List of famous people, contemporary or historical that I didn't know were Welsh. See how many you know!

• King Arthur-Records of Arthur in Wales are far older than those in England. Hence why the Welsh claim him as their own.
• St. Patrick-Kidnapped by Irish invaders when he was a boy
• Sir Anthony Hopkins
• Henry Tudor-Born of a Welsh father
• Jefferson Davis-Yep, the confederate leader was in fact Welsh
• Abraham Lincoln--Yep, his grandparents were from Ysbyty Ifan
• John Nash
• Bob Hope-Parents born in Wales
• Sheryl Crowe
• C.S. Lewis
• Catherine Zeta-Jones-Yep she's Welsh, believe it or not
• Lewis Carroll-Writer of Alice in Wonderland

There's a short list of some famous people you might have heard of.

So continuing from where I left off. On our way from the tour of the Lochs we saw a bunch of Scottish Highlander cows. Traditionally, they were black, but due to interbreeding, they've taken on a more brown color. Some are white, but those are pretty rare. (Like black sheep in Wales...) A famous one outside the Loch Ness is Haggis. He's about 16, making him middle aged since cows in the highlands can live up to 30 or more years.

The next day, we ventured to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond for that tour. Loch Lomond is the biggest Loch in Scotland. Not to mention it might be known to you because of a certain song. Beautiful song, especially when you're actually traveling to the site. We didn't stay there long for it was torrential downpour for most of the day. So instead of spending an hour there, we went to a Scottish Whiskey distillery.

I am back from Scotland with lots to share about my adventures. We arrived in Scotland at about noon on Thursday afternoon. From there we checked into our hostel and went to explore the city. Along the way we saw the Sir Walter Scott tower and the Greyfriar's Bobby memorial. Both are in the middle of Edinburg. The town itself is divided into the Georgian town and the Medieval town, which makes a nice contrast. It's interesting to see the contrast of both styles of the city.

From there we went to Edinburg castle. The castle is situated on the corner of the Medieval part of the town. It's probably the largest castle we've been to. I bought the audio tour, and it was well worth the price. Four hours of information. In the castle was tons of exhibits. Including their regimental museum and their war decoration museum.


We went to the art gallery after that. However, they didn't allow photography so unfortunately there are no pictures of that trip. I did see a few Botachelli's and Raphael's so that was quite nice. I was amazed at the colors in the Raphael's. The blues in the women's outfits were so alive and vibrant it seemed ethereal. Hard to believe someone could create that kind of color on a painting. You could definitely tell which ones were the Raphael's because of that natural glow in the colors. After that we called it a night and prepared for our trip to Loch Ness the next day.

Whoever said Ireland was the emerald isle clearly didn't make it to Scotland before that. The highlands are probably the most beautiful and lush pieces of earth I've ever seen. Once you clear the "gateways" to the highlands, there are endless and colorful fields of amber, yellow and green everywhere you turn. I think I can understand now why they thought the woods and the mountains were filled with mythical creatures. Even now, despite the buildup of the cities, you can still see the magic that is in those small patches of forest.

Believe me, I took a TON of pictures of the changing landscape so this isn't even a fraction of it all. When we reached Loch Ness, it was around lunch time, so I did what the Scotsmen would do and ordered Haggis. Now for those of you who aren't aware of what Haggis is a dish made from sheep's heart, liver and lungs with diced onion, oatmeal and spices mixed and cooked in the stomach of the animal for three hours. Gross sounding isn't it? Well in all reality, it was actually pretty tasty. Kind of reminded me of a mix of pot roast, spiced meatloaf and rice in a way. This shouldn't really surprise anyone that I ate it...I mean I did drink sheep's blood (a traditional British drink) when I climbed Snowdon.

They actually serve it with turnips and a salad as you can see. This was actually a starter item for a bigger dish, but I was so full after this I didn't order anything else. Ok, now I know what you're waiting for, the pictures of Loch Ness...well, here they are.

Why is it that everytime I feel a bit under the weather a storm has to hit? Unlike the last one, according to BBC, it is 40 degrees with constant winds of 30 MPH and gusts of 50. Oh and there's the periodical rain. I just happened to run out of soda in the middle of this and thought it'd be a good idea to maybe walk...not even two yards away to the police station that also constitutes as the late night snack bar for some 7up and crackers. (Cause it's just the thing you do when you get sick.)

Yeah...one of those wind gusts I was talking about literally knocked me off my feet...yeah went through all that all for the sake of comfort food. As my British friends would say "What an American!" Granted, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I didn't know about this until I went outside after sleeping literally ALL DAY.

