For Funzies

As a student attending a college in a small town, I know the important role that clubs have in the social life of a student.  Aber is actually not all that different.  There is not much "to-do" here: meaning, there is not a lot of variety to the town's social scene or entertainment offerings.  It may be beautiful, but sometimes it is not enough to sit and stare.  Sometimes, you just have to get out and do.  And like Alabama, Aberystwyth students have recognized this and created a plethora of clubs ("societies" is the word for it here, though).

Before I talk about the clubs I've gotten a taste of, I do want to say that while the nightlife and entertainment options are limited, they are definitely still fun.  The best thing to do to avoid the mundane-ness of anything, I think, is to find a group of friends that can make any situation interesting.  I have been lucky enough to fall into a group that does just that.  Even though there are only two clubs and an odd mix of different yet similar pubs every time we go out, we have a lot of fun.  Note: I think, like Alabama, house parties are definitely an institution here, as well.

Like I said before, however, there are so many options to choose from when it comes to clubs and societies.  If you feel you have trouble finding a group of friends to belong to, the groups here make it very easy to find one.  I swear at the Fresher's Fair (Get On Board Day, back home) there were hundreds of groups.  For a school that is supposed to be quite small, it was surprising.  Just walking around they have all the basic groups like: Rugby, Football, American Football, Glee, Theatre, Improv Theatre, Comedy, Ballroom Dance, Paintball, Ultimate Frisbee, Volleyball, Pigeon Shooting, etc. etc. etc.  The list goes on.  I signed up for a few of these on the Fair days, and I have friends that are doing some of these activities, but I didn't find my niche in any of these groups.

In the past few weeks I have really only tried out two groups, but I have found both of them to be pretty darn awesome.  The first one was the Scottish Reeling Society and the second, which I attended for the first time last week, was the Mock UN Society.  I attempted to post a Scottish Reeling video in an earlier post, and since then, I have come to realize, what those gifted folks are doing is not what we are doing. And you know what, I can't find a good video so I'll just let you concoct you're own ideas.  But the club is a lot of fun and there are some great, friendly, fun people in the group, so I can't wait to get to know them better.

Mock UN is something I have found interesting since that Mary-Kate and Ashley movie where they went to a conference with their high school.  My friend Ann told me about the first meeting she went to and I begged her to let me come with her to check it out.  I actually really loved it! I didn't know that I had strong opinions about anything political (I tend to like to stay neutral and hear everyone else's opinions and then make up my mind, but I even suggested an amendment to a bill-y thingy.  That was pretty cool, right? I plan to keep going and I am super excited to get to know everyone in the group better.  They all seem very fun and intelligent, and I am hoping, not belligerent when it comes to their opinions - that is why I have shied away from debate teams and clubs before, because my experience has been that people are just rude.  I am very excited to keep going and learning more about international politics.

I have to say that while friends and clubs are all very important to social life here at Uni (that felt weird saying it like that), the Union is the spice.  We have a representative body at Alabama, but it is almost impossible for them to do to anything like throw parties or movie nights for us the way the Union does here.  Every Monday there are two free movies in the Union bar, and a few nights a month the Union hosts interesting club nights.  My first out of the ordinary club experience was a foam party up there (the Union is on the hill with the rest of campus) and this Thursday is Latin Night.  If I lived on campus this place would be my first stop every time I wanted to go out, but, pauvre moi, I live in town and it takes a good bit to schlep all the way up there.

I can't wait to see what the next night out brings!

Starlings

It's funny.  I think of myself as "from" so many places, but I've found one thing in each on of those places: the starling.  A common enough bird, but it is one of those things I find somewhat reassuring, like Orion's belt.  Almost everywhere I've gone I can be sure to find a flock of starlings floating like a wisp of black cloud in the sky.  Seeing them comforts me, I guess, because I know that my family could be seeing the same kind of bird at that exact moment (if they were awake).  It's a little weird I know, but things like that are comforting when it feels like so much is different here.

I am missing the shops back home.  The pricing that I love because I don't have to do conversions every time I want to go buy lunch or just a basic white tshirt for the socials.  The nightlife that I can't go to and waste my money on because I am too young (at least for a little bit).  A couch and t.v. so I could just watch a movie instead of going out for the night.  The structure of the classes which seems so micromanaging compared to all of the "free time" here.

But, I don't want to spend an entire post just to complain.  Complaining is useless, and negativity is unneeded. I do apologize to my flatmates if it seems I am complaining a lot.  It something that so easily slips out, but I am working hard to stop myself and see the positives.  I know that all of these things, all of these experiences will teach me so much.  The anger and frustration I am feeling over all these little issues are just forcing me to grow and mature.

I know there will be times when I feel a little lost, but I am still settling in: it's only week three.  My advice to any other people studying abroad out there is to do what I am attempting.  Find the positive. Don't close yourself off because you are homesick, and don't let yourself push people away with negative comments or snips.  You'll make it through it.  All you need to do is push through and force yourself to make conversation or leave your room to check out a new restaurant, little things, and I promise you will grow past it.  That's my goal, at least.

Calendula

Let's start the first full month of autumn with a pop of orange!

Today was also the start of my first semester in Aberystwyth, but I will start with last night.  It was probably the most interesting event because I had never done anything like it before. One word: karaoke. It was horrendous: we deleted the video.  I went with up the two other Americans in my flat and one of the guys from the flat below us.  Luckily, Martin (the guy from downstairs) was a big enough ham that everyone watched him.  As for me, I stared dumbfoundedly at the screen, but I promise I tried to dance.  I guess my body was just not responsive.  Never. Again. Okay maybe I will, but I was thoroughly ashamed.

As for the first day of October, that beautiful month that is chock full of cool, windy beauty, I was supposed to have class at nine, which really isn't bad, but once I got up to campus, I found out that the class had actually been re-timetabled (scheduled) to Tuesday at 10.  Apparently the module timetables have been a too fluid issue for this semester: the lady that was supposed to do it got sick and has yet to return to the university and therefore they've supposedly had no one in the position to work this problem out efficiently.  It's okay though, because I just need to get out of the flat and do something. So I explored: I walked around town and took pictures.  Without further ado, I give them to you:

So I obviously found a graveyard that I thought was pretty neat because of the mix of generations to be found there, and I took many, mayhaps too many, landscape photos, but I don't care.

Then I went for a walk on the beach with my flatmate and walked to the Old College by myself later in the evening:

Was this enough pictures? Little hint: click on one and you can look at the full size pictures in a slideshow mode, rather than this list of itty bitty ones.