...how crazy is that? How crazy is it that I'm spending the last months of this year and the first months of 2010 in England? Let me tell you about my day...
Slept through my alarm and got up at 7:36am. Showered and got ready and missed breakfast. Got to the dining hall for work at 8:20am. (Thankfully there was leftover fruit!) Worked from 8:30am-2:15pm. (stopping for staff break and lunch)
For free time, I checked email quickly then got ready to go for a walk/jog. I wore leggings under shorts and a short sleeve shirt. I thought it would be okay because i would just get hot after jogging. Well...i began and was pretty cold, but kept going. After about 5 minutes, my hands and arms were completely numb and turning bright red. It felt like wind burn because there was a super cold wind. I kept going and what happens? IT STARTS TO SNOW!!!!! Yeah, that's how cold it was. But I was kinda in a zone, thinking three things:
1. I can't believe how cool this is that I'm in England.
2. I feel like I could just run across all of England right now and just go home.
3. I'm sure it will stop snowing soon.
Smart choice. NOT. But, I don't know...I was in an overly enthusiastic/desperately homesick zone, so I kept going. I was on a road by train tracks, passing stone houses, sheep fields, horses, etc. Well, the snow just got heavier to the point that i had to squint to see where I was going, and I couldn't see very far because it was so white! I was SOOOO cold that i put my arms inside my shirt (which must have looked super dorky) and kept going. Eventually I turned around and the snow trickled down to a few blowing flakes. But it was so strange to look over the vast fields and hills that were green when I began my walk, and now looked frosted!
I made it back to school, with very numb and red arms and legs and took a hot shower. :)
I worked it out that I had gone about 4 miles...only about one mile of that was i actually jogging.
Oh well, it still felt good!
I helped serve a fancy dinner for the guests and then washed the dishes until 8:30pm. Now a couple of us are planning on doing an all-nighter (not gonna happen...) by watching movies and playing games and whatever. I know school is having a celidh (Scottish dance) at 12:30am, then refreshments at 1:30am. So...it'll be a fun night. Deborah and I sneaked some shortbread at coffee break, so we have some sugar for later. HAHA
Happy new year, everyone!
It is amazing to think over all that has happened to me this past year! But that's a whole other post... ;) I'll write about it later.
Comment if you read this. hehe
miss you all!~
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
WORK it out.
Yesterday I came back to school, where I will work for the rest of break. They have two different groups of guests come...one group over Christmas and one over New Years. Yesterday the first group left and the second came, so I worked in housekeeping in the morning...cleaning all the rooms to get them ready for the new guests. Then at night I worked in the kitchen, where I will be for the rest of the time. I'm going to give you a quick outline of today (which is pretty much what each day will look like):
7am-wake up and shower
8am-staff breakfast for us
8:30-guest breakfast, during this time I am doing the dishes from staff breakfast and then guest dishes...there are 3 of us on the team, so we are doing breakfast dishes from 8:30-10am.
10am-staff break
10:30-12--cleaning up dishes from staff break/scrubbing the floor/cleaning refrigerator
12pm-staff lunch
1pm-guest lunch
1-2:15ish-cleaning up from lunch
**break from 2:15 until dinner at 5pm**
then dishes from 5:30-at least 8pm.
It is so exhausting being on my feet for so long! But, I would rather be doing the dishes than cleaning, I think. So it's all good. Just tiring. I'm ready to collapse after lunch, but that's when I have to get stuff done or go see Josh, so I don't usually take naps.
Oh well...it's been good getting to know the staff and the students here more! Plus, I have 5 new roommates for this time, so that's fun.
Yep, so that's what i'll be doing until January 9th!
7am-wake up and shower
8am-staff breakfast for us
8:30-guest breakfast, during this time I am doing the dishes from staff breakfast and then guest dishes...there are 3 of us on the team, so we are doing breakfast dishes from 8:30-10am.
10am-staff break
10:30-12--cleaning up dishes from staff break/scrubbing the floor/cleaning refrigerator
12pm-staff lunch
1pm-guest lunch
1-2:15ish-cleaning up from lunch
**break from 2:15 until dinner at 5pm**
then dishes from 5:30-at least 8pm.
It is so exhausting being on my feet for so long! But, I would rather be doing the dishes than cleaning, I think. So it's all good. Just tiring. I'm ready to collapse after lunch, but that's when I have to get stuff done or go see Josh, so I don't usually take naps.
Oh well...it's been good getting to know the staff and the students here more! Plus, I have 5 new roommates for this time, so that's fun.
Yep, so that's what i'll be doing until January 9th!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Christmas Eve Eve
I can't even believe how fast time is going! It seems like I just started school here and now first term is done and tomorrow is Christmas Eve! School ended on the 18th and on the 19th I came over to Josh's house, where I'm staying for the first 10 days of break. His family is SO sweet and i can't tell you how nice it has been to be in a real home with a family and have my own room as opposed to socializing 24/7 in a room with 5 roommates. It has been great so far!
Today Josh and I and his Aunt drove to Morecambe, which is on the coast, but only like 20 minutes away. It was an adorable little town! I LOVED it. It actually reminded me a lot of Duluth, with the little shops and walks along the water and creepy seagulls. haha We stopped at the Midland Hotel for drinks. They got coffee and I got water...with ICE!!! it was pretty exciting. :)
Then we drove to Boatley Sands (another little town) and got lunch at a pub where Josh used to work. His aunt and I split a veggie burger and chips (fries). Super delicious.
We came home and Josh and I wrapped presents and now he is having "man time" (aka: listening to Harry Potter in his room while he draws) and I can catch up on my blog! hehe
Hope you are all having a great Christmas season! I miss you all.
<3 sarai
Today Josh and I and his Aunt drove to Morecambe, which is on the coast, but only like 20 minutes away. It was an adorable little town! I LOVED it. It actually reminded me a lot of Duluth, with the little shops and walks along the water and creepy seagulls. haha We stopped at the Midland Hotel for drinks. They got coffee and I got water...with ICE!!! it was pretty exciting. :)
Then we drove to Boatley Sands (another little town) and got lunch at a pub where Josh used to work. His aunt and I split a veggie burger and chips (fries). Super delicious.
We came home and Josh and I wrapped presents and now he is having "man time" (aka: listening to Harry Potter in his room while he draws) and I can catch up on my blog! hehe
Hope you are all having a great Christmas season! I miss you all.
<3 sarai
Monday, December 14, 2009
Mamma Mia::here i go again!
This will be a shorter post just to tell about the eventful past 24 hours I've had...
Last night, my roommates and I decided to finish watching Mamma Mia (which we had started the day before), so we started it at about 10:30pm, but somewhere around 11pm, Sarah decided she should go back to her room in the castle, considering they lock the doors at 10:45pm...((thank goodness for knowing the codes!)) Carol and I walked her back to the castle then came back to our room and we all had a dance party! We were just going crazy and having fun and I put on a party mask and hat that was left over from Cally's birthday. One thing led to another and eventually Cally, Jenna, Marie and I all had on party masks, scarves over our heads, and wellies over our pajamas and we decided to sneak into the castle. We had heard that Sarah's room was going to sleep in the quiet room, so we went through the laundry room door, down the dark hallways and peeked into the quiet room, slightly scaring everyone in there. Sarah came out and we just laughed and talked and danced down the dark castle hallways, took pictures, and very possibly may have slid down some banisters...but you didn't hear that from me. We got back to our room at 12:30am and peacefully went to sleep...
...until I was woken up at 5:30am because of pain on my nose. I realized that I accidentally scratched my nose and pulled out the nose ring! I freaked out and ran to the bathroom to try to get it back in. I think the hole had partly closed, so I ended up like re-piercing part of my nose with a normal earring from my ear.But nose rings are much different from normal earrings, because they like twist around and it's like you have to screw it in almost...it's super hard. But after an HOUR of trying to get in the nose ring, i could not!!! It was really nerve-wracking and I got really light-headed and a bad stomach ache and seriously thought I was going to faint, so I dropped to the bathroom floor. After unsuccessfully trying for an hour to get the earring back in, I just went back to bed. Slept through breakfast, eventually got up and finally got the nose ring back in. =]]] it was a scary and traumatizing experience, but with a happy ending.
...then the hard part was going to 4 lectures after about 5 hours of sleep and no breakfast...yay.
so that's my grand casino story. haha
have a great week, everyone!
comment if you still read this. =]
Last night, my roommates and I decided to finish watching Mamma Mia (which we had started the day before), so we started it at about 10:30pm, but somewhere around 11pm, Sarah decided she should go back to her room in the castle, considering they lock the doors at 10:45pm...((thank goodness for knowing the codes!)) Carol and I walked her back to the castle then came back to our room and we all had a dance party! We were just going crazy and having fun and I put on a party mask and hat that was left over from Cally's birthday. One thing led to another and eventually Cally, Jenna, Marie and I all had on party masks, scarves over our heads, and wellies over our pajamas and we decided to sneak into the castle. We had heard that Sarah's room was going to sleep in the quiet room, so we went through the laundry room door, down the dark hallways and peeked into the quiet room, slightly scaring everyone in there. Sarah came out and we just laughed and talked and danced down the dark castle hallways, took pictures, and very possibly may have slid down some banisters...but you didn't hear that from me. We got back to our room at 12:30am and peacefully went to sleep...
