Special treatment

After class was over at noon, I had leftover chicken cassarole for lunch and then I took a nap for a few hours -- I hadn't gotten a nap for a long time, and I was so exhausted. Everything has just been go, go, go and I've lost so much sleep because I don't want to miss anything!

All of the students here are in a Great Britain class, and today was our first meeting from 4:00-6:30 pm. A British woman came and spoke to us about the differences between the American and British cultures, and she kept us laughing the whole time :) There really are some big stereotypes about both cultures, but they come from the truth! She also talked about culture shock, and how to adjust better to living in England. I got a little bored during the class, and ended up video-taping some of it with my digital camera, haha. So now I can listen to an English accent whenever I want!

Jennifer, Courtney, and Sarah - bored during class:



For dinner, Courtney and I really wanted to go back to Pizza Express, since we had such a great time last time. We took Sarah and Jennifer with us this time, and we hoped Pete would be our waiter again :). Well, Pete wasn't our waiter but we had another waiter who was really nice. The only thing that really bugs me about restaurants here is that they really take their time waiting on their customers. In the States, the waiters want good tips so they keep checking on you as often as they can. Here, they don't really care how big their tip is - any extra money is appreciated. Every time we've gone out to eat, we've spent about 2 hours at the restaurant, even if it's just 2 of us!

We ordered 2 pizzas to split among the 4 of us. When it finally came, each pizza was cut into 8 slices! We knew this was unusual and that people here don't cut their pizza. Looking around the restaurant, everyone else had 1 pizza to themselves and they were eating it with a fork and knife. We asked the waiter, "Do you normally cut the pizzas?" and he smiled and said, "No, special treatment." He also put lots of ice in our water, and people here don't put ice in their drinks. Courtney and Jennifer loved this royal American treatment, but it made me and Sarah feel uncomfortable. We had a long conversation over dinner about blending in with society and experiencing the true culture here.

After getting back to the house, I budgeted my money for the rest of the semester. I realized I have the perfect amount of money for these next few months, and enough extra to be flexible. I felt so much better after doing this, and I went to sleep with a load off my mind.

Going domestic

Today wasn't a very exciting day, but I'm going to write about it anyway....the only class I have on Tuesdays and Thursdays is from 12:30 to 2:30 pm, so I get to sleep in and I also get tons of free time! These are my favorite days.

After class, Courtney and I ran some errands, and then we decided to use some of our newly-bought groceries to make dinner! Courtney's mom had e-mailed her an easy cassarole recipe that would be cheap and also last a few meals: chicken, 3 kinds of soup (cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, cream of celery), and rice. We used the 2nd floor kitchen, which was much bigger and better! While making the meal, we kept complimenting each other by saying "look how domestic you are!" haha. The cassarole turned out surprisingly good, although it burned around the edges. The oven is marked by degrees Celcius, so we just guessed what setting to put it on.... :) Anyway, it was a delicious dinner accompanied by peas and juice. It actually tasted like a home-cooked meal, and it made me realize how much I miss that! I'm going to have to get used to planning my own dinners though; peanut butter & jelly will only last so long....

First day of school

Monday was our first day of real classes - I had 2 classes back-to-back from 9:00 am to noon. Afterwards, Sarah and I both had a break until 4:00 pm, so we decided to go back to University Park. It was just as beautiful as the first time! We were there for a long time, taking different paths and exploring everything. One of the paths, the one that goes over Rainbow Bridge, ends up at the gate to someone's farm! We stood at the gate for awhile, gazing at the bright green land and the perfect blue sky...we even climbed over the gate in order to take better pictures, haha. On the way back, we found the blackberry bushes Janine had told us about, and we had to eat some. Then we discovered a HUGE tree that is perfect for climbing (this is when my camera battery died -- sorry, I'll have to put up pictures of it later!). Its branches drag the ground all the way around it, so it almost creates a secret area around the trunk and under the branches :). I climbed it as far as I could go...Sarah wasn't wearing good "climbing" clothes, so she promised to climb it next time. Lots of people had written their names on the trunk, so of course we gave in and added ours. It was a perfect day in the park!







