Weekend Update....hehe (*kudos to those who caught the SNL reference)

It all started last week Thursday.

I was invited to come for a small dinner/get together at a young couples apartment from church. It was very late notice of me to RSVP and say i would come, but they were still happy i came...and so was i.

for those of you who dont know about the last month or so, i havent been attending the church i had been going to for about 4-5months. I tried really hard to connect with teh students and fit in, but it just seemed like my attemps were in vain....and i still felt like the foreign outsider. so i gave it up and spent some time with the podcasts from Zach and Amy's church, which were really nice (hearing God's message in an American accent ;)

BUT, i was starting to feel that i needed to see some of people from church to at least say a proper good bye before it got much too long and everyone forgot about me. And throughout the time i was 'missing' i did get a couple texts from people askign how i was and if i was still alive ;p

i went to church about 2 weeks ago and didnt really see any of the students that i had met before. so i took it as a sign that that was that and i wouldnt attend anymore. AAAAAAAAAAAND yet God had other things planned, as he usually does. so, as i said, i got the text for the dinner and i went. i really wasnt expecting much, considering the past experiences, but it ended up being a really really nice time.

i met a new church-goer who is studying physiotherapy at my uni, and he was really fun to talk to. there were a couple other students there who i hadnt met before and they were both friendly and talkative. so, i figured id give sunday another shot, in the hopes of meeting up with these nice people again. and i did! last sunday (2 days ago) was the best sunday yet!!! for real.

I got to talk to my friends who had gone on a mission trip, and said a quick hello to the new people that i had met. it was perfect.

and last night i went to a student's house for a small get together, and i made some dessert and had a good time talking with everyone. and yes, this time i actually DID TALK. i wasnt invisible! what an accomplishment :p

and again, tonight some people are meeting up at a pub nearby for a girl's 21st bday. hope it will be fun.

so, that is all for now. only about 1 week left until ITALY!!

Almost to the end....ish

Yesterday was my last day of classes! wasnt really all that spectacular, since i still have 1 more essay to write and then after that the REAL hard work begins for my disseratation!!

but, the weather is sloooooooooooowly starting to warm up and the sun is shining a bit more often , so its getting a little bit more bareable to study and research with the sun shining.

and only about 3 more weeks left till i leave for ITALY!!!! i cant wait. im sooooooo excited to be in hot heat and a city bursting with ancient history and beautiful food!! (yes, thats right, beautiful food. delicious doesnt describe its brilliancy).

a few of my flatmates will be leaving for good in mid-to late June. i cant believe it! it will be so lonely without them. i will be here with Mila, but it wont be the same! i am going to work my behind off (as if i havent already) to get as much done here for my dissertation so i can get home and finish up the rest and then just send it in by post!!! we'll see how that plan works out.

and of course, the job search is never ending. so, please some prayers for that. im already getting frustrated with applying to so many places and either not hearing back or saying they already found someone else.

so, thats all for now. if anything remotely exciting happens, ill let ya know!

Julie and I.O.W

On Thurs last week, my friend from Hope/flatmate, Julie, came to visit for a few days!

We spent Friday in Brighton (at at Bill's of course) and shopped around, and saw the seafront there. then it was back to Eastbourne where we ate fish and chips, met up with some of my other friends here and had a drink at a pub. the next day, we were off to Isle of Wight for 2 days!!!!

I had planned out our accomodation and trasnportation prior to her arriving, so everything was set and ready to go! we caught the train from eastbourne around 9:45 am and arrived in Southhampton (where the ferries leave from) at around 12:30. the ferry ride over only took 23 minutes and we decided that we ought to just go right to the Osborne House instead of traveling back and forth between our destination and our hotel.

So, we got off the ferry and went to get some travel info for the island. we walked in and heard the tourist info woman explaining the directions for Osborne House. it sounded simple enough, so Julie and i headed off in search of the house. we first came to the 'floating bridge' aka a smaller ferry that only takes about 5 seconds to cross the little river between East and West Cowes. Once we were on the East Cowes side, we checked a map for the House and were off again. we trekked up a road walked for about 20 min.....then we started to wonder if we should just wait for a bus (since were were walking around with our luggage...which looked a little out of place) but when we were about to give up, we finally spotted a sign for the House that it was only 100 yards away!! VICTORY!

we got to the Osborne House, and had just enough time to walk through the whole house and walk around the grounds and the Swiss Cottage in the back of the land where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's kids would hang out to learn gardening, cooking, and cleaning. The House sits on 1,000 acres and overlooks the water where we could see all the sailboats!! it was magnificent to walk through the house where the Queen and her family retreated for privacy during the summer! What was interesting, was that for such an extravagantly enormous place, the rooms were rather 'small'. the bedrooms were not that spacious, however they did have a seperate bedroom, changing room, and wash/bathroom. so i guess that makes up for it? and of course, not to mention all the lavish fabrics, ornaments, and moldings throughout each room of the house!! especially in the drawing room (my favorite!) the decor was breathtaking with the old paintings and the brilliant gold/yellow fabric of the couches. i couldnt possibly imagine living there and having so much house and land to wonder about any time i pleased! what a luxury to be Royal ;)

So, our hotel was a small place called the Braunstone Hotel in Newport, and our room was very nice! The bed was really comfy and the breakfast in the morning was nice too. Our first night there, after traveling all day and walking around and catching buses, we decided to chill out and see 'X-Men Origins'. We really liked the movie and it was a great way to end our wonderful day!

