You allright?

That is the question I hear a lot here in Wales.  Or actually it is more of a greeting than a question. Just answer “you allright?” back and you’ll be all_right. I’m not totally used to it yet though because the greeting makes me think I must look so confused or something to be asked that all the time 😀 But that is about the only thing close to a culture shock I’ve had thus far so I could say things are going great here!

The Royal Victoria Hotel’s restaurant where I work is quite busy in these summer months so I really have something to do during my shifts and I am learning a lot about my field of study. We also have a great atmosphere between workmates here and others are glad to help the new guy = me! learn how everything is done. I work mainly in breakfast and dinner shifts and my tasks include everything from laying the tables to attending the carvery or serving food to the tables for the customers. Below you can see a glimpse of the Royal Victoria Hotel.

In my free time, which I have quite a lot of, I like to walk around and explore the breathtakingly beautiful nature of Wales. The landscape is so different compared to Finland with all the mountains and green fields. And lambs. There is A LOT of lambs. There are sometimes a few lambs eating grass in front of the hotel even! But it’s cool. I like it here a lot. There is always some new nature trail to follow or hill to hike up.

Below is a picture of Lake Padarn. Llanberis, the village I’m living in, is situated on the shore of lake Padarn.

The highest point of England and Wales, Mt. Snowdon, is situated near Llanberis. The peak is at 1085 meters and I climbed it last week. Took me 5 hours there and back but it was definitely worth it. I mean look at the sights….

I’ve also been traveling around a bit. There are good train connections from the nearest city Bangor to Wales and England so I have been able to visit Dublin (I took a ferry there though), Liverpool and a few of the smaller cities nearby.  Hopefully I will find the time to visit Manchester and south Wales at some point!

Now I really need to start getting ready for work .  Bye!

Love,

Hanna Suojanen