Off to Edinburgh

By Louise Lauzon, Exchange student in Wales

Wow, I can't believe there are only 4 weeks of school left!

I just got back the other day from an amazing Reading Break trip. Me and some of the other international girls planned it out in late September and booked it all in October. It was fairly inexpensive, but I don't recommend doing what we did and eat out four times a day! Whoops!

We had won a free minibus trip to anywhere in Wales; this was from something called Hall Wars back in October, where we had to go through different trials. Shockingly, our team came out first, from riding a mechanical sheep for the longest, winning at gladiator battles, and eating a mouthful of crackers the fastest. So, we utilized our free mini bus trip to take us up to Hollyhead, where we took a 3 hour ferry ride over to Dublin. We spent the night in Dublin and the next day did a free tour of the city, heading to Trinity College afterwards to see the Book of Kell. The library was amazing in there, beyond anything I could have imagined. 

Fun fact: a scene in Star Wars is fashioned after this room!

 We had another day in Dublin, but we had seen all we had wanted to see. To be honest, it wasn't as big as expected, and sort of dirty looking. On the free tour, our guide had mentioned they work with another tour group that takes people to the east side of Ireland, to see the Cliffs of Moher. So, being the spur of the moment people we are, we dropped 35 euros on the trip. We got to stop at a 300 year old farm, and climbed up to the mountain the family owned. The view was incredible, the pictures don't do it justice. 

(The tour guide is sponsored by Hansen, the rain gear company, so we get to wear all the gear to stay dry)

 Then it was off to the Cliffs, which were incredibly windy but only added to the awesome experience!

We returned to Dublin that night, then headed towards the airport the next morning. All we had were backpacks weighing about 20lbs, because we'd booked with RyanAir, which incredibly cheap flights, but a very low baggage allowance. For 15 pounds we got a flight from Dublin to Edinburgh – for people thinking of doing this, I strongly recommend to book as far in advance as possible. I checked the day before we left, and the tickets were up to 45 pounds. Despite the strict 25 lbs bag limit, no one actually weighed our bags, and despite the signs everywhere insisting purses or laptops had to be stowed in your backpack in accordance with the 1 item limit, no one bothered to tell us to combine our purses and backpacks. So, it was a very good and very short flight. A fanfare played upon arriving in Edinburgh, which is the most beautiful city I have ever seen in my life. It felt homey and friendly, especially in comparison with Dublin. We stayed at a very central hostel, and while the location and price were great, they did not have outlets to charge our phones in the rooms. So, in the morning we would stumble down the stairs and give the receptionist our tangled mess of five phones and adaptors and whatnot, and at lunch we would go to the same place everyday, mostly because there were plugs under the table, but also because the food was amazing. We did so much more in Edinburgh in comparison; a ghost tour of the most haunted place in the UK (very scary!), visited the Zoo, the Museum (which is huge but you can power through it in two hours if you go for it. It's also very interactive, which I enjoyed), the Portrait Gallery, the Edinburgh Dungeons, Colton Hill, and The Elephant House Cafe, where J.K. Rowling penned the first Harry Potter book. The view from the back window is a gorgeous castle upon a cliff and looks very similar to Hogwarts. The bathroom is covered from ceiling to walls in marker; people writing their favourite Harry Potter quotes and thank-you letters to Rowling. 

We were in Edinburgh for two and a half days, and despite getting so much done, there was still a lot to see. I plan to head back at the end of term, because I have ten days to travel, but that's a different story.

We booked trains to come down from Edinburgh over to Aberystwyth, a town about 45 minutes north of the University in Lampeter. The only problem when we booked was the cheap advance tickets were only for two people, so the five of us ended up on three separate trains, several hours apart. I arrived in Aberystwyth first with one of the girls, and we decided since we had 8 hours to spare, we would see a movie in the little theatre. There aren't any movie theatres in Lampeter, so it was very odd being in one again! Two more of the girls had shown up by the time it was over, so we grabbed dinner and drinks while waiting for the fifth. Because the bus service is rather limited, and by this time it was midnight, we had booked the schools minibus to come pick us up. It wasn't free this time, but really inexpensive; 6 pounds each between the five of us.

So now I'm back in Lampeter, which is much warmer then Ireland or Scotland were! Back to school in full swing, but sadly it will be over before I know it.

