A winter's day

Here are some photos of the beautiful frost we had at AC yesterday:

The view from top lawn looking towards the sea.

Looking through the trees at the castle.

A frosted leaf in the grass.

Looking towards the castle.

The way back to the houses.

The beginning of the end

8.30am- Well here it is, the last week of my first term at AC. I can't believe where the time has gone! I am able to write this as I do not have English this morning. I still got up to have breakfast however we did have a bit of a lie in. This weekend was great but quite tiring. It is strange that not doing much is so tiring! Saturday we went in to Llantwit, did some shopping and had tea in a tearoom. It was very relaxing and a great way to get ready for the Christmas party. Everyone looked  amazing at the party and it was a lot of fun. My date was great! PK's party was held in The Great Hall in the castle and so it was lovely and 'Christmasy'. I ended up taking my heels off around half way down and spent the rest of the night barefoot. We had a three course buffet meal, songs and lots of laughs. Check-in was 12am and so that made it even better.
    Sunday morning we all slept quite late before going down to brunch. After that we spent the rest of the day chatting and relaxing. Last night there was a candlelit carol service in the church, which I really enjoyed. After that we ate the PK Christmas cake. It was decorated by a couple of students and looked really good. It tasted good too! It is my houseparent's Birthday today and so we may have more cake later too.
    Well I am going to pop back to PK before assembly at 9am. It is Neil's last assembly and so will be very sad. Love to everyone and see you in 4 days!

Friday!

8.30am- Morning everyone! I have first code free today which makes Friday even better! I have just had breakfast so I popped up to the library before Econ starts at 9. We have under a week left at school until we go home. Everyone will finish exams today, so there will be a great atmosphere on campus. I had a really relaxing day yesterday.  After lessons a group of us from PK went in to Llantwit to do some shopping. When we got back we wrapped the presents for our Secret Santas, which made me very excited for Christmas. We then made Danish rye bread and ate Danish pastries for Open House. My Danish dormie said they were not real Danish pastries but they tasted good to me! I now love rye bread and see why all the Scans complain about ours so much!
         This weekend is going to be so good. Tonight we are having a PK girlie night in (around 6 of us). We are going to cook pasta with lots and lots of veg. We bought all the veg we miss from home! After that we are going to watch "Love Actually" (keeping to the Christmas theme). Tomorrow is then the Christmas party. Each house has a separate party. PK are in the Great Hall in the castle.We all dress up and find out who our "date" is. We then have a meal, go to sosh and basically have a great time. It is going to be so much fun. Before that a couple of us are going in to Cowbridge and will do a little window shopping as a final Christmas treat. When we get back we will help get everything ready (the hall and ourselves!). Check-in tomorrow is 12am. I won't say any more! Sunday will then be time for catching up on our sleep! 
      Yesterday my dormie left to go back to China for Christmas. It is sad that she left a week early and we will miss her. We won't see her for five weeks and that is a very long time when you are used to living with someone everyday. We have Codes until next Wednesday morning and then Thursday will be the big departure day. I don't really see myself writing much on here over the weekend but I think I have given you a good update. Lots of love to everyone and will probably see all of you sometime in the next month!

1st December!

1.20pm- Hello everyone. The snow is still on the ground here and it is freezing cold! It is a beautiful to see the castle in the snow however. I have a busy day today. It will be fun and all of my exams are done and so that is nice. Everyone is relaxing and getting into the Christmas spirit. I have a flute lesson followed by flute ensemble and then French tutorials tonight. In between that I will go for a walk in the snow and try not to freeze!  Yesterday I had service, and we went to visit the residential homes. I really enjoy talking to the elderly people although it tends to be a similar conversation every week! It was lovely when they said not to forget to come back and see them after Christmas. Hopefully it means that we do help them a little. Last night I went to the club for people with learning difficulties once again. I have now made it my 3rd official social service activity as I wanted to guarantee there would be a place on the bus for me every week. I will not have any service next week and so I will not see them all until January. Well must go but everything is great here. Christmas is coming and I am so excited! See you all soon.

Snow. snow, snow!

