So, yesterday (Tuesday the 18th) was the day we found out how to register for classes and that was crazy! We are all quite used to sitting at our computers and waiting for the exact moment to hit register to see if we got into the classes we all want for the upcoming semester. That is not the case at all here in Wales.
We started the day in a meeting with all the other international students. It is really hard to think of ourselves as international students but non-the-less that is what we are! We all speak English or American as Tecwyn says, so it is hard to think of ourselves as "foreign" when we speak the same language as the natives. So, we had to sit through this speech from Andrew, who was quite a funny guy! He reminds me of Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball, to give you all a visual image of what this guy looks like. Anyways, he had a great sense of humor and we all had to introduce ourselves and say where we were from and he picked on me to go first. Then he decided to drill me with random questions I had to answer on the spot... that was fun! Anyways, he talked really really slow and clearly because most of the students there, English was not their first language. He explained how we would all have to go around to the "schools" to find someone to sign off on the classes we wanted to take. He made this sound like it was going to be impossible and that it was going to take the entire 2.5 days he was giving us to complete the task. So, i had this horrible image in my head of everyone closing doors on me and telling me to come back a different time to get the signature I needed.
Needless to say, when I finally set out to get the signatures it wasnt nearly as bad as it sounded. We all went to the library across the street first to get our Bangor University ID cards and then to look up where the heck we had to go to get the signatures. I soon realized the first building I needed to go to was directly across the street from the library, the school of Biological and Natural Sciences... perfect! So I walked in a little nervous about what I was actually supposed to be doing, so I put on my "stupid American face" and played dumb. I asked no one in particular if they could sign my paper to approve my Ecology and Evolution class and they said sure! It was that easy! Then all I had to do was find the school of history (which ended up being in Howarts). After that I was good to turn in my sheet to complete the registration process. While in the history department I ran into a girl from Austria who was also ready to turn in her sheet and she seemed to know where she was going so we traveled together. Her name was Laura and we ended up walking all over Bangor together to find supplies. She has only arrived here the day before so she didnt know her way around. While downtown we ran into a few girls from Germany. The one girl, Fancy I believe her name was, didn't know how to get back to the flats so I took her under my wing.
Last night, there was a social gathering for all the international students so we attended that for the free food! I met a few people from Finland and also ran into Laura and Fancy again. I was just making friends from all over the world! After enjoying some food from all around the world, some of us Americans ended up going to the Irish pub to have a couple drinks. After returning to my flat, my flatmates were playing a few drinking games so I joined in! We ended up having a lot of fun getting to know each other. They taught me some games they play here in the UK and I tried to teach them a few games from the US. It ended up most of the games they play here we also play in the states, they just have different names. So that was pretty cool!
Today was a day filled with lots and lots of walking! I bet we walked over 10 miles! We walked over to the island of Anglesey. Ate at a really yummy bakery and walked around by the water. Pictures to come!
Until tomorrow...
~Amy
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