...until I was woken up at 5:30am because of pain on my nose. I realized that I accidentally scratched my nose and pulled out the nose ring! I freaked out and ran to the bathroom to try to get it back in. I think the hole had partly closed, so I ended up like re-piercing part of my nose with a normal earring from my ear.But nose rings are much different from normal earrings, because they like twist around and it's like you have to screw it in almost...it's super hard. But after an HOUR of trying to get in the nose ring, i could not!!! It was really nerve-wracking and I got really light-headed and a bad stomach ache and seriously thought I was going to faint, so I dropped to the bathroom floor. After unsuccessfully trying for an hour to get the earring back in, I just went back to bed. Slept through breakfast, eventually got up and finally got the nose ring back in. =]]] it was a scary and traumatizing experience, but with a happy ending.
...then the hard part was going to 4 lectures after about 5 hours of sleep and no breakfast...yay.
so that's my grand casino story. haha
have a great week, everyone!
comment if you still read this. =]
Friday, December 11, 2009
can we be bam-bam and pebbles?
Bonjour!
I don't really have much to write about, but I'm going to write whatever random comes to my mind, so bear with me. :)
*My friend, Kareen from Israel has taught me some Arabic! It's pretty cool, i know how to say green, red, yellow, pink, hello, how are you, i love you, and sweetheart. :)
*My roommates and I just made a run to the vending machine to get food, and they set their stuff by me and left...so now I'm sitting surrounded by candy, 2 bags of chips and 2 pepsi's. niiiiice.
*Today was work day...every work day, Sarah and I have as our "shloopy" days, so we wear boring outfits. Well, we rocked at our duties and finished early and were sick of being shloopy, so we ran to the room and put together cute outfits/jewelry/makeup/hair in the 50 minutes before lunch. SUCCESS! haha Now we feel much happier and today is a good day.
*Tonight is a bonfire/singing Christmas carols
*here is the music I'm obsessed with since being here: Queen, MJ, Journey, Bryan Adams. Ah, gotta love the oldies.
*Made a grand discovery/connection the other day...i won't tell you what it was, because you'll think I'm stupid for not putting this together sooner...but it had to do with Apple computers and Mac standing for Macintosh... ;)
*Josh and I have a tradition, that whenever we go on a walk around the loop and get to the bridge, we play Pooh Sticks! We each get a stick and throw it into the river on one side, then run to the other side and see whose stick comes out first! HAHA I usually win...
*On Sunday, my family group is going to go to our "parents" house and make Christmas cookies and watch a Christmas movie. =]
*Names of affection that our room calls each other: pumpkin seed, turkey muffin, sugar plum, pickle face...
*OH! and Sarah and I have nicknames for eachother, but when we say them, we say them with a lisp:
Sarah Thesaurus and
Sarai Wilberforce
*The lectures this week are on Abraham, and it gets slightly awkward hearing them talk about Sarai, the barren, old wife and having people chuckle and look back at me. HAHA I've heard some pretty good new Sarai jokes...especially when I'm hanging out with Sarah ("Hey, it's the girl God loved, and then the one He didn't!" "LOOK! "Before" and "after" are hanging out!") Then there are the old ones...("So, when are you going to change your name?" "Have you found Abram yet?")
*I really need to start writing more poetry while I'm here...
*We found out about some ruins around here that are apparently REALLY cool. I guess it's an old tower, surrounded by WILD HORSES!!! We are going to try to see it tomorrow..
*I can't believe it's almost half-way through December! So crazy...
That's about it for now, or else my brain will turn into stir fry.
ew.
That was uncalled for, Sarai.
**peace, trust and pixie dust**
I don't really have much to write about, but I'm going to write whatever random comes to my mind, so bear with me. :)
*My friend, Kareen from Israel has taught me some Arabic! It's pretty cool, i know how to say green, red, yellow, pink, hello, how are you, i love you, and sweetheart. :)
*My roommates and I just made a run to the vending machine to get food, and they set their stuff by me and left...so now I'm sitting surrounded by candy, 2 bags of chips and 2 pepsi's. niiiiice.
*Today was work day...every work day, Sarah and I have as our "shloopy" days, so we wear boring outfits. Well, we rocked at our duties and finished early and were sick of being shloopy, so we ran to the room and put together cute outfits/jewelry/makeup/hair in the 50 minutes before lunch. SUCCESS! haha Now we feel much happier and today is a good day.
*Tonight is a bonfire/singing Christmas carols
*here is the music I'm obsessed with since being here: Queen, MJ, Journey, Bryan Adams. Ah, gotta love the oldies.
*Made a grand discovery/connection the other day...i won't tell you what it was, because you'll think I'm stupid for not putting this together sooner...but it had to do with Apple computers and Mac standing for Macintosh... ;)
*Josh and I have a tradition, that whenever we go on a walk around the loop and get to the bridge, we play Pooh Sticks! We each get a stick and throw it into the river on one side, then run to the other side and see whose stick comes out first! HAHA I usually win...
*On Sunday, my family group is going to go to our "parents" house and make Christmas cookies and watch a Christmas movie. =]
*Names of affection that our room calls each other: pumpkin seed, turkey muffin, sugar plum, pickle face...
*OH! and Sarah and I have nicknames for eachother, but when we say them, we say them with a lisp:
Sarah Thesaurus and
Sarai Wilberforce
*The lectures this week are on Abraham, and it gets slightly awkward hearing them talk about Sarai, the barren, old wife and having people chuckle and look back at me. HAHA I've heard some pretty good new Sarai jokes...especially when I'm hanging out with Sarah ("Hey, it's the girl God loved, and then the one He didn't!" "LOOK! "Before" and "after" are hanging out!") Then there are the old ones...("So, when are you going to change your name?" "Have you found Abram yet?")
*I really need to start writing more poetry while I'm here...
*We found out about some ruins around here that are apparently REALLY cool. I guess it's an old tower, surrounded by WILD HORSES!!! We are going to try to see it tomorrow..
*I can't believe it's almost half-way through December! So crazy...
That's about it for now, or else my brain will turn into stir fry.
ew.
That was uncalled for, Sarai.
**peace, trust and pixie dust**
Monday, December 7, 2009
[[another day of drizzle]]
hey friends!
It's really starting to feel like Christmas around here, which makes me miss home a bit. Carnforth has cute Christmas trees and decorations up and down the main street,,,the wind is getting stronger,,,air is colder,,,and the ground is frostier. No snow, though. I can't believe that Christmas break starts in 11 days and then I'm halfway done with school over here! Time goes so fast. So many people are talking about how excited they are to go home for Christmas, and making lists of the first things they will do at home. It gets hard to listen to, considering I won't see my family, friends, home, or country until April. =/ But I'm happy for them and I know I'll still have a great Christmas. :)
*Last week we finished our last assignment until after Christmas break, so that's really nice!
*Yesterday we had an advent service in the lounge, where we sang Christmas carols and had representatives from different countries (Israel, Romania, Korea, and Iceland) read a passage from Isaiah and tell us about Christmas in their country. It was SO cool.
*On Wednesday, I am going on an outreach with a team of about 12-15 people to do a Christmas program for 60-80 year olds at a church in Preston. We each have a part, and mine is to do a brief talk on Christmas Carols. It sounds like it will be fun. I love stuff like that...gets me more excited for Christmas. :)
*Speaking of, last night Josh and I went to his house and decorated their Christmas tree with his parents! It was SOOO much fun and so nice to be in a home with a family. =]
*Last night, Josh left to go to the hospital in London for an appointment about his shoulder. He's not sure what they are going to do, but they might need to operate...so if you could pray that it will go well, that'd be great. Hopefully he'll be back in 4 days.
Not much else is new here...we have a team that is going to travel to a bunch of churches doing a Christmas show and their first one is tonight! Pray that it would be a blessing in the churches and that they would get the Gospel message across to many people.
Hope you are all doing well this Christmas season!
Love and miss you all.
<3 sarai
It's really starting to feel like Christmas around here, which makes me miss home a bit. Carnforth has cute Christmas trees and decorations up and down the main street,,,the wind is getting stronger,,,air is colder,,,and the ground is frostier. No snow, though. I can't believe that Christmas break starts in 11 days and then I'm halfway done with school over here! Time goes so fast. So many people are talking about how excited they are to go home for Christmas, and making lists of the first things they will do at home. It gets hard to listen to, considering I won't see my family, friends, home, or country until April. =/ But I'm happy for them and I know I'll still have a great Christmas. :)
*Last week we finished our last assignment until after Christmas break, so that's really nice!
*Yesterday we had an advent service in the lounge, where we sang Christmas carols and had representatives from different countries (Israel, Romania, Korea, and Iceland) read a passage from Isaiah and tell us about Christmas in their country. It was SO cool.
