The First Few Days

Talybont North Houses

It's snowy and slushy and icy here in Cardiff and I'm not quite sure whether or not the people here are familiar with de-icing techniques. From the condition of the sidewalks, I would have to say no. (Let's be honest, there really isn't that much snow...) I'll just say that I probably should have brought that pair of boots in my closet and I am glad I did bring my winter coat. My place of residence, Talybont North (House R) is located a good distance away from the main campus area. It's about a 20-30 minute walk, depending on which building you're going to. I suppose that means a lot of exercise.

At Cardiff Central Train Station

Train Tracks

Anyways, connecting to the wifi here is ridiculously complicated, as they make you download a whole bunch of items that do who knows what. I spent the better part of  Wednesday morning searching for the  building called the Julian Hodge Study Center where IT is located. Getting my computer to work took what was left of my morning and I had to go back today because my phone wasn't connecting even though I registered it. It's all way too complex, in my opinion, but everything works now and I no longer have to worry about security visiting me, hopefully... Due to my computer problems, I missed registration for modules/classes. It could perhaps be said that my priorities were mixed up, choosing my computer over classes, but it wasn't a big deal because I am now registered! Yay school! Way way (way way way) easier than registration at W&M. I'm taking French, Italian, Welsh Culture & Folklore (if it doesn't conflict with anything), British Prehistory,  Post Roman & Medieval Britain, and Modern France: Politics, Economy, and Society. This seems like a lot of classes to me: 6! At W&M, my average is 4-5, but here classes are just once a week usually. I suppose that's a good thing? Anyways, this equates to 18 credits for W&M, which is 6 more than I need, so I could always drop a class...

Royal Arcade (like a mall)

Cardiff City Center

Today, Thursday, I explored the city center on a tour with a group of international students from the US, France, Italy, and Germany. There are actually a lot of stores where it seems you can find anything and everything all in a pretty concentrated area. Granted, Cardiff is not the most glamorous or spectacular of cities, in fact it's a tad dreary and industrial-ish, but it is very different from Williamsburg with having all of the options for food and such, many of which are American (KFC, BK, McDonald's, TGI Fridays, Ruby Tuesday, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, etc). Friday, tomorrow, consists of a library tour because it is an important thing, knowing how to check out books for class work, you know. There are still a bunch of things I need to do before classes start on Monday the 28th, such as finding out where they all are... That's kind of important, I suppose :)