"It was sooo worth it."

Picture this: Lauren Doerner (my best friend and possibly the most un-outdoorsy and unathletic girl in the whole world) has just finished climbing up and then back down an 823-foot extinct volcano. She managed to fall several times on the way down, and one of the times she hit her knee on a rock, and now she claims that a large chunk of her knee cap remains somewhere on the side of the mountain. Our group of 6 friends reach the bottom of the steep volcano. Lauren's jeans are covered in grass stains and spots of mud. Her hair is flying in her wind-burnt face, and through all this she stops the rest of our group and we look at her worn-out, pathetic stance. As most friends would do in this situation, we laugh at her. Lauren looks like a train wreck (to put it nicely) and says in a very pathetic voice, "It was so worth it." We were rolling on the ground laughing. The setting is Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano featuring spectacular views of Edinburgh, Scotland. (now, just in case you ever run into a Scot, I'm going to warn you... never pronounce the city "Edinburg".. it's more like "Edinboro"... just a tip or you might get laughed at)

Arthur's Seat was just one of the highlights of this Scotland trip. I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this trip. I say by far it has been my favorite trip, but then again I've been here less than a month. We started our trip Friday morning, leaving the manor at 8 a.m. Lauren and I had a good ride up to Edinburgh. We slept, listened to music, and watched the movie "Billy Madison" starring Adam Sandler (one of my favorites). We arrived in Edinburgh at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon. Brittany, Lauren and I settled into our 3-person room at the Royal British Hotel. It was a very nice accomodation... but the shower's hot water was scalding (talk to Lauren for more details).

Friday afternoon Rhiannon (Asst. Dean of Students) walked with Austin, Lauren, Sara, Brittany, Erica and I. We walked the Royal Mile (street that runs between the Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyrood House). We ate dinner at a massive Chinese buffet called "Saigon Saigon." Later that evening we went to the Stand Comedy Club. It cost us 7 pounds to get in with our Student IDs. There were 4 comic acts. There were only 3 we could understand. It was definitely an experience. Imagine a comedican speaking the English language, but with a Scottish accent so thick that you only understand every eleventh word or so. Next, imagine understanding the words coming from the other 3 comedians, but still not knowing what they're talking about... first of all it was British Humor (Humour) and second, they made so many references to cities, towns, people and events that the average American would know nothing about. It was still a very fun time, and when we did actually understand a joke you can be sure we laughed as much as we could.

Saturday morning found us rising early for a hotel breakfast followed by the touristy sightseeing. On our way to the Royal Mile we stopped at the National Portrait Gallery. It was interesting, and pictures were in chronological order, so it was kind of like getting a quick lesson in Scottish history. On the Royal Mile we stopped at the Museum of Childhood (Erica really wanted to make this stop). It wasn't quite what we expected. It basically looked like a bunch of toys people bought on E-bay. Some of the old toys were really neat though. The room full of the old dolls and clowns was really creepy. We only stayed at the museum for about 15 minutes before moving further down the Royal Mile towards the Palace of Holyrood House. This is the official Scotland residence of the Queen. Behind it, off in the distance a bit, sat Arthur's Seat (which you already know something about from the first paragraph). We (Austin, Lauren, Erica, Sara, Brittany and I) were super excited about climbing the mountain-volcano thing, but little did we know the kind of physical effort it was going to require. The journey up the mountain was steep and there were lots of steps made from rocks which made parts of the trip a little easier. We were sweating and the wind was blowing like crazy. I'm not scared of heights, but I'm not too thrilled of them either. This trip was a little bit of a challenge for me, I'm not gonna lie. I'd say it took us a little over an hour to make it all the way to the highest point of Arhur's Seat. (it only took us about half an hour to get down the mountain, if that tells you anything about the steepness of our descent) We were all sore and exhausted by the time we made it to the top, but we all agreed it was worth it. The view was magnificent. Despite the wind that wanted to blow us away, the weather was gorgeous and the whole setting was just beautiful. We took a ton of pictures before making our way down towards lunch... we were hungry! We stopped at one of the first food establishments we saw. It was a great meal, but the restaurant's claim to fame was this: Mary, Queen of Scots' tailor used to live there. Wow, I could hardly contain my excitement when I found this out. (*slightly sarcastic) :)

The afternoon was spent shopping, and later that night we went on one of Edinburgh's famous pub crawls. It's just like the name sounds: you basically "crawl" from pub to pub. There are different pub crawls, and the one we decided to do was called the Edinburgh Ale Trail. You recieve a passport with the names of 9 pubs on it and a very sketchy, not-very-helpful map. You have to buy a drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) at each pub and then they either stamp or sign your passport. At the end of the night you get a t-shirt for completing the crawl. I am so proud to announce that Erica, Lauren, Austin, Brittany and I completed the Edinburgh Ale Trail 2005 with flying colors. We have our ugly XL blue t-shirts to prove it. . .