*On Wednesday, I am going on an outreach with a team of about 12-15 people to do a Christmas program for 60-80 year olds at a church in Preston. We each have a part, and mine is to do a brief talk on Christmas Carols. It sounds like it will be fun. I love stuff like that...gets me more excited for Christmas. :)
*Speaking of, last night Josh and I went to his house and decorated their Christmas tree with his parents! It was SOOO much fun and so nice to be in a home with a family. =]
*Last night, Josh left to go to the hospital in London for an appointment about his shoulder. He's not sure what they are going to do, but they might need to operate...so if you could pray that it will go well, that'd be great. Hopefully he'll be back in 4 days.
Not much else is new here...we have a team that is going to travel to a bunch of churches doing a Christmas show and their first one is tonight! Pray that it would be a blessing in the churches and that they would get the Gospel message across to many people.
Hope you are all doing well this Christmas season!
Love and miss you all.
<3 sarai
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
+storytime+
So, as many of you have heard from facebook or emails....
I AM NOW IN A RELATIONSHIP!
:) :) :) :)
Since many people are asking all about it, I decided to just write the story here, where you can all read it, because that saves me a lot of time writing personal messages to all of you. haha
Do you want to hear the story?
...that's what I thought. ;)
Soooo....once upon a time....
just kidding.
On the first day of school I met a guy named Josh.
He lives in England (actually, he lives just across the street from school because his dad works at school) and therefore, he has an amazing British accent. :) Well, we became good friends and started hanging out a lot every day...playing cards, ping-pong, going on walks, or just hanging out talking or teasing each other. People were asking us if anything was going on WAY before it was, just because we were always together. Well, it seemed like he liked me and I was starting to like him, and then the night before I left for travel weekend in Edinburgh (beginning of November...he didn't go to Edinburgh) Josh and I went on a walk. We confirmed that we both liked each other, but both decided that we should take some time to think and pray about whether or not we should do anything about it. I really felt good about that decision, because we both acknowledged that neither of us came here to get into a relationship, but to focus on God. I totally came to the point of, "I know I am here for God and that He is my main focus...so if I don't date Josh, that's fine, because God is all I need to be satisfied...and if we do start dating, that's fine, too because I know God is in control and this is in His will." The time that we took off to think and pray was really good, in that sure, I thought about it...but I didn't dwell on it or let it consume my time. I prayed about it...but that God's will would be done, not mine.
We continued hanging out as friends until...
Saturday, November 21st. School had a costume party. I borrowed Josh's clothes (and dressed up like a nerd) and the party was VERY fun. Afterward, Josh asked me to play ping-pong, so we did and then he asked if i wanted to go on a walk. We went outside...it was a chilly but clear night. He said he had somewhere special to show me and brought me out by the barn and told me to look up. We could see SOOO many stars!!! It was so beautiful. We just stayed out and looked at the stars and talked, and then he mentioned that he wanted to discuss what we had discussed earlier. He said that after thinking and praying about it a lot, he kinda expected God to give him a black and white, yes or no answer of YES, YOU SHOULD DATE SARAI or NO, DO NOT DATE HER! But he said the more he's prayed, the more he feels like God is saying, "This has the potential to work out or not, but you have to make the choice yourself and step up and make a decision." And he said that the more he's thought about it, the more he feels it would be right and wants to date me. :) I felt the same way and we officially became the first Capernwray couple! haha
Of course, there is so much more behind it all, such as many conversations about the logistics of dating here, what we will do after, etc. He talked to my dad and we both met with the couple in charge of Pastoral Care here. So far, I feel very at peace with our decision, and our relationship is off to a smooth start. We will see where it goes from here...
:)
So, that's the quick version of the story...I hope I didn't miss any vital information. Just let me know if I did!
I'll keep you posted! hehe
Love and miss you all, as usual!
<3 sarai
I AM NOW IN A RELATIONSHIP!
:) :) :) :)
Since many people are asking all about it, I decided to just write the story here, where you can all read it, because that saves me a lot of time writing personal messages to all of you. haha
Do you want to hear the story?
...that's what I thought. ;)
Soooo....once upon a time....
just kidding.
On the first day of school I met a guy named Josh.
He lives in England (actually, he lives just across the street from school because his dad works at school) and therefore, he has an amazing British accent. :) Well, we became good friends and started hanging out a lot every day...playing cards, ping-pong, going on walks, or just hanging out talking or teasing each other. People were asking us if anything was going on WAY before it was, just because we were always together. Well, it seemed like he liked me and I was starting to like him, and then the night before I left for travel weekend in Edinburgh (beginning of November...he didn't go to Edinburgh) Josh and I went on a walk. We confirmed that we both liked each other, but both decided that we should take some time to think and pray about whether or not we should do anything about it. I really felt good about that decision, because we both acknowledged that neither of us came here to get into a relationship, but to focus on God. I totally came to the point of, "I know I am here for God and that He is my main focus...so if I don't date Josh, that's fine, because God is all I need to be satisfied...and if we do start dating, that's fine, too because I know God is in control and this is in His will." The time that we took off to think and pray was really good, in that sure, I thought about it...but I didn't dwell on it or let it consume my time. I prayed about it...but that God's will would be done, not mine.
We continued hanging out as friends until...
Saturday, November 21st. School had a costume party. I borrowed Josh's clothes (and dressed up like a nerd) and the party was VERY fun. Afterward, Josh asked me to play ping-pong, so we did and then he asked if i wanted to go on a walk. We went outside...it was a chilly but clear night. He said he had somewhere special to show me and brought me out by the barn and told me to look up. We could see SOOO many stars!!! It was so beautiful. We just stayed out and looked at the stars and talked, and then he mentioned that he wanted to discuss what we had discussed earlier. He said that after thinking and praying about it a lot, he kinda expected God to give him a black and white, yes or no answer of YES, YOU SHOULD DATE SARAI or NO, DO NOT DATE HER! But he said the more he's prayed, the more he feels like God is saying, "This has the potential to work out or not, but you have to make the choice yourself and step up and make a decision." And he said that the more he's thought about it, the more he feels it would be right and wants to date me. :) I felt the same way and we officially became the first Capernwray couple! haha
Of course, there is so much more behind it all, such as many conversations about the logistics of dating here, what we will do after, etc. He talked to my dad and we both met with the couple in charge of Pastoral Care here. So far, I feel very at peace with our decision, and our relationship is off to a smooth start. We will see where it goes from here...
:)
So, that's the quick version of the story...I hope I didn't miss any vital information. Just let me know if I did!
I'll keep you posted! hehe
Love and miss you all, as usual!
<3 sarai
Saturday, November 21, 2009
//shrouds of clouds//
I don't even know if anyone is still reading this, but I'll update it anyway. :)
Not too much is new lately.
This past week I was working a lot on a project we had on 1st and 2nd Samuel. I don't know if I told you, but we are reading through the Old Testament while we are here. So I got the project finished about 2 hours before it was due. oofda! <--speaking of, everyone here makes fun of my "Minnesotan" accent...o much that I'm actually starting to hear the accent! haha. And everyone laughed when I said I was craving Swedish meatballs, wild rice soup, pepparkakor, and Norwegian toast!! haha. I guess that DOES make me sound Minnesotan...
Last night was "family night". We are each in a family group that different members of the staff lead. There are about 12 people in my family group and we have a lot of fun! Last night we went to our "parents" house and had a birthday party! We just celebrated everyone's birthday with games and cake and ice-cream. It was a lot of fun and we didn't get back until after lock-up, so we had some adventures around the castle in the dark...haha
Today a bunch of people went into Lancaster to see "New Moon" (the second Twilight movie that came out). The rest of us are just hanging out around the castle, which is really nice and relaxing. It is a gray, rainy day...big shocker. ;) I got my laundry done already and might go for a walk later.
Tonight the social committee planned a costume party! The beginning letters for each persons last name was assigned something that everyone with a last name beginning with that letter has to dress up as. The M's get to dress up as GEEKS! haha. It will be SO funny, I can't wait. Some friends are coming to my room and we're all going to get ready together. Here are some of the things people have to dress up as: cavemen, Greeks, historical figures, pirates, villains, samurai, royalty, rockers, futurists, etc. I'll definitely take a lot of pictures!!!
That's about it for now! Hope everyone is doing well.
Love you all.
<3 sarai
Not too much is new lately.
This past week I was working a lot on a project we had on 1st and 2nd Samuel. I don't know if I told you, but we are reading through the Old Testament while we are here. So I got the project finished about 2 hours before it was due. oofda! <--speaking of, everyone here makes fun of my "Minnesotan" accent...o much that I'm actually starting to hear the accent! haha. And everyone laughed when I said I was craving Swedish meatballs, wild rice soup, pepparkakor, and Norwegian toast!! haha. I guess that DOES make me sound Minnesotan...
Last night was "family night". We are each in a family group that different members of the staff lead. There are about 12 people in my family group and we have a lot of fun! Last night we went to our "parents" house and had a birthday party! We just celebrated everyone's birthday with games and cake and ice-cream. It was a lot of fun and we didn't get back until after lock-up, so we had some adventures around the castle in the dark...haha
Today a bunch of people went into Lancaster to see "New Moon" (the second Twilight movie that came out). The rest of us are just hanging out around the castle, which is really nice and relaxing. It is a gray, rainy day...big shocker. ;) I got my laundry done already and might go for a walk later.
