It's so much easier to get out of bed when it's snowing. Who wants to miss out? My motives were more school-oriented this morning, but I woke up and went down to the common room to watch this sort of documentary thing called Manor House. I don't really know how else to explain it quickly, so.. use your Google browser.
I roasted a butternut squash for lunch. It was really quite heavenly, sitting in the kitchen pretending to read snippets of assigned reading while actually watching the snow gracefully fall, with the rich scent of squash wafting out of the oven. Don't forget the hot tea. Never mind that I didn't get ANYthing done for class, I had a wonderfully peaceful morning. God is good at reminding me when to breathe.
After continued failed attempts to do work, I finally put on my comfy clothes and did some Yoga X. Perfect mindset, not to mention some pretty intense moves. Running just seemed a little harsh for the day. A shower and some accomplished homework later, I took a walk by myself to Greens Cafe, where I ordered a delicious chicken pesto salad for takeaway. I now plan on eating at Greens much more often.
I have finally begun to set in stone some trips for both of our Spring Breaks, and feel relieved from the stress those were imposing on me. Planning gives me stability. I like that.
Later in the evening, I walked with Nat to G&D's to meet a friend from St Aldates.. we thought we were late, turns out we just missed each other, and he ended up meeting us at the house. We had a fun chat with Brittany for a while, and I called it a night and came upstairs. Unfortunately, I have to wake up early tomorrow morning as well, so it's off to bed at an almost decent hour. Lots to get accomplished tomorrow, and then catching the bus to London Stansted for our Ireland flight! Let's do it.
If you didn't get the chance to catch our Study Abroad Sing Song act..
With love from the United Kingdom, http://vimeo.com/9381120
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Sydney's informal travel tips
When you're traveling, remember to check the weather. Especially if you happen to be in England. The thought never really crossed our minds until this morning, when we woke up to three fresh inches of snow on the ground in Shipley. Our trek up the hill at 10 am to the train station was a direct path this time (thank goodness!), but oh so ridiculous. What a sight- four American girls with backpacks dragging suitcases through snow while freaking out. Luckily, we left early enough to account for this sort of delay. Arriving in Leeds after a slightly delayed train, we discovered that the wonderful city bus that we had used to travel to the coach (bus) station DOESN'T run on Sundays. A drunk guy tried to tell us how to walk to the station. Riiight. He kept apologizing for how inebriated he was, and we thanked him for the 'help' and quickly walked away. Travel tip #2: A short cab ride is very cheap when split amongst 4 passengers. And that, my friends, is how we avoided a fiasco en route to the bus. One cafe latte and a bathroom break later, we finally boarded the bus. No unexpected layovers this time, but we had a few brief moments of panic in Milton Keynes when our connecting ride was a few minutes late. These few minutes provided opportunity for me to buy a water bottle.. which ended up making me miserable. For some dumb reason, I can't drink the dadgum thing slow. Ever. About 40 minutes outside Oxford, I could no longer focus on anything else aside from the urgency to find a loo, fast. I reached a state of desperation, and caved to use the charter bus restroom. Your mental picture of the whole thing is probably bad enough. Sorry that you'll probably smell that for the rest of the day. Fast forward.. arrival in Oxford. We succumbed to another taxi ride back to the house. Please read this with mercy.. we had been traveling from 10 am to 5 pm, and were not enthused about lugging suitcases through another city. For 1 pound 10 each, heck yeah I rode a taxi back to the house! I love spoiling myself on 'vacation'. It pulled up to the front door and everything. It's the little things.
I haven't recovered. Traveling nonstop is stupid exhausting. Dinner here, a little homework there, and 9@9 devo. It's such a great way to start the week back up. Had a little meeting with the people on my Ireland trip, and am SO excited about the trip, which starts late Tuesday night. I laughed so hard tonight that I got side stitches! If that is any indication of how the rest of the week is going to be, I can't wait.
Hitting the hay. Hard.
I haven't recovered. Traveling nonstop is stupid exhausting. Dinner here, a little homework there, and 9@9 devo. It's such a great way to start the week back up. Had a little meeting with the people on my Ireland trip, and am SO excited about the trip, which starts late Tuesday night. I laughed so hard tonight that I got side stitches! If that is any indication of how the rest of the week is going to be, I can't wait.
Hitting the hay. Hard.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Leeds
I need to apologize again for the awful writing skills displayed in the past two posts. Worn out!
We began our day yesterday as many people do- with a frantic powerwalk to the bus station in Oxford. Cailee, Kelly, Natalie, and I made it with plenty of time to locate the right bus and grab a water bottle. What transpired next.. was one of the longest days of travel ever. Our bus took us to a little stop, where we had a 40 minute 'layover' which we spent in the cafe, that resembled a portable building more than small eating establishment. Back on the bus at 11:10, and then we had another surprise bus change around Milton Keynes, where apparently another bus was supposed to take us all to Leeds. We ended up being stuck there until the bus driver was allowed to leave at 13:00, and found ourselves at the Leeds bus station a long nap later. Groggy, we were ecstatic to find a free city bus that would take us, hassle-free, to the train station. I basically ran to the platform, unaware of what time it was and if we'd be late, and ended up looking like a fool with ten minutes to spare. Our stop was Shipley, and after all this bus nonsense, our group was more than ready to make it to the flat of Natalie's friend, Mary Beth.
Let me spare you the long narrative about what went wrong and tell you that we basically went AROUND the route we were supposed to take. The initial main turn we were supposed to take was missed. Shipley saw plenty of us for the next hour or so through many failed attempts to locate the flat. A quick call from a security guard's cell, and we were finally united with Mary Beth. A little hot chocolate inside her flat was a perfect way to get settled in, and we relaxed on the couch for a bit while Mary Beth made us homemade pizzas! We watched the Bachelor online (and got pretty into it, I might add). Around 8, we met MB's friend Ellie, and walked to a local pub to talk. The atmosphere was really comfy, but the volume of everyone around us made it difficult to hear each other super well. Exhausted, we trekked back in the freeezing cold to spend the rest of the night cuddled up in the living room.
Started the day around noon with a train ride back into Leeds with MB, and she graciously guided us around the shopping district for quite some time. After lunch at a Spanish tapas restaurant, we parted ways to contiue shopping. Literally, until we dropped. Dinner at The Slug & Lettuce was delicious. I ordered a 'tostada' of grilled onions, red peppers, green beans, and other weggies with goat cheese on a tortilla spread with red pepper tapenade. I was ridiculously full.. and then we split dessert! Apple pie crumble and chocolate brownie torte. I don't want to think about food for a long, long time.
The girls and I finally made it back to the flat around 8 and have been drinking hot tea/chocolate while watching snippets of Mamma Mia online. We're coping without a tv! Overall, it's been a great 'girl' trip- plenty of relaxing and shopping. We still managed to cover a lot of ground over the past 36 hours or so, and plan on leaving the flat around 10 am to begin the journey back to home sweet Oxford.
If I don't turn into a popsicle first. Goodnight, dear readers.
We began our day yesterday as many people do- with a frantic powerwalk to the bus station in Oxford. Cailee, Kelly, Natalie, and I made it with plenty of time to locate the right bus and grab a water bottle. What transpired next.. was one of the longest days of travel ever. Our bus took us to a little stop, where we had a 40 minute 'layover' which we spent in the cafe, that resembled a portable building more than small eating establishment. Back on the bus at 11:10, and then we had another surprise bus change around Milton Keynes, where apparently another bus was supposed to take us all to Leeds. We ended up being stuck there until the bus driver was allowed to leave at 13:00, and found ourselves at the Leeds bus station a long nap later. Groggy, we were ecstatic to find a free city bus that would take us, hassle-free, to the train station. I basically ran to the platform, unaware of what time it was and if we'd be late, and ended up looking like a fool with ten minutes to spare. Our stop was Shipley, and after all this bus nonsense, our group was more than ready to make it to the flat of Natalie's friend, Mary Beth.
