WALES the adventure Week 12
Quotes of the weeks:
I’d ride them like a Disneyland attraction- Alberie Hansen.
Winston Churchill was asked to cut arts funding in favor of the war effort. He simply replied ‘then what are we fighting for’?- Caroline
I wanna take you a GRAVEYARD, GRAVEYARD, GRAVEYARD!-Jeffery Han
Lets do the time warp again- Alberie, Stefani, SamHeaven in a cup, and you suck it through a straw? - to be more specific, Alberies brain gutter.
Justin Beiber has a penis. April fools!!!- Bluntcard…+ “oh!..*wait for it…* ..OHHHH!” - Stefani= …… ten times funnier than it actually was.
Why would anyone put bees on themselves? - Jeffery Han + BECAUSE, that’s what you DO to be a model JEFFERSON.- Monty
COME ON MISS RAIL AND SAIL, I want my email! - Alberie Hansen.
(I would like to note, that these quotes are all taken out of context and in no way reflect the normal behavior of the following quotee’s. Thank you.)
Monday: First I’d like to start off by stating that I am once again sick; this time with a really bad cough that is quite painful and a congested nose. But I refuse for it to downpour on my optimism. It gets a bit harder when you constantly think that you might have contract TB somehow, but I’m always over dramatic about these things. Monday was a rather odd day. I spent most of Sunday night tapping away at my presentation, trying to get it orderly and just right. Then I went in for the darn presentation only to find that we had to speak to a camera. Since I had catered this presentation to an audience, I was a bit nervous to try and cater it then to a camera. In the end I started my nervous habits again...I used to be good at speeches and getting in the spotlight…why am I regressing here? Whatever the case, I ended up spending most of the day in the office just watching people go in for their own presentations. It kept me out of my room and kept me from thinking about how - well…no, it kept me from thinking at all. It was fun to hang with the guys, (Simon, Midd, and Jeffery)…and it sorely reminded me how much I missed my guys friends back home. I was all about missing home this day actually. Some part of me just wanted to be there, with them.
If they ever read this, well…Dear Ryan Koster, your humor, I miss it. Micheal DeVera, your wisdom and advice- I sorely need…and for my other home boys, your male dramaless company is without a doubt in high demand here. I guess at this point I was just willing to fade back into my old shoes. As fun as hanging with my girlfriends is, sometimes it’s just nice to be around pure male company and to not have to feel the need to have conversation topics ready to go. Although to be rightly honest, sometimes I feel awkward talking to the boys here…I guess it’s just because I haven’t grown up with them.
Anyway, speaking of hanging with guys, Monty took us into town to drink. We talked, we ate, we drank- end of the night I wasn’t feeling anymore. I remember town, Tescos, and a doner kebab---….I think the one thing I will miss most about this country is it’s odd abundance of kebab places. I swear it’s probably the best tasting fast food I’ve had ever. Anyway, at one point I serenaded Caroline through her window. That was fun, although I’m told it was more of just yelling. We then tried to watch Burlesque…but I had to go home. So we did and I went straight to bed. I’ll tell yah, I was feeling twice as much when I woke up.
Tuesday: I woke up and was able to actually get up. I realize there is an odd cure in cleaning ones room. I felt much better after breakfast and having the entire room clean before Monty, Alberie, and I went into town to get our hair cut. We got Subway for lunch (which made me ecstatic!) and then we shopped around a bit. I bought two boxes of hair dye so I could dye my hair- since it was turning into a mess of color. Then I also purchased two pairs of earrings. The entire thing, hair cut and all cost me 20 pounds. The hair cut was also the quickest cut I’ve ever had…and she layered it quite a bit which was to my liking. After we got our hair done we finally headed back from town after an exciting day of exploring and wandering and had a hair dying party. We all took showers in the Non showers too, which as awkward as I found that I also found it hilarious. After that I spent the day staring in the mirror. Something was wrong….yes that is right…wrong.
