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!