Jacopo and Taz

Whoops. Been awhile since i've updated =/ haha I'm not positive where I left off? but life has been moving pretty fast the past couple of weeks...

Spring Break: Italy.
I won't give a huge long post about it because I could write forever... basically, i want to go back to Italy. Primarily Cinque Terre. One of, if not the, most gorgeous places. Completely local and authentic. 5 villages connected by a hiking trail and/or a train. Right on the Med Coast... I fell in love with all of the villages and could have easily spent a day in each! Luckily I got to spend 2 1/2, but I will have to return there some day! We also went to Florence and Rome. of the two, Florence was my favorite. Nikki had lived there about a year ago, so she knew all the 'local' areas and places to go which made it even more fun! By the end of our time there we had our own "dried fruit guy" and "meat and cheese" guys at the market. I was also able to check an item off my bucket list (kiss an Italian man)! However, i added an item... climb the Great Wall of China. I met some people in Florence who said that is a "must"... so it's on the list! some day =) Rome was fantastic just because of the rich history! I read Romans before we left on Spring Break, and then I read it on the train into Rome. So walking Ancient Rome and seeing the Vatican was overwhelming. Walking places the Peter walked and seeing the exact spot Peter was crucified upside down was an experience i will never forget. Rome was just beautiful. We attempted to find the Appian Way (where Nero lined the streets with crucified christians) and that was an adventure! haha which is a daily routine in our lives here. we walked nothing short of 7 miles a day while in Rome. and the longest was the day we tried to find this "Way"... we walked from one end of the map to the other... and beyond. we found ourselves on the sides of highways, in a tiny little side street, under bridges. and had to put our extremely NON fluent Italian to the test! we found the Appian Way street, but it was getting dark and we didn't find the actual monument/park... oh well i guess. but overall, Italy has by far been one of the greatest trips!

I have to say, as this experience is coming to a close, I have loved and appreciated every aspect. There have been struggles at times- but God is faithful and these struggles have only made me and my walk with Him stronger. I love when the lessons in the Bible come to life. I have experienced so many of these lessons and would not trade them for the world. I have learned to remain joyful through trials or struggles and realize that God doesn't give us more than we can handle... and I have learned more in these 3 months on how to lean on Him for the strength to stay joyful even when I don't "feel like it" or im tired. My reliance and love for God has only grown this semester, and He has proven himself faithful time and again. Approaching Easter this weekend I'm severely missing COTM. I have all semester, but especially this weekend. Alongside that, I'll be missing the family and keeping you in my prayers as you all are having a blast in FL!

I think another one of the greatest blessings of this experience has been the people. the 8 of us from OSU and Kayla from Delaware have grown so close. I was curious how it would all work out when we first got here... but it has been one of the most remarkable experiences to watch all of us grow close and enjoy each other so much. we are all so different, yet our travels and stories have all taken place together. it has made this whole thing that much more fun! i know we are all going to have extreme culture shock when we go home and separation anxiety, because i have eaten, slept and taught with these people for the past 3 and 1/2 solid months. i don't know that i'm ready for it to end... but i do know that im excited to return home and see family and friends! so much to catch up on in everyone's lives =)

I'm off to Dublin this weekend as a "last hoorah"/happy birthday to myself! (gotta visit my home land) so i'm praying for safe travels and a fun time. I will be putting together a video for our final presentation we are required to give... so i'm gonna need to channel Grant's expert video making skills. lol i miss you all tons and am excited to see everyone so soon!!

"Incandescently happy..."

Hello Blog-o-sphere.

first off: HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY REAGAN!!!!!! Love you =)

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated. And I can happily say, life has been interesting. Haha I updated you on the Post Office boy in my last post… and well, we have hung out a couple more times. Yea, and I feel he thinks this is ‘going somewhere’ when I know the only somewhere it is going… is back to OK for me. Oops? Haha so im currently avoiding the inevitable of having to inform him that “it’s been fun, but im not interested” Until that day, I will enjoy interacting with someone outside of the 8 of us girls and my students… and watching a real tv, with Lost. Haha! No, im not using him.

Let’s see… we will do a classroom update first. I told mom and dad this story and about cried I was laughing so hard. Let me set the scene:

It’s is my small (9 students) AP class, except im missing 4 students. So im down to 5. I don’t want to start something new, so I tell them we are going to do a practice AP multiple choice question. My teacher has no objections… and continues to happily fill out his crossword puzzle. This is a timed test (55 minutes), no talking… ready, set, go…

Fast Forward 20 minutes:

My teacher has taken it upon himself to try and talk to different students in the class (yes, DURING the timed test that is suppose to be a MOCK AP test) regarding their grades, missed assignments, blah blah blah… naturally, I suppress my frustration. Debating on whether or not to say anything (he still has to do my final eval for OSU) I allow him to interrupt a couple of times, but “shh” the class in an attempt to help him GET THE POINT. Fail. Then… all of the sudden…

I hear this AWFUL  gagging/choking/throwing up sound. Anyone who knows me, knows that I can NOT hide my facial expression very well, so im trying SO hard not to have a disgusted look on my face until I figure out what is going on. Well… I look over, and my teacher is making the WORST gagging, vomiting sound ever. I wish I could put on audio clip on here because it sounded like he was choking up a lung. His first reaction?? BLARE his ipod… why? Oh, to drown out the awful sound of him gagging. So, not only is he gagging, he is blaring Steven Curtis Chapman and Micheal W Smith Christmas. Also, he has removed himself to the side of the classroom by the sink… and has proceeded to HACK UP/GAG himself of anything and everything in his stomach. This charade goes on for about 30 seconds to a minute. Longest minute of my life. All the while, my students are looking at me like, what the heck is happening?! Haha and I have no defense… my head is in my hands, and im silent laughing (but with no fear of being heard, MWS is still blaring on the stereo)

He finally turns around… wipes down his mouth of who knows what remnants. Obviously I want to vomit. But he turns around and announces (keep in mind… STILL timed test happening here) “it’s ok class, im fine. You see,  I have this really bad gag reflex. And any time it kicks in, it doesn’t matter how little or how much is in my stomach, it all comes up” this man proceeds to DESCRIBE IN DETAIL his gag reflex for the next 2 minutes. I wanted to vomit.

Hahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha come on, just laugh. It’s funny… and was PRICEless.

On another note… This past weekend we went on a “Finding Mr Darcy” tour. Wow, it was phenomenal. I can’t say I found my Darcy, but I definitely found myself falling in love with Chawtown and Lacock… both towns have been used in Harry Potter films and Pride and Prejudice. We stayed at a little hotel that provided an “all you would ever want to eat” breakfast. Don’t worry, Merideth Emily and I DEFINITELY took part in ordering everything we wanted. I mean, we paid for it, right? Haha Then we met up with Emily’s aunt and cousin in Bath. They came to England for vaca and we got to just explore Bath on our own with them. Incredible. The Roman Baths were gorgeous… and they gave Sarah and Kalyn a sample cup of water from the Bath… ew. That’s all I have to say. It was warm, and disgusting. Hahaha but we got to have Tea in the Pump Room and wander through the streets of Bath. Such a fun weekend!!

