought stuff for my Korean cook-out that happened on Thursday (more on that very shortly)!

I ended up leaving my newly bought traveling mug at the Chaplaincy after International Cafe (typical)...

I came back to my room and attempted (very hard) to do some work, which...failed. I went to CU that night, which was (probably) a sermon and hang-out (can't remember)...

I ended up marinating the meat (Bulgogi) for the day after at like 2 in the morning, but that went all fine. :)

On Thursday, I had one seminar and then invited some CCCC people over for Korean food before our meeting later that night!

The dinner had three components: 1) Kimchi-Jun (Kimchi Pancakes), which are really easy to make, 2) Spicy Sticky Noodles (Jjol-Myun) and 3) Marinated Beef (Bulgogi)!  As a bonus, we had crepes for dessert (which has nothing to do with Korean food, but it was still fun).  Alisha and I were super busy running back and forth - thank God I had her to help me :)

Elmira dropped by with a suitcase filled with a spare blanket - I needed it for friends who were coming over for the weekend from London!

In the midst of our cooking and eating, we had a fire alarm - that really sucked since we had guests over. I felt really bad :\ , but it wasn't anything anyone could foresee.  We were running late to the CCCC fellowship meeting, so Alisha had to do the leftover dishes. :( I felt really bad but thankful at the same time!

I was able to retrieve the mug that I had left at the Chaplaincy on Wednesday at this time - it was really convenient since CCCC is also in the Chaplaincy. :)

Day 39 (Friday, October 29, 2010):

My Friday started out extremely early with morning prayer at the Chaplaincy with the CU.  I went with Jordan, who lives in the house next to me.  It was such a blessing.  Morning prayer definitely has a different power to it - it's amazing how God moves your heart when you get up in the morning to just praise him.  We prayed for people around us to come to know God, for ourselves, and for other issues at hand.  It was just awesome; I came out of it feeling completely renewed and refreshed.  I love, love morning prayer, but I really don't do it enough.

Afterwards, I went to my 9 o'clock lecture and my seminar immediately following it; I was excited because I had some friends from Penn visiting over the weekend!

It was kind of ridiculous because all three of them arrived at three different times even though they were all leaving from the same place!! We're all absolutely nuts. :)  I picked Jen up first immediately after class; we had about an hour to kill before Alphonse arrived, so we headed to the Welsh National Museum.  This was the first time that I went to the National Museum, and it was pretty cool.  Alphonse came soon after; we all headed to my room from the SU to drop off their stuff.

I was housing three people over the weekend in my tiny room:

Yeah.  That's pretty much all the space I have!  It's small and cozy for one person, but to house three people it was kind of crammed.  Jen ended up sleeping on the floor while the two guys slept on my bed - they (at least one of them) were quite resistant to the idea at first but relented when they saw the situation.

We headed to the Woodville Pub to grab lunch - they were mesmerized by the cheap meal deal it has (£4.99 for a burger+'chips' +beer) since London is so expensive!

We did manage to take some really nice pictures once the rain cleared up:

Photo Credits to Jen

So pretty. Photo Credits to Jen

We hung around Town for a while and did a little bit of shopping.  Earlier in the day, the zippers in my boots had broken, so I ended up buying new boots - which was devastating to my budget since I had started keeping track.  Boots are such a necessity in this weather though, and I am really glad I got them.

We then came back onto campus to the Taf, which is a pub at the SU.  We got a couple of drinks (I think I got dessert) and just hung around since we were waiting for Christian to come.  Christian was arriving really late (at around 2am), so we had lots of time to kill!  We decided to go to Tesco's to grab some stuff - on the way there, we ran into a couple of people from my hall group who were playing hide-and-seek (haha).  We came back extremely exhausted but still had to wait for Christian to come.

At around 1:30am, we trekked across the city to pick-up Christian from City Centre; afterwards, we all came and pretty much crashed.  I didn't know until the next morning, but I ended up destroying my camera in the rainy walk to pick-up Christian... :(

More on their visit on another entry!

