Where it seems we spend most of our time - on the escalator.

Editing Party Madness

Editing parties can be a distracting environment in which to edit, despite the usual fun that makes up for the lack of practicality. Last Saturday, after at least 4 hours of reading, writing, critiquing, and commenting, people got rather chatty. Therefore, a couple of us who were still trying to fight through the papers started to read them (quietly) out loud to help concentrate. As the chatter continued, the concentrated out loud readers got louder and louder, which reminded the distracters about their papers. End result: all of us reading the papers we were each editing out loud...at the same time...at the top of our lungs. The sound clip below, if I remember correctly, is me reading Eric's paper, Bethany reading Carolyn's paper, Christine reading my paper, and Carolyn reading Christine's.

Break

It's our third day after break, and I think we're all still in denial. 5 days off for a whole semester (and an intense one, at that) just doesn't seem fair. Here is a summary of what I did for those 5 days.

Day 1

After breakfast, Christine, Sheri, and I scouted out a fabulous playground that we had seen a few months ago but never had time to visit. It was such a blast to forget all our mature-like responsibilities and take full advantage of the sunny morning and awesome playground equipment. I think we managed to spend an hour and a half there, no lie.

After our romp at the park, we went back to meet with Brett and Carolyn about our plans for our trip afterwards around Europe. We decided that Greece would be too expensive, so we're going to spend a week in Italy, 4 days in Spain (where we will get to stay with a couple of Brett's friends), and the remainder in Paris before we take the train back to London. I can't believe we're planning this already..and that the schoolwork will be over in 2 1/2 weeks!

That afternoon I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with our 3 guys (Yes, I know I took them all. There was jealousy and bitterness among the girls.). It was a great show - full of color, excitement, and talent. We raced home for our free evening meal, put on some more deodorant, and then went right back to the theater district to see Le Mis. It was a very impressive performance, but I must admit that I drifted a few times. It was a loooong day.

Day 2

On Thursday, several of us took a train to Salisbury, and then a bus from there to Stonehenge. The countryside was beautiful, and it was great to see such a famous landmark in person. It was a frigid and blustery day, but we managed to enjoy the sights and the sheep. Lots and lots of sheep. It felt like most of our time was spent on the train, but with 2 packs of Dutch Blitz, 2 packs of regular playing cards, our cameras, and our craziness, we had a super fun trip.

Day 3

Christine's and my excursion to Easbourne began Friday morning. After yet another train ride, we were greeted by the Davidson family (relatives of our friend from Houghton/my future roommate, Ashley Cook). They took us back to their apartment (in a car!!! it was our first time in a car in months, and of course, our first time in a British car) and got us settled in. Then we all took a ride to Beechy Head - an overlook on the downs which is set on the English channel. It was sooo gorgeous, but dangerously windy, so we couldn't spend too much time there. After the cliffs, we went to Pevensey Castle and then to the Pier downtown. So cool. That evening was the start of a glorious weekend of home-cooked American food, which they planned especially for us.

Day 4

Saturday was more of a break day, which involved a lot of playing with the baby, reading (for fun!), watching movies, making chocolate cake, doing dishes (by request. We've been dying to do chores), and shopping at the local "mall".

Day 5

The Davidsons made us a fabulous Easter Morning breakfast, we got Ayla all dolled up, ate Cadberry eggs, and then headed to their church for the Easter service. Wes's brother, Neal, from Scotland, joined us for lunch afterwards. Christine and I had to leave shortly after that, so they took us to the train station and we said goodbye to our adopted weekend family. For having started out as strangers, I'm really going to miss them. It was wonderful to be in a family/home environment for at least a little while, and they were definitely the family to hang out with.

The denial of break being over is apparent in this week's plans. In 20 minutes we'll be leaving for the Freud museum. From there I'm going to my service project and then straight to the Brazil v. Sweden football match at Arsenal's stadium. Tomorrow, we're leaving right after early colloquy to go get theater tickets, going to Lord of the Rings, out to dinner, and then to Wicked. Friday is Amanda's birthday so we're throwing a party for her and then going to see 27 Dresses. It's going to be a great week - if I can find somebody to write my paper.

