plays, baths, rocks, football, and the queen!!

As you can probably guess from the heading, this past weekend was very busy!

Here's basically what I've been doing (sorry the pictures are pretty random, I apparently still haven't figured out how to add them correctly):







On Friday, a group of us went to Stonehenge. I'll admit that while I'm glad I went to see it, this probably wasn't the most exciting thing I did during the weekend.










On Friday, we also went to Bath. This is a picture from inside the abbey. I couldn't believe how advanced this architecture was for the time period during which it was built! We are studying these types of elaborate cathedrals in humanities right now, so it's very interesting to be able to first read about it, then come and look at it.















This is another view from the back of Bath Abbey.




















This is my friends, Natalie and Rachel, and me at a football game we went to on Saturday. Even though people have already told me, I never really believed that soccer was so big in Europe until I actually saw it for myself! It is crazy!! Fans were chanting, singing, yelling, fighting, etc throughout the whole game. Quite an experience!
















On Thursday night, we saw Wicked! It wasn't directed too much differently from the US version (which I've already seen), but the fact that Glinda and the Wicked Witch had British accents definitely made it worthwhile!






























The 2 teams that played aren't even the top London teams, and look at how many fans there are! It was so crowded that afterwards we were prevented from leaving when some guards basically formed a barricade right in front of us for "crowd control purposes"









Sunday, 6 of us toured Buckingham Palace (the queen is currently on her yearly trip to Scotland, so they open it up for visitors). This is a view from the back. Too bad we couldn't take pictures inside...









The gardens of Buckingham.


















Look at the little crown on top of the light post! I thought that was a nice touch.



















So after Wicked we waited around near the stage door for the cast to come out, and ended up taking a few pictures with some of them. This one is with Elpheba (eventually the wicked witch). She's in the back middle with blonde hair!






Here are some more pictures of Stonehenge...
































Okay, so Bath is Bath because this is where some Roman baths used to be. This is a hot springs, so I guess that intrigued a lot of people to the town.
Since we all know how appealing this green water looks, the gift shop was nice enough to let people get a free taste of it (yea... I passed on that one).
















This town is called Lacock, AND this is the location of the Potter's house (used in the Harry Potter movies). Also, the abbey here was used to film some scenes for the movie.






So, as you can see, it's been a very eventful weekend! On top of that, I've had a few papers to write for classes. Class is going well for the most part. Humanities is interesting, along with english literature. My communication research class is really boring, but I know that it's something that I need to understand how to do so I'm okay with that. Science is by far my least favorite class. However, I would still much rather be taking this class here in London than back in California. So, I really can't complain too much!

I really appreciate yall writing me e-mails! It's nice to have things to read other than class notes.

6 of us are going to Amsterdam this weekend, so be looking for pictures from there next week!

The grass is always greener.... in SCOTLAND!

What a weekend it's been! At about 9:30 Thursday night, 15 of us went down to the coach station to get on an all night bus headed for Edinburgh. After trying to sleep on that for 8 hours, I'm actually thankful for my hard mattress here at the house. After arriving in Scotland at 7:30AM, we took another bus to our hostel. Or so we thought... (see below).
Once we got a little more settled in, we went into the city to go on some tours. First, we went up to the Edinburgh castle. This is the first time I've ever been inside a castle! It was amazing looking at everything. We saw the Crown Jewels, a war memorial, the prisons, and so much more. Later that day we took a 3 hour walking tour around the city, and got to learn a lot more about Scotland and it's history. We saw the coffee shop where JK Rowling wrote her first book and places where witch trials were held. The town carries so much significance for various moments in history. I'm so fortunate I got to experience it all! The shopping was pretty good too. I ended up getting a pair of rain boots for free because the lady in the store didn't want to bother getting a few dirt marks off of them herself!
The next day, we went on yet another bus ride touring the Highlands. It was an all day adventure, but well worth it. The tour guide was great- he told us about the wars that took place throughout the centuries there. We stopped in some small little towns for coffee and shopping. Also, we rode the Lochness boat (AND even spotted Nessie... kind of). Our driver took us around the countryside, giving us glimpses of some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen! there was also a girl on our bus from Munich. I talked with her about Germany, and all the places she's travelled around Europe. It was very interesting having a conversation with someone from another culture like that.
Our bus left about 10PM last night. Needless to say, by the time we got back this morning we were all exhausted!