I do have to say though, the countdown is on… this time in 11 DAYS I will be walking the streets of Cinque Terre on the coast of the Mediterranean for my SB. I cannot even tell you how excited I am. This is by far going to be the hardest 10 days to get through, because I am SO over teaching and ready to be in Italy =) still can’t believe this is coming to a close, it’s been the most incredible experience so far… and im soaking it ALL in!! Miss you all and love you!

Pro Bowlers.

 I do not normally do a mid week update... but this event called for a blog. But i must give the background so all of you can fully appreciate the story...

So, as i have relayed multiple times- our location and situation is not prime for "social interaction" like we are use to... as in: we have NO car, NO social life, and NO way to really meet people. We teach all day, then are stuck on Feltwell, alone. With each other to keep company. We have dont well so far- but by week 5... we were ready to meet someone. This next part of the background involves Merideth, Emily, Kalyn and myself. We all teach on the main (Lakenheath) base which is where the post office is... Well after we went to Belgium we had multiple packages of chocolate to send home. haha and we were gathering boxes/addresses randomly for the week after. so during our lunch time for about 2 weeks after Belgium, we were going to the post office about 3 times a week. And when we went to the post office, there were a couple young lieutenants working. And yes, they were attractive. so naturally, we are socially deprived and hit typical HS girl mood... Kalyn decided she was 'in love' with Officer Kelly on the far left window. And so the romance began... for the next two weeks we saw our 2 new friends often, and they did recognize us, so that's a good sign.
Next part of the background: we have been catching rides with a woman, Janis, who works at the HS. She has a freshman son and is married to a man who is in the Air Force and works at a shop. He is in charge of a handful of young officers. Well, we love Janis! She is super and takes us everywhere. I think she loves having a group of young girls to spend time with since she doesn't have girls...
And here the story begins: about 10/12 days ago we were relaying to Janis our deprivation of male interaction. Joking, kind of. and Janis proceeded to say that "we need to fix that!" And said she would talk to her husband since he works with a bunch of young single officers. We laughed, and said please do! not thinking too much about it... well, she came back a couple days later and suggested a dinner or bowling night to meet the boys, to which we whole heartedly agreed! So last Tuesday she checked with us and we told her let's do it in a week (this past tuesday night)... Well, on last Thursday we had gone to the post office for about the 3rd time that week... and Kalyn was falling more and more in love with Officer Kelly (we didn't know his first name) So of course, we tell Janis! Cause we tell her everything... haha and she just laughed and thought it was the greatest! Then she suggested that we invite them to go bowling with us... well we agreed that they should come! all so Kalyn could REALLY meet officer kelly, of course. But we didn't wanna seem  creepy or desperate. So Janis proceeds to say that she should just march right in the post office and walk up to the window and say "Kelly, show yourself! We are going bowling next week and you are invited. Show up in your civilian clothes and bring your friends!" We laughed and laughed thinking nothing of it... Fast forward to Tuesday night of this week. We are going bowling... Janis picks us up at our dorms and tells us that her husband has invited "the boys" from the shop... so we laugh and say we are excited to just meet some people! Then she stops, looks at us... and says "i have to tell you what i did..." to which  we didn't know how to respond. She then informs us that she DID go to the post office. with NO box, NO reason to be there, and cut everyone in line and went to Kelly's window. She then said "excuse me, Kelly, do you have a significant other? or attached to anyone in any way?" hahahhaa he said no, with an obvious questioning tone... and she said "great, i have a group of young, single student teachers and we are going bowling tonight... you are welcome to join, and bring your friends!" hahahahahaha so she tells us this and says he agreed to come! well you can imagine how kalyn reacted when Janis said this... she about ran back upstairs to change outfits...

so we get to the bowling alley... and Janis is good, she staggered the arrival of the boys. the Shop boys were to arrive at 630, and the Post Office boys at 7. So we meet the Shop boys and bowl with them for about 30 minutes... and they were sweet and nice! loved em. then out of the corner of our eyes, we see Kelly and the post office boys! kalyn's eyes go wide and we flag Janis down to tell her who has arrived. they are doing the whole, 6th grade dance maneuver where they aren't coming over... so Janis sends her husband to break the ice! he invites them over, and once they get their shoes, they come over and we make our "official" acquaintances. im dying laughing inside, obviously. well the night goes on... emily is talking to the shop boys, merideth and i are talking to the post office boys, and kalyn is talking to officer kelly (his name is josh)... so it's great!! we are having a blast. and they weren't creepily hitting on us, legitimately just enjoying a night of bowling. hahaha and the post office boys bring up the janis thing at the post office and are reference how 'random' it was that janis invited them... to which we obviously agree!! i mean, how strange and unexpected!! not. haha but they don't need to know that they were they source of 85 percent of our convos with janis after school.

Since we are teachers, we decided to call it a night at 830... as we are leaving, the shop boys get emily's number because they want to hang out again since they had a blast and the post office boys get my number because they want to take us out on saturday to hang out! naturally we are ECSTATIC because we have friends!! we say our goodbyes and get in the car with Janis... we are recapping on the evening when, all of the sudden, my phone vibrates. it's officer kelly's friend matt (the post office boy who got my phone number) he was just texting me so i could have his number saved. i responded and said we had a blast! to which he responded and agreed... then... he said "so my friend josh (officer kelly, kalyn's crush) was wondering if your friend kalyn has an email since she doesn't have a phone" OH MY GOSH i wish i could have video tapped my reaction... you would have thought the boy was asking for MY phone number.... i just started squealing and yelling!!! so i told the car what the text said and we ALL (janis included) erupted into squeals of joy and kalyn is yelling at me to text him back and say she DOES have a phone, it was just dead, and give him her number. so i passed along the number to matt, to give to josh. josh then apologizes for making me the 'middle man' but knows his friend josh really appreciates it... so of course i respond that it is no problem at all, and i KNOW my friend kalyn ALSO really appreciates it! hahahaha

so that was our tuesday evening... and the boys (both shop and post office) have text us multiple times since tuesday wanting to hang out. i have to say... our social life, thanks to janis, is picking up!! hahaha we have a hang out date with the post office boys saturday... and it should be interesting. I'm sure it will be blog worthy after this weekend. Keep ya posted.

Defying... Gravity....