Oh and an update on my Bucket List:

I decided that I want to visit all the 50 states!  Lots of people have been asking me about the States since I've been here, and I always feel kind of sad when I tell them that I really don't know much about the other states since I haven't been to most of them!  Thus, I shall make it a point to visit every single state in the US...

Elisa's Bucket List (so far) - in no particular order
Last Updated 11/30/2010

1.   Fall in love & never, ever let go.

2.   Go to an H.O.T. concert

3.   Go on a short-term mission

4.   Go skydiving

5.   Hike the Half-Dome

6.   Fish a shark

7.   Learn to swim

8.   Go swimming with dolphins

9.   Watch a solar eclipse with someone special

10.                 Go on a road trip

11.                 Donate to a university in the form of a scholarship

12.                 Open a bakery

13.                 Travel around Europe

14.                 Visit a pyramid

15.                 Go to the Great Wall of China

16.                 Have children

17.                 Cook a Thanksgiving meal (from start to finish by myself)

18.                 Finish the BBC 100 book list

19.                 Be in a musical

20.                 Play the piano at a church

21.                 Study abroad

22.                 Pet a baby tiger

23.                 Have a library in home

24.                 Visit the 50 States (layovers don't count): 

AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI,
MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN,
TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY

Days 28-32: Sickness, Korean Food, Shopping, Mexican Food!

I'm over a month behind...and I really don't want to write my essay so here we go!


Days 28 - 32 (Monday, October 18, 2010 - Friday, October 22, 2010):


Nothing much happened this week except that I got really sick with the cold. :( Frownie face! Anyway, they apparently call it "Fresher's Flu" here, indicating that Freshers get sick within the first couple of weeks of school because they are out partying and basically getting each other sick.  Well, my "Fresher's Flu" was definitely later than everyone else's, and I don't think it was even a flu, but regardless I shall call it "Fresher's Flu" just because.

On Day 28 (Monday), I had my usual two lectures in the morning; I ended up having dinner at the Blackweir Tavern with Alisha.  I had my second CU hall group (I forgot to mention my first day of Hall Groups on Day 21's entry).  It's really awesome because CU hall groups here combine bible study with outreach in the halls.  We are supposed to be studying the bible and getting ourselves mentally prepared for 3 weeks and on the 4th week of each month, we have a "go-event" where we hold some kind of event as an outreach/evangelizing event for our halls.  It was really nice talking and discussing my faith with others :) God is good all the time!

On Day 29 (Tuesday), we went on this greatest adventure ever to find the only Korean restaurant in Cardiff! It was kind of insane. The day started out normal with my lecture and seminar - I then had a meeting with my Media, Racism & Conflict seminar group for our presentation on Friday (more on that as we come around to Friday).  It was kind of cool to really interact with my "coursemates" - we were quite productive in our meeting and came up with a rough outline for our presentation! Basically, in our seminar group, we were all separated into smaller groups to be in charge of each seminar weekly.  We were the first group up, so I really wasn't sure what to expect, but luckily I had good group mates.

For dinner, Alisha, Dee Dee and I headed off on an adventure to find the only Korean restaurant in Cardiff! After some extensive research, I found out how to get to Seoul Haus.  We had to take a bus toward Newport for 30 minutes.  I wasn't exactly sure what the stop was going to look like, so I ended up interrupting the bus driver in the middle (which apparently is a taboo here...oops).  He was really nice though!  When we were getting off (literally in the middle of NOWHERE), he asked us if we knew where we were going and stopped the bus to chat with us.  That was quite nice.  We just thanked him and said we knew where we were going even though we really didn't know, but thankfully I remembered that the Seoul Haus website instructed visitors to walk down from the bus stop and turn right.  I was so nervous that it wasn't going to be there, but it was there!!  The sign was kind of tucked away.