Tonight, we went to HTB (the same church we went to last week). I know I said last week that it was one of the best services I've ever attended, but tonight managed to top them all! It was by far the best worship experience I've ever had. By the end of the service, people were literally shouting and jumping. The pastor asked us to move the chairs out of the way so we could all stand in the center together and sing and dance. And I know that most of you are probably thinking, "what kind of crazy church dares to jump around during worship?". Well, all I know is that I have never been in a more powerful place in my life. I honestly expected to come to London and see everyone acting well-behaved, sharply dressed, and quiet Instead, I found the most passionate group of believers I have ever encountered. It was amazing.


Okay, here are some pictures from Scotland!





Lake Lochness


















Harry Potter was filmed here!









NESSIE. ooooo.










































one of the cannons inside Edinburgh Castle!



























This was the inspiration for Hogwarts (Harry Potter)!
































some of the girls at one of the stops during the Highland tour!











umm. So the bus driver who dropped us off "near" our hostel said we shouldn't have any problem finding it. He suggested we "just take the cut through the field over there and it won't be too far!"


Too make a long story short, we attempted to take his advice, and as a result ended up at our hostel over an hour later....









the golf course that we ended up at while trying to find our hostel! It was quite an experience...

Start of classes

Yesterday, we went to the Holy Trinity Brompton church, which is a Church of England. It was a lot different than I expected. They sang mostly the same songs we sing at church back home. The preacher led a really good sermon about evangalism in the world. It was "Vision Sunday", so we got to hear a lot about the different programs going on. From what others have said, they have a pretty big college group. Overall, I think it was one of the best Sunday morning services I have ever attended (not to mention the building was gorgeous)!

Classes started today. The first one I went to is called "Science as a Way of Knowing". I was very pleased when one of the first things our professor said was, "well, we aren't actually going to be doing much science in here". I think this class is going to be more about learning the history of science. For our science lab, we took a field trip to the Science Museum across the street. The last class I had today was English Lit. It looks like it's going to be about British theatre. So I'm definately looking forward to that!

We ate at a place called Beruit Express for dinner tonight. It was Lebanese food, so I was a little skeptical at first. But it ended up being pretty good.

I've booked my first trip out of London! This Friday 15 of us are going to Edinburgh. So check back to see what will be some amazing pictures of Scotland!

Greenwich and Harrods!

Yesterday we took a ferry to Greenwich Village (below is a picture of some of us standing on the Prime Meridian!). There was a long line (or I guess I should say 'queue') of people waiting to take their picture on the line. But it was still a pretty cool experience. We spent the rest of the day walking around London, trying to orientate ourselves around the city a little better.
This morning we set off on a scavenger hunt around the city. However, we somehow ended up spending most of our time shopping and walking around Harrod's. It's so big! They have basically anything you could ever want in that store, including a pet shop! Their motto is something like "anything for anyone, anywhere". Afterwards we went searching for some school supplies, since classes start on Monday. By the time we arrived back at the house, we had been walking around the city for about 6 hours. After resting, we continued our exploration and found a cute place to eat called The Goat Tavern.
Tomorrow we are going to a Church of England called Holy Trinity. Supposedly they have a good college group there.
Well, it's currently 2 AM (I guess I still haven't adjusted to the time change) so I should probably try and get some sleep!

A few more pictures:





Prince's Gate- The Pepperdine House!
The London Eye















Natalie and me in front of Big Ben and Parliment




Tower Bridge

finally!

Hey everyone!

We finally got to our house yesterday (after hours and hours of waiting in airports and planes with Natalie)! It's so hard to believe that I'm really going to be living here for 3 months. Even after sitting through orientations about transportation and safety, and going on a 4 hour-long sightseeing trip all around London, it still hasn't sunk in yet that this is now my home.
After arriving at the house, we had a lunch in the library, then a quick meeting to pass out ID cards, class schedules, transportation information, and other things like that. We then toured the house and learned a little about the history of it (it was originally owned by a member of Parliment).
Last night we ate at this noodle bar called Wagamama's. Supposedly they have the best noodles in London. Tonight we ate at a pancake/crepe restaurant called My Old Dutch that was VERY good. Every night that we eat out as a group we are going to a different restaurant!
Even though I'm still a little nervous, I'm so excited about experiencing life in Britain. There are so many places and things I want to see and do! Too bad I have to go to class during the week. :)
Well, that's enough for now!