Going Home

Getting Off the Bus

Walking to the Grocery Store

Getting on the Bus

Walking to the Bus Stop

I will readily admit that this next series of videos is rather boring, but hopefully they'll give you a little taste of...something.

Catching Up

With the videos and such, I've gotten behind in some pretty exciting events. Here is a quick list:

1. Visit from Uncle Pete and Michael

Despite my accidental tardiness and relatively pathetic knowledge of the city (coming from being bound to study for most of my days), I think they managed to have a good time. Their first day here we went to Big Ben, Trafalgar Saure, Cafe in the Crypt, and Buckingham Palace. Later that afternoon, Michael joined us for a game of football and then we (Uncle Pete, Michael, Sheri, Uncle Pete's friend (Dixie), and I)went out for a lovely dinner that evening.

From what I heard when we met up later that week, they definitely made the most of their time here and I'm very jealous of all the touristy things they got to see and do. Needless to say, it was such a blessing to be able to share the amazingness of London with my family, and just to see some familiar faces! :) (the picture is from one of our double-decker bus rides)

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2. Tropical Day

We heard through the grapevine that Houghton had a "Tropical Day". Not wanting to miss out in the action, we had our own. Though we were under significant resource restriction, we managed to pull together some vaguely tropical outifts to wear to Plenary that day. Unfortunately, the walk there was rather frigid, but it was a blast to wear flip-flops, sunglasses, and green body glitter to the lecture.

(Pictured L to R: Sheri, Christine, Me, Carolyn, Bethany "Shulan")

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3. Wesley's House and Chapel
One of our MAG assignments last week was to see Charles Wesley's house. It was so cool to be right there! We even got to spend some time in his private prayer room, which he added on to his tiny bedroom. The picture is part of the complex of offices/his chapel/the Methodist museum/and his actual house, which was small since he was a bachelor at the time.

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4. Graves of John Bunyan, Jonathan Swift, William Blake, Isaac Watts, and Daniel Defoe

Right across the street from Wesley's house was a really cool graveyard, which is the resting place of many famous names. We stopped to take a few pictures, but didn't spend too much time their because the wind was really picking up and making any outdoor experiences less enjoyable.

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5. The Peter Pan Statue in Hyde Park

Since we had a little free time on Thursday afternoon, we decided to visit Hyde Park and the Peter Pan Statue. This spot was recommended to me by Katey Nowels, and I was glad to find some equally interested friends here with whom I could go see it. It wasn't a particularly gorgeous day, but the park was beautiful. The trees are flowers are just nearing their springtime prime of perfection, and there was a very pretty lake and fountain full of white swans.

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6. Concert (Vivaldi - The Four Seasons by Candlelight) at St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Despite what the picture may reveal, the concert was actually rather sophisticated. Our vision was inhibited greatly (meaning, I never saw a musician), but the music was fabulous.

(Pictured: Me petting Amanda's head during intermission)

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7. Hampton Court Palace

On Friday, we went on a day trip to Hampton Court, past home of King Henry VIII. Lots of breathtaking sights, both inside and out. I will try to put up an album specifically of this sight.

(Pictured L to R: Sheri, Bethany "Shulan", Me, Brett, Eric, Carolyn)

Papers

It was a requested of me awhile back that I "publish" the papers I've been working on. Here are weeks 1-7:

Week 1 - To Balance or Blend
Week 2 - Humanity: Realized or Idealized
Week 3 - Three Extremes Fuse
Week 4 - Revealed Reason
Week 5 - Discovering Human Nature
Week 6 - The Reformation According to Shakespeare
Week 7 - Challenging Cultural Boundries through Empiricism

If you're interested in the prompts for any of these papers, I'm sure I can dig them up somewhere.