Even though my hair took the dye well, my ROOTS had taken a rebellious turn. Needless to say my face was in full on pouty mode for the rest of the night. Which- I spent typing and doing computer work. SuckerPunch was coming out and everyone seemed to be making amazing progress on their costumes. I was super jealous, and thus added another negative emotion to my night- ahhh good times. The little chibi person in my head was digging out the idiot hammer of doom and constantly waking me,…unfortunately I have no nerves up there so all I could do was the typical face palm. Still want to see that movie.
Wednesday: Me, myself, and my computer…a glorious relationship that I find wholesomely platonic. To be honest, I’m not sure what the word even means…but it sounds smart. Any whoos~ I have come to learn that shopping with Alberie is a very very very dangerous thing to do. We sauntered into town to get our rail cards. After that fun little trip, or rather during it, Stefani decided to realize that her VERY IMPORTANT food card had conveniently vanished. This was a huge reminder for me never being allowed to place my card in a pocket of a jacket and then go to tie the jacket around my waist. After Alberie got her rail card, I played hunting dog as I retraced my steps almost exactly- eye’s glued to the ground. I must say that the ground is very gross looking. Anyway, I was lucky enough to find the card on a road crossing- luckily not in the street where it could be run over and crushed- there about ending the days of free food in the Holywell. (I still don’t know how to spell it) Anyway with my card back in my wallet- we headed to get a fuse for Alberies converter box. That was another interesting trial in and of itself. Fuses all look the bloody same to me, and no one really knew how to help us. So we winged it and bought a random one and then we figured out that her straightner worked without it. Figures. We went around shopping after that, just meandering about. It was fun to look at all the stalls, and we even ran into Jeffery by accident. I managed to keep myself from buying a very expensive jacket and a couple pairs of sweaters along with one dress. Finally we wandered into Debenhams. Shoes. I’m not kidding, cheap shoe sale! I ended up buying a pair of extremely nice raised pumps for only 5 pounds. The American equivalent of about $9.00. It was lush!
That night we got ready for Rodeo themed Flirt night. I was really missing my Stetson for this….but luckily enough I had a plaid shirt. It was extremely confused Flirt night though since half of the people came dressed as novelty characters, while others in togas and the rest wearing the actual theme or just nice dress. Earlier that day, we had sauntered into TK (no not TJ) but TK Maxx and after trying on several cute dresses, I was a bad friend and convinced Alberie to buy this stunning red dress. It was just plain gorgeous. She chose to wear it to flirt with a pair of new heals, while I wore my own heals and became super giant cowgirl Stef. We went over to a friend of Monty’s for drinks but we ended up leaving early to visit the upstairs bar. After being kicked down into the dance area, it wasn’t long until I decided I wasn’t really in the mood to stay out and party so like my normal boring self I went home. I had shrugged out of my heels, and walked home barefoot. Forget my earlier thought about how dirty the ground was- it felt wonderful to walk home like that. Bare legs and feet on the cold pavement was a little euphoric. I couldn’t help giggling to myself as I watched the beautiful night in Carmarthen.
Then I stubbed my toe on the stairs…..
Thursday: This is awful. Really, really awful. But I can’t seem to remember what happened this day. I’m almost positive I spent it around campus not really doing anything eventful. Alberie came over and I know we planned our final details for our trip. We also got together with Caroline to plan London. As quoted by Alberie- nothing like spending money to make you want to saw off an arm and a leg. But our three week Easter Break was sounding rather epic.
