bangor, wales

study abroad ‘22 The Gilman Scholarship has helped allow me to study abroad and has helped ease so many financial worries that come with studying abroad. I will be sharing how this scholarship has immensely helped make studying abroad a reality for me. I will also be documenting my time here, my studies, and everything in between!!

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The Global Wales event in Cardiff last week was so wonderful! It was so amazing to see the scholars I had met from my university again and meet new people! I learned so much about the Study in Wales program and the Global Wales initiative.

I am so thankful to have been chosen to be a Global Wales Scholar through Gilman. This has given me so many amazing opportunities and I have appreciated everything this program has done!

[allwellthatendswales]

it snowed up in the mountains :)

and bangor had a going away party for the international students :(

it is going to be so sad leaving my study abroad program here. i have made so many amazing friends and relationships with local students, international students, professors, and community members. i joined 2 choirs and i began working with the university’s newspaper and that had let me really get involved with the community here and feel apart of not only the school but bangor! the final concert for one of the choruses was last week and the other final concert is this friday.

i also will be headed to cardiff tomorrow for the global sales event! which is great and i am excited to post about it after!

**this was meant to be posted on 12/13

[allwellthatendswales]

i got locked out of this account last week unfortunately, but i am back! these past weekends i went to london and dublin! these were such amazing trips and i am so thankful to have been able to study abroad where i have to ability to visit such cities like this! we took the train into london and had some issues due to rail strikes, but made it there! we were able to do the eye, visit the tower of london, see the lit streets, see big ben, buckingham palace, all the hits! there is so much history in london and i felt like every street i went to had so much behind it.

from wales we are able to get to dublin by ferry! taking the ferry and going through the big port of holyhead was really amazing too! i have been learning a lot about the UK border system and policing in one my classes and have a professor who has spoken about the holyhead port multiple times so it was great to get to see that! and be able to compare it to borders we have in the US, and learn from that.

dublin was amazing! we visit st.patrick’s cathedral, trinity college and the old library (seeing the book of kells!), toured the guinness factory, and visited some famous pubs. we went to one of the oldest pubs in ireland, the brazen head, and then ended the night at temple bar.

i have always loved ireland and i really enjoyed my time in dublin!

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midterm exams are done! i actually did not an actually sit down tests, but all of my term papers were due yesterday and they were in turned in last night! the schooling and grading system is much different than how it is for me back home, so having three big papers and no other smaller assignments was quite daunting for me, but i feel that i handled it well and was able to do the assignments well! it also has helped that i am in the third year of my studies and have a lot of past material and course work to support me.

thanksgiving is coming up! i am planning to do a friendsgiving with some other american friends i have made here, as well as other international students to sort of merge some of our cultures. we are planning to do this next week! i also think i will be going to london this weekend which is exciting!

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week after reading week has gone well! not much exciting occurring besides lectures but it was nice to be back into classes and my routines again. i had missed the choirs i have joined as well, so it was great to be back in those!

i have also been invited for an event for all global wales scholars, which is exciting! this event will take place in cardiff, the capital of wales. i am excited to be able to see the capital and participate in that event!

here’s a beautiful sunset (though it did set at 4:30 sadly) from today!

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morocco was amazing! an extremely beautiful country with such rich history and culture. i learned so much about morocco and africa while here and will always remember this experience! morocco was so different from any country i have ever been too and i am so grateful to have learned about this country and culture and to have visited.

we spent time on the beach, took a tour of the sahara and the surrounding towns from agadir, went to the souk, had traditional moroccan meals and visited the mosque. we also went and saw the old city of agadir which was destroyed by an earthquake. there was much to learn about when we saw the ruins and remains of the old town.

i was surprised by how many locals spoke french, as the girl i was traveling with was french, but we learned that a lot of locals speak french because morocco was once a french colony. however, most locals speak arabic.

on one of our tours we met a couple from wales! about an hour from bangor, and their son and some friends went to bangor! it was great speaking with them about things they enjoy in wales and places we should visit to learn more about the welsh culture.

overall an amazing time in morocco! i truly loved this country and don’t think i ever would have been able t visit if i was not studying abroad.

[allwellthatendswales]

Such a fun time in Geneva, Switzerland! Switzerland is a beautiful country and I was amazed by history of the city and country! In Geneva, we went to multiple free museums which helped us learn so much about the city and really understand where we are.