Sunday morning came awfully quickly and we loaded our coach bus for the ride home. About two hours into our ride we stopped at the English/Scottish border for a group picture. One hour later on the bus we arrived at a section of Hadrian's Wall. For all of you who are not so keen about history, let me explain the significance of this wall. It was built in 122 AD by order of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. It was 73 miles in length and its purpose was "to separate the Romans from the Barbarians." So basically it's a very old wall of stones.

We stopped for lunch in the city of Durham (it's over 900 years old). It had a nice feel about it, like a college town. I wish I would've had more time there to look in some of the shops. Seven of us ate lunch at Pizza Express... a little sit-down pizza cafe located on one of the cobblestone streets. After lunch we returned to the coach bus for the last leg of our Edinburgh trip. We made it back to the manor by 6:30 for a dinner containing, yep, you guessed it, brussel sprouts. :)

To put it lightly, this trip was AMAZING. It was first of all an awesome city... mix that with a great group of friends, excellent shopping, delicious food, a steep volcano, and a late-night pub crawl... how could this not have been a wonderful trip?

Meet the Chubbs

Hooray! I finally met my new family! The Meet-A-Family program at Harlaxton is amazing. You wouldn't believe the time, effort, and number of people this program requires. This semester 89 students have been placed with a family (15 were rejected).

My family is great. They are the Chubbs. David and Henrietta. I'd say they are in their early 30s. They have 2 children... twins! Age 4, Harry and Libby. I didn't get to meet the twins yet, but on our next dinner date I will get to meet them.

Tonight was the Meet-A-Family reception.... It's where all the families come and meet their new "children" (Harlaxton students). It started in Harlaxton Manor's Great Hall. All the students waited patiently for their new families to arrive. The Chubbs arrived by 7 p.m. I have 2 new sisters in my family as well (2 other Harlaxton students also paired w/ the Chubbs). Lauren Doerner and Stacey Wright. Lauren just happens to be my best friend and roommate from UE. How'd we manage? I don't know, but somehow we always do. :)

We enjoyed a delicious formal dinner with our new family in the Long Gallery. Breaded chicken breast, fresh green beans, cauliflower, roasted potatoes, red wine, white wine, tossed salad, tea, coffee, chocolate/orange cake. yum! We talked for almost 2 hours, during and after dinner. I can't even remember what all we talked about... everything from the horrible exchange rate to Henry the VIII and traveling to Berlin. The Chubbs seem very down-to-earth. I really enjoyed their company and can't wait to spend more time with them (and their twins!). We've made arrangements to have dinner with them again in 3 weeks. Hopefully we'll continue to meet every 2-3 weeks after that.

We had a briefing last week on the Meet-A-Family program. They basically gave us rules and proper etiquette suggestions. Dinners are taken so much more seriously here than in the U.S. At home, we may plan a dinner or luncheon and have someone cancel just hours prior. Here, that is simply unheard of! You never, unless there is an extreme circumstance, cancel dinner plans with your host/hostess. I've never been one to turn down a free meal, or any food, for that matter. I don't think this canceling dinner thing will be a problem for me. :)

Tonight we gave our family a Thank You card and some flowers. I don't know what an appropriate gift would be for our following visits. ? Maybe a gift for the kids would be just as graciously received. Who doesn't love for their kids to get gifts? I know my parents love it because that means that's less they have to buy for me. haha.

I think I have spent way too much time on the internet this evening... words are starting to blur together and the clicking sound of the typing keys is starting to sound strangely rhythmic. Time for bed, I suppose! OH, and Just 2 days 'til I'm off to Scotland! From here that's a 6-hour drive north by bus for all you land-lovers... arghhh! (Say that last sentence in your best pirate voice. haha)

Good day!