Front Desk, Reception Room, Conference Room, and Blue Room

Me: Welcome to the Highbury Centre! This is the front desk and this is the reception room, where we went on our first day. It's good for watching tv, getting mail, and getting food.
Christine: Mail board! Food!
Me: Very expensive food.
Christine: TV.
Me: Good TV, though. Now we'll go into the conference room. This is where paper-writing and Skyping happens. Oh, also, colloquy. I guess that's kinda important. This is where we have our discussion groups. And this is bethany!
Bethany: Hi!
Me: Our example of Skyping.
Bethany: (to her mom - Sorry, I just have to go out because they need they room.)
Me: Past Sheri's room again.
Bethany: Say 'Hi' to my mom!
Christine: Hi...mom.
Me: This is the blue lounge.
Bethany: (to her mom - I was just talking to Christine and Erin.)
Christine: Blue lounge!
Bethany: (to her mom - They're taking a video of...)
Me: Very comfy couches.
Christine: Here we see Cecily. Say 'Hi' to Erin's family!
Cecily: Hi!
Christine: This is Sammy.
Bethany: (to her mom - Can you still hear me?)
Christine: And the TV and the amazing blue room, where Erin does lots of homework.

Laundry

Sorry for the delay in videos. The internet connection here has been inconsistent, which makes it hard to upload them.
Here is Sheri narrating the laundry room:



Sheri: Hi, Erin's family! I'm Sheri and I hope you've heard about me already. Anyway, this is the laundry room where I do my laundry sometimes. It's pretty expensive so I don't do it that much. I just got done washing my clothes and my friend's shirt which is still really dirty and I have to do it again with my dark clothes. So...
Me: Thank you.
Sheri: After paying 2 pounds for washing them, you have to pay another pound to dry them, so what I'm going to do is wash my dark clothes and then put all of it in one load of drying, so I'm saving a little bit of money.
Christine: She is an honor's student.
Sheri: I am an honor's student. So, I don't know...that'll go there.

3rd Floor

Carolyn: Alright, I'll narrate. Oh.
Me: Go / Christine: *giggling*
Carolyn: Ok. This is ... the 3rd floor and that was Erin's room - maybe you've already seen it. And that's Zan's room. She's a TA. And then we've got Brett goin' a little ways down. I think you should come. And this is the toilet paper that the whole floor is using to get rid of our colds. And this is Brett's room.
Christine: eeewwwww
Carolyn: And this is how it always looks.
Christine: You can't smell it...
Brett: Helloooo
Christine: You can't smell it, but it's disgusting.
Brett: It is not disgusting. It smells no worse than your room, Stinky.
Carolyn: No, yeah, it smells. No, it smells bad. No. No. No.
Brett: It really doesn't smell bad. If it smells bad it's from all that girl stuff you guys sprayed in there last week.
Christine: *whispering* We should knock on Eric's door.
Carolyn: Oh!
Me: Yeah, you got that face.
Carolyn: Here's a really cool stairway that leads up to a room of a guy that we don't really know at all...and here's our room! There's Maddy's room! And then there's Eric's room and he's asleep. We should bang on his door.
Maddy: Yeah, you should.
Carolyn: and then Olivia's room! That's the end!

My Room

This is the first in a series of video tours around the Highbury Centre and nearby locations. I'll try to post a new one everyday for at least a week. I typed out the dialogue since the video quality is pretty poor. Hopefully you still get a sense of the "atmosphere". :)



Christine: *knocks*
Me: Hello!! This is my room. This is my bed,
Shulan: Heyyy... *comes to see me, gets confused and stays in the hallway*
Me: and this is my fishtank (hears Shulan)
and what? and visitors.
and my birthday cards, my desk, my birthday sign, my window
Christine: Her sink - it's so beautiful
Shulan: Ohhh *realizes what's going on and hides behind the door*
Christine: That's it.

Valentine's Day

Last Thursday, we, the 19 girls, gave the outnumbered guys a little surprise. The TA's helped us by putting the 3 gentlemen in the early colloquy group and the main conspiritors in the later group. While they were in their discussion, we broke into their rooms with help from the Centre manager and did some decorating. We hung numerous paper hearts, sappy love lyrics, poems, pick-up lines, sprayed perfume on their pillows, spelled out LOVE on their sheets with twizzlers, bought them chocolate and tulips, opened their Bibles to I Corinthians 13, wrote flattery on their mirrors, and kissed their white t-shirts. Overall, they took it very well, though some left up the finery a few more hours than others. :-P

<-Eric "Liddlicious" Liddle's mirror

That evening they "got back at us" by getting us a chocolate bar with a personalized valentine and serving us dinner. We dressed up for dinner, Kristen's birthday, and pictures. After the festivities, a few of us went out for a movie. Such a great day.

p.s. Let me just say, I'm going to think twice about the consequences of coming down from the top of a double-decker bus in a full skirt before going up again.