Let me spare you the long narrative about what went wrong and tell you that we basically went AROUND the route we were supposed to take. The initial main turn we were supposed to take was missed. Shipley saw plenty of us for the next hour or so through many failed attempts to locate the flat. A quick call from a security guard's cell, and we were finally united with Mary Beth. A little hot chocolate inside her flat was a perfect way to get settled in, and we relaxed on the couch for a bit while Mary Beth made us homemade pizzas! We watched the Bachelor online (and got pretty into it, I might add). Around 8, we met MB's friend Ellie, and walked to a local pub to talk. The atmosphere was really comfy, but the volume of everyone around us made it difficult to hear each other super well. Exhausted, we trekked back in the freeezing cold to spend the rest of the night cuddled up in the living room.
Started the day around noon with a train ride back into Leeds with MB, and she graciously guided us around the shopping district for quite some time. After lunch at a Spanish tapas restaurant, we parted ways to contiue shopping. Literally, until we dropped. Dinner at The Slug & Lettuce was delicious. I ordered a 'tostada' of grilled onions, red peppers, green beans, and other weggies with goat cheese on a tortilla spread with red pepper tapenade. I was ridiculously full.. and then we split dessert! Apple pie crumble and chocolate brownie torte. I don't want to think about food for a long, long time.
The girls and I finally made it back to the flat around 8 and have been drinking hot tea/chocolate while watching snippets of Mamma Mia online. We're coping without a tv! Overall, it's been a great 'girl' trip- plenty of relaxing and shopping. We still managed to cover a lot of ground over the past 36 hours or so, and plan on leaving the flat around 10 am to begin the journey back to home sweet Oxford.
If I don't turn into a popsicle first. Goodnight, dear readers.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Rain all day makes for cold feet.
I valiantly tried to wake up early this morning. At 8:30, I rolled out of bed and went into the kitchen for some Weetabix to start my British day right. This is where the downturn begins: I walk back into my room with my cereal, eating on my bed in the darkish room as to not disturb my sleeping roomie, finished, and.. laid back down. I just couldn't muster up enough energy for the day at this point. I'll work on it. Finally awoke at 11:30 and made plans for the day at the top of the stairs.
Allison, Becca, Cailee, Kelly, Grant, Jacob, Wyatt, and I had originally planned to take one of our Oxford Through the Ages 'rambles' today (required pre-planned route to explore the city), but it was too muddy and rainy! It rained all day. At least the grass and trees will be beautiful now. :] We all went to University Parks instead to feed the ducks and geese our moldy bread, then journeyed over to the Thursday market. The rain may have been to blame, but today's market wasn't very impressive. Thursdays are more centered around antiques and trinkets, whereas the Wednesdays are chock full of fresh produce. Next week!
We were all pretty damp and cold, so we stopped at the Swam & Castle for tea, coffee, and food. Jacob fell asleep, hard, at the table. We decided to all get up quickly and asked a British guy sitting nearby to tap Jacob on the shoulder. After a few prods, the guy said, "Hey, I think your mates left without you" and Jacob jumped up from his drooling stupor. Poor dude was tired, and ended up leaving his Nalgene water bottle at the pub and remembering too late. Sorry, Jacob!
Did a little homework until 6:40, when Cailee, Kelly, Allison, Brittany, and I left for St Aldates' college night! We got drenched in the still-pouring rain, and ate dinner in the main sanctuary. It was so weird being a guest there, seeing as I am usually helping set something up when I'm at Aldates. Dinner was pasta, salad, bread, and a variation of apple pie. I got way stuffed. We met some really cool guys that Allison and Brittany had already met with their volunteer hours. I think their names are Tom, Paul, David, and James. Worship and the speaker was awesome. Being at church is always so uplifting, and it really reminded me of Kingdom Life again! Please excuse my sentence structure and attempted storytelling.. I am exhausted as I type this, but I need to get it done! Anyway, I plan to make it back to Aldates' college night as many times as I can for the rest of the semester.
Allison and Kelly suffered with me through P90X Plyometrics afterwards, and Cailee joined us for an intense ab workout. Maybe I won't come back in bad shape, like I thought :] I just finished packing for Leeds (we leave at 8:15 am from the house) and am so excited for a relaxing weekend with Natalie, Cailee, and Kelly!
Peace out, girl scout.
Allison, Becca, Cailee, Kelly, Grant, Jacob, Wyatt, and I had originally planned to take one of our Oxford Through the Ages 'rambles' today (required pre-planned route to explore the city), but it was too muddy and rainy! It rained all day. At least the grass and trees will be beautiful now. :] We all went to University Parks instead to feed the ducks and geese our moldy bread, then journeyed over to the Thursday market. The rain may have been to blame, but today's market wasn't very impressive. Thursdays are more centered around antiques and trinkets, whereas the Wednesdays are chock full of fresh produce. Next week!
We were all pretty damp and cold, so we stopped at the Swam & Castle for tea, coffee, and food. Jacob fell asleep, hard, at the table. We decided to all get up quickly and asked a British guy sitting nearby to tap Jacob on the shoulder. After a few prods, the guy said, "Hey, I think your mates left without you" and Jacob jumped up from his drooling stupor. Poor dude was tired, and ended up leaving his Nalgene water bottle at the pub and remembering too late. Sorry, Jacob!
Did a little homework until 6:40, when Cailee, Kelly, Allison, Brittany, and I left for St Aldates' college night! We got drenched in the still-pouring rain, and ate dinner in the main sanctuary. It was so weird being a guest there, seeing as I am usually helping set something up when I'm at Aldates. Dinner was pasta, salad, bread, and a variation of apple pie. I got way stuffed. We met some really cool guys that Allison and Brittany had already met with their volunteer hours. I think their names are Tom, Paul, David, and James. Worship and the speaker was awesome. Being at church is always so uplifting, and it really reminded me of Kingdom Life again! Please excuse my sentence structure and attempted storytelling.. I am exhausted as I type this, but I need to get it done! Anyway, I plan to make it back to Aldates' college night as many times as I can for the rest of the semester.
Allison and Kelly suffered with me through P90X Plyometrics afterwards, and Cailee joined us for an intense ab workout. Maybe I won't come back in bad shape, like I thought :] I just finished packing for Leeds (we leave at 8:15 am from the house) and am so excited for a relaxing weekend with Natalie, Cailee, and Kelly!
Peace out, girl scout.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
the fish that wrote Canterbury Tales
I knew today would most certainly make up for the lack of action yesterday. I also forgot to mention that yesterday's mail brought me the CUTEST little Valentine's day cupcake card (and letter!) all the way from Austin, Texas! My mommy was so sweet to take the time to send me some sweet snail mail- my favorite! Love you :]
Took my first test in Humanities at 9 am.. and it was a little more difficult than I had hoped. I spent so much time studying last night, but I guess you can only prepare so much. Doesn't really help that my memory isn't too sharp. That put a damper on my day (and everyone else's from that class..), but I took a nice run through University Parks to make everything better. The only drawback was that the groundspeople had covered about a third of the trails in thick gravel/dirt, making running slow and laborious. Definitely got my hamstrings screaming.
