Greetings from our lovely land of England!
It's amazing that today marks the end of our first MONTH here!! yikes!
The internet connection is allowing me to upload pictures at the moment so I will put up as many as I can! =)
Then right before we started having frostbite, we made a quick pyramid and then ran back to the castle to take warm showers and go to dinner! =)
Every once in a while, we have a brilliant sunset. Here is one of them -I didn't touch the picture, this is non-edited so you can image how beautiful it really was in person! We had just walked out of the dinning hall after dinner (so yes, the sun sets very early!) and I saw how beautiful the sky was, so we ran up to the tower so we could have a better view!
The fields are so lovely to just walk through. There is a walking path that goes around part of the property dubbed "the loop". however, I prefer to put on my rainboots and walk through the constantly muddy & wet grass. It's so much more freeing and whimsical to not follow the designated path!
This is the Conference Hall, where we have all our lectures, Church services, and sometimes watch group movies on the screen projector. We have assigned seats and sit in the same spot every day. My seat is on the right side of the picture, kind of in one of the middle rows, and on the aisle. I sit next to a guy from Oregon named Collin.
Here is the dining hall. we eat our meals here. go figure =)
the quietest meal is always breakfast because even though it is the only mandatory meal, people sleep in past it or just wake up before it so they're still half asleep and don't talk too much. When I'm awake enough to observe all the half-asleep people, it is pretty comical.
Here's Maggie, my 20 year-old roommate from Arkansas in our room trying to climb into the mysterious storage compartment. She eventually succeeded in accessing it from the room next door whose cabinet is closer to their door to it. It was pretty funny.
This is Erin and me during the dance maybe 2 weeks ago? Erin is good friends with my roommate Korina. We were all so hot and sweaty, it was disgusting but we were having so much fun!
Speaking of dancing, last Sunday after church, Korina asked me if I'd teach her some ballroom dancing so Korina, Erin, and I went to the gym so I could teach them. On our way we mentioned what we were doing to a few people and by the end of my lesson, we had about 30 there! So tomorrow, I am going do another group lesson, this time on swing. I found a guy named James who has done some swing before so we practiced yesterday and will be teaching tomorrow. =)I am by no means an amazing proficient in ballroom but am enjoying and looking forward to passing my knowledge onto others because that means we can then dance together! =)
These 2 pictures are from when we went to the Lake District 3(!) weeks ago on our first full Saturday at Capernwray! You can see better here how much water there was to walk through! It was not like this the whole way but we did cross several "streams" like this. Thankfully I wore rainboots. I felt bad for the people wearing sneakers because they were probably carrying an extra 2 lbs or water around in their feet! =)
The area really was pretty when you stopped to look. the key was to remember to stop and look! =) (instead of concentrating on how much your feet hurt, how hard it was raining, how wet you were, etc.)
Regarding my plans for Christmas break, I don't have anything in stone yet. But both my non-American roommates have invited me to come stay with them in Austria and Holland. Another girl here named Rebecca is from London (we have 3 girls from Britain who are all named Rebecca!!!) and she also invited me to come stay with her. I have also been talking with the Wells in Spain and hope to visit them too! I have been really surprised at how many students are going home for Christmas and so that decreases the number of students I could possibly travel around with. If you could just keep the planning of timing of everything in your prayers that would be most appreciated!
Well it is almost brunch time on my Saturday morning so I need to run. I have a full day of activities but will write sometime later about what I've done this past week!
Blessings and love to all!
~Sarah
Today has been such a day for unique weather! i wish i had a video to show you but i'm sure we'll have more of those days during my time here. All night i heard the wind blowing and the rain rapping against the windows in my sleep. In the morning when i woke up, after taking another cold shower (do they not have hot water here?!) i RAN the few yards from the castle to the dining room and it was raining SO hard that i was visibly wet by the time i got there! And if i thought it was windy and waiting hard *then* ...after breakfast i felt like i was watching a video clip on the weather channel. we could see all these leaves flying in the wind and the rain was coming down REALLY hard!! there was so much water on the ground that there was no clear, dry path on the walkways and the water coming from the drainpipes was bubbling and making foam (i'm not sure what that means though). it was very exciting =)
On Saturday night we had a "pub" night. we were all served some fruit juice or punch and we broke into groups and had pub quizzes. one of the staff asked us questions and each group would write down their answers. we had several categories of questions including: general knowledge, sports, music, movies, the UK (thankfully we had a British guy on our team!) and probably some more which i no longer remember!