Pheasant Shoot

haha. So each week the Harlaxton people put a "bulletin" on our meal table which has important times for meetings and other info. This week's top line reads: "Monday (today) is the Pheasant Shoot. Please be aware there will be a shooting party on the grounds starting at approx 9:30 a.m. Do NOT go into any of the wooded areas today." Being shot by a pheasant-hunter. That would sure put a damper on your Harlaxton experience.

It's a sad day for the Harlaxton Lions. We were defeated tonight (76-95) by the Grantham Outlaws. They weren't even a college team. All the guys were mid-20s to mid-30s and they were good! We had a great crowd there, and I thought it was still a fun game. My teammate Holly and I didn't get much playing time, so we stayed around afterwards to do cartwheels and run.

I don't have anything too exciting to tell you. Today was just a normal day of classes. OHHHH! I almost forgot! It's Clean Sheet Day! Woohoo! Every 2 weeks we can get clean sheets from housekeeping. Not everyone chooses to take advantage of this service, but with being sick last week I thought it might be a wise move on my part. Well, I sleep on the top bunk. Do you know how hard it is to change sheets on the top bunk, especially when the bunk bed is in a corner? So picture this if you will : I tuck the fitted-sheet under the bottom 2 corners of my mattress. I kneel on the foot of my bed with one of the top 2 corners of my fitted-sheet in each hand. On the count of 3 I fall forward, almost like a face-dive. I make sure to get the corners as far as I can so there are no ripples in my fitted-sheet. Believe me, if you were here to see it I'm sure you would've laughed.

Being a Holland Dairy girl, I love my milk... and cheese, and yogurt, and ice cream, etc, etc. Something I've had to get used to are the different names they use for their milk. You would not ask for skim milk or 2% milk with your breakfast. It's called "skimmed milk" and "semi-skimmed milk." Appetizing, eh?

This was kind of a random info blog today. Let me leave you with a great quote I found about traveling.... by Ursula le Guin... "It's good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end."

Yankee Doodle went to London just to ride the ponies... (well that's what my dad told me)

dunt dunt dunt dunnnnnnnnnnnn........ *applause........... *pat on the back *drum roll....
I WENT TO LONDON ALL BY MYSELF ! ! ! Hooray!

I had no plans. No goals. No objectives. No time contraints. I rode into Grantham this morning via the mini shuttle bus at 10:10 a.m. I told the ticket lady I needed the next train to London. My train didn't leave until 11:19 a.m. I sat in the little cafe (named "Pumpkin") and ate my Frosted Flakes (which are really called "Frosties" over here). Turns out usually it only takes an hour and a half from Grantham to Kings Cross Station (London). BUT during the month of January they are working on the tracks between the 2 stations. (I didn't know this when I decided to make this journey). So, what should've taken an hour and a half almost took 4 hours. haha. I'm laughing about it because I don't even care. I had nowhere to be. It didn't matter how late I was. And the main thing was I was able to do it all by myself. . . .

On the first train I met Stella... a sweet 75-year-old woman who was traveling to Stevenage to visit her brother who is very ill. She told me about her 4 children and her 8 grandchildren and about her niece who lives in the States. I told her all about my family and university and the US. I think I liked her so much because she reminded me of my own grandmas. :)

Well, you might be saying, yeah, so you went to London and back. Let me tell you what the journey entailed: Left Grantham station at 11:19 a.m. this morning. Rode a train for 25 mins and arrived in Peterborough. Got off the train and was ushered to some coach buses. Rode for an hour and half on these. Arrived in Stevenage where we waited for another train. Took that train into Kings Cross Station in London. From there I purchased an all-day Underground (subway) pass. I rode to some of the places we visited last week, just giving myself the chance to do it on my own. I rode to some random stations like Oxford Circus because I liked the name and Holland Park, because well, duh, I'm from Holland. :)