The restaurant was called Yaikniku and was attached to Seoul Haus, which is like a tiny house serving as a small hotel aimed at Korean tourists.  Go see on the website how it's literally in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by woods!!! Anyway, I was super excited when we entered into an aroma of Korean food.  I hadn't had Korean food in about a month and I was craving it so badly....

I ended up ordering Kimchi Jjigae:

Which was not as spicy as I would have liked it, but it was good enough to subdue my cravings.  I also ordered Galbi:

Alisha ordered Spicy Bulgogi while Dee Dee ordered Bibimbap.  It was a great meal overall, even though it really wasn't too great by typical Korean standards.  I also got to chat for a little bit with the waiter in Korean - it's good to know that I hadn't forgotten how to communicate in the language :)

We left feeling full and pretty much content.  I took a picture of the place before leaving:

The adventure continued when we tried to look for the bus back home!  I had forgotten to look up bus times, so we were unsure when it would come.  The waiter had directed us to the general direction of the bus stop, but the sign itself had been eaten by trees, so we would have completely missed it if the road hadn't been curved inward as such:

That says 'Bus Stop' and again in Wales (if you can't read it because of the blurriness).  Well anyway, we waited for 30 minutes literally in the middle of nowhere - all three of us really needed to pee, so it was quite nerve-wracking on many levels!  We called Alana a bunch of times in an attempt for her to look up the times, and I texted the travel number as indicated on the bus stop sign, but the bus stop wasn't listed on the timetable and the traveline kept texting me back saying that the bus stop code was incorrect.  We were counting cars to reassure ourselves and putting bets on how many cars would pass by before our bus would come - I think we stopped counting at 50 cars!

Anyway, just as we were about to give up the bus came!! I had never been so happy to see the bus.  We were the only ones on the bus, but we got back okay!  This became one of the many, many things that will last as a ridiculous moment while studying abroad :)

Day 30 (Wednesday) was a beautiful day!  I took a snapshot of the sky:

So, so, so gorgeous.  I had another group meeting with my seminar people and then ended up missing my seminar for Media and Gender because I could not find the room.  Yeah, I know. When I finally found it, the door was shut!!  Bute building, where all my classes are, is numbered very strangely.  For example, to get to room 1.41, you have to go downstairs to where the "0" level rooms are and then climb the stairs to get there instead of using the main staircase!  Insanity, I tell you. 

I had dinner with Alana and Elmira at the Taf:

The pizza actually wasn't that good, and I ended up eating like two pieces and then bringing the rest home.  I rarely eat leftovers, so the rest got thrown out anyway!  Such waste of food, I know...Anyway, after dinner, the three of us headed to Town where we shopped away!  Our SA group was going through a shopping phase around this time - we just kept going shopping everyday for a week!  I'm really glad we came to our senses and stopped...

I was really ill all night afterwards - I remember waking up at various moments throughout because the heater wasn't working.  I was freezing.  At one point, I got up to layer myself: I wore leggings, sweats, two hoodies on top of my long-sleeve shirt, socks and gloves!  It was absolutely ridiculous.  I was so miserable that I called my mom in the middle of the night and whined to her for about 10 minutes.

The next morning (Day 31 - Thursday), I woke up shuddering but being the excellent student I am (haha) I went to my seminar anyway!  We had another group meeting for Friday's presentation where we uploaded the appropriate documents before our deadline and handed in stuff to be printed for the next day.  I then went to Lidl to buy a new thick blanket and medicine, came home and slept.  I had a dinner date planned with Izzy at the Woodville Pub, so I was really glad when I woke up at around 5pm to find myself feeling infinitely better!

I wasn't going to go to the CCCC fellowship meeting because I was feeling so sick but I ended up going since I felt better after my nap.  This semester, CCCC ESF is going through a "Discovering Christianity" session, which has been very helpful to reestablishing my foundations. 

Day 32 (Friday) started off with a lecture and then my seminar presentation!  It went pretty smoothly and we got a pretty decent score on it (although we didn't get the results back until the following week).  In the evening, Alisha, Elmira and I gathered in our kitchen to have a Mexican Fiesta!

