I went to Scotland, but didn't see Nessie

Hello chaps! Well things are going wonderfully here on the other side of the pond! We got back from a weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland yesterday evening, so our attempt to take a "power nap" today turned into a 2 hour long nap. Lauren and I wandered around Scotland with our new friends Danielle, Angie and Marissa and had a fabulous time! It was our first stay at a hostel, which wasn't as bad as we thought. Overall we just decided to forego using the dishes. Being as wise as I am, when I packed lightly for our trip I forgot to pack pajama pants, so I spent my entire weekend in one pair of jeans...I think they might've stood up by themselves before Lauren and I did laundry today. My Uncle Steve told me once that's how you know your jeans are dirty, so I decided I probably smelled a bit, especially since we opted not to shower all weekend :)

Edinburgh was very fun though! We met a lot of funny and interesting people, frequented a near-by coffee shop called the Beanscene, and got to navigate a foreign city quite poorly. We got to take a tour of Edinburgh Castle and walk around the gardens and walk through the National Gallery of Scotland. The history of it all just made it so much more exciting. The entire city seems to be perched on a mountain too, which made the architecture of the buildings look beautiful. Saturday morning we all got up and went to hike a mountain called "Arthur's Seat." It was sooo glorious! It was bit chilly, but so worth it! To see God's beauty on display like that was just what we needed to refresh us for a 5 hour train ride(s) home. Classes start tomorrow and I'm very thankful that I know where and when they all are and by God's grace I'm no longer sick! We're getting more used to the food here, and I even opted to buy some instant coffee for our 3 month stay. As we're getting more used to life here I'm really trying to remind myself to cherish each moment because it'll go fast. We're having so much fun and I can't wait for what's in store.

One of the girls downloaded the premiere of The Office on her laptop, so we're going to watch it together tonight! I am extremely excited! I've added a few pictures of our trip to Scotland and hope you enjoy! Love and miss you all!

Pictures!

Hey all! I thought that I'd put up some pictures to show you what we're up to! We just got all of our classes figured out. We don't have any classes on Monday which is great for traveling! A group of us are going to Scotland for a few days this weekend and I'm so excited! Maybe I'll see Harry Potter. Still getting more and more sick, but at least it's now as opposed to later? Enjoy some pictures! Most of these are from Conwy, Wales, and there's one of me having my first semi-good cup of coffee...

Cheerio!

Hallo Govna’! I'm in England! We got to campus Thursday afternoon, but couldn’t get internet access until today…so to all of my family, I’m here and safe and enjoying myself fully! We were awake Wednesday/Thursday for approximately 30ish hours, so we feel asleep pretty quickly and easily that night. Our first dinner here was Chinese food, oddly enough. We found out that if you want to go somewhere for dinner you probably need to go around 5 or 6ish and “tea” can be an entire meal. Also, they use the meal words (breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, tea) interchangeably depending on the size of the meal…slightly confusing, but it lets us know how much food we’ll get! I also tasted my first cup of burnt coffee yesterday…not a fan. Surprisingly, the thing that has kept me going has been chocolate.

Yesterday was our first day of travel! We headed to Conwy, Wales with a large group of international students. We got to see a huge castle and a bunch of seagulls and people crabbing. After walking around the city for a bit we got a quick spot of tea and relaxed before heading back home. This first trip made me sooo excited about all of the different places we'll get to see. We find out our schedules on Monday, and from there we'll start planning all of our weekend trips!

Lauren and I are really enjoying our time here and trying to take everything in as much as possible. It’s been a larger culture shift than what we had anticipated, but everything’s been wonderful. AND it hasn’t rained yet, so that’s been a wonderful blessing! It seems like most of the other American students are here to get shwasted, shmammered, or shmabliterated, which has been funny to overhear, but it’s been more difficult to have an intelligent conversation with them. But our receipt at dinner the other night said, “A day without wine is like a day without sunshine,” so that made me laugh a bit since it always rains in England.

Some things that you can pray for: that our bodies would heal from the jetlag, an opening with other student to talk about life, and that our light would shine before men (Matt. 5:16).

I’ll call you on my mObile. Not really but that’s the only thing I can say in a British accent (thanks Ash attack).  I miss you all!