I had lunch, shopped a little, walked, walked, rode the Underground, walked, rode the Underground. (Mind you, I had an open return ticket which meant I could use it anytime: today tomorrow, 6 months from now). Around 4:55 I was getting a little tired. I made my way back to the Kings Cross Train Station. I looked at the departure/arrival boards but didn't see what I was looking for. I asked the guy in the Info Box about my return trip to Grantham. He said there were 2 trains leaving... one in an hour and one in 4 mins. !!! I ran to Platform 3 and jumped on my train, not even knowing if I had jumped on the right one. I sat across the aisle from 2 ladies and I asked them where they were headed... not Grantham! But it was alright, they were heading to York, which was a couple destinations past Grantham. I was on the right train! We sipped hot tea together and chatted about London and shopping. I had so much fun riding the Underground and meeting people and just observing people. I met a girl from Zimbabwe who's studying in London. I met a family of 4 from Bristol, England. (mom, dad, daughter, and son) The son and daughter were exactly the same age apart as Ryan and I with birthdays in the same months as well. Weird!

Above I told you the story of all the switching that occurred on the way to London. Nothing changed on the way home. The train took us from Kings Cross back to Stevenage where we met up with some buses. The buses took us to Peterborough where I encountered a 40 minute delay. I realized I hadn't had dinner, so I ate my first train station meal. Ham and cheese croissant, malt & vinegar potato chips, and a Twix candy bar. Yum. I'm not sure if the British haven't discovered it or what, but they refuse to put sliced cheese on sandwiches! My croissant was ham with shredded cheese! Honestly, who can eat a sandwich on-the-go that consists of shredded cheese!? It's a mess!

At Peterborough I waited for my last train of the night... I wasn't sure that I was on the right platform because they were so poorly marked. I asked an older lady next to me and she said she was heading to Grantham as well. We started chatting, and I found out her name was Allyson. She asked me what I was doing in Grantham and I told her I was studying at Harlaxton College. She looked surprised and said, "I know a girl who attends Harlaxton's sister school in the States." Hmm. Sister-school. Harlaxton. States. Uh, that's the University of Evansville! That's my school ! I knew exactly who she was talking about, too. Kaya. She's the only British student that we have at UE right now. Small world, eh? I sat by Allyson on the last train ride, and a young guy sat across the aisle from us. He heard us talking about Universities and the U.S. He wanted to ask me all these questions about it and how my classes are different and such. Turns out he studies in London, but was coming home tonight to Grantham to have dinner with his family.

This was a crazy crazy random fun-filled day! ! ! I can't believe I did this all by myself !
*takes a bow ..... (this is your cue to throw roses on the stage) *applause ......

To the Land of Lincoln. . .

Today we took a school field trip to Lincoln... it's a city about an hour north of Harlaxton. I felt like I was on a 3rd grade field trip. We took buses... our groups were divided alphabetically... AND we had to carry our lunches in little white paper sacks!

We got to see so many neat things... The Lincoln Cathedral was AMAZING! We also saw the Lincoln Castle. These things were built way back around 1070 ! We saw these walls and wells and bridges built by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago! It's so hard to comprehend that length of time, and how different things were...

We had the chance to walk around Lincoln for an hour or so.. We walked down this street of shops, it was called Steep Street. Need I say more? It was fun to walk down and glance at the cafes and stores. It was probably about a half mile long. Honestly, on the trip back up I thought I'd need my inhaler. This hill was almost vertical. I thought I was going to collapse. !

I know there is more I need to tell you, but I can't think of it at the moment. I'm so tired and wind burnt! Take care... will speak soon

xx

HARLAXTON DEFEATS LINCOLN!

We had our first game tonight! We played the Lincoln College Mavericks and we won! 48-35 ! It was a fun game. I didn't get to play all that much. The boys consumed most of the playing time, but I did play in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters. I had 2 points and 4 rebounds. We have another game at home on Monday (the 24th).

Only one more day of classes this week! Friday we are taking a field trip to Lincoln to check out some great Cathedral there. It should be a good time. We leave at 8:30 in the morning and we'll probably return around 5 in the evening. I'm thinking about taking an independent trip to London on Saturday. I'm looking at train ticket prices right now actually. . .

