Sunday in Swansea

I’m a little late with this entry, but better late than never, right?  So my second Sunday here I woke up and decided to go for a short “jog.”  I use that term very lightly.  You see, I tore my ACL the day before new year’s eve attempting to ski in Minnesota, and ended up having knee surgery in February.  I am supposed to be continuing my physical therapy (or physio as they say here), which I have not been doing the best job at.  So, as I was “jogging” I passed an older woman with a little dog and stopped to say hello.  She was probably about 85 years old and her name was Christine, but she said everyone called her Chris.  I thought the dog was a puppy because it was so small, but it was actually 14 years old.  It was a small Bichon named Pierre, but she said she just called it “dog.”  I had a brief conversation with Chris and she told me that she inherited “dog” was her brother who passed away.  I learned that she is from Swansea originally and lived in the neighborhood just next to the student village with her son and daughter in law.  We talked for about 20-30 minutes, and she said if I ever wanted to stop by her house I could.  As I walked away back to my flat I realized why Swansea is such a great place… the people. 

Almost every person I’ve met here is incredibly friendly.  Once people realize I’m not Welsh they all want to help me out and give me advice about what I should see.  In addition to Chris, I have also talked to a woman at the bus station while we waited for the bus.  She told me all the great places I should go to along the coast.  Even the taxi (not cab! I’ve been informed they say taxi here) drivers are friendly.  Another small friendly behavior I noticed is that everyone thanks the bus driver when getting off the bus. 

After my morning exercise, I got ready for the day and met up with some friends for “Sunday dinner” at The Woodman.  I’m not 100% sure about this yet, but from what I can tell Sunday dinner (which is actually lunch) is kind of like brunch, but no breakfast, so really just lunch (wow! that doesn’t actually make much sense, haha).  I guess I feel like it is similar to brunch because I believe restaurants often have a different menu for it.  Anyone out there able to help me out with this?

Anyway, we ate at the Woodman, which was just down the beach a little ways from the uni (see fun phrases below) and it was very good.  I actually split a seafood platter for two, and although it was good, I want to go back so that I can get the traditional Sunday dinner.  I’ll let you know how it is!  After “dinner” we walked back along the path right next to the beach to campus and had a pint at Pub On The Pond.  This is a great Pub located right next to campus.  It was beautiful out on Sunday, so we sat outside.  As the name suggests, the pub is on a little pond, and there are paddle boats shaped like dragons that I kind of want to ride in some time.  There is also a mini golf course right there as well.  Everything was packed with families since it was such a great day.

Next we went to a vintage “garage sale” which was in a bar called Whitez. It was a really cool sale and I got a nice vintage shirt (I’ll post a picture later) and ring for only £10.  Then we went upstairs and played pool for a while.  Well, the guys played pool, and I hung out with them.  We finished the day at Uplands Tavern, which is a really great old pub where Dylan Thomas, the famous poet and writer from the mid-20^th century, used to hang out and write.  We sat outside under the heat lamps and it was perfect.  Overall, a really fun Sunday!

Fun phrases:

"Uni"  First of all, college is called university, and everyone calls it “uni” for short.

"Ta" I mentioned tada, tata, and ta earlier, but I have learned that ta also means thanks.

Side note: if anyone has any corrections or additions to my fun phrases (or anything I say) please leave a comment about it below!  I’d love to hear from you :)