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'
We did manage to take some really nice pictures once the rain cleared up:
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| Photo Credits to Jen |
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| So pretty. Photo Credits to Jen |
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
MN, MS, MO, MT, NE,
TX,