On Sunday, my worship team played for the morning service (we also have an evening service) and though we made mistakes we all survived and i'm sticking to the belief that the 1st time is always the worst.=) (though we really weren't bad)
In the afternoon, I participated in a huge game of "i've never". we played it for so long that we ended up making it "i have..." because we could no longer think of things we hadn't done! I also played some mafia in the evening after our evening chapel service. In the service, we had an old English man preach with a great accent! He was very old school and fun to listen to.
I've been trying to upload more pictures but again, something is going wrong with the connection and i'm not able to.
This afternoon i had a really good work-out with about 20 other girls. we did an aerobics routine following a workout dvd that one girl brought. they meet 3x a week so i'm thinking i'll join them as much as i can. it was really good! also, i don't remember if i mentioned this, but another student started a dance team ministry that we'll use on outreaches so i will also have practices up to 3x a week for that!
Well that's all for now. I'm running off to play in the mud with some friends! =) I'll tell you how it goes... =D
Happy Saturday! It's incredible to believe that this is my FOURTH Saturday here at Capernwray marking the beginning of the FOURTH week! Unbelievable! It really doesn't feel like I have been gone for a month! since we have more hours of internet on Saturdays I am uploading some more pictures of my time here for your viewing enjoyment =)
Here is my roommate Tamara and me on a walk during our first week here. (with the castle in the background)
here's another picture of our room. it's a sufficient amount of storage for 7 girls. we also have one large pull-out drawer under our beds.
here's one of my few other pictures from the Lake district. it was such a rainy day and not one was really in the mood for a camera but i knew i had to try and have at least one nice picture. i am wearing my *priceless* raincoat, rain boots, and hat that i bought in manchester. and i am wearing (i think) 3 layers.
yesterday, i hit an all-time high of 4 layers on top, 2 on bottom (along with 2 layers on my feet too!) i was sufficiently warm -never hot! =)
below is another roommate picture (we are facing the castle and in the far left area of the picture you can see a bit of the conference hall through the trees where we have lectures)
here's a picture from the first day of school (1 month ago!!!)my first experience of dull english tea (why are they known for it??)
and one of my first reactions to the beautiful english landscape? look at all these great climbing trees!!
our lovely school on one of those days when we have hiccups of sunny weather! =)
i have to run off to worship band practice now. be on the look-out for more pictures over the next couple of days! (hopefully) Cheers! =)
YAY! The picture finally uploaded successfully! =) Here are my roommates from left to right: Lorea, Angelique, Catherine, Tamara, Korina, Maggie, and me! =)
Well, here we are again, talking about another week in the life of a Capernwray student. And again I still have the same feeling of “I can’t believe it’s week #3!”
This past weekend was full with fun activities and bonding experiences. The weekend started on Friday evening when all we knew about the evening’s event was the title “Capernwray Story” and that it was mandatory. It turned out to be simply a lecture about the history Capernwray…I know who would have guessed? I was hoping it was going to be something a little bit less predictable from the title. I was starting to get a little antsy when Mark Thomas started doing a lecture presentation about the history of the castle. I was not in the mood for yet another lecture but decided to endure it with a good attitude since I had been wondering about the castle’s history. And then mark asked us if he could introduce us to somebody at which point he turned around and starting taking off his coat…then put on a mask…and turned around looking like a british Abraham Lincoln! =)
Mark then proceeded to tell the story in 1st person as the man who brought the property and built the castle (sorry I don’t remember his name). so that was a nice (and funny) surprise =) the real treat of the evening was when Mark really did introduce us to somebody else to tell us more about the castle…his mother! It was really exciting to meet Mrs. Thomas and hear how she had bought the castle and property at her husband’s instruction when he was away (as he was a traveling evangelist) at an auction with a family friend. In fact, she almost didn’t buy the property because it went over the amount she was supposed to bid! They also showed some pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas when they were young and were just starting the school, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Another highlight of the evening was when they showed an old “home-made” promotional video that the school had made in the 60s. What made the footage even better was that it was accompanied by a recorded track of the voice of the man that used to do the promotions at groups for the school and would say funny things (essentially making fun of the footage) when he showed it at promotions in the 80s. I’m not sure if that description made sense, but it was really funny.