Another weekend... another set of memories I will never forget. I'll start from the beginning before I get ahead of myself! Last week for some reason I was struggle with really WANTING to teach... haha idk why, but I just got in a funk on Wednesday. And i didn't even have to teach Friday, so i had a short week! anyways, i was getting annoyed with the lack of enthusiasm i had while talking to my students. so towards the middle of my lecture/discussion i just stopped. i told them that i "wasn't feeling it"... to which they all looked at me weird. naturally. and i explained- if i wasn't really enthusiastic about what i was telling them, how was i suppose to expect them to want to listen to anything i had to say. so we stopped lecturing... and played a game. haha don't worry, i made it educational! of course. In the AP class that this happened during, i was working with the students on writing Document Based Question essays (it's a pretty thorough process... and they have never practiced) so i asked them what game they wanted to play, and i would modify it to fit an educational purpose. So what did they come up with? Head up 7 up! hahaha i told them i hadn't played that since FOURTH grade! i loved it. so what did we do? we played HU7U... and the loser had to read a body paragraph from their essay. well, we played that for about 15 minutes, which they really enjoyed for being juniors in high school... next game? Catch Phrase! and they had NEVER heard of it! i was shocked. so i wow'ed them and explained the rules... and we made it educational by using the AP US History study note cards that Dr P has in his classroom. guys versus girls. hysterical. i've never seen kids get SO excited to play a history game! haha then i had my regular US history class... and i again just felt rejuvenated with playing this game... and the class LOVED it, just as much as the other class. it was a hit! needless to say, the week ended very successfully, and the students are already asking when they will get to play again!

So Friday Dr P gave me the day off because students didn't have to come to school and he said it would be pointless for me to be there... score. i watched a ridiculous amount of OTH (thanks mom!) while lesson planning all friday morning/early afternoon. Then,  that afternoon Emily's teacher Lisa took us to Cambridge... she and her husband live about a stone's throw from the Cambridge Uni campus... So we went home with her, because she offered to take us into london on saturday and stonehenge on sunday! friday night we got to hang out with lisa and her husband, kyle... they took us to an incredible sushi place (thanks for teaching me how to use chop stix dad!) on campus... we just walked there, and i fell in love with the campus all over again! we stayed the night at their apartment, which was amazingly nice and beautiful.  Saturday morning emily merideth and i were up and ready to go to london probably 20 minutes before we had told them we wanted to leave... we were a lil anxious to get going! haha and we finally took off for london around 845... took the underground into the main area of london and ate at Hard Rock. Fun Fact: the Hard Rock in London is the original! so we got to see some really cool John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Jimmi Hendrix and really famous artist's paraphernalia. Also, got to enjoy a tasty burger in fries! never tasted so good... Then off we were, on our way to Harrod's!  The "original" department store is what i hear. Well, OVERWHELMING! good grief. i've been inside the Macy's in NYC, but Harrod's blows it out of the water. That place is huge, and CRAZY. very nice... but i just didn't enjoy it too much. haha but i'm glad we got to see inside it!  But our next stop was the highlight of the weekend... WICKED!!!!! defying gravity, unlimited, for good... ahhhh words don't express. but i'm getting ahead of myself... i have to first point out that i did not have a ticket for Wicked as of an hour before the show started. but kyle and lisa said that i should go up to the ticked off 45 minutes before with my student id and say i wanted to cheapest ticket... so i did. and i scored a ticket for only 25 pounds, which in American dollars is a STEAL! AND i got to sit with emily and merideth!! so it was already off to a great start. emily and merideth both had not seen the show ever, so i loved getting to see their reaction to everything and talk to them after. ohhhh it was soooo good!!! Wicked WITH english accents... man, i saw it on Broadway about 5/6 months ago, and it was incredible, but i don't know, something about english accents, i dare say it was better! but who knows. Wicked is incredible WHERE EVER you see it!  I could go on and on, but ill spare you guys the monotony of that... haha basically- LIFE. CHANGING. where did we go after? haha back to Harrod's for a key chain and some chocolate. but believe me, that trip was in and out... and off to meet up with K&L for dinner! we grabbed some sandwiches, hopped on the tube, and headed to our hotel... which was also top notch, because it was new! definitely the nicest place we have stayed yet.

Sunday our adventure consisted of a breakfast provided by our friends at the Holiday Inn Express! and then it was off to Stonehenge... and there isn't much to say about stonehenge... haha in the words of Merideth "really, it's just a bunch of rocks" hahaha i couldn't agree more! i think it's one of those things that you are 'suppose to see' when you go to london, but i'd advise all of the world travelers, if you have other things you want to see... see those, skip stonehenge! i'm glad we got a couple really cool pix, but i don't think you would miss out if you skipped it. after stonehenge, our weekend was coming to an end and K&L began the 2.5 hour drive back to Feltwell... it was sad to go, but really this past weekend has been one of my favorites. probably because it was the most laid back. i didn't have to plan anything and was able to stay at a hotel, drive in a car... luxurious from where we were the past couple of weekends! haha but seriously, so much fun... and K&L are definitely one of my favorite DoDDS couples. I think Kyle may have seriously talked me back into considering teaching for DoDDS... but that is a little ways in the future! too much traveling to think about that now!

Let's see... today, i have worked on my Paris Vid for about 2 hours, haha so get ready for that on FB! I'm adding still shots to it now, so im taking baby steps and moving up in the digi world. Um, today Early discussed with me one of the main causes of sickness/bacteria issues/health concerns or SOMETHING like that (i tend to try and tune him out) is because people do not put the lid down on the toilet when they flush? leading to the spread of germs? hahahaha idk... i just said, "ok, good to know"... i really have come to a loss for what to say to that guy. the other day he indirectly said he wanted me to give him a foot massage?! hahaha ew. that's all. jackie had to leave the room because she couldn't contain her laughter. We all get observed (yes, we are still here to 'teach' or something) next monday!! i'm SO ready to get that over with, because then it is smooth sailing from then on... and i can focus on the important things... ITALY FOR SB!! we have the tix booked for there and back, now we just have to find places to sleep... haha minor details. oh the college life of traveling, gotta love when 21-24 year  olds plan their own world adventures just STEPS at a time, but don't worry mom, this time i'll go to Italy with plenty of Euros BEFORE i get off the plane. hahaha learned my lesson, i swear. I'm going to upload some pix from Paris below, because i didn't get a chance to with the other blog... ENJOY!


                                                              Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower

Our attempt at a "jumping picture"

Tower at night!!

It SPARKLES at night!

"If they are going to steal my stuff... I don't wanna be a witness"

From Belgium to Paris... in 7 days! Well, it's been a pretty packed 3 weekends. Scotland, Belgium AND Paris. But, we made it. We lasted through all of it and definitely want to go back! Let's start from where I left off...

Belgium:
Brugge, to be exact. This was the quaintest little village/town we have been to yet. It was great... except for, the rain. Ugh. it was rainy the whole time. but, that didn't stop us from making the best of it! we enjoyed Belgium Chocolates and waffles... one word: AMAZING. The chocolate was just the beginning, because then we moved on to the WAFFLES! oh, my gosh. I had strawberry and whip cream and it tasted like heaven in my mouth! We saw a really great cathedral (Church of the Lady) in Brugge that houses the Madonna and Child statue created by Michelangelo. it's one of the only places outside of Italy that has any work by him. Seeing that statue was absolutely incredible! And other than that, we just enjoyed the little side streets and shope... Really, we were only there for about 9 hours haha because we left at 2 IN THE MORNING on saturday and drove a couple hours to a ferry... then we drove another hour and a half-ish to Belgium! Short and sweet... literally. and totally worth it!