In other news my Outdoor Pursuits class went indoor climbing yesterday. I liked it, but that's probably because I find it to be a whole lot easier than outdoor climbing. No pictures unfortunately, forgot the camera. I will remember to bring it on my trip to Loch Ness and Edinburg, which I hear for Scotland is quite nice. The place that's really "dodgy" (as the British say) is Glasglow. Fortunately for us, that's on the other side of Scotland. For now I'm going to eat a nice pizza bagel with my prized soda and crackers and then go back to sleep. This sickness is really starting to take a toll on me, hopefully taking it easy will help quicken the recovery. I'll be so...upset (at the very least) if I am sick on this trip to Scotland.

      Wow, seems that I have much to write about tonight.  Ok, well let's start from the top.  I really haven't done much this week besides go to the library and study.  Yes, every day except for today I have been in the library either taking notes, doing homework or studying for exams.  So I figured taking three days off to reward myself would be well justified.  Technically, only two because once I get home from my fieldtrip tomorrow, I plan to go to the library again...
     
     Anyway, on Thursday, our outdoor pursuits class took us sailing down the Menai Straight in a place called "the swellies".  Here, the Menai goes from one of the biggest sections of the straight to the smallest.  This actually creates tiny whirlpools and rip currents along the straight.  Sometimes the currents will clash with the wind so it'll create huge swells.  Well, that's almost exactly what happened on Thursday.  There were really big swells that sometimes came crashing over the deck.  Luckily for us, our leader had 14 years of sailing experience so we managed quite fine.  I will admit, I did get a bit nervous at times...
    That night was Guy Fawkes night, so I went to a fireworks show with some of my friends from the program.  I'm sure you've all heard of the little diddy made famous by that movie V for Vendetta:

     Remember, remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason that the gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot...

     Ok, it was a cool little monologue for the main character in that movie to say, but what exactly does it mean?  Well in 1605 a man named Guy Fawkes and several other conspirators attempted to blow up the parliament building while every huge government official was there.  It just happened to be November 5th.  Someone ratted the men out and they were arrested, hanged or disemboweled while still alive.  The king made it an official holiday so nobody would ever forget what had happened.  So every year there would be a Guy Fawkes effigy upon a pyre to burn.  In the older days kids would make there own Guy's and parade them around town asking people for a penny.  Hence the term "penny for the Guy" came about.  I figured this might be the only time I could witness this holiday firsthand so I decided to go see for myself.  While there was no bonfire there was fireworks like I said.

     Then today I decided to go see a movie.  I had to take a train, my first time taking one, but I wasn't alone.  I had a friend go with me and on our way there we ran into her flatmate and mutual friend.  The train was so crowded her flatmate actually made himself a seat in one of the corners where a self for baggage was...


     Well that is all for now.  Tomorrow is a fieldtrip to Conway.  I'll make sure to take pictures.  Night everyone!

      I know that since my entry on Monday some people may be wondering well, what exactly are the native instruments of Wales and more importantly, what do they sound like.  Leave it to some remarkable musicians and good old youtube to show me and you the answer to this question!

Triple Harp

Crwth

Pibgorn

Welsh Bagpipes

Traditional Welsh song

And here are a few links to some Welsh folk bands:

Allan Yn Y Fan

Pluck and Squeeze band

Twm Twp

My personal favorite is the bagpipes but that is just me

 My thoughts essentially on what it means to be "Welsh" or "American" and the efforts of globalization.

In a time where globalization is making everyone the same monochromatic color scheme in the quilt of the world, it’s nice to look back and remember the things that made the country a unique and brightly colored patch different from everyone else.

I think globalization is the reason I’ve had such a hard time of defining what exactly “Welsh” is and what separates a Welsh person from say an American.  Perhaps globalization has taken the color out of the culture and turned it into something universal, boring and ordinary like every other country.  Or maybe even, the differences don’t exist really.  I feel that the only thing that separates a culture might just be the resources it was given.  For instance, in the Southern region of America we latched onto this idea of cotton fields and twangy banjo music and turned it into a cultural icon.  It’s not really who we are, rather a small portion of the history and the resources we were given at the time.

The more I’m looking at my place within this culture, I view the Americans and Welsh, or English as comfortable strangers.  We are the same people essentially:  we have the same dreams, hopes, fears and ambitions.  In this day and age we are desperately trying to figure out once more who we are and what exactly it means in retrospect to who we were. 