After the evening program was over we gathered for hot chocolate in the dining hall as we do every evening and then I visited another dorm’s pajama party and watched 27 dresses with a small group of girls. =)
Here was my experience of the Lake District in a photo (pictured with my roommate Tamara). It was cold, wet, misty, and we tried to have a good attitude =)
Whoo… Now THAT was only Friday *night* and I have a lot left to tell! =)
So, Saturday is the only morning we can sleep past 7 since we don’t have brunch til 11! It’s very nice =) I think I slept till 10:40… Most mornings one can tell a majority of the students don’t wake up till 5 minutes before breakfast and they stumble in the room (cus breakfast is mandatory). But despite the mandatory rule, there always seem to be people missing and the dining hall is by far the quietest during breakfast.
Anyway, Saturday afternoon we played the game of “hats”. This was an optional activity that resembles the idea of capture the flag except I think it was more fun. =) People are split into 2 teams: one with hats, one without hats. The team with hats has to get their hats into the designated area (tennis court in our case) while the non-hat team is trying to obviously prevent that from happening.
It was so much fun! My team won both when we were on the defense and offense! we totally dominated! =) we tackled or used whatever means necessary to defend and when on offense, we just ran our little heart out. I was strategic and crept around the back of the castle and then waited till the defenders were distracted with another person. I think people always underestimate the athletic ability of small girl. ;) It was lots of fun.
Then after we were all sweaty, dirty, and tired the RAs put on a movie in the lecture hall on the projection screen. We watched the movie, “The Count of Monti Cristo”. And my roommate Korina even made some popcorn and shared with me! =)
Later, in the evening we were treated to some Scottish dancing!! Dougie, one of the staff members and my family group ‘Dad’, is Scottish so he taught a couple of folk dances. They also mixed it up by ending with a couple of upbeat, non-Scottish dancing songs. Everyone was sweating really hard long before the evening was over and the gym was extremely hot!
This gives you an idea of what the gym looks like =)
On Sunday, I woke up extremely sore and had trouble getting around. I thought it was from tackling in the hat game but thought it unlikely since it really hadn’t been too hard of a game. However, I now think it was a pre-cursor to getting sick because…(drum roll please), I was feeling sick as a dog by Sunday evening! (Sarah sick?! Never!) haha. I could feel I had a really high fever and just put myself to bed with lots of vitamins and some pill that the RA gave me. weirdly enough, Elise (the RA) didn’t have a thermometer (what kind of school nurse doesn’t have a thermometer? I don’t know!) but praise God, I woke up feeling much better in the morning, stayed in bed till the afternoon and was almost normal by evening. It felt almost miraculous. I don’t remember the last time I recovered that quickly (ever)! However, yesterday I started coming down with a cold again and am not feeling well now so I’m not sure if I ever really was totally well…
Anyway, although being sick has kinda been the theme of this week, Tuesday I went to the nearby town of Kendal. It was a 45 min. bus ride and I was able to get several items that the tiny town of Carnforth doesn’t have. I purchased several items of snack food to save for the future as well as treats for my secret sister, a badly needed watch, and other items. I also found a hooded vest at a thrift shop for US $10. I was very happy since I realized I only brought 1 sweatshirt. (I have other outerwear but the vest will greatly multiply my wardrobe) =)
I have a feeling this weekend will be less exciting since I have a lot of studying to do. We have several papers to write in addition to lots and lots of reading.
One last item of news, I am going to Edinburgh over the travel weekend, Oct 31-Nov 3. I was able to find several other girls who were making reservations at a hostel and was able to book with them. It was very much a God thing since I didn’t want to make reservations with the school’s offered B&B because it was so much more expensive. My roommates Tamara and Angelique will also be rooming with my group at the hostel. I am looking forward to it!
