Come on, City!!!

I have officially survived a European football game! Yesterday Lauren and I went with our friends to Manchester to walk around and then go to a Manchester City football game. We left about 9 because we wanted to make sure that we'd have time to get there before the game, only to find out that yesterday was daylight savings, so we gained an hour! Which meant that we gained time to grab a coffee in Liverpool :). Apparently a lot of stores are closed on Sundays, so we didn't get to go to into some of the really cute looking stores, but we did get to have some wonderful chinese buffet for lunch! They had some of the best wontons I've ever eaten, and my tummy was soooo happy. So after lunch we headed to the stadium and looked around in the shop a bit and then went to the game! It was incredible! Our seats were amazing! We probably could have touched the grass if we wanted to, but we probably would've gotten tackled, so bad idea. The fans were crazy as we anticipated, but it was actually really funny to witness. Manchester City won 3-0 woo! After the game we managed to find the right bus to take us to the train station...we had a nice rainy walk, but that just made the warmth that much better. 

Right now Lauren and I are just hanging out in the library before we go to lunch. I've decided that the library is the place to overhear great conversations and to witness really stressed out people...it's awesome. Today we're going into town for a bit and then coming back to work on some of our papers. I finished one paper last week (yay!) so now I only have 3 left! We're going to work very diligently this week and then Saturday we leave for London! This will be our BIG trip of the semester, so we're very excited! We'll be going to London, Paris, and Interlaken in Switzerland. It's going to be glorious! I can't wait to share all of the fun stories/pictures with everyone! Well I'll leave y'all with some pictures from the football game! Also, happy birthday to Daddy! I hope it's great!

Manchester City Football Stadium!

The referees stretching...we found this particularly funny.

The yellow dressed people were there to keep people from fighting! ahh!

The boys celebrating after a goal!

The inside of the Stadium...warming up after half time.

Us enjoying our football game!

Beautiful sunset on our way out.

My first of the 7 world wonders

First of all, I have to say that peanut butter and honey sandwiches have never saved me quite as well as they did this weekend. Our adventure started early Saturday morning, where we took a train to Salisbury and from there took a bus to Stonehenge. We had a glorious day full of sunshine and nothing less than perfect weather. It was refreshing and awesome to be able to see Stonehenge in person, and I definitely recommend it to everyone. I still don't really understand all of the history behind it (I guess that's what the internet's for), but it's crazy to think that men were able to build a structure like that that has stood for so many centuries. After our tour of Stonehenge we headed to Bath. Our hostel was interesting to say the least, so sleep was pretty difficult to find that night. I was soooo glad I was awake to hear a mass of drunk people singing Enrique Iglesias' "Hero"...If you don't know it, look up the lyrics because they're awesome. 

We woke up early the next morning to head to the Roman Baths. To me it sounds kind of weird that tons of people bathed together, but it was actually pretty neat to hear all of the history behind it. After the Baths we tried to take a tour of the abbey, but there were services all day and we didn't get to go inside. The outside was pretty enough though, so we felt satisfied. After a quick Starbucks (sooo good) we went to find the Jane Austen Centre. Jane Austen spent a lot of time with her family in Bath, so they had the place where she stayed turned into a sort of museum. I bought sister a pretty sweet present (you'll never guess) and after talking with Jane for a bit we walked around the city and looked in some of the cute shops they had there and then headed home in the early afternoon. We had a long trip home, but the entire experience was worth it. Every day I love living here more and more, and every day God is showing me more and more of his glory.  All in all I'm just so grateful for this experience and for the memories that I'm making and am excited for the next two months and for when I get to see all of you again! And until next time, here's some pretty sweet pics :)

Lauren and I at Stonehenge...really close up and you can't see Stonehenge, but oh well!

Stonehenge!

Stonehenge and glory.

Bath. I named all of the statue after people...Chris is the one on the far right.

Bath from the bottom. Look at the steam!

Bath Abbey that we didn't get to go into.

This is how we live...

Hey everyone! I just wanted to give y'all a little taste of our every day life. These are some pictures of where we live and around Ormskirk. There's also one of how the ducks love me...one even bit my foot! I hope y'all like it!

Me trying to climb a tree in our yard...didn't work out very well.

Me caressing John Lennon. This is at Matthews Street in Liverpool.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds...Angie as Lucy. (Matthews Street in Liverpool)

A pretty church in Liverpool.

The street that our house is on, Ruff Lane.

The ducks love me a lot.

Our house!

Our yummy coffee.

You can't stop me! I've become a semi-vegetarian.

As most of you know, I love other cultures. The fact that travelling to a new place, even a different state, elicits a different attitude towards life, people and values makes me so happy. By seeing these nuances of different cultures, I feel as though I can more fully comprehend God's plan in making each of us unique. With all that said, I hope that you all know that I arrived at my semi-vegetarian decision with some reluctance. I love England and all things about being British (minus some rude people), but the food seems to put up a constant fight with me. If food had feelings, its feelings towards me would be something very much like hatred. So after a few sick nights I decided to stick to the basics...fruits, vegetables, bread, and coffee. After the second day of my semi-vegetarianism, I can happily report that I have found the issue...they cook their meat weird. Until I see you all in December, I will be meatless (unless I go to Subway).

In other news, I started my second week of classes today! I generally like all of my classes, but am slightly concerned about the grading process. They've told us many times that the grading system is a bit harsher than back home, but I feel as though I can put my best effort in and hopefully come out with something I'll be proud of. None of my classes really have any outside work other than reading, so that's the main difference. Most of them require a 2500 word essay at the end of our semester and that's all. I've been blessed with decent writing abilities, so hopefully that'll carry me through.

Lauren and I went to Liverpool with our friends Danielle, Angie, and Marissa this past weekend to "go shopping." This mainly entailed us looking through all the stores but not even trying anything on because our money only goes half-way. They had £8 jeans! But that's $16 and I didn't need jeans so I opted not to try them on. We did see a lot of really cute clothes though and we thought "if only we were British," but we're not, so we got Subway and took the train home.

So...apparently it rains a lot in England? Coming from Georgia, it's nice to have a little rain, but torrential downpours aren't really my thing. But beggars can't be choosers. On our way back from Liverpool last weekend, we all got completely drenched by the classic car through the rain puddle intense splash. Danielle got the worst of it, but I think she came out stronger for it. I'm starting to get used to the rain, but it wouldn't hurt to have one sunny day :). I do try to wake up Lauren every morning singing "What a glorious day!" but usually we're woken up by slamming doors and not singing birds, so that doesn't happen often.

Hope things are going well back at home! I hope fall is starting to peek it's head around the corner and you're all going out of your way to step on those crunchy looking leaves that God has blessed you with!

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!