Canterbury

We got back from our excursion to Canterbury on Tuesday night. The trip was pretty similar to our trip to Bath, but I definitely liked this one better. We stayed at Cathedral Gate Hotel, which obviously had quite a view. :)
I took this picture out the hall window right across from Rebekah's and my room
<---- The view wasn't the only feature that made the hotel endearing. It was the quirkiest building in which I have ever been...lots of winding staircases, ridiculously narrow hallways, 4' tall doors, slanted rooms that required bed levelers, a rooftop garden, and individually named and decorated rooms. My roommate, Rebekah, and I stayed in "Sleepy Hollow". It wasn't too spooky, though. I guess they figured the name was unnerving enough. While waiting for our first tour, a few of the girls and I went into a dress shop that was having a closing sale. I bought a fabulous dress for £15, marked down from £160!! I was very proud of myself. Since quite a few other girls found good buys too, we dressed up that night for storytime and card games.

The next day we had a tour again in the morning. I couldn't get enough of Canterbury. It is such a gorgeous town! I took over 300 pictures! I picked out 160 for the album, so take a look there for the beauty.

After the tour, we had a bit of free time so a few of us decided to do some exploring and then filming for a movie we're making. We also stopped for some fish and chips - which, by the way, are more delicious than I had expected or can describe!

We were all completely wiped out on the train ride back, but it was a happy exhaustion. :D

Pranks

Recently, the prank wars hit an all-time high. Since they have become such a big part of my life, I thought I'd share some (only those that have already been revealed, of course).

It started with basic key stealing, but quickly escalated.

About a week ago, Sheri, Bethany, Christine, and I stole Eric's Air Jordan shoelaces and then each picked an item out of his closet to wear to plenary. We decided to color Christine's junky shoelaces and then put them in his shoes, so that he would think we colored his. We cut letters out of museum guides and made a ransom note for the laces and put it in one of my out-of-state envelopes (from a birthday card).

He got pretty upset about the shoes because he didn't realize that we hadn't destroyed his real ones..so we decided to to partially abandon prank B. Instead of wearing his clothes on Monday, we just took a few pictures. :)

It ended well when he got back the clothes in a box with a sorry note and the real laces... "well" meaning less anger..more pranks.

Part of his retaliation was to take advantage of his 6'2"-ness and tie Christine's shoe to her ceiling so that she couldn't reach it (I think he also filled it with some kind of odor-inducing powder). Shulan had to come to the rescue on this one.

<---------------------

As a defensive strategy, Sheri and I switched our keys and key numbers (each key has a tag with the room number on it), so she has what looks like my key, and I have what looks like hers. We switch every time we come near a suspect, and switch back whenever we need to get into our rooms. It gets complicated, but has worked so far.

Unfortuantely the list of stolen and/or tampered with items is pretty lengthy: Christine's flip-flop, Shulan's flip-flop, Carolyn's teddy bear, Amy's peanut butter, Bethany's teddy bear, Carolyn's book, Christine's Cadberry spread, Carolyn's shoelaces, my laptop, Cecily's cell phone, Amy's cell phone, Eric's cell phone, Cecily's pen, at least 5 keys, and Bethany's apple pie.