The only thing that seems to make us strangers is the social separation of “us” and “them”.  In reality, there probably shouldn’t be this separation, but we do it anyway because it is the security blanket that keeps us warm at night and protects us from things we may not understand or we are fearful of.  I just wonder how long people will continue to use the security blanket before they realize there is nothing to fear.  I feel if we get past these barriers, we will find we all share the same wants and desires; one of those desires being  to figure out who we are and what it means in the ever changing world of diversity to sameness.  
 
     Instead of trying to change us and make us all the same in an effort to rid ourselves of our fear, we're killing the uniqueness that made us all different and beautiful in our own way, and for what?  What good is it to be the same?  I'd rather live in a world of different culture and try to embrace and understand that culture than to feel safe and secure but still longing to fill the empty void that diversity fills.  Honestly, where is the satisfaction in seeing the world if every place is truly the same?  Granted postcards wouldn't change, there would still be that same picturesque landscape wallowing in the mist, but what about the wisdom you gain from the culture?  What would happen do that?  Why are we as a people so quick to embrace sameness?  Why are we afraid?
     
     I think it's because we're afraid to discover that when we look into the eyes of another culture, we really see our own souls reflecting out of them...
 

      My first exam for my History and Culture of Wales class is today.  The test is to discuss some key terms and what you're learning about them.  So, without further ado I will share my limited knowledge on the Welsh.  Maybe you'll find some of it interesting.

The Welsh Language

Modern day languages all share a common lineage in that they stem from what is known as Indo-European language.  From this there are two subdivisions of the language Centum and Satem language.  Satem language includes Slavic, Hini and Persian language.  Centum contains the languages we're all familiar with:  Celtic, Italic and Hellenic.  (There are others but I'll keep this brief.)  The Celtic language is divided into insular and continental.  Insular is where Welsh language was born.  From Insular language comes Goldelic, which spawned Irish and Brittonic, or Roman British language.  Brittonic language is divided into Welsh Cornish and Breton.  Although these languages share a common lineage, a Welsh speaker may be able to read Cornish, but will have trouble understanding spoken word.  In relation to Breton, unless a Welsh speaker knows a bit of French he will be unable to understand it.  This also goes for Cornish and Breton speakers understanding Welsh as well.  This makes the Welsh language unique from it's cousins and thus it is it's own stand-alone language unique to the speakers of Wales and in some small colonies of Argentina.  (Don't ask how it got there, that's a long story...)

The Celts

The Celts were a warrior tribe, much like the Vikings that infiltrated England and Wales from 500-100 BC.  They brought with them art and iron workings to Britain and Wales.  The Ordovices was the tribe that inhabited Gwynedd.  The word comes from the celtic word "hammer".  The Ordovices were one of the few Celtic tribes to fend off Roman invasion until they were conquered in 78 AD.  Many remnants of Celtic art still survives in Churches.  Among some of these artifacts include The Book of Kells.  This Celtic documentation of the New Testament is one of the few surviving relatively intact Celtic manuscripts.  The artwork throughout most of the book remains intact despite years of wear and tear.

Slate Mining

Just like America, mining in the early 19th century was important to Welsh industry.  The Welsh mining business was divided into coal mining in the south and slate mining in the north.  This is one of the few places where the Welsh language flourished.  The workforce that was drawn to the slate mines were primarily uneducated Welsh speaking men and boys.  Work was hard.  Starting early in the morning till the sun went down six days a week.  They were only allowed a ten minute tea break and a 30 minute lunch break during the day.  Many worked in pure darkness because the cost of candles was too much.  Men didn't live past 50 due to an illness caused by inhalation of the slate dust.  The illness is known as silicosis.  Even up to the 1950's when the mines in Llechewedd were closed, it was not unusual to see an older man in his 60's coughing violently from taking a short walk down the street.  However, the mining industry didn't always lead to misery.  One of the unforeseen results of these places included a wide range of cultural contributions.  Folk music flourished in the mines and some quarries had their own bands, the Oakley band became quite famous.  Also, many Modern Welsh writers use the mines as inspiration.  Among some of these people are T. Rowland Hughes and Kate Roberts who is also a slate miner's daughter.

Non Conformity

Most churches had a hierarchy until the Reform act of 1884.  This act meant that men could vote in their churches, and many nonconformists gained a voice within their church.  Thomas Gee, a nonconformist himself began to publish a radical newspaper which pressed for the disestablishment of the Anglican Church.  This issue became big for the nonconformists because many did not share the same rights as many in the Anglican Church.  This spurred the very bitter Tithe Wars of 1886 when farmers from Gee's own town began attacking tithe collectors.  It became so bitter that a deployment of lancers had to accompany the collectors to prevent further conflict.  This bitter issue was finally resolved in 1920 when the Church of Wales was established.