Sarah and I both had the Christian Worship class from 4:00-6:30 pm, and it was held outside in the backyard of House 9. I know this is going to be my favorite class of the semester! Since the class was so long, we had a break in the middle for tea and cookies (which we'll have every class meeting). We discussed different types of worship, and at the end we practiced meditation, laying in the grass and relaxing our minds. After class, I ate dinner and then headed straight for the computer lab! I was starting to feel withdrawel from the internet, haha. I worked on downloading/editing pictures until midnight - a huge task since I had over 300 pictures already! So many memories in only 5 days... :)

Lazy day

We were planning on going to an Anglican Church on Sunday morning with the group (the nearest Church of Christ is miles away and has 4 members, haha)...but we were so exhausted from the day before that we ended up sleeping in until 1:30 pm. It was wonderful, especially since our bodies hadn't quite adjusted to the drastic 6-hour time change! We are planning to go to a variety of churches in the area, not only to be open to different denominations, but also to learn more about the culture and history of churches in Oxford.

The only thing we had to do all day was a pre-Bible class, Message of the Old Testament, from 4:00-5:30 pm. We don't really have a regular class schedule this semester, since it is interrupted so much with travel breaks, so in order to get in enough hours for our classes we have random classes on a few Saturdays and Sundays. Anyway, this was our first real class in Oxford, and it felt weird to be in a classroom again. It's really nice having the classroom on the 1st floor of our house though because all we have to do is walk downstairs! Great for people who love sleeping in :).

My Bible teacher is Dr. John Willis, and he is such an adorable old man! Very energetic for his age, and just lovable. He's taught at ACU for a long time, and I've always heard great things about him. His teaching style keeps my attention, which is rare for me, haha. In the middle of class, he brought out a huge plate of cookies, and he said he gives out cookies every day in class -- I'm lucky to have him for 2 classes! After this one meeting, I already had homework and a presentation to be working on for the end of the week! I was a little overwhelmed, but I knew I'd have lots of free time.

After class, Courtney and I walked to Summertown for groceries (about a 20 min. walk), although we didn't know if it would still be open by the time we got there. Stores around here close around 6:00 pm, including grocery stores...even Starbucks closes at 7:30 pm (hard to believe since the one in the States stays open until 11:00 pm)! Since our class got out at 5:30, we were hoping we'd have enough time to get food. We did get there just a few minutes before closing, but they were nice enough to stay open until 6:15 for us! We got £30 worth of food (about $60 total) - we were splitting the groceries between us and they would last us about 2 weeks, so we were pretty impressed with ourselves :).

We had peanut butter and jelly for dinner (from our new groceries!) and then we had a group devo at 9:00 pm. Every Sunday night we'll have a devo....it kind of substitutes for chapel on campus at ACU. Afterwards, we went to G & D's again, and I got Greek Yogurt and Honey ice cream! Sooo delicious. They have a Lavender and Honey flavor that I really want to try - it actually has bits of the Lavender flower in the ice cream! I have a feeling this is going to be a favorite dessert spot.

I was planning on going to bed on time (it was already midnight), but since I slept in that day I wasn't too tired....I stayed up until 2:30 am talking to Erin, someone who I'm really looking forward to getting to know better. I knew her last year, but we never hung out or really got to know each other. We talked a lot about people and personalities and middle children (which we both are, haha)....a really interesting and thought-provoking discussion. I guess staying up that late wasn't too smart of an idea, since classes started the next day! But I'll take a good talk over sleep any day :).

Warwick Castle

On Saturday, our entire group went to Warwick Castle! We were supposed to meet in the other house at 10:30 am....Courtney and I slept in by mistake and woke up at 10 am, just barely enough time to get ready - thank goodness we didn't sleep any longer! We left the house and walked to the train station, about a 20 minute walk. I had been to a train station before, but lots of the people in the group hadn't. They were SO excited to be in a "real" train station, like the one in Harry Potter :).



We saw a man in a kilt!





The first leg of our train ride lasted about 30 minutes, and then we switched to another train at the Banbury station. When we arrived at the town of Warwick, we walked and walked for what seemed like forever. Finally, at around 1:00 pm, we arrived at Warwick Castle! You could see it from far away, peeking above the trees. We were each given our passes to get into the castle, and then we were free to go wherever we wanted until 5:00 pm. There was SO much to see and do...there are stations set up everywhere that you can visit: jousting, archery, a dungeon and torture chamber, a haunted house, a bird show, gardens, etc. There was a jester on stilts walking around and entertaining the kids, and there were also minstrels singing and playing to greet you as you entered the castle. Courtney and I made sure to see every single thing! After visiting the stations, we climbed up hundreds of steps to get to the top of the castle, and then we walked around the top of the castle and took tons of pictures - there was a beautiful view of the city from up there! We read a lot about the history of Warwick Castle, and we weren't afraid to ask workers more about it. On our way to the top, we met up with 3 other girls from our group who are juniors: Amanda, Shelbi, and Rachel. We all loved exploring the area up there. Here are some pictures from Warwick Castle:







The view from the top of the tower:









I hope these pictures help you feel like you were there! We had such a wonderful time, although we were exhausted when we finally met at 5:00 pm to leave. We had walked so much around the castle...but we still had to walk all the way back to the train station, and also walk from the station to the houses...*whew* It was about 7:00 pm when we finally arrived at home. A group of us decided to eat at a pub nearby called Eagle and Child, and I tried Stella Artois - C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to regularly eat together here while sharing their latest writings! There is a plaque dedicated to C.S. Lewis hanging in the main room, and also pictures of both of them on the walls.







After dinner, we stopped at an ice cream place called G & D's. They have lots of unusual flavors (I got green tea ice cream), and their shop is decorated all over in cow print :) it's really cute. We got back pretty late, around 10:00 pm. Courtney went to bed right away....I stayed up for a few hours on the internet. I realized I hadn't told my friends/family that I made it to England yet (haha) so I sent out several emails before crashing for the night.

And there was evening, and there was morning...the second day

"A college is not simply a place or organization where certain kinds of teaching and research take place. Like a tribe its identity is intimately interwoven with its surroundings -- its pictures and its ornaments, its buildings and its gardens."
~Peter Snow, Oxford Observed



Friday morning, we got to sleep in! :) Courtney and I woke up around noon, just in time to get ready for our group orientation meeting at 1:00 pm. During orientation, we all introduced ourselves to the group (even though we'd already spent about 2 days together, haha), and we also had a Question & Answer time with the Morgans about England. This lasted until 5:00 pm, although we did have a break for tea!





Afterwards, we were free for the night, so Courtney and I decided to explore the town a little and find a place to eat dinner. We were in the mood for Italian (Yes, I know we're in England, haha), so we asked someone what Italian restaurant they would recommend. He told us how to get to a place called Bella Italia, and we were so excited that we could actually understand his directions and know what roads he was talking about! The food was a little expensive, but delicious....I got linguini pasta with chicken and spinach. I also got a glass of casa rosario with my meal, a dry white wine with a hint of strawberry :). Everything here is on the expensive side, because the exchange rate is 1 pound = 1.7 dollars! So any time you see a price, you pretty much have to double it in your head and that's how much you're paying. Yuck.

After dinner, Courtney and I walked back to the house and made some tea! We stayed up late drinking tea, talking, and taking lots of crazy pictures :). I think we went to bed around 3 am....

Here at last

I know I am WAY overdue for an update, seeing as how I have been in England for about 3 days now! I am loving every minute of my experience here so far, and I've recorded almost every detail of the trip. Let me start at the beginning...Wednesday morning our Oxford group (31 students) left on a bus for the DFW airport at about 10 a.m. Here is the group:



The drive to the airport lasted about 2 hours. Courtney (my future roommate) and I slept on each other the whole way there - we were so exhausted from all of the preparation we had been doing throughout the week! Here is a picture of me and Courtney with some of our bags:



Courtney loves clothes (especially shoes) and kind of had a hard time packing, haha...she actually had 3 suitcases she wanted to check on to the plane (one entirely of shoes)!!! When she went up to the counter to check her bags, the man asked her why she needed so much luggage. She simply said "Well, I suppose I'm just a girl and had a hard time packing because I love clothes." But he quickly replied "I have a better excuse for you. How about this: in that third suitcase is food and presents for third world countries...isn't that right?" She gave him a big grin. "Yes! That's exactly right!" The man ended up checking her third bag at no cost! I was so surprised that he let her do this, especially because it was an international flight, and they are usually more strict. As she left the counter, she sweetly reminded him not to lose all that food for the poor, haha.

After getting rid of our luggage, we had about 4 hours to kill in the airport. It was about 1:00 p.m. and our flight wasn't until 5:00. Courtney and I decided to ride in the SkyLift (I think that's the name of it) around the entire airport. It's like a train that takes you to the different terminals. We met a woman on the SkyLift who was also going to London, meeting her son and daughter there. She wasn't going on the same plane as we were, but we jokingly said "We'll see you in London!" even though we knew that was practically impossible.



