And then there was one

Okay so today is not blog day. Sorry to be a day late, but I had a posting issue yesterday (read: I forgot)

So this is my last week in Bangor, and I'm busier than ever. Between running errands to sort things that need to be sorted, participate in a bunch of different experiments to help people out, and starting to analyze my own thesis data I've been all booked up and it's only Wednesday. On Monday I closed my bank account. Kaput. Bye bye Barclays. So now I'm rolling around town with absurd amounts of cash to last the week and then euros for Italy as well, all in hilarious fashion.

Yesterday, as part of my errands, I wandered allllll the way over to Normal Site (another section of the University that's pretty out of the way). It was kind of a long walk, but it turned out to have some really pretty views. I had only ever passed by there on a bus once or twice and hadn't noticed before. After I got to my destination and got the information I needed, I decided to snap a couple of pictures on the way back. I'm sure I looked crazy to all the cars driving by but the sky had cleared up a bit and I wanted to have something pretty to show you all in the blog this week (that I thought I was going to be posting last night). Unfortunately, blogger is having a heart attack and won't let me add pictures no matter how I try it right now, so you can't see them. I will try again later and see if it has calmed down and is ready to cooperate then. Meanwhile, imagine the Menai Strait, the pier, and sailboats, green rolling hills, and cows.

The rest of the week looks like it'll be just as busy as the beginning has been. I've got more experiments to participate in for people, lots more stats/analysis to melt my brain with, and several more "loose ends" to get squared away before the weekend. Then on the weekend I've got to clear out all my things I'm neither keeping nor shipping and get everything out because Sunday..... I leave!

My train out of Bangor is at about 7:00pm to Manchester, then I'll stay overnight at a hotel to get up at the crack of dawn on Monday for a 6:15am flight heading to ROMA! Then I'm off for a week in Italia with Eric visiting Venice and Florence/Tuscany. I'm excited. Very excited.

Arrivederci! Next thing you know, I'll be seeing you stateside!

Penultimatum

I have less than 2 weeks left in Bangor.

Let that one soak in for a bit. Seems crazy. Two weeks from right now, I will be in Italy, having packed up/ shipped off/ thrown out everything in this room of mine for good. It's a weird thing to wrap my brain around given the ups and downs of this whole year here. A big part of me is happy to be going home (with a pit stop in Italy, no less!), but it's a small part bittersweet. It's been an interesting year. And mostly now there's just a lot of things I need to take care of. Like make an appointment to close my bank account. And figure out how to ship home whatever crap I don't want to cart around on my trip. Most importantly, I'm trying to make sure I do the things and see the people I need to see to be happy and satisfied when I leave.

Towards that effort, last week I spent lots of time down the hill with friends just hanging out. The weather's been really nice for the most part too. One night we had a barbecue-turned-backyard-bonfire which was really fun.

This weekend a couple of us went to the beach over on Anglesey. Definitely a different style of beach trip than I typically associate with a "hot" June day (ie. still wearing long pants and not touching the water) but it was still fun. Just a chill afternoon out enjoying the weather with some gorgeous scenery.

So that's the story for the next 2 weeks. Tying up lots of loose ends, sorting out the details of finishing up here. And first and foremost, having fun :)

In the Shire (Cambridgeshire)

Breaking news...... I'm 23!

In honor of this momentous(?) occasion, I had a much-anticipated visit from my dear Catrin :) Arriving on Thursday afternoon, we had a whole long weekend of shenanigans to get up to, beginning with a little night out on the town for my birthday.

Now, I hope you haven't gotten too excited and forgotten that I am, in fact, still in Bangor. Therefore, said night on the town only involved getting a drink or two out at the Greek with Diego, and then us two girls heading off to Octagon to get our dance on despite our usual disinclination to set foot in the place.

On Friday, our grand plans to go take the neat little train up to the peak of Snowdonia were thwarted when we discovered that it costs £25 (about $40) each. Ridiculous for something we could technically walk for free. Due to the fact that neither of us had appropriate footwear for such an endeavor and that we just didn't feel like it, we went to the movies instead. The new Pirates... in 3D, no less.

After the movie (which was super fun, by the way) we set off for Cambridge/ Guilden Morden where Cat lives. We had a chilled evening of dinner and hanging, and made our plans for Saturday: punting! For those who don't know what punting is, think Venice but Britishier. It involves a shallow boat, a long stick, and, if you don't feel like going for a swim, an experienced and non-clumsy punt-er/guide.

 

We had a lovely day after a relaxing tour down the river, walking around the city, having a picnic lunch, people-watching, and of course doing a little shopping. The next day, however, was the most exciting of all. We went to a safari park!!! Basically a zoo that you drive around, the animals are pretty much free to wander around and occasionally block traffic. As in bears that wander in front of your car and monkeys that jump on your roof. It's pretty awesome. Let me warn you now that I took about 200 pictures in the park. I tried to be selective here with what I'd post, but it was just so hard to choose! Massive facebook album to follow.