The first day we went to the United Nations building (which I have always wanted to see!) and then the botanical gardens in the city. The next two days we went into Old Town Geneva, using the busses and the water taxis. In the Old Town there was so much to see! We went to the shops, cafes and of course, the chocolatiers! We visited the St.Pierre Cathedral, which was stunning, and nearby there were cannons on display, that were once in use in the 19th century, to display how Geneva used to need to protect itself from enemies- Geneva was not always apart of Switzerland.

An amazing trip. I am so thankful to be studying abroad and able to take advantage of this opportunity to see the world in a way I never would be able to.

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the last few days have not been all that exciting, but this upcoming week is reading week, which means there are no classes! we have the whole week off and i have made plans to travel with another international student! we are going to be going to switzerland and to morocco!

these pictures are from the past week that i took while delivery the school paper. i joined the society for the school paper and was elected into a co-editor role, meaning i run one of the sections of the paper! it has been really great working with the paper, and with students who have grown up in the uk and wales. the paper solely focuses on things going on with the school, or the surrounding community so it’s a great way to learn more about the area and culture!

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My Gilman Scholarship is partnered with Global Wales, which is a program that works with the Welsh government to increase diversity in international student bodies, bridge connections between Welsh and international governments, and make Wales more known in international markets. The Gilman-Global Wales scholarship is the only Global Wales scholarship available to undergrad students, and there are 3 other divisions of Global Wales that are offered for post graduate/masters students.

My study abroad university, Bangor University, had an event on Wednesday for all 6 Global Wales recipients here. This event was such an amazing opportunity to learn more about Wales and the Welsh culture. The organizers shared just great information about Bangor, surrounding towns, and the UK.

They also welcomed all of us with “hampers” (which means picnic baskets here!) full of Welsh made goods! There was also a journal and the classic Welsh dragon, which they taught us more history about.

At this event, I also learned that I am the only undergrad Global Wales recipient! And that is only one other Gilman Scholar studying in Wales. I also was able to speak with 2 Fulbright Scholars at this event which helped me learn so much about scholarship opportunities to study abroad as a student receiving financial support.

I am extremely grateful to be a Gilman-Global Wales scholar and feel extremely honored to have been chosen to be funded through the Global Wales partnership. I also very much appreciate the events Global Wales is doing to help connect scholarship students and allow us to learn more about Wales. They shared with us that there is meant to be an event with all Global Wales recipients sometime in December, which I hope will happen!

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oh! i’m just seeing my post from last week didn’t go through, i have been having issues getting my phone plan/service to work here, so i’m assuming that’s why… but these are some photos from the sea zoo (aquarium) we went too, as well as the farm!! they had a corn maze which reminded me of home.

it was really interesting getting to see information on the geography of wales, history of the land, and the biological make up of the land/seas! the farm also had a lot of traditional welsh cultural aspects.

and this bottle from lyons new york (very close to my hometown!) was found all way across the ocean here in north wales!! absolutely insane that it has been preserved so well and retrieved.

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this picture of the library, though it is very pretty, is all i can provide this week- i have been busy with classes, clubs, activities! but, i will be going on a tour of puffin island on sunday, the tour was meant to be tomorrow but got moved to sunday due to bad weather. so hopefully , there will be some good pictures from then!!

my coffee also spilt all over my poetry notebook this week and some of my poems are not very legible so i am going to try and type one up i wrote last week and post it here!

see you again sunday, with hopefully good, more exciting, pictures!!

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spent the last weekend before first day of classes visiting the snowdonia national park! gorgeous mountains (though hard to compare to my colorado campus), and the villages all had so much history. we watched a slate demonstration and we’re able to visit a mining museum.

my schedule here abroad is so much less busy than it is in the states, so there is some getting used to! but so far my lectures have been enjoyable. i have finished my first set of poems from wales, and am excited to edit them down to share!

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welcome weeks have officially ended!!

I think I am finally settled in and am definitely ready for classes to start monday. These past few days have been spent exploring the town, the area, and the university. Yesterday I went to every floor on the library in search of more beautiful rooms and stained glass, which were found. I have also been writing, journaling, collaging and more, which will be shared soon!