P.S.

I just realized I didn't put up any pictures of Capernwray so I'll try and add some real quick.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of me in front of the castle yet, but I have a few of the countryside when we took a walk on Sunday afternoon.Thankfully, Sunday was an exceptionally bright and sunny day (and I mean the exception part!)
The walk was beautiful and I'm getting the feeling that weather won't happen again for a long time. Maybe God was just trying to break us in easily. ;)
Welcome to England! Here's a classically red telephone booth in the middle of a street island in an almost empty area. I'm wondering who decided to put it there...

Considering how far we walked, we past very few houses. This was the densest portion of houses we saw.

and here is MY ROOM which i think is by far the most beautiful in the castle!! it's not a great picture but you can see we have a great window and the walls are yellow and the fabric is flowered and orange. No other room has sunny colors! so i feel very blessed!! =)

here's a look at the inside of the courtyard from the castle tower
and here's my lovely home for the next 6 months!! =)
love to all!

We're on a roll...

Since the internet is being so obliging at the moment, I'm going to keep on going with the pictures. Sorry about the lack of organization =)

this one's for you Cam! =D
it's the only dealership i've seen here. it was in wilmslo.

in manchester city center (downtown) area. this was the public library and there were several monuments around it.

this was one dedicated to WW soldiers (i don't remember whether it was 1 or 2)

the library has plenty of embellishments, such as the above, that reminded me of the NYC library. but i don't think i ever got to uploading pictures of that, did i? i'll have to do that another day =)the funny thing about the library was that the entire building was totally round!

this is the local church in Winslo that i saw that had some really pretty tomb stones. or rather, i thought their inscriptions were rather nice.

While in Manchester, I also walked to the Roman fort named Castlefield which was actually the very early beginning of the city that is now Manchester! nothing was original but it was fun to see all the reconstructions nonetheless. there were a few signs that had interesting information of how the fort may possibly have been used and looked, etc.
Also, literally almost all the buildings were stone. it was kinda funny given how much i'm not used to that! so many buildings were so beautiful and ornate.
this was a canal that runs through the city which was one of the main reasons the roman fort was placed in manchester.

My last stop in Manchester was the Museum of Science and Technology. The museum was much larger than i had time for, so i focused on the part about the clothing industry and how it shaped Manchester over the years. It was really interesting and had much more global information than just about the manchester area. I even found someone Cam that I think would be possibly a good impromptu example. (always looking out for ya!) =)

Well, my internet time is about up and it has finally stopped raining.
So until tomorrow or another day when I can write more,
all my love,
Sarah

here's the beautiful and quaint B&B =)

here's the traditional english breakfast i had at the inn,
it also included half a grapefruit and toast!

so far, breakfasts at school have just been a choice of cereals, toast, usually a fruit or two, yogurt cups, and tea.

here's a picture of my huge room at the b&b. you may notice in the corner i had a second bed so it could have slept 3 people!
the b&b also had a shared living room which i didn't use but i thought it was nice to have.

then in manchester, i popped into a store just curious to see what they had and if anything was really different. besides having a ton more hats, scarfs, gloves, umbrellas, etc. than we have, i was surprised that they had very similar items. they were even still selling short sleeves and everything! people here wear about the same clothing items we do except the funny thing about is that it's about 20 degrees colder here!

the only thing i really noticed different is that the english have these very funny little feather hats as accessories that i've never seen in the US. i had fun trying a few on so you could see what they look like.

i think they're a bit weird a first but then once i was used to the idea i really liked them =)

don't worry mom and dad, i didn't buy any. everything is so expensive! but the dress in the first picture was a really nice one.

the connection is making me nervous again, so i'm going to try and post to make sure these few things get out to you =)

YAY! another picture! =) this is me in front of the B&B. I don't have any pictures of me outside the castle yet because my camera battery is dead and i think i left my charger back in DE. =(
so for right now, this will have to do =)
i'm just going to take these pictures one at a time just in case.
and by the way, this was a good day. as you can tell i'm wearing a short sleeve shirt. Mrs. Chalmers said I had brought the good weather with me from CA (which made me scared since it was not a very nice day, i wore a sweatshirt and jacket most of the day)

picture!!!