Eric still has most of these items, much to the dismay of their owners. Here is a ransom picture he recently posted on facebook:

Some of the best pranks are currently underway, and I don't feel at liberty to discuss them at this point, but I will keep you updated. ;-)

Excursion and Birthday

Early Monday morning we took a series of tube trains to the overground, and from there enjoyed a gorgeous hour and half long train ride to Bath. The first stop upon arrival was the hotel, to get roommate assignments and drop off our luggage. Then a few of us found lunch at a really cute cafe and ate it in the courtyard of Bath Abbey/The Roman Baths. We visited the baths next. I had no idea they were so well-preserved! It was one of the coolest places I've ever been. In the afternoon we took a guided foot-tour around the city of Bath. It was FREEZING, but worth it. Bath is so picturesque. It felt like a dream the whole time. After a bit of shopping and a peak into the Abbey we went back to the hotel where they served us dinner. Tea and conversation followed the meal. We were all pretty beat, so we just sat around talking and playing cards until bedtime. On Tuesday, we spent more time at the Abbey, visited the Guildhall, Assembly Rooms, the fashion museum, Jane Austen's house, and lots and lots of shops. After a late lunch of pasties in the park we trapsed back to the train station to head home. I had such a great time! I can't wait til Canterbury next week. :)

<-- (L to R) Nigel - our tour guide, Amy, Sheri, Debbie, Me

That night (Tuesday), I stayed up with some friends and we opened the birthday package from my family at midnight. We proceeded to enjoy the contents and chat for another hour or so. After a birthday greeting/hug-filled breafast, we had colloquy and lunch. The afternoon consisted of seemingly endless gallery assignments. Though it did go it a little faster because of my friends' who-can-say-happy-birthday-to-Erin-the-most-game. It really did make me happy every time. :) That evening, when I was sitting in my room doing my reading I heard a page from the building manager, "All Houghton students please report to the library immediately." She's not the friendliest lady and usually means serious business, so I raced down the 4 flights of stairs to arrive breathless at the door, which I opened to... *suspense* ... a surprise party!!!! There was cake, ice cream, a group card, presents, a piano player, and a "dj" (Bethany) - all of which were impressive based on our limited resources. Afterwards, a few of crammed into Eric's room for a midnight Office marathon. It was a WONDERFUL birthday, and I couldn't be more thankful for my incredible friends. They really helped to ease the homesickness that day. (I have to admit that I was on the brink of tears when I got the audio clip of my family singing Happy Birthday to me.)

My solution to getting rid of the nasty root beer was to start the chug chant. Eric was not ok. -->

On Thursday night, Sheri, Eric, Carolyn, Christine, Brett, and I headed down to the theatre district to see Avenue Q. Despite a few sketchy scenes, it was a great show! We had a blast just getting out of the house, on the town, and away from our paper topics. Next weekend, we plan to see Wicked. I'm so pumped!

Stress Relief

Today was a particulary stressful day. We were all really struggling with the paper topic this week had to put in a lot more hours than we expected. At about 9:00, after we'd all been working for at least 8 hours straight, we stopped for a time of prayer, realizing that none of us would be able to see our papers through to any decent amount of completion without God's help. After praying, we just started to sing. It was a really incredible moment and exactly the boost that we all needed. I managed to record a bit of it...I only wish I had recorded more.
Disclaimers: none of them knew they were being recorded, I just used the basic "sound recorder" and tiny little built in mic on my laptop, and since the laptop was on my lap, I'm a lot closer to the mic and I didn't quite the know the words to the verse.



I love my girls! (and my God :D)

Sunday

It's really hard to believe that it's been over a week since my last post. Time is really starting to pick up speed.

The British food party was really fun! My favorite items were the Cadberry bars and cream crackers. Least favorite: mint and ham crisps - they really are just too creative sometimes. This flavor wasn't beyond belief either. The crisps here all come in really bizarre flavors, including: roast beef and onion, fried chicken, prawn and sea salt, and chive and vinegar.

The academic highlight of my week was the British Library. It was a nasty day, weather-wise, and we go lost a few times coming out of the tube station, but once we reached the library, it was worth it. We got to see the Magna Carta, originals of Beowulf, Jane Eyre, Handel's Messiah, and the Aeneid, handwritten Beatles' lyrics, Capt. James Cook's diary, and Beethoven's tuning fork...all in the same gallery! The British Museum is also a fantastic resource. As far as I know, we'll be visiting at least once a week. I'll add pictures from the British Museum to the album.

