I loved my Friday!

I slept in, did a bit of research for my paper (which absolutely fascinates me), and headed into town for some shopping.  I was by myself, and I think that's why I loved it so much.  It was such a beautiful day, which made waiting at the bus stop near the Student Village a pleasure!  My first stop was Primark (oooh, how I love that store!).  I bought a white v-neck, because it was super cheap and fit well, as well as a black skirt with little flowers on it.  I later realized that outfit will be fantastic for Haf's birthday party on Monday.  I also bought a denim button-up shirt and immediately started planning outfits to go with it!  I found a pair of brown and white brogues (a must in the U.K.) to further add to my ever-growing shoe collection.  My moment of true love (though I do believe that shoe love is true love) came when I tried on a cream and red striped maxi dress.  It's unbelievably comfortable and unbelievably flattering.  Why didn't I discover maxi-dresses earlier? Live and learn, I guess!  I walked from the city centre to campus, enjoying the beautiful day and forgetting about my tendonitis (oops?).  I think the rest of my Friday is going to be filled with more researching; thank goodness that I love the topic!  Ahhh, I love my life!

Musings on my time abroad

I received an email before I left for Wales saying that if I wrote a letter about my experiences abroad I could receive a $500 scholarship.  I love writing, so I'm excited to type up that letter as soon as I get home!  However, I had some thoughts today that I wanted to jot down, so here's a lil' precursor to my letter:

While study at Swansea, I chose to talk a class on African American History (mostly because it will fill the U.S. Diversity credit that all Iowa State students need to graduate).  I've thoroughly enjoyed that class, though, because it provided me with a chance to gain a different perspective on something quite familiar to me.  The grade on the class was based solely on two essays, and as I worked on the second essay, I realized how much I appreciated having control of what I was learning.  I found the subject of my essay (I chose the Black Panther Party) extremely fascinating and devoured all the literature I could find on the topic.  I was able to read the facts (as well as various opinions) and develop my own opinions about the Black Panther Party and their effect on African American culture.  With my usual engineering classes, there are a lot of wrong answers and one right answer.  This class provides me with a chance to delve deeper into myself to learn how I feel about the world around me; pardon the pun, but this class proved that not everything is strictly black and white.  Yes, I love my engineering, but I also love knowing what I believe and that I have strong rationale behind it.

I'm a stereotypical girl with a love of shoes and belief in a fairytale ending, yet I was not terribly excited about the royal wedding.  I could not see the point of taking a day off work to watch two university sweethearts tie the knot.  The commemorative mugs, posters, notepads, pens, etc., seemed a bit over the top.  The evening of the royal wedding, I had dinner with a New-Yorker who recently moved to London.  She mentioned that the celebration reminded her (in some ways) of a sporting event; everyone was cheering, grilling out or picnicking, and waving the Union Jack.  She stressed, though, that unlike a sporting event, there were no "losers"; everyone could celebrate.  They were simply experiencing a major historical part of the U.K.  Before I came to Wales, I honestly think I would have brushed this off as a silly aside.  But I had grown in the past 4 months, and I found myself agreeing that it's a good way to unify and inspire the British people.  I also found myself toting home two Will and Kate mugs (one for me and one for my mom, who also watched the previous royal wedding 30-some years before).

MY Easter vacation planning

I was going to work on my Easter vacation shopping list in Microsoft OneNote (Word has been driving me crazy!), but I realized how long it has been since I posted on here, so I decided to make it here instead! I honest-to-goodness had a near meltdown during a Skype-conversation with my mom when I realized that I have very few cute tops here. I honestly have 2 blouses to wear. It was super stressful! It led me to decide that I AM going to go on a minor shopping spree before my month-long break. However, to limit myself from going hog-wild in such wonderful stores like Primark and H&M, I decided to make a list of a few things I specifically want. I have such a bad habit of buying jackets, accessories, bottoms, etc, but completely skipping out on blouses to wear. So, I'm going to make a list, stick to it, and spend most of my money on fabulous tops to wear on my fabulous vacation!


Here's what I want so far:
--Sunglasses (£1 at Primark)
--Turban
--Braided bracelet/set of bracelets
--Jean skirt
--Capris/trousers (Saw some interesting ones at Primark that would be fantastic!)
--Sandals (One pair MAX!)