WOW! ok I finally successfully got *A* picture on here so we'll see how this goes!!! =)
this is a picture of my English friend Hannah that i met at the B&B in Winslo. she was probably one of only 2 or 3 natural blonds i have seen so far in england! i'm going to post it now with just one picture to make sure you get it =)

some real info =)

Yay! I have internet and it’s working! =) Right now it's monday evening for me and it's funny to think you're all mid-day!

I only have about 10 minutes before the school shuts off our internet connection. The rules make sense, but it's been a bit frustrating so far because when it *is* internet time everyone races on to say hi to family and friends and then the connection is bad because everyone's trying at the same time.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon around 2. I took a train (kinda like BART though, not like a real train) ;) from Manchester to Carnforth where the school picked us up. There were a bunch of students with lots of luggage and I heard American accents and we quickly found out most of the train was going to Capernwray! =)

I've met lots of nice people. there are TONS of people from Oregon, and lots from Canada too. Most people are American or Canadian. there are about 7 or 8 kids from CA. and GUESS WHAT???? against all odds, of the few Californians here, there is a guy named Matt who goes to Cal Poly (the school i'll be at next year)!!!! isn't that amazing???!!! he will be a junior there next year (i think)

I'm in a really gorgeous room with 6 other girls. 5 of us are American (2 from OR, 1 from PA, 1 from AR, and me) and the 2 other girls are from Holland and Austria. I've met a couple students who speak French and there's actually one French girl here and we've already practiced our French a bit. sorry if i'm a bit redundant and have bad spelling errors. i've had to write this over several tries and times on the internet and really fast because of limited time! =)

last night (Sun. night) we had 2 1/2 hours of introductions!!! yes, 2 and a half hours!!!! but i've been introducing myself to tons of people too. there are lots of musical people so i'm looking forward to playing with them =)
we had a short period to introduce ourselves just saying our name, where we were from, what we were doing before we came here and what we’re going to do after (if we know –which most people didn’t) I’m glad I at least know I’m going to cal poly. So many people have no clue!

there are about 170 students here and we have about 180 sheep on our 100 something acre castle!! so lots of space but also lots of occupants! =)

today we had our first classes and lectures but all the morning talks were about rules and regulations (we have a whole book of them!)
then we learned about prayer and a mixture of other things tonight from 2 different speakers

since i have so few minutes left i'm going to add some pics since they speak faster than i can type! =)

AhhhhhhhhhhhhhHH
Ok,
Well forget that thought.
As of now I hate this internet rule!!!! I have been trying to post a blog over the past 2 days and been cut off when the internet was turned off on the dot!! They could at least have a 2 minute grace period!!!! Well you will *NOW* get this who knows when! But I’m writing on Monday night so I’m sorry if this blog doesn’t make complete sense giving the time delay (silly rules!!)

Ok well
Let’s backtrack for a sec
Hmmm
Well right now i'm having trouble uploading pics and i don't want to write more about NYC without pics so i'll skip it for now and see if i can get pics on later.

So, on Sunday the 21st, I took a greyhound bus to Delaware which was supposed to be 4 hours. But of course the bus was an hour late and then we got stuck in traffic when we finally arrived *in* Dover! We were blocks away and then hit SO much traffic because there is a nascar (I think) race track there and thousands of people were just leaving the stadium! And I was the only white person on the bus. Kinda a funny feeling but I sat next to a friendly 40 year old Jamaican man with 3 daughters who was nice to talk to. In Delaware I enjoyed spending time with my other grandparents in their very middle-of-nowhere house (lots of cornstalks and farm fields!) We went into Dover (about 15 min. away from their town of Felton) and went to a museum and dinner. It’s amazing that the state capital can be such a tiny town!!!