So I haven't been feeling so swell lately... sore throat, hurt neck, aches, all that good stuff. My throat is sooo swollen. I couldn't even swallow mashed potatoes or orange juice at dinner! grrrr. And I was hungry! All they will give us at the Nurse's Office are throat lozenges and some British form of Advil. I did what Mom always does to me at home.. she says, "open wide" and she sticks a flashlight in my mouth. I checked out my throat, it's pretty red and constricted. No white bumps though (don't worry, Mom). I heard a few people on campus have tonsilitis, so I'm hoping that I just have a cold. BUT I have alot of the symptoms listed on this website I found. :(
http://www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/tonsilitis.asp

Well I should probably attempt to read some of my British Studies now. Hopefully sleep will help my sickly situation. I love you all... I'm having a great time, but I miss the States and all of you terribly.

xx

I had never met a piece of cake I didn't like... until this past weekend!

It's true! If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE CAKE ! ! ! This past weekend in London Dani, Lauren, Caitlin, Holly, and I decided we wanted some dessert. We heard great things about this little shop called "Cookies & Cream." The cakes looked absolutely wonderful and gourmet and colorful (colourful in Great Britain). Dani and Lauren ordered cake. Cakes with white and pink icings, chopped nuts, layers and layers... We all 3 agreed that it was the worst cake in the history of the world. How could something so beautiful taste so bad?! Given England has a totally different idea of culinary arts here. There food is usually bland. Really bland. Maybe they forgot a key ingredient.. like SUGAR! Anyway, that's my story for the day... I'll blog again soon.

London!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got back from my first trip to London! It was amazing! I don't know how I'm going to describe 3 days worth of events in a blog journal...

We left Friday morning at 9 a.m. and traveled to London by bus or "coach" as they are referred to here. We stayed at the Royal National Hotel, just next to Russell Square for those of you familar w/ England. Friday we did a little sightseeing. We took the Underground (also know as "the tube"). It's London's underground subway, similar to the one we have in New York. We purchased all-day passes for £4.90 (that's about $10 US). We went to Picadilly Circus which is comparable to our Times Square, except w/ gorgeous old buildings with columns and great architecture. We walked to Buckingham Palace and took pictures. Friday evening we went around to a couple of bars/pubs (legal drinking age is 18 here). Our favorite stop was the Zoo Bar. We started to show our ID's and walk inside when 2 bouncers stopped us and said "It's 5 pounds to get in." We're like no thank you, we'll go somewhere free. Then he said "alright, ladies, come on in." So all 6 of us got in free! (Saved $60 US) Can you tell I'm obsessed (and disgusted with the exchange rate?!)

Saturday we got a fairly early start. We bought another all-day Underground pass. Lauren, Dani, and I went to see the Tower of London and Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliament. We were so proud of ourselves getting around on the Underground without getting lost. At lunchtime we met up with Caitlin and Holly in Picadilly Square. We ate lunch at a Cheers (yes, imitated after the TV show). The food was great! The host there(Andrew) told us that they were having a DJ later that night and admission would be 10 pounds. He gave us his number and said to call if we wanted to stop by, he would meet us at the door get us in for free!

Caitlin, Holly, Dani, Lauren, and I did some major shopping between Picadilly Circus and Leicester Square (prounounced "Lester"). We went back to the hotel to rest after our shopping spree. Later that evening we went out on the town again... took our favorite form of transportation... the Tube! We went to Cheers but Andrew wasn't there yet to let us in. We decided to wander a bit and check out the other clubs. We found Walkabout, a club a few blocks down. We paid £6 to get in and spent the night dancing away with new British and Irish friends. We got about 3 hours of sleep last night, as we had to board the "coaches" at 9:30 this morning.

We went to Hampton Court Palace... a beautiful place just a bit outside of London. We took a tour of the Palace, ate lunch in a cafe, and did a little antique window shopping. By 6 this evening we were back at the manor. Here I am... exhausted, excited, and I still have homework to do. Hope you enjoyed the blog entry today! I can't wait to travel some more!

Clean Clothes!

I just finished my first load of UK laundry! The washers and dryers are quite similar to those at good 'ol UE. They're a bit pricier though. Washers are 50 pence (almost one US dollar) and the dryers are 40 pence (about 80 US cents).

I have one class done for the day, and one more to go. Tonight there is a Scottish/Irish dance happening in the Great Hall. It's called a Ceildlh or something like that. I'm not sure about the spelling. I think I might go. Then later I think my the girls and I and Austin are going to the Greg. Here's a pic from Saturday night's walk to the Greg.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/ashleyhenke/walking.jpg

You're driving on the wrong side of the road!