Now, PARIS:
First off- we rode the Eurostar. Which is the coolest train in Europe! It's one of, if not the, fastest trains in Europe... and another perk- it goes UNDER the chunnel from England to Paris!! It took about 2  and a half hours... and we didn't get into Paris until 1130ish Friday night. So, getting to the hotel that late... was an experience. haha we went to THREE different taxis and TWO different hotels to figure out if they could help us. Well the third taxi finally told us he could find it... so we got in, and man, this guy could give NYC cab drivers a run for their money. haha i think we made it there and record time... Emily was checking for this guy's "credentials" the whole way! But we made it... only to be greeted by a large sign "HOTEL  BERTHA" doesn't that just scream hospitality?? another hitch in our evening plans... there were 3 of us, and we booked a TWO person room. so yes, we attempted to 'sneak in' the third. Success. The guy wasn't really paying attention... So we slept short ways on a double bed and made it work! The room itself was one of the more entertaining things i've experienced. Let's see, the shower curtain actually would clog our shower drain if we did not monitor it haha and we barricaded our door with a chair and dresser... just in case. No big deal, haha we were totally fine!

The next morning we were up early and on the move! We braved the Metro Station and took on Paris. Our first stop: Champs-Elysees! Emily was in heaven... she is an avid Tour de France watcher, so she was drooling, and i was in awe. it was gorgeous! especially at 830 in the morning with little traffic and the sun shining! We started walking down the Champs toward the Louvre... We were on a mission to see Mona Lisa. All 8x10 of her. haha it was a tad smaller than we had imagined, but we had kind of been warned! We saw various statues/paintings on our way- my fav was probably the Winged Victory! After the Louvre we traveled to Notre Dame checking out the street vendors/paintings on our way... When we got inside, we got to watch the last 10/15 minutes of Mass! It was so cool to see an actual service... we didn't understand a thing, but Merideth was able to fill in the blanks! After Notre Dame, we went on our search of the Paris Opera House that Phantom of the Opera was filmed at! Well... sadly, we failed. epically. we had NO idea where it was. but we enjoyed seeing a lot of Paris on our adventure... Next stop on our list was the Arch de Triomphe! We made it there with no problem, but when we came up from the Met, we realized the Arch was surrounded by a round-about with CRAZY traffic. haha so, we contemplated running across (like a couple other people...) but immediately decided against it when those couple people were almost road kill! Haha there was lots of honking and yelling, but they made it to the other side. We kept seeing signs for going under the road and coming up under the arch, but every route we took, we ended up just about 20 yards to the left of where we started! hahaha it got rather humorous to say the least, so we decided to carry on our journey... to the Eiffel Tower!

Oh, the Tower... that is when i felt like i was REALLY in Paris. However, i thought the tower was black, so you can imagine my surprise when i showed up and it was in fact a rusty brown... haha and in the words of Gwen "i thought it would be bigger..." but it was incredible, nonetheless! We enjoyed a lovely picnic on the lawn right in front of the Tower. While watching a group of 15 orange "root suits" these are those head to toe spandex suits... there are a couple at the bball/fball games for OSU! they come in all different colors. So anyways, these 15 orange people were making human designs on the lawn and then would randomly jump up and start hugging people in the crowd! They also at one point lined up and took off SPRINTING across the lawn! haha it was soooo random, and awesome. don't worry... i took video. The next sequence of events kind of run together- first, we wanted to take LOTS of pictures, then we were freezing because it dropped about 10/15 degrees, then we were in desperate need for a CREPE! haha all of these events lasted about 3 hours and took place ALL over Paris... we got to walk all around the little streets around the Tower and loved taking in the atmosphere. When we ran into Callie and Sarah we got Crepes under the Tower! This was by far one of the greatest treats i've ever eaten... Banana and Nutella, yum! We ate this on our way to a coffee shop down the street from the Tower until Merideth and Emily went to Mass and me, Callie, and Sarah traveled back to their hotel to meet up with Nikki... We next found ourselves at an incredible place for dinner with Nikki and her parents! I shared a plate with Sarah... mushrooms and chicken. and a LARGE portion, so definitely a good thing we split it! And then the greatest event of the trip (in my opinion)...

The Eiffel Tower at NIGHT! oh wow... we went around 1030 and saw the most beautiful scene ever. We took a lot of pictures and just stared. And as we were walking away... it lit up and started SPARKLING!! I can't believe we almost missed it, i would have been SO sad... but we ran back to get as many pictures as we could =) That was the point we all decided we were NOT ready to go back to Feltwell. Haha but it was the perfect ending to a great day!

We got up in the morning and walked around our little block that our hotel sat on and got yet another Crepe... i dare say, this one was better than the first! We got to take it easy until we headed back to the station for our Eurostar train. Sadly to leave Paris... but singing "Paris holds the key to our heart..."

Scottish Wanderings

Hello Blog-sphere... been a long. 10 days. A lot can happen in 10 days! This past weekend we went to Scotland: what. an. adventure. Words cannot describe all of it (so i obviously made a vid, check out my FB) Train delays/terminations, long hikes, random pub friends lighting each other on fire... the usual, right? Oh, it was an adventure of many sorts! I have to say, other than the fire show in the pub obviously, the hike up to Arthur's Seat was one of the coolest things we have done yet! It took a round trip 3 hours up and down. And i don't think we had quite prepared ourselves for the intensity. Within the first 30 seconds i was panting and de-layering... haha and once we went up one side of the mountain, there was ANOTHER... it never seemed to end, but the view was worth it. Definitely a memory to last a life time. Now, for those that have watched the video... those random guys? the ones who look in their mid-30s? yea... those. here's the story:
We are sitting in this pub on Sunday night, minding our own business. There is hardly anyone in there because no one else has Monday off (it's President's Day for teachers... thus our vaca) So we had been sitting there for about 30 minutes when these gentlemen walked up. Two of them were excessively chatty/friendly. We humored them and chatted it up... 30 minutes later, their group of 5/6 were sitting at our table picking at our accents and commenting on life in England. Haha these guys were hysterical. And as my video showed... one of the guys asked "would you like to see me light this fellow on fire?" Obviously i answered with a resounding, YES! After that show... we took a quick exit to another pub. We found another friend there... but he wasn't as eccentric or a pyro. But he was very kind! Our adventure was unique, to say the least.

Now to the teach...
I've been gradually taking over more and more responsibilities. My students are going with the flow very well! They are use to using computers whenever they want, make hot cocoa when they please, and up and leave randomly! It's crazy. But they are transitioning to a more "traditional" style alright. My main issue is my teacher wanting to randomly jump in on my discussion! I don't think he is use to seeing his students so engaged, so he wants to capitalize on it. haha oh well, I'm going with it... But i'm loving teaching! The students are really great and i'm trying out new techniques/activities and they seem to enjoy the change.

