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