As I believe I mentioned, I joined the worship team here. We practiced this afternoon because we are performing for the first time on Sunday morning for church. I am a bit nervous because everyone in our group has so little experience. But I am trying to have a positive attitude and we'll be practicing a lot tomorrow!
I wanted to be able to post more pictures but the connection is not working well right now so they will have to wait for another time unfortunately!
I hope you all are doing well. Lots of love!!!! ~Sarah
i saw this tiny European car and knew i had to take a picture by it because it made me laugh. you can get a feeling for how small it was by comparing it to me =)
here's the dinning hall and the pretty ornamental lawns which we are not allowed to walk on (and yet there are steps in the middle of them...?)
I noticed a few English quirks during lectures that I thought I’d share with you. For one thing, English people refer to the “first” books of the Bible (i.e. 1 Corinthians, or 1 Samuel) as “one Samuel” or “one Corinthians” instead of saying “first Samuel” like we would. Isn’t that funny? I’ve had to try hard not to be bothered by it. =) Also, they had different spellings for certain words (beyond French spellings for words that add extra e’s and such). For instance, they spell organizer, organizer (with an S instead of a Z) and there are several other words I’ve seen that follow that same rule.
For several days I had been wanting to have a time in the evening to spend just with my roommates because we hadn’t really spent any time together as a group. So on Wednesday night, we had a roommate night. I had been planning on having us share about our families and show each other pictures, but we ended up singing worship songs together and then talking about other things. And sharing our junk foods that families sent like oreos and peanut butter. (things I don’t miss at the moment, but I have a feeling I will feel peanut butter deprived before the end of our time here) In any case, it was a really nice time and we decided to make it a tradition and spent one night together every week. (but when we say evening time, it’s after lectures finish at 9pm and then we have hot drinks and internet access from 9-10pm. So it’s really like 1 ½ together from 10-11:30 ish)
I’m enjoying practicing my French with Anne-Sophie and getting to know her better. Yesterday we had a French session and spoke in French for about 45 min. and afterwards I had to remind myself to revert back into English =) the French feels like it’s coming back to me nicely and I’m really having fun being able to speak it to someone so knowledgeable.
here's our lecture hall
it's situated on a slope (which you can't see) and there's a story underneath the hall that has more girls' dorms
I thought I had mentioned this next blurb, but looking back at other blogs it doesn’t look like I have. But forgive me if I’m repeating myself =)
So the guys (all 50 of them) have split into two sections based on their lodging: the beehive and the tower. “The beehive”, because our snack shop is called the beehive and their rooms are on that side of the castle by the shop. And the tower, because those rooms are in the area by the clock tower (not the large, castle-like tower in the center of the castle). Anyway, the two teams are having competitions in sports and in team spirit. They just had their 1st competition yesterday and played a volleyball game (the tower won) and I’ve heard a soccer game (or football as the Europeans call it) is up next. The teams have asked the girls to pick sides and the beehive even is holding an election for “queen bee”. Hahaha. I know! And what’s almost funnier is that some girls actually applied for the position! who says we’re grown up here? =) however most girls don’t really care. But my two “brothers” from my family group are both in the tower so if I had to choose…
=)
Oh! Ok, my “brother” Dan from Tennessee is like the class clown here but in a good way. He is hysterical and can almost be counted on for a good laugh. However it’s not that he cracks jokes a lot, it’s just that he is such a comical person. For instance, he was the “coach” of the tower for the volleyball game and he wore suspenders, a sweat-headband, and held a clip board shouting encouragement from the sidelines! He reminds me of a nicer, less awkward Napoleon Dynamite. I’ll get a picture of our group soon hopefully so you can see him. Until then, you’ll just have to imagine =) he is so cheerful and makes all us laugh. Whenever he sees me (or anybody else in our family group) he kinda nodes or waves and says “hey sister”. =)
Right now (and for the past couple of hours) it has been misting outside. It’s pretty and almost looks like snow but is much less exciting to be in. So just as a reward for reading such a long blog, here's some more pictures! =)
here's a view of the back of the castle.
the room that is behind the wall with the red vine in the center of the picture (the one with triple windows on the 1st floor) is our "quiet room". we can read in there, etc. but whatever we do, it's supposed to be quiet. we also have 4 other common rooms in the castle but there not in this picture =)
Castle! =) if you're wondering why the supposedly rainy and gloomy England is sunny in all of my pictures that's because i haven't bothered to take any pictures on rainy days! all the pictures i have posted are from 2 or maybe 3 days over the past 2 weeks that i have been here. sun is not extremely rare here, but it's definitely not common and it's not becoming any more frequent as autumn continues!