So I come back home and shower, wake Katie up with my ruckus, and we went to On the Hoof together to grab some sandwiches for lunch. I am ashamed to say that this was only my SECOND visit to the nearby sandwich joint, while some of the boys are boasting of their tenth entry (free sandwich) on their loyalty card! Trust me, it's that good. I got the chicken pesto rosso (red pesto, obviously) with cheese on a panini.. and it was a.maz.ing. Anyway, as I was sitting at the kitchen table with Katie and Allison enjoying lunch, the fish 'bowl' (really a tall pitcher) was sitting between us, holding the beloved pet. Earlier that morning, Kelly had divulged to me the (unfortunate) information that The Fish (whatever his name is) had died. Not wishing to spread the news, I said nothing. Until Katie and Allison were like 'uhm, why is he at the bottom'? Should've moved the pitcher, Kel. My response, "Well, he's dead." I suppose my answer was so matter-of-fact that they confused this with my (terrible) sense of humor, so they laughed. "No. Really.. he's dead." Lunch was not the same. We couldn't eat with our beloved pet passed away in front of our very eyes, so Allison graciously moved his corpse, pitcher and all, to a corner of the counter. When I had earlier learned of the news, I had returned, sweaty from my run, and Kelly said, "What is your reaction?" while pointing Cailee's camera in my face. I need to destroy that picture. Thanks for the reminder. So while my past betta experience was a little too long-winded for my liking, we somehow managed to cut dear old Chaucer's life a bit short. We're going to give The Goldfish Bowl a ring tomorrow and consult on what may have gone awry.
Got my Oxford Uni hoodie in the mail today! It's pretty sweet looking, in my humble opinion. I was so excited, I proudly wore it to today's Oxford Through the Ages class. We visited the Bodleian Library, which is in proximity of the Sheldonian Theatre. Please Google for further information, but it was incredibly old, and thus, absolutely cool. One of the downstairs great rooms was used in Harry Potter as the hospital, and then a portion of the upstairs library was also utilized in the films. I just think it's really neat to occasionally tie this in to my dorky Harry Potter obsession.
Groceries were next on the agenda, seeing as I was oh-so-completely out. I've been pretty much worn out from then on, so I've worked on homework in bits and pieces, since there's no assignments really due tomorrow. Kelly and Cailee made chicken enchiladas with rice and beans for dinner, and my tummy is so so SO happy.
As a side note: I have had countless people tell me they read my (ridiculous) blog posts. You are obviously one of them. If you have anything to comment on, laugh about, anything- feel free to leave a comment! I just recently opened it up to ANYONE, whether you have a blog or not, so if you're a 'say the last word' kinda person, let it fly. Or any other kind of person, for that matter. This is not a plea for comments. Just wanted to let you know the opportunity is available. Thanks for reading :]
Also, whoever invented curling was silly.
Took my first test in Humanities at 9 am.. and it was a little more difficult than I had hoped. I spent so much time studying last night, but I guess you can only prepare so much. Doesn't really help that my memory isn't too sharp. That put a damper on my day (and everyone else's from that class..), but I took a nice run through University Parks to make everything better. The only drawback was that the groundspeople had covered about a third of the trails in thick gravel/dirt, making running slow and laborious. Definitely got my hamstrings screaming.
So I come back home and shower, wake Katie up with my ruckus, and we went to On the Hoof together to grab some sandwiches for lunch. I am ashamed to say that this was only my SECOND visit to the nearby sandwich joint, while some of the boys are boasting of their tenth entry (free sandwich) on their loyalty card! Trust me, it's that good. I got the chicken pesto rosso (red pesto, obviously) with cheese on a panini.. and it was a.maz.ing. Anyway, as I was sitting at the kitchen table with Katie and Allison enjoying lunch, the fish 'bowl' (really a tall pitcher) was sitting between us, holding the beloved pet. Earlier that morning, Kelly had divulged to me the (unfortunate) information that The Fish (whatever his name is) had died. Not wishing to spread the news, I said nothing. Until Katie and Allison were like 'uhm, why is he at the bottom'? Should've moved the pitcher, Kel. My response, "Well, he's dead." I suppose my answer was so matter-of-fact that they confused this with my (terrible) sense of humor, so they laughed. "No. Really.. he's dead." Lunch was not the same. We couldn't eat with our beloved pet passed away in front of our very eyes, so Allison graciously moved his corpse, pitcher and all, to a corner of the counter. When I had earlier learned of the news, I had returned, sweaty from my run, and Kelly said, "What is your reaction?" while pointing Cailee's camera in my face. I need to destroy that picture. Thanks for the reminder. So while my past betta experience was a little too long-winded for my liking, we somehow managed to cut dear old Chaucer's life a bit short. We're going to give The Goldfish Bowl a ring tomorrow and consult on what may have gone awry.
Got my Oxford Uni hoodie in the mail today! It's pretty sweet looking, in my humble opinion. I was so excited, I proudly wore it to today's Oxford Through the Ages class. We visited the Bodleian Library, which is in proximity of the Sheldonian Theatre. Please Google for further information, but it was incredibly old, and thus, absolutely cool. One of the downstairs great rooms was used in Harry Potter as the hospital, and then a portion of the upstairs library was also utilized in the films. I just think it's really neat to occasionally tie this in to my dorky Harry Potter obsession.
Groceries were next on the agenda, seeing as I was oh-so-completely out. I've been pretty much worn out from then on, so I've worked on homework in bits and pieces, since there's no assignments really due tomorrow. Kelly and Cailee made chicken enchiladas with rice and beans for dinner, and my tummy is so so SO happy.
As a side note: I have had countless people tell me they read my (ridiculous) blog posts. You are obviously one of them. If you have anything to comment on, laugh about, anything- feel free to leave a comment! I just recently opened it up to ANYONE, whether you have a blog or not, so if you're a 'say the last word' kinda person, let it fly. Or any other kind of person, for that matter. This is not a plea for comments. Just wanted to let you know the opportunity is available. Thanks for reading :]
Also, whoever invented curling was silly.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
We put the STUDY in Study Abroad
Yesterday and today were pretty much filled with homework. Until a couple hours ago, I had literally not set foot out the front door all day. Let me explain- tomorrow is our enormous Humanities test, and tonight we had quite a bit of Bible homework to tackle. My afternoon was productive, but at a sacrifice- I had so much going on, I had to skip Alpha Prep today. I was pretty bummed about it, and then Ben and Ryker came back telling me that Jules is back and they actually got to cook! Argh. Next week, for sure.
I'm at a loss now. That's life at the moment. Heading to Leeds on Friday morning for a fun little weekend, and shopping at the outdoor market tomorrow. Oh, and I've been sniffing my pathetic little nose into tissues all day. Poor thing is just raw.
Excitement soon to come, I promise.
I hope your night was more relaxing than mine.
I'm at a loss now. That's life at the moment. Heading to Leeds on Friday morning for a fun little weekend, and shopping at the outdoor market tomorrow. Oh, and I've been sniffing my pathetic little nose into tissues all day. Poor thing is just raw.
Excitement soon to come, I promise.
I hope your night was more relaxing than mine.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Love
I had an amazing run today. Cole told me about this path that accessed the meadow area in NW Oxford, so I spent a good chunk of my run making wrong turns off Woodstock in attempt to find this so-called trail. At one point, I took this bridge into a residential area, and suddenly I had found the river! I ran along the river, which was lined with houseboats, most of them in pretty shabby shape. After a bit of river time, I decided to get back into residential civilization, and spent more time wandering.. by the last 20 minutes of my run, I discovered another path that seemed to be going nowhere. Curious, I followed it, and voila! The meadow. It was absoluely gorgeous and green, covered in huge ponds with horses scattered here and there. I'm not sure if it's good running terrain, since it seemed pretty marshy, and the fact that the gate was locked sealed the deal, so I turned around. Lately, the weather has been perfectly hovering around the high 30's (fahrenheit.. I don't know if I'll ever be able to think in celsius. good for my American readers!) and the occasional peak into the low 40's. When the sun decides to make an appearance, boy is it ever so glorious. And the other night, I actually saw stars for the first time in what felt like years. I had forgotten how pretty they are.
