Feb 2006

Another adventure has come my way. Reel Big Fish (is probably the biggest ska band here, even though they are from California, and ska music is like punk music, a bit more dancy and add trumpets and trombones to the mix), Zebra Head, and Fandango, came to Swansea last Tuesday and my job was to buy everything the bands wanted on a list they put together, help set up and take down equipment, and tend to any other wants or needs throughout the night. Everyone was very nice, and the bands were pretty excited that I was from the states too. I walked in from grocery shopping, and the band's manager stopped me and asked are you the girl from North Dakota? I said yea that's me. He said, how can you really be from North Dakota? Then after the show, there was an after party where my job was to get them taxi's and help them around the club.

It was really fun and exciting, and I'm really lucky to have had the opportunity. I was surprised it wasn't like they were these famous people on a pedastool and I was the fan, where there enters a level of separation. Maybe it was a mixture of them being professional, and the fact that I wasn't a die hard fan of them to begin with. I enjoy their music and I've seen them twice before, so the newness is maybe not what it used to be. Who knows, it was a good night.

There was another American field trip to the capital of Wales in Cardiff bright and early Saturday morning. I almost missed the bus because I set my alarm an hour too late, oops, but luckily I woke up without it. We first went the museum of Welsh life where we looked at different Welsh homes throughout the decades, a smaller castle, and well preserved churches. Around lunch time we went to the center of Cardiff where they let us explore for about four hours. I went to the National Museum of Wales which was both a natural history and art museum, and it was really good. It was supposed to have the best impressionist exhibit aside from London. I saw my first real live Monet and Van Gough paintings, along with many other fascinating sculptures and drawings. I probably enjoyed the art the most of everything in Cardiff. Then off to the castle we went. It was more of a castle than the other one, it had gold leafed ceilings, and a keep which was neat because we climbed all the way to the top and looked down. Following the castle, there was some shopping, and it's supposedly the best shopping in Wales, but there wasn't enough time to explore all the shops. It was a nice trip especially because it's only an hour from Swansea. The next trip should be to North Wales, which I'm really excited about because we are staying a couple of nights, and it's more mountainous.