I know Courtney is going to be great to have around because she is not afraid to talk to ANYONE! She loves meeting strangers and getting to know people, an area of mine that definitely needs improving. She has a video camera with her at all times, which has been SO wonderful for this trip. We had a lot of fun secretly taping cute guys or children with the camera while we were in the airport. We also met the pilot and some flight attendants that would be on our plane! We had to take a picture of them:



The coolest thing at the DFW airport is this blue musical structure, really hard to explain so I'll just post a picture on here. Basically, there are these circles on the floor inside of it that make noise when you step on them. We were entertained with this for a LONG time, along with all the small children, haha - I'm sure we were starting to get on other people's nerves though...



We got hungry around 4:00 p.m. (yes we still hadn't even left the airport yet...I told you this was detailed!) and decided to eat at Bennigan's. This is when I discovered that Courtney loves sugar more than anyone else I've ever met. She ordered tea and put 15 packs of sugar in it...she wanted more but that was all there was on the table, haha. She actually said it wasn't even sweet enough! I was glad to get salmon and broccoli, a nice substantial meal before the long plane ride.

The flight from Dallas to London was about 9.5 hours, but it went surprisingly fast! I slept 2 hours at the beginning and 2 hours at the end, so that definitely helped. We were served 2 wonderful meals, dinner and breakfast. Tea came with both (fitting) and also complimentary wine, which everyone enjoyed :). The couple in front of us was celebrating their 52nd wedding anniversary in London, and it was really fun to talk to them about it. There were TVs on the backs of every chair, which REALLY helped the flight also - different movies played on every channel, so I ended up watching several parts of them. Here is a gorgeous sunset picture I captured while on the plane:



We landed in London around 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning (although it felt like 2:30 a.m!). As the pilot gave his best wishes to the passengers, he made a special reference and thanks to the "papparazzi" he met before the flight, meaning us (since we took pictures with him)! We were so proud that he actually remembered us! It was a lot of fun :)

After landing, we all "queued" (teehee I've actually got to use that term now in England) in a gigantic line to get our passports stamped. We were talking with each other, not realizing that we were actually the only ones talking! It's hard to get used to that in England...they are a lot quieter and respectful of personal space, if that makes sense. Much to our surprise, Courtney and I spotted the lady we met in the SkyLift! She was in the back of the line, and once she noticed us we said "We told you we'd see you in London!" She gave us a big smile.

We had a problem with someone's passport in the group. A guy named Todd had a slight wrinkle on the front page (the one with his picture) and the airport official spotted it immediately, saying "You expect to get into the country with a passport looking like this?!" (with a British accent, of course :) ....Todd was scared to death and didn't know what to say. Finally, after we got our chaperones and teachers over to the problem, they talked it over with the man and it ended o.k. But Todd sure knows to take better care of his passport now! Now that he's been in the country awhile and loves it, he jokingly says "Maybe they won't let me get back into the United States. I might just have to stay in England forever! "

After getting our passports and luggage all checked out (including Courtney's 3 bags, haha what a pain to get all of them through the airport!), we hopped on a bus and rode for 2.5 hours from London to our new homes in Oxford. All of the cars drive on the "wrong" side of the street, which is really hard to get used to, and the houses look like they came straight from a storybook! All 30 of us had our noses pressed against the glass windows the whole way; we could not get enough of the gorgeous scenery. I took TONS of pictures from the bus, especially of people walking on the sidewalks.



We passed so many historical landmarks that would soon become familiar to me, such as C.S. Lewis' grave, the Thames River, Windsor Castle, etc! At last, we arrived at Canterbury Road, houses 9 and 10. The professors, who had arrived a week ago, greeted us with hugs as we came off of the bus. Courtney and I were assigned a room on the very top floor (3rd floor) of house 10. Our house is made up of all girls, and we also have a classroom and a computer lab on the bottom floor. House 9 is right next to ours and almost identical - this house has the rest of the girls on the 3rd floor, all the boys on the 2nd floor (there are only 8 in the group!), and the professors live on the bottom floor. Each house has a kitchen on every floor (6 kitchens total) and also a bathroom/shower on every floor! Here is my house and kitchen. I'll post pictures of my room once courtney and I get everything unpacked :)





We were a little disappointed to be on the top floor, because we have the smallest rooms and kitchen, and we also have to climb more stairs. The stairs are very steep and narrow, so you can imagine the difficulty of lugging our heavy suitcases up 3 flights! However, at this point we were just happy to finally be on land and in England! We had been looking forward to this day for so long.