And from there, I want to buy as many tops as possible for a reasonable price. I already have some things to wear on break:
--Romper
--Denim dress
--Sandals
--Boyfriend jeans
--Bikini
--Scarves


Just thinking about break makes me all excited! I could start a countdown-- 20 days until my girlfriends and I leave for Paris! Eeeeek! From there, I'm hitting up Spain, Morroco (helllllooooo, Africa!), Switzerland, Italy, and Greece. I am beyond excited. Good thing I don't have my travel backpack otherwise I'd probably start packing now! <3

The pact

My wonderful sister and I made a pact yesterday that we would both be happy for the rest of the semester.  As I jogged along the beach today, I was pondering about this; I've never before had to tell myself to be happy.  I've just always BEEN happy.  Sure, there were days when I was stressed, tired, and cranky, but I've always been satisfied with where I was/what I was doing.  Now that I'm abroad, I'm not, necessarily (but that ends today!).  I struck me later in the day that I had not held a conversation with a single person today.  Weird... but even with that in mind, today was a good day.  I got to sleep in.  I ran for a decent distance (over an hour), and part of it was on the sand.  My legs burned after that!  I enjoyed the sun while running and then reading my book in my room.  A trip to the library set me in proximity to "people like me," or at least to some degree.  Others who were studying, reading, or taking notes just made me feel more at home.  I love the Swansea University library so much!  I've been there more than my library at my home college.  I got some studying done before catching a bus back to the village.  I bought a 7-Up-like pop to settle my stomach, which was upset but is now better.  In a way it's sad that I have to make a conscious effort to be happy, but at the same time, it's better than the alternative!  So here's a happy me wishing you a great weekend! <3

Sunny but not?

Hmmm.  I've decided that my amount of homesickness is inversely proportional to how many activities I have going on.  Take today, for instance.  It's not even noon, but I've already been rather homesick.  After taking a shower/cleaning up my room, I feel a little better, but still.  I have absolutely no classes, so I have nowhere to be today.  I'm still suffering from a cold, but I think it's almost gone (knock on wood!).  Because of my cold, though, I don't want to run, despite the fact that the sun is shining and it's a rather nice day out.  So today will be packed thermo-studying and history-paper-researching while I enjoy the sun through my open window.  Sigh.  I know that if I were in Ames I would have multiple classes, plans to eat lunch with some of my friends, and either a fun (or relaxing) evening ahead of me.  I think that's what is so hard.  But now I'm going to go make lunch, take out my recyclables, and get cracking on the homework.  Later this afternoon I'm going to go to the library for some quality homework time, and hopefully I'll get to Skype my boyfriend, too.  All these things, plus another movie and early to-bed, should make me feel much better :)

If I'm not sure...

I was riding the bus home after 5 hours of classes today, and I was thinking about the Skype conversation my boyfriend and I had last night.  I was stressing out about spring break plans, and he was telling me that I should do what makes me happy.  This was not only a fantastic point; it's also one of my 2011 resolutions, and I can honestly say I've been failing at it.  This lead to think, "Am I happy?"  And I've decided that if I'm not sure-- if I need to ask myself that-- I'm probably not.  So here's to doing things to make myself happy!  I'm currently sitting in my room in my pajama shorts and fleece jacket devouring a mint Magnum bar (soooo good!) and listening to Taylor Swift.  That makes me happy.  I think I'm going to do Ultimate Frisbee instead of running club, because I think it'll be more fun.  That makes me happy.  It also practices from 7-9 on Mondays, which gives me a valid excuse for not going out and partying (soooo not my thing).  Double bonus!  I just had Glee practice from 5-7.  The people are nice and fun, and I get to sing again!  Happy?  I think yes.  So while I've succeeded in doing things for me today, I need to continue to do that.  That'll be my goal for the weekend and most definitely for the rest of my time abroad.

Primark

Oh, how I love this store!  I made a quick stop on my shopping excursion because I was looking for a set of hard headbands to hold back my now-too-long bangs.  Of course, I can't go into the store without browsing through all the clothes, shoes, and accessories, so I walked away with more than just the headbands I wanted!  The phenomenon of the store, though, is how cheap everything is!

From top, clockwise: Large purse (£3), sport watch (£1), set of five thin headbands (£1), black and gold tank top (£3)

So I got all of these wonderful items for exactly £8.  The purse was marked down to five but rang up as three, and I was not about to complain.  Needless to say, I walked away a very happy shopper!