Leeks and Daffodils

There are many legends surrounding how the leek gained it's reputation in Wales.  One such legend is that a battle between the Saxons and the Welsh took place in a leek field.  There is also a folk tale from the Red Book of Hergest that stated eating a leek promoted happiness and health.  For a long time, the leek was even a staple in the Welsh diet, though this has since been abandoned.  In 1536, the leek was displayed as a Welsh emblem.  Today, the leek is worn on St. David's day along with the Daffodil.  The daffodil unlike the leek, doesn't have a long tie with Wales.  In fact, the Daffodil was first worn for St. David's day after the prime minister David Lloyd George wore it.  The daffodil was also used to mark the Investiture of Prince Charles in Caernarfon Castle.

The Red Dragon

The Welsh Dragon or Y Ddraig Goch in Welsh has it's roots deeply cemented in Welsh culture.  One of the earlier legends called Lludd and Llefely's involves a red dragon and a white dragon fighting one another on the side of a mountain.  The dragon's screams are so toxic they are making livestock drop dead and women miscarry their babies.  Legend has it that Lludd and Llefely's capture the dragon on the mountain side of Snowdonia and save the town from the dragon's tirade.  Since then the Red Dragon has been used on coats of arms for Welsh noblemen and royalty for ages.  On the Crest of King Arthur the Welsh dragon appears, this is related to the legend of when Uther spotted a red dragon in the sky and predicted that he (Arthur) would be king.  The Tudor dynasty also used the Dragon for their coat of arms until they replaced it with the Unicorn.  The first time a red dragon was used for the Welsh flag was in 1807, but it would not be recognized as the official flag of Wales until 1959.

Rugby

Rugby is the national sport of Wales.  It was first introduced to Wales at Lampeter University around 1850.  The official Welsh team was selected in 1881 and today it has over 200 members.  The Welsh rugby team did not always start out as the dominant contender in the sport.  When they first played against the English, the defeat was so bad that the English actually refused to play them the following season.  However by 1905, the Wales team was crowned the unofficial champions of the world after dominating New Zealand.  During the depression years, the Welsh team struggled and during the war the entire Rugby league was dismantled until after the war in 1945.  Today the Welsh team is still a big contender in the Rugby world, and it is a sport that inspires emotions quite similar to football in the rest of Europe.

Eisteddfod

The Eisteddfod is a festival honoring the arts.  The first one was held in 1176 and in 1828 the first royal Eisteddfod was established.  Some of the things the Welsh excel in include it's Choral music, poetry and music.  These festivals are usually held in the middle of August and last about a week.

Choirs

Wales is known as the land of song, and probably with good reason.  In 1836 the Welsh won their first medal for choral singing.  H.F. Chorley was so impressed by the two Welsh choirs competing for the medal that he said he could think of no more than six choirs in England who could compete with them.  This was even more impressive because the choirs consisted mainly of mining men and their families.  From then on out the Welsh began their domination over choir music.

Harp

The harp is the national instrument of Wales.  The tradition of harpers can be traced back to as early as 11 AD.  Among some of the popular harps, many folk harps have since died out, except for the triple harp, originally made from hair in the old times had a revival in the 1960's.  Since then, it's not uncommon to see these harps being sold as keepsakes or to hear them in a Welsh folk festival.

Sheep

Wales has one of the largest sheep densities in the world, only out-sized by New Zealand.  There are approximately 11,000,000 sheep in Wales, making the ratio of sheep to people 3:1.  Some may wonder how the sheep can survive in the mountainous regions of Wales and I myself have wondered how sheep managed to get up onto the steep mountain sides.  In the past there have been metal guard rails put on the roads to prevent sheep from crossing over into potentially hazardous terrain.  Some say the sheep have even managed to overcome this barrier.  There have been a few accounts of mother sheep teaching their lambs to roll over these guard rails to cross to the other side.  This claim has yet to be proven, but it is an amusing thought.  Because of the density of sheep in Wales, the Welsh have earned the name "sheep shaggers" from the British.  However, the Welsh have their own take about how this name got passed around.  Back when Welsh adopted English law, they were surprised when they discovered that the price for stealing a sheep was higher than for having "relations" with a sheep.  How drastic was it?  Apparently to steal a sheep meant your life if you were caught and to woo Mrs. Sheepie was only a fine.  So when Welshmen were caught stealing sheep they told the officers that they had intended to make Mrs. Sheepie their bride (if only for a night).  This is where the Welsh supposedly got the name sheep shagger.  However, this is only one story.  Sheep have since become a commercialized item for the Welsh.  It's not uncommon to see stuffed animals of sheep in gift stores and my personal favorite, gift cards made from sheepie poo.