Tonight the social committee planned a costume party! The beginning letters for each persons last name was assigned something that everyone with a last name beginning with that letter has to dress up as. The M's get to dress up as GEEKS! haha. It will be SO funny, I can't wait. Some friends are coming to my room and we're all going to get ready together. Here are some of the things people have to dress up as: cavemen, Greeks, historical figures, pirates, villains, samurai, royalty, rockers, futurists, etc. I'll definitely take a lot of pictures!!!
That's about it for now! Hope everyone is doing well.
Love you all.
<3 sarai
Friday, November 13, 2009
::a cute, little numpty::
I have been meaning to update this for quite a while, but never get around to it, so now I finally will!
If you are wondering what the title means, my friend Dave from Scotland said that numpty means "idiot" in Scotland. I think it's such a cute word (reminds me of a troll or elf or something), so that's my new nickname for people. :) haha
Anyhoo: this past week we had two lecturers...one spoke on the Sermon on the Mount (very good) and then other spoke on Effective Ministry. This seemed like a very long week...so I am very glad that it is Friday!
Today was work day for me, and thankfully I got an easy duty (cleaning the lounge hall and entrance), so we were done by 12:10pm. The only downside was spraying and breathing in very strong furniture polish. no bueno.
Yesterday was a wonderful day. It's the first time in a while where I haven't had any projects to work on during free time, so i went on a walk with a friend. It was rainy, but we wore wellies and i jumped in all the puddles, as usual. Then we ended up splashing each other with the puddles (he started it...lol) and ended up completely soaked! I spent the rest of the day just hanging out around the castle, playing cards, ping-pong, talking, etc. it was great. :)
Tonight my room with probably have a movie night....Friday night tradition! Tomorrow I can't wait to sleep in! yay!
a couple random thoughts now: (can't forget those!)
-Ah, I miss ice cubes! I think i've only had ice cubes ONCE since being here. Sad day.
-you'll be proud to know that yesterday I had 2 glasses of milk! and no one forced me! (NO, i didn't like it)
-they have Mars bars here...super amazingness! I don't think we have them in America...(it's like a 3 Musketeers, but with caramel, too! mmmm)
-Since Thanksgiving is coming up, the Americans are planning a special surprise. ;) I can't say anything....don't want any of the Canadians to hear about it. haha
-Tonight is "British Night"....the Brits are planning it and we have no idea what's going to happen for it. I just hope it doesn't involve marmite or black pudding...
I think that'll be enough for now...I am sooo tired! If you want to know anything else about life over here, just ask me!
love you all and miss you!
Sarai
If you are wondering what the title means, my friend Dave from Scotland said that numpty means "idiot" in Scotland. I think it's such a cute word (reminds me of a troll or elf or something), so that's my new nickname for people. :) haha
Anyhoo: this past week we had two lecturers...one spoke on the Sermon on the Mount (very good) and then other spoke on Effective Ministry. This seemed like a very long week...so I am very glad that it is Friday!
Today was work day for me, and thankfully I got an easy duty (cleaning the lounge hall and entrance), so we were done by 12:10pm. The only downside was spraying and breathing in very strong furniture polish. no bueno.
Yesterday was a wonderful day. It's the first time in a while where I haven't had any projects to work on during free time, so i went on a walk with a friend. It was rainy, but we wore wellies and i jumped in all the puddles, as usual. Then we ended up splashing each other with the puddles (he started it...lol) and ended up completely soaked! I spent the rest of the day just hanging out around the castle, playing cards, ping-pong, talking, etc. it was great. :)
Tonight my room with probably have a movie night....Friday night tradition! Tomorrow I can't wait to sleep in! yay!
a couple random thoughts now: (can't forget those!)
-Ah, I miss ice cubes! I think i've only had ice cubes ONCE since being here. Sad day.
-you'll be proud to know that yesterday I had 2 glasses of milk! and no one forced me! (NO, i didn't like it)
-they have Mars bars here...super amazingness! I don't think we have them in America...(it's like a 3 Musketeers, but with caramel, too! mmmm)
-Since Thanksgiving is coming up, the Americans are planning a special surprise. ;) I can't say anything....don't want any of the Canadians to hear about it. haha
-Tonight is "British Night"....the Brits are planning it and we have no idea what's going to happen for it. I just hope it doesn't involve marmite or black pudding...
I think that'll be enough for now...I am sooo tired! If you want to know anything else about life over here, just ask me!
love you all and miss you!
Sarai
Saturday, October 24, 2009
England: where people compliment eachother's umbrellas.
It's a beautifully rainy day in England!
Saturdays are so nice, because it's the one day we can sleep in, since brunch isn't until 11am. It's good to feel rested for once.
This past week, the lecturer was John Allan, and he spoke on Ecclesiastes and also on "Facing the Modern World". I really enjoyed the Ecclesiastes study....
Last night was "Social night" where we could sign up for any of the different events they had...most of my roommates went to play laser tag in Morecambe, but I decided to stay at the castle. I started working on one of the assignments, but ended up falling asleep. HAHA Once my roomies got back, we spent forever searching the castle for food....the food here does NOT fill you up at all, so basically every night we are hungry. We tried calling to order pizza, but they wouldn't deliver at 11pm. Sad day. We found someone who gave us a plate of cookies, and then i remembered i had an apple, so Sarah, Chase, and I hung out in the kitchen and split the apple. haha good times.
Well, right now I'm in the prep room, and someone has been playing Christmas music, which makes me really excited for Christmas, but also really homesick. :'(
Today, I'm not really up to much...just relaxing around here, probably doing some homework, and then tonight my roomies and i are going to watch a movie and order pizza! :)
Saturdays are so nice, because it's the one day we can sleep in, since brunch isn't until 11am. It's good to feel rested for once.
This past week, the lecturer was John Allan, and he spoke on Ecclesiastes and also on "Facing the Modern World". I really enjoyed the Ecclesiastes study....
Last night was "Social night" where we could sign up for any of the different events they had...most of my roommates went to play laser tag in Morecambe, but I decided to stay at the castle. I started working on one of the assignments, but ended up falling asleep. HAHA Once my roomies got back, we spent forever searching the castle for food....the food here does NOT fill you up at all, so basically every night we are hungry. We tried calling to order pizza, but they wouldn't deliver at 11pm. Sad day. We found someone who gave us a plate of cookies, and then i remembered i had an apple, so Sarah, Chase, and I hung out in the kitchen and split the apple. haha good times.
Well, right now I'm in the prep room, and someone has been playing Christmas music, which makes me really excited for Christmas, but also really homesick. :'(
Today, I'm not really up to much...just relaxing around here, probably doing some homework, and then tonight my roomies and i are going to watch a movie and order pizza! :)
Monday, October 19, 2009
fluorescent//raindrops
ah, i love the rain!
I just want to write about a happy moment I had yesterday...
So...yesterday it was raining...and i mean legit raining, not the misty stuff we usually have. I decided to go on a walk around the loop. So I set off in my zebra-striped wellies and did not bring an umbrella (umbrellas are for wimps). I jumped in every puddle I saw, and then stopped at a bridge. It was beautiful to watch the raindrops fall onto the glassy surface before becoming the water flowing down the little stream. I just stayed on the bridge and thought/prayed/sang, and then all of a sudden, across the foggy, English countryside came a train!
I don't know...it was just one of those moments where I sat back and thought, "Wow...here I am in England, in the rain, on an adorable bridge, surrounded by pastures full of sheep and stone walls, and now a cute little train is passing!" It made me so happy.
I was definitely soaking wet by the time I made it back to the castle, but it was SO worth it.
go puddle-jumping sometime...without an umbrella.
I just want to write about a happy moment I had yesterday...
So...yesterday it was raining...and i mean legit raining, not the misty stuff we usually have. I decided to go on a walk around the loop. So I set off in my zebra-striped wellies and did not bring an umbrella (umbrellas are for wimps). I jumped in every puddle I saw, and then stopped at a bridge. It was beautiful to watch the raindrops fall onto the glassy surface before becoming the water flowing down the little stream. I just stayed on the bridge and thought/prayed/sang, and then all of a sudden, across the foggy, English countryside came a train!
I don't know...it was just one of those moments where I sat back and thought, "Wow...here I am in England, in the rain, on an adorable bridge, surrounded by pastures full of sheep and stone walls, and now a cute little train is passing!" It made me so happy.
I was definitely soaking wet by the time I made it back to the castle, but it was SO worth it.
go puddle-jumping sometime...without an umbrella.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Today is a beautiful day in England!
It feels like an autumn day in Minnesota, which makes me miss home and want to go to the apple orchard! :)
Today is Friday, which means WORK DAY! Half the students went to lectures, and the other half did work duties around the castle. I was in lectures last Friday, so i worked this week.
My job was to clean the conference hall rooms and bathrooms, just the sinks and mirrors and countertops. It is way more time-consuming than it seems, and took me from 9am-12:30 pm! haha
At least it's done.