We have our first writing assignments in addition to the massive amounts of Bible reading. Our first book (besides the Bible) is "Alive in Christ" by Charles W. Price. I'm not too far into it yet, but it's a pretty easy read and not super heavy like I expected.
Also, this morning we had our first friday morning seminar. On fridays the schedule changes and we don't have lectures. Half of us have a seminar in the morning while the other half have a "work morning" cleaning the inside of the castle for the girls and doing outside work for the boys. Last friday I cleaned rooms (dirty boys' rooms!), so this morning I attended Rob Whittaker's seminar on managing our time and responsibilities, making goals, etc. (not only for while we're here, but also for when we move on) It was helpful and we'll see how well i do at applying all the info. =)
Coming up in a few weeks we have a travel weekend to Edinburgh from Oct. 31- Nov. 3. i don't have too much information on it yet. however i know that the school is reserving rooms at b&bs in bulk or we can choose to stay in youth hostels by our own arrangement. i really don't know much else but i'm excited and look forward to going to Scotland =)
I feel like there's so much more to share! However, I'm going to post this now and I'll share more another time.
TONS OF LOVE TO ALL!!!!
~Sarah
This view is one of the views from the castle, taken from the side with the front door. The gate keeps all the sheep out of the castle area =)
It’s hard to believe I have been here only 9 days! It feels like I have been gone from home for much more than 2 1/2 or 3 weeks and here for ages. So much has happened in such a short period of time!
In terms of school schedule, we have 6 lectures a day. Breakfast is mandatory and starts our day at 7:30 after which we have chores or free time until lectures start at 9:00. We have four 45 min. lectures in the morning, with a tea break half way through at 11. We then have lunch at 1 after which we have "free time" until our "tea" (dinner) at 5:45. Then we have lectures again from 7-9. Then more tea at 9 and free time until bed at 11.
Every day has some slight variation, but that's our schedule for the most part. In our free times, we can take walks (if it's not pouring), do our homework, play tennis, basketball, ping-pong, swim, etc. We have a jumbo size janga game that's about 4ft tall (before we play with it!). I played a game where we got it so tall that our 6'2" friend had to stand on a chair!! =) There's also pool and lots of spaces for playing card games, etc. and then there's always the piano...somebody is ALWAYS playing it! In fact, our room is over the lounge where the piano is so we can hear it really well.
Here's my home for the next 6 months!!
My room is the one on the 2nd story on the right side of the picture
with the big windows that stick out from the rest of the castle =)
So much happens all the time that I find it hard to remember it all to write it down for you. Since I last wrote, the sports teams have started. We have men's football (soccer), women's netball (i have yet to see it but i heard it's like ultimate frisbee mixed with basketball. you don't dribble, instead you throw the ball to teammates to get it in the basket, which has no backboard), and lastly, indoor cricket. i tried the indoor cricket since if i ever try it, now would probably be the time. it was fun but i decided not to join the team. if it was outdoor cricket i probably would, but the indoor cricket is tricky because we play in a small gym and it's also co-ed and it involves 2 practices a week...so i'm not doing it. but it was fun trying.
Here you can see our tire swing, under the tree, a chess board on the ground and the little white dots in the grass on the left side of the picture are sheep =) the sheep are standing in the soccer field area. i love to just get some fresh air and walk around this area if it's not TOO muddy
I don’t have a working camera at the moment, so I don’t have too many new pictures to put up of activities, but I have asked friends to take pictures, so hopefully I’ll have some more soon.
I have tried to sit with a different group of people at every meal so you would think after 9 days I would know everybody but I still don’t! however I have met almost all 170 of us! =)
Besides the optional sport teams, there are other ways of getting and staying connected here at Capernwray. We have two groups that everyone is required to be a part of: family groups and interactive groups. These meet once a week and take the place of one of the morning lectures. Family groups are groups that are assigned to create “families” for students during their stay. For example, I am in a family group led by one of the staff and his wife, Dougie and Lisa, and am one of 7 students. the staff tries to mix up people by having students of many nationalities in each group so we get to connect with people we might not otherwise.