Well I hope this answers some of your questions on Welsh Culture.  Wish me luck guys!

Today in Outdoor Pursuits was probably one of the hardest days we've had so far. Today we went to a place right behind the Snowdon summit (where I climbed that one day I went with a few friends) where a cave forms and you come out of the mouth of this cave and probably a little above 400 feet in the air.

The course is a mixture of caving and rock climbing. In some areas of the Chimney it was no wider than 30 inches wide if you had yourself in pushup position between the two rock walls. It was just enough to get a body through if you didn't turn sideways. The hardest part about that was that there were absolutely no footholds. After about five minutes, I realized I wasn't going to make it shimmying all the way up. So I grabbed the rope to our one pulley system we had going on and hoisted all 120 pounds of my bodyweight up about 15 feet with my arms alone. I was the only girl to do this without using the ledge for footing and apparently my instructor was quite impressed. However, for everyone who knows me it probably comes as no shock since I've always been strong in my upper body.

This isn't the first time I've given up using my lower body on one of these outings. The last time we went anywhere, when I saw I was too short to reach a foothold I pulled my entire body weight up by my arms to the top of where I needed to go. Granted, it took a few minutes but I accomplished it. This time it was a little more impressive since I'd been hoisting another teammate up the cave rock for about 15 minutes prior to my turn. I was worn out, but I knew it'd be worse if I sat there looking for nonexistent footholds.

The rock climbing part is where I really shine. Not because I'm a good climber but because if I can't find a footing, instead of having to compromise my position and risk a fall, I try my hardest to get up the mountain using those awesome softball muscles. I suppose staying in sports even into college did pay off somewhere...

I posted a video of where we were at to give you an idea of the climb, but I know some of you would rather see pictures, so I will post them too

This is the crawlspace that was maybe 30 inches at most



View from the top

     Well I had a nice day off.   I took the opportunity to go go study for a few hours and then mailed off a few postcards.  (So be checking your mail for them.)  I'm surprised at how early the sun sets now that we changed time.  Oh yes, I think in the UK daylight savings time comes early by a few weeks.  Imagine, having the sun set by 4:30 pm!  I didn't believe it until today when I was walking home from the library.  The walk is about 30 minutes back and forth so I decided to leave while I still had some daylight.

     So now I'm in my room eating the Cinnamon toast crunch a friend sent me and watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on my computer.  I figured if anything, I would try to get into the Halloween spirit this way.  Halloween isn't as commercialized in the UK as it is in the US.  Instead of trick or treating, a lot of teenagers (since the drinking age is 16) go out to pubs in costumes and dance and talk with friends all night.  Of course, this is no different from a normal night in the UK.  Pubs and some of the dance clubs have gimmicks to where if you dress up in a theme for the night you get half off for entry and things like that.  I have a few pictures of my flatmate Euan dressed up as a Mariachi man for one of these promo nights.  I should probably post it up so you can get the idea of what I mean.  It's actually quite funny to see first hand.
    
     Well I must be going.  Here are those flatmate pictures....

     I return from a long day in Cardiff.  The trip yesterday took about 11 hours to get here.  On the way we stopped in Hereford Museum and the Tintern Abbey.  Today we went to the Cardiff Castle, Millennium Stadium and the Welsh Museum.

     The Tintern Abbey is located on the Wye River in Monmouthshire.  The building was built between 1136 and 1536.  At one point it was the most powerful Abbey in all of Britain.  It got quite corrupt in the process so I don't feel many were upset when Henry VII finally conquered it and destroyed it.  

The other two places we went were nice but I was so tired by that point I was beginning to lose interest.  So no pictures.  At least not now because I'm too lazy.
  
On another note I may have found a better way to spend my money.  I figured it'd be better to spend it on a small vacay one weekend...like to say, Germany.  We'll see how much the expenses will be and then I'll decide what I'm going to do.

After all that waiting I finally get my money back for my visa.  Yes, I am getting 222 pounds back for that big headache.  Oh but that's not all!  I also get the format for my internship as well.  Internships depending on the amount of hours you spend on it can add up to sometimes 6 or more credits for school.  This has made me quite a happy camper.  Especially since I'll have over 40 hours of documentation.  Oh yes, this makes me a very happy camper indeed.