Today marks my second laundry adventure. All went smoothly, and I passed the time reading my chosen book for an upcoming Humanities project. I'm trying this whole 'being disciplined' thing, and it seems to be going well. Haha. I didn't use the dryers because, well, I'm cheap, and it was dinner time. When I'm hungry, not much can stand in my way. Can you tell I like eating? Lately, it's been a lot of peanut butter and jelly, which is fine. It's just a comfort food that reminds me of HOME home. I also had a little of this veg curry I bought at Sainsbury's. Yummy lentils, cauliflower, spinach, and other veggies compose this cast of delicious characters. Not really sure why I just said that.
Ah! The cookies I baked last night. They turned out well, and I had planned to post pictures I took during the process so you could experience it with me, but alas, it is 3 AM and I have not uploaded them. Priorities come into play here. But anyway, we had our weekly 9@9 devo tonight in the common room, which was so awesome. It was led by Jacob, Ben, and Hannah. Jacob said a lot of things that really spoke to what has been on my mind lately- about truly using every second of this trip as an opportunity to improve my relationship with God. Absolutely. We had some quiet reflecting time, and I am so excited about life.
Then, Valentine's Party time! Well, back up. With the secret valentine's exchange thing.. alot of the guys had portions of the girls' surprises delivered to them prior to the actual party time, and I got the most hilarious card slipped under my door. Like, ask any of the girls on my hall. I just about died laughing, and was in such a goofy mood afterwards. Really. I lost.it. I had no idea who the guy was, though! Kelly got yellow and white daisies delivered secretly, along with a strawberry smoothie, which we later learned was the work of Bradyn. Very sweet. So I basically spent the rest of my night trying to figure out who it could possibly be! After 9@9, I went up to get the gift for my person (Durko) and the cookies I had baked. He loved the Man U scarf, and then I looked at all the desserts while wondering who my person was. Tap tap on the shoulder, and it was Ben! He gave me a little bouquet of yellow tulips, white daisies, and pink carnations, a Galaxy chocolate bar (he's loyal to his club, haha!), and told me he'd buy me ice cream sometime. So much fun!! He was so sweet, and I'm so glad I've gotten to know him better already from Alpha stuff. Thanks, Ben :]
The rest of the night was pretty chill.. watched a crowd of screamers play Spoons, while we watched speed skating and cross country skiing Olympics on tv. Once the American was in the lead, he kept looking behind him. Got too confident, I guess, because the Frenchman ended up overtaking him for the win. The room erupted in screams. Ah and then Jacob finished his little present to Ravanne- he threw rocks at her window and sang the LOVE song. I just love how creative, thoughtful, and sweet all the boys were to us. Great friends. :] A group of us watched part of Hitch, but ended up ending it early. Today was so much fun, and a nice change thrown into routine life here on Canterbury Road.
I'm so thankful for all of the people that my life has been blessed with. I hope that you felt love this Valentine's Day, I'm sending it your way.
With all my heart,
Sydney
Today marks my second laundry adventure. All went smoothly, and I passed the time reading my chosen book for an upcoming Humanities project. I'm trying this whole 'being disciplined' thing, and it seems to be going well. Haha. I didn't use the dryers because, well, I'm cheap, and it was dinner time. When I'm hungry, not much can stand in my way. Can you tell I like eating? Lately, it's been a lot of peanut butter and jelly, which is fine. It's just a comfort food that reminds me of HOME home. I also had a little of this veg curry I bought at Sainsbury's. Yummy lentils, cauliflower, spinach, and other veggies compose this cast of delicious characters. Not really sure why I just said that.
Ah! The cookies I baked last night. They turned out well, and I had planned to post pictures I took during the process so you could experience it with me, but alas, it is 3 AM and I have not uploaded them. Priorities come into play here. But anyway, we had our weekly 9@9 devo tonight in the common room, which was so awesome. It was led by Jacob, Ben, and Hannah. Jacob said a lot of things that really spoke to what has been on my mind lately- about truly using every second of this trip as an opportunity to improve my relationship with God. Absolutely. We had some quiet reflecting time, and I am so excited about life.
Then, Valentine's Party time! Well, back up. With the secret valentine's exchange thing.. alot of the guys had portions of the girls' surprises delivered to them prior to the actual party time, and I got the most hilarious card slipped under my door. Like, ask any of the girls on my hall. I just about died laughing, and was in such a goofy mood afterwards. Really. I lost.it. I had no idea who the guy was, though! Kelly got yellow and white daisies delivered secretly, along with a strawberry smoothie, which we later learned was the work of Bradyn. Very sweet. So I basically spent the rest of my night trying to figure out who it could possibly be! After 9@9, I went up to get the gift for my person (Durko) and the cookies I had baked. He loved the Man U scarf, and then I looked at all the desserts while wondering who my person was. Tap tap on the shoulder, and it was Ben! He gave me a little bouquet of yellow tulips, white daisies, and pink carnations, a Galaxy chocolate bar (he's loyal to his club, haha!), and told me he'd buy me ice cream sometime. So much fun!! He was so sweet, and I'm so glad I've gotten to know him better already from Alpha stuff. Thanks, Ben :]
The rest of the night was pretty chill.. watched a crowd of screamers play Spoons, while we watched speed skating and cross country skiing Olympics on tv. Once the American was in the lead, he kept looking behind him. Got too confident, I guess, because the Frenchman ended up overtaking him for the win. The room erupted in screams. Ah and then Jacob finished his little present to Ravanne- he threw rocks at her window and sang the LOVE song. I just love how creative, thoughtful, and sweet all the boys were to us. Great friends. :] A group of us watched part of Hitch, but ended up ending it early. Today was so much fun, and a nice change thrown into routine life here on Canterbury Road.
I'm so thankful for all of the people that my life has been blessed with. I hope that you felt love this Valentine's Day, I'm sending it your way.
With all my heart,
Sydney
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Our quest for a pet
One night at dinner last week, one of the girls somehow suggested that we get a fish to keep in the kitchen. I know, weird. The joke was that we'd keep him in the blender.. without the base on it. So no risk of fish smoothies. Now, past experience has taught me that these pets are pretty, but get a little smelly and never die unless it is on accident OR they live to be like 4023894038 years old. Not really, but that's what it felt like. Then it came up again, and the decision was made- we were going to find a betta fish. Pet stores are hard to come by in City Centre, so after a few Google searches, we located a shop cutely named 'The Goldfish Bowl'. Once I escaped my comatose state this morning, Allison, Kelly, and I set out to find this beloved pet. Our friend Becky gave us directions last night, and it sounded cool, definitely an exploration to a part of town we hadn't frequented yet. We walked. And walked some more. Kept going. I wore my pedometer, and it was about 3 miles, one way. At one point, we weren't sure if we had gone too far, but the guy working at Oxfam assured us it was just another 4 blocks away, then a turn for a few more. No biggie. The sight of the storefront was a 'hallelujah' moment, to say the least. We were shown the wall of bettas, and a really nice guy working there helped us get all the supplies we needed (chlorine drops, food) so our little pet will survive all semester. If he lasts longer, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The walk back was hilarious as we switched off trying to walk smoothly with the fishy bag, with the occasional dart into a store that we thought might have marbles for his (I think it's a boy) home. Variables currently up for debate: the gender and name. Right now, the name pool consists of something like Chaucer, Elmo (he's red), Toto.. who knows what else. I think I heard a Fluffy thrown in there at one point. The whole thing ended up costing 2.40 GBP a person, so totally doable. Let's just hope we can keep him cleaned and fed consistently. Poor dude.
I deviated from the direct walk back home, and spent time browsing stores on High Street, which were all pretty cool. I also walked in and out of many a University apparel store, searching for the right hoodie. It's so frustrating when you have a mental image of exactly what you want, and can't seem to find anything that will approximate it. All in all, I basically walked for 3 hours straight today. Goodness.
Tonight's dinner was the first flop. I tried to make polenta and spinach, both of which were terribly bland and reminded me of baby food. No good, plus they burned my tongue. I wasn't in a super mood after that. Took a little nap, then caught a bit of Olympic speed skating, which was so intense! The athletes had ridiculous leg muscles. Norway was pretty good. Go motherland!
