Basics

It's June 28th and I've returned to write another entry. Although I know it's early, and there probably isn't much information yet because honestly, I don't want to give anything away too soon. I like to build anticipation (maybe it's just for myself) and I want to be able to give full information and news, not just snippits. So here is the basics behind Harlaxton.
Harlaxton is a tiny village of about 300 homes, located near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. It's a large manor (the difference between a manor and a castle is basically a manor is used as a residence and a castle is used for defense) owned by The University of Evansville. It was built by Sir Gregory Gregory (yes, this does make me giggle) in 1837. I won't bore you with how many owners it has had since then, but it definitely has some history.
Grantham is the nearby town that we will go to for all the essentials. It's the home of Margaret Thatcher (previous prime minister) and the school of Isaac Newton.
Each student that studies there is an American student, so that's interesting. We sleep, eat, study, and attend class inside the manor. That is, unless, you live in the carriage house. The carriage house is right next to the main building, and was used as the servant's quarters. So I will either be inside the manor or right next to it. I'm kind of hoping I'm put inside the manor.
Harlaxton was also used for the exterior shots and the main hall in the 1999 movie "The Haunting." Yes I've watched this movie, and yes I will recall the places inside the manor where things popped out of nowhere. And apparently there's a ghost in the library because one of the residents there from the 70's was a widow, and she decided to perform seances to see her dead husband. Thanks lady.
An update about money. I still have three trips to pay off, but other than that the rest of my money is going towards spending money. I have almost 600 dollars in my savings account, and 800 in my IRA. I'm going to be working a lot, so hopefully I will get my goal (around 2,500.. doubt it!) or close to it. I'm feeling a little better because this next week I work like 37 hours and the minimum wage is going up soon. I can't believe I only have 60 days until I leave!!
Emily is throwing me a going away party, and I feel so blessed to have the friends I have. I will miss everyone so much. But we have facebook and skype, and everyone can read this blog to find out the ongoings of my life as a Brit.
Trips. I'm going to (as school sponsored trips):
London. Cambridge. Edinburgh (pronounced Edin-boro I've found out), Stratford (Home of Shakespeare), Ireland, Oxford, Bath, Stonehenge, York, North Wales, Cadbury, Birmingham, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice.
I hope to also go to Germany, Czech Republic, and mayyybe Poland. Depends on what weekends I have free.

I just can't wait. There's been nothing in my life I've been so excited about. I dream about it, I daydream about it, I breathe it. I love to travel, it's so insane.

I plan on doing a little project for my entry about Alexandria, so even though I'm 4,000 miles away (actually I don't know how many miles away it is) I will still love my hometown. Plus it'll just be fun.
That's all for today!

The Beginning

It's June 22, and I am already beginning my blog for my upcoming trip to Harlaxton. You could say I'm excited...maybe a little bit too excited.
At first, I promised myself I wasn't going to start a blog until I got there. But let's be honest. I'm a planner, and I like to start things early. I couldn't wait. Plus I believe there's a lot more to this trip than what's gonna happen while I'm over there. I want to start from the very beginning (which I hear is a very good place to start).
So here it is. The beginning of my journey. And the good thing about this is the story will continue on for another six months. If you are as excited as I am, this is like a television show that is continuing on for another season.
I decided to go to USI (University of Southern Indiana) when I was a sophomore. It's nice to know which college you are going to. Well, I've always wanted to go to England for as long as I can remember. And I can remember telling myself that I was going to go, no matter what it takes. I can't believe that it's actually happening!
I honestly believe that God sat there and guided me to USI for this very reason. Even though I will never return to that school, I couldn't stand being there, this is the reason that makes it all worthwhile. I think He let the school know my heart. That's why I got a letter telling me my departmental scholarship was through Study Abroad. I automatically begin planning in my head when I would be able to study abroad, and where I could go. Even before I move onto campus.
So as the year progresses, I notice a Study Abroad Orientation poster on some random wall. I decide to go and find out all I can about study abroad. I even brought my notepad and pen(being the planner that I am). This meeting changed my life.
I arrive at the meeting early. I'm the only one in the room, and so I sit down at the table and wait. Time goes on... no one comes in. Finally a woman with a rolling suitcase comes in and introduces herself. I realize that I am the only student coming. This makes me laugh. The woman is the one discussing study abroad. I told her where I wanted to go : London. Uncannily enough, she had gone to England for her study abroad experience. She went to this place called Harlaxton. She showed me pictures and told me what it was like for her.
I was sitting there the entire time, looking at the pictures of this gorgeous place, and still thinking in my head "Oh, this is nice enough, but this isn't London. I want to go to London." So I got all the information from different programs and thanked her for time and opinions. I walked out of that room, still unsure of what I was going to do.
That next weekend I made the 4 1/2 hour trek home. I sat down with my parents and went through countless programs and ideas. When I realized it would be impossible for me to attend a school in London, the idea of Harlaxton stood out to me even more. It was only an hour train ride from London, it was close to Wales, it was BEAUTIFUL, and it took many trips to other countries. Plus I would be immersed in British culture but also in touch with other Americans. It seemed perfect, once I got the stubbornness out of my head to be in London. It finally clicked, and there was nothing else I wanted more in my life than to attend this school.
So the choice was made. I am extremely blessed to have the family I do. My parents immediately started to help me plan and get everything together that was necessary to begin the first stages of my trip. We sat down and read all about the places I would go. I would bore them with countless details and facts about each of the places, plus of Harlaxton itself. We would watch the travel channel to figure out where else I could go on my weekends off. I even read to them my syllabi of each class I was taking.
But back to the basics: I put out a deposit, made an appointment with the study abroad lead organizer..person.. and began to look more in depth about what I was doing. I applied to the actual school...
And the day that I got my acceptance letter was one of the best days I had at USI.
From then on my planning consisted mostly of going to orientation sessions, talking to anyone who would listen about what I was going to do (my family hears nothing but my newest findings about Harlaxton), and starting to figure out how I could save money. I watched any video on youtube about Harlaxton, I read the student manual over and over, I filled out every form the minute I learned about them, and I read anything I could about the history of Harlaxton. I was (and am still) obsessed. I made sure my GPA was high enough for the program (you have to have a 2.5 or 3.0 I can't remember exactly) and I have a 3.48 so I'm still good. I made sure I had enough credits to qualify as a sophomore (I have 40, and I believe you have to have 31 to be considered a sophomore). I guess you can say I worked really hard.
Now all I am really worrying about is the money. I have a job this summer (thank God) and I'm trying to save. But it's proving to be really difficult. I'm praying that I do better as the summer continues on.

My next blog I will write more about Harlaxton and what the school is about. I won't go into extreme detail, I will wait until I actually get there to describe my surroundings and be able to provide pictures and video to help out visually. I will also talk more about how I am preparing myself. This was just the tip of the beginning of what has happened on my study abroad experience.
This will be my home from August 28th to December 19th.

Can you say Hogwarts?