mind the gap

I absolutely loved riding the Underground in London. It's not scenic to say the least, but I never really use public transportation back in Texas, so the experience was really cool.

The trip to London wore me out so much, I am still recuperating this morning/afternoon. We wasted no part of Friday or Saturday trying to see everything possible. Oh! And nothing bad happened regarding the Afghanistan conference. Thank goodness the raised 'threat level' was only precautionary, and everyone was safe. Thank you for your prayers.

It was a little tough to get moving so early Friday morning, but who wouldn't get out of bed at the promise of going to London? Our entire study abroad group made the transition from train to subway without any fiascos, and a short walk brought us to the first stop: the British Library.

Before this trip, I would have told you that of all the places we planned to see in London, I was least looking forward to the British Library. I love literature, but usually end up feeling inferior in the company of people truly educated in the subject. When my survival instincts start to kick in, I will always choose flight over fight. Always. Okay, back to the Library. My premonitions had it all wrong. I saw some of the most amazing displays, each capturing separate powerful moments in time. Combined all in the same room, it was like seeing a brief blink into the history of humanity. I saw the original score for Handel's 'Messiah' (what?!), Beethoven's tuning fork (jaw drop here), countless ornate copies of sections of the Bible, scrolls filled with colorful details of other religions, and one of the four copies of the Magna Carta. The moment I saw the Magna Carta, I briefly flashed back to the time I saw the Declaration of Independence. (If I'm not mistaken, that has four copies too. Yes? Weird.) I just think that it is CRAZY how a document that had defined an entire country could be just sitting in front of me. Also, I had a falafel + hummus sandwich for lunch. Middle Eastern food has really impressed me. Moving on.

The British Museum was next! What I find most comical is that there is nothing inherently BRITISH about this museum.. besides the fact that it resides in the great UK. We talked about this in our INTS class, too: what are defining characteristics of British culture? (Mull that one over a bit. I'm still figuring it out.) This museum was enormous and overwhelming. After a quick glance at the map with Cailee and Kelly, we decided that the best idea would be to get through the entire thing as efficiently as possible. I'm pretty sure we missed a few little exhibits, but our backpacks felt so heavy by the end that we were pleased with the amount of material covered. Got to see THE Rosetta Stone, which was gorgeous, and a lot thicker than I imagined!

The next couple of hours were spent trying to maneuver around London to find our hostel, get ready, find dinner, and locate the theatre. Yes. I saw Wicked. It was phenomenal and so entirely worth the 35 GBP. During different parts, Cailee and I would lean over to whisper about how it reminded us of Amy and Corinne, the biggest fans of Wicked in our pod.. and maybe ever. The rest of the night was spent rehashing lines and songs, sounding like crazy people through Picadilly Circus (a British Times Square) and the tube. Our group spent the rest of the night laughing about who knows what until we passed out. I would count that as a success.

If you ever need a hostel to stay in, I recommend the Meininger company. It's part hotel, part hostel- so you can rent smaller rooms for a family, or dorm rooms for groups of eight, like us. It was very clean, and we had our own private bathroom. That was a plus. I think it's a German company, and they have locations around Europe.. Grant said something about them being affiliated with the Boy Scouts? You can do your research on that. Overall, very satisfied for 15 GBP.

The group (Lauren, Jackie, Kelly, Cailee, Allison, Grant, Wyatt, and I) stopped by some bakeries and a local market for breakfast. I got a great wholemeal (wholemeal = whole grain) biscuit with some raisins in it for 60p. Sweet deal, and then I had the most sour apple ever. Yum.

After we bought all-day passes for the tube, we made it to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. It was really packed (as in, thousands of people. who knew?) so we weren't able to see much. Unfortunately, the Queen nor Princes made an appearance.. even though the flag indicated that she's home. Darn. We made our way over to Westminster Abbey.. and this is where day gets a little rough. Being outside in the cold for close to 3 hours got to be a little too much for me, and my feet and hands were to the point of being so numb it was painful. I realize this sounds a bit whiny, but it was significant enough that my entire afternoon was governed by it. Wyatt and Allison went inside Westminster Abbey, but I wasn't feeling like spending 12 GBP on a tour (even though I regretted it afterwards). My sole mission at this point was to get inside someplace warm, immediately. Walking up and down surrounding streets gave me NO luck, as I was surprised to find that nearly everything next to the river is a private building or outdoor kiosk. Boo. On the way back to Westminster, we located a little coffee shop where I spent the next 20 minutes unapologetically loitering at the little bar by the window. All better.

