Saturday, 3-2-96
9:30 PM Llangolen, Wales
3:30 PM E-Town
Today was a full day! It was a good day. It was a natural high & a great tide-r-over of camp!
Breakfast was yummy & filling! Then we were off to Hillwalking! We must have hiked about 9 miles! We hiked from the hostel to this old castle ruins on a big hill (called “Castell Dinas Bran”)… beautiful! The YHA staff was fun & sang camp songs w/ me! (including “3 Short Neck Buzzards!” — I even saw Buzzards today ☺︎) The hike was tiring, but amazing, & the views were breathtaking! It was Lori & I, w/ most of the ISA staff who came on the Adventure Weekend, & like 2 other students! It was fun to have little convos w/ everyone & get to know the ISA staff (Daniel & Garth) and GRs (Patricia & Lauren) better… Not to mention the plethora of Kodak moments! Then we headed over to the part of the hills which were less grassy & more hilly to see the rock climbers & abseilers! We saw lots of roaming sheep along the way! Also, one of the YHA staff had brought her “puppy,” “Herman,” (a huge dog — but not very smart — poor thing), which was an added entertainment factor!
At the rocks I saw John Tyler climb & Sarah abseil! I was proud of both of them… I don’t know if I could have abseiled, but probably would have made myself… ☺︎ Then we hiked back & I talked w/ Lauren (the Grey’s Inn Road GR) a bunch about her experiences being a GR! We also compared camp songs & sang ones we both knew — though many songs we both knew each had diff. words!
Lunch was yummy & after all the exercise this morning, I could have eaten a ton! There was baguettes w/ shredded cheese & yogurt & cookies & oranges & hot chocolate!
After lunch was Canoeing (Kayaking)! A bit of a let down, for we didn’t really go anywhere on a little canal they brought us to… Part of it was I think they were expecting beginners! So I was a bit bored, but enjoyed floating along & seeing the nature around me, while the others learned to paddle… One of the 2 instructors (James) picked up on my apparent tedium (I wasn’t pouting — but I wasn’t acting like a “Happy Camper” either…) and tried to spice things up a bit & the effort meant a lot to me & so I had fun w/ his antics! He told us “the most important” aspect of canoeing (kayaking) was knowing how to “look cool!” ☺︎ He had us twirling our paddles & rolling them off our arms! It was too funny & made up for the initial disappointment, when I realized that our kayaking session would not be much of an adventure…
When we got back & got out of our wet suits (now there’s an experience — just getting suited up in our gear for kayaking in the cold here)! Lori & I both opted for quick showers! Granted I rarely use quick & shower in the same sentence… I really did have a rather short wash & rinse, w/ my hair up in a scrunchie and dry! Then we went downstairs & out back to where there was a bonfire going! ☺︎ Lori was a good sport & sang some camp songs w/ me! ☺︎ She was a sweetheart to humor me like that… We have really had fun together here this weekend! I will miss her when this semester is over… But, I won’t think about that now. While at the campfire, this gal Julie, who kayaked w/ us, came up & we started talking. She goes to UCL back in London & lives in a dorm… In the states she is from upstate NY & goes to school at Middlebury in Vermont! We hit it off almost instantly & found we had a great deal in common, as far as being camp counselors & loving elderly & recreation jobs etc. She was impressed that I was majoring in Leisure Studies & intrigued… How rare to find someone who takes me seriously in the way that she did. I hope we hang out again!
At dinner we all got giddy! Ruth & Mel got back w/ all the other super adventurers from caving… It was great to hear about their day! I was in such a silly good mood! It seemed like everyone was! I was talking to everyone (even people in the program I don’t usually interact with…)! It was a nice campy feeling! ☺︎ I even talked to a guy named Ryan whose 21st birthday was tonight! It was a nice random chat about us being awesome for having March b-days & being Pisces!