It was really yummy, if you can't tell ;). Afterwards, we ended up making crepes (we're totally obsessed with them):

Nutella is so heavenly. :)

Coming up in the next entry: our weekend trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick and Windsor!  I think this trip will remain one of my favorites so far...so be excited! :)

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...

Days 14-17: Classes, Dragons, and a Giant Ship

October 13, 2010

Day 14 (Monday, October 4th):

Classes started! Dun dun dun...I had my first lecture, "Writing with Light", early in the morning. "Writing with Light" is a "module" (class) I'm taking that analyzes photographs throughout time in relation to history and media. I am really enjoying it so far!

I then had a couple of hours for break, which I spent very wisely back in my room napping (I was tired from the weekend's adventures). I then had my second lecture for "Media, Racism and Conflict" - this was a full-blown lecture (not an introductory one) to my surprise! I ended up having to leave early and could not stay for the movie screening, but more on that later...

There were two big differences I noticed between classes at Penn and here in Cardiff. 1) To sign up for modules, there wasn't a process like Penn's advanced registration (this might be because I am an exchange student). It was kind of confusing. I had to log-on to Cardiff SIMS website and request "optional" modules, then wait for approval from the school. My first choices got rejected and the assistant told me to come in to talk with her. When I went to see her, she basically had to call different "lecturers" (professors) checking whether a lecture had space...once we checked through and chose the ones I was most interested in, she told me to go back through the online SIMS system and that she'd approve them.

Signing up for "seminars" attached to these lectures (seminars = recitations in Penn terminology) was very informal too; there basically was a wall of sign-up sheets and you just had to sign up with a pen. How weird is that!

Another big difference I noticed was that student didn't bring their laptops to lectures!!! That was very different for me since at a given Communication lecture at Penn, 90% of the students bring laptops - half of which are on Facebook or chatting the whole time. I have 3 hour lectures here in Cardiff and is sincerely worried about how I'm going to survive without my laptop (this is kind of sad, I know).

I think it's good in a way that people don't bring laptops to class - it is very distracting.

After lecture, I headed to Taly Social to meet up with other CU people living in the area for "Grub Crawl" - it was a lot of food, fun and meeting new people :) We basically went to two different houses and ate...and ate...and ate.

Days 15 & 16 (Tuesday, October 5th & Wednesday, October 6th):

Nothing more exciting on these two days other than classes, more CU stuff and hanging out at pubs. On Tuesday, Alisha and I headed to the postcard to finally mail our postcards to people back home - it cost around 67 pents for international mail, which isn't too bad at all. They also have these "international" stamps which are convenient (so you don't have to count 67 out with a bunch of different stamps or anything). I sent around 7 postcards (if you received one and didn't tell me yet, please do let me know you got them safely!) I've really gotten around to buying postcards from everywhere I go, so expect lots of postcards!

On Wednesday, I went to the CU international cafe, which was very nice - the CU at Cardiff hosts an International lunch every Wednesday at the Chaplaincy for international students. I've gone every week - it's a great place to socialize and meet new people (and free food)! I hung around in a pub for a while with friends and then headed to the CU Wednesday meeting - I'm realizing a lot of things from CU here and how it differs from RCF back at Penn...I wonder how it would feel when I get plugged back into RCF in the Spring (or Fall 2011...).

Day 17 (Thursday, October 7th):

Since this entry has thus far been very text-heavy (I really need to take more pictures of everyday happenings), I'll include Day 17, which has lots of pictures!

On Thursday, my seminar had not started yet (since it was week 1), so we planned a quick trip to Bristol! The day started out absolutely BEAUTIFUL:

We took a train to Bristol, which took about 50 minutes or so. The Bristol Temple Mead Station was absolutely gorgeous:

The city itself was quite similar to Cardiff (at least from what I can see). It was cute and small. 