Here's a handful of pictures from the trip:

At the University in Edinburgh

A happy Penguin at the zoo

The clock that helped me orientate where I was . . .

View of the same clock but from Colton Hill

On top of the monument!

The city at night

More updates from Wales!

By Louise Lauzon, Camosun exchange student in Wales

Louise

Scavenger Hunt

Obviously, a lot more has happened in just the last two weeks, so I'll update some more soon!

We've won a scavenger hunt, and won Hall Wars: which included riding a mechanical sheep! We visited Dylan Thomas' boat house, and the adorable Coastal Town known as Tenby, and fought in a zombie apocalypse!

In the meantime, here's some more pictures:

 

Zombie Fight!

 

Tenby

 

Flatmates :)

 

Dylan Thomas' house (and Morgain looking very happy in the back)

 

An eventful time in Wales!

By Louise Lauzon, Camosun Exchange Student in Wales

So, I have been blogging, and journal writing, but have yet to post much, so here's a backlog of the last month!

Also, before I start, I just found out that I'm receiving two awards from Camosun: thank you so much to the donors and I'm sorry I won't be able to attend the award ceremony and thank you in person! So thank-you for the following:  Vic & Pam Shemilt - Island Blue Print International English Scholarship and  Vic & Pam Shemilt/Island Blue Print Associate Degree in Creative Writing Scholarship ~ Year One

The hardest part about blogging is repeating yourself – over and over.

Personally, I've got a gorgeous purple leather bound journal that I'm writing most things down in. Then, there's Facebook. The status updates, the messages to friends and family, and then you have Skype; verbally telling everyone about everything that's been going on.

So now I have to repeat myself once more, but in blog form. So, I'm cheating a bit and copying from journal entries and Facebook messages. . .

(Then, of course, there's the huge distractions. A spider the size of my hand just wandered into my flat mates room. Surprisingly, there was very little screaming, just our lovely Italian friend saying that she would start charging by weight of the spider to kill it.)

Anyway, here's some of the things I've been up to:

 

 

So, it's Sept 24^th right now. We met up with the school on the 17^th, and today is probably the first day we've had time to just breathe. The 18^th and 19^th were long orientation days, and on the 20^th we were taken to this amazing castle, then headed to a superstore to do some shopping.

On the 21^st they dragged us to Whitesands Beach and St. Paul's Cathedral:

 Both of which were amazing. We wandered into a cave on the beach and found a seal – yeah, the animal – just hanging out in there. At St. Paul's we got kicked out early so they could hold a wedding. If you were looking at this cathedral right now, you'd have the same look of shock on your face as me. How many years would you have to book in advance to have a wedding there? Maybe I'll book now for ten years down the road and hope the timing works, ha ha.

On Sunday (the 22^nd) we finally had time to settle in and unpack, put up pictures, and do some laundry. People were finally starting to arrive, and we had the first of many parties – a cops and robbers theme at the school club.

Speaking of people, let me brag about the ones I get to spend time with!

There are 10 international students (actually, I believe more have arrived since we came along, but we're the core of it.) Of those ten, nine are female. Four are from BC – crazy, I know – one is from Italy, and the rest are from America. We all completely hit it off with each other right away, all sharing the same interests in, well, almost everything. I guess that's what happens when you get a bunch of people who are crazy enough to fly half way across the world to study Humanities. Anyway, three of the girls in my dorm are international, and the other two are from England. Surprisingly, I've only met two or three Welsh people! Most are from around the UK.

 

The dorm rooms are pretty cozy – if you ignore the REALLY loud pipes that are always running. (some nights they remind me of the ocean at home, but most nights I wind up throwing a pillow at them, which doesn't do much). Most of the time (like now for example) we all just have our doors open and we'll shout to each other to talk. Everyone here is incredibly friendly and welcoming.

Tonight we've got the International Potluck (Shintana and I are bringing Poutine, yum!). Tomorrow we get to do tasters of some of the activities they have. I've already met the head of the Quidditch team (yes, you read that right) and I'm really excited for that. Also planning on looking at archery and martial arts just for fun.

For now, I guess I better go start on the Poutine.

 

The Ingredients for the Start of a Terrific Journey

    So, my first post on here will be undoubtedly boring compared to what there is to come, but I thought that the nit-picky little details may be helpful to someone out there, so here it goes.