Much to my father's disappointment I'm probably going to spend some of my money on a new purse.  I need a purse of more sophistication than my lime green one I carry around everywhere.  i saw one in a shop that was a really nice shade of navy blue on a deep gold chain for only 15 pounds.  Quite a bargain considering one like that would be 60 dollars in the U.S.

The one thing I will give to the UK is that women do not stop trying to look good after a certain age or when they have children.  I see a lot of young mothers pushing their children in their stroller as they go running down the street and it makes me smile.  I feel (and maybe it is just me) that women in the U.S., after they have kids deny themselves nice things and deny themselves the opportunity to be beautiful again.  I think that American mothers have this silly notion that if they don't go completely to hell then they didn't do all they could for their children.  So yes, they stop exercising, stop shopping for nice things and stop trying to be the independent, confident and sexy woman they used to be because they feel they should be sacrificing more for their children.  So it becomes a sort of contest to see who can look the most frumpy and claim bragging rights of being the "best" mother.

If you are a mother who happens to spend time on yourself then the whispers start.  The whispers that you're selfish...  I actually remember a conversation that ran along this line that I overheard between two ladies in the grocery store back home...they were commenting on this young mother in the grocery store with her child in the basket and it went a little something like this:

     "Oh my goodness, would you look at that purse!  How can she afford that with such a young baby."
     "Her poor husband is probably working himself to death to spoil her like that..."

      So automatically this poor woman that probably had this purse before she had her baby was automatically considered spoiled and selfish because of it.  

     I find that whole concept really stupid.  That just because you treat yourself to nice things you're not a good parent.  I don't see why this stereotype secretly exists.  You're still a person when you have kids.  You're still entitled to upkeep yourself because in the end, having a parent who is healthy and aware of how the public perceives them is probably a better environment for a child to be in.  Besides the fact it will teach them a healthy balance between sacrifice and indulgence, I just think that families that remain true to themselves are happier in the end.  Honestly I don't think husbands marry their wives because of how much they can sacrifice for their children, and as petty and shallow as it may sound, husbands want their wives to remain youthful and attractive.  

     I think being here is teaching me that perhaps Americans try too hard to be the best at everything and often it goes horribly wrong.  We try to be the best parents and sacrifice our happiness and marriage because of it.  We try to have the most attractive looking people and millions of young girls develop eating disorders to live up to these horrible expectations.  We try to have the most savory food and turn a whole country obese.  There has to be a balance, however, I think it will be a while before we really find a balance that will satisfy us as well as keep up healthy.

      So this will give me time to write up a new entry.  I'm actually really happy my class is canceled.  I was planning on doing a little bit of studying today and I'm still quite sore from walking up to the Snowdon summit yesterday.  As most of you may know, we have a wildlife national park in a town no less than 6 miles beside Bangor University, so it makes sense that at some point I should climb this mountain.
    
     The mountain, isn' t that tall when we get right down to it, it's only 3, 560 ft high.  However, it's still a fairly adventurous walk for those who are not used to climbing mountains.  Climbing up took about three hours and climbing down the mountain took an hour and a half tops.  About half way on the climb up we were in the clouds.  It was really strange to see it warping the other side of the mountain the way it did.
    
     As we climbed further up it started to look a bit like how the end of the world would look like in a movie.  People disappeared to and from the mist as quickly as they had passed.  One of my friends speculated that this might be what it would look like to die.  I could believe it, when you see nothing but billowing fog around you that makes the landscape seem almost imagined, I could guess that it would look like that when you're dying/dead.  

     We had a numerous amount of conversation that ranged from metaphorically describing America's relations with the rest of Europe, (quite an impossible task unless you're just being silly like we were) to Aristotle and philosophy.  About halfway my friend did treat me to a interesting traditional British drink.  I wish I could remember the name of it, but anyway after I had drank about half of what tasted like Miso soup I was told it was cow's blood.  No use getting grossed out by it after I had enjoyed about half of it.  Needless to say, I got my fair share of iron yesterday.

     I would post pictures but i'm being lazy so check back on this entry and I'll post some up.

     From there, it was on to Chester.  Chester is a city that was founded as a Roman Camp in about 79 AD.  They used Chester as a means to watch and control the Welsh after they invaded the U.K. and for the most part, the wall surrounding the city is still intact.  Some of the places we went to included "The Rows."  If you haven't heard of "The Rows" it's a second floor on each building that lead to another shop entirely or the second floor of some shops.  Many of the buildings on the "The Rows" are from the 13th century and are used for shopping and entertainment.