Here is our paper topic for this week, AKA- my life for the past 72 hours:

As far as fun goes, it was great to get out and play Ultimate on Wednesday afternoon and then football yesterday evening. Amy dyed Cecily's hair black. We hid Christine's key in her breakfast roll and Bethany's in her shampoo. Storytime each night is getting more and more elaborate, and I have a feeling the fairytales will soon become full-stage productions. A few of us found a mall and tried on £400 formals and leather jackets. But my favorite "funtivity" thus far is just the time that I get to spend with my friends late at night when our brains have exploded and we go through therapy together using the necessary recovery tools: Cadberry Eggs, card games, and low-budget British VHS tapes.

(I've added pictures of the hair dying, museum excursions, and storytime to the album)

Tomorrow we're going on an overnight trip to Bath. I know I should be excited about the Abbey, or Jane Eyre's house, or you know..the baths, but all I can think about is the hotel. :)

Oh, looks like it's time for the paper-editing party! To this our social life has been reduced...

Saturday

I just finished my first paper! Now I'm just waiting for somebody to have to time to read it for me. A bunch of them just came back from a shockingly muddy football game and they are black from toe to shoulders. I'm pretty jealous of them, but I wasn't feeling well enough to play. Hopefully next week. :) I spent the time they were gone drinking tea (which is a given here...almost like breathing), writing my paper, and staring out my enormous window. I discovered that the tree outside my window is a popular spot for doves.

I also just love watching the people and hearing their accents through the drafty panes. There are also a lot of interesting dogs. The most striking thing is that none of them are on leashes, even those being taken for walks.

Yesterday, Olivia, Christine, Sheri, and I discovered a mall a few blocks away from the LICC (where our plenaries are held). It is huge and a little too cosmo (aka-cool and expensive) for us, but we had fun taking in all the fashion, and we even took some time to try on some formal dresses that we'd never in our wildest dreams be able to afford.

Grocery shopping is a pretty common occurance here because we all have to share one not-so-full-sized-fridge. It's nice chance to get out of the house for awhile...and they have a self-checkout with a british accent, so that's worth a trip any day of the week. On our last visit we found some pretty awesome granola bars, but because we really only prepared to buy store brand, I had to settle for a picture:

(if you don't understand the awesomeness, ask someone who has read/seen Lord of the Rings)

Since we had to wait in line for awhile, I had time to snap a shot of a sign that made me smile.

And you have to admit...that guy's hood is pretty sweet.

At the end of a long day, some genuine kebobs were necessary. I think these faces prove the need:

After being fed:

Tomorrow afternoon we are invited to our professors' flats after church for a Taste of Britain party. I can't wait. :)

Thursday

Paper day!
We got our first paper assignments today at colloquy. The actual prompt is a couple paragraphs long, but basically we have to "analyze and describe how writers and artists in the Greco-Roman period addressed the tension between the individual and the community" using evidence from the art pieces we've viewed and the writings we've read. I'm fine with the authors, but I'm having a hard time gleaning information about the tension from a 4th-century clay pot.

Tuesday

A small group of us just got back from the British Museum. It was exhausting, but sufficiently enlightening. To catch up...on Sunday we went to St. Augustine's Church. It was a gorgeous church, and it was a great service. We played ping-pong after the service with a few of the children. I still can not get over their accents (especially the little black kids :-P)! We took a bus to Oxford after church to get ourselves the phones that we'd need to keep in touch for the upcoming museum assigments and such.
Monday, we got up early and walked to the underground in the wind and rain, which took us to the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC) where our plenaries (lectures) are held. I barely noticed the 3 1/2 hours pass...our professors are incredible! I took 6 pages of notes and was actually able to hold a moderate amount of concentration! We took a short break for tea and cookies (crackers) half-way through, which helped to keep our focus. After plenary, a few of us walked down the street to Urban Outfitters - we just couldn't resist. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent reading our brains out. Though we did manage to sneak in some youtube, m&ms and a card game after story-time with Dara.
This morning we woke up according to our colloquy (small-group discussion) time-slot. I had the later one, so I fit in some reading and giggling in the Blue Room (I'll try to remember to take a picture next time I'm in there.). Professor Mills-Woolsey lead our discussion on Antigone and Thucydides' account of the history of the Peloponnesian war. After colloquy we took the tube to the museum...which brings me back to now. I'm just going to read some Plato before dinner...not very exciting, but I think I'll get over it. I'm in London. :D