This weekend...
BELGIUM! Why you ask? oh, a chocolate factory!! We are touring a chocolate factory... this is a day tour, so we are going to cram it all in, chocolate and all =) I'm sure I will make another 'highlight' reel... So keep your eyes peeled. Blog ya later.

S.A.D. aka Singles Awareness Day

Valentine's Day... what a treat. From beginning to end- memorable, to say the least. Let's have a quick recap, because the mental images you are going to have will make you laugh...

So for those that don't know, I have to ride the 'school bus' (over here, that's code for Charter bus... no messin around) to get to the school i teach at. Well, to get on the bus I have to have a bus pass, and then to get on the base I have to have a Base Entry ID. All very official, and all VERY cool. So we arrive at our 'bus spot'... a parking lot... which is approximately 2 football fields  away from our dorms. As we are huddled together to hide from the wind, i just happen to look in my wallet for my IDs... standard check. Uh... well, Happy VDay to me, i LEFT THEM in my room. So we have TWO problems: 1. i cannot board the bus or enter the base and 2. the bus is about 3 minutes away. This is where the mental images come in. I'm dressed in my "I hate VDay, but don't want to be emo" outfit... gray slacks, black top, pink sweater. Subtle, but not inviting. Once I realized my predicament, I thrust all of my belongings onto Merideth, grab my dorm key and take off SPRINTING... im not kidding... SPRINTING to our dorm, while yelling "stall as long as you can!" So, here i am, obviously dressed for work, running down the main road of our base like a crazy person. I make it to our dorm in under 90 seconds, fling open the doors grab my IDs and proceed outside again... sprinting... and i look down the street and of course, the bus has arrived. Super. this means all of my 'students' can see me, in all my glory, frantic like a crazy person. i near run into the bus because, among everything else, the bus doors are on the OPPOSITE side. strike two. luckily, i stopped my momentum in time. The bus driver was very gracious and i believe said i had 'good form' hahaha he actually has befriended all of us and is really nice. So he got a kick out of it... So there i am, panting... sweating... taking my jacket and sweater off... wide awake. haha but our adventure didn't end there. On our ridiculously long ride to school, we hit traffic. And this was not some minor stop. nope, we were on that stinking bus for 45 MINUTES! School starts at 805, i didn't arrive until 845. I put that time to good use those and finished a lesson plan/pre test i needed to make.  The surprises kept coming, though.  The class that was suppose to be in session was the "seminar" hour. It's basically a study hall. So i just bound into class, expecting kids to be chatty and not pay attention. WRONG. It's not seminar... it's the class im suppose to be TEACHING! Talk about having the hits keep coming. So then im just annoyed. Because the schedule said one thing, but that morning they switched it. So my lesson i had got put on the back burner for Thursday. The rest of the day was just in shambles as far as a 'routine' haha there was no chance of recovery. don't get me wrong, it was a great day... just NOT what i had planned. I was presently surprised by an anonymous cookie and flower i received?? i have NO idea. and im not sure i want to find out. haha! but i guess that was a good 'pick me up' So basically, the day's end found Merideth and i, alone in the teacher's lounge, reminiscing about our very similar days while eating all of the chocolate in sight left for VDay... when Merideth looks at me and says "And It's VALENTINE'S Day" we dropped to our knees in gut laughter while pathetic feelings ensued. Goodness i love this Hallmark Holiday! Great for a laugh!

"I'll admit... I had a Peyton book"

Oh the weekend... the phrase "living for the weekend" has become a theme to my life here. Don't get me wrong, i realize i'm here to 'teach' and things... but listen, i'm in Europe. and my co-op teacher is a treat. so i basically have the greatest time. During my day i have found myself drifting to googling trains and air fares on where to go for the upcoming weeks... all whilst my students get yet another lesson on Indians and the inappropriate term "trash" (it is rubbish here in England... and i will never forget). I did learn a new vocab word Friday, which i think is debatable... let's take a vote: who really thinks that the word 'punk' means male prostitute? hmm...

Jackie has informed me of the boys that she believes have a 'crush' on me... i'm not sure how i feel about this yet. i mean, obviously im flattered. if only i WASN'T their teacher, it WASN'T illegal, and they didn't look like they were just getting out of puberty. Dang it. The search for my English husband continues... We do try to be extra cordial with the attractive young airmen who protect the gate of our base... batting of the eyes, excessive "thank you's" and "how are you's", followed by lots of smiling... well, this has gotten us NO WHERE. we still have no guy friends. again, dang it. However, one of the teacher's husbands plays card games with some Airmen officers and she is trying to get him to inform the good, mature officers that there are 'wonderful, bored young ladies' on Feltwell base... we have received no calls, or stalkers, for that matter. But have no fear, we still have quite a few weeks.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day... aka, Single's Awareness... I'm not sure how this is going to pan out. Let's be honest, i've been single on Valentine's day for 21 years straight now. Who would want to break that streak NOW? so for the 22nd year in a row, a single's pity party will ensue tomorrow evening. On the agenda: dinner and a movie. Classic, right? maybe a cry for good measure? Haha! I'm sure it will be fun... our evenings on Feltwell seem to come with a spice of entertainment. Tonight? fire drill. Sarah was cooking us a lovely chicken alfredo dish when... a stick of butter sent the pan of chicken into disarray and resulted in excessive smoke. Of course, I was down stairs at the time. What was my first thought? Chi O. For those of you unaware...  the Chi Omega house has the annoying charm of randomly setting off the fire alarm. So believe me when i saw i drudgingly closed my computer, trudged upstairs, set my computer down, then contemplated taking it with me.... then grabbed a jacket and walked outside. Was i in a hurry? nope. i've been through one too many 'false alarms' to know the difference between real and fake. haha so we huddled outside and waited for our firemen to save the day... and our ear drums. And who showed up? ASTRONAUTS. i'm not kidding people, these men were dressed head to toe in some uniform that looked like space gear... or shiny aluminum foil. They were less than amused, so we didn't try to play the 'we are here alone and bored, let's hang out' card... haha

Let's see... this weekend we went to Warwick Castle. It's about a 2 hour bus ride and was THE most gorgeous castle we have seen yet. And it also helped that i walked around in just a long sleeve T and jeans... However, the HIGHLIGHT was when Merideth was serenaded by someone in costume. Well, one boy was playing one of those old time guitar things... and the other boy, pasty white face and all, read her a Shakespeare excerpt! haha we didn't know whether to laugh it off or play along? haha so she just stood there... and took pics and vid. of course. And then we partook in afternoon tea and scones. and can i just say, i felt SO English... it was lovely. The greatest discovery we made in the town of Warwick was the racetrack! no, not cars... horses! We stumbled upon a HORSE RACE! it just so happened that there was a race going on Saturday. So we stood in the 'peasant' section (outside the gate) and took in the sights. it was my first horse race, and definitely my favorite. haha i envisioned myself in the movies Seabiscut and Secratariat... All i needed was a large hat.