The museum was surprisingly really interesting. =) It is called the Johnson Victrola Museum. It sounds petty, but it is actually about the man who made victors (the old sound machines that played large records and you could see the pretty trumpet-like horns) and victrolas (like the 2nd generation of victors). The museum is in DE because Mr. Johnson, the inventor, was from that area and his descendants still live there.

(pictures to come hopefully later from here too) =)
Then on the afternoon of Wednesday the 24th, I flew out of Philadelphia flight through Frankfurt, Germany to Manchester where I was picked up at the airport by the couple who runs the Bed & Breakfast that I stayed at.

God had a hand in everything, even all the details and I could see it all the way through.
I was a bit worried about getting into the country without a visa but had decided to give it to God and I got through no problem! =) I just have to be sure to leave the country within 5 days of school ending otherwise I’ll exceed my 6 months. God enabled me to connect with the couple from the B&B with no problem too. lots of things where I could see His hand! =)

So I arrived at the B&B around 2 pm local time on Thursday with having had 4 hours of sleep between my two flights. Mrs. Chalmers, the lady of the inn, drove me to the local library on her way to errands so I could get internet since the inn was too old to get wireless. And that’s when I wrote another one of these blogs to my loved ones back home! =)

Then I walked around enjoying the town and seeing what it had. It was very small but picturesque. All the buildings here are in stone and look old! There was church with a few gravestones (all at least 50 years old, some much more) in the lawn so I took my time trying to read them and it was really neat.
It was very cool to see God’s name, Jesus’ name, and Scripture on so many stones. =)

And here’s another God thing:
When I got back to the inn, Mrs. Chalmers introduced me to another 18 year old that was staying there for the weekend named Hannah. Isn’t that amazing?! Another girl just my age! Hannah really was a total God-send.

We went to dinner together that night. We walked into town and had dinner at the local pub. It’s really convenient being 18 here because you can do pretty much anything. She and I both used a coupon Mrs. Chalmers had found for us of dinner and a glass of wine. So I ordered my first glass of wine! Haha. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to, but it was included in the deal so I thought why not! Well the dinner was great and we both enjoyed what we ordered. I had some sort of mushrooms on toast with a sauce which tasted much better than it sounds! =) and then a sort of asparagus wrapped pastry with potatoes, carrots, etc. It was a lot of food so I actually saved half for my lunch the next day so I didn’t have to spend more money on food. And the wine was…
Well actually like I remembered it from being allowed to sip it when I was little…
I didn’t like it! Haha I know. I had a tiny sip of both Hannah’s and mine and then asked for water. Well, you can’t say I wasn’t adventurous and didn’t try. And don’t worry mom and dad, if I had liked it I was planning on having self control and only having a sip or two anyway. =) you raised me well =D
Hannah and I had two nights together so we had a lot of fun comparing cultures, languages, etc. We even tried to speak in each other’s accents for a while ;) She was impressed with my English imitation of her and told me she thought my Californian “accent” was cute. She laughed and was surprised when I told her most people at home love English accents. =)
On Friday, I went into Manchester city center (downtown) which was about a 20 minute train ride from the b&b in Wilmslo (sp?). I was surprised by its small size and lack of dozens of activities and sights but I enjoyed my time nonetheless. I walked everywhere and got lots of exercise since I didn’t want to spend money on the bus. I went to reconstructions of a Roman fort.

In terms of school, we have assigned verses to memorize and sections to read this week. During the next 6 months we’ll read the entire Old Testament and we have our first 46 chapters this week (yikes, I know!). =)

So that's a lot for right now. let's see if it will post successfully given this extreeeemly moody connection. =)

~Sarah

I'M HEREEEE!!! =)

GREETINGS EVERYONE!!