Let's see.. more strolling through London, rode the tube to Harrod's. We ate lunch at Harrod's 102 across the street, which has a crazy cool variety of food choices. Sundried tomato and spinach quiche, anyone? The group spent a little time wandering through Harrod's.. which is identical to Saks Fifth or Neimas Marcus in the sense that all the extravagant items on sale leave you with the humbled sense that you can't always get what you want.

We took the tube over to the London Monument, which is the world's tallest free-standing stone column. Did you know? Then, for 2 GBP, we subjected ourselves to climbing all 311 steps. I got really dizzy, but the view was SO worth it- we made it to the top as the sun was setting over London, making for some very pretty pictures. Upon our arrival on the ground, we went to the London bridge (sing nursery rhyme here) and took pictures of each other with the Tower bridge in the background. The Tower bridge is much more aesthetically pleasing, but costs around 12 GBP to enter, so we settled for pictures of it instead. At this point, the entire group was getting tired- trust me when I say that two days of straight walking WILL wear you out. The all-day tube card proved indispensable as we ventured over to Trafalgar Square, which was beautifully lit at night. The settings on my camera made for some very flowy pictures of water fountains.. maybe you'll see later. Grant led us to the Texas Embassy, which now serves as a restaurant as a result of the dissolution of the Republic. Can't complain about finding some Mexican food in London. After a bit of debate as to where we would eat dinner and pass the time until our train home, the group finally settled on the Texas Embassy. Even though the chips and salsa weren't quite like it is back home, we more than welcomed the feeling of being somewhere we could identify with! I had some great vegetable quesadillas, and we spent a while just chatting. One of the girls had to find the restroom upstairs.. and came back telling us that there were a whole bunch of flags from Texas universities, and ACU was one of them! Needless to say, we all flipped out and got a picture taken with it before we left (even though the waitress didn't understand the point and cropped most of the flag out of the picture anyway). It's the thought that counts, right?

We were ready to ride the tube back to Paddington station, and were able to retrieve our tickets from our reservation smoothly, thank goodness. Trying to find seats together on the train, we discovered another group from our study abroad program heading back home to Oxford as well! By this point, I was just ready to sleep in my own bed. Some very loud, drunk guys (self-titled "football hooligans") made the ride a bit more interesting than expected, and then we basically powerwalked back to the Houses.

I have a bit of homework to get done before tomorrow's Humanities quiz (over Jane Austen's 'Persuasion') and should probably shower at some point. How will we ever find enough time to shower on our week-long trips? Ew. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

Missing you all in the states. All my love.

My life is colored by good food.

The Internet went out again last night, but nothing noteworthy went down, aside from the amazing Thai food I had for lunch and our first Oxford Through The Ages class touring the city. Ohh, and dinner! Allison and Becca made pesto penne with chicken, bread with olive oil, and tomato slices topped with mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinegar. Wyatt made blueberry cobbler, and he and Jacob joined us as some of our first 'honored guesrs' at our hall dinner. Kelly's sister came the other night! Anyway, dinner was unbelieveable!

I slept in today, and went for another hour-long run around Oxford. I'm really enjoying getting to explore the city, and the time goes by so quickly when I haven't memorized the route..like the Lunsford. Which I love, it just gets repetitive.

Today marks my first completion of laundry- nothing crazy happened, just sat down there and read Persuasion. I had the best veggie pizza from Pepper's Burgers. We had some pretty intense discussions of hypothetical situations in the common room. To lighten the mood, we are now watching Wedding Crashers. I'm trying to figure out what will make the cut into my backpack for London. The group is heading out bright and early at 8:30.. So bed will probably be on my agenda asap.

Life has me exhausted right now.

chefs and concerns

A couple of things to address. I'll start with today.

Walking to class at St. Andrews today was face-numbing. Cold days like this are best enjoyed inside, next to a fire with some coffee and a book. But it's not all about me, so life continued as usual. Today marked my first day of service hours, and a slight change in personnel left Ben and I as the 'lone rangers' for food prep for Alpha Courses. The building we were headed for isn't exactly connected to the main St Aldate's sanctuary, so finding the parish center was a little adventure. Probably should've figured that out ahead of time, but no one cared if we were a teensy bit late.