The countdown for this weekend is on... Scotland. I believe i will fit in quite well. And i have complete confidence that this week will bring more glorious stories of new vocab words and little known facts of Indian history. Oh, the weekend...

Harry Potter adventures

This week has been a whirlwind of events! But it's been less of the quantity of adventures and more quality. I've taken another step with my students... they sit next to me during lunch and talk about what's going on in their life. They live such interesting lives... especially the 'sports' kids. The basketball team is traveling to the Netherlands this weekend for some games. Goodness, if my away games were in the Netherlands I wouldn't have EVER wanted to play at home! haha and they travel on a coach bus. When i told them i traveled on the 'yellow' bus... their faces... priceless. hahaha it was complete disgust. Anyways, I was talking to one of the juniors i have yesterday. She was having a difficult time with something and i asked her what was going on...

Basically, She was born in Mississippi and lived there for three years, moved to Florida until she was 8, and then her family got transfered to England. She has been here ever since. Well, her family just found out they are being transfered within the next couple of weeks/month to the States. She was basically just discussing with me the difficulties of that whole process. It was really interesting... but sad. She was just talking about how difficult it is to go all the way through this school system until her junior year, and be transfered for her last year in HS. I cannot imagine... but the strange thing was. she was incredibly upbeat and positive. she was saying how she is excited to be closer to family in Texas (that is where they are transferring) and the chance to go to school there. But anyways, it was my first  experience dealing with someone going through a PCS (permanent change of station) and ive always been curious what a student has to say about it. just sounds awful and i cannot imagine,  but the vibe i got was that students are kind of prepared for the possibility. i told her that San Antonio is actually my second favorite place in TX and that alot of Tx kids end up going to college in OK =) haha who knows, maybe ill dirty rush her!

Oh! I have the CUTEST junior student in my AP History class... he has a british accent. his name is Sam. And he talks to me frequently haha today... our topic of discussion was HP7 because i saw that on base last night. So, when you have a British accented student discussing HP with you... your basically in heaven, and im sure this boy is breaking girls hearts! I probably shouldn't say i have favorites, but let's be honest... he is a top choice.

Our bus  rides in the morning are growing more and more inappropriate. haha i laugh, but it's not funny... gah, the students on this bus are just a lil much. Emily had a brilliant idea of bringing our ipods and draining it out. it is amazing how much this really has helped me. i have begun listening to the 20ish minutes podcasts of Andrew Wommack (thanks dad!) and it is perfect timing! the bus ride is about 30 minutes and the podcast normally goes about that long...

Last thing... it has rained for the FIRST time here.... Not. A. Fan. my pants got wet, i had no umbrella or hood... ugh. didn't like it. but we coped! Hope the snow is treating you all well =)

"Everyone just LOOKS smarter in Cambridge"

The weekend... wow. it was a BLAST! Friday we went to Bury St Edmunds on a "tour" from the Base. It is such a beautiful, quaint little town. We loved it! sadly, we didn't make the market... its only open on Wednesday and Saturday. BUT the ruins we saw were amazing and the shopping area was really cool... supposedly that's where all the teachers and locals go to do their shopping. Then friday night at jackie's was a lot of fun... she is just a typical southern Tennessee girl. haha but super sweet and was raised in military life, so when emily asked her if she missed her family and she said no... she explained she is use to it. haha but we all couldn't imagine! Saturday was a jam packed day... me emily and merideth went to the JV/V Bball games... oh. my. gosh. i have never witnessed a more painful experience in my life. all i can say it- 8 to 2 was the HALFTIME score. i don't even know... coming from a 6A school in Oklahoma with basketball as a favorite sport, i cannot even express the sight. i found myself cringing, grimacing, and hiding my eyes. part of me wanted to leap off the bleachers, call a timeout, and begin instructing my own drills... the other part of me wanted to get up and walk out and not let my most recent basketball game be the LHS Lancers struggle to dribble. haha but they are a great group of kids... the DoDDS program just doesn't provide an avenue for students to get better because of the frequent moving. Anyways- interesting, to say the least. The dance!! well... first off- stereotypical HS dance. LOTS of awkward standing, and talking with minimal dancing. Occasional songs prompted mass amounts to flood the dance floor- but i found myself asking the question in my head "why do you choose to stand in talk in front of a BLARING stereo when you could be standing at home talking at a normal decibel level?" Oh well... so is HS i guess. but the highlight of the evening was when one of my junior boys began to sing and dance in our direction... awkward... and emily and merideth HID behind me... so i had to laugh and motion for him to go back on the floor. haha the 3 of us got a kick out of that! but it was a blast of an evening for sure!

Sundays adventure has probably been one of my favorites... we went to Cambridge for the whole day. Dannell Harrison who teaches at the HS offered to take us and spend the day with us. So our first stop was Eagle's pub... this pub was fantastic! The airmen of WWII would go to this pub and hang out after their duties were done and the ceilings have inscriptions from all of the fallen airmen, also the walls have all of the emblems/patches from different squadrons... there are pictures EVERYWHERE of old airmen and pilots so its really authentic... and then the other significance is that this pub is where Watson and Crick celebrated after they discovered DNA!! How cool... they have a plaque and the seats sectioned off... so it was really awesome. Basically just FELT smarter standing in there. Then after that we went thru the market that was open... im officially sold. If only Owasso was authentic enough to have a really quaint market... i found the neatest old book in this market. it was published in 1933 and is an account of Queen Victoria! Needless to say... i was in love. I'm trying to hold off reading it until we go to France so i can read it on a street corner cafe while people watching! Ah that will be my favorite!! after shopping/looking around we went Punting... and for those of you who don't know (i was included) 'punting' is the term used for Gondola boat rides in Italy. Where the guys in the funny outfits/hats push the boat along a shallow river bend! It was fantastic... we got to travel right through all of the colleges of Cambridge... there are five colleges, let's see if i can name them: Kings College, Trinity College, Queens College, Claires College and St. Johns... The river took us right through the 'restricted' part of the campus that people can't just openly walk on. It was gorgeous... to say the least. Our guide told us cool unique facts about different colleges and students who attended... one kid, in defiance of a grade he felt was lower than he was due, shimmied up an EXTREMELY tall steeple on the right side of the outside of the college and placed an orange traffic cone on the top. The president had to issue a scaffold be built on the right side to get it down... building the scaffold took 3 days, and on the eve of it being completed.. the boy went back up the right side, removed the cone and placed it on the left! haha they are pretty deviously clever. but its a hysterical story! That was pretty much the extent of our weekend... full of fun and adventure! This coming weekend should stay pretty chill... we are going to Warwick Castle on Saturday and hitting Cambridge again Sunday i think! Plenty of updates to come soon =)

Historic Route 66 meets Lakenheath...