I baked my cookies for tomorrow! The brown sugar here is really weird.. it kinda has a molasses flavor, so they turned out a little differently, plus the temperature conversion cooked them a bit fast on the outside, which I finally perfected by the last batch. They should be edible, at least. Aaaand I purchased the present for my secret valentine. Boys are so hard to shop for.
Happy Valentine's Day! :]
I deviated from the direct walk back home, and spent time browsing stores on High Street, which were all pretty cool. I also walked in and out of many a University apparel store, searching for the right hoodie. It's so frustrating when you have a mental image of exactly what you want, and can't seem to find anything that will approximate it. All in all, I basically walked for 3 hours straight today. Goodness.
Tonight's dinner was the first flop. I tried to make polenta and spinach, both of which were terribly bland and reminded me of baby food. No good, plus they burned my tongue. I wasn't in a super mood after that. Took a little nap, then caught a bit of Olympic speed skating, which was so intense! The athletes had ridiculous leg muscles. Norway was pretty good. Go motherland!
I baked my cookies for tomorrow! The brown sugar here is really weird.. it kinda has a molasses flavor, so they turned out a little differently, plus the temperature conversion cooked them a bit fast on the outside, which I finally perfected by the last batch. They should be edible, at least. Aaaand I purchased the present for my secret valentine. Boys are so hard to shop for.
Happy Valentine's Day! :]
Friday, February 12, 2010
secret valentine
Kristi came up with this awesome idea- anyone in our study abroad group could elect to be a part of this 'secret valentine' exchange. We put our names in a hat, literally, and it was almost a 1:1 ratio (a couple of guys have two names). For Sunday night, we're getting little fun gifts for each other, and it's been really mysterious not knowing anything. A couple of people (like Cailee) that elected not to participate get all the insight into who has who.. and won't give any hints. Bum. I guess I'll hold out for the surprise. But that's just been a fun little change of pace here, the only problem is my lack of creativity for my valentine. I'll pull through, don't worry. Love to be crafty.
Literally EVERYONE slept in today. I actually woke up before Cailee and Kelly, who didn't even budge until 1! Never saw that coming. We kinda bummed around, Allison and I did Kenpo P90X, and after a desperately needed shower, I went into City Centre with Allison, Cailee, Jacob, Nicholas, and Wyatt. Got a few little errand-y things, and got ingredients for cookies at Sainsbury's. OH! And Sunday night, we're having dessert and movie night. So much fun. Anyway, shopping for chocolate chips was interesting. The UK just doesn't bake with choc chips as often as Americans do, I guess. I found little teeny tiny (redundant, yes, thank you) portioned bags of them.. but to get the amount I need for my recipe, I would've had to purchase close to 5 GBP worth (that's 8 dollars for you Yanks). No. So substitute time! I found the hugest Cadbury bar available (drool) and will be chopping it up for chocolate CHUNK cookies. Slight change, but I cannot wait to make these! This is my absolute favorite recipe because of the combination of chocolate and oatmeal, and is perfect for all you unfortunate raisin-haters. It will certainly be different. Cross your fingers that nothing tragic happens.
Cailee and I had a nice walk back home, and then Kelly brought guests up to our tiny third floor! Their names are Alice and Becky, and they attend Oxford Brookes Uni. They are such sweet girls, and they joined us for a pizza dinner with most of the SA crew in the Lytle's cozy basement apartment. It was really fun getting to chat with these girls, which we had met at the Woodstock Baptist Church. They're majoring in Nursing, which made me immediately think of all my nursing friends back home. Miss you. After dinner, we popped the Lindsay Lohan version of Parent Trap in the VHS player.. man, that brought me back to third grade. Classic. Then I attempted (keyword) to learn the domino game '42' with Ben, Ryker, and Wyatt. I think my brain exploded. My excuse is that I was feeling a little under the weather, but I just couldn't handle all the little details of the game! Not so brilliant of me. Poor guys had to deal with that.
I've been spending the night catching up on podcasts and such, in my very lonely room, as Katie left for London for the evening. It's weird having a room all to myself. I heard the opening ceremony for the Olympics was on, but let's be honest here- I legitimately doubt that anything could top Beijing. A least, for a long time. Once the actual events are on, though, I am SO there. Snowboarding? Check. Ice skating? Bobsledding? I could go on. I love the winter Olympics.
It would be really cool if I could manage to get to sleep at a decent time in the near future. That goes on the ridiculous to-do list in my planner. Bahaha.
From England, with love
Literally EVERYONE slept in today. I actually woke up before Cailee and Kelly, who didn't even budge until 1! Never saw that coming. We kinda bummed around, Allison and I did Kenpo P90X, and after a desperately needed shower, I went into City Centre with Allison, Cailee, Jacob, Nicholas, and Wyatt. Got a few little errand-y things, and got ingredients for cookies at Sainsbury's. OH! And Sunday night, we're having dessert and movie night. So much fun. Anyway, shopping for chocolate chips was interesting. The UK just doesn't bake with choc chips as often as Americans do, I guess. I found little teeny tiny (redundant, yes, thank you) portioned bags of them.. but to get the amount I need for my recipe, I would've had to purchase close to 5 GBP worth (that's 8 dollars for you Yanks). No. So substitute time! I found the hugest Cadbury bar available (drool) and will be chopping it up for chocolate CHUNK cookies. Slight change, but I cannot wait to make these! This is my absolute favorite recipe because of the combination of chocolate and oatmeal, and is perfect for all you unfortunate raisin-haters. It will certainly be different. Cross your fingers that nothing tragic happens.
Cailee and I had a nice walk back home, and then Kelly brought guests up to our tiny third floor! Their names are Alice and Becky, and they attend Oxford Brookes Uni. They are such sweet girls, and they joined us for a pizza dinner with most of the SA crew in the Lytle's cozy basement apartment. It was really fun getting to chat with these girls, which we had met at the Woodstock Baptist Church. They're majoring in Nursing, which made me immediately think of all my nursing friends back home. Miss you. After dinner, we popped the Lindsay Lohan version of Parent Trap in the VHS player.. man, that brought me back to third grade. Classic. Then I attempted (keyword) to learn the domino game '42' with Ben, Ryker, and Wyatt. I think my brain exploded. My excuse is that I was feeling a little under the weather, but I just couldn't handle all the little details of the game! Not so brilliant of me. Poor guys had to deal with that.
I've been spending the night catching up on podcasts and such, in my very lonely room, as Katie left for London for the evening. It's weird having a room all to myself. I heard the opening ceremony for the Olympics was on, but let's be honest here- I legitimately doubt that anything could top Beijing. A least, for a long time. Once the actual events are on, though, I am SO there. Snowboarding? Check. Ice skating? Bobsledding? I could go on. I love the winter Olympics.
It would be really cool if I could manage to get to sleep at a decent time in the near future. That goes on the ridiculous to-do list in my planner. Bahaha.
From England, with love
Thursday, February 11, 2010
10 Things I Hate About You
No, not the ABC Family show.. the original movie. I can't believe I haven't seen this before. Perfect 90's movie. With Heath Ledger. Honestly, I can't brag about any extensive movie knowledge, and the only other movies that I've seen him in are the Dark Knight and A Knight's Tale. Ironic. The fact that he and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer, anyone? I bought the soundtrack and was not disapppointed.) are both in this movie make me happier than any storyline based off of Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew'.