And then.. we met Jules. He's the chef in charge of all the catering events that take place, and so witty! We noticed right away how quick the people really are- so clever, the jokes thrown out took a minute to sink in. At one point, Jules was doing his own rendition of Lord of the Rings. Times three. Hilarious. Ben and I are also working with a French guy named Etienne (legit french name, for sure) and a wonderful woman who we can't remember the name of. I feel terrible. She is so sweet and made us take a tea break, but I really couldn't understand her when she introduced herself. I really need to work on my accent interp. Two and a half hours flew by with plenty of chatting, good smells, and the company of various church workers who stopped by. Ben and I did a lot of dish washing and drying, and towards the end, we were separating cooked couscous and stirring the chicken dishes. My only regret is that we didn't get to taste it- it was Indian and smelled unbelieveable. The next however many sessions are going to be awesome!

The rest of my evening has been pretty chill, thinking about doing some P90X soon. I'm a big fan.

On a more serious note. The terrorist threat level here in Britain has been raised from 'substantial' to 'severe'. A primary reason for this decision is because of an Afghanistan conference in London on Thursday, and although no solid threats have been made, the government is erring on the side of caution. Honestly, I would normally read this and just continue with life, but our Study Abroad group is taking a trip to London on Friday, and I am staying overnight with a substantial portion of the group. I realize that now my concern seems selfish since it now involves ME, so I apologize. Quite frankly, I don't closely follow any sort of political/governmental goings-on, ever. Just not my cup of tea. When you read this, please don't go bananas, either. We're all safe, nothing has happened. But I would love for you to pray about it. Not just for our own safety, but for that of people whose lives have been colored by the terror threats. It breaks my heart. I know, it probably sounds like I'm the next recruit for Peace Corps.

I really need a hug today.

Breathing.

I am exhausted. Spoiled by a consistent average of 8-9 hours of sleep per night, trying to function off 6 has made today difficult.

After Humanities, I pored over online recipes, trying to decide what would be for dinner! Normally, my roommate Katie would cook with me, but she was feeling under the weather. Poor dear. I finally reached a decision, and set off for groceries in Summertown.

The walk was a perfect quiet time for myself. There's just a lot of goings-on around here at the moment, and coupled with schoolwork and the stress of booking hostels for this weekend.. my brain was pretty close to exploding. I had some grief trying to locate all my ingredients in the store- I know we speak the same language, but the terms they use are so very different. Example. I was looking for chicken stock, and all that was available was bouillon or some stuff they called 'stock' but was basically vegetable soup. Dinner turned out well, regardless of the road bumps. I made sage sauteed chicken (which didn't even turn out dry!), lemony green beans (just like Mom makes), and mini cheesecakes with ginger crust, topped with blackberries. Proud moment here - it was delicious. The hall only wished we had more of it to eat!

Finally wrapped up a paper, and pretended to watch 'Persuasion' in the Lytle's apartment.. which actually consisted of many failed (later successful) attempts to upload some photos to Facebook. I don't know if any will be going up here, unless I discover that the days suddenly have 25 hours in them.

I was so excited to find V for Vendetta playing in the common room, and will be off to bed soon. I don't know if I've said this before, but sorry for the very 'play-by-play' nature of my posts. Just trying to get it all recorded before I forget it permanently. More exciting things to come.. like this weekend in London!

In between yawns,
Sydney

Perfectly and incandescently happy.

This will be concise.

Life is wonderful, and so blessed. I am thankful for: sleeping in, playdates in the park, walks to city center, healthy dinners, Skype with friends, devos with house 9 and 10, late night workouts with the boys, fixed internet, and the privilege of watching Kristi and Corbin dance to 'Single Ladies'.


Goodnight, moon.

a little update on my weekend

We’re safe and sound!

For some ridiculous reason, I’ve only been able to access internet pretty late at night. You can guess that Friday morning came pretty early here. The train ride went quickly after basic details were covered, platforms found, and connections understood.