One thing I cannot get used to is the fact that the British drive on the left side of the road! Everytime I take the mini shuttle bus into town I feel like we're going to hit someone! I'm sure I'll get used to it after a month or so here. By the time I get back to the States I'll have to get used to using the right side again. . .

You know what else is different? Their binders! I brought along 2 binders for my classes, you know, the kind with 3 holes. Well, it turns out, UK binders only have 2 holes! By the time I punch British holes into my US paper I have five paper holes down the side! :) It looks funny. I went into Grantham again yesterday to buy a British binder. I also bought Speacial K breakfast bars.. my favorite! In the States we have strawberry or blueberry. Here, they have 3 flavors: cherry, apple w/ pear, and peach w/ apricot. I'm not sure how I feel about the latter two. OH! And they have Frosted Flakes here, made by Kellogg's of course, even with Tony the Tiger on the box. The difference? They call them "FROSTIES." Maybe "flakes" or "frosted" has another meaning in Great Britain? I'm not sure why they changed the name.

I almost forgot! We had basketball practice last night, and I made the team! Woo hoo! There were originally 22 trying out. Twelve made the team: 8 guys and 4 girls. I'm excited! It only takes 2 evenings out of the week, and we get to play a bunch of British college teams. . .

Five of my friends so far have purchased cell phones here for a decent price. I can't decide if I should of not. They seem to get good reception, especially from the Carriage House, which is where I live. Maybe after this weekend I'll go into town and check the phones out again.

Speaking of this weekend... Tomorrow (9 a.m.) we're going to London!!!!!! Yippeeee! I'm excited! Can't wait! I won't be able to post a message for a few days... for obvious reasons, but when I get back I'll tell you all about my weekend in London-town!

picture of the manor! http://img151.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img151&image=manor2lx.jpg

windy city???

So as you know, Chicago is nicknamed the "windy city." I think they should reconsider handing the title over to the entire country of England. It's soooo windy here! Tonight winds are expected to reach speeds up to 100-m.p.h.!!!!

I went to town today with my friend, Caitlin. We had a few items we needed to pick up at the grocery. In 2 weeks we have the opportunity to take a tour of the town of Grantham. I think that would be neat. Oh, and I forgot to tell you... the basketball coach from last night told us he teaches at a school in Grantham... the same school that Sir Isaac Newton attended when he was a boy! Cool, huh?

We had a briefing tonight in the Long Gallery to prepare us for the London Trip. I'm going to London on Friday!!! I can't wait! The hotel we're staying at has over 1,000 rooms! The Royal National Hotel! Rooms are in triples for our trip, so Dani, Lauren, and I are staying together. It should be a good time!

Happy Birthday to mi padre

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!! I love you!! (Everyone wish Ronnie a happy b-day!)

First day of classes. I had all 4 of mine today. I think I'm going to like my psychology class, and the professor seems really fun. My biology class is going to be a little tougher because science is not my forte. My biggest challenge will definitely be British Studies. It consists of a one-hour lecture followed by a one-hour seminar every Monday and Wednesday. There is A LOT of reading and quite a few presentations and tests.

Other than classes, I didn't do too much today. I just got back from basketball practice.. haha. That's right, I might play for Harlaxton College. It's a guys' team, but they make it Co-ed here because there is no girls' league. We have games against other local colleges. The coach favors the boys playing, and it's obvious. I doubt the girls will get much playing time. There were 22 people who came out to practice tonight, and he basically told us he could keep 12... He also implied that none of the guys would be cut (even though 4 of the girls are clearly better than 1 or 2 of the guys). So I guess they'll keep 3 or 4 girls. If I don't make it, that's fine... I just thought it would be neat to say I played on a college team in England. And, it would be a great way to stay in shape since I'm eating so many potatoes, rolls, and biscuits over here. :)

So I don't know much else at the moment. I only have one class tomorrow and it doesn't start until 3:10 ! ! ! haha. I'm going to study late tonight and sleep-in a bit tomorrow. I'm planning to meet my friend Caitlin for lunch, then we're going to town to get some snacks and stuff from Morrison's (Grantham's grocery).

I'm off to study... Once again, Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

Just going to Town...

