Wales and Risk

Since Canterbury, I have primarily focused on finishing up my essays. As of now, I only have one left that is due in the near future, and it is basically done. Most of my classes ended for the year, which I found rather sad, since I enjoyed them, and the end of classes means that I am that much closer to the end. Now we just have our finals in May (I already took one though at the end of classes). I have also begun planning my courses for next year.

On the Saturday a week ago, we had a guys day at my church, which was quite fun. We had a few talks and then spent the afternoon hanging out. I played a good game of chess, watched some rugby (and learned the rules reasonably well), made a bunch of new friends, and participated in a Risk marathon. Six of the guys started a game of Risk that went on for a long time. I think I was playing chess when they started, so I missed the opening of the first game. However, someone who was playing had to leave, so I came in and took over for him. I love Risk, and used to play it a lot. I made a resurgence with his forces, but I came in a little late in the game and another guy won. We then played a second game, where my forces rolled to victory. Finally, we played a third game, where I fared well but in the end lost to the victor of the first game. It was a fun day.

This last Saturday, I took the train out to Cardiff, Wales, along with some of the other USC students. We went and watched the semi-finals of a rugby tournament, and saw the Leicester Tigers destroy the London Wasps. Wales was freezing (a light snow was falling at times), and we didn’t stay for the second match, since people wanted to move around. Instead, we went and walked around the castle in the city (very cool). Myself and David, another USC student, actually went in to the castle and went up the keep (which was on a giant man-made mount, surrounded by a moat, in the middle of the castle). It had an awesome view of the city. After that, it was starting to get even colder and darker, so we met up with the rest of the USC crew and rode the train back. The Welsh people we interacted with were all very friendly, and Cardiff was alright (I wasn’t really there long enough to really appreciate what all was there). The train ride back was rather humorous, as the lights went off a few times (making it pitch black) and the drunken Wasps fans would sing their cheers, even though their team lost during the game. Also of interest – it snowed this weekend (and today) for the first time since I have been here. Granted, the snow melted almost as soon as it hit the ground, but it was snowing, at times fairly heavily. Very cool.