I can't even believe I've been here for two and a half weeks! It feels like I've been here for months, and I feel so at home. There is no better feeling than returning from a weekend trip and seeing the manor off on it's hill in the distance. All I can do is stare and feel glad to be "home":) I don't think I will ever cease being amazed by the manor, gorgeous!

I suppose I could mention some little things about life here...maybe about school? Sometimes I forget that's what we are here for! We are all required to take a 6-credit British Studies course. It's interesting, but sometimes it's hard to stay awake. I am also taking 2 art classes. A drawing class and then an intro to studio art class. They are fun, but I wish I would have taken only one, and then signed up for something different. But now is not a time for regret! In total I am taking 12 credit hours, but in reality it's 18 hours because each art class requires 3 additional studio hours. If you're wondering why I am taking art-since I'm a biology major-it's because honestly I did not plan very well. Not much of this semester will count academically-but it's all in the experience!

Over this last weekend we had a day trip to Lincoln, England for our British Studies Class. It was freezing. It was the first legit rainy day we had, and we were outside for tours and such-BRRR! We toured the castle and the famous Cathedral. The cathedral was beautiful! It was also the set of the movie The Da Vinci Code. My favorite part of the cathedral was how many imperfections there were! You would never notice unless you were told, but once they were pointed out, I saw them everywhere! It's very symbolic and also humbling that something that appears so beautiful can have mistakes.


Can you see what's wrong with this picture? --> Here is an example of a mistake made...the last window on the right is drastically smaller than the ones next to it.

After the day trip, we came back and had an eighties dance party in our basement bistro! Not much to complain about here:)



On Saturday morning I left with three other friends for my first British train ride to Nottingham, England. It was about a 45 minute train ride and is the home of Robin Hood-woot! We stayed in our first hostel, and I think it may have been setting the bar high. It was very nice (at least in hostel standards...). It was a perfect location and we had a private room. We did a lot of shopping and went to a pub called the Hog's Head at night. I had a very entertaining time asking the locals about different slang words and gestures. My traveling companions were embarrassed at first when I would skip across the pub to a random table, but they were glad once I made us friends! It was a great trip, except when we were about to board the train and I realized I forgot my Ipod in the hostel...So 2 got on the train, and one came with me to the hostel yet again. Luckily I remembered before we left. I got it back and we just took the next train back.


My favorite thing about England (favourite I should say!) is the language. Considering they speak English, I didn't expect it to be as difficult to understand some of them as it is! There are some very subtle differences and some very large ones. Let's see, some examples are diaper=nappie, eraser=rubber, trash=rubbish, silverware=cutlery, they say cheers for absolutely everything!-for thanking someone, for moving out of someones way, for a complement, it's ridiculous!, a backwards peace sign means up yours (some have learned that the hard way...), when we were at a McDonald's one night (the guys I met apparently thought we would enjoy that ha) I noticed that instead of "next please" they said "yes please". It was quite bizarre.


Things are great, I hope these posts aren't too boring! LOVELOVELOVE to all! I hope the states are great and I miss many:)