Bang out of order...

So tonight I made chili for my housemates and Adele's best friend, Rhian, who is like one of my new best friends too! I found it shocking that they had never had chili, the all-American dish of fall. I was actually really pleased at how it turned out, given the strange selection of ingredients at the local grocery store. Ground beef here is called "beef mince," which I had to ensure was the same thing. Last week I was walking through the grocery store with my cell phone unit conversion menu up, so that I could convert grams to ounces/pounds. I felt ridiculous! This chili was definitely better than the veggie version I made last year, and didn't take nearly as long to make!

We decided tonight we'll take turns in making American/Welsh dishes for everyone to enjoy. Next up, I'm going to make enchiladas, given that Mexican food is definitely not as prevalent here! Rhian agreed to make "faggots" and peas. Sounds horrible huh? I guess they're like meatballs though of sorts. I'll let you know how it goes when it happens! She also told me about other favorite dishes around here, such as "toad in the hole," which is sausages baked into a Yorkshire pudding, I believe, and "bubble & squeak," which from what I gather is a type of casserole made from traditional Sunday roast leftovers. It should be interesting for sure!

Rhian and I have also spent the last week discussing vocabulary differences between Wales and the US. It's been highly amusing! I'll give you a rundown of some new words/phrases I've learned as a result of this...

My personal favorite is "That's bang out of order," which essentially means that's totally unacceptable, but then there's also...

"fanny" here definitely does not equal bum
a "barney" = fight/argument, not a purple dinosaur!
"mingin" or "hangin" (pronounced "angin") = gross
"marvin" = hungry or starving
"shall we make a move?" = "should we go?"
"let's leg it" = "let's walk"
"bum-bag" = fanny pack
"dummy" = pacifier
"slag" = promiscuous woman
"barking" = crazy
"stroppy" = moody or bad tempered
"bollockin" = to have a stern talking to, to be scolded
"give it a bash" = give it a go, try it out
"it's/you're doin' my head in" = driving me crazy!

I'm sure I'm leaving out loads of others, but you get the idea!

In other news...I think I finally have my new camera working. I have still not found an adequate adaptor, just one that is sufficing for now. And, I'm ill right now. I've got a horrible cold and have slept a whole lot over the past few days. I'm hoping to feel better and get my school work finished soon, so I can begin my weekend travels again!

Oh and I finally figured out what the Welsh people are saying when they say goodbye...it's spelled "tara," but pronounced ta-raw, with the emphasis on the end syllable. I can finally fit in by using this phrase and sounding a tiny bit Welsh!

So, ta-raw for now!

O is for Oxford...

So I'm back from my adventure in Oxford, and what an adventure it was!

I arrived last Thursday, checked into my hostel and made a new friend almost immediately! One of my roommates was in the room when I arrived and we started chatting right away. Renee is from New Zealand and was there as part of a training session to be a private caregiver. There were two other ladies in our room that were also from down under that were training with her. We all hit it off really well and set out for a night on the town with Mick, the hostel's Aussie manager; his friend, Mark, an Oxford resident; and one of our other roommates, Wendy, who was from Ecuador. We headed to the pub for some live music, which was great fun! We laughed a lot, danced a little and had an incredible night out!

Friday, I set out to explore the home of the oldest university in England....you guessed it, Oxford University. Oxford University is made up of 39 separate colleges, spread across the city! The buildings are magnificent and the town has an ecclectic mix of students. I began my day at Christ Church College...the most famous of Oxford's colleges! Christ Church is home to the famous Hogwarts dining hall for fellow Potter fans...and was also the college where Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice and Wonderland, taught mathmatics. It is quite impressive and has massive gothic buildings and the most beautiful grounds.

I then ran into Wendy my roommate and we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring together. It's nice to have company to snap photos! We climbed the top of the mound, where part of Oxford Castle used to be. The views looking out over the city were amazing! We explored what's left of the castle and checked out the new fancy hotel part of the castle, which used to serve as a prison! We did a little shopping, continued on the bus tour of Oxford, and strolled through a French Market along Broad Street.

Friday night it was back out on the town with the girls and guys of the hostel! This was honestly the friendliest hostel I have stayed at! It's actually not even run by Brits...it's Australian/Canadian owned and run. Weird mixture of people for sure! We started out back at the pub from the night before with our Oxford guide Mark entertaining everyone with his silliness, and continued on when the live music was more rocking than silly fun...our next stop was HA! HA!, a really lush pub, with indoor fireplaces and soft lighting! It was super fancy! Then on to our final stop inside the prison hotel bar!

Finally, we returned to the hostel, where Mark, Renee, and I were eventually joined by Mick and Owen, who work at the hostel, and sat around laughing and telling stories until after six in the morning! It was a great couple of days and I seriously was sad to leave all of the great people I met! Hopefully Renee and I will hook back up during our time here!