We initially had planned to go on this full replication of John Cabot's Boat (when he sailed to Newfoundland) but ended up going on the S.S. Great Britain instead:

The ship was magnificent :) It was the first iron-clad ship in the world, had traveled over a million miles (I think...) and was now displayed for us to see. We got to see the inside and outside - even go "under water".

I could not get over how tiny these rooms were.

Here's first class:

Second class:

Third class:

The First Class rooms were so tiny as well. 

After exploring the ship for a good couple of hours, we went to explore Bristol, which constituted of eating, looking at pretty buildings, you know the normal stuff.

OH! Exciting new addition to my family here in Cardiff. Introducing...

CARDIFF THE WHALE.

Alana and I had fun the entire way to Bristol and back with Cardiff the Whale...and naming my (at that time, still nonexistent) bigger dragon. After much contemplation, we decided to name it...

CAERDYDD DRAGONWHALES.

Yeah, they're called Whales because of a word slip on my part, but now it's become pretty much an inside joke.

I ended up buying Caerdydd Dragonwhales a few days later - more on that on another entry!

Days 8-10: Enrolment, Pubs, CU, Cultural Differences

October 4, 2010

Oops. How did I get this behind in updates? Must hurry up and try to catch up...

Day 8 (Tuesday, September 28, 2010):


It's seriously getting to a point where I can't remember what I did unless I look through my schedule book...and even then I'm not exactly sure! Well this day, I was supposed to have gone on a day trip with Alisha (we were thinking Bristol since it's close by), but due to scheduling (or "timetable" as they call it here) and class (or "modules") issues, we had to scrap that plan for another day. I ended up not going to the JOMEC enrolment session as advised not to by the assistant in the office...only to receive an email later saying that I "urgently" need to schedule an appointment with my "personal tutor" (an advisor as we'd call it in the States) as I had "failed to attend" the session on Tuesday. Oops? I had to take care of some "timetable conflict" (scheduling conflict) in the morning...and then Alisha, Alana and I checked out the Local Companies' Fair where we were bombarded with ads and flyers. I honestly can't remember what we did the rest of the day...this is kind of sad, I just checked my text messages and I remember now!

Alisha, Alana and I went to the Uni Hall Pub...where we were joined by Elmira, another American study abroad student that I had spoken to prior to coming here. We each had our first fish and chips (YAY) which was absolutely delicious!

First fish & chips...served with "spirals" (curly fries) and peas - photo credits to Alisha - I didn't take my camera

Afterwards, we proceeded to play Jenga - we quickly discovered that Tipsy-Jenga is the best thing ever!

Day 9 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010):


I had to take care of some module stuff again so I went to the JOMEC building to sort out some issues and sign-up for seminars (the equivalent of "discussions" or "recitations" in the States). I had a few hours to kill before my next event, and I ended up going to a cafe that has already become my favorite and writing a blog entry there. Around noon, I headed onto a CU event - the CU here in Cardiff hosts an International Cafe every Wednesday afternoon - a great place to meet new people and get to know other Internationals! I got to meet new people and chat up some people I had met last week, which was very nice. Afterwards, I got directions to a Korean/Japanese market near/on campus (we don't really have a campus) and I finally found it! I had been looking for it all week after passing near it by chance. Honestly, I stepped in and almost cried. I thought I wouldn't miss Korean food so much, but I really do crave it! AHH! I bought some non-smelly food for the sake of my flatmates (so pretty much just ramen) but I think I'm going to go back to buy some seaweed and gochujang to make bibimbab. I would love to have some spicy food!! I chatted with the nice Korean owners in Korean for a little bit - it was awesome just to be able to chat with adults in Korean again (I know, I know, despite the whole "I don't like Korean people" thing, it was still a taste of home just by encountering some Korean adults).