Our entire first day in Bath was cold and drenched! We found the hostel (details below), and wasted no time finding lunch. Let the world know that Bath has the BEST bagel shop ever. Not like anyone would see that coming. But you get your choice of bagel with various filling choices, resulting in a happy tummy. I tried the ‘New Yorker’: pastrami, mixed greens, red onion, mustard, maybe some cheese? It was fantastic and I had terrible breath. Sorry, travel buddies!
The basic gist of our trip is: wandering. Explored the entire little town, and managed to see the following over 1.5 days: the Roman Baths, the Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent, the Botanical Gardens, and.. that’s about all there is. My favorite was the Roman Baths. The whole thing cost 10 pounds (WITH the student discount!), but the individual listening tour gadgets were really helpful in navigating the whole ‘museum’ at your own pace. Really neat history, beautiful how so much of this area has stood the test of time. I know, that was eloquent. I’m surprised I ever passed English. Don’t worry, the pictures will make up for my feeble description. They’ll come when I feel like it. The Abbey was equally breathtaking, and so close by! Got the feel of an English pub by popping in and out of a few. Quite charming.

Natalie, Malia, Claire, Ben, and Spencer went to the Thermae Bath Spa to get the real experience on Friday evening. I wasn’t allured to go in the first place, and the 24 pound price tag sealed the deal. Overall, pretty chill night with Cailee and Wyatt, but we had fun making up stories about what ‘happened’.
Guys. This hostel we stayed in was probably the nicest hostel you’ll ever see. It was run by the YMCA, and we were really impressed by how clean and non-shady the place was. Luckily, the room we got was ONLY people from our study abroad program, so no strangers in our sleeping proximity. Free breakfast (if you count toast as breakfast) helped, too. Saturday morning was spent walking around NE Bath, with the Royal Crescent and Botanical Gardens, which we’re told are gorgeous when blooming in the spring, but were lovely regardless. I thought of Mom and Mimi as we walked through the garden, remembering the other Botanical Garden excursions I have (less than willingly) been on during various vacations. Sorry, y’all. :]

Today (Saturday as I write this) I had my first pasty, which is essentially an upscale version of a Hot Pocket. I didn’t say that. But it was pretty good! Inside was some variation of ham and potatoes, with a few green bits that I convinced myself would have to suffice as my vegetable serving for the day. Went back to the train station for a 13:43 train connecting us for a route to Oxford, and we were all SO exhausted from walking nonstop. Oxford is really starting to feel home, and coming back was so nice. Bath was a good little weekend trip for travel experience, but I don’t think we could’ve spent doing much else there.
Tonight was mostly reading ‘Persuasion’ and relaxing, and I did my first P90X workout EVER with Malia. I didn’t feel too graceful jumping around on the squeaky third floor (sorry, Natalie!) but it wasn’t killer. I may eat my words in the morning. Then the best part: a shower. Haven’t had one of those since early Friday morning. I understand if that grosses you out, but I smell good now, so please wipe the scowl off your face and continue.

I think it’s clear that I don’t have time for much else to be going on in my life. My brain might explode if I tried to pack in anything else but homework. For reasons unknown to me, being alone in my room tonight really made the whole ‘living in another country for 4 months’ thing hit me kinda hard. I keep retyping this sentence, trying to best communicate what I’m feeling right now, but the only thing that makes sense is that I’m trying my hardest to adjust to a huge chunk of me that’s missing. There, that’s sufficient.

Love,
Sydney

I speak in sentence fragments

Affogato. A scoop of G&D’s ice cream with an espresso shot poured over the top.

It was as amazing as it sounds. Consequently, I was awake hours later, many of them spent watching ‘Green Street’ and trying to get connected to the internet. Apparently the problem is that we have a good connection, but the router (it’s reuter here, I know you cared about that detail) capacity isn’t good enough for the entire Study Abroad crew.. which means everything is basically crashed until the houses get some better equipment. Patience is key, I guess.

Since I didn’t have class today, I indulged in some extra sleep until noon. Felt so good. The house was quiet all day, with various groups leaving for weekend trips to Scotland, Bath, and Liverpool. We leave tomorrow morning and will spend a night, heading back to Oxford later Saturday evening.

I took another run today, this time just a few loops on the University Parks trail, while Cailee got some reading done on a bench. She’s a dedicated student (and very patient to wait on me) – it was freeeezing outside! May or may not have seen a lot of guy’s rugby games going on throughout the park, which made my run go by faster. Never seen the sport before.