The next day we walked a bit around Newport, then took the bus back to West Cowes and stopped in a cafe for a bit and then shopped around before catching our ferry back to Southhampton. Overall, i just could not believe how absolutley Perfectly everythign worked out: the trains, the buses, the ferries, everything! when we were lookign at a bus timeline outside the Osborne house, it arrived just seconds later for our destination! and whenever we walked somewhere, we never got lost. never missed a stop or a train. everything was timed perfectly!!!

AWESOME AWESOME!! cant wait to go back to the island! it was beautiful!

WIMBLEDON

Yesterday, me and a few other Masters students joined a small group of 3rd year students on a 'field trip' to the Wimbleson courts for a tour. I was really excited, and didnt know that much about the competitions or much about the courts and stadiums and whatnot.

the tour lasted a little over 2 hours, but i could have toured for 4 hours! everything was so interesting to me! And the weather was unbeatable. it was about 60-ish degrees with sun and just perfect for a stroll outside among the courts.

We got to see the outside courts (there are 18!) and inside the Court No. 1, but weren't allowed into the Center Court (the mother of them all) because its strictly for players/during the competition. but we did see the top of the new retractable roof! We also got to look around the museum they have in the 'basement' of the gift shop. its actually full of old rackets, tennis outfits and videos of years and years of the championship final matches. Just watching them got my adrenaline rushing and i nearly could have started jumping and screaming for joy with the winner!!

We also went into the BBC T.V. news room in the new Media building, and the press conference room too, i got my pic taken up on the stand...if only i were up there after a REAL MATCH! :(

The info about the grass courts seemed, to me, the most interesting. First of all, becuase the courts are GRASS, and secondly because of the OCD way that they are cared for. The grass is called 'jessica' since that is the name of the seed used. The grass is very thick and silky to the touch (nicer than a golf course!!), and is cut only 1mm at a time so the grass "doesnt go into shock"..... It is cut at 11mm for matches, and is protected either by electric fences or a 24 hour guard/dog, to keep the foxes from ruining the grass!!

Also, in the winter when the sun is not as high, they use a massive sun lamp for the areas that dont get enough sun, so there are no patchy spots. And they also use a new kind of material/fabric for the tarp to pull over the court when there is rain: it doesnt gain weight when wet, is translucent, lets the sun rays thru, and is breathable for the grass to get O2. COOL!?

So, I am pretty sure I am going to go there in June when the competitions start and try to get a ticket to see a match, even if its only in one of the 'warm up' outdoor courts!

The birds have flown the U.K. nest....

Early this morning on April 14, my parents left for the U.S. and Zach and Amy had already left Easter Sunday, so it left me with some alone time with mom and pops which was fun.

in our last few days, we chilled in Eastbourne, then the last full day we visited a small town near Eastbourne called Hastings (NOT the one in MI!) and visited the castle ruins there and played adventure golf near the channel! i came in second, freddy first, and mom last ;) Freddy got 2 hole in ones!! what a pro.

Everyone said they had a great trip, and i cant believe that it is all over now! so much planning, prepping, and anticipation, and it just sweeps by so quickly! the weather, thankfully, was in our favor for most of the trip. the first couple of days in Eastbourne were foggy but the we were able to see the views from Beachy Head and whatnot. The weather in London was really great too! we didnt need our coats for most of our time there, and it was always busy with sight seeing and of course EATING!!!! i know we all have to go on diets when our lives get back to normal. i would say its a safe bet to guess we each gained at least 3 pounds? :p

Although london was really cool to see and our hotel (thank you my dear associate ;) was really nice, after the first night in a crappy apartment that had lied to me on the internet with such luxe looking pictures, then the real deal was quite far from what i had seen. so Zach found a great place for us and we enjoyed our stay there!

However, i believe that St. Andrews, Scotland was everyone's favorite place!! I had visited Scotland for a few days back in Feb, and just couldnt bear the thought of the fam coming here and not taking them to see its beauty, and listen to the wonderful accents!!

The town we stayed in is the birth place of the game of golf! so of course, zach and dad were mesmerized with its history and trying to get a chance to play on the 'old course'. though they werent able to get a tee time, we enjoyed the views and got pictures of the course. we also went to the castle ruinds down the road from our B&B and that was amazing!! so much of it was still standing and you could walk around and go inside of it. there was a long tunnel underground too that was once used by enemies trying to burrow their way into the castle! mom and zach and amy went down there, but freddy and i chickened out cuz it looked pretty tight, and i was wearing my new running shoes........so vain, i know ;P

We spent a day in Edinburgh too, and of course it was another fav of the fam! we went inside Edinburgh castle, and walked and shopped on the Royal Mile and loved the food! and zach had a good time impersonating the Scottish accent, which he is quite talented at. :D

We also had the world's best sticky toffee pudding while in St.Andrews too! Just ask freddy where to go for the best pudding in the U.K. He tried nearly every play that sold it! :)

It was busy, and fun having the family here, and now i feel quite motivated to get my ace crackin and get work done so i might be able to go home and finish up my disseration in the U.S. and keep searching for jobs!!

It was a great time, and i loved planning everything and showing the fam the history of England and Scotland!