Today was awesome. Woke up late to the cleaning crew rolling around the 3rd floor, and ate some bran flakes. All those years of Mom trying to get me to eat them paid off. Kudos, Ma. After my shower, we rehearsed Sing Song and worked on logistics of filming outside. During breaks, I got a phone call (?!) from a person with this company I am ordering a dress from. The story of this dress.. I found it in York in a precious, Anthropologie-esque store. I told myself that I didn't need to be shopping when I could be sight-seeing, took note of the website, and carried on. Well, I didn't forget about it. I checked it out online, and the light pink color I wanted wasn't available! A couple of phone calls to the London store later, I worked out a deal that the company web people would send me the pink one. Wonderful. But get this: right when I tried to order it online, the website gave me an error message. I think my US card isn't cooperating. So the support guy are currently trying to get to the source of the problem, so I can order this dress (from my parents!) for my birthday. Trust me, it is so classy, and worth all the drama and trouble. Can't wait for this to work out. Hopefully.
We filmed the Sing Song act, and then I took a powerwalk to City Centre. It was so peaceful alone, exploring different shops and running little errands. At dinner, I watched part of the Bachelor (stop rolling your eyes) with the girls, and then.. I was PRODUCTIVE! I got my powerpoint assignment done ahead of time for Bible, and I am so so happy. Not much else went down, had a fun chat with people in the front entryway, then popped in this movie, bringing us to.. now.
And we're all sitting in the Common Room in the dark. We're all just to the point where no one cares / wants to bother changing that. I love this group.
G'night, mates.
Today was awesome. Woke up late to the cleaning crew rolling around the 3rd floor, and ate some bran flakes. All those years of Mom trying to get me to eat them paid off. Kudos, Ma. After my shower, we rehearsed Sing Song and worked on logistics of filming outside. During breaks, I got a phone call (?!) from a person with this company I am ordering a dress from. The story of this dress.. I found it in York in a precious, Anthropologie-esque store. I told myself that I didn't need to be shopping when I could be sight-seeing, took note of the website, and carried on. Well, I didn't forget about it. I checked it out online, and the light pink color I wanted wasn't available! A couple of phone calls to the London store later, I worked out a deal that the company web people would send me the pink one. Wonderful. But get this: right when I tried to order it online, the website gave me an error message. I think my US card isn't cooperating. So the support guy are currently trying to get to the source of the problem, so I can order this dress (from my parents!) for my birthday. Trust me, it is so classy, and worth all the drama and trouble. Can't wait for this to work out. Hopefully.
We filmed the Sing Song act, and then I took a powerwalk to City Centre. It was so peaceful alone, exploring different shops and running little errands. At dinner, I watched part of the Bachelor (stop rolling your eyes) with the girls, and then.. I was PRODUCTIVE! I got my powerpoint assignment done ahead of time for Bible, and I am so so happy. Not much else went down, had a fun chat with people in the front entryway, then popped in this movie, bringing us to.. now.
And we're all sitting in the Common Room in the dark. We're all just to the point where no one cares / wants to bother changing that. I love this group.
G'night, mates.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
I am Oscar the Grouch
It's been a bad mood kinda day. I completely blame school, because life is wonderful otherwise. It even SNOWED. Gorgeousness.
Quick glance into my schoolwork load this evening, which is now completed to boot.
Finished my Persuasion paper.
Bible online course.
Tried to navigate my now-online Humanities course.. the organization throws me for a loop. I'm not kidding when I say I neeeed hard copies of my school work.
This is really testing my patience. Add a sore throat into the equation, and I am NO fun to be around. My poor housemates.. I hope I don't get kicked out into the snow. Only joking. I just haven't been perfectly perfect nice.
Today during Oxford Through the Ages, we toured Christchurch. Is it one word? I still can't figure that out. But our tour guide, Winnie, was British to the core. She had a sense of humor I didn't expect. Fun lady.
The Lytles invited us (the hall) over for dinner tonight. It was no coincidence this happened, because it was a perfectly timed study break in between paper-writing sessions. They are such a sweet, generous family. We had great conversation, and of course, the food was delicious spaghetti with meatsauce! I am so thankful for them- especially Kelly, who gets to put up with me on a daily basis. :]
Singsong is coming along! Filming and submitting the video tomorrow. Lots of other things on my to-do list for tomorrow, so I plan on getting to bed soon after I cross off the other things on my agenda for this evening. Need to wake up at a decent hour and take my vitamins! Sickness is starting to go around, I think. We're all getting worn down with all this homework business.
Life is such a blessing. Now, if I could just be less of a grump..
Quick glance into my schoolwork load this evening, which is now completed to boot.
Finished my Persuasion paper.
Bible online course.
Tried to navigate my now-online Humanities course.. the organization throws me for a loop. I'm not kidding when I say I neeeed hard copies of my school work.
This is really testing my patience. Add a sore throat into the equation, and I am NO fun to be around. My poor housemates.. I hope I don't get kicked out into the snow. Only joking. I just haven't been perfectly perfect nice.
Today during Oxford Through the Ages, we toured Christchurch. Is it one word? I still can't figure that out. But our tour guide, Winnie, was British to the core. She had a sense of humor I didn't expect. Fun lady.
The Lytles invited us (the hall) over for dinner tonight. It was no coincidence this happened, because it was a perfectly timed study break in between paper-writing sessions. They are such a sweet, generous family. We had great conversation, and of course, the food was delicious spaghetti with meatsauce! I am so thankful for them- especially Kelly, who gets to put up with me on a daily basis. :]
Singsong is coming along! Filming and submitting the video tomorrow. Lots of other things on my to-do list for tomorrow, so I plan on getting to bed soon after I cross off the other things on my agenda for this evening. Need to wake up at a decent hour and take my vitamins! Sickness is starting to go around, I think. We're all getting worn down with all this homework business.
Life is such a blessing. Now, if I could just be less of a grump..
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
a lesson in humility
I woke up late yesterday, took a run through the snow (ouchie), and then powerwalked to the Co-Op in Summertown with Katie. We made grilled beef Gyros with veggies and tzatziki (spelling?) yogurt sauce, with corn garnished with bell peppers. Needless to say, Greek food was a hit. Our special guest, Ben, had some awesome stories to share, so dinner was really fun!
Then it was down to business. I sat in my room for what seemed like forever, doing assignments for Bible and Humanities, with a Sing Song break in between. I was really productive, and am so pumped about our little production! I have the songs stuck in my head. :]
Woke up a litttttle earlier today and worked some on finding material for quotes in my Persuasion paper. It's wearing me down, man! After a little lunch and shower, it was off to Alpha Course prep with Ben and Ryker.
When I signed up to volunteer for meal prep, I envisioned flourishing chops and dramatic culinary feats.. not really. But I did see myself doing a lot more cooking. However, Jules is still in Sierra Lione, so the people handling his duties have been doing a considerably HUGE amount of advance prep for meals, just in case. I don't blame them, it's a lot of people to cook for. Consequently, our helping hands have been used more to the tune of table assembly and dishwashing. What really swept the rug out from beneath my feet was literal cleaning. Let me explain before you reach some wild assumption that I am a prima donna. Stop it. I just have this general aversion to housework (sucks for whoever I marry, you gotta help me out. please?) and really need to be in the right mood to tolerate it. For some reason, Etienne's thick French accent gave me trouble today, but I finally realized what he was saying- I had to clean the coffee/tea area by the upstairs offices, dust all the trim/baseboards, and Windex the windows (especially the ones on the doors).
Truly, this brought me down a couple of notches. People passing by on the stairs or in the halls would give me a couple confused glances (who is this girl? why is she lugging cleaning supplies?) and carry on. This kind of attention weirds me out, because no one really wants to distract you from your task at hand- but I hadn't said a word in an hour and a half. I just wanted someone to say hello! Cleaning is certainly not glamorous, and I know that in American society, we view it as a less prestigious occupation. The stigma in my mind associated with the janitorial duties just hit me.
I am a student, blessed to be living in an (expensive) foreign country.
I am no more important than a local student, a bus driver, a cleaning lady.
I am called to be a servant.
I am supposed to be living in the example of my Savior, who was God, and then washed the feet of his followers.