This evening, our Bath crew went out to the Jericho district to find food: some from Pepper’s Burgers, others from Posh Fish, and Malia and I got a Panini and baked potato ‘take-away’ from a little coffeehouse/café type thing. The two guys working there were acting very friendly, if you know what I mean. We were creeped out and left as soon as our food was ready. Oh and THEN we got honked at by some dudes sitting in this delivery van. Repeatedly. So tacky. Goodness sakes, I think I only get attention from creeps!

Met back together in the common room for dinner. I really don’t recommend watching House while you eat, because it made me nauseated the rest of the night. Sick. October Sky was our chosen movie for the evening, and I ended up passing out anyway. I was pooped from my run, I guess.

So here I am. Finished my minimal packing for the Bath trip, and am hoping to get an early start on bed. Maybe. This internet fiasco has everyone frustrated, and I am DETERMINED to make it work for me once again.

Pray for safe travels for the entire group. Personally, I’m a little anxious about our first independent trips. I miss you all, and being restricted from any communication outside of Oxford only makes it worse.

Une semaine

I just love how snow is much a more common occurrence in the UK. This morning during Humanities, it was raining, and a second glance out the window provided a view of dainty white flakes falling where they may. Although it didn’t last long, the rest of the day has proved to be dreary, cold, and wet. Which is all fine and well, until you make a class trip to the outdoor market and cannot feel your fingers as a result. Supposedly, there is usually a better turnout for partaking in the weekly Wednesday market, but we enjoyed wandering around the stalls, eyes wide in awe of all of the pretty fruit. I bought some apricots and a sweet potato, and would have purchased more, except I was afraid that all my fresh produce would go bad during the weekend journey to Bath. Next week, I’m going to put a major dent in my money. Just saying.

Not much else has really happened today. I enjoyed the quiet grey weather with a nap and a reading session in the common room downstairs, and was glad when people came in and joined me to watch a bit of Persuasion. Tonight was Allison and Becca’s night to cook, and we celebrated our completion of a week here in Oxford with some delicious tacos. They also made a chocolate pie which I am currently drooling over in anticipation, so I am passing the wait by typing here. Tonight.. is probably still going to be frigid. I’m probably going to chip away at my mountain of looming projects, and hopefully take a walk if anyone wants to come along! Otherwise, back down to the common room it is.

I’m still stressed with this adjustment as I find my place in the house and am trying to get to know everyone. It’s not my forte to be really outgoing or talkative, but I’m managing the best I can. This weekend should be amazing and relaxed, so I’m not getting too anxious about my shy moments.
Until we meet again.

P.S.- Internet is still dead.. currently sharing with the neighbors.

The clouds came back, but it’s okay.

Incidentally, the internet went out yesterday evening just as I finished this post, so my apologies for the tardiness. Here you have it.

I survived my second class, and so excited to get the ball rolling! One of our grade requirements is that we complete 20+ service hours. I'm signed up to do meal prep for an event called Alpha Courses that are hosted by St. Aldates church. Each week, people with the course and church extend an invitation to dinner and discussion for anyone (Christian, Jewish, Agnostic, what have you) who would like to ask questions and talk about the Christian faith. It's supposed to be really deep and powerful. What an awesome ministry, and I am so anxious to be a part of the cooking team! I don't think it would hurt to improve my cooking skills either. Ha.
Today was perfect. The main cause of this was probably due to the run I took through Oxford this afternoon. Yes, Mom, I was very careful when crossing streets, don't worry. 45 degrees is prime running condition for me- warm, but cool enough that I don't get drained quickly.. as opposed to Texas summers. Killer. For an hour, I trotted around a generous chunk of the city. The most interesting part? This time, I didn't feel like an American. I was alone, quiet, dressed in mostly black, didn't stare at anyone, and was thus treated as a Brit. People changed their paths for me, as opposed to the times they had blatantly indicated that they expected ME to do so. Cars noticed me waiting to cross and actually stopped for me. For one blissful hour, I fit in. I was in the English world, free from comments stemming from the stereotypical baggage I normally feel as a burden.
Cailee and Kelly made dinner for our floor tonight - almond chicken. I cannot say enough how happy it made my tummy. I'm five. :]
A group of us are going to Bath for part of the weekend! Super pumped to spend more time having fun with everyone, as opposed to the antisocial homework mode I've been in since dinner. Should be a nice adventure.
I know I haven't posted any pictures. I'll try to get on that soon. Tomorrow is my last day of class for the week (only Monday through Wednesday?), and I feel so spoiled with my schedule. So maybe I'll do it then.
Off to bed to continue my British adventure. All my love.