Oh dear. These past 3 days have been very tiring. They've been fun though. Orientation is finally over. I know what I need to know about Harlaxton in order to get started here. In fact, classes start tomorrow. I got up this morning and hurt my neck by turning too quickly. Now I can only turn my head to the left. The nurse here gave me some British Transvaden, which is similar to our Icy Hot. (I'll bring left what's home for my brother's souvenir). My neck's feeling better than it was this morning....

So... let me see what you've missed.

Yesterday we took the Harlaxton mini bus to downtown Grantham. Turns out they have a wannabe Wal-Mart. They call it ASDA (I have no idea what it stands for). It's actually owned by Wal-mart. It looked very similar to our Wal-marts, but all the employees wear bright neon green fleece jackets. Oh! New Brit lingo: a "till" or "til" is a checkout lane at ASDA (or any department store or marketplace, i guess).
http://img64.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img64&image=minibus7ne.jpg

I had a coney dog for lunch yesterday. It was pretty tasty. Last night we got all dressed up for the President's High Table Dinner. Wine was served in the Great Room before dinner. The meal was delicious!

There's a pub at the end of "the mile" at Harlaxton. It's called Gregory Arms.. "the Greg" for short. Usually they stay open until 11p.m. but last night they had a "welcoming party" for the Harlaxton students. They stayed open until 1 a.m. Let's just say we closed the place down. It was a lot of fun. We also met some cool locals. Although there were plenty of people there our age, my friend Michelle and I decided to dance with a group of people celebrating a 50th birthday. They were so great!


Lauren fell in some "bramble" on the mile walk home last night. Bramble is this rough, prickly plant. It was a long, cold walk. We made it back though, and got a good night of rest. Today consisted of more Orientation and meetings. I think I'm going to call it an early night and get to bed. I hope you enjoyed my blog today... I'll speak again soon! muah!

Looks like we made it!!!!!

Hey peeps, I've made it safely to the motherland. Thanks for the prayers, words of encouragement, cards, money, etc. :) We arrived in the London Heathrow Airport at about 8 a.m. this morning (3 a.m. Holland time). We did all the usual stuff: customs, baggage. Then we rode a charter bus for 2 1/2 hours to Grantham. Our bus driver told us to take a little "kip" ... It's a nap. New British lingo for all of you Americans.

My room's nice, and I've got a swell roommate who's also from UE. The showers are hot, the food is okay, and it's not too terribly cold. I was upset about no elevator and having to carry my two 70-lb suitcases up a flight of creaky stairs. Oh well. I made it!

Lunch was not too grand. Dinner was good: fish and chips and chocolate cake! Oh, and I had an adaptor for my camera charger thing. I thought it was equivalent to an adaptor and converter. I was wrong. I plugged it in and it released some stinky black smoke with a little "poof" sound. Dad, if you're reading this, please send a UK converter and lots of AA batteries.

Oh, have you all seen the movie Love Actually? Well it starts off in the Heathrow Airport and people are waiting for family/friends to get off the planes and stuff. Well, we walked through that area today! Came out and there were hundreds of people standing around looking for people and holding up signs. Doerner (best friend) said she felt like Hugh Grant was going to start speaking over the load speaker at any time (you'd have to have seen the movie to understand).

Okay, cool, so we have another orientation meeting tonight. I think they're going to give us a tour of the castle/manor. It's really confusing. There are secret hallways and stuff. I got lost 3 times today already. I believe I'm suffering from a bit of jet lag. I'm trying not to take a nap today.. they say that'll make it worse. I can do it! It's already 6:45 p.m. here. I can last a few more hours.

Aghhhhhhhh!

I'm leaving! In 2.5 hours my mom and dad and I will be driving on up to Chi-town. We're staying the night in an Embassy Suites. Tomorrow I fly out! Oh my goodness! By 12:55 a.m. ( home time) I will be in London!

I haven't slept more than 4.5 hours these past 3 nights... I just can't! I'm sure I'll sleep plenty on the drive up to Chicago and also on the 8-hour flight.

Last night we had a "going away" dinner at Applebee's. In attendance: Me, Ryan, Mom, Dad, Grandma E., Grandma J., Nate, the Weidenbenner's, Aunt Sharon, Aunt Bev, Uncle Joe. It was great to see my closest family/friends right before I leave. Oh, I can't sit still! I'm off to pack my carry-on!

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers, everyone! I'll speak to y'all soon!