Now my room is doing laundry, since Friday is our designated laundry day. I've never done laundry before, so this is interesting. ;) We are doing about 6 loads and are running out of detergent, so we're trying to stretch it and see how far we can make it last. HAHA
Tonight the girls in my room and I are ordering pizza from Carnforth and are going to have a movie night. I really love the girls in my room...we get along very well.
Last night was testimony night, where they drew names out of a bucket to see who would give their testimonies...I was prepared, but happy that mine was NOT called. :)
Off to do laundry, read the Old Testament, and try to read the book we need to write a report on.
love you! sarai
ps: san salvador is in central america.
It feels like an autumn day in Minnesota, which makes me miss home and want to go to the apple orchard! :)
Today is Friday, which means WORK DAY! Half the students went to lectures, and the other half did work duties around the castle. I was in lectures last Friday, so i worked this week.
My job was to clean the conference hall rooms and bathrooms, just the sinks and mirrors and countertops. It is way more time-consuming than it seems, and took me from 9am-12:30 pm! haha
At least it's done.
Now my room is doing laundry, since Friday is our designated laundry day. I've never done laundry before, so this is interesting. ;) We are doing about 6 loads and are running out of detergent, so we're trying to stretch it and see how far we can make it last. HAHA
Tonight the girls in my room and I are ordering pizza from Carnforth and are going to have a movie night. I really love the girls in my room...we get along very well.
Last night was testimony night, where they drew names out of a bucket to see who would give their testimonies...I was prepared, but happy that mine was NOT called. :)
Off to do laundry, read the Old Testament, and try to read the book we need to write a report on.
love you! sarai
ps: san salvador is in central america.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
*teatime*
I am so sorry it has taken me so long since i last updated this! We have limited internet time, and it is very slow because everyone goes on at once.
here is the schedule of my days here (not weekends):
6am-get up for a hot shower where the water does NOT run out.
7:30am-breakfast
9am-1pm-lectures
1pm-lunch
*freetime until dinner*
5:45-dinner
7-9pm-lectures
9pm-tea and coffee in the dining hall
my roommates and i have been having movie nights lately and end up getting to bed anywhere from midnight to 2am. :) Too bad we get along so well and have so much fun, otherwise we might get more sleep!
random stuff about school:
*the food is pretty bland here...we find ourselves craving mcdonalds...
*this morning, my shower actually ran out of water after about 2 minutes. i am learning to take VERY quick showers
*my room decided not to use our door anymore,,,instead we only enter our room through the window...it makes us feel more sneaky
*we like playing cards during free time, but i have noticed that only the German guys have a problem playing with my pink cards...they won't do it!
*we are reading through the old Testament while we are here...we had to be up to Genesis 42 by the end of the first week.
*inside jokes our room has: "carol! carol!" cochino!! crooossss the jordan! haha. ask if you want to know.
*today, 2 roommates and i were taking pictures after church, and were chased by a HUGE bee. you should have seen us all running around in our heels and screaming! haha
*here are some terms that are different in England:
-ping-pong is called "table tennis"
-soccer is "football"
-football is "american football"
-trash is "rubbish"
-getting in line is "queue-ing up"
-the letter Z is "zed"
*we have 6 lectures a day...it gets quite long sometimes.
*people from over here are CRAZY about soccer...it's ridiculous. haha
well, i don't know what else you want to know right now! Tell me if there is anything you were wondering or anything like that. Oh, it's raining here again right now! :) The rain here is really light, like a drizzle and sometimes just like a mist. I really want a thunderstorm!
love you all and miss you every day.
<3 sarai
here is the schedule of my days here (not weekends):
6am-get up for a hot shower where the water does NOT run out.
7:30am-breakfast
9am-1pm-lectures
1pm-lunch
*freetime until dinner*
5:45-dinner
7-9pm-lectures
9pm-tea and coffee in the dining hall
my roommates and i have been having movie nights lately and end up getting to bed anywhere from midnight to 2am. :) Too bad we get along so well and have so much fun, otherwise we might get more sleep!
random stuff about school:
*the food is pretty bland here...we find ourselves craving mcdonalds...
*this morning, my shower actually ran out of water after about 2 minutes. i am learning to take VERY quick showers
*my room decided not to use our door anymore,,,instead we only enter our room through the window...it makes us feel more sneaky
*we like playing cards during free time, but i have noticed that only the German guys have a problem playing with my pink cards...they won't do it!
*we are reading through the old Testament while we are here...we had to be up to Genesis 42 by the end of the first week.
*inside jokes our room has: "carol! carol!" cochino!! crooossss the jordan! haha. ask if you want to know.
*today, 2 roommates and i were taking pictures after church, and were chased by a HUGE bee. you should have seen us all running around in our heels and screaming! haha
*here are some terms that are different in England:
-ping-pong is called "table tennis"
-soccer is "football"
-football is "american football"
-trash is "rubbish"
-getting in line is "queue-ing up"
-the letter Z is "zed"
*we have 6 lectures a day...it gets quite long sometimes.
*people from over here are CRAZY about soccer...it's ridiculous. haha
well, i don't know what else you want to know right now! Tell me if there is anything you were wondering or anything like that. Oh, it's raining here again right now! :) The rain here is really light, like a drizzle and sometimes just like a mist. I really want a thunderstorm!
love you all and miss you every day.
<3 sarai
Sunday, September 27, 2009
I MADE IT!!!!!
=) Well, here I am at Capernwray Bible School!
I'll give an update:
Yesterday was so exhausting, carrying luggage through the train station...I am VERY sore. Savannah and I took the 1:46pm train from Manchester to Carnforth. Well, we got on the train, and I heard some American accents (after being over here long enough, US accents stand out!), and there were 6 people in our car talking. They looked about my age, and Savannah and I were wondering if they were going to Capernwray, too. I decided to find out, so I went over to them and just said, "Are you by any chance going to Capernwray?" They all said, "YES!!! Are you?!?" They moved over and let me sit down, and we talked for almost the whole ride. Their names were: Quincy from Washington, Claire from Ireland, John from Canada, Brad from Canada, Chad from Canada, and Samuel from Germany! It was so good to meet them! We got off at Carnforth and the bus was waiting for us. We drove to school down very narrow roads, where people drive FAST! Kinda freaky. But the grounds of school is GORGEOUS! The castle is absolutely amazing...ivy is growing on some of the stone walls, there is a big tower, spiral staircases, and beautiful flowers. I found out that my room for this term is actually in the conference hall (don't worry...I'll be in the castle next term!) in room 8. I have 5 other roommates...only 4 of which are even here. My roommates are: Carol from California, Jenna from California, Cally from Canada, and Marie from Belgium (she speaks French, so maybe I'll be able to practice mine!). They are all very nice, and we are getting along great! I have met so many people since yesterday, it's almost overwhelming! But it's really great....everyone is so nice!
It was so weird unpacking last night...realizing I'll be living here for the next 6 months. I am so excited for everything God has in store for me in these next few months. I have my photo albums with pictures of friends and family sitting right by my bed. All of the girls in my room and the room next door have all told eachother that we will end up crying a few times, and have all found out if everyone would rather be left alone, or talked to when we are homesick. hehe Good to have that settled. :)
This morning was breakfast, then our church service (weird to think that you are all still at church right now!) and then Rob Whittaker (the principal) spoke until lunch. After lunch is free time, and there was a soccer game being played, so me and 4 other girls went to watch. We got bored of it after a while, and came up to use the internet here! We only get internet for a couple hours a day, so I won't be able to update my blog EVERY day...I'll do it as much as i can, though. So, I'm in the "preparation room", which is one of the few places we get internet in the castle...surrounded by many people talking, playing cards, on their computers, and playing guitar. I love being here. :)
Oh, cool story: A guy just walked into the room and commented on how colorful my computer is, so we talked for just a second about that, and then i noticed he was holding a book...guess what it was? "Desiring God" by John Piper!!! I asked if he had read it before, and he said it was his second time reading it. I told him that was my pastor, and he FREAKED out and went on about how much he loved Piper, and how smart he is. Then another girl overheard and said, "You go to Bethlehem?! No way! I love Piper!" :) Kinda cool. hehe
Well, I think I am going to go journal or write a poem or something. . .
I totally feel like I'm in Pride and Prejudice or something...AH! I love this! :)
<3 love and hugs,
sarai
I'll give an update:
Yesterday was so exhausting, carrying luggage through the train station...I am VERY sore. Savannah and I took the 1:46pm train from Manchester to Carnforth. Well, we got on the train, and I heard some American accents (after being over here long enough, US accents stand out!), and there were 6 people in our car talking. They looked about my age, and Savannah and I were wondering if they were going to Capernwray, too. I decided to find out, so I went over to them and just said, "Are you by any chance going to Capernwray?" They all said, "YES!!! Are you?!?" They moved over and let me sit down, and we talked for almost the whole ride. Their names were: Quincy from Washington, Claire from Ireland, John from Canada, Brad from Canada, Chad from Canada, and Samuel from Germany! It was so good to meet them! We got off at Carnforth and the bus was waiting for us. We drove to school down very narrow roads, where people drive FAST! Kinda freaky. But the grounds of school is GORGEOUS! The castle is absolutely amazing...ivy is growing on some of the stone walls, there is a big tower, spiral staircases, and beautiful flowers. I found out that my room for this term is actually in the conference hall (don't worry...I'll be in the castle next term!) in room 8. I have 5 other roommates...only 4 of which are even here. My roommates are: Carol from California, Jenna from California, Cally from Canada, and Marie from Belgium (she speaks French, so maybe I'll be able to practice mine!). They are all very nice, and we are getting along great! I have met so many people since yesterday, it's almost overwhelming! But it's really great....everyone is so nice!