Friday: Yes…..today was the day I was finally going to have my photoshoot. THANK YOU GOD for something close to my normal hobbies back home. I needed this day to help curve my cravings that constantly taunted me about buying a sewing machine and just sewing here. This way I wouldn’t give in- since I was dangerously close. I got up and took a shower and managed to make myself look somewhat presentable. I was in a rather gothic feeling mood so I chose the darker outfit. I went outside on time and when I couldn’t see my models hanging around I decided to talk to Andy who was walking with a suitcase and getting ready for a nice weekend at home. I miss the days I got to go home on the weekends and just sit with what my sister calls the ‘Fam Bam’. Anyway he was describing the mountains of his home region- which was a very interesting subject actually- before Cat pulled up in her car behind me and shouted. Apparently I WAS late and my models HAD been waiting. That was unprofessional of me, but I said good bye to Andy and ran to Caroline’s car. The drive to Llansteffan Castle was just as beautiful as the first time we drove it, although I was highly malcontent with the boisterous amount of sunlight. THIS IS WALES- NOT CALIFORNIA!!! I guess I now know the reason they have a difference clouds option in photoshop. Add them damn clouds back in where they belong. It was fun to climb around and find the ideal spots for a photo although, it was even more fun to run around to everyone calling me all over the castle from where they had posed themselves. They all had changes of outfits and most of them had managed to climb into some rather cool places. The photos have a pretty good record of the day and it was a lot of fun just to spend it with friends. I was honestly having such a blast. It’s these types of outings I enjoy the most. Inventive and not just sitting around watching a movie or drinking. It was out doors, during the day, with friends- doing something random and with an end result of recorded memories that none of us will forget and for some - a couple of very nice artsy photos to add to their portfolio. I am determined to do it again. After getting both photo cards full to the brim we made an agreement to hold another photoshoot, hopefully with rain, and then Caroline, Alberie, and I went down to the car. We grabbed ice cream and watched the beach for a minute. By this point I had to go to the bathroom so bad that it was physically painful to stand still, and even more painful to walk. So I practically ran down to the restrooms. After the most relieving bathroom experience of my life we ate our ice cream and read up on the history of Llansteffan and the mysterious lovers wishing well. It’s interesting to learn all the secrets about this place, all the hidden myths and such. Oh yes, NOW I REMEMBER why I came. The best one I heard was that Carmarthen was supposed to be the birthplace of Merlin and that his tree had only recently been chopped down in the 80’s because it was a traffic obstruction. ---- GASP! You can bet your dollar I will be putting that fact somewhere.
Saturday: Internet had left us. This was the start of a very trying weekend for me. Yes, I admit it, I am severely addicted to technology and more importantly the internet! Yes I know this is a problem- am I willing to fix it? NO. GIVE ME BACK MY INTERNET!!! I went outside and sat with a couple of people and hand a picnic lunch. It was fun until I forced myself to get back to my room and back to the photos I had spent the whole previous day working on. It’s odd, when you are bored, you find yourself craving different flavors of food. I was getting tired of eating the same stuff, and I really wanted something different. So I found myself experimenting with my left over food- the end result was pretty gross. After that I slunk back into my room on the fourth floor and began to edit photos again. Then my photoshop stopped working and I found myself staring at a blank screen. So I was just about to turn over and sleep off the frustration when Jeffery came pounding in. He had gone on the abroad trip that day and was bored. So we talked for a bit- mostly him rambling and me giving him bored looks. Of course my stomach began to give me away and just when I was getting comfortable with my room again, he got me to agree to head into town. We went to subway and picked up dinner, for which I was grateful. I do so love my sandwiches. Yes Yes I do. We chose to eat them outside in front of the Castle. We had a long chat about recent events and it was actually nice to talk about them and get them off my chest. I think it was the same for him and it’s nice to know I have a good friend in Jeffery. Later we ventured to Tescos and he went shopping while I bought him some alcohol to repay him the money I owed him. We then walked home and I went back to working on the photos.
Sunday: Day two of internet withdrawals. It was turning out to be pure torture. Just as much pain was caused by the sun being out bright and early- and then all day. I spent most of this day lounging in my room editing photos and sleeping when I got too tired to stare at the screen anymore. With the internet down, there wasn’t much else to do- god forbid I pick up a book. Caroline ended up calling me and I went out to take a couple of her photos. I had forgotten to switch my clocks to the right time so I was a bit late. Caroline then took me out to fish n’ chips and we headed back to the union to watch quiz and eat our food. It was a good end to a rather boring day. Quiz was, as always, fun to watch. I really need to work on not screaming out the answers.
-<3 Stef
p.s. Facebook- why do you tempt me so?
..... and this concludes hippo week.