First Day

I wanted to post this entry with pictures, but the truth is, I'm too tired of upload them and get them all ready. Also I brought the wrong adapter so I currently cannot charge my laptop. I'm rarely using it until I get a new adapter, which I hear they sell here anyway.
First of all, it was really hard to say goodbye at the airport. Security was fine, but I guess now they have a new rule where you have to take out your laptop before sending it through, but nobody told me that so they had to redo it. Oh well. And then I met Heather and Jeff. Heather and I became fast friends, but I think after awhile Jeff got tired of us. Haha. Heather and I have a lot in common, the only difference is she won't be partaking in the opportunities of the pubs. We are both in choir together.
The plane ride was okay. I didn't sleep at all. The seats were very uncomfortable I just couldn't sleep. We watched X-Men: Origins of Wolverine (I think that's what it's called) and most of the Soloist. I didn't care much for The Soloist but I liked Wolverine. And we watched some of Moulin Rouge on her I-pod. By the time we got to Heathrow we were slap happy. We went through UK Border and I did just fine. Then the "coach" (bus) didn't have enough room for Heather and I so we waited another half an hour for the group flight to land so we could ride their coach. I slept pretty much the entire time.
Getting to Harlaxton took a good 2 1/2 hours. But when we did finally get here it was amazing. Pretty much exactly like I pictured it would be. I think I really am too tired and overwhelmed to really appreciate what's around me.
We ate at the "refectory" (cafeteria) well... I only had a bite of an apple. I have been really sick today. I think it was food poisoning because the meal we had on the airplane was awful. I met my roommates, (I have three), and for the life of me I can only remember Mary and Brittany. Makes me feel bad, but I met a bunch of new people today so you can't really blame me. I have my own bed, there's a bed next to me, then a bunkbed. There are three closets. Mine has no shelves. But we do have... a sink. Yes. A sink.
For dinner we had....you guessed it.... fish and chips. I hate that I feel so terrible because I think I would have enjoyed it much more. I had a few "chips" (french fries) and a bite or two of fish. All I've been drinking today was apple juice. Then I went to hang out at Heather's dorm because she's in the carriage house. I've been falling asleep all day today. Even standing up. (There's a bell here, and it rings every hour and half hour, I really hope it doesn't do that throughout the night). Then I came back for a fifteen minute nap until I had British Studies orientation. I honestly cannot tell you what we talked about, but I can tell you she gave us a glass of wine. I chose red. I drank two drinks and that was it for me. It's a British tradition for a professor to welcome and get to know her students with a glass of wine. But only the first class.
Then we had rehearsals for the church service we are going to at the Harlaxton Church (It's a church of England...equivalent to the Episcopalians. ) I volunteered to sing. We went through the songs once, only one verse, (and they were BAPTIST hymns. I knew all but one!) so that was good.
And now I'm here. Tomorrow I'm getting up for breakfast and hopefully I will get the adapters tomorrow. And shampoo. I didn't bring any shampoo.

But it is so strange because at home right now it's only 4pm. But I'm getting ready to go to bed.

For everyone who signed my journal, thank you. The entries made me laugh and made me miss you all the more.

Next entry there will be pictures...depending on if I get my adapter.

Love you all! Miss you already!

Heart Beating Faster

So my flight is tomorrow. I honestly think this is going to be my least favorite thing about my trip. It's kind of confusing because I have no problems with planes. I don't have a fear of flying, I don't have a problem with anything like that. I just hate airports. They bother me for a reason I can't really explain.
I've been running around like mad this past week trying to get everything all together and such. I've been pretty stressed out. It doesn't help that I lost my international student ID card. I freaked out. But luckily I can get one in Grantham. Saying goodbye to my friends was really hard, especially to Emily, Kay, Hannah and Bre. And Kertlern! And I probably wouldn't have been able to keep my head above water if it wasn't for Amy. They all helped me out a lot. I don't even want to get into saying goodbye to my family yet. I still have part of tomorrow.
And I owe so much to both sets of my grandparents. You all have no idea how much you have helped me for this trip. I am extremely blessed to have the family I have.
Also, both of my suitcases were under 50 pounds! I honestly have no idea how I pulled that off. One was only like 27 pounds, and another was 36. I can't figure out how I managed to do that.
I was going to do a video blog to express how I'm feeling at this moment, but seeing as we are all at the hotel in Chicago, I would feel funny talking to my computer. So I guess I will have to do what I do best - write.
I am a mixture of emotions. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, overwhelmed, stressed, nauseous, happy, sad, curious, ready, and hopeful. I'm nervous that I won't fit in, I'm overwhelmed at the idea that I will be in a different country, happy to have this opportunity, sad to leave my loved ones behind. I still don't think I will believe it until I get off the plane and walk into Heathrow.
I've been waiting for this since I was a little girl. Looks like I'm not such a little girl anymore.
Tomorrow my flight leaves at six. I should be arriving at Heathrow at eight a.m.(3 a.m. Alexandria time) and to the manor a few hours after that. I'm not sure how long it will take to get internet up there, but as soon as I can, I will update to let everyone know how my trip went and that I arrived.

This is it. I can smell the scones already.

Going Away Party

So I said the next time I would post something would be for my going away party. I can't believe it's already August 16th. Sometimes it blows my mind, how fast time really goes.
Anyway, the party was last night. Not everyone came. In fact, a lot of people didn't. But I was pleased with who showed up. It kinda stung a little on the inside, but I wasn't going to let it spoil my evening, which turned out to be a great time. We played games, ate good food, talked a lot, and had smores with our bonfire. I made a video so I'll post my youtube link later. But I'm so blessed to have such a good group of friends. I'm going to miss them a lot.
So there's only 11 days until I will be on the plane. 10 if you count us going to Chicago. That's insane. I'm starting to get really nervous, I'm not sure if I'll have everything I need. I still need an adapter, and I need to figure out how to sign for my scholarship. There's a block on the website so I can't get onto it at my house. (How inconvenient is that?). I have the Harlaxton mail packet they sent out, and I found out that three other people will be on my flight. That makes me feel much better.
Oh, and I had surgery. In my last entry I said they weren't sure what was wrong with me, they thought it was the gallbladder but my test came out fine. Well, it turns out it was my gallbladder, I just had to have a different test. I'm doing well, I'm pretty much back to normal. It was a weird week, though. I'm hoping everything will be okay when I eat in Europe.
Well this post is pretty short. I could probably go on and on about how nervous I am, excited I am, and any emotion that I'm feeling towards this trip, but I plan on writing one more before I leave, the day before we head out to Chicago. So I don't trust my feelings right now, and I'm wondering how much they will change by next Tuesday.
And also, I have a youtube account especially for videos having to do with my trip, so the link for my first video is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKxngQNuDjE


This was just of my going away party, there's not much to it I didn't tape as much as I wanted, but some of my friends say goodbye and such, it was more made for my benefit more than anything else so I won't blame you if you choose not to watch this particular video. I was just providing the link for future reference if you would like to see any of my videos. I won't really post any of my videos on facebook, so just keep checking on my blogs on here to see if I have made any other videos, or just subscribe to my account if you are interested. I will probably do a little bit of both, writing a blog or doing a video blog, mostly it just depends on how much time I have. Video blogs don't take too much time, but sometimes you can't really be that descriptive. Plus, I like to shake things up a bit sometimes.
Well, 11 days left to go. I'll write another in about 9 days to give another (probably more emotional) update right before I head out to Chicago.
I love you all, hope you are doing well!