I got back to my dorm just to leave again to Tesco's with Kristin (seriously, I go there so often). She ended up buying some very needed groceries and I bought some food as well - on the way back, we ended up stealing a "trolley" (shopping cart) ;) Well, we had to insert a pound to get the trolley out in the first place, so it wasn't really stealing! I'm not exactly sure what Kristin did with the trolley afterwards, but it was funny to see everyone watch us as we rolled the trolley right into our dorm premises.

After Tesco's I headed over to meet up Izzy, one of the British friends I was able to make through CU. We were trying to figure out where to grab dinner and ended up settling at this Falafel place...where we encountered this super creepy guy who was hitting on Izzy so we ended up heading out. Then we tried sitting on the steps of the business school when a cat came upon us and both of us flipped out! That was quite a memorable meal!! Afterwards, we headed to the CU main meeting for a time of worship and meeting new people! After the CU meeting they had "open house", where CU members opened their houses up for tea...that was more mingling and very lovely :) I met really cool new people, and it's always very nice to be surrounded by native British people as opposed to other study abroad students (although I <3 my study abroad group)!

Day 10 (Thursday, September 30, 2010):


I realize that these entries are getting extremely long because I keep updating them in masses, but I still think it's important for me to update on a day-to-day recap method because this is really for me to capture my experiences abroad. I am so forgetful that it's ridiculous how much I don't remember - this way, I'll have it in writing!

On Thursday, I had my main JOMEC (my department here in Cardiff) meet-and-greet session that I had to attend. In the morning, Alisha and I headed out to grab a quick bite at the coffee store and then headed on to the Societies' Fayre. "Societies" pretty much are equivalent to "clubs" back in the US, but the main difference is that many societies require you to pay a fee to join. It's slightly more formal as there is an entire process to join a society whereas back at Penn, joining a club is as easy as attending meetings and getting on the listserv. I ended up signing up for the CU and the Korean Society (I am craving Korean bad SO badly) - everything else didn't seem to catch my eye. I then headed to a very quick 2nd year JOMEC session...

After the JOMEC session, I rejoined Alisha and Alana who were eating at an Italian restaurant in City Centre. I am becoming OBSESSED with Irish Coffee:

Such deliciousness. I am definitely going to miss being able to have Irish Coffee down the street!

We wandered around City Centre for a bit where I ended up doing some major shopping (sigh...). I bought a new pair of boots (I know, I know) but they ended up being a worthwhile investment as they're waterproof and comfortable! Those two characteristics are NECESSARY in the UK where we do so much walking and it's constantly raining.

After City Centre, we headed to Uni Hall, where Alana, Elmira and Dee Dee are staying (all Internationals) - we ended up at the Pub again where we played games!


Whew. I'll end tonight's updates for now here - up next is my weekend in London & some more traveling!

On a side note, I can't stand that there are people screaming out my window every single night. I really hate being woken up every night at 3am/4am by giggling girls. They literally party every single night here and while I am totally a proponent of partying MODERATELY, I seriously wonder if people here know how to have fun without drinking. But then again, we are living in a primarily freshmen-dominated dorm and freshmen are always annoying no matter where they are...it just takes a year or two for them to realize that they don't need to be partying every night - you can "live it up" in other ways. I'd much rather have a slow night in with a close group of friends than be out in a packed club with strangers. But I guess freshmen will be freshmen. Don't they get tired??? I guess I must be old now...hehe.

Castles, introductions, greek letters, lingo change

September 29, 2010


Day 7 (Monday, September 27, 2010):
Early morning Alisha and I headed to the International Office where they were giving us a little introduction on what life in the UK and studying at Cardiff was going to be like. There, we ran into a bunch of internationals and Americans (yay for new friends!). A couple of us exchanged numbers and such, with promises to plan travels together.

A couple of differences between the UK system and US that I learned from the meeting:
- an "A" at Cardiff means above 70% whereas (obviously) 70% means a C- at Penn
- in the US, we throw around the word "professor" to anyone who teaches at a university (more or less), whereas in the UK the word "professor" is reserved to those who are the highest in their area (apparently we won't be encountering any of these during our studies here); the normal level "professors" are called tutors or lecturers.