Our family group met for the 1st time on Friday evening for a couple of hours at Dougie and Lisa’s house which is on campus. We have a fairly small group (I have heard of family groups that had 16 kids!) because Dougie and Lisa can only take as many kids as they can fit in their small, stone house. They have 2 small children of their own: Hannah (age 5) and Ethan (3). On Friday we introduced ourselves, played some wii, played the “fun game” (Elizabeth! =) had chocolate fondue (!) =) and shivered together! Lisa is from Australia originally and therefore relates to some of our difficulty coping with the weather. However Dougie is from Scotland so the cold is nothing to him and the house is cold. I was really surprised to not see any lap blankets around so one of my “sisters” and I huddled together on the couch with our coats around us. We have 5 girls and 2 boys in our group which is actually a good representation of the ratio of guys to girls here at school.
Then, we also have what we call interactive groups. The purpose of these groups is to have devotions and discussions with students from your own area of the world. I am in a group of 11 kids, 9 from CA, 2 (twins) from Arizona. Several of the students are from NorCal or about 1 hr away from SF in different directions! =) Two of the guys in our group even discovered they had a friend in common. That group met for the 1st time this morning. It’s very different from the family groups in that it’s student led. So me and another girl, Ashley, were assigned to lead the first meeting and I think it went well. In an average meeting, we work together to choose a topic, create questions, etc. however today we had a bit of a break since it was the 1st time and we only had 4 days warning. We played an introduction game and then had a short devotional and prayer time. and the game involved marshmallows and m&ms. And food always engages people =)
The weekend feels like it has been super long and I’m not sure if I’ll even get to writing about it today. However, I will mention that I am praising God for my health right now and would love your prayers for continued health. I am one of the 3 healthy girls in a room of 7 at the moment. Our Dutch roommate, Angelic, has been really sick since last night. She threw up most of the night and is finally looking better now (at 4pm!) We had a fire drill and she fainted trying to get out of the room. The nurse says she thinks she has one of those 24 bugs. My other roommates just have colds. I am taking all my gross vitamins and trying to stay healthy =)
On Friday night, my family group disbanded late so I didn’t get to till midnight. We were all thankful that we get to sleep in on Saturday mornings! =) we don’t have brunch until 10 (I think it was, maybe 11?). Then, Saturday afternoon we met to the famous LAKE DISTRICT! =) I was very excited to see the sight which I have heard so much about in literature. I was still happy even when I heard it would be raining that day. I didn't really think anything of it since it rains at least a little bit almost everyday here. However, I was nowhere near prepared for what happened that day. I think it will stand out in my memories of Capernwray not because of what I saw, but of how intense the weather was! One of the staff that went with us later said that she has done that trip hundreds of times over the years and never was the weather that bad!
So, what happened you may ask? Not much, it just poured THE ENTIRE TIME!!! We took a bus through Windermere into Ambleside and took a "nice" 5 mile walk through the hills. I had to keep reminding myself to try and enjoy it and look around. It was raining so hard and it was quite windy at times. I do admit it was pretty picturesque but I would say that more if I had been inside, where it's nice and warm and dry! I wore rainboots and the lack of foot support over a 5 mile hike gave me such bad pains that I was ready to cry by the end of it. BUT, if I have the opportunity, I'll try and go again on a sunny day! At the end of our hike, I went for a nice cup of hot chocolate (not tea!) with Tamara (my Austrian roommate, very sweet) and Gloria (a black, German friend who is in my family group) and 4 or 5 young staff guys. The men's RA is from SoCal so it's fun to have another Californian around. The dean of Student's name is Ian. He is also young and his face reminds me a lot of David Hale =) So we had hot chocolate together and started to defrost and peal off some layers. One could easily find us by our water tracks through the restaurant. we felt really bad for making such a mess but we did ask if it was ok for us to come in. one of the servers came by our table and mopped twice while we were sitting there =) Alex, the men's RA, literally wrang out his supposedly water proof coat several times and had water streaming from his coat! it was SO funny! =) I was mostly dry (as dry as you can be after several hours of hiking in the pouring rain). I decided that people who film movies in the UK (like Jane Austen films) misrepresent the area because it never rains in the movies as much as it actually does here!!