It was so weird unpacking last night...realizing I'll be living here for the next 6 months. I am so excited for everything God has in store for me in these next few months. I have my photo albums with pictures of friends and family sitting right by my bed. All of the girls in my room and the room next door have all told eachother that we will end up crying a few times, and have all found out if everyone would rather be left alone, or talked to when we are homesick. hehe Good to have that settled. :)
This morning was breakfast, then our church service (weird to think that you are all still at church right now!) and then Rob Whittaker (the principal) spoke until lunch. After lunch is free time, and there was a soccer game being played, so me and 4 other girls went to watch. We got bored of it after a while, and came up to use the internet here! We only get internet for a couple hours a day, so I won't be able to update my blog EVERY day...I'll do it as much as i can, though. So, I'm in the "preparation room", which is one of the few places we get internet in the castle...surrounded by many people talking, playing cards, on their computers, and playing guitar. I love being here. :)
Oh, cool story: A guy just walked into the room and commented on how colorful my computer is, so we talked for just a second about that, and then i noticed he was holding a book...guess what it was? "Desiring God" by John Piper!!! I asked if he had read it before, and he said it was his second time reading it. I told him that was my pastor, and he FREAKED out and went on about how much he loved Piper, and how smart he is. Then another girl overheard and said, "You go to Bethlehem?! No way! I love Piper!" :) Kinda cool. hehe
Well, I think I am going to go journal or write a poem or something. . .
I totally feel like I'm in Pride and Prejudice or something...AH! I love this! :)
<3 love and hugs,
sarai
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Observations about London:
Here are some of the things I have noticed about life in London:
1-like everyone smokes. It's disgusting...I feel like I am always breathing in cigarette smoke. You would be surprised at how many people, young and old, smoke. EW.
2-trash cans are hard to find.
3-People don't really pay attention to the "Do not walk" signs....if they don't see a car very close, they will just run across the street....sometimes they run right in front of cars, too. And the drivers are fast and crazy....it's scary to watch! haha
4-if you are walking in a busy place (aka: anywhere), people do NOT move out of your way!
5-cashiers, and many people in general aren't as nice as in minnesota...I went to a cashier to pay for something, and she barely said hi, and when i said, "hi! How are you!?" she looked at me strangely, chuckled, looked at another cashier, and finally said, "well...i'm fine. how are you?" haha. and it's like that everywhere!
6-the streets/sidewalks are uneven. or maybe it's just me and Savannah...cuz we each trip like a million times a day!
7-they want you to MIND everything: mind the gap, mind the step, mind your head, mind the child, mind the door....it's hilarious.
8-the escalators are faster over here...and the little hand railing thing on the escalators moves faster than the escalator itself, so you put your hand on it, and next thing you know, your hand is like a mile away from your body. . . yeah. :P
9-guys over here aren't the proper, gentlemanly princes i was expecting...once, some guys were walking toward us, and they didn't move but instead made us walk into the street so they wouldn't walk into us...it makes me more thankful for my super-gentlemanly guy friends back home. :)
10-they are ahead of us in fashion...i could probably tell you what the styles in America will be in 6-12 months. or i could let you find out. ;) ps: i love the styles over here! amazing.
1-like everyone smokes. It's disgusting...I feel like I am always breathing in cigarette smoke. You would be surprised at how many people, young and old, smoke. EW.
2-trash cans are hard to find.
3-People don't really pay attention to the "Do not walk" signs....if they don't see a car very close, they will just run across the street....sometimes they run right in front of cars, too. And the drivers are fast and crazy....it's scary to watch! haha
4-if you are walking in a busy place (aka: anywhere), people do NOT move out of your way!
5-cashiers, and many people in general aren't as nice as in minnesota...I went to a cashier to pay for something, and she barely said hi, and when i said, "hi! How are you!?" she looked at me strangely, chuckled, looked at another cashier, and finally said, "well...i'm fine. how are you?" haha. and it's like that everywhere!
6-the streets/sidewalks are uneven. or maybe it's just me and Savannah...cuz we each trip like a million times a day!
7-they want you to MIND everything: mind the gap, mind the step, mind your head, mind the child, mind the door....it's hilarious.
8-the escalators are faster over here...and the little hand railing thing on the escalators moves faster than the escalator itself, so you put your hand on it, and next thing you know, your hand is like a mile away from your body. . . yeah. :P
9-guys over here aren't the proper, gentlemanly princes i was expecting...once, some guys were walking toward us, and they didn't move but instead made us walk into the street so they wouldn't walk into us...it makes me more thankful for my super-gentlemanly guy friends back home. :)
10-they are ahead of us in fashion...i could probably tell you what the styles in America will be in 6-12 months. or i could let you find out. ;) ps: i love the styles over here! amazing.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
mind the gap
Another great day here. :)
Some notes and stories from the day:
*First of all, i think it's great that the hostel is trying to save the planet by conserving money...but having a shower that turns off ever 22 seconds is definitely NOT ideal...
*Funny story: okay, so today we were walking in the underground, heading to our next train platform, and we had to go up a flight of stairs. So, Savannah was in the front (as usual...she power-walks, even though she won't admit it.) and i don't know how, but i suddenly tripped on the stairs and completely fell down onto the stairs and grabbed Savannah's legs as i went down! She looked back at me, super confused, wondering why i was on the floor, holding her legs. it was quite funny...thankfully not many people were around... ;)
*side note: the reason people over here are so skinny is probably because of all the stairs they have! Basically no elevators (lifts, as they are called over here), and tons of stairs! We take probably 3 flights of stairs each time we use the Tube, and we use the tube ATON. my legs are so sore!
*We went to
-London Bridge (a boring cement bridge....the really pretty one is the Tower Bridge!)
-Tower of London (we didn't tour it, but saw the beefeaters (guards) and sat outside it, by the Thames and ate sandwiches and people-watched for a couple hours! SO MUCH FUN.
-Shakespeare's Globe Theater (we didn't go inside, but it looked cool from the outside!)
-Tate Modern Museum (when they say MODERN, they mean it....kinda strange. and we got in trouble for taking a video in there...haha)
-Leicester Square (where we got tickets to see Wicked for 24.50 pounds!!)
*Okay...so we went to Wicked and it was amazing!!! it was kinda our splurge for the trip, so we dressed up a bit...Savannah wore a dress and leggings and flip flops, and i wore a nice shirt, jeans and heels....mistake. do you know how hard it is to walk on cobblestone streets in heels?! yeah...hard. But Wicked was SO amazing...definitely worth the money and aching feet. :)
*another funny story: Okay so the pigeons here are everywhere and totally freak me out, cuz i'm scared they will attack me. Well, Savannah and I were walking by this bench with a pigeon on it (Savannah was on the side closest to the bench/pigeon). I had a brilliant idea, and said, "I'm going to throw water on the pigeon!" Savannah started to say, "No you aren---" but it was too late....I dumped water from my water bottle on the pigeon, and it freaked out and flew straight into savannah!!!!!! She screamed and i screamed, and we both ran away wondering if we should laugh or cry!!! It was sooooo funny! Only because i'm the one who didn't get hit by the pigeon...lol
*Oh, if any of you know the bridge that Amanda Bynes and Oliver James walked on, talking, in What A Girl Wants...we walked on that bridge today!
*We went to St. Paul's Cathedral! It reminded us of our state capitol building...it was beautiful, and we went inside for the 5:00 Evensong service. Let me say, it made me thankful for one aspect of our church: passion. It was so monotone and ritualistic...a good reminder to be passionate about what we believe in...especially if we want to draw anyone else in. :)
*can't think of anything else for now, so that's it for today!
today was pretty chilly with a heavy wind...it reminded me of Chicago. Now Savannah and I are the only two in the "chill-out room" of our hostel. Through the open window i can hear accents, foreign languages, laughter from a nearby pub, and quick traffic on Borough High Street. Sweet dreams.
Some notes and stories from the day:
*First of all, i think it's great that the hostel is trying to save the planet by conserving money...but having a shower that turns off ever 22 seconds is definitely NOT ideal...
*Funny story: okay, so today we were walking in the underground, heading to our next train platform, and we had to go up a flight of stairs. So, Savannah was in the front (as usual...she power-walks, even though she won't admit it.) and i don't know how, but i suddenly tripped on the stairs and completely fell down onto the stairs and grabbed Savannah's legs as i went down! She looked back at me, super confused, wondering why i was on the floor, holding her legs. it was quite funny...thankfully not many people were around... ;)
*side note: the reason people over here are so skinny is probably because of all the stairs they have! Basically no elevators (lifts, as they are called over here), and tons of stairs! We take probably 3 flights of stairs each time we use the Tube, and we use the tube ATON. my legs are so sore!