 (So that's what those spare tires are for)

Cat really likes that last one of the giraffes. She thinks it's artsy. I'd like to say I did that on purpose, but really it was an accident that the camera focused on the raindrops on the car window instead of what was behind it.

So that was my weekend. Took an early train home from London on Monday morning in time to do nothing much of note this week (that I know of so far). But maybe something will come up that'll give me something to tell you about next week. If not, then I could always just show you more pictures of monkeys on cars :) I know I just can't get enough...

It's Chester-tastic

For a nice change of pace, this week I actually have something interesting to share!

This past weekend, Dan invited a couple of us to go with him to his house in Chester. A welcome opportunity to a) get out of Bangor, and b) see some more of the UK. Also, just to have a good time. Naturally, I jumped at the offer and so Dan, myself, Diego, and Franzi set off Friday night. Louise came out for a day as well.

The big plan for Saturday was to go to a place called the Crocky Trail. Basically a mud-ridden obstacle/adventure course type thing mostly designed for smaller kids but also still really entertaining for big kids. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the shenanigans that went down here. Given the likelihood of falling and either breaking the camera or drowning it in mucky stream water, I decided it was best not to carry it around with me. Feel free to google it and check out images of happy dirt-caked kids grinning as they swing across mud puddles and over rickety bridges.

Following the Crocky Trail, it was decided that we were in need of some delicious ice cream refreshment, so we went to a place called Snugbury's (or, as Dan originally called it, Snuggleberries. Obviously I prefer that one).

We also found piggies. Franzi wanted to steal one. We named this one Mister Oink Oink

From this place, we could see a castle, which Dan had apparently never been to. Once we were able to tear ourselves away from the adorable oinkers, we made our way over to Beeston Castle. Apparently you can see something like 8 or 9 counties from it, as it sits way up on a hill. Amazing views. (Click on the pictures to see them bigger)

On Sunday, we went for a wander around the city of Chester itself. It's an old walled city so we walked around the entire length of the walls, saw the cathedral, Chester castle, a park, a little mini train, the high street, etc.

We also went to the movies, played multiple games of the Big Taboo, and had an all-round jolly good time. A weekend well spent for sure.

Now this week, it's back to chilling in Bangor. However, I have a very pleasant change coming in the form of my dear Catrin who is coming to hang out for a night or two, then taking me back with her to Cambridge for the weekend. Lucky for you, that means more pictures next week! Lucky for me, that means I get to see my Catcat for a good few days :)

Check you next week- same bat time, same bat channel

No More Teachers, No More Books

As off this afternoon, I am officially done with the taught portion of my masters degree!!! Done with exams, done with essays, done with everything class related.... forever :)

All that's left is thesis! (oh that little thing) Sign-ups have actually picked back up for participants, so looks like we're going to pick up a good few more before all the students go home (after June 3rd). In fact, we might just break 100 participants tomorrow afternoon if most of our sign-ups actually show! We're gonna need some champagne or something for that!

That's really all the news I have for you this week, unfortunately. Similar to last week, I haven't had a lot going on besides cranking out the exams and assignments. But now that that's all over, hopefully I'll have something more interesting for you all next Tuesday :)

For more entertainment, here's a video I found the other day of Hugh Laurie on Ellen Degenerous' show playing a guessing game of British versus American slang. It's like my "isms" posts but funnier!



Have a lovely, teaching-free week!

Reading Rainbow

Not much has changed since this time last week. Consumer project/report deadline still looming, as is the impending doom of a statistics exam on Friday, aaand then a presentation for the aforementioned project scheduled for the beginning of next week. Needless to say, I've got a lot to do.

Therefore, I don't have much to say, nor time which I could take to say it. One cool thing happened though, over the weekend. I saw the base of a huge rainbow out my window over in the hills in front of the mountains. What makes it cool was a) it was the end of a rainbow, and b) it was really close. The next day (as we were having on-and-off heavy showers for a few days in a row) another rainbow showed up in the same place! I noticed it, looked back at my computer for a minute, and then when I glanced up again the colors had become brighter than I have ever seen in a rainbow outside of cartoons.

I whipped out my camera to see if it would come out clearly and this is what I got:

I apologize for not having much to say, but the end of term is eating my life. This time next week though it'll all be better :) I'll see you on the other side!

Exam time

Yesterday was the start of this semester's exam period. Today was my first exam, for 'Applied Consumer Psychology'. It wasn't too bad, pretty much what I expected. Aside from a couple of scattered participants to test, that's it for scheduled things to do this week. Next week though we have the final report due for our consumer psych projects, and then our Advanced Stats exam two days later, so I've got plenty of work to keep me busy.

Since there's studying and work to be done, and not a lot of interesting things happening, there isn't much for me to talk about this week. I thought about pulling out the list of British-isms, but I was uninspired.

Instead, here's a bit of comedy about Wales, the Welsh, and Welsh language :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSOaMmeiSZA

oh and this too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL2CaiydtLY

Enjoy!