      It's been a while since I updated but things are going well except for one little problem.  I think during outdoor pursuits I ruptured my eardrum jumping off a sea rock about 20 ft high into the water below me.  I'm not dizzy or in pain or anything, just feels like my ear is full of cotton balls.  Anyway, I will be seeing a doctor if it's still like this by tomorrow.in the meantime I should probably get something to protect it.  I need a shower and I'm not going to wait  to get one.

     The day after our field trip to Chester we went to the Penrhyn Castle.  Penrhyn castle was owned by Lord Pennant.  Lord Pennant's family had originally been a family importing sugar cane from the slaves in the Caribbean in the 17th century but later switched over to slate mines in the Welsh mountains.  If I'm not mistaken, I think someone told me they owned the Llechewedd mines that I visited earlier in the semester.  The castle is not that old, built in 1825 and constructed to look like an old Norman Castle.
     
     Among some of the rooms we saw included The Ebony Room, The Grand Hall, The Queen's Room and the library.  The Ebony room was just that, all furniture was made out of ebony, giving it a very dark feeling throughout the entire room.  The furniture was accented with golden ornate rugs and curtains and a black fireplace surrounded at the top by what appeared to be an ebony arch.  The Grand Hall was right in the middle of the castle, connecting the rest of the castle with the grand staircase in the middle of everything.  There was one carpet of red rug that lead down the hall past a white marble looking fireplace and beautifully carved archways.  The library actually lead to the grand hall and was decorated with red carpet and if I remember correctly, golden curtains.  Rows upon rows of books lined the walkway.  Upstairs, there was the Queen's room which Queen Victoria was rumored to have stayed.  The bed was gold and there were black accents lining the top of the room.  My favorite was the beautifully carved dresser that hung to the right of the room.  A washroom was connected to this room and contained a very large bath.

     Throughout the castle were paintings scattered throughout.  The four I liked the most included Palma Vecchio, The Holy Family with St. Jerome, the Rembrandt portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet, the Willem van de Velde Shipping in a Calm Oil and the portrait of Richard Pennant.  Among some of the other things I saw that caught my interested included a bed made entirely of slate that was supposed to be a gift to Queen Victoria, the servant bells, the Ice tower and a painting done of the sugar plantations the family owned.  The castle itself is ridiculously over the top and I can see why everyone hated this family.  They had so much money they had no idea what to do with it.
 
     This last Thursday we went sea traversing, and if you don't know what it is, it's rock climbing at sea level.  It was fun until my little accident.  I'll post pictures up soon, now to study.

  Ok since it's been a few days since I've written (and mom freaks out when I don't write) I decided to write an entry about my Saturday night. Saturday night I decided to explore the British night life with my friend Sarah and her flat mates. It became very evident to me that English people can't dance at all. It was still fun nevertheless and we all had a good time.

      Today we went to the Conway Centre and did a ropes course.  Low levels at first then higher ones.  A lot of fun and I took a lot of photos for everyone to see.













Some perspective as to how high we actually were.  The tallest thing we were up on was 50 feet up more or less.

      I seem to be writing a lot more these days.  I'm fairly soon that will slow down eventually, but I'd rather document all of this while it's still fresh in my mind so I don't forget about it.  

     Today was my first day of classes.  My day began at about ten thirty when I got up, checked the mail, checked my e-mail and then went to class.  I was happy and relieved to find some of the other students from my program were also taking the class, so I sat with them.  The class started quite late for American standards.  The class was supposed to start at noon, but it ended up starting at about twelve fifteen or so.  The professor is quite laid back compared to the professors at TLU, but I can tell the man loves what he does.  That's quite a nice change since professors normally seem quite bored at TLU after they've covered the same subject for years and years at a time.

      I suppose that is the difference between a strictly teaching school and one that allows research.  On the one hand, research allows the professors to still be engaged and excited about what they're doing.  However, the downside is they may or may not always have time to help a student.  Teaching facilities are wonderful if you need the extra help, which is good in many cases, but often I find myself not needing any extra help so office hours aren't of much use to me.  I suppose to each their own.

     The format of the class is still like any other biology class.  That part doesn't really surprise me in the least bit.  However, what does surprise me is how easy it seems to be.  I suppose lectures may skim the surface unlike the ones at TLU where they actually go in depth during lectures.  If this is the case, I need to be careful I'm not lulled into a false sense of security.  So tomorrow will be spend writing up notes for this last class and the next one as well as researching the topics covered.