*We went to
-London Bridge (a boring cement bridge....the really pretty one is the Tower Bridge!)
-Tower of London (we didn't tour it, but saw the beefeaters (guards) and sat outside it, by the Thames and ate sandwiches and people-watched for a couple hours! SO MUCH FUN.
-Shakespeare's Globe Theater (we didn't go inside, but it looked cool from the outside!)
-Tate Modern Museum (when they say MODERN, they mean it....kinda strange. and we got in trouble for taking a video in there...haha)
-Leicester Square (where we got tickets to see Wicked for 24.50 pounds!!)
*Okay...so we went to Wicked and it was amazing!!! it was kinda our splurge for the trip, so we dressed up a bit...Savannah wore a dress and leggings and flip flops, and i wore a nice shirt, jeans and heels....mistake. do you know how hard it is to walk on cobblestone streets in heels?! yeah...hard. But Wicked was SO amazing...definitely worth the money and aching feet. :)
*another funny story: Okay so the pigeons here are everywhere and totally freak me out, cuz i'm scared they will attack me. Well, Savannah and I were walking by this bench with a pigeon on it (Savannah was on the side closest to the bench/pigeon). I had a brilliant idea, and said, "I'm going to throw water on the pigeon!" Savannah started to say, "No you aren---" but it was too late....I dumped water from my water bottle on the pigeon, and it freaked out and flew straight into savannah!!!!!! She screamed and i screamed, and we both ran away wondering if we should laugh or cry!!! It was sooooo funny! Only because i'm the one who didn't get hit by the pigeon...lol
*Oh, if any of you know the bridge that Amanda Bynes and Oliver James walked on, talking, in What A Girl Wants...we walked on that bridge today!
*We went to St. Paul's Cathedral! It reminded us of our state capitol building...it was beautiful, and we went inside for the 5:00 Evensong service. Let me say, it made me thankful for one aspect of our church: passion. It was so monotone and ritualistic...a good reminder to be passionate about what we believe in...especially if we want to draw anyone else in. :)
*can't think of anything else for now, so that's it for today!
today was pretty chilly with a heavy wind...it reminded me of Chicago. Now Savannah and I are the only two in the "chill-out room" of our hostel. Through the open window i can hear accents, foreign languages, laughter from a nearby pub, and quick traffic on Borough High Street. Sweet dreams.
Monday, September 21, 2009
London Day 2
Heyyy...I'm tired, so I'm just going to list some of the highlights of the day, using bullet points:
-slept amazing last night...didn't wake up once, even when 2 of the girls came in from the pub at 2am.
-oh, our roommates last night were: 1 from France, 1 from Germany, 2 from Italy, and 1 from England. the accents are great in that room! haha
-got a smoothie for breakfast! :)
-got all-day passes for the tube
-We had heard Camden was a good place to shop, so we went....it was pretty dumpy. It was kinda like a street fair, and everyone wanted to barter with you. I asked this one guy how much this dress was, and he's like "20 pounds". I said thanks and started to walk away, and he goes, "WAIT! I'll give you a discount because it is morning and you are girls..." okayyyy?
-had to use this gross little bathroom, in which the stalls had windows....very strange.
-went to Buckingham palace...absolutely beautiful. The flag was flying, which means that the queen was there!
-saw these Indian-ish guys with long beards and turbans. We call them "The Sheiks of No Return"...haha
-walked to Westminster and saw Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, etc.
-Big Ben is actually a lot shorter than I expected it to be!
-went to Tesco (grocery store) and got lunch, which we brought to a park between Parliament and the Thames River...we sat in the grass and ate it.
-in Tesco, i was having trouble figuring out how much money to give the cashier...I eventually paid the right amount and walked out...without my groceries. haha. go me. :P
-my "orange" Fanta was yellow and tasted like Airborne...no bueno.
-this middle-aged guy walked by us, staring at us, and just started laughing!! it was rather strange, and we don't know why he was laughing!
-we had to pay 50 pence to use the public bathroom
-walked along the Thames and over the pedestrian bridge, which brought us to the side with the London Eye
-on the bridge, there was a guy painting and had some of his work on display. First of all: I LOVE seeing people out painting...it makes me so happy! Second: his work was amazing! So Savannah and I each ended up buying a painting. the guy was soooo nice! He was a Frenchman named Jacques LeBeau...which we were told to remember, because he'll be famous someday! I wouldn't doubt it!
-we saw some great street performers, which were SO fun to watch! (one guy did the limbo under a pole being held up by 2-liter water bottles)
-the pigeons here FREAK ME OUT! They fly so close to your head SO fast that you are sure they will hit you. it's horribly scary.
-it got chilly, so we took the tube back to our hostel, where we came to the "hang-out room" to use the internet and have our dinner...peanut butter and honey sandwiches, water, and tootsie pops.
heading off to bed now! Excited for what tomorrow brings. :)
love and miss you all.
-slept amazing last night...didn't wake up once, even when 2 of the girls came in from the pub at 2am.
-oh, our roommates last night were: 1 from France, 1 from Germany, 2 from Italy, and 1 from England. the accents are great in that room! haha
-got a smoothie for breakfast! :)
-got all-day passes for the tube
-We had heard Camden was a good place to shop, so we went....it was pretty dumpy. It was kinda like a street fair, and everyone wanted to barter with you. I asked this one guy how much this dress was, and he's like "20 pounds". I said thanks and started to walk away, and he goes, "WAIT! I'll give you a discount because it is morning and you are girls..." okayyyy?
-had to use this gross little bathroom, in which the stalls had windows....very strange.
-went to Buckingham palace...absolutely beautiful. The flag was flying, which means that the queen was there!
-saw these Indian-ish guys with long beards and turbans. We call them "The Sheiks of No Return"...haha
-walked to Westminster and saw Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, etc.
-Big Ben is actually a lot shorter than I expected it to be!
-went to Tesco (grocery store) and got lunch, which we brought to a park between Parliament and the Thames River...we sat in the grass and ate it.
-in Tesco, i was having trouble figuring out how much money to give the cashier...I eventually paid the right amount and walked out...without my groceries. haha. go me. :P
-my "orange" Fanta was yellow and tasted like Airborne...no bueno.
-this middle-aged guy walked by us, staring at us, and just started laughing!! it was rather strange, and we don't know why he was laughing!
-we had to pay 50 pence to use the public bathroom
-walked along the Thames and over the pedestrian bridge, which brought us to the side with the London Eye
-on the bridge, there was a guy painting and had some of his work on display. First of all: I LOVE seeing people out painting...it makes me so happy! Second: his work was amazing! So Savannah and I each ended up buying a painting. the guy was soooo nice! He was a Frenchman named Jacques LeBeau...which we were told to remember, because he'll be famous someday! I wouldn't doubt it!
-we saw some great street performers, which were SO fun to watch! (one guy did the limbo under a pole being held up by 2-liter water bottles)
-the pigeons here FREAK ME OUT! They fly so close to your head SO fast that you are sure they will hit you. it's horribly scary.
-it got chilly, so we took the tube back to our hostel, where we came to the "hang-out room" to use the internet and have our dinner...peanut butter and honey sandwiches, water, and tootsie pops.
heading off to bed now! Excited for what tomorrow brings. :)
love and miss you all.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
clear my head of random thoughts
*from the plane, England looked like Minnesota without all the lakes
*our hostel is above an adorable coffee/smoothie shop named "Orient Espresso" :) so cute!
*i LOVE accents....i just want to ask everyone to talk to me! hehe
*ingrid michaelson is amazing.
*it's really awkward buying a strawberry shake at a bar
*nothing beats peanut butter and honey sandwiches on white bread
*peach.rings.
*my shoulders are going to be sooo sore tomorrow
*thought i told ya, imma star ((for essie))
*if you add a B to essie...it makes bessie.
*pounds, like the money over here...yeah, they don't really weigh a pound (misleading...)
*smoking is not allowed
*let savannah be the translator when you can't understand the flight attendant who says in a thick accent "wouldyoubewillingtohelppeopleoutfromtheexitrowinthecaseofanemergency?"
all clear. i'm going to write a poem now...
goodnight, goodnight,
i'll never eat marmite.
*our hostel is above an adorable coffee/smoothie shop named "Orient Espresso" :) so cute!
*i LOVE accents....i just want to ask everyone to talk to me! hehe
*ingrid michaelson is amazing.
*it's really awkward buying a strawberry shake at a bar
*nothing beats peanut butter and honey sandwiches on white bread
*peach.rings.
*my shoulders are going to be sooo sore tomorrow
*thought i told ya, imma star ((for essie))
*if you add a B to essie...it makes bessie.
*pounds, like the money over here...yeah, they don't really weigh a pound (misleading...)
*smoking
*let savannah be the translator when you can't understand the flight attendant who says in a thick accent "wouldyoubewillingtohelppeopleoutfromtheexitrowinthecaseofanemergency?"
all clear. i'm going to write a poem now...
goodnight, goodnight,
i'll never eat marmite.
hello, London. i'm Sarai.
I don't have much time to write this, but I want to give you all an update!