2.30pm- Yes it actually snowed here in November! People had been saying that it was going to snow and I said "No, it's November, it's too warm...etc." and then a couple of hours later it was snowing heavily! I have never ever seen people so happy for snow. It was amazing as there are people here who have never seen snow and I will remember their reactions forever. We had snowball fights and took photos of the castle in the snow. This morning everything had frozen and it was so beautiful as the sun came up. I had a Maths exam at 9am this morning and so now I am so pleased it is over. I don't think (well I know) it didn't go too well but at least it is done. It was the same with E Systems yesterday but we'll see. I am have done some work and then some of us are going to watch the rugby later. Tomorrow a Christmas craft fair is being held on campus and so that will be nice to have a look around. We only have just over a week until Christmas break. I am so excited! It is a busy time but everything is great. Hope everyone is well.

Busy, busy, busy!

12pm- Hello all! Just  a really quick hello before I dash off to early lunch. Life is very busy at the moment, which is great! I have been busy, working, talking, having fun and sometimes sleeping this week. Yesterday my dormie and I got back after codes, chatted for a while and then fell asleep for two hours. I woke up at 3.45pm, which was the time my flute lesson started. I jumped up and ran! On Tuesday the Prince of the Netherlands visited college, as he is a former student. He was around campus all day but we spoke to him when he came to PK. It was quite surreal to be eating my cereal in the dayroom whilst chatting to the Prince of Holland. Life can be strange and amazing sometimes!
   Well really could write so much more but have to go. At least you know I'm still alive! Love to all and will be home in two weeks.

Weekend!

1.50pm- Hello everyone! I know I have not been very good at keeping you all up to date lately but that is because I am very busy! This week we had the Critical Engagement Diploma Period, which I really enjoyed. It is a programme formulated by 8 former AC graduates to encourage discussion and critical thinking. We were split up into randomly selected groups of around 20, with one graduate leading the sessions. My leader was a lovely lady from Korea. Each morning we met in our groups and followed the session prepared for us. It was very interactive and included things like role play, debates and just informal group discussions. Each day had a different theme- Identity, Diversity and Global Justice. However by the end you realise how they are all connected and intertwined in the world we live in. In the afternoons we chose 4 Workshops to attend, again run by the graduates and relating to the career they had chosen/ causes supported since leaving AC. I attended workshops on International Development, Media Production, Social Enterprise and Urbanism. They were all very interesting but my favourite was Media. It really confirmed my interest in the media and the discussion we had about censorship/influence of the media is something I feel strongly about. I also learnt a lot about possible careers which combine the UWC ethos of helping the world with a more conventional "career". Urban development and businesses with a moral conscience, for example. In the evenings two different films were shown in the Tythe Barn (arts centre), relating to the themes of the days. Wednesday night was a documentary film about identity and followed the lives of Bosnians in the 1990s. It showed the complete disintegration of a community before our very eyes. Originally the village in the film was a happy, peaceful mix of Muslims and Catholics (and had been for generations). However the film showed how the quickly advancing war changed this. Amid suspicion, rumour and fear, friendships which had lasted for 40 years began to fall apart. Ultimately neighbours, who had once cared for each other as family, simply watched as the Muslim family fled and their house was destroyed. This was repeated throughout the community. A Catholic house untouched here, a Muslim house burned to the ground there. The documentary was a tragedy for so many reasons. The way in which the personal friendship faltered, the extent of the rascism that appeared but also the everyday suffering and pain of war. The knowledge that in the next village, the Muslim houses would remain untouched but the Catholic houses destroyed displays the unfairness, and to me, illogical effects of war. Terrible human suffering and despair was inflicted on innocent people because of their identity.
       On Thursday night we watched a film called "The Lost Boys of Sudan". Again, a documentary of real footage and true stories. It followed a group of  young Sudanese boys on their journey from a refugee camp in Africa to the "perfect land" of America. It was a story of dashed expectations and broken lives. However through the struggle, there always remained some laughter and affection. Despite being very moving and upsetting, the strength of humanbeings and people who have suffered unbelievably was uplifting in this film. However the problems encountered with diversity within a nation are very troubling.    In the nights after CE, everyone was very tired and sleepy by around 9pm (unbelievably early for AC). This meant none of us got our work done and so now the library and quiet rooms are full of people studying. I have some revision to do for Maths and E Systems and then homework for French and English. Last night over 130 students went to Cardiff to watch the new Harry Potter film together. I didn't go as I am not a HP fan and also we went out for a meal for my Buddy Dorm's Birthday. This morning I worked and then went down to lunch. I now am going to have to work a lot today and tomorrow. Normal codes start again on Monday. Had better go. Love to everyone.