<p>DS might have an opportunity to live in Wales for 3-6 months. I have some personal experience with England and Scotland, but really know nothing about this country. Who can tell me a little more than a Wikipedia article about the people/culture/climate/health care/???</p>
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<p>Delightful place. Alas, have only been there once. People very friendly, had some trouble with understanding them…was trying to find a nice hotel for the night, and someone recommended what sounded like ‘The Guut’. Huh? Went down the road and sure enough, found “The Goat”. Great B&B, BTW. I’d jump at the chance to live in Wales for a few months!</p>
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<p>We had a very nice visit to Northern Wales last summer. Great scenery, lots of castles, friendly people. I gather that Northern and Southern Wales are quite different. Cardiff, the largest city in Wales, is in the south. Southern Wales had more coal mining and industrialization, Northern Wales had slate, sheep, and Snowdonia National Park (and lots of Edward III castles!). In some parts of Wales, especially in the rural areas but also in towns, many people speak Welsh as their first language, though they all speak English (more or less to an American ear). There are Welsh language channels on the TV. Great place.</p>
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<p>Piggle’s mom replying</p>
<p>We used to live there a place called LLanelli ( pronounced as clanathclli)- near swansea
( where Piggle’s dad started his medical residency ).
The places we used to visit- swansea , Tenby( Pembrokeshire )- great beaches , lots of activities
Hayes on wye - one of the biggest book festival/ sale ,
nearby black mountains - walking, riding etc.</p>
<p>North wales is a great place to visit- lots of green pastures, lakes,walking trails , sheep !!
I remember in a small village they have great annual international music festival - Pavarotti had performed there ( cannot remember the name )</p>
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<p>Healthcare Have great university hospitals in Swansea and Cardiff .
the peripheral hospitals can/ will manage the usual stuff. GP’s office is the first place you go for minor illness.
I beleive you may have to register with a GP ( we did for our 2 year stay ) - not sure how it works with visiting students. Piggle’s dad was a UK native & NHS employee .</p>
<p>People are friendly, down to earth - fanatic about rugby. There were high unemployment rates back then & Welsh were bitter towards English counterparts.But love Americans !!
Food - nothing to mention about. Lots of Pubs </p>
<p>Quite few still talk welsh- piggle picked up welsh language from daycare & still had a welsh accent when we moved to midlands .</p>
<p>The train is a great way to visit places if she has no car.</p>
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<p>Everything I know about Wales is from the TV comedy series Gavin and Stacy.
[Follow</a> Gavin and Stacey: reasons to move to south Wales | Television & radio | guardian.co.uk](<a href=“http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2009/nov/24/follow-gavin-stacey-south-wales]Follow”>Follow Gavin and Stacey: reasons to move to south Wales | Gavin and Stacey | The Guardian)</p>
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<p>Thanks very much for the responses. I had similar difficulties understanding what I knew was English in Northern Scotland, but not an intractable problem. We’ve been giggling over the Welsh language–they seem to have forgotten about vowels in a lot of their words! My traveling days were back in the 80s, when the word on the Irish was that they were all unemployed and depressed–for some reason I picture Welsh people the same. (I think it’s the dark hair.) DS would be in a southern coastal town ~25 miles west of Cardiff. And he would not have a car–is public transportation fairly available? Good to hear they don’t have a problem with Yanks. And speaking of rugby–that’s why DS would be going. To play on a Welsh team. And I had not heard about that TV series but will definitely check it out and forward to DS!</p>
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<p>Piggle’s mom replying
I am sure that he will have a great time .
Public transportation is very reliable.
Compared to London and Midlands , the buses are much cleaner as well.</p>
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<p>I love Wales. Most of the time I’ve spent there has been in Snowdonia/the northern parts, though. I haven’t spent any time in Cardiff and the mining areas. I’ve always found the majority of people friendly and down to earth, as noted above. (But I have to say that I find that to be the case almost everywhere. 
)</p>
<p>The Welsh have a wonderful cultural tradition of poetry and song, in particular. You’d be completely amazed how fabulous the crowd at a rugby match sounds singing the national anthem! I read somewhere that there is some thought that the Welsh language might exercise the voice more than most and contribute to a proliferation of good singing voices. </p>
<p>[Eisteddfod</a> 2012 | The National Eisteddfod of Wales](<a href=“http://www.eisteddfod.org.uk/english/content.php?nID=421]Eisteddfod”>http://www.eisteddfod.org.uk/english/content.php?nID=421)</p>
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<p>Wales has Newport, what else is there to say? [Newport</a> State of Mind](<a href=“The parody, Newport State of Mind. - YouTube”>The parody, Newport State of Mind. - YouTube)</p>
<p>But seriously, Wales has beautiful landscapes, charming towns, warm and friendly people, a delightfully incomprehensible language and some of the best pubs in the UK!</p>
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<p>Sounds like a visit from dear old mom might be in order if this works out??</p>
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