    Back almost a year ago, late fall of 2012, I started thinking of how I want to branch out from just Victoria and Camosun. In high school I had never understood why people wanted to move away for school – you have everything you need here, and the beauty of Victoria is amazing! I loved Camosun, of course, from the teachers and the classes to the learning experiences (especially figuring out that I would never take philosophy again.) Still, I wanted the “Harry Potter experience” of living away from home, at the school, and forging new friendships, maybe joining some clubs or committees, and learn more about how to be on my own.

    This is where, in a moment of curiosity, an internet search led me to find the Study Abroad section on Camosun's website. I had a zillion fears about everything, mostly how I would afford it as I pay for school and room and board while living with family friends. I decided to just go for it though, and spent awhile refining my application and asking Julia, the amazing lady who works in the International offices, a million pointless (and maybe some important) questions. I even ended up emailing the girl, Caitlin, who was currently at the University in Wales (where I was planning the exchange for), and asked for her advice.

    Helpful Hint Numero Uno: Apply for the Scholarship! The application is very similar to the Study Abroad application, so you may as well do them both at once. Here's what the (almost?) final version of all the paperwork looked like. I added in passport pictures and changed some things last minute, but you can get the idea.

I handed in my application a couple days before the deadline (March 31^st) and spent a few weeks biting my nails waiting to hear back from Camosun.

    On April 26th, I got an email from Julia saying that I was accepted into Camosun's exchange program. I was excited and astonished, but said things like “I don't think it's hit me yet. Ask me again when Wales has officially accepted me.” With about five days to the end of May, I got an email from Julia asking if I had finished my application.

I panicked. No, I hadn't. What application? I couldn't find any in my inbox, and when I got the reply that I had to also apply to the Uni in Wales, I about fainted. Luckily the process was similar to the one I had already done twice over, but I spent a few hours trying to get the scanner to work for my passport, and may have had a mini meltdown thinking that this was the end for me and I wouldn't get to go.

Miraculously, I got everything in on time, and was stuck playing the waiting game again.

On June 18^th, I got an email with a copy of the letter from Wales (with the promise of a hard copy coming via post). Still, even with this confirmation, I wasn't quite sure it was real; a part of me at least began to at least believe it was.

    Of course, during this whole process I was obsessively emailing Julia while looking up a bunch of school stuff. The University, by the way, has an amazingly long name: The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter Campus. Or, for short, known as TSD. While researching, I had seen somewhere at some point, the deadline for applying for dorms was mid to late June, and I took it upon myself to get in contact with people and apply for them. Of course, just a few days later Julia asked me to come into the office to sign the same forms so she could send them off, so I may have jumped the gun a bit on that one. Though, I do believe in better safe then sorry, despite being rather embarrassed that I had gone ahead on it.

    That almost brings us up to now! I booked my flight at the start of July, through my amazing travel agent of a sudo-Aunt. My flight leaves Victoria on September 12^th, and makes one four hour stop in Ottawa. My baggage won't be taken off the plane and I won't have to go through the US or anything, which is relieving as there is almost no chance of losing my baggage. With the time change and time of travel, I leave Ottawa at 9pm and get to London at 10am, Sept 13^th. International students don't have to be at the school until Sept 17^th, but I'll be spending a few nights in London with Shintana, the other girl that was accepted for TSD. Term ends Dec 13^th, but I'm flying back Christmas Eve, because it was cheaper, and it will give me a few days to travel, plus there's the dramatic touch of getting home the night before Christmas, and the day after my 21^st birthday.

    I just submitted my application for Student Loans, which was a little more difficult then normal given that I had to get course confirmation to Financial Aid so they could confirm I would be in full time studies. I'd already gotten a few courses transferred, so those were used while I wait for final confirmation on classes. In addition to the One World Scholarship, I received a second one from The Leonard Foundation. It won't be deposited to Camosun until mid October, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to use it. Luckily, after talking to a couple people and getting a couple signatures, it looks like it will be used towards my tuition. Hurray!

    The other week I attended the pre-departure meeting, and got a swag bag (see below) as well as some helpful advice on culture shock.

Are you still awake? Not falling asleep in the boring details, I hope.

    I think that's all for now. There, mysterious reader, you are completely caught up with more or less the process of the past few months. I'll be posting soon about the list that never ends of what has to be done in the next two months sometime this week. Any questions? Just ask! I always feel like I ask too many, so it will be nice to answer some for a change.

The Writer in Wales (well, still in Victoria for now),

 Louise