Ok, i'm on the internet *finally* and only have 10 more minutes on the internet because the school shuts it off at 5pm. we have it from 2-5 and then 9-10 so we don't use it during class time, etc. smart but annyoing

i'm in a really nice room with 6 other girls. 5 of us are American and the 2 others are from Holland and Austria. and i've found buddies i can practice French with.
anyway

I'm here to just to say hi! i'm alive. don't worry
and i'll try to get on later again. I'm actually borrowing a friends computer right now because the connection is really moody here and my computer wouldn't work.

so
schools great. everyone's nice
and i'll write about it later
for right now
I LOVE YOU
I MISS YOU
and i'll talk to you later!!!!!
infinite x's and o's!!!!!
(and pictures will come later when i'm on my own computer)
xxxxxxoooooooo
~Sarah =)

My first taste of England

I am finally safe in England and already getting a feeling of why people enjoy sunny California --It is terribly gray here! However there is 10x more greenery and people don't need sprinkler systems. Anyway, it's 3 o'clock in England right now and I am at the local library using their computer because the b&b I'm staying at doesn't have wi-fi.

I got picked up about an hour ago at the airport and I feel almost normal actually. My body has no clue what time its supposed to think it is so I don't feel too tired yet despite the fact that I think I got about 4 hours of sleep between my 2 flights. I think this was the 1st time I've really had trouble going to sleep on a plane (that I can remember). But don't worry, I've already taken today's vitamins and will make sure I get plenty of rest tonight Mom!

I flew on Lufthansa airlines from Philly to Frankfurt and then after a 4 hour layover (!!! ug) on to Manchester. I was able to watch Maid of Honor on the 1st flight and sat next to a llllarge man who was quite nice but smelled heavily of smoking. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to bear the smell for 8+ hours but then I found out the flight was full. So I lived. Plus, I didn't want to give up my window seat! =) I wanted to spray some of my body mist in the area while he went to the loo (see, I'm already picking up British!) but since I can't carry liquid on board I didn't have it. =( Anyway, as I said, I lived. (and am now appreciating my smoke-free air)

On Lufthansa they make announcements in 2 languages: German and English. Most of their magazines, pamphlets, signs, and everything were in German. By the end of my flights, I felt almost like I was happy to be back "home" in an only English speaking country! =) Even that short experience made me appreciate that our language is such an international language and I don't have to deal with trying to understand German all the time!

I can't upload more pictures right now since I'm not on my computer, but let me just say the b&b is all one could want! It is SO picturesque and I've already enjoyed exploring a bit. The couple who runs the place decided to give me the large master bedroom on the 1st floor so we didn't have to carry all my 90+ (100+?) lbs of luggage up the flimsy old stairs. The place could easily sleep 3 people and has a pretty view of the garden through its many windows. And there's a tray of tea, brownies, and hot chocolate so you can tell it's a wonderful establishment! =)

Everything is green, except the sky which is very gray.
There is so much moisture in the air that moss and random spurts of green growth grow around and through bricks, walkways, walls, etc.
Quite different from our dry and brown (but sunny!) CA!

Now I'm going to go spend a fortune on something small to eat for my poor, disoriented body. Plus my time's about to run out on this library computer.
Cheers! (another British term ---I pick up quickly) =)
Love to all,
Sarah

New York continued

I leave this afternoon (!!!) for England.

My flight is at 6pm and I won't arrive in England until noon (their time) tomorrow! =) =)
But before I leave, I'll give you a bit more about my NY stay.

The theatre Little Mermaid was in =)
you can't really see clearly in the picture, but Ariel is on all the doors and even the door handles!

there were show signs everywhere!

can someone say hippy?? for my lovely lauren and elizabeth =)

Then (another day), Nana and I went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island! It was was of my favorite parts of the trip so far. On the way there, we passed this old church surrounded by huge glass business buildings. That's the funny thing about New York. There's tons of history and beautiful old buildings juxtaposed against modern (and often less pretty) buildings.

We had to walk a couple of blocks to the ferry that would take us to the statue (well, actually, we walked a couple of blocks to everywhere -lots of exercise!!). This picture is from the very southern tip of Manhattan and there was a pretty park there...

... complete with street performers! =) They were funny and did several tricks (which of course I wasn't able to get a good picture of).and we even had a Jamaican drummer! (Enchanted anyone?) =)

After a very long line (all those silly tourists, sheesh!) we finally got on the ferry to go over to the islands.

