first look at Wales

We got to the Chicago, O'Hare airport to depart to Manchester but the flight was delayed 2 hours because of maintenance, so we didn't arrive until 9am in England. From there we had to collect our bags and head out to find Tecwyn, who was picking us up in a bus...after about 20 minutes of walking and searching we finally found him and loaded on the bus. It was different to get on the opposite side of the bus and to drive on the left side of the road! We saw many sheep pastures and there was even snow covering the ground, which is very unusual for England, making travel very difficult for drivers. In fact, our bus had a pipe leak, because the pipes froze from the cold, which normally those kind of temperatures would not have affected our forms of transportation. It was pretty cloudy in England but as we got closer to Wales, it became much clearer and sunnier. As soon as we reached Wales, all the road signs were written in Welsh, with the English translation above/below. Castles became more abundant and within an hour we could see the Atlantic Ocean, or Irish Sea or Liverpool Bay. The houses all seemed to look similar throughout our bus ride, resembling Ireland homes or those of England. As we approached Bangor, we passed the Snowdonia Mountains, where there was still snow resting atop the peaks. The snow became less visible and quickly disappeared as we got into Bangor and drove up the steep hill to the University and the dorms where we were staying.

When we got our keys we were able to take our luggage to our rooms, where mine happened to be on the top floor (3rd floor) of Y Glyder "W"...and there were no elevators to carry our luggage, needless to say it took a lot of time and work. As I looked out my window I saw to my right the mountain peaks of Snowdonia! It is one of the most beautiful things I have seen her yet. I quickly got to know my flat mates and became pretty close with 2 girls, Nikki and Liz. I also happened to "accidentally" meet Pete, James, and Anna when I went on a hunt looking for my box of materials from the previous study abroaders. Everyone is so nice and helpful here, and always smiling at us...it could be that we look funny or that they think our accents are funny;) I do love their accents! and sometimes I catch myself using their accents...and its only the first day! can you imagine what I will be like in 6 months?!

I also made my first purchase today with the Welsh pound, buying toilet paper for our dorm room bathrooms. We went to the PoundStretcher, which had 3 floors! One of the biggest "dollar stores" in Bangor. It sounds like we will be visiting this shop quite a bit!

Well my first day was a success and i managed to stay awake a full 2 days, so now i need to catch up on my sleep. I cant wait to see the sun rise in the morning, it will be beautiful=)