Gone, like yesterday is..

Staying up late laughing is pretty much the best thing ever.. until you feel it in the morning. I don't know WHAT the game was called, but last night, a group of us played in the common room of House 9 until 2 am. Trust me, it was that good. The basic idea is, everyone competes to create the best caption for a one-paneled cartoon. Pure genius. And THAT, my friends, is what happily replaced my blog-writing session last night.

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous. The sun came out for the first time since we've been in England, and it was like a completely different city! Church at St Aldates was really cool, although the speaker was quite long-winded. The building was really neat fusion of old-style architecture with airy, arched ceilings along with contemporary glass walls composing the entry area. When church first started, it threw me for a loop - it had so many similarities to Kingdom Life (the church I attend in Abilene) that I felt like I was sitting in on the service of its English clone. During worship, everything just.. fell into place. Here I was: safe, living in England for a semester, praising my Lord, with so many opportunities ahead of me. Each little process that brought me here was executed perfectly. My life has been prepared so that this experience will bring me..experience. God has blessed me extravagantly, and the feeling that I was still at home in a worship service in Oxford really spoke loudly to me about how pervasive the hope is that salvation brings. Just wow.

Really, how could my day be bad at all after that? We found a cute pub, The Four Candles, and a little group of girls went shopping together. Primark, the cheap British version of Forever 21, (I know, you're salivating) is fantastic. We also found this indoor/outdoor market. My favorites were the flower shop (daffodils for my kitchen for one pound?!) and Ben's Cookies, which I had today. Ooohh. I paid my very first visit to Ali's Kebab Van, which is cheap and good, but I ordered the wrong thing. I'm giving it another go round this week. Both houses combined for our weekly Sunday 9 @ 9 worship, and then the aforementioned cartoon caption game began. Some of the funniest three hours ever.


Today was the first day of classes, which for me is just one: Humanities. In previous experience, I have loathed History with every ounce of my being, but this class is legitimately interesting. And we're reading Jane Austen's 'Persuasion', so at least I have an excuse to read a book by a renowned author. My roommate Katie and I cooked up some spaghetti and tomato sauce, sauteed vegetables, and bread for dinner with the rest of our floor-mates. Delicious. After I finish this, I'm considering getting ahead on required class reading. Votes?

What I'm most excited about right now:
1. Trying out Thursday night college group with St Aldates church, which means meeting British people and other study-abroaders! Love it.
2. Our group trip to London in about a week and a half. I think we're all going to stay the weekend.. and I might get to see Wicked! Yeah for discounted group rates :]
3. Our SingSong act. I cannot get over how hilarious our Study Abroad crew is.

All my love.

And on the third day, God created..

Saturday. Oh, wonderful Saturday. Today I woke up to gloomy gray skies (the sun doesn't rise here apparently) a little later than my record-breaking 8:30 yesterday. I managed to push my mess of a self together and a group of us went to University Parks! The snow is practically gone, save for two large mounds of snow in the middle of the field. We had a snowball fight, girls vs. Jacob and Grant.. they had better aim. After a little frisbee throwing, the group explored the rest of the park, like the cricket facilities. Pretty neat. Then we found the pond. Ice was covering most of it, and so a couple of us poked it with our feet. Soon enough, I was testing it out one foot at a time, then with both. Then I got a little gutsy and started bouncing with one foot on the ice. You know what happens next, obviously. The ice broke, and my foot fell in, while Kelly was supporting the rest of me, thank goodness. Mid-calf down was submerged and frigid. Needless to say, I hightailed it back to the house, a little embarrassed that I had done something so stupid. I did laugh the entire time, though. A quick shower fixed my developing hypothermic state, and then Kelly, Cailee, and I had a nice pita lunch in the kitchen. Let's see.. we chilled for a while, and then explored this little area of Oxford called Summertown. As cute as it sounds, shops were hard to come by, with the exception of some solid grocery stores. All the walking wore me out, and somehow I passed out in the common room of House 9 while everyone else made a rumpus, or so the story goes. Dinner was fish & chips from Posh Fish- delicious, but enormous portions. So glad we split, Kelly. I felt really gross after that, and got a group together to take a walk, which turned into a trip to G&D's. Back at the house, I had my first overseas Skype call with the fam, which was fun. I miss y'all so much!