After dinner Lori, Julie, her roommate, & I wandered outside to see what “night activities” were being offered… Next thing I knew we were partaking in every form of jump rope known to humankind w/ the YHA staff! There were 4 of us ISA students & at least 6 of them! It was hilarious & great fun! I swear jumping rope can make anyone laugh & smile! ☺︎ We also attempted Double-Dutch, Chinese jump rope & “Push me – Pull me!” It was one of those random impromptu things that just happens & is oh, so enjoyable… ☺︎
Then Lori, Ruth, Mel, Julie, her roommate & I were gonna head into town & go to a pub… But I realized, after the long day, I just wasn’t up for the trek & alcohol consumption. So I did “the next right thing” & said I was gonna stay home… Ruth, Julie, & her roommate went on. Lori & Mel decided to stay back as well! It ended up that we all converged to the comfy hostel lounge! Every gal had something they’d brought down w/ them to do… But for at least an hour or two we all just sat around & chatted, gossiped, hashed — it was like a big teenage slumber party or something?! I liked getting to know some of the girls, who I sorta knew before now on ISA, a bit better! For the record it was: me, Lori, Mel, Jill, Sally, Katie, Anna, Sarah, Mary, Megan & Rachel! An interesting & random compilation of ladies for conversation & based on much of the content of our interchange, ladies we were anything but! The “cavers” shared more of their adventures today, which sounded awesome, extremely challenging, & memorable! Many of the chicas in sororities at U of I shared stories of women in their chapters… AΦ, ΔΓ, KAΘ, & ΣΔT were represented. But mostly certain girls from two sororities shared… Funny stories none the less, but I chose to listen & not disparage! ☺︎
We all were amused by ourselves & our choice to stay in and be such “girls!” ☺︎ By the time we were all talked out, I looked around and there were 2 of us reading, 2 of us playing cards while smoking, & the other 7 were scribbling away their thoughts in their journals! What a great scene, in this beautiful old lounge, decorated like an old fashioned parlor, on our “Adventure Weekend” — Youth Hostel, in Llangollen, Wales! ☺︎
Life is good… So is God, friends, family, food, silly games, impromptu chats, hillwalking, “looking cool” while kayaking, “Cute Darren,” Herman, real smiles, camp songs, people who take risks, hot chocolate, “girls’ night in — guys’ night out,” music mixes, sleep… and more!
CHEERS! ☺︎
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Note from Present Day Kathy: This was such a fun day to reflect on! I don’t have many vivid memories of our adventure weekend in Wales that semester, but reading my journal entries and looking at the pictures I have certainly helps bring some of it back to me.
I also appreciate how both my experience canoeing (kayaking) and our “girls night in” helped to remind me back then (and 23 years later) of the value in trying to manage expectations and be open to things not going as planned, which often turns out to still be fun.
Baguettes were a staple in my semester abroad meals, especially while traveling, as a lot of hostels with continental breakfasts served them and, as I may’ve shared in another post, there was a small grocery store around the corned from Pembridge Gardens, where I lived, called “Europa,” that sold them fresh every day and they were so yummy! I recall, on more than one occasion, eating some (or maybe even all) of a warm French baguette, on my walk home from Europa, which wasn’t far. I also remember taking a few extra baguettes from the hostel we were staying at, when (not her real name) Ruth and I took our day trip from Paris to Versailles (after our school semester in London ended in April), to have for lunch that day. I can still picture sitting on a ledge with Ruth in outside of the palace in Versailles eating them.
To this day I rarely use the words “quick” and “shower” in the same sentence, as long hot showers are one of my favorite simple pleasures in life.
It was also fun to reflect on how the adventure weekend was camp-like for me, including getting to sing some camp songs while there. Spending summers attending and working at day and residential camps are some of my favorite childhood and young adult memories, so I appreciate why those few days really filled me up and were so much fun.
Also, its nice to recall having found someone who took my college major seriously, as I did get teased (in good fun) a lot when I met people during my college days and told them I was studying leisure!
23 years later, I am still working on listening to my mind/body and gut feelings, when it comes to taking care of myself. So I appreciate that night when I didn’t feel like going out to a pub, that I chose to stay back and chill. Sometimes, as an older adult, I feel like I *have* to do certain things, when really they are self-imposed rules. I am getting better at creating and enforcing boundaries for myself and this entry affirms for me why that was healthy and important then and continues to be now.
Finally, I loved my list at the very end of the entry, how I mixed general things I was grateful for/thought were “good” with specifics, such as “looking cool” while kayaking, Herman (the dog), real smiles and people who take risks!
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Reminder: Unless I’ve been given permission to use people’s actual names, in most cases I’ve removed or replaced the names of the real people who were part of my journey/experience there, in effort to protect and respect their identities/privacy in my London Semester Journal entries. I will also not share details that I think and feel are too personal for anyone I interacted with, my loved ones, and me.
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Here’s the back story of My London Semester Journals from 1996, including what prompted me to revisit and decide to share them here in 2018. And here’s a list a list of the entries, which I will update as I share them.
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