In other news...my shiny new camera is useless right now! I have no way to charge it, as there was no cable included with it to plug it in. I've been to countless camera shops and none of them sell the lithium battery I need for the camera to replace the dead battery! How frustrating!! So sorry some of the pics are blurry, but I was back to using the broken camera with no flash and that's what I got! New pics are posted at the end of the album, which you can view by clicking HERE. I think I finally have this problem worked out today, so we'll see!

Also, I managed to leave my adaptor in Oxford! Oops! Seriously it could have been my toothbrush, my socks, anything easily replaceable really, but it had to be the thing I need to plug in everything I have here! So that was an adventure trying to get a new one on a Sunday in Britain, when everything is SHUT! Again, how frustrating!! I finally got a replacement today, so I'm back online and will have pretty hair again after a couple days with no flat iron/curling iron!

I still can't believe how fast the time is going! It's shocking that this week is Thanksgiving, which no one over here has a concept of! It feels weird to be working through the week and not having a holiday! Not that I'm complaining too much though, as this whole experience is kind of like a holiday! The next couple of weeks will be incredibly busy, as I have two papers I have to complete rather quickly for my professors back home, so the FUN is OVER for now!

Future trips include...London/Bath/Edinburgh over the Christmas holidays! Maybe a trip to Manchester beforehand to see a show with Craig. Italy/Greece after the new year! And in February...I just booked my tickets to go see THE SMASHING PUMPKINS in Manchester and London for Valentine's Day weekend! What better way to spend that weekend than with the ones I LOVE! I'm really excited!!

Miss you all...
Enjoy your Turkey Day!

The last train home...

This week has been absolutely crazy busy!! My colleagues will all be in the States next week for American Society of Criminology conferences in Atlanta, so this week has been a rush of last minute preparations for papers/presentations to be given at the conferences. This also means that next week will be a bit of a relaxing week for me! Yay! I'm going to try and wrap up the papers I have due back home and take a small little trip to Oxford I think, we shall see!

Anyway, backtracking to last weekend in Manchester...

I seriously had the most fun weekend I have had since arriving here! I got into Manchester Friday night and met up with Craig and Jen, at an apparently shady pub, which I had no clue about, it was just close to my hostel, so I wandered in there thinking it would be easy to find to meet up! Oops! Then we left to meet some of Jen's friends, then Craig and I departed on my Friday night whirlwind pub tour of Manchester! Craig took me to this really cool underground, cave-like pub with all sorts of geeky sci-fi decorations everywhere! Next was a bar called, Space, where downstairs is the typical nightclub, but upstairs they have a huge cosy outdoor patio bar with funky tables and fire/candles. We met some outrageous folks at this bar! We then ventured onto Canal Street (as seen here on the right), Manchester's gay district! It's hugely popular and has quite a scene. I saw some of the best drag queens ever! Then capping off the night we went to a more posh upscale bar for one last drink. It's impossible to see all the pubs in Manchester in one night, but I think we had a pretty darn good highlights tour!

Saturday I took in Manchester's Northern Quarter...and didn't get any further than that! I think it's really all you need! Manchester is too impossible huge to cover in one day, so this is the perfect spot for some hip, funky shopping! I went to half a dozen record stores that put Vintage Vinyl to shame (and I love Vintage Vinyl...)! There's also an indoor market type building called Affleck's Palace, where most of my time...and money...was spent! They have all sorts of crazy things, handmade jewelry, clothing, music memorabilia, a tattoo parlor, a cafe, etc! There were these awesome mosaics all across the sides of the building and this funky sculpture just across the road (pic on the left, for more pics click HERE). I fell in love with the Northern Quarter!

Then I met up with Jen and her friend, Shawna, and we took the train up to Craig's house in Preston for the fireworks party! It was quite a show! We had TONS of fireworks and I was amazed at how quickly they disappeared! All of Craig's friends were really cool and we had lots of musical interests to share and discuss, which was awesome!! I really had fun meeting all of them and we'll hopefully get to all hang out a few more times before I go home...there are at least a few good shows coming to go see! Craig also made "parched peas" in honor of Bonfire Night, which weren't half bad! They looked disgusting though! So after a whole lot of laughing/fireworks/wine, the party dispersed and Craig and I stayed up watching Jonah's DVD, reminiscing about our Jonah adventures! It was really a lot of fun! It's unbelievable to find someone in a country so far away with music tastes almost matching those of my own!!

Sunday after cleaning up from the party and having a nice strong brew, we headed out on a short tour of Preston, originally called "Priest Town", which has something like the most churches of any other city. They're quite impressive and you can see a church in any direction you turn. We had traditional Sunday lunch and enjoyed a couple pints before my departure back to Cardiff! It was an awesome weekend...almost!

I caught the train at half past five...and arrived in Cardiff at 10:22p...missing the last train home to Trefforest by 15 minutes! Oops! No buses, no more trains (it was a Sunday!)...so I had to catch a taxi home, which cost 30 quid...I won't do the math for you...I'll just tell you I could have bought a whole lot of records with that money! Oh well, you live and you learn and I won't make that mistake again!!