It has been a long time since I've updated my blog. And as usual, my excuse is that I just havent gotten around to it because I've been so busy. Uni is in full swing. I'm realising (the hard way) that the European system of education is totally different from that of North America. There is no time to catch up and be up to date in your classes. Last year at UBC i had the chapters read before i went to the lecture, so I knew what was going on. Here i've managed to do that once and still, the material was too difficult-i still couldnt follow! The work is tough and a lot, but I'm enjoying the economics behind it. (believe it or not-half the time I dont believe it myself).






Besides school, everything is well. I'm settling into life at Cardiff and everything that encompasses. Including the 2 mile bike ride that it takes for me to get to school and the crappy weather. They say it 'pisses rain' here. I am learning a lot of new expressions and some of the things the Brits & Welsh say is just halarious. The other day my professor said "cracking" when somebody got the answer correct. I've never heard that said, by, well anybody in the US/Canada! Sailing has been great and a good learning experience too. Its great to hear what people say here in a moment of crisis. Our curse words are totally different and today while we were in the process of capsizing, i was just laughing at what was being said. All in all, its been great fun-learning lots, and every night after a full day of library/lectures/biking/groceries/reading/dinner/sailing I always go to bed exhausted.

Last weekend Mike came up. We hadnt seen each other in two weeks and it was great to be together again. its crazy the distance here that keeps us apart. We're about 1hr 45mins apart by car. I used to almost drive that distance round trip to high school every day. Now, that distance seems incredibly far away and a long trek to make. Getting organized, getting on the the train, changing stations, ect. makes the trek a hastle and a lot longer than in a car. So, its not made as often as I'd like. However, he did come last weekend and it was great. Whats more, my dad who had to work in London last week also came to visit me in Cardiff! And for even more kicks, Mike's mom, Pamela, came to Cardiff as well to see us and meet my dad for the first time. We picked my dad up at 8pm friday evening and had a lovely dinner.





The next morning Pamela picked us all up and we drove to Caerphilly Castle in Caerphilly (9 miles north-17 mins according to mapuest.) Well I'm convinced that Wales does not have nearly as many satellites over the country as USA because the directions printed out from mapuest actually told us to "turn onto unnamed road" and to turn "slightly left." We ended up on a single small country lane road where the hedges were so high on both sides that we couldnt see over them. We saw lots of farms, sheep, and country side-a perfect depiction of Wales. We were shocked and i was so happy that my dad could see this side of Wales.



We finally got to the castle (1hr later) and had a great time exploring it. It was built in 1271 and had 3 moots to protect it. The castle was not as fancy as the one in Cardiff, since that one had been completely restored, but as the pictures shows, one of the rooms in the castle-the great hall-was refurbished and is available for events. Mike & I had our turn sitting at the center of the table and I must admit it felt pretty good. ;) The rest of the day was spent exploring the grounds of the castle, had a wonderful lunch at an old pub that is a converted 400 year old farmhouse,


and later in the afternoon we explored Cardiff some more and I showed my dad the campus.









When both our parents left, after a succesful first visit, Mike & i went out to a club that night with my entire flat. We stayed until the club closed at 2.00 am and had , like expected, a very hard time getting a taxi home. The next day, Sunday, was spent recovering from the busy weekend and studying some more. Mike left monday morning at 6am to catch the first train back to birmingham--the weekend was over.

Despite it being really short period of time, exactly 24 hrs, it was fabulous. My dad met Pam, which was important to both Mike and myself. I wished my mom could of been there as well.

This week has flown by as well and tomorrow I'm heading up to birmingham to see Mike. After living together in Vancouver for the summer, we're having a hard time coping with the distance. I enjoyed having him home and just there to support you whenever needed. Its a really nice luxury to have! So, next post should be about my weekend outing to Birmy!!

(p.s. sorry about the jumbled mess of photos-will get it right one day. All the pics are from either the Castle or the pub we had lunch at afterwards. The one photo at night is of walking back via Cardiff after dropping my dad off at his hotel downtown.)