Overall, it was a wacky bonding experience that will be hard to forget.
In the evening on Saturday, we were going to have a bondfire (which obviously didn't happen!) so we had an inside bondfire instead...in the fire place in the common room. =) but it was really fun because we sang tons of zany kid camp songs like Pharoah, Pharoah, and there's a whole in my bucket, etc. In addition, the staff did some new songs for us that were really funny.
Then, yesterday, on Sunday, we had morning service then a bunch of free time during which i took a walk, played tennis, and did other things which i no longer remember...and then we had another service in the evening. It was a beautiful sunny day which made us wonder why God didn't switch Sat. and Sun.'s weather but He's in control and we're not, right?
This picture is not from yesterday, but yesterday was about this pretty. I only wore 2 layers and was even able to take my sweatshirt off while i played tennis! =) Then in the evening, I climbed up to the tower (about 60 steep steps) and watched the end of a beautiful orange sunset with a few friends! we can see the bay and the lake district from the tower!
Here's the beginning of a sunset from the other day. i have to admit though, we don't have a gorgeous one every night =)
Here you can see the castle from a distance. it is a great area to take lots of walks and enjoy God's creation. I even took a walk last week when it was pouring but i felt cramped inside. so i armed myself with my boots and umbrella and enjoyed myself, taking refuge from trees when necessary =)
So, due to request, I'll tell you a bit more about my roommates before I sign off.
Angelic, 19, from the Netherlands. pretty quiet and has pretty good english but isn't quite proficient enough yet to converse freely at a normal pace (which makes her even quieter)
Tamara, 18, from Austria. So far, she has been my buddy the most. for the first couple of days we had most meals together. She loves to sing and has a good sense of humor. not in the sense that we joke a lot, but that she keeps things light. She has a twin sister who is not here at school, and a younger brother. her mother is not a christian and not really supportive of her being here but at least payed for her to come. she lost her father to cancer 4 years ago (as did another girl in my family group).
Here's Tamara carefully picking her way through the puddles on one of our walks =)
BTW, on saturday, i took a night walk with people around "the loop" (an easy circuit around some of school property that's about 1 mile long) it was fun to try and avoid puddles in the dark. esp. since i was wearing flip flops due to my blisters from the hike.
Roommates continued:
Maggie, 20, from Arkansas. sporty, outgoing, and doesn't stick around our room too much so i don't know her as well yet.
Lorea, 18, from PA. She looks much more Californian than me (blonde and tan), but then again so do 2 of the British girls (but i'm pretty sure that's not their natural coloring...). She plays the guitar and sings and also joined the worship team but is not in the same group as i am.
and lastly, Catherine, 18 (i think) from Oregon (one of the many! OR is the most represented state here) also doesn't spend a lot of time in our room so i have yet to really get to know her. However one thing i know is that she sleep talks and is considerate because she snores and she brought ear plugs for us! =)
Hopefully that's enough info to give you a taste of life for now. Today we started the "Walk Thru the Old Testament" series with a guest lecturer from that program (yes, the same one we did 5? years ago with the motions and everything). I believe he will finish lecturing tomorrow. It's nice to have something different besides a straight lecture. It's only our second week of school and our accelerated reading program for the year already has us almost finished with Genesis.
Speaking of which, I had better go do my reading! =)
This is our "before" picture. We already have a bit of mud on our pants because it was really messy even just getting to that spot.
And we're off! by the way, this is not a lake, but a huge puddle that was created in the middle of one of the pastures. it was actually not very muddy at all, just very wet! It was so cold we were already shivering before we went in the water! There are some things that photos simply can't convey adequately, including wind and temperature. It was so cold that we hoped we would go numb so we wouldn't have to feel how cold we were! We had to climb over some of the sheep fences to get there and I later discovered that I had cut my foot on the barbed wire fence (when I saw red on my foot and wondered what it was...haha) but not to worry, by that time we were back in the castle and I got it all cleaned up! =)
