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!