CRAZY Day

Yesterday I had a pretty big unplanned adventure. As we were touring the sights (St. Paul's, The National Gallery, Big Ben, The Millenium Bridge, Buckingham Palace, etc.) I got seperated from the group for about an hour. I first realized I was lost at the changing of the guard, after they locked the gates, of course, and from there wandered around downtown London, stopping to wait at certain landmarks, and praying like crazy. As it started to get dark I realized that I wouldn't be safe much longer and had to find a way home. I knew where to get off the tube, I just had to find a station. By the grace of God, when I was searching Green Park a couple stopped me and asked for directions. I certainly couldn't help them, but they had a map that showed me where the station was. I hurried to the tube station, checked all the entrances, and having still not found any recongizable face, I decided to just board the train and hopefully call one of the professor's cell phones when I reached home. At least I still had my Oyster card (pass for the tube), right?? ...wrong. I frantically checked all my pockets and retraced my steps in the station, on the verge of tears. I ended up having to buy a new ticket, with no small amount of difficulty since the card reader didn't work. Finally, having reached the other side, I asked a police officer if he could make a page for my professor. He graciously took me into the security office, got some more info from me, and made the page. I was then ushered back outside, next to a girl sitting on a suitcase and weeping. I then thanked God for the peace that He had given me and for the ability to still make rational decisions. All my anxiety built up to that moment and I got a splitting headache and everything went blurry. Out of the fog, I heard the best sound that has ever reached my ears. My TA, Susanna, called my name, came running through the swarm of strangers, and grabbed me. Later I learned that Dr. Woolsey, she, and Dara, had just about to step foot on the train when they heard the page and came racing back. AND, not only did they find me in one piece, but Ben had found my Oyster card on the path (which is when they realized I was missing). Overjoyed and dizzy with emotion I told them the whole story on the ride back. They were all so kind to me and took away all my guilt and fear.

Tomorrow I hope to be put on a leash.

Pre-Day 1, Day 1 & 2 (aka - the longest 43 hrs. of my life) ...Part 1

Our first stop was the Wellington Hotel in NYC,



















Then, Dad and I hit up Broadway and Times Square.



We experienced an incredible performance of The Lion King and then stopped at a nearby deli for a late dinner. The food was huge.






And our meals involved a LOT of meat.















The next morning, we walked over to the taping of the ABC morning show, which we followed with bagels, a view of Rockefeller center, a drive around Manhattan, and a really cool tour of the NBC studios.



It was then time to head over to Newark for my flight to London. Goodbyes having been said, we all settled in for 3 straight hours of Dutch Blitz and general waiting around.



Once boarded, individual movies, games, tv, and seat-to-seat messaging made up for the turbulence and terrible food. Though onboard an overnight flight, my internal clock failed to experience night. Just as I began to feel tired, the sun began to appear. Groggy and motion-sick from the bouncy ride in, we stumbled into Heathrow.



It is a miracle that we all made it through passport control. One of the students couldn't remember why she was going to London!



Baggage claim was the next big adventure.

...Part 2

Having met our professors, gathered our things, and exchanged our foreign currency, we boarded a bus which took us to the Highbury Centre.

We arrived at the centre in a very groggy state and the professors had a pretty difficult time keeping us awake enough to hand out room assignments. They even managed to convince (force, in some cases) us to join them on a walking tour of Highbury. We all stumbled out onto the street and made our way through Highbury Fields. Lunch and fresh air did us good, and we arrived back home with enough vigor to keep our heads up for dinner. I dragged my suitcase up a winding and seemingly endless staircase, banged my wall through the narrow hall to room #35, and collapsed on the bed. I then proceeded to sleep for 13 uninterrupted hours. :D
LINK TO ALL LONDON PICTURES