22,000 steps

On my first full day in Cardiff, I walked, according to my phone, 22,000 steps. I am absolutely sure this is an underestimate.

Much of my agenda was solely determined by whim and current proximity to other locales where I could get stuff done. I achieved tasks as I came across them in my erratic wanderings.

No one seemed to be around in the flat when I finally made it past reception and dropped my stuff of in my room, so I set out straight away to get my Student ID card with the vague notion that I would get the card and then walk all the way back past my flat to the Tesco (it's kind of like the American Costco or Target but with smaller convenience store outlets) and get some bedding: sheets, pillow, duvet etc.

I managed to get my ID fairly easily- I know, surprising for my luck with bureaucratic measures, yes? I visited the graduate center to check it out, see if there were any graduate students there already (nope), and spend some time researching what bank I wanted to start an account with.

The Graduate Center

The main theme of my shopping trials this weekend seems to be the evidence of the humungous number of students (especially international students) Cardiff has recruited. The rumor, according to a Greek MBA student I was hanging out with today, is that of ~40,000 students at Cardiff, ~20,000 are newly incoming this year. My question is this: what happened to all the older students? (Did they die of stress?) ;)

Regardless, the presence of these students was apparent at the banks I tried. HSBC couldn't give me an appointment to get started until October 29th and I'm pretty sure Lloyds squeezed me into a cancelled appointment next Thursday. There's a rush every year, the Lloyds agent told me, because of all the international students Cardiff brings in.

My absolute favorite part of the day was randomly discovering a Victorian market (Cardiff Market for those of you who wish to look it up) that at first glance appeared to be squeezed between two buildings but which actually ended up being its own little alcove full of an eclectic mix of stalls. I found awesomely priced pears (4 for £1), raspberries (2 flats of £1), carrots, broccoli (1 head and like 4 large carrots for £2), free range eggs (£1.40) and fresh made bread (£0.70). I really want to get my food from this weekday/saturday market and the farmers markets on the weekends and see how much I can get outside the grocery store… I'll see how it goes!

The book stall!

Fresh fruits and veggies!

Under a glass paneled roof

Fresh bread

As I was finding a place to eat the delicious meat pie I got in the market, I found a local dog-rescue table and discovered they were looking for volunteers for dog walking! I've definitely registered volunteering my services and have told them I am perfectly willing to take the dog for a run. What an awesome way to try to slake my thirst for a dog of my own.

Lunch!

Doggies!

I walked back to my dorm with the groceries I had purchased (~30 min walk from downtown to dorm) and dropped them off, only to realize I still had a bare mattress in my room. On advice from my Greek flatmate, who I finally met, I went all the way back down to Queen's Street downtown to the Primark. Walking back was a bit of a challenge because I had two large bags containing but not limited to a duvet, a pillow, and a bath mat. The bags started ripping 3/4 of the way back to the dorm and I was rolling my eyes at myself again for deciding to take a long walk with a large number of heavy things.

I have four roommates so far and we're expecting one more. Two of my roommates are from China, one from Greece, and one from an island near Madagascar. We share the kitchen and living room, but until now we haven't spent much time there as a group.

Today I got to spend more time doing social things, mostly with my Greek flatmate Stefi and some other international students from the flat above us (two also from Greece, and some from China and Turkey) but we'll leave that for another post.

Panaroma of the park as I walked back through it with my groceries!