So...yesterday (the 19th) at noon, our whole family packed mine and Savannah's luggage into the van and all piled in after it. One slight problem....the van wouldn't start. So, we eventually all 6 crammed into my dad's Prius with all the luggage and headed to the airport! It was just slightly crammed. ;) lol I won't even talk about at the airport, because the goodbye's were really hard.
Our flight to Atlanta was supposed to take off at 2:25pm and then our flight from there to Manchester was going to leave at 7:30pm. Savannah and I were waiting in the gate, when over the loudspeaker they announced that our plane was delayed until 4, putting us into Atlanta at 7:50pm...meaning we would miss our flight to England by 25 minutes! Savannah immediately jumped up and went to the counter to explain the situation. (I don't know what I would do without her...I was about to just sit there and bawl my eyes out! haha) The man we talked to said that he could get us onto a later flight straight to London and then another flight to Manchester (miracle #1). We told him to just get us to London, because that's where we were headed anyway. He said it all worked out, and he would re-route our luggage. Our flight took off at 4:30pm and it took us 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 45 seconds to get to Atlanta, which means we ended up missing our flight to Manchester by about 5 minutes. Well...our new flight to London wasn't supposed to leave until 10:40pm, and the agent in Mpls told us to talk to the person at the counter in Atlanta just to explain what was going on. Well, when Savannah talked to the agent (who was NOT friendly), she was told that the flight was oversold and we weren't checked in, and didn't have seats....meaning we would most likely not get on a flight to England that night. She told us to just sit around and wait to see what happened and eventually she called us up and said that I had a seat, but Savannah didn't. After even more waiting and praying, she somehow got us both onto the completely full plane! (miracle #2) BUT, our seats weren't next to eachother and we reeealllyyyy wanted to be by eachother. We each got to our seats, and asked if anyone next to us would switch seats, and everyone said no. We eventually asked two guys behind Savannah's seat if they would switch, and they did! (miracle #3)
I was pretty nervous about flying overseas, but the flight went very well and wasn't as bad as i thought it would be! (miracle #4) We flew through the night and arrived in London at 11:45am (their time). From there, we went through customs, then got tickets and got on the underground...oh what an adventure. We ended up having to walk up and down about 6 flights of stairs with all our luggage, which was a huge hassle! People were laughing at us...haha. When we finally got off the tube, we had to walk to our hostel, and during the walk, one of the straps on my huge purse/carry-on SNAPPED OFF! I'm so bummed because that's what i was planning on using for my whole time over here.... :( Well, we got to our hostel and are in an 8 bed female dorm. We have met 3 of our roommates: Tammy from Toronto, Carol from France, and some girl from Germany. Tammy and Carol are really nice, but we can't get the other girl to stop talking! Which is annoying when we can't understand her perfectly...haha
Savannah and I each took showers and freshened up, then went for a little walk to Sainsbury's (a little grocery store) where we got stuff for dinner. white bread, peanut butter & honey, a crisp green apple, and mango-orange juice. yum. It looks so good...I think it's time for my dinner. I guess it's 7:55pm here now. . . having trouble keeping track of time. haha
I've only gotten about 2 hours of sleep since Friday night.
wow, this was longer than i thought it would be....sorry if it was super boring!
time for some pb&honey! :)
goodnight!
So...yesterday (the 19th) at noon, our whole family packed mine and Savannah's luggage into the van and all piled in after it. One slight problem....the van wouldn't start. So, we eventually all 6 crammed into my dad's Prius with all the luggage and headed to the airport! It was just slightly crammed. ;) lol I won't even talk about at the airport, because the goodbye's were really hard.
Our flight to Atlanta was supposed to take off at 2:25pm and then our flight from there to Manchester was going to leave at 7:30pm. Savannah and I were waiting in the gate, when over the loudspeaker they announced that our plane was delayed until 4, putting us into Atlanta at 7:50pm...meaning we would miss our flight to England by 25 minutes! Savannah immediately jumped up and went to the counter to explain the situation. (I don't know what I would do without her...I was about to just sit there and bawl my eyes out! haha) The man we talked to said that he could get us onto a later flight straight to London and then another flight to Manchester (miracle #1). We told him to just get us to London, because that's where we were headed anyway. He said it all worked out, and he would re-route our luggage. Our flight took off at 4:30pm and it took us 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 45 seconds to get to Atlanta, which means we ended up missing our flight to Manchester by about 5 minutes. Well...our new flight to London wasn't supposed to leave until 10:40pm, and the agent in Mpls told us to talk to the person at the counter in Atlanta just to explain what was going on. Well, when Savannah talked to the agent (who was NOT friendly), she was told that the flight was oversold and we weren't checked in, and didn't have seats....meaning we would most likely not get on a flight to England that night. She told us to just sit around and wait to see what happened and eventually she called us up and said that I had a seat, but Savannah didn't. After even more waiting and praying, she somehow got us both onto the completely full plane! (miracle #2) BUT, our seats weren't next to eachother and we reeealllyyyy wanted to be by eachother. We each got to our seats, and asked if anyone next to us would switch seats, and everyone said no. We eventually asked two guys behind Savannah's seat if they would switch, and they did! (miracle #3)
I was pretty nervous about flying overseas, but the flight went very well and wasn't as bad as i thought it would be! (miracle #4) We flew through the night and arrived in London at 11:45am (their time). From there, we went through customs, then got tickets and got on the underground...oh what an adventure. We ended up having to walk up and down about 6 flights of stairs with all our luggage, which was a huge hassle! People were laughing at us...haha. When we finally got off the tube, we had to walk to our hostel, and during the walk, one of the straps on my huge purse/carry-on SNAPPED OFF! I'm so bummed because that's what i was planning on using for my whole time over here.... :( Well, we got to our hostel and are in an 8 bed female dorm. We have met 3 of our roommates: Tammy from Toronto, Carol from France, and some girl from Germany. Tammy and Carol are really nice, but we can't get the other girl to stop talking! Which is annoying when we can't understand her perfectly...haha
Savannah and I each took showers and freshened up, then went for a little walk to Sainsbury's (a little grocery store) where we got stuff for dinner. white bread, peanut butter & honey, a crisp green apple, and mango-orange juice. yum. It looks so good...I think it's time for my dinner. I guess it's 7:55pm here now. . . having trouble keeping track of time. haha
I've only gotten about 2 hours of sleep since Friday night.
wow, this was longer than i thought it would be....sorry if it was super boring!
time for some pb&honey! :)
goodnight!
Friday, September 18, 2009
note to self:
remember to pack:
1. blue oil for stress relief
2. glasses
3. dancing jamaica-man pillowcase (it's comforting, what can i say?)
4. chocolate and tissues for the plane ride
5. pink playing cards
6. sharpies
7. NO CELL PHONE!
8. pictures of friends and family
9. archie, my pet owl
10. princess coloring book
11. hand sanitizer
12. tear-proof makeup
13. chai tea (the only tea i like, in case you were wondering)
14. pinkie (the blanket i got when i was born...i sleep with it every night)
15. uh oh...i might need an alarm clock...hm. didn't think about THAT.
16. rain poncho (so i can look like a hunchback/llama when i'm traveling with my HUGE backpack)
17. journal...
...and i'll end there, on my favorite number. :)
in about 15 hours i'll be on the plane.
i can't believe this is the last night in my own bed for the next 7 months!
*sweet dreams*
1. blue oil for stress relief
2. glasses
3. dancing jamaica-man pillowcase (it's comforting, what can i say?)
4. chocolate and tissues for the plane ride
5. pink playing cards
6. sharpies
7. NO CELL PHONE!
8. pictures of friends and family
9. archie, my pet owl
10. princess coloring book
11. hand sanitizer
12. tear-proof makeup
13. chai tea (the only tea i like, in case you were wondering)
14. pinkie (the blanket i got when i was born...i sleep with it every night)
15. uh oh...i might need an alarm clock...hm. didn't think about THAT.
16. rain poncho (so i can look like a hunchback/llama when i'm traveling with my HUGE backpack)
17. journal...
...and i'll end there, on my favorite number. :)
in about 15 hours i'll be on the plane.
i can't believe this is the last night in my own bed for the next 7 months!
*sweet dreams*
wow. did I just start a blog? this is exciting. it kinda feels like a one-way conversation, but that's okay. who invented the word blog? It sounds like the noise a jellyfish would make. HAHA I can see a jellyfish just sitting on the beach saying "blog, blog, blog"! HAHA. okay, I'm done.
So I'm thinking that Kelly, Tasia, and my band is gonna be amazing:: "Nutella and the Huns." makes me happy.
I'm almost done packing for my trip to England tomorrow. There's so much last-minute stuff to do, though. My mom bought us gummy lifesavers for the flight= <3.
i hope i come back with an accent.
*warning: anyone who reads this blog may be surprised at the randomness. get used to it. ;)
So I'm thinking that Kelly, Tasia, and my band is gonna be amazing:: "Nutella and the Huns." makes me happy.
I'm almost done packing for my trip to England tomorrow. There's so much last-minute stuff to do, though. My mom bought us gummy lifesavers for the flight= <3.
i hope i come back with an accent.
*warning: anyone who reads this blog may be surprised at the randomness. get used to it. ;)
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