     Wednesday night I think I might attend a Catholic Mass with Audrey.  Catholics aren't very well liked in this area of Bangor so I thought going with Audrey might be more of a moral support in that sense.  I've met a few of them in the Catholic group and they seem to be very nice people.  To me, religion has never really mattered much because to me, it's essentially the same.  I might go so far as to say that religion, as a whole, is basically praising the same god.  YHWH, God, Allah, Ishwar, the Goddess, whatever you believe, I think it's the same benevolent being we are worshiping.  How you perceive the divine is what ultimately decides what incarnation you will follow.  I know, it probably sounds a bit extreme to believe this, but honestly,  in my study of religion, there are too many things which overlap for me to possibly believe that my religion and what I believe is any better than the next person.  Ok, I'll stop my little rant about religion before someone sics the hounds on me or before anyone starts rolling their eyes.

     I'm quite excited to learn Welsh and that is on Wednesday.  I know Celtic languages are a bit hard, but I am up for this challenge.  We'll see how it goes I guess.  For now I should probably get to bed.  All I can say is I better get a letter soon because if I don't, I'll be quite upset with everyone!  Hope to hear from you soon!

      This week has been busy and I think today is a day to stay in and relax.  I am tired and sick with some allergic reaction so I've been laying in bed all day like a lazy bum because there's not much to do here.  Unlike America, stores around here normally only stay open till five on business days.  Then on weekends it's iffy.  Some stores open from ten to noon only, or from noon till four, and some don't open at all.  It makes grocery shopping in the week essential because if you don't, there's almost nowhere to go.

     I missed out on mountain climbing today because I just don't have shoes that are adequate for climbing.  I need to buy some boots to climb later in the year but it costs 40 pounds and I'm not spending THAT much on hiking boots.  (Mom and Dad I wear a size 7 by the way, haha.)  Plus I was really sick this afternoon so I decided best thing for me would be to sit out on this climb and wait till next Saturday.  I'm feeling ten times better than I felt earlier in the week, the drainage is about gone so I have my voice reasonably back.  (I am so tired of sounding like a frog.)

     One of the things I'm really happy about is that there's more community activities for students on campus than back at home.  There's always activities to do on Saturdays and Sundays so you're never bored or wishing to go home and many students do stay here.  Whether or not that is because travel is expensive for them, I'm not too sure.  I really wish TLU had some programs offered on Saturdays and Sundays.  I think more students if they were given them, would probably stay near TLU rather than go home every weekend.  This campus is surprisingly brimming with activity this weekend it just proves to me what I already knew about American Schools:  weekends are boring so you might as well go home.  I know that TLU probably won't change because it takes too much time and effort to do so, but it's just a thought really.

     Now to finish watching a documentary similar to the Phelps Family documentary called Jesus Camp.  If you've never watched either you really should.  Gives you a frightening view of zealot religion!  Maybe next time I'll post a blog about religion here in Wales or in the U.K. in general...bye everyone!

      Whew!  What a day indeed it has been, and I'm exhausted!  I started my day at 6:45 this morning when I made breakfast for my flatmate and myself.  I decided to give her a taste of an American breakfast and made her a breakfast taco.  I finished both registration processes at about one in the afternoon.

     In the U.K., or maybe just Bangor, they have two registration processes:  administration and module.  Administration is for incoming students to get them into their school system, so normally it's internationals and freshmen that go through this process.  Module is what I discussed in my last entry.  It went by fairly fast, but that might only be because I'm an international student and there wasn't much paperwork to be done at the time.

     Afterwards, I went to Serendipity to look at what clubs and organizations I could join.  I'm really looking into the Mountain Walking club and the Scuba Diving club if their fee isn't too expensive.  Some other ones I've looked at were Trampoline club and Archery Club.  All look really fun and interesting, and will get me something to do on a weekend so I win no matter what it is I do.  

     Tomorrow, if memory serves me right, I have an orientation meeting for my outdoor pursuits class at 4:00 tomorrow.  I might cry for joy because this is the first time all week I might be able to sleep in.  (Hurray!)  Maybe I'll look up another movie to watch.  Because I didn't bring any videos with me I have had to look up placed on the internet that might have movies.  (Because hulu.com doesn't work here due to copywright issues.  A good website that I have found is a place called missedashow.net.)  I just finished Schindler's List today and I might try to switch gears to something less serious and watch Almost Famous.  Well good night for now!  Oh before I leave, a picture of our entire international group from Central, TLU and other colleges!