I’ve just been through multiple panics because rather than ticking up very quickly, the numbers went from 0 to fully booked in the time it took me to refresh the page at 9 o’clock.
Cue a mad dash around the Bookwhen system to try to make sure that i hadn;t done something stupid like only made on ticket available…
Ouchee!
But congratulations to the people who made it onto the list - I’ll be in touch early next week with a few more details, and your first bwtcamp challenge (!). It’s going to be great fun!
For those who didn’t make it - I’ve got a few disappointed people from this time, and another one or two who have specifically asked about a June date, so I am going to see what interest there is to run another Bwtcamp at the end of June. I’ll put that up over the weekend or possibly on Monday.
Now - sleep tight, ready for the big game tomorrow!
You will all have received emails today which includes a couple of questions to start us off. Here are my answers:
My name is Iestyn, and I live with my wife Cat and our 4 (is it only 4?) children in Llandysul, Ceredigion. I was brought up in Gilfach Fargod, in the Rhymney Valley.
I want to speak Welsh because it is my first and native language, the language of my Welsh ancestors, and because my kids would find it a bit weird if I started speaking English with them…
I love singing. I’ve always sung to the kids since they were babies, and I was in a choir before the pressures of being a dad ate into that too much and I decided to give it a miss for a while.
One of my favourite things to do is to get up early (before 6 most mornings) and do an hour or more of stuff before anyone else turns up in my life. The world is particularly beautiful first thing in the morning, and when everyone else is asleep you can get so much done!
I’m looking forward to meeting you all - on the forum to start with, and “in the (Welsh speaking) flesh” very very soon!
My name is Edmund, but I write poetry under the name Aziz (Dixon). I live in Lancashire but I grew up in south London. Wales has been the inspiration for much of my poetry. We made a pilgrimage from Holywell to Enlli/Bardsey a few years ago, and it got me started. I have been learning Welsh since September but only recently here on SSiW.
I love mountains, especially Cadair Idris, and choral singing. I am semi-retired but much too busy.
I’m looking forward to bootcamp because I am sure that a week speaking only Welsh will help me a lot - and I look forward to meeting other learners.
Shwmae I’m Gretta and I’ve been learning Welsh in traditional classes for 18 months and also with SSiW. I am passionate about reclaiming what should be my native tongue and yet growing up in Cardiff I learnt French and German in school! I love walking the coastal areas of Pembrokeshire, where I now live, with my 2 spaniels. I’m pretty obsessed with learning Welsh and started a weekly learner night at a local pub. I’m also fairly obsessed with politics - groan! I love crosswords and board games and would like to see more of both in Cymraeg.
Hi I’m Sophie and I live in Pembrokeshire as well! (Hwlffordd) I come from Nottingham and have learnt Welsh intermittently since doing my teacher training in Wales. It has been a priority since September (also sort of obsessed!)
I want to speak Welsh because I find it interesting and I’m interested in the history of the Welsh. Most importantly, my little boys are going to an English speaking school so I’m trying my best to speak to them in Welsh!
I love reading and writing. I love the outdoors and walking the coastal path as well! Though it’s a slower business now my husband and I have a boy each on our backs… I am trying to pick back up my old hobbies now my littlest is over 1 so I’ve newly restarted sailing and Kung Fu!
Looking forward to meeting you! Very excited
Sophie
Prynhawn da to all. I am Bronwen and I am from Christchurch, Aotearoa-Sealand Newydd.
I want to speak Welsh because I am making my second trip to Wales from July to Dec and will spend a week at the Eisteddfod in Llanrwst, and because I want to be able to converse in Welsh during the 6 months of my visit. Welsh was my father’s first language, and as I learn I think of him and wish that I had been open to learning while he was still alive and trying to teach us a little. I’m a writer, a former journo and corporate writer, and now writing a bit of fiction though never finished or published. I love the outdoors, landscapes, rock formations, mountains, wells and streams, and love to walk, meander, bike ride, or just sit. I’m keen to do some coastal path walks, and part of the Pilgrim’s walkway that Edmund has done. And climb Cadair Idris.
I have booked a bothy in a village 2mi from Llanrwst from 3-11 Aug for the duration of the Eisteddfod and have room for one more to share, so if anyone is looking for accom and doesn’t mind a daily hike let me know and I can tell you more.
Lastly, I am looking for a ride from Tresaith to Aberystwyth, Machynlleth or Corris (my destination) on 27 July, the day we depart bwtcamp, just in case anyone is going that way. (If not, I can take a bus.)
I’ve really enjoyed reading your little bios and starting to get to know you.
I’m Laura. I’m from Scotland, now living in Oxford, but soon to be living in Cardiff. I used to live in Aberystwyth before I moved to England, and that was where my interest in Welsh started. Explaining all this tests my knowledge of the past tense.
At the moment, my main reason for wanting to learn Welsh is so that when I move back to Wales, I’ll be just as comfortable chatting in Welsh as in English. My partner is also learning Welsh, and I have a few friends in Wales who speak Welsh, so I often find myself in situations where Welsh is at least half of the chat, so it would be grand to be able to keep up.
I enjoy walking, so I’m really looking forward to plenty of long walks and talks. I love being by the sea, and I’m hoping the weather will be good enough for a wee ‘dook’ in the water!
I think you need to go to the booking page and try to book. I’m pretty certain it takes you to a waiting list, which other people may be on. If someone drops out @Iestyn sends an email to those on the list and there may well be competition for that space. At least that’s how it was a few years ago.
I’m not sure the waiting list is still working like that now. Iestyn asks people to post in the thread for the particular bwtcamp. @joanne-taylor - you’ve posted here for the July one, and I can see that you’ve posted in the May one as well, so Iestyn will have your name on both waiting lists. Remember that the June Bwtcamp booking hasn’t opened yet, so watch 2019 Tresaith Bwtcamp June 22-29 and add your name there if you haven’t already.
Oops, forgot to do this when the email arrived! I’m Clare and I’m from England originally, Oxford, but now live in San Francisco. We went to Wales all the time as children, but never learnt any welsh and I still often go when I come back from the States to visit family. Somewhere all that welsh influence had been simmering inside me and last year, to my surprise, I decided I wanted to learn Welsh.
I have two boys, 6 and 10, whom I am leaving with their Grandmother in Bristol whilst i come to bwtcamp as a birthday present to myself. I’m now cramming 2 lessons a week to try and get up to speed!
Looking forward to meeting everyone!
Are we going to have a bit more interaction prior to the bwtcamp via email etc? So looking forward to meeting everyone and ‘throwing caution to the wind’ for a whole week!