After unloading everything into our rooms, we took a break for lunch in the backyard of House 9. Sandwiches, fruit, chips, juice...very easy on the stomach after the anxiety and excitement from traveling for so long. Then, we had an hour to unpack our things and start organizing our rooms. They made it very clear that we were NOT allowed to sleep! They wanted us to adjust to the time change as quickly and as easily as possible. That meant no naps; we had to train our bodies to adjust to the 6-hour difference! It was Thursday now, around 1:00 p.m...although it felt like 7:00 a.m. to us. As we unpacked, Courtney said she was already starting to feel a little homesick - she is an only child, very close to her family, and I got to see that as they were saying goodbye to her in Abilene before we left. This is her first time outside of the U.S. and also her first time to be on a big trip without her parents. I knew that once we got everything put away and surrounded ourselves with familiar and favorite things, she would feel a lot better.

We were making great progress on our room, but there was an Oxford tour scheduled for us at 2:00, just an hour later. Ron and Janine Morgan are the 2 professors that lead the ACU program in Oxford and teach some of the classes. They live in England and have actually never taught at ACU before! The other professors are Dr. and Mrs. Willis, who have taught at ACU for years and came to England a week before us in order to prepare for our arrival. Ron Morgan was supposed to give us the casual walking tour of Oxford. Me, Courtney, and 2 other girls (Katie and Lael) on the top floor forgot our umbrellas (it was definitely going to rain), so we went back to get them before the tour. When we walked back to House 9, the group had already left! We were disappointed and didn't know what to do. Janine Morgan opened the door and exclaimed "What are you guys still doing here?!" Once we told her that the group left us, she excitedly volunteered to take us around Oxford herself. She is such a nurturing and lovable woman, one of those people you feel you can trust with anything. We were so glad to have our own mini-tour with only the 5 of us! We went all around town and I learned so much history about the very ground on which we were walking. My favorite part of the tour was University Park - this is still my favorite part about where we are living, and I've gone to it several times since then. It is a huge park with lots of different paths you can walk on, benches everywhere, gigantic trees that are centuries old...this is a picture of Rainbow Bridge, on which Virginia Woolf contemplated and wrote. If you walk to the top of this bridge, you can see most of the park, and you can watch people taking "punts" (canoes) down the river. Also, in this park is a bench dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien, and a place where the most recent Harry Potter was filmed last year. If you go down one of the paths, you can pick blackberries! People are always there walking down the paths and having picnics. It is such a beautiful place to go whenever I have any free time!





After we went on our mini-tour of Oxford with Janine, she led us back near the house, and then told us we were free to explore for the rest of the day! The four of us (Me, Courtney, Kaite, Leal) walked around town, exchanged money, bought groceries and headed home. Then Courtney and I left to find a place to eat dinner. We asked someone what restaurant they would recommend for Italian food, and they told us how to get to a place called Pizza Express. We figured it would be fast food, but it was actually a nice sit-down restaurant! Our waiter was named Pete, and he was VERY friendly and made us laugh a whole lot. We knew he was flirting, but it was fun since it was our first meal out in England together. Our chaperones warned us not to be too friendly to strangers because British people aren't exactly the "Texas friendly" type, but we have found that most people enjoy talking to us and learning more about us. There was a mother and daughter (named Jenny and Sophie) at a table close to ours, and they kept looking at us and smiling, so we decided to strike up a conversation with them. They were SO nice and very interested in us. We ended up staying at the restaurant for 2 hours, just talking with them and enjoying our meal. Courtney and I each got pizza and split a pear tart for dessert. Pete came by often to check on us and talk with us. He kept trying to imitate our American accent, which was hilarious, and he offered to give us his phone number so he could show us around town....haha. When we were ready to leave, we asked Jenny and Sophie "Can we take a picture of y'all?" and they about died laughing, saying to each other "They actually say 'y'all'!" It was so funny hearing them try to say "y'all" with a British accent. :) We are thinking of making Pizza Express a weekly stop!





We walked around the city a little more after dinner, and got back to the house around 8:00 p.m. We were so exhausted and went to bed right away!