I am a mere vessel through which real work can be accomplished.
Which brings me to feel about 2 inches tall. I've got a lot to learn, and plenty more notches from which I need to be knocked down. I think that's what this semester is for. Knowledge as I continue to seek truth, challenge as I am separated from the people I hold closest to my heart, and growth as I (do my best to) rely on God to make it through. Coming back unchanged would be a failure on my part.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Love and miss you.
Then it was down to business. I sat in my room for what seemed like forever, doing assignments for Bible and Humanities, with a Sing Song break in between. I was really productive, and am so pumped about our little production! I have the songs stuck in my head. :]
Woke up a litttttle earlier today and worked some on finding material for quotes in my Persuasion paper. It's wearing me down, man! After a little lunch and shower, it was off to Alpha Course prep with Ben and Ryker.
When I signed up to volunteer for meal prep, I envisioned flourishing chops and dramatic culinary feats.. not really. But I did see myself doing a lot more cooking. However, Jules is still in Sierra Lione, so the people handling his duties have been doing a considerably HUGE amount of advance prep for meals, just in case. I don't blame them, it's a lot of people to cook for. Consequently, our helping hands have been used more to the tune of table assembly and dishwashing. What really swept the rug out from beneath my feet was literal cleaning. Let me explain before you reach some wild assumption that I am a prima donna. Stop it. I just have this general aversion to housework (sucks for whoever I marry, you gotta help me out. please?) and really need to be in the right mood to tolerate it. For some reason, Etienne's thick French accent gave me trouble today, but I finally realized what he was saying- I had to clean the coffee/tea area by the upstairs offices, dust all the trim/baseboards, and Windex the windows (especially the ones on the doors).
Truly, this brought me down a couple of notches. People passing by on the stairs or in the halls would give me a couple confused glances (who is this girl? why is she lugging cleaning supplies?) and carry on. This kind of attention weirds me out, because no one really wants to distract you from your task at hand- but I hadn't said a word in an hour and a half. I just wanted someone to say hello! Cleaning is certainly not glamorous, and I know that in American society, we view it as a less prestigious occupation. The stigma in my mind associated with the janitorial duties just hit me.
I am a student, blessed to be living in an (expensive) foreign country.
I am no more important than a local student, a bus driver, a cleaning lady.
I am called to be a servant.
I am supposed to be living in the example of my Savior, who was God, and then washed the feet of his followers.
I am a mere vessel through which real work can be accomplished.
Which brings me to feel about 2 inches tall. I've got a lot to learn, and plenty more notches from which I need to be knocked down. I think that's what this semester is for. Knowledge as I continue to seek truth, challenge as I am separated from the people I hold closest to my heart, and growth as I (do my best to) rely on God to make it through. Coming back unchanged would be a failure on my part.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Love and miss you.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
York and Whitby
If time could literally slap you in the face, I'm sure that's what I felt at 0630 Thursday morning. We all hopped on the bus that was pulled up to our front door, and drove quite a ways to York. It occurred to me- this is the York that became the namesake for New York when colonization of North America went down. Yeehaw.
York remained true to the general English characteristics: foggy, cold, and cute. Some of us took Holy Communion at the Minstrel (Cathedral), which was an awesome experience! We walked around the shops at the Shambles, which used to be a big butchery street, and found an old pub at the bottom which is supposed the most haunted in York. As we examined the sign, a woman walking by pushing a stroller stopped to tell us that it was true- she had seen a ghost there! We figured we'd try it out, and ate some yummy pub food (I got the Mediterranean vegetable risotto- not so traditional, but delicious). We basically spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around York. Jacob, Kelly, Becca, Cailee, and I walked to the National Rail Museum and saw so many trains from different eras- they made me think of Grandpa Holman. After we reconvened, it was time to get on the bus, continuing on to Whitby. It was dark pretty soon after that, but it wasn't long before we got to the hostel. Let me just say that this hostel and its location alone were enough to make the trip amazing- we were situated at the top of this hill, next to a huge graveyard over looking these cliffs that dropped into the ocean, and on the other side of us were the old Whitby Abbey ruins. Nearby stairs led down into the cute little town, and all of it was absolutely precious. That night, though, we dropped our things into a room and had dinner, cafeteria-style, with various British dishes. Dessert was Rhubarb pie/crumble/cobbler. I don't know. It was just tangy and good, although a lot of people didn't think so highly of it. After dinner is when we wandered around the graveyard and checked out the view in the mist. So so so creepy. It didn't help that the church bells kept chiming every 5 minutes or so. Whoever was inside must've wanted to freak us out, because it worked. The group walked down the 199 stairs to the docks, where some people told scary stories until we were too cold to be comfortable anymore. I took a nice hot shower (the water pressure was so much better than back in Oxford) and got to bed.
Friday morning, I slept through breakfast, and regretted it as soon as the girls came back to tell me how good it was. Oh well. The people in the kitchen had put together some things for us to make our own sack lunches- so I never had to pay for food! Pretty awesome when you can save a few GBP here and there. We were out of the hostel around 10, and were greeted with gorgeous fog surrounding the Abbey, which we got free admission to. Lots of pictures followed, see Facebook for reference. I feel so general saying 'some of us', but I really don't remember who was in the group.. it kept narrowing throughout the day. We took a brief walk through town, across the bridge, and then decided to eat lunch on the beach, so a couple of the boys picked up fish and chips. Mmm. The beach was stunning- all the cliffs, fog, and rocks around were awesome! We ran around, wrote our names in the sand, and checked out a little cave. Back across the bridge for a thaw session at a Hot Chocolate shop, where they made your hot chocolate by dipping a cup into a chocolate fountain, and then mixing in steamed milk. It was absolutely perfect. My pedometer got plenty of steps logged as we trekked up more stairs to the Whale Bones (which were a little disappointing), and then over Northwest through the town, where we found the coolest playscape ever! I don't even know how to begin to describe it to you, but we were literally giggling the entire time we spent there. By this time, it had started to rain pretty consistently, and many pairs of shoes were soaked through. Aka, cold toesies. More walking, lee dee da, down through town, did some window shopping, got Wyatt some new waterproof shoes in lieu of his suede slipons, and then I found some wellies (rainboots) for 10 GBP! What a steal.. and my feet were so waterproof and happy afterwards. I've been wearing them ever since. The group split in half, with some going down to the other beach before high tide, and the half I was included in returning to the hostel to warm back up and play some card games. I taught Prof. Bennett (can I call him Cole on here?) how to play Presidents with Wyatt, Grant, Nick, and I. So hilarious. Dinner came and went, and despite my earlier promise to go back outside to explore, I couldn't bring myself to freeze again. Just no. We played Cranium instead, which was pretty intense.. and then watched the Disney animated 101 Dalmatians downstairs on the VHS- brought us all back to childhood. Great way to end the night before I enjoyed another wonderful shower (see, I knew I would bathe at a hostel at some point!) and got in bed to read 'Tuesdays with Morrie', which I finished. You HAVE to read it. I cried as I finished the final chapter. I wish I could explain more about it, but I'd rather not inadvertently spoil for you.
This morning (Saturday?), I actually woke up for breakfast, and then had time to chill around the hostel before heading out on the bus for the football (soccer) match! The game wasn't Premier League (like Man U), but it was really exciting seeing all the fans getting riled up, shouting chants and singing songs. I could barely tell what they were saying, but it was so loud! Nottingham Forest beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1, and it was such an exciting game, I barely noticed how cold my feet were. :] Once we got out of the parking lot, it was another 1.5 hour bus ride back to Canterbury Road. I haven't done much except put clean sheets on my bed, unpack, and eat. What a busy weekend! Church tomorrow morning, and plenty of homework as well.