I gave blogging a rest for a couple days that way I would have something to write about... because, my days are becoming rather routine.

Student Teaching... I love it. I'm absolutely in love with the classroom that I'm in. My teacher is just hysterical/phenomenal. The things we discuss are quickly becoming the highlights of my day! His students are really sweet and very interested in... talking. To each other. haha but I see that as promise for 'discussions' and interactive things. Because they will be able to talk to each other. They are juniors, so that is also a source of entertainment, with flirtatious hormones and all. They are beginning to really interact with me which as been a blast. So many of them have grown up in Europe and only been to the States a few times, so it's interesting hearing their perspective on topics. A huge difference is the amount of knowledge they have on topics within our government. Where juniors in the States don't necessary know what is going on with health care or immigration, the students here want to know everything about it. It's really encouraging because it makes teaching fun! I asked my teacher if I could go ahead and start taking things over and doing lessons... which will be a blast because i'll be doing things and planning activities!

Other than 'in school' things... well, merideth and emily and I will be staying the night at Jackie's house tomorrow! Which i cannot even express the amount of relief that brings!! haha stir crazy doesn't begin to touch it. We are doing anything and everything to get off, and stay off, base as long as possible... So, Jackie offered to host a 'slumber party' at her house for the three of us tomorrow! Her husband just deployed for some training so i think she is excited to have some friends around. And then Saturday is going to be a blast!! First, there are a couple HS bball games going on which are suppose to be pretty competitive with their arch rivals from Spain, and then  Me, Merideth, Emily  and Callie will be chaperoning the HS Homecoming dance!! haha i'm already laughing just thinking about it... I will be bringing my camera and documenting, EVERYTHING. Then on Sunday we are catching a ride to Cambridge in the morning and spending the day up there! One of the younger teachers from the HS offered to take us and spend the day with us up there... So that's going to be a blast! Pics to come i'm sure.

I think tomorrow's adventure will prove very entertaining... the base is taking all of the student teachers AND new families/airmen to St. Bury Edwards (i think...) for the morning/afternoon. So we have a 3 day weekend =) They are taking us and letting us basically hang out and go eat/shop... And I think we are all excited to have interaction with people outside of ourselves and students! Haha oh, and the airmen... we will see how this ends up! We already had the airmen, who gave us the fire drill briefing yesterday, be extremely... friendly? borderline flirting. haha so that was fun... but i left our 'meeting' early, to watch Gossip Girl. Priorities, right? haha but sadly those are my main stories... I'm anticipating the weekend bringing more stories!

"She was done before it was done..."

This post will serve as part 2 of yesterday's adventure and my first day of student teaching...

Yesterday was a blast!! We went back to London to take in more of the British life. We started the morning  walking across the London Tower Bridge... which has become my favorite monument I think. Lit up, it is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen. Then we hopped on the tour bus and headed to Westminster Abbey... The sight of William and Kate's wedding! So naturally we took tons of pictures. We even contemplated going inside, but since it was Sunday there were actual services. Next stop on our visit was Buckingham Palace to see the Queen! And lucky for us, we made it just in time to see the Changing of the Guard... So incredible. We found ourselves staring at the Palace just in awe of the fact so many historical figures walked the very roads we were standing on. We then ventured to Kensington Gardens. I felt like I was walking around Central Park with the greenery and open fields... I will say that I am staying partial to Central Park, because nothing beats a gorgeous green park surrounded by some of the tallest skyscrapers! The Park had Princess Diana's monument and the Peter Pan statue... The Peter Pan statue was actually less thrilling than I thought it would be though, so that was kinda sad. However, it was still a great  statue to see! We ended the day at a quaint little pub inside the city of London! I am becoming quite the fan of fish 'n chips =) That was the extent of our London tour... but I am not done yet! I want to go back to Harrod's, Notting Hill and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Another trip, another weekend, another adventure!

For todays adventure... student teaching... I'm sure his students will embrace the lively change of an energetic red headed student teacher from Oklahoma! haha I believe these students will embrace the things I want to do, it will just take time and work. Which is fine by me! It will keep me busy... I can tell the difference between these students and States students. There are not the problems of typical teens here. No student is coming from a hard background of "raising themself" or just trying to get by. I think that diminishes the so obviously issues within the US school system. However, these kids do have the typical tendency to talk and get off track. I discussed with him my requirements I must meet according to OSU, so our semester will be fun and interesting to say the least. Well, Marie Whitehead, our pseudo mom here has cooked us a homemade dinner... pulled pork, beans, rolls and heath bar cake! So it is family dinner time =) I hope all of you are doing well, and I miss you guys!

"... and he bought the wrong bridge"

Day 1 of the Tour of London...

Wow. That is about the only word that comes to my mind at first... The amount of history within that city alone dwarfs anything imaginable in the US. And me being the history lover that I am, it was nothing short of amazing.

The day started EARLY... we were up and on our way by 7, and headed on the bus towards London by 8. We made it there by 10 and started at the Tower of London. With our tickets we got a free "Beefeater" tour... and no, I do not know how they got their name. Neither do they... But, they are some of the most entertaining fellows to listen to. They live and work at the Tower. And they have to serve a certain number of years in the British military to be able to apply to work at the Tower. They are appointed by the Queen and once they attain that position, they stay there for life. So pretty much, it is the greatest position to have. We equate it to living in Cinderella's Castle and walking out the door and your life is on one of the major tourist attraction of the world. We saw the Bloody Tower, Traitor's Gate (which Callie was sentenced to, she likes to cause problems...) Crown Jewels, Armory, and the greens where all of the beheadings took place. We were walking on cobblestone roads that have been there for centuries... it was incredible. Simply breathe taking. And that wasn't even taking into account the FRIGID weather! Haha it was easily the coldest yet. Oh, I would like to put a "disclaimer" on any and ALL pics tagged of me on facebook... NO i have NOT gained 30 pounds in the 4 days of being here. Due to the thorough nature of pick pocketers... My purse is under my THREE jackets. So again, mom, family, and friends, do not be alarmed... i'm still of normal proportional size.

We left the Tower and purchased an On/Off double decker red bus pass to tour the city. Since it was freezing, and we had never seen London before, we decided to ride the whole time and get a lay of the land. I'll spare the little details of what we saw... Basically just the highlights and big stuff! However, we DID see some intense action. Witnessed "history" if you will... Idk if any of you have kept up with the student riots in London. But after today, they have a new meaning. As we were traveling down Picadilly Road a HUGE mob of students began to take over the streets. So large were the crowds that our bus, and all other traffic was stopped for about 10 minutes. Police was called in and of all places they were protecting... they chose the Top Shop. Haha shows the priority of British police. The students were walking through the streets with signs and whenever the police tried to disperse the crowd, students were running down the sidewalks. Not only were the streets covered with police, there were helicopters flying overhead. Obviously, this was my favorite part of the day!