Seriously, the only reason I am still awake is to write this dang account of my day.. I can't get behind this early in the game. The next ones will probably be more concise. Enjoy.

I'm a popsicle

The rumors are true - this is the coldest winter in the UK in 30 years. The snow on the ground is beautiful, and the city has so much history. Our houses were built in the mid-18th century! Practically as old as Britain's separation from the United States. Crazy.

Our second day here was just lovely. Some of the girls on my floor woke up around 8 and we ate breakfast together- my first attempt at using a French press was successful! Yum. After a tight squeeze in the shower, a group of us took a walk to find the larger Sainsbury's grocery store. Cailee screamed at a fat chap of a pigeon (you should ask her about that) and before we knew it, it was time to get back to the house! Cailee, Kelly, and I stopped by On the Hoof for some sandwiches (chicken tikka with mango chutney for me) and powerwalked back to the house just in time to leave for our afternoon orientation at St. Andrew's Church. Once the business was over with, a few of us chilled in the kitchen on my floor. We decided to go to the Jericho area of Oxford for dinner, and after a little wandering, we found Pepper's Burgers. Delicious. If you ever go, only order the 'small' order of chips (french fries). It could feed an army. During our previous detour, we found a treat shop called D&G's, which was promptly visited after the burgers. The brownies looked delicious! Despite a few little issues crossing the street (ahem, girls.. haha) we made it back to the house in one piece to watch some TV. I guess we love American television, because all we've watched is 'Friends' and 'She's the Man'. Feels like home.

I think I'm finally getting the hang of the town.. yesterday I had no sense of direction. Now that I am having to look at my feet less (to avoid the slippery snow, which is now slush) there will be more opportunity to take pictures and explore the city! My sense of time has honestly disappeared- I was shocked today is Friday. Classes don't begin until Monday, and we don't even have class on Friday, with the exception of make-up class time. I can't wait until our Oxford Through The Ages course, which will include a lot of our tours through the city.

Sorry nothing super exciting has happened, but we're taking a trip to London next Friday, so I should have plenty to talk about after then for sure!
Cheers

God save the Queen

We have arrived in Oxford!

We left ACU around 11, and discovered on our way to DFW that our original 5 pm flight was delayed until 7, due to weather in the western UK. The airline gave us $9 meal vouchers for the airport, too! Awesome. The flight was smooth, although good sleep was hard to come by. We landed at London-Heathrow around 10:40, and waited at Customs for a good bit. Then, we were off! After an hour-long bus ride to our houses, we got to Oxford around 1:20 and lugged our suitcases up to the rooms. (p.s., I live on the third floor of House 9. and the handle for one of my rolly suitcases broke. woo.) We enjoyed some lunch in House 10, and took a little walking tour to learn the city. Found an ATM and picked up some groceries.. but by then, we were already exhausted. So some of us stayed at the house and ate leftovers for dinner, while others went to the Eagle and Child pub (a popular hangout for C.S. Lewis) for some fish and chips. Maybe I'll head in that direction after a shower. We're all moving slowly and managed to get unpacked.. and some of us are watching Home Alone in the downstairs common room of House 9. It's only 8 pm, but obviously feels like bedtime.

What a blessing it is to be here! All of the people in this group are awesome, and we've been fortunate to have such a smooth transition to England. Thanks to everyone praying for us, we really appreciate it. Cheers and goodnight!

my week

One week until I officially begin goodbyes. So what will I be doing with my time?

packing (one suitcase. right.)
writing (only because it affects my GPA)
reading (see above. pathetic.)
sleeping (maybe at a decent hour? please?)
keeping the anxiety to a minimum (it'll drive you up the wall if i don't)

What a frantic little week.

I apologize that I currently have nothing more exciting to write about than trip prep, which occupies my thoughts about 98% of the time. Excuse me if I seem a bit fixated. I never have enough to spill into a blog, regardless.