Toujours,
Sydney
P.S.- Happy Birthday to my wonderful roommate back in Abilene! I can't believe you are 20. You were on my mind all day, and I'm sure everyone thought I was crazy when I kept exclaiming "it's Amanda's birthday!" I'm so sad I can't be there to celebrate in person, but know that you hold a very special place in my heart, love.
York remained true to the general English characteristics: foggy, cold, and cute. Some of us took Holy Communion at the Minstrel (Cathedral), which was an awesome experience! We walked around the shops at the Shambles, which used to be a big butchery street, and found an old pub at the bottom which is supposed the most haunted in York. As we examined the sign, a woman walking by pushing a stroller stopped to tell us that it was true- she had seen a ghost there! We figured we'd try it out, and ate some yummy pub food (I got the Mediterranean vegetable risotto- not so traditional, but delicious). We basically spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around York. Jacob, Kelly, Becca, Cailee, and I walked to the National Rail Museum and saw so many trains from different eras- they made me think of Grandpa Holman. After we reconvened, it was time to get on the bus, continuing on to Whitby. It was dark pretty soon after that, but it wasn't long before we got to the hostel. Let me just say that this hostel and its location alone were enough to make the trip amazing- we were situated at the top of this hill, next to a huge graveyard over looking these cliffs that dropped into the ocean, and on the other side of us were the old Whitby Abbey ruins. Nearby stairs led down into the cute little town, and all of it was absolutely precious. That night, though, we dropped our things into a room and had dinner, cafeteria-style, with various British dishes. Dessert was Rhubarb pie/crumble/cobbler. I don't know. It was just tangy and good, although a lot of people didn't think so highly of it. After dinner is when we wandered around the graveyard and checked out the view in the mist. So so so creepy. It didn't help that the church bells kept chiming every 5 minutes or so. Whoever was inside must've wanted to freak us out, because it worked. The group walked down the 199 stairs to the docks, where some people told scary stories until we were too cold to be comfortable anymore. I took a nice hot shower (the water pressure was so much better than back in Oxford) and got to bed.
Friday morning, I slept through breakfast, and regretted it as soon as the girls came back to tell me how good it was. Oh well. The people in the kitchen had put together some things for us to make our own sack lunches- so I never had to pay for food! Pretty awesome when you can save a few GBP here and there. We were out of the hostel around 10, and were greeted with gorgeous fog surrounding the Abbey, which we got free admission to. Lots of pictures followed, see Facebook for reference. I feel so general saying 'some of us', but I really don't remember who was in the group.. it kept narrowing throughout the day. We took a brief walk through town, across the bridge, and then decided to eat lunch on the beach, so a couple of the boys picked up fish and chips. Mmm. The beach was stunning- all the cliffs, fog, and rocks around were awesome! We ran around, wrote our names in the sand, and checked out a little cave. Back across the bridge for a thaw session at a Hot Chocolate shop, where they made your hot chocolate by dipping a cup into a chocolate fountain, and then mixing in steamed milk. It was absolutely perfect. My pedometer got plenty of steps logged as we trekked up more stairs to the Whale Bones (which were a little disappointing), and then over Northwest through the town, where we found the coolest playscape ever! I don't even know how to begin to describe it to you, but we were literally giggling the entire time we spent there. By this time, it had started to rain pretty consistently, and many pairs of shoes were soaked through. Aka, cold toesies. More walking, lee dee da, down through town, did some window shopping, got Wyatt some new waterproof shoes in lieu of his suede slipons, and then I found some wellies (rainboots) for 10 GBP! What a steal.. and my feet were so waterproof and happy afterwards. I've been wearing them ever since. The group split in half, with some going down to the other beach before high tide, and the half I was included in returning to the hostel to warm back up and play some card games. I taught Prof. Bennett (can I call him Cole on here?) how to play Presidents with Wyatt, Grant, Nick, and I. So hilarious. Dinner came and went, and despite my earlier promise to go back outside to explore, I couldn't bring myself to freeze again. Just no. We played Cranium instead, which was pretty intense.. and then watched the Disney animated 101 Dalmatians downstairs on the VHS- brought us all back to childhood. Great way to end the night before I enjoyed another wonderful shower (see, I knew I would bathe at a hostel at some point!) and got in bed to read 'Tuesdays with Morrie', which I finished. You HAVE to read it. I cried as I finished the final chapter. I wish I could explain more about it, but I'd rather not inadvertently spoil for you.
This morning (Saturday?), I actually woke up for breakfast, and then had time to chill around the hostel before heading out on the bus for the football (soccer) match! The game wasn't Premier League (like Man U), but it was really exciting seeing all the fans getting riled up, shouting chants and singing songs. I could barely tell what they were saying, but it was so loud! Nottingham Forest beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1, and it was such an exciting game, I barely noticed how cold my feet were. :] Once we got out of the parking lot, it was another 1.5 hour bus ride back to Canterbury Road. I haven't done much except put clean sheets on my bed, unpack, and eat. What a busy weekend! Church tomorrow morning, and plenty of homework as well.
Toujours,
Sydney
P.S.- Happy Birthday to my wonderful roommate back in Abilene! I can't believe you are 20. You were on my mind all day, and I'm sure everyone thought I was crazy when I kept exclaiming "it's Amanda's birthday!" I'm so sad I can't be there to celebrate in person, but know that you hold a very special place in my heart, love.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Thumbs and knives are not chums.
The last two days have been quite uneventfully filled with class and homework. Last night, Ben, Ryker, and I went to 'cook' for Alpha Course again, and Kelly joined us a bit later. The meal had already been prepared ahead of time and only needed to be popped in the oven, so the boys and I chopped and washed salad greens. I was having one of those clumsy days (actually, when am I NOT?) and chopped into my thumb instead of the cabbage sitting next to it. I'll spare you squeamish folk and just say that it wasn't pretty. Etienne got me a plaster (there is no such brand as 'Band-Aid') and I wore that, along with a glove, for the rest of my time spent in the kitchen. At one point, I was borderline on whether the incision needed stitches, but thankfully, it stopped bleeding. So here I sit, with an encumbrance of an awkwardly-placed plaster on my thumb. It's hilarious thinking about how I have coped without the use of my right thumb- putting on jeans, washing my hair. Since Humanities got out early today as a result of Jacque going to America (sad note), I will probably run to the chemist (pharmacist) to see what they think I should do. Apparently they're pretty knowledgeable, and can save you a trip to the doctor's office if your case isn't dire. Which, in fact, mine is not. For now, I'm just enjoying a hot cup of peppermint tea at my desk and toying with the idea of going out into the ever so consistent England drizzle. Oh- after I cut my thumb..blah blah blah, we went into the main church to help set up the tables. We were really impressed with how nice the Alpha Course dinner is, and slightly jealous of the food, to boot. But I had fun. It's been a nice opportunity to get to know wonderful British (and French!) people, as well as spending time with the people studying abroad with me.
Nothing big should be happening today. Last night, we didn't have hall dinner because of schedule conflicts, so Allison and Becca are taking care of lunch, and then Cailee and Kelly are preparing dinner. I'm being spoiled today :]
Probably going to work on upcoming papers and such (I have no life), since we leave for York and Whitby tomorrow morning (at seven. this may not be possible). It's supposed to be beautiful, one of the towns is seaside, and then we are watching a football match (not Premier League like Man U, but 'minor leagueish') on the way back home! Should be awesome.
à bientôt.
Nothing big should be happening today. Last night, we didn't have hall dinner because of schedule conflicts, so Allison and Becca are taking care of lunch, and then Cailee and Kelly are preparing dinner. I'm being spoiled today :]
Probably going to work on upcoming papers and such (I have no life), since we leave for York and Whitby tomorrow morning (at seven. this may not be possible). It's supposed to be beautiful, one of the towns is seaside, and then we are watching a football match (not Premier League like Man U, but 'minor leagueish') on the way back home! Should be awesome.
à bientôt.
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