Goal statement

Here is part of my paper, a type of goal statement:


I have traveled to four countries in my lifetime so far, and from these experiences I have learned so much about other cultures, about myself, and about God. People truly fascinate me; a great variety of cultures and personalities exist in the world, yet all of these unique characteristics work together harmoniously in the Master’s hand.

The only way to truly understand another culture is to be immersed in that culture and surrounded by that environment. This is what the Study Abroad program offers: an opportunity to live in another country for a semester in order to learn in a natural context about the culture of the host country. This may well be the only chance I ever have to live in another country for an extended period of time. I pray that studying in Oxford will open my eyes to a new culture, teach me more about myself, and deepen my relationship with God.

When living in a country outside of the United States, everything I know to be my comfortable surroundings and familiar culture (including language, time, food, etc.) will be changed. The only factors which will remain the same are myself and God. I am looking forward to the growth and understanding of myself that will result from so much change around me. Although this may be the hard way to become more confident in my identity, it is an experience I eagerly await.

My first year at ACU was one filled with new friendships. I became close to a group of people right away, and we did nearly everything together for the rest of the year. We made lots of memories and shared so much with each other. The problem with this was I felt content with the friends I had, and I did not try to bond with other people as much as I should have. In the group going to Oxford this fall, there is not a single person in my “group” of friends from my freshman year. This is one of the reasons I chose to take part in the Study Abroad program. It will give me a chance to meet other brothers and sisters in Christ and grow with them this semester as a family.

In fact, one of my personal goals during my time abroad is to grow close to this ACU group. We will be living, learning, and traveling together; getting along with each other and enjoying the group is a must for a positive experience abroad. This will not be difficult, especially because I am easy to get along with and have a great interest in people. I really want to get to know each individual as a soul, as God sees them. In order to do this, I must try not to judge anyone. Instead, I need to be open and honest, caring and compassionate, humble and serving. If I think of the group’s interests above mine, this attitude has the ability encourage cooperation among my fellow students. I hope I can help others in the group get as much out of the program as I wish to get out of it.

Another goal of mine for this semester is to try to learn at my maximum academic potential. The classes I am taking abroad will be more interesting already, since I will be learning in a natural context (learning about Great Britain while in Great Britain). I hope to use British vocabulary whenever I can, with or without fellow students. I can also pick up more words from residents in the country. My strategy for this is to keep my eyes and ears open at all times and really take time to pay attention to my surroundings. I need to step out of my comfort zone and interact with the culture in Europe. By allowing myself to become a part of England, I can put into practice what I am learning in the class, therefore taking a step towards my maximum academic potential.

My third and last goal during my time abroad is to realize more about myself and more about God. No matter what I do or where I go, God and I are the only two constants. In England I will have time to discover more of who I am, since I will be removed from my familiar environment. I plan to do this by taking lots of time to reflect and meditate on who God is and who He is through me. I have also started a journal, in which I will try to write my thoughts at the end of every day. Through prayer and reflection this semester, I hope to become more confident in my personal identity, and also in my identity in Christ.

I know this is going to be an amazing experience for me. I cannot wait to become one with England’s culture. I pray to God that He will help me grow close to the rest of the Study Abroad group, learn at my maximum academic potential in these natural surroundings, and come out of this experience a changed person. I can only imagine what God has in store for me this fall.

In the beginning...

So I've decided to start a blog devoted to my adventures in England. I figure it's probably the only type of journal I won't be too lazy to keep, haha. I'm not actually there yet; I'll be studying abroad in Oxford from August 24 - December 7.

I've been out of the country several times (Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Hungary) but they were mostly for mission trips and there wasn't much time to explore/tour. So I'm really looking forward to spending a quality 3 1/2 months in Europe and learning what it's like to live there!

I'm taking 16 hours of classes also: Message of the Old Testament, Devo. & Wisdom Lit. of the Old Testament, Christian Worship, Oxford through the Ages, Great Britain Society & Culture, and Intro. to Global Studies.

The few days before our Study Abroad group leaves, we'll be taking several tests. One is over the geography of the world, another is over British vocabulary, and I'll also be turning in a 10-page paper (ugh). I haven't started the paper yet, but I have been studying my geography and vocab, learning lots of interesting words like "Bubbles and Squeak" (a dish made up of cabbage and potatoes) and "Bob is your uncle" (similar to "there you have it"), hehe. I'm hoping I'll come back in December with an accent! Wishful thinking... :)