After the meeting, Alisha, Alana (a new American that we met) and I headed to the National Museum at Cardiff (which is pretty much on campus) but it was closed since it was a Monday. We decided to instead head to the Cardiff Castle!

We got the Premium Tour, which cost around £2 or £3 more than a regular tour, but it got us into more rooms in the castle with a tour guide! The Cardiff Castle was pretty awesome.

A view of one of the buildings in the Castle

The winter room, where the men used to gather to play games and pass the winter

The nursery walls!! This was pretty awesome - it had drawings from famous children's stories such as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Jack and the Giant Green Bean, etc

The ceiling in the Arab Room - it was absolutely mesmerizing!

The tour lasted around 50 minutes - it was pretty spectacular! After the tour, we hit the grounds where we pretended we were Repunzel:

That's me pretending to be Repunzel, can't you tell? ;)

Funny story - the tour guide pulled me aside once the tour was over and asked me, "Ok now, what is this going on the back of you?". I was wearing my APO track jacket, and I guess he was curious as to what these random Greek letters meant ;)

The track jacket looks like this:

Anyway, the three of us had quite a funny time trying to explain to him what Fraternities / Sororities mean in the US. He basically understood it as kind of a drinking society (HAHA). When I told him it was a Community Service Fraternity, he asked me what we do. When I answered that we do "service to the community" he asked if these services were in bars (HAHAHA). I loved it. It was too funny.

As I was wondering around the library after the tour, he came up to me again, instructed me to turn around and showed his co-worker (another tour guide) the letters. Yay for APO recognition in the UK.

On the tour itself, we ran into a bunch of Americans (who were here for some...golf tournament or festival going on?) and it felt like a glimpse of home, I loved it. A guy on the tour with us was actually from Philly!!!! It was kind of cool to see someone who actually knows what Penn is.

After the Castle visit, we went to grab a cup of coffee/hot chocolate at Costa:

Yummy and cozy. I love it. It's almost a representation of Cardiff - it's so small and cute with really friendly people!

I only had enough time to come back to my room and drop off some stuff...then I was back out again for a CU event.

The CU at Cardiff held a Freshers' Pub Quiz Night - I got to meet pretty cool people there so it was all good! Until then, I had been engaging mostly with other Americans or Internationals and had wanted to experience more of the locals, so it was very nice. I kept thinking how different the culture was here - RCF (my fellowship back home) would never hold a bar night! (The thought of that is so outrageous that it makes me laugh). Granted, the legal drinking age in the US is 21 and all, but here it's so free and loose. I have never been asked for my ID (although when I was buying at knife at Tesco, the cashier asked me if I was a "university student" because they're not allowed to sell knives to people under 16 years of age...I was like "what?? do I really look that young??" It's kind of funny how I almost got carded to buy a kitchen knife but not ever for alcohol)  - it's awesome.

Right now, I'm sitting at the coffee shop that Alisha and I discovered on our first complete day here and updating the blog with British accents surrounding me - it's almost like a scene from a movie or something.  You know, the little Asian-American college student in a completely new surrounding, drinking coffee and writing...Everyday, I go home absolutely exhausted and drained but I love it! I love being busy and seeing new things.

I've been getting some of my "module" stuff (module = classes) sorted out the past few days and so has Alisha, so we didn't get to to go Bristol as we had planned, but I'm heading off to London on Friday so I'm stoked for that!

On a separate note, I'm starting to pick up the lingo here - instead of saying "What??" or "Hmm?" when I don't understanding something, "Sorry?" and "Pardon?" come out first out of my mouth. I realize that the people here take offense with the whole "What?" business because it's much more direct - they're so much more polite here with their language. They're always like, "cheers!" and "no problem at all, love". I think that's one thing that I really like better here. :)

I'm a day behind in updates, but I really didn't do much yesterday (Tuesday) so hopefully I'll get to blog about it later today!

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!!