We had a very pretty view of the city behind us.
and ttttttttthen...

TA-DA!!! =)
Not a very good picture, I know.
But you never know with strangers.
I just had trouble finding someone that looked like they spoke English!and may i say it's almost impossible to get a good picture because that statue is so so tall!
but you know what her head looks like anyway =)

What you can't really see is that the space around the statue was really nice. There was a large green area and it's right next to the water. Behind the statue is of course the memorabilia shop (where would our national parks be without them?) and lots of trees so that it doesn't feel too much like an island unless you're next to the water.

And of course we had a lovely view of the city from the island!

OK folks!
Well that's all I can give you right now.
I don't expect to have internet until probably Sunday when I will have arrived at the school. So if you don't hear from me until then, don't be surprised. =)

I arrive in Manchester around noon tomorrow and will enjoy sightseeing there for about 2 days until I leave for Capernwray on Saturday! And by that time I'll have to finish writing about NYC, DE, Manchester AND school! whooo...

Love to all!
~Sarah

NEW YORK! =)

Greetings friends, family, and ... other people! ;)
I am writing from Delaware at my grandparents house enjoying some peaceful countryside after a busy week in New York City!!

SooOoo,
I have SO much to write about I probably won't get it all down! I don't want to spend too much time writing on here so that I can spend time with my grandparents so I'll add pictures to make up for a potential lack of words. ;)

I left one week ago, last Tuesday morning, and flew to JFK in NY to stay with my Nana and enjoy the city. The flight was fine and I enjoyed seating to a nice, elderly couple and seeing the sunrise. The picture doesn't show how pretty the sunrise really was. =)

After Nana picked me up at the airport, we went to dinner that day at a place called The Shake Shack in Madison Square that is so popular an average wait in line is 1 hour!!! It was good but I can't imagine thinking it's good enough to wait over an hour for! But obviously there are enough people who think otherwise that it was written about in the NY Times... =)

Then on Wednesday we went to see a show on Broadway!!!! Yes, I know! I was so excited too! =) I was able to buy a ticket for The Little Mermaid at half price (which was still not the cheapest thing I've ever bought, but it's broadway!) The show was really great. I even wore my little mermaid shirt for the play. ;) The creative sets and costumes were my favorite part of the whole production. Afterwards, I waited by the stage door and got autographs from the cast! I was able to get Ariel's, Sebastian's, and several others. (Sebastian and me)

I was hoping for Ursella's also because she is such a great performer but I didn't catch her. I then walked to Times Square. I felt so small next to all those flashing advertisements and buildings!

At this point, the days are kinda mixed up in my head so i'll just tell you other things I did, not necessarily in order.

...however, I need to get off now so I'll leave it at that for now. Love to all!
~Sarah

And we're off!!

Well, the time is finally here. I leave bright and early tomorrow morning (why do flights always seem to be really early or really late in the day?) and can't believe my departure date is finally here!

I have eagerly waited for this date and now that's it's arrived, I'm not sure I'm ready to leave. I will miss you all sooo much! But of course I am excited. I have had butterflies for almost 18 hours already. My body was so excited for today that it woke me up at 4am! You'd think I'd have run out of adrenaline by now but I'm still going. =)

Tomorrow I fly to New York to visit my Nana and enjoy the city. I will be there until Sunday the 21st when I take a bus down to Delaware to visit my Grandma and Pop-pop before I fly to England on Wednesday the 24th. I will be in Manchester for a day and a half and then take a bus to school which starts on Saturday the 27th!

At the moment I am trying to squish every last thing in my luggage. Packing for 6 1/2 months is so very different than packing for 2 weeks! In the end, I'll have what I need (hopefully) and the rest will be an added bonus. It's at times like these when I realize just how much I have! God has richly blessed us (of course it feels less like a blessing when you're trying to pack). =)

I don't know when I will next have internet access so my next entry may not be for a while.
I wish you all the best.
lots of x's and o's!