After the extended bus tour adventure... we ventured back to the Tower for dinner. And we found ourself in our first Pub! We absolutely loved it and the food was delicious... I believe we will find ourselves there again tomorrow. We are going back tomorrow to hit the highlights and the shopping!!

Fancy a wander?

Today was a blast... First off, I was able to sleep in. And anyone who knows me, knows that is instantly going to mean a "better" day. Haha so Merideth, Emily and I decided to brave the chilly weather and run on the base. It was more to take an adventure than anything else. We ran to the very edge of the base that overlooks the outside world... I would equate it to Finding Nemo when the little fishies go to the reef to touch "the butt." The grass is a gorgeous green... I can't even describe it. I've never seen grass this green! After we got back we decided to stop into the community center that is adjacent to our dorm building. We were informed that it is imperative to gain the good graces of the attendant on duty. Because they are the controllers of the not-all-the-time-fabulous internet we have. So of course we put in some good face time and chatted it up with the English woman that resembled a character from Harry Potter. She was kind enough to direct us towards the nearest town for fish 'n chips! however, she said we were crazy for walking... unless we "fancied a wander..." Oh English vocabulary, I could get use to this!

Our walk was not a little trip down the street. It was a trek around 2 or more miles away. Here is the adventure: Our base use to have a second exit gate, but it closed that down so they are resorted to one gate. The closed gate was conveniently located right next to our desired town. But, with its closing, the other gate is our only option AND on the complete opposite side of the base/town we wanted to go to! Let me just tell you, this was one heck of a walk. Nearly 3/4 of a mile walk from our dorm to the outside of the gate alone. And then ANOTHER mile or a little more to the actual town. Oh, my gosh... and it was rather brisk, to say the least. But we were hungry, and wanted to check out a cute English town. And a side note, the English don't believe in having a shoulder on the road. We were definitely tip toeing the road and dodging oncoming traffic. The fish 'n chips was sooooo worth it though! We made the trek back and admired all of the beautiful green fields... I've never seen anything like it!

This is where we dined for lunch time fish 'n chips...

We saw this gorgeous side street and I had to take a picture! Isn't it incredible...

All in all the day was a complete success! Tomorrow we are going off to London for the weekend =) We are seeing the Tower and Crown jewels... and I'm sure when the Queen hear we've arrived, we'll be ushered right in. Until then, we will adventure with the commoners and hope to have a Mary Kate and Ashley type of day... BYL (blog ya later)

The Beginning of an Adventure

Well, we have been here for a little over a day... and it's already been an adventure!

 Just a recap: The plane ride from Washington DC to London was by far the greatest flight of my life. The plane was nearly empty in the "commoners" section as we called it. So we moved around and all had our own rows to lay out on and we right by each other! The airport was an experience in and of itself... haha I think we walked over 2 miles to get to the bus stop. And we came to the conclusion that we were going the wrong way because... picture this... all of us had our 3 or 4+ bags on shopping carts going UP HILL to get to where we were going. Needless to say, we had a workout. Then we arrived yesterday (Wednesday) at about 1 p.m. London time to the main base, Lakenheath. We had an interesting "welcome." OSU is suppose to send over a staff member to set us up... but she is very ill and was not able to come. So they sent us over on our own to meet up with faculty at the schools we are at. These faculty seemed extremely frazzled and overwhelmed with our arrival. So that made it difficult for us since we were exhausted, semi home sick and a little in shock. They took us around and were getting us set up with IDs and into our rooms. They were helpful, but again, seemed overwhelmed and like they just wanted to get stuff done and go home. We did get set up and unpacked... and finally got to bed. Like mom told me, "everything will be better in the morning after some sleep." I was still a little apprehensive before going to bed and laid awake for 15/20 minutes. So I decided to put the Joyce Meyer series "The Joy of the Lord" on my iPod and listened to it while going to bed. God is good, and I think I fell asleep in 5 minutes.

Here is a run down of the area I am in...

There are 3 bases, Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell. Lakenheath is the ultimate base... like a small town- bowling alley, theater, skating rink, BX (mix between target, belks and the mall... weird mix, i know) Mildenhall has a golf course and some things on base, and it is close to Lakenheath. Now Feltwell... where I am staying... is ISOLATED to say the least. We have compared it to Big Brother meets Survivor. We are stranded out here with no transportation because there aren't shuttles going in between each base. So we are completely dependent on our teachers for rides. Haha it will be an experience, for sure. But there is a small town about 2 or 3 miles away that we will most likely venture to for some escape!

So today...

Haha all I can do is laugh because it was so awful. The school that I am teaching on is at the Lakenheath base. So to get there we have to ride a bus... with the school kids. That's not the awful part, the awful part is that it picks us up at 7 AM!!!! Haha it was insane. and dark. Just picture 4 girls wandering... in the dark... completely LOST trying to find this bus. We wandered in the cold for about 5ish minutes, then ran inside a school on our Feltwell base for someone to help us. We were then led around the base by a very kind teacher to the bus stop area. The bus drove up and... it was a charter bus!! haha these kids ride in style, to say the least. Super comfy and warm... things were looking up! We got to the school and met the principal, which he is really great. We told him we would volunteer for the school dance next Friday! We are counting down, obviously. Then we went off to meet our teachers. It's a new experience so I prayed this morning for God to give me patience and favor. Because like Joyce's message said... the devil tries to steal our joy, because it makes us weak. And so I was determined to laugh at anything that was unusual or not work out the way I wanted. I wasn't going to let the devil win... I'm in England! This is amazing! Then i met Jackie and Pam. They are married to two airmen on base. They are working for the school in the AVID program, and they help tutor the students. They are amazing!! Soooooo nice... Story: He wanted to know when the Standridge family had moved there. Uh, I have no idea... so I made something up. Then he went off on this story about how his family has lived there since before Indian Removal (1820s) and that his great great great great etc grandpa is the first person buried somewhere? haha idk... it was weird. Anyways, Jackie and Pam spoke up and said they needed to do some things for AVID and asked me if I wanted to come along... and worded it in a way that he agreed. As soon as I walked out, Jackie kinda shot me a smirk and I asked her what was up... she looked back at Pam, then at me and said, "We just rescued you." Hahaha I laughed so hard and thanked them a ton. We then discussed their stay on the base/advice about him and stuff... They are amazing. They gave me their phone numbers and said to call them any time I need to get off Feltwell and go shop or anything. And they said they will be in my class every day! I'm soooo relieved. Both of their husbands have been sent off and they are neighbors, so I thought it would be fun to invite them on a weekend trip to London or Cambridge with us! As our morning was ending, I was struggling. Intense jet lag I think because I had a head ache, but we ate and I am doing better. We were told not to sleep until 9 or we will make it work. And man, that is rough. Because I could pass out right now. Oh well... We are watching Beauty and the Beast right now and just sitting around. I think we are all tired. But that is pretty much all the updates I have right now. I'm